Agroclimatic modeling for the simulation of phenology,yield and quality of crop production

This paper describes the development of basic simulation concepts that can be used in models aimed at forecasting. The objective is to demonstrate the utility of considering the crop's basic environmental requirements or climatic normals in producing a self-contained comprehensive model. We seek to develop a model in which regularly measured weather data can be used to provide information on the crop performance. Following an abbreviated overview of modeling alternatives, the model design is described. The results of this study are a set of criteria and functions needed to predict the temporal evolution of phenological stages, fruit growth, fruit maturation, and fruit coloration for two varieties of oranges (Navel and Valencia). The major factors considered are the effect of temperature and solar radiation on flowering time, and flowering duration and the number of flowers; the effect of past stress, temperature, evaporation, wind, and rain, planting density, and tree age on fruit set. Given the number of fruits set, growth, maturation and coloration are modeled as responding primarily to temperature and water balance. Possible damage due to freezes is also modeled. These form the basis of a time dependent model (reported elsewhere) which uses daily air temperature and wind data for the prediction of these quantities. These criteria and functions are derived from an extensive body of published observations from many parts of the world, and are selected to be variety specific and independent of local climatology or other site-specific effects.     

Potassium influences on yield and quality production for maize, wheat, soybean and cotton

Potassium is one of the principle plant nutrients underpinning crop yield production and quality determination. While involved in many physiological processes, potassium's impact on water relations, photosynthesis, assimilate transport and enzyme activation can have direct consequences on crop productivity. Potassium deficiency can lead to a reduction in both the number of leaves produced and the size of individual leaves. Coupling this reduced amount of photosynthetic source material with a reduction in the photosynthetic rate per unit leaf area, and the result is an overall reduction in the amount of photosynthetic assimilates available for growth. The production of less photosynthetic assimilates and reduced assimilate transport out of the leaves to the developing fruit greatly contributes to the negative consequences that deficiencies of potassium have on yield and quality production. Goals aimed toward increasing crop productivity and improved quality dictate either increased potassium supply or more efficient use of potassium. Developing plants that more efficiently use potassium might be a worthwhile goal for geneticists.     

Energy crop and biotechnology for biofuel production

Selection of energy crops is the first priority for large-scale biofuel production in China.As a major topic, it was extensively discussed in the Second International Symposium on Bioenergy and Biotechnology, held from October 16-19(th), 2010 in Huazhong Agricultural University(HZAU), Wuhan, China, with more than one hundred registered participants(Figure 1).     

Managing water resources for crop production

Increasing crop production to meet the food requirements of the world''s growing population will put great pressure on global water resources. Given that the vast freshwater resources that are available in the world are far from fully exploited, globally there should be sufficient water for future agricultural requirements. However, there are large areas where low water supply and high human demand may lead to regional shortages of water for future food production. In these arid and semi-arid areas, where water is a major constraint on production, improving water resource management is crucial if Malthusian disasters are to be avoided. There is considerable scope for improvement, since in both dryland and irrigated agriculture only about one-third of the available water (as rainfall, surface, or groundwater) is used to grow useful plants. This paper illustrates a range of techniques that could lead to increased crop production by improving agricultural water use efficiency. This may be achieved by increasing the total amount of water available to plants or by increasing the efficiency with which that water is used to produce biomass. Although the crash from the Malthusian precipice may ultimately be inevitable if population growth is not addressed, the time taken to reach the edge of the precipice could be lengthened by more efficient use of existing water resources. <br>     

Harnessing atmospheric nitrogen for cereal crop production

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The significance of magnesium for crop quality

Background

The quality of agricultural and horticultural products and its modulation by fertilization has increasingly received attention. However, whereas the importance of magnesium (Mg) as an essential plant nutrient is well established, the impact of Mg nutrition on quality parameters has only been rarely addressed.

Scope

This review aims at evaluating the available knowledge on the influence of Mg on produce quality. A short discussion on the term quality as used in this review is followed by an overview of the various functions of Mg in plant metabolism in relation to quality aspects. Finally, the available literature on Mg-associated effects on crop quality is critically surveyed. The question whether Mg application beyond yield optimum further improves crop quality is specifically addressed.

Conclusion

Increasing Mg supply on Mg-deficient sites tends to increase the quality of agricultural crops, particularly when the formation of quality traits is dependent on Mg-driven photosynthesis and assimilate translocation within the plant. In fruits and vegetables, ratios of Mg to other nutrients like Ca and K were shown to be a more reliable indicator of the quality response than the Mg status alone. Moreover, it is concluded that Mg doses beyond those required for maximum yield rarely induce a further improvement of produce quality.     

Natural genetic variation for improving crop quality

The narrow genetic basis of many crops combined with restrictions on the commercial use of genetically modified plants, has led to a surge of interest in exploring natural biodiversity as a source of novel alleles to improve the productivity, adaptation, quality and nutritional value of crops. Genetic methodologies have been applied to natural variation to improve quality aspects that are associated with the chemical composition of agricultural products. A future challenge in this emerging field is to integrate metabolic, phenotypic and genomic databases to allow a wider view of the plant metabolome and the application of this knowledge within genomics-assisted breeding.     

作物产量的模拟模型

产量模拟模型研究的重点是作物产量与生态因子间的关系。根据农业生态系统中限定产量的主要生态因子不同, 可将作物生产划为不同的生产水平, 并建立相应的生产力模型。各生态因子对预测不同范围的生产力都有其固有的适用性。动态模型是在长期定位观测基础上建立的, 空间变异模型用于农田产量预测, 宏观统计模型则用于区域性产量预测。本文在简要评述各类产量模型及其应用后, 提出了对产量模拟模型研究发展的看法。     

Nutrient resources for crop production in the tropics

For the foreseeable future a majority of the population, and almost all the mal- and under-nourished, will continue to be found in the tropics and subtropics. Food security in these parts of the world will have to be met largely from local resources. The productivity of the land is to a large extent determined by the fertlity of the soil, which in turn is mostly determined by its organic matter content and stored nutrients. Soil organic matter is readily lost when organic matter inputs are reduced upon cultivation and more so upon intensification. The concomitant loss of topsoil and possible exposure of subsoil acidity may cause further soil degradation.<br>Plant nutrients to replenish what is yearly taken from the soil to meet the demands for food and fibre amount to 230 million tonnes (Mt). Current fertilizer consumption stands at about 130 Mt of N, P₂O₅,and K₂O, supplemented by an estimated 90 Mt of N from biological nitrogen fixation worldwide. Although 80 per cent of the population lives in the developing world, only half the world''s fertilizer is consumed there. Yet, as much as 50% of the increase in agricultural productivity in the developing world is due to the adoption of fertilizers. World population growth will cause a doubling in these nutrients requirements for the developing world by 2020, which, in the likely case of inadequate production, will need to be met from soil reserves. Because expansion of the cultivable land area is reaching its limits, the reliance on nutrient inputs and their efficient use is bound to grow.<br>With current urban expansion, nutrients in harvested products are increasingly lost from the rural environment as a whole. Estimates of soil nutrient depletion rates for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are alarmingly high. The situation may be more favourable in Latin America and Asia where fertilizer inputs are tenfold those of SSA. Closing the nutrient cycle at a community level in rural areas may be tedious; on an inter-regional level it is associated with considerable costs of collection, detoxification and transportation to the farms. Yet, at the rate at which some of the non-renewable resources such as phosphorus and potassium are being exploited, recycling of these nutrients will soon be required. <br>     

An understanding of the role of seed physiology for better crop productivity and food security

Plant Growth Regulation -     

Use of olive mill wastewater compost for crop production

Vast amounts of olive mill wastewaters (OMW) are produced in Mediterranean countries, where their treatment and disposal are becoming a serious environmental problem. Increasing attention has been paid to discovering a use for OMW and a wide range of technological treatments are available nowadays for reducing their pollutant effects and for their transformation into valuable products, the most suitable procedures being found to involve recycling rather than the detoxication of these wastes. Direct application of OMW to soil has been considered as an inexpensive method of disposal and recovery of their mineral and organic components but, because of their organic acid and phenol contents, OMW are also a source of pollution. By using composting technologies, it is possible to transform either fresh OMW or sludge from pond-stored OMW mixed with appropriate plant waste waterials (carriers) into organic fertilizers (composts) with no phytotoxicity to improve soil fertility and plant production, the process involving the microbial degradation of the polluting load of the wastes. Results of field and pot experiments using OMW-composts to cultivate horticultural and other crops have shown that yields obtained with organic fertilization are similar, and sometimes higher, to those obtained with a balanced mineral fertilizer. A comparison between the macro and micronutrient contents of plants cultivated with organic or mineral fertilizers did not generally reveal important differences. However, the cases of iron and manganese are worth mentioning as their bio-availability may be linked to the soil humic complexes originated by the OMW organic fertilizers.     

Rhizosphere engineering for sustainable crop production: entropy-based insights

There is a growing interest in exploring interactions at root–soil interface in natural and agricultural ecosystems, but an entropy-based understanding of these dynamic rhizosphere processes is lacking. We have developed a new conceptual model of rhizosphere regulation by localized nutrient supply using thermodynamic entropy. Increased nutrient-use efficiency is achieved by rhizosphere management based on self-organization and minimized entropy via equilibrium attractors comprising (i) optimized root strategies for nutrient acquisition and (ii) improved information exchange related to root–soil–microbe interactions. The cascading effects through different hierarchical levels amplify the underlying processes in plant–soil system. We propose a strategy for manipulating rhizosphere dynamics and improving nutrient-use efficiency by localized nutrient supply with minimization of entropy to underpin sustainable food/feed/fiber production.