Remote sensing for agricultural applications

<正>Agricultural geospatial information is critical for agricultural policy formulation and decision making,land use monitoring,agricultural sustainability,crop acreage and yield estimation,disaster assessment,bioenergy crop inventory,food security policy,environmental assessment,carbon accounting,and other research topics that are of vital importance to agriculture and economy.Remote sensing technology enables us     

Use of Human Excreta as Manure in Rural China

Empirical research has shown that the use of manure significantly improves crop yield, soil fertility and water and moisture conservation. Despite these documented benefits, however, there is a concern on the downward trend of manure use in agriculture in China. This paper examines factors contributing to this downward trend, with a particular focus on human excreta used in agriculture. Empirical analysis based on data from stratified random sampling of rural households in five provinces of China shows that about 85% of human excreta was still used as manure in agriculture in 2007 which was less than a decade ago when nearly all human excreta was used as manure. Econometric results suggest that income growth, rising population density and improvement in rural transportation significantly contribute to declining use of human excreta as manure in agriculture. These results imply that the current downward trend will continue given China＇s rising economic growth, urbanization and rural infrastructural improvement.     

Estimating light interception using the color attributes of digital images of cotton canopies

Crop growth and yield depend on canopy light interception(LI). To identify a low-cost and relatively efficient index for measuring LI, several color attributes of red-green-blue(RGB), hue-saturation-intensity(HSI), hue-saturation-value(HSV) color models and the component values of color attributes in the RGB color model were investigated using digital images at six cotton plant population densities in 2012–2014. The results showed that the LI values followed downward quadratic curves after planting. The red(R), green(G) and blue(B) values varied greatly over the years, in accordance with Cai's research demonstrating that the RGB model is affected by outside light. Quadratic curves were fit to these color attributes at six plant population densities. Additionally, linear regressions of LI on every color attribute revealed that the hue(H) values in HSI and HSV were significantly linearly correlated with LI with a determination coefficient(R2)≥0.89 and a root mean square error(RMSE)=0.05. Thus, the H values in the HSI and HSV models could be used to measure LI, and this hypothesis was validated. The H values are new indexes for quantitatively estimating the LI of heterogeneous crop canopies, which will provide a theoretical basis for optimizing the crop canopy structure. However, further research should be conducted in other crops and under other growing and environmental conditions to verify this finding.     

Climate Change Modelling and Its Roles to Chinese Crops Yield

Climate has been changing in the last fifty years in China and will continue to change regardless any efforts for mitigation.Agriculture is a climate-dependent activity and highly sensitive to climate changes and climate variability.Understanding the interactions between climate change and agricultural production is essential for society stable development of China.The first mission is to fully understand how to predict future climate and link it with agriculture production system.In this paper,recent studies both domestic and international are reviewed in order to provide an overall image of the progress in climate change researches.The methods for climate change scenarios construction are introduced.The pivotal techniques linking crop model and climate models are systematically assessed and climate change impacts on Chinese crops yield among model results are summarized.The study found that simulated productions of grain crop inherit uncertainty from using different climate models,emission scenarios and the crops simulation models.Moreover,studies have different spatial resolutions,and methods for general circulation model(GCM) downscaling which increase the uncertainty for regional impacts assessment.However,the magnitude of change in crop production due to climate change(at 700 ppm CO2 eq correct) appears within ±10% for China in these assessments.In most literatures,the three cereal crop yields showed decline under climate change scenarios and only wheat in some region showed increase.Finally,the paper points out several gaps in current researches which need more studies to shorten the distance for objective recognizing the impacts of climate change on crops.The uncertainty for crop yield projection is associated with climate change scenarios,CO2 fertilization effects and adaptation options.Therefore,more studies on the fields such as free air CO 2 enrichment experiment and practical adaptations implemented need to be carried out.     

Estimating Aboveground Fresh Biomass of Different Cotton Canopy Types with Homogeneity Models Based on Hyper Spectrum Parameters

AGB （aboveground fresh biomass） is one of the most important parameters of the crop condition monitored with remote sensing. Hyper spectrum remote sensing with the fine spectrum information becomes the efficient method estimating the vegetation AGB. The research was conducted in Xinjiang, the largest cotton planting region of China. The paper analyzed the correlation between the cotton AGB and reflective spectrum and the first derivative spectrum, and the variation coefficient of the waveband reflectance. According to the analysis above, all of 23 parameters, including the hyper spectrum reflectance, the first derivative spectrum parameters and normalization vegetation indexes, were established. And then the estimation models on cotton AGB of relaxing and compact canopy type were established and tested respectively. The tested results showed that Fgo1, [901,502], [901,629], [901,672] among the reflective spectral parameters and D525, D956, D1019, D1751 among the first derivative spectral parameters had the homogenous effect on different cotton canopy types, and the determination coefficients of the models above all arrive at the significant level of 0.99 confidence interval. At last, the tested results of the homogeneity models for different canopy types indicated the parameters of [901, 502], [901,629], [901,672] have more satisfying veracity than others, and the relative errors are as low as 17.0, 16.3 and 16.7% correspondingly; in contrast, the estimation veracity of the first derivative spectrum parameters of single waveband is low.     

Study on Rice Yield Estimation Model Based on Quantile Regression

An airborne multi-spectral camera was used in this study to estimate rice yields.The experimental data were achieved by obtaining a multi-spectral image of the rice canopy in an experimental field throughout the jointing stage (July,2017) and extracting five vegetation indices.Vegetation indices and rice growth parameter data were compared and analyzed.Effective predictors were screened by using significance analysis and quantile and ordinary least square (OLS) regression models estimating rice yields were constructed.The results showed that a quantile regression model based on normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) and rice yields performed was best for τ=0.7 quantile.Thus,NDVI was determined as an effective variable for the rice yield estimation during the jointing stage.The accuracy of the quantile regression estimation model was then assessed using RMES and MAPE test indicators.The yields by this approach had better results than those of an OLS regression estimation model and showed that quantile regression had practical applications and research significance in rice yields estimation.     

CFD Based Study of Heterogeneous Microclimate in a Typical Chinese Greenhouse in Central China

Indoor microclimate is important for crop production and quality in greenhouse cultivation.This paper focuses on microclimate study based on a computational fluid dynamics(CFD) model of a typical plastic greenhouse(with a sector shape vertical cross-section) popularly used in central China.A radiation model is added into the CFD model so as to simulate coupling of convective transfers and radiative exchanges at the cover and the roof,instead of using the usual coupling approach based on energy balance.In addition,a fractal permeability model is innovatively adopted in the modeling of the crop canopy.Compared the numerical results with measured experimental data,the model simulation is proved with success.This model then is used to explore the microclimate variable distributions in the greenhouse.It shows that the airflow pattern,temperature and humidity profiles are different from those in a sawtooth Mediterraneantype greenhouse.The study suggests that this deliberately developed CFD model can be served as a useful tool in macroclimate research and greenhouse design investigating.     

Development of a Vehicle-Mounted Crop Detection System

In order to monitor plant chlorophyll content in real-time, a new vehicle-mounted detection system was developed to measure crop canopy spectral characteristics. It was designed to work as a wireless sensor network with one control unit and one measuring unit. The control unit included a personal digital assistant （PDA） device with a ZigBee wireless network coordinator. As the coordinator of the whole wireless network, the control unit was used to receive, display and store all the data sent from sensor nodes. The measuring unit consisted of several optical sensor nodes. All the sensor nodes were mounted on an on-board mechanical structure so that the measuring unit could collect the canopy spectral data while moving. Each sensor node contained four optical channels to measure the light radiation at the wavebands of 550, 650, 766, and 850 nm. The calibration tests veriifed a good performance in terms of the wireless transmission ability and the sensor measurement precision. Both stationary and moving ifeld experiments were also conducted in a winter wheat experimental ifeld. There was a high correlation between chlorophyll content and vegetation index, and several estimation models of the chlorophyll content were established. The highest R2 of the estimation models was 0.718. The results showed that the vehicle-mounted crop detection system has potential for ifeld application.     

Crop Insurance,Premium Subsidy and Agricultural Output

This paper studied the effects of crop insurance on agricultural output with an economic growth model. Based on Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans （RCK） model, a basic model of agriculture economic growth was developed. Extending the basic model to incorporate uncertainty and insurance mechanism, a risk model and a risk-insurance model were built to study the inlfuences of risk and crop insurance on agricultural output. Compared with the steady states of the three models, the following results are achieved：（i） agricultural output decreases if we introduce uncertainty into the risk-free model;（ii） crop insurance promotes agriculture economic growth if insurance mechanism is introduced into the risk model;（iii） premium subsidy constantly improves agricultural output. Our contribution is that we studied the effects of crop insurance and premium subsidy from the perspective of economic growth in a dynamic framework, and proved the output promotion of crop insurance theoretically.     

Contribution of Drought to Potential Crop Yield Reduction in a Wheat-Maize Rotation Region in the North China Plain

With consecutive occurrences of drought disasters in China in recent years, it is important to estimate their potential impacts on regional crop production. In this study, we detect the impacts of drought on wheat and maize yield and their changes at a 0.5＆#176;＆#215;0.5＆#176; grid scale in the wheat-maize rotation planting area in the North China Plain under the A1B climate change scenario using the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer （DSSAT） model and the outputs of the regional climate modeling system-Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies （PRECIS）. Self-calibrating palmer drought severity index was used as drought recognition indicator. Two time slices used for the study were the baseline （1961-1990） and 40 years of 2011-2050. The results indicate that the potential planting region for double crop system of wheat-maize would expend northward. The statistic conclusions of crop simulations varied considerably between wheat and maize. In disaster-affected seasons, wheat yield would increase in the future compared with baseline yields, whereas in opposite for maize yield. Potential crop yield reductions caused by drought would be lower for wheat and higher for maize, with a similar trend found for the ratio of potential crop yield reductions for both crops. It appears that the negative impact of drought on maize was larger than that on wheat under climate change A1B scenario.     

Strategies and Suggestions for the Development of Mechanized Rapeseed Production in Sichuan

Mechanization is the future direction of rapeseed production in Sichuan. A series of technology tests for rapeseed mechanized production have been carried out in terms of variety selection, key agronomic measures and machinery in the main production area of Sichuan in recent years. In the research, the agronomic techniques, including variety selection for mechanical production, key agronomic measures and mechanical harvesting were analyzed. Based on the present condi- tions, strategy and suggestions for the development of mechanized rapeseed produc- tion in Sichuan also were presented.     

Levels of Germinable Seed in Topsoil and Yak Dung on an Alpine Meadow on the North-East Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

In order to clarify the interactive mechanism between grazing yak and alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,our study assessed seed density（by species） in the topsoil of alpine meadow with different grazing intensities in the Tianzhu area,north-eastern margins of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and their rates of occurrence in yak dung.Seed density in the topsoil of the lightly grazed,moderately grazed,heavily grazed and extremely grazed alpine meadows in November,2010 were 1 551,1 692,2 660 and 1 830 grains m-2,while in the same meadows in April,2011 densities were 1 530,2 404,2 530 and 2 692 grains m-2,respectively.In the cold season pasture,mean seed density in yak dung from November to April in the lightly grazed,moderately grazed,heavily grazed and extremely grazed sites were 121,127,187,and 120 grains kg-1of dry yak dung.The proportion of total seed numbers in yak dung to soil seed bank in lightly grazed,moderately grazed,heavily grazed and extremely grazed alpine meadow was 1.40,2.62,0.69,and 0.90%.12 species out of the 47 were not found in topsoil but were found in yak dung,10 species out of 45 were not found in yak dung but were found in the topsoil.Endozoochorous dispersal by yaks is therefore very important for soil seed bank and plant biodiversity and population dynamics in alpine meadows.     

Yeast-Derived β-1,3-Glucan Substrate Significantly Increased the Diversity of Methanogens During In vitro Fermentation of Porcine Colonic Digesta

The β-1,3-glucan from yeast has been extensively examined for its immuno-enhancing effects in animals.However,investigation on the relationship among β-glucan,gut microbiota and immune-modulating effects remains limited particularly in pigs.Considering the critical roles of gut methanogens in the microbial fermentation,energy metabolism and disease resistance,we investigated the phylogenetic diversity of methanogens from fermented cultures of porcine colonic digesta with（G） or without（N） yeast β-glucan based on sequences of the archaeal 16S rRNA gene.A total of 145 sequences in the G library were assigned into 8 operational taxonomic units（OTUs） with the majority of sequences（114/145） related to strains Methanobrevibacter millerae or Methanobrevibacter gottschalkii with high identities ranging from 97.9 to 98.6%,followed by 23 sequences to Methanobrevibacter ruminantium,2 sequences to Methanobrevibacter smithii and one sequence to Methanobrevibacter wolinii.The 142 sequences in the N library were assigned to 2 OTUs with most sequences（127/142） related to strains M.millerae or M.gottschalkii with sequence identities ranging from 97.9 to 98.5%,and 15 sequences related to M.gottschalkii with 97.9% identity.Shannon diversity index showed that the G library exhibited significantly higher archaeal diversity（P0.05） and Libshuff analysis indicated the differences in the community structure between the two libraries were significant（P0.0001）.In conclusion,the current study provides evidence that addition of yeast β-glucan significantly increased the diversity of methanogens in in vitro fermented porcine colonic digesta.     

Influences of Cold Storage at 5℃ for Different Durations on Oviposition of Female Silkworm Moths

In order to investigate the resistance of female silkworm moths to cold storage and their copulation and oviposition after cold storage, copulation and ovipo- sition experiments of Liangguang 2 silkworms and Guican 1 female silkworm moths were conduced under cold storage at 5 ~C for different durations. The results indi- cated that, after cold storage at 5 ~C with relative humidity of 75%, the resistance of female silkworm moths to cold storage varied with different varieties; to be specific, 9-Fu and 7.Xiang, parent silkworm varieties of Liangguang 2 with ancestry of mul- tivoltinism, were relatively resistant to cold storage, and their copulation capability was still at a high level after cold storage for 72 h. Oviposition capability also varied with different varieties and durations; to be specific, under 5 ~C conditions, between two parent silkworm varieties of Liangguang 2, female silkworm moths of 9-Fu achieved the best results within cold storage duration of 24 h, female silkworm moths of 7.Xiang achieved the best results within cold storage duration of 72 h; be- tween two parent silkworm varieties of Guican 1, female silkworm moths of Xinhang achieved the best results without cold storage, female silkworm moths of 826 achieved the best results within cold storage duration of 48 h.     

Effects of Grafting on Root Exudates of Cucumber and Rhizosphere Environment under Copper Stress

[Objective] This study to aimed to investigate the effects of Cu stress on root exudates and microbial activities in rhizosphere of grafted and ungrafted cucum-ber seedlings, and therefore to elucidate the microbial mechanism of grafting for in-creasing cucumber plants tolerance to Cu stress [Method] Four treatments： （1） un-grafted seedlings ＋ test soil （U0）; （2） ungrafted seedlings ＋ test soil ＋ CuSO4·5H2O （U1）; （3） grafted seedlings ＋ test soil （G0）; （4） grafted seedlings ＋ test soil ＋ Cu-SO4·5H2O （G1） were set in the pot culture experiment. The contents of free amino acids, organic acids, phenolic acid and sugars, microbial population and enzyme ac-tivity in the four treatment were measured, respectively. [Result] The secretion of amino acids and organic acids were increased under Cu stress. The amino acids secretions of grafted seedlings roots were obviously higher than ungrafted seedlings except for Phe and Val. At the same time, the secretion of oxalic acid, malic acid, acetic acid, citric acid, cinnamic acid, ρ-hydroxybenzoic acid and benzoic acid of grafted seedlings were significantly higher than ungrafted seedlings as wel . There-fore, more Cu2＋ were restricted in soil by chelating, complexing and precipitation with root exudates, and its toxicity was decreased. The soil microbial biomass C and N in grafted cucumber rhizosphere were significantly higher than those in ungrafted cu-cumber rhizosphere, whereas basal respiration and metabolic quotient were signifi-cantly lower. Under Cu stress, the numbers of actinomyces and nitrogen fixing bac-teria decreased and the number of fungi increased significantly, whereas there was no significant difference in amounts of bacteria. The numbers of bacteria, actino-myces, and nitrogen fixing bacteria in grafted cucumber rhizosphere were significant-ly higher than those in ungrafted cucumber rhizosphere, but the number of fungi was opposite. The activities of soil urease, phosphatase, sucrase and catalase in grafted cucumber rhizosphere were significantly higher than those in ungrafted cu-cumber rhizosphere. [Conclusion] These indicated that the soil microbial environment and soil enzymes activities were improved by grafting under Cu stress, and as a re-sult, the adaptability of cucumber to Cu stress was improved.     

^15N Isotope Techniques for Estimating Effects of Urea-N Fertilizer Application Rate on Yields and Nutrient Contents of Pakchoi Cabbage and Asparagus Lettuce and Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency

A pot experiment combined with^15N isotope techniques was conducted to evaluate effects of the varying rates of urea-N fertilizer application on yields,quality,and nitrogen use efficiency （NUE） of pakchoi cabbage （Brassica chinensis L.） and asparagus lettuce （Lactuca saiva L.）.^15N-labbled urea （5.3515N atom %） was added to pots with 6.5 kg soil of 0.14,0.18,0.21,0.25,and 0.29 g N/kg soil,and applied in two splits：60 percent as basal dressing in the mixture and 40 percent as topdressing.The fresh yields of two vegetable species increased with the increasing input of urea-N,but there was a significant quadratic relationship between the dose of urea-N fertilizer application and the fresh yields.When the dosage of urea-N fertilizer reached a certain value,nitrate readily accumulated in the two kinds of plants due to the decrease in NR activity; furthermore,there was a linear negative correlation between nitrate content and NR activity.With the increasing input of urea-N,ascorbic acid and soluble sugar initially increased,declined after a while,and crude fiber rapidly decreased too.Total absorbed N （TAN）,N derived from fertilizer （Ndff）,and N derived from soil （Ndfs） increased,and the ratio of Ndff and TAN also increased,but the ratio of Ndfs and TAN as well as NUE of urea-N fertilizer decreased with the increasing input of urea-N.These results suggested that the increasing application of labeled N fertilizer led to the increase in unlabeled N （namely,Ndfs） presumably due to ＂added nitrogen interaction＂ （ANI）,the decease in NUE of urea-N fertilizer may be due to excess fertilization beyond the levels of plant requirements and the ANI,and the decrease in the two vegetable yields with the increasing addition of urea-N possibly because the excess accumulation of nitrate reached a toxic level.     

Gene Expression Profiling Related to Hyphal Growth in a Temperature-Sensitive Mutant of Magnaporthe oryzae

The rice blast,caused by fungus Magnaporthe oryzae,is a major constraint to the world food security.Hyphal growth is the foundation of fungal development and proliferation of fungi.To investigate genes involved in hyphal growth of this fungus,digital gene expression tag profiling was used to compare a previously generated temperature-sensitive mutant which defect at hyphae growth and reduction on pathogenicity,with its related wildtype strain.416 genes were detected as differential expression,178 of which were specifically expressed in Guy-11 but down-regulated expression in the mutant.Functional classification analysis revealed the phenotype mutation may be mainly caused by a defection in translational and vacuole- related processes.The results and the protocol used will improve our knowledge on morphogenesis and promote the further study on M.oryzae pathogenesis.     

Isolation and Screening of Black Spot-Resistant Endophytic Fungi Strains from Rosa chinensis

[Objective] This study aimed to isolate and screen black-spot-resistant en- dophytic fungi strains. [Method] Various species of healthy Rosa chinensis were col- lected from Xi＇an, Xianyang, Baoji and Weinan City in Shaanxi Province. Endophytic fungi was isolated from stems and leaves, and purified by 2-3 times of inoculation to screen endophytic fungi antagonistic to Marssonina rosae with modified punching method. [Result] Samples collected from Xianyang exhibited the highest colonization rate and isolation rate; endophytic fungi strains isolated from stems presented the highest colonization rate and isolation rate compared with leaves. A total of 67 en- dophytic fungi strains were isolated from Rosa chinensis, including 3 black spot-re- sistant strains which were all derived from Baoji. [Conclusion] This study laid the foundation for further screening candidate strains of biocontrol fungi and environ- ment-friendly fungal biological control.     

Induced in vitro Expression of Human Lactoferrin in Goat Mammary Gland Epithelial Cell

[Objective]The aim of this study was to explore the technical system of induced expression in vitro of goat mammary gland epithelial cell,and evaluate expression efficiency of mammary gland specific vector and foreign protein at the cell level.[Method]Goat mammary gland epithelial cell transfected by human lactoferrin gene was inducted by culturing in DMEM/F12 medium supplemented with 5 mg/L insulin,5 mg/L prolactin and 1 mg/L hydrocortisone.Supernatant was collected per 6 hours and concentrated.Expression situation of foreign protein were detected by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting.[Result]There was target protein expression in the induced culture medium,which molecular weight was about 42 kD.[Conclusion]The method used in this study can induce goat mammary gland epithelial cell to express foreign gene,it lays a foundation for researching heterologous expression of foreign gene and producing mammary gland bioreactor.     

Correlation Analysis of SPAD Value with Chlorophyll Content and Economic Yield Traits of Brassica napus L.

[Objective] The aim was to compare differences of SPAD value, chloro- phyll content, agronomic characters, economic characters and yield traits to analyze correlation of SPAD value with other indices and establish regression functions. [Method] Based on 34 Brassica napus L. varieties, SPAD value, chlorophyll content, agronomic characters, economic characters and yield traits were measured and re- gression functions were established according to correlations. [Result] SPAD value, chlorophyll content, agronomic and economic characters and yield traits all achieved significant level in differences among 34 varieties. Specifically, SPAD value was of extremely significant correlation with chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid, and the correlation from high to low was chl-b〉chl-z〉chl-a〉chl-x. SPAD value was of significantly positive correlation with total pod number per plant, plant height, seed number per pod, yield per plant and harvest yield, and of insignificant correlation with branch point height, effective branch number, pod density of main stem, and pod length. [Conclusion] It is simple and rapid to predict chlorophyll con- tent, economic characters and yields of Brassica napus L. with SPAD value and re- gression functions.