Mute swan grazing on winter crops: estimation of yield loss in oilseed rape and wheat

Yield loss due to grazing by mute swans was measured on two fields each of autumn-sown oilseed rape and winter wheat, located in three regions of the UK. Using a paired plot design, a 33.7% reduction in yield (total dry weight of seed) and a 12.1% reduction in the thousand-seed weight was measured in the rape field subjected to the highest grazing intensity. No significant yield loss was measured in the other three fields. Yield loss was related to: (i) the timing of the onset of grazing, and (ii) the duration of grazing (both estimated from counts of mute swan droppings). Management measures which delay the onset of grazing and/or reduce the duration of grazing are therefore likely to reduce yield loss.     

The value of catch crops and organic manures for spring barley in organic arable farming

The effect of nitrogen (N) supply and weeds on grain yield of spring barley was investigated from 1997 to 2004 in an organic farming crop rotation experiment in Denmark on three different soil types varying from coarse sand to sandy loam. Two experimental factors were included in the experiment in a factorial design: (1) catch crop (with and without), and (2) manure (with and without). The crop rotation included grass-clover as a green manure crop. Animal manure was applied as slurry in rates corresponding to 40% of the N demand of the cereal crops.

Application of 50 kg NH₄-N ha⁻¹ in manure (slurry) increased average barley grain DM yield by 1.0–1.3 Mg DM ha⁻¹, whereas the use of catch crops (primarily perennial ryegrass) increased grain DM yield by 0.2–0.4 Mg DM ha⁻¹ with the smallest effect on the loamy sand and sandy loam soils and the greatest effect on the coarse sandy soil. Model estimations showed that the average yield reduction from weeds varied from 0.2 to 0.4 Mg DM ha⁻¹ depending on weed species and density. The yield effects of N supply were more predictable and less variable than the effects of weed infestation. The infestation level of leaf diseases was low and not a significant source of yield variation.

The apparent recovery efficiency of N in grains (N use efficiency, NUE) from NH₄-N in applied manure varied from 29 to 38%. The NUE of above-ground N in catch crops sampled in November prior to the spring barley varied from 16 to 52% with the largest value on the coarse sandy soil and the smallest value on the sandy loam soil. A comparison of grain yield levels obtained at the different locations with changes in soil organic matter indicated a NUE of 21–26% for soil N mineralisation, which is smaller than that for the mineral N applied in manure. However, this estimate is uncertain and further studies are needed to quantify differences in NUE from various sources of N.

The proportion of perennial weeds in total biomass increased during the experiment, particularly in treatments without manure application. The results show that manure application is a key factor in maintaining good crop yields in arable organic farming on sandy soils, and in securing crops that are sufficiently competitive against perennial weeds.     

不同作物茬口对冬油菜养分积累和产量的影响

为探究关中平原地区不同作物茬口对冬油菜养分积累和产量的影响,通过两年田间试验,研究分析不同茬口,包括休闲茬口(FW)、大豆茬口(SW)、毛苕子茬口(HW)和玉米茬口(MW)对冬油菜土壤养分含量、地上部干物质积累、分配和氮磷养分吸收积累、产量构成因素以及产量的影响,筛选冬油菜生产适宜的前茬作物,为加强冬油菜生产,提高土地...     

Interactions between crop biomass and development of foliar diseases in winter wheat and the potential to graduate the fungicide dose according to crop biomass

Foliar pathogens such as Zymoseptoria tritici and Puccinia striiformis causing septoria leaf blotch and yellow rust respectively can cause serious yield reduction in winter wheat production, and control of the diseases often requires several fungicide applications during the growing season. Control is typically carried out using a constant fungicide dose in the entire field although there may be large differences in crop development and biomass across the field. The objective of the study reported in this paper was to test whether the fungicide dose response curve controlling septoria leaf blotch and other foliar diseases in winter wheat was dependent on crop development and biomass level. If such a biomass dependent dose response was found it was further the purpose to evaluate the potential to optimize fungicide inputs in winter wheat crops applying a site-specific crop density dependent fungicide dose. The study was carried out investigating fungicide dose response controlling foliar diseases in winter wheat at three biomass densities obtained growing the crop at three nitrogen levels and using variable seed rates. Further the field experiments included three fungicide dose rates at each biomass level, an untreated control, and 75%, 50% and 33% of the recommended fungicide dose rate and the experiments were replicated for three years. Crop biomass had a significant influence on occurrence of septoria and yellow rust with greater disease severity at increasing crop biomass. In two of three years, the interaction of crop biomass and fungicide dose rate had a significant influence on disease severity indicating a biomass-dependent dose response. The interaction occurred in the two years with high yield potential in combination with severe disease attack. If the variation in crop density and biomass level obtained in the study is representative of the variation found cultivating winter wheat in heterogeneous fields, then there seems to be scope for optimizing fungicide input against foliar diseases site-specific adapting the dose according to crop density/biomass.     

Fungicide treatments affect yield and moisture content of grain and straw in winter wheat

Straw and grain yield and water content in both grain and straw were measured during 3 years in 17 varieties of winter wheat following treatments with different fungicides. The water content of the straw varied significantly dependent on year, variety and fungicide treatment. In 1998, the water content in straw was significantly higher after the use of strobilurins compared with untreated and EBI fungicides (ergosterol biosyntesis inhibitors). On average water content in 10 varieties increased from 15% in untreated to 31% after applying two full dosages of azoxystrobin. In 1999 and 2000, lower dosages of azoxystrobin were used and water content increased only by 2–4 percentage units. The results indicate that in some years and with high doses precaution has to be taken following the use of strobilurins regarding handling and removing of the straw, which likely will include postponement of baling. Water content in grain was also increased significantly from fungicide treatments, but the increase was minor and at the maximum increase found to be 1.1% percentage unit. The effect of fungicide input on water content in grain was reduced much faster during the ripening period than for water content in straw. Fungicide treatments and varieties significantly influenced straw yields. The yield increases in straw varied between 0 and 1.0 tonnes/ha depending on year and variety, and was on average 0.42 tonnes/ha for two fungicide treatments. Two fungicide applications carried out at GS 31 and 45–55 gave only slightly higher increases compared with one application around ear emergence. Varieties showed variable increases following the use of fungicides. The variation was not influenced by the straw length (crop height). The increases in straw yield from fungicide treatments were relatively low compared to the increases in grain yield and no clear correlation was found between grain yield increases and straw yield increases.     

Effect of water deficits on within-plot variability in growth and grain yield of spring wheat in northwest China

For adapted cultivars under normal crop densities, biological yield is largely determined by the pool of available resources, e.g. water, nutrients and photosynthetically active radiation, while the nature and intensity of intraspecific competition plays an important role in determining the magnitude of harvest index (HI). Water deficits can drastically reduce the HI from its genetic potential to zero. This study was conducted to determine the effect of drought-weighted intraspecific competition on the HI and, consequently, the grain yield in spring wheat populations along a natural moisture gradient in northwestern China. Along the natural moisture gradient (annual mean rainfall decreased 328→204→185 mm per year, supplemented with 70 mm of irrigation), culm size inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient of above-ground biomass per culm) always increased, and Lorenz curves were more concave. HI decreased significantly in 1999 (0.364→0.345→0.307) and 2000 (0.341→0.303→0.251). There was a significant negative correlation between the Gini coefficient and the HI of spring wheat along the moisture gradient (R²=0.92, P<0.01). These results suggested that size hierarchies in spring wheat populations are closely correlated with the water regime in the field, and that under greater drought stress there are relatively more smaller plants with lower HI (size-dependent reproductive allocation). Size inequality is an index of competitive status in plant populations under stress environments. Agriculturally, greater size inequality may result in a competitive cost for energy and photosynthetic products, in other words, growth redundancy, which is detrimental to reproductive allocation and consequently, grain yield. The results support the view that stand uniformity in field crops is an important mechanism for increasing grain yield.     

Effects of genetic improvements on grain yield and agronomic traits of winter wheat in the Yangtze River Basin of China

Wheat is an important food crop worldwide. Genetic improvements have contributed much to wheat production since the 1960s. Verifying the evolution of agronomic traits and the physiological basis of grain yield will facilitate breeders and agronomists in developing new wheat cultivars, with the aim of stable and high yields. Thirty-five wheat cultivars, bred or widely planted in the Yangtze River Basin from 1950 to 2005, were grown in field experiments under three N rates (0, 112.5, and 225 kg N ha⁻¹) from 2006 to 2009 in Nanjing, China. Wheat grain yield, kernels per spike, 1000-kernel weight (TKW), and harvest index (HI) increased linearly with cultivar development from the 1950s to the 2000s, whereas spikes per unit land decreased significantly with cultivar development during the same period, and stabilized with further genetic improvements in cultivars. Grain yield, kernels per spike, and TKW differed with N rate and with cultivar. Grain yield, spikes per unit land, and kernels per spike increased significantly with increasing N fertilizer, but TKW and HI decreased. Cultivar height decreased with cultivar development from the 1950s to the 1980s, and remained relatively stable in subsequent cultivars. The proportion of the length of the top internode to total plant height increased with cultivar development from the 1950s to the 1980s and thereafter fell, while the length of the basal internode (BI) maintained a shortening trend. Leaf area per culm, leaf area index (LAI), net photosynthetic rate (Pn), and photosynthetic activity duration (PAD) of the flag leaf increased with cultivar development. Leaf area, LAI, and Pn increased significantly with increasing N fertilizer, while PAD did not. Single spike yield increased linearly with genetic development in cultivars, and these increases mainly resulted from increasing kernel number and weight, which were closely related to source size and cultivar. Grain yield was positively correlated to leaf area, LAI, Pn_Max, PAD, and single spike yield; single spike yield was positively correlated to leaf area, LAI, Pn_Max, and PAD, suggesting that grain yield improvements were mainly associated with improvements in the source (leaf area, LAI, Pn, PAD, etc.) and sink (single spike yield). Sink-source ratios increased with genetic development of cultivars, suggesting that productivity per leaf improved and that sink-source relationships have reached close to optimum in the Yangtze River Basin. Furthermore, breeding for high yield should be related to improvement in kernels per spike and TKW per unit land and increased sink-source ratios with a feasible LAI, and N fertilizer management should be considered during breeding for higher yields.     

The effect of tillage practice,input level and environment on the grain yield of winter wheat in the Czech Republic

The response of winter wheat grain yield to four variants of treatment (two input levels, combined with either conventional or reduced tillage) was tested over six seasons at three locations. These experiments with 10 and 12 winter wheat varieties were analysed within three experimental series. The environmental (location and season) effects on grain yield were large in all combinations of input level and tillage type, and the varieties responded differentially to both season and location. However, there was no varietal response either to the tillage system used, or to the level of nitrogen (and other inputs) supplied. The high input reduced tillage system (surface stubble-ploughing to a depth of 8–10 cm) resulted in all series in significantly higher grain yields than the equivalent conventional tillage system. The reduced tillage system combined with high input level delivered a yield advantage for all of the wheat varieties tested.     

Optimal numbers of environments to assess slopes of joint regression for grain yield,grain protein yield and grain protein concentration under nitrogen constraint in winter wheat

Plant breeders are interested in rationally reducing the number of testing environments for breeding new genotypes adapted to diverse conditions. One way to characterize the adaptation of a genotype is to use the joint regression model. Our objectives were to estimate the stability for grain yield (GY), grain protein yield (GPY) and grain protein content (GPC) of a set of wheat genotypes grown under varying nitrogen conditions and then to determine optimal numbers of environments for assessing the slopes of joint regression.     

Effect of water saving management practices and nitrogen fertilizer rate on crop yield and water use efficiency in a winter wheat–summer maize cropping system

Deficit irrigation (DI) is a water-saving irrigation strategy in which irrigation water is applied at amounts less than full crop-water requirements. Some researchers have suggested that greater increases in water use efficiency (WUE) could be realized if DI was used in combination with water conservation or rainwater harvesting techniques. The objective of this six-year field study was to determine the effect of DI in combination with straw mulch (SM) or plastic film-mulched ridge and straw-mulched furrows (RF) on grain yield and WUE in a winter wheat-summer maize rotation. Interactive effects between the water-saving management practices and N fertilizer rate were also investigated. Results indicated that maize yields in the RF + DI and SM + DI treatments were as much as 1.6 times those in the DI and conventional furrow irrigation (CFI) treatments. Over the six-year study, total maize yield in the RF + DI treatment was 5580 kg/ha more than in the CFI treatment and 6500 kg/ha more than in the DI treatment. Wheat yields in the RF + DI and SM + DI treatments were similar to the CFI treatment but slightly more than in the DI treatment. At harvest, there was no significant difference in water storage in the 0-200 cm soil profile among the RF + DI, SM + DI, DI, and CFI treatments. Nitrogen fertilizer application significantly increased maize and wheat yield compared to the unfertilized treatment; however, there was no further yield response when the N application rate exceeded 120 kg N/ha. In summary, these results indicated that DI in combination with SM or RF practices increased crop yield and WUE in the winter wheat-summer maize crop rotation. Compared to CFI practices, the SM + DI and RF + DI practices reduced the amount of irrigation water applied over a six-year period by about 350 mm.     

Influence of the cultivar,environment and management on the grain yield and bread-making quality in winter wheat

The genotype, environment and their interaction play an important role in the grain yielding and grain quality attributes. The main aim of this study was to determine the contributions of the genotype, environment and their interaction to the variation in bread-making traits. The data that were used for the analyses performed in this study were obtained from 3 locations in Poland from post-registration multi-environment trials with winter wheat in 2009 and 2010. The experimental factors were the cultivar (7 cultivars) and the crop management level (low input and high input). In the multi-environment trials, 17 traits were investigated that characterize grain, flour and dough quality. Most of the traits were affected much more strongly by environmental factors (i.e., year and location) than by genotype. The variance components revealed an especially strong effect of the year on the baking score, loaf volume and water absorption, as well a strong effect of the location on dough development and protein content. The obtained results demonstrate that the grain quality as measured by the parameters based on the protein content and quality may be substantially improved by crop management practices, especially by N fertilization level.