Agricultural practice changes with cultivating genetically modified herbicide-tolerant oilseed rape

To facilitate weed suppression, oilseed rape or canola (Brassica napus) has been genetically modified (GM) over the last two decades to incorporate herbicide tolerance (HT). The introduction of oilseed rape in commercial agriculture raises concerns about potential adverse agronomic and environmental effects linked to both the genetic modification and altered agricultural practice. How will this new crop modify the existing cropping practice? What are the potential agro-environmental implications of its introduction? This paper analyses and schematises recorded and conceivable agricultural practice changes with GMHT oilseed rape introduction and its likely agro-environmental effects. It develops a conceptual systematics of influencing factors, subsequent practice changes and likely agro-environmental effects. The results can be used to design the mandatory monitoring of adverse GM crop effects.     

The potential of a herbicide resistant maize technology for Striga control in Africa

Striga is an obligate parasitic weed that attacks cereal crops in sub-Saharan Africa. In Western Kenya, it has been identified by farmers as their major pest problem in maize. A new technology, consisting of coating seed of imidazolinone resistant (IR) maize varieties with the imidazolinone herbicide, imazapyr, has proven to be very effective in controlling Striga on farmer fields. To bring this technology to the farmer, a sustainable delivery system needs to be developed, preferably with substantial participation of the private sector. To help extension agents and seed companies to develop appropriate strategies, the potential for this technology was analyzed by combining different data sources into a Geographic Information System (GIS). Superimposing secondary data, field surveys, agricultural statistics and farmer surveys made it possible to clearly identify the Striga-prone areas in western Kenya. Results found that Striga affected a maize area of 246,000 ha annually, with a population of 6.4 million people and maize production of 580,000 tons, or 81 kg/person. Population density in this area is high at 359 people/km². A survey of 123 farmers revealed that 70% of them have Striga in their fields. A contingent valuation (CV) survey indicated that farmers would, on average, be willing to buy 3.67 kg of the IR-maize seed each at current seed prices, sufficient to sow 44% of their maize area. By extrapolation over the maize area in the zone, total potential demand for IR-maize seed is estimated at 2000–2700 tons annually. Similar calculations, but based on much less precise data and expert opinion rather than farmer surveys or trials, gives an estimate of the potential demand for IR-maize seed in Africa of 153,000 tons.     

变化环境下农业需水量演变趋势及驱动力

根据宝鸡峡灌区11个气象站近30 a的气象及近20 a种植面积资料,分析了气候及作物种植结构的变化特征,计算了作物需水量和农业需水量,研究了灌区农业需水量的演变趋势,并利用主成分回归分析法揭示了影响农业需水量变化的驱动因素.结果表明:灌区气温呈显著上升趋势,相对湿度和风速呈显著下降趋势,蒸发量和日照时数略有增多,降水量有所减少.灌区农业种植结构变化较大,粮食作物与经济作物种植面积比例显著降低,由1991年的4.08减小为2010年的1.83;粮食作物与农作物总播种面积比例也呈下降趋势,由1991年的0.46减小为2010年的0.40.灌区小麦、玉米、油菜、棉花等4种主要作物需水量呈递增趋势,其中油菜需水量递增速率最快,约为3.558 mm/a;灌区农业需水量呈递减趋势,其递减速率为3.35×107m3/a.影响农业需水量变化的主要驱动因素为种植面积、降水量和蒸发量.降水量的减少和蒸发量的增多使得作物需水量明显增多,而农作物种植面积的减少,引起农业需水量的显著减少.     

A simple irrigation scheduling approach for pecans

Pecans are a major crop in New Mexico's Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). It is estimated that New Mexico is responsible for about 21% of the world's pecan production (Lillywhite et al., 2007). Currently, approximately 12,000 ha of pecan orchards at various stages of growth consume 45% of the area's irrigation water. Pecan evapotranspiration (ET) varies with age, canopy cover, soil type, crop density and method of water management. Intense competition for the LRGV's limited water supply has created a serious need for better water management through improved irrigation scheduling. Annual pecan ET ranges from as low as 500 mm to as high as 1400 mm. Diversity of the pecan crop coefficient (K_c) and ET makes the task of irrigation scheduling for this crop very complicated. Using remote sensing technology and field ET measurements, a simple relationship was developed to relate crop coefficient and ET to canopy cover. This relationship is then used in combination with climate data to calculate daily and weekly water requirements for each orchard. The difference between annual ET values estimated from canopy cover and values measured with an eddy covariance flux tower ranged from 2 to 5%. The average ratio of estimated monthly ET values over measured ET values was 1.03 with the standard error of the estimate ranging from 10 to 20 mm/month. This methodology provides a simple tool that farmers can use to schedule irrigation of pecan orchards. Even though the methodology was developed for irrigation scheduling in the LRGV, it can be used in other locations by transferring the reference crop coefficients using K_c-GDD relationships.     

辽宁玉米生产机械化发展探讨

玉米是辽宁省主要粮食作物,年均种植面积超过15万hm^2,但玉米生产机械化水平不高。2007年全省玉米生产综合机械化水平为47%,其中收获机械化水平只有1%。介绍辽宁省玉米生产机械化发展现状,分析现阶段存在的问题,提出发展辽宁玉米机械化应采取的措施。     

Tactical management of pasture fallows in Western Australian cropping systems

Agricultural systems in the Western Australian wheatbelt are increasingly moving towards specialist crop production due to elevated cereal prices, depressed markets for livestock products, and ongoing labour scarcity. However, the profitability of crop-only farms is threatened by increasing levels of herbicide resistance and declining soil fertility. This study determines the value of ungrazed pasture fallows grown tactically between crop phases to address these agronomic constraints. A novel metaheuristic optimisation technique, compressed annealing, is used to determine profitable flexible land-use sequences in a complex simulation model. Tactical use of single-year, ungrazed pasture phases is found to be more valuable than the use of break crops in crop-only systems. In contrast to previous analysis, it is identified that rotation of short periods of crop and pasture is more profitable than extended phases of both. Effective weed control without dependence on selective herbicides is the key agronomic characteristic determining the value of intermittent pasture phases. Accordingly, the number of single-year pasture phases employed in a sequence should increase with the severity of herbicide resistance. Compressed annealing is shown to be a practical method of identifying profitable land-use sequences that respond to information that unfolds dynamically.     

Crop sequence effects of 10 crops in the northern Great Plains

Dynamic cropping systems, which involve a long-term strategy of annual crop sequencing, require detailed information on management components known to influence crop performance. Considering that proper sequencing of crops is an important component for successful dynamic cropping systems, a research project was undertaken to determine the advantages and/or disadvantages of previous crop and crop residues for numerous crop sequences. A multi-disciplinary team of scientists evaluated crop sequence effects of 10 crops (barley, canola, crambe, dry bean, dry pea, flax, safflower, soybean, spring wheat, and sunflower) on seed yield, soil coverage by residue, soil water use, surface soil properties, and plant diseases in central North Dakota. Two years were required to establish a crop by crop residue matrix (crop matrix). During the second year (site 1, 1999; site 2, 2000) 10 crops were evaluated with a crop matrix. During the third and fourth year spring wheat (site 1, 2000; site 2, 2001) and sunflower (site 1, 2001; site 2, 2002), respectively, were seeded over the crop matrix. The seed yield of four crops (crambe, flax, safflower, and soybean) of the 10 crops evaluated in the crop matrix was influenced by the preceding crop at site 1 in 1999 an above average moisture year. The seed yield of eight crops (canola, crambe, dry bean, flax, safflower, soybean, spring wheat, and barley) was influenced by the preceding crop at site 2 in 2000 a more average precipitation year. Some of the lowest seed yields were obtained when a crop was seeded on its own residue. A synthesis of seed yield data from a given year provided overall values for positive and negative effects of crops and crop residue on subsequent crops. In general, the three legume crops had positive effects in contrast to non-leguminous crops, which usually had negative effects. However, sunflower was an exception among the non-leguminous crops; at site 2 in 2000, sunflower was positive for subsequent crops compared with canola or crambe, which had negative effects. Crop sequences composed of small cereal grains had the highest soil coverage by residue while sequences of two dicotyledonous species had considerably lower coverage. Soil water use among crops varied, ranging from sunflower with the numerically highest soil water use to dry pea with the least. Significant changes in surface soil properties due to crops were generally not detected in this short-term project. Given the variation in Sclerotinia disease incidence for canola, crambe, safflower, and sunflower within the crop matrix, it was difficult to detect significant differences based on the previous crop. Differences were evident two years later when the highest incidence of Sclerotinia basal stalk rot for sunflower was detected in plots where crambe was grown two years earlier. During the third year, when spring wheat was seeded over a crop matrix, spring wheat yields increased following 23 and 19 crop sequence treatments out of a possible 100 at site 1 and site 2, respectively, compared to the continuous wheat treatment. All crop sequence treatments that yielded better than the continuous wheat treatment were comprised of mostly non-cereal crops, demonstrating the positive impact of crop diversity on cereal crop production. The severity of leaf spot diseases on spring wheat were affected by crop sequence and fungal spore production was greatest on the continuous wheat treatment. Even though decreases in leaf spot disease severity and modest yield increases were obtained with some crop sequence treatments, significant yield increases due to reduced leaf spot disease severity were not obtained under our conditions.     

Groundwater recharge under alkali soils during reclamation

Reclamation of alkali soils modifies the water balance of an area. Hydrologically the soils under reclamation remain in a transient state over a long period of time because of the progressive improvement in their physio-chemical properties. The major component of the water balance that undergoes change is the groundwater recharge from crop land. A procedure to estimate the rate of change in recharge from crop land is presented and applied to typical alkali conditions in the command area of the Western Jamuna Canal.The value of groundwater recharge from this composite watershed, having normal and alkali soils in the ratio of 70 to 30, respectively, shows an increase of about 17.5% of the recharge value before reclamation for the optimal cropping patterns over a period of 20 years.     

视觉传感式除草剂变量喷洒系统

视觉传感式除草剂变量喷洒系统是利用CCD(ChargeCoupledDevice)数码相机对农田进行扫描,对杂草和农作物进行鉴别,根据杂草的多少来控制喷药量。这样,一方面减少了喷药量、降低了成本;另一方面保护了作物、减少了对环境的污染。与传统的喷药方法比较,变量喷药系统在杂草高密度区可节约药液18%,在杂草低密度区可节约药液71%。     

天津设施农业机械化生产现状调研

大力发展设施农业是天津市产业融合发展的重点。对天津市设施农业生产情况,采用入户调查和电话询问相结合的方式开展了调研。分析了天津市设施农业机械化水平、设施标准化建设水平、管理信息化水平、人员职业化水平等影响设施农业发展的指标因素,指出设施农业发展中存在的问题和产生原因,并提出了针对性建议,对促进天津市都市现代农业健康发展具有十分重要的意义。      

The role and value of eastern star clover in managing herbicide-resistant crop weeds: A whole-farm analysis

In the broadacre dryland farming system of Western Australia herbicide resistance in major crop weeds is an increasingly serious problem. A new option to combat herbicide resistance involves growing eastern star clover (Trifolium dasyurum). This is a new pasture legume with a unique delayed germination that allows control of weeds using various chemical and non-chemical strategies, without unduly compromising the pasture’s subsequent production. This study assesses the role and value of eastern star clover in managing herbicide-resistant weeds on various farms. The study employs the farming system model known as MIDAS, a whole-farm, bioeconomic model. Key scenarios of different degrees of severity of herbicide resistance for three farm types are examined. The main findings of the analysis are that as the severity of herbicide resistance increases, eastern star clover becomes an increasingly attractive option. Although the introduction of eastern star clover does reduce a farm’s capacity to carry sheep, and thereby lessens profits generated by the sheep enterprise, it enables longer, more profitable sequences of crops to be grown with fewer weed problems. Sensitivity analysis suggests that reduced cost of eastern star clover seed, cheap supplementary feed, and higher grain prices will further increase the profitability of eastern star clover.     

Gains from crop diversification in the Sudan Gezira scheme

Land allocation in Gezira irrigation scheme (the Gezira) has, for the most part, been based on the political judgement of the government rather than economic criteria. This paper determined optimum crop combinations for the Gezira using the mean-variance (M-V) model. This large-scale gravity-irrigated project which was started for export cotton cultivation on 27,372 feddan (11,496 ha) in 1927 has now expanded to over two million feddan, and has a multi crop production system. Sources of production uncertainty include government control of prices, often announced after planting, and crop area in favor of cotton. Diversification was analyzed under various levels of risk using, in contrast to what is in the reviewed literature, both cross sectional and time series farm level data. The cross-sectional data comprised of net farm returns of 100 farmers for the 1987/1988 season, and the time series data were average net farm returns from the same area from 1971 to 1988. Cropping decisions in the Gezira are mostly based on cross-sectional data from a sample of tenants in the preceding season. This paper estimated variance and covariance parameters of observed net margins of both sets of data and found significant differences in the results. The certainty equivalence results used to evaluate crop diversification showed that current policies of controlling crop acreage lead to inefficient land use; and that farmers diversify into wheat and groundnuts out of cotton when cross-section data were used; and from groundnuts to cotton and wheat when time series data were used.     

Interactive responses to water deficits and crop load in olive (olea europaea L., cv. Morisca) I. - Growth and water relations

To characterize the interactions between variable water supply and crop load on vegetative growth and water relations of an olive orchard (cv. Morisca) planted in 1998 at 417 trees ha⁻¹, two different experiments were conducted over a six-year period (2002-2007) in Badajoz, Southwest of Spain. Experiment 1, assessed the responses during the early years of the orchard (2002-2004) using four irrigation treatments that applied fractions of the estimated crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) (125%, 100%, 75% and 0%) and three crop load levels (100%, 50% and 0% of fruit removal, termed off, medium and on treatments). Experiment 2, assessed the response of more mature trees (2005-2007) to three irrigation treatments (115%, 100%, and 60% of ET_c) and the natural crop load which were off, on, and medium in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. Although vegetative growth was mainly affected by the level of water supply, crop load also influenced vegetative parameters, especially the interaction between high loads and water deficit. Trunk growth was more sensitive to water deficits than ground cover, and at the branch scale, water deficits reduced branch length and node numbers but only reduced internode length in on trees. Water relations were more affected by the level of water supply than by crop load. Nevertheless, the presence of fruits affected olive tree water status and, particularly, increased the stomatal conductance of on trees during late summer and early fall under all levels of water supply. Interactions between water stress and crop load levels were not very strong, and were more evident in mature than in young olive trees.     

Water uptake, water use efficiency, plant growth and ionic balance of wheat, barley, canola and chickpea plants on a sodic vertosol with variable subsoil NaCl salinity

Salinity in topsoil and subsoil is one of the major abiotic environmental stresses to crop production. To investigate the comparative tolerance ability of wheat, barley, canola and chickpea to subsoil NaCl salinity and its impact on water uptake, water use efficiency, plant growth and ionic balance, a pot experiment was conducted on a heavy texture soil (sodic vertosol) having 20 ESP (exchangeable sodium percentage), 3.5 dS/m EC_e and 400 mg/kg Cl with additional NaCl applied in subsoil at 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/kg soil. Plants were harvested 40 days after sowing and assessed for different parameters. Increasing levels of subsoil NaCl salinity had significant depressing effect on shoot and root biomass, root/shoot ratio, water uptake and water use efficiency (shoot biomass production with a unit amount of applied water), leaves K:Na ratio and Ca:Na ratio of all the four species, but the magnitude of effect varied considerably among the species. Chickpea was affected most followed by wheat, barley and canola at the highest level of subsoil NaCl salinity. There was 64%, 49%, 37% and 34% reduction in shoot dry weight of chickpea, wheat, barley and canola respectively by highest subsoil salinity. Similarly water uptake declined by 61%, 36%, 31% and 26% respectively in chickpea, wheat, barley and canola. Water use efficiency of four species was in order of barley > canola > wheat > chickpeas on this sodic vertosol. The cumulative effects of reduced osmotic potential of soil solution, ion toxicity (high concentrations of Cl and Na) in soil/plants and ionic imbalance (reduced K:Na and Ca:Na ratio) within plant system under increased subsoil NaCl salinity contributed to reduce water uptake and plant growth in all the four crops, and the effects were more severe in chickpeas. Wheat despite having considerably lower Na and Cl in their leaves suffered greatly in plant growth and water uptake compared with barley and canola indicating better tolerance ability of barley and canola to high Cl and Na build up at tissue level. Results suggest chickpea to be the most sensitive to subsoil NaCl salinity. The growing of comparatively tolerant species like barley and canola may be the better option for sustaining crop production and higher water use efficiency on sodic vertosols with high subsoil NaCl salinity.     

Economic potential for soil carbon sequestration in the Nioro region of Senegal’s Peanut Basin

This paper presents results from an analysis of the economic potential for soil carbon sequestration in the Nioro region of Senegal’s Peanut Basin. This analysis was based on the linkage of site-specific biophysical models and economic simulation models using the Tradeoff Analysis System to simulate farmers’ participation in contracts to sequester soil carbon. Available soils and climate data were used to implement the DSSAT/Century models to estimate crop yields and changes in soil carbon stocks under nine scenarios of increased fertilizer use and increased incorporation of crop residues in a peanut-millet rotation. Data from the 2001 farm survey conducted by the Ecole Nationale d’Economie Appliquée were used to parameterize a spatially explicit econometric-process simulation model for the peanut-millet production system. The economic simulation model was used to simulate a carbon-payment scheme that requires farmers to apply higher fertilizer rates and incorporate some crop residues into the soil. The results show that the combination of increased fertilizer use and crop residue incorporation could result in the supply of marketable quantities of carbon that could be sequestered in the soils of the Nioro region. However, the sensitivity of results to the levels of labor costs of incorporating crop residues, the value of crop residues, and the transaction costs of implementing carbon payment schemes, suggests the need for better data on these variables and for an accurate assessment of the capabilities of local institutions to implement carbon contracts.     

肇东苜蓿土壤处理除草剂及剂量筛选试验研究

目的:探讨研究土壤处理除草剂对肇东苜蓿剂量筛选试验研究,可筛选出对苜蓿无药害的土壤处理除草剂品种和剂量。方法:通过小区试验,在苜蓿苗期对各除草剂处理苗情和草情进行观察记载。结果:可筛选出苜豆壮、金粒多、农旺、特福力4种除草剂作为生产应用的候选对象。结论:苜豆壮(中剂量)、苜豆壮(低剂量)、金粒多(中剂量),可在肇东苜蓿大面积生产中推广应用。     

Crop water requirements for rainfed and irrigated grain corn in China

A basic parametric crop water use model (WATER) that employes climatic and environmental data to calculate temporal and spatial water consumption for a variety of major corps was applied specifically for grain corn to the region of China and Korea to investigate the evapotranspiration (ET) demand on grain corn and the associated irrigation water applications necessary for optimal crop production. A network of 241 stations provided the seasonal climatic input. The climatic input consisted of data averaged over approximately a 20 year period. Among the results, highest ET under full irrigation (first harvest) occurred in the northwestern inland sections of China, whereas least ET was found for the southeast. Under rainfed conditions, the relationship became nearly inverse. In order to achieve optimum crop yields, about 1000 mm of irrigation water was needed in the northwest, contrasted with none required in the south and east of China. A sensitivity analysis was applied to determine the degree of error introduced by faulty or uncertain environmental input data.     

Effects of field length and management practices on dissolved organic carbon export in furrow irrigation

Farming practices, including tillage, cover cropping and residue management can have profound effects on the efficiency of irrigation practices. The effects of three field management practices (FMPs) standard tillage and winter-fallow (ST), standard tillage and winter-cover crop (STCC), and no-till and winter-fallow (NT) and two field lengths (122 and 366 m) on runoff and export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were investigated in a furrow-irrigated cropping system over two years. The residue cover was 40, 32 and 11% in 2007, and 58, 61 and 11% in 2008 for STCC, NT and ST, respectively. Furrow irrigation experiments were conducted prior to crop planting following the cover crop. The inflow was kept constant across all treatments, and infiltration and runoff were estimated using a volume balance model (VBM). The DOC concentration tended to increase with increasing field length, but did not differ among the FMPs. A threefold increase in field length increased infiltration by 40%, and decreased runoff by 60-90% and DOC export by 65-83%. In both years, infiltration was highest in STCC. In NT, infiltration was lowest in 2007, which was likely due to soil sealing, and intermediate among the three FMPs in 2008 perhaps due to the increase in residue cover in the second year. The DOC budget analysis showed that fields and FMPs acted as DOC sinks exporting less DOC than was applied in the irrigation water. The results suggest that longer furrows and STCC were greater DOC sinks compared to ST and shorter field practices. The VBM, as applied in this study to estimate infiltration and runoff, could be used to predict optimal field length to minimize runoff and promote DOC adsorption to soil within the constraints of water quality and availability and soil conditions.     

Environmental and cost efficiency of pesticide use in transgenic and conventional cotton production

This study focuses on the quantification of pesticide use efficiency for producers of transgenic cotton versus conventional cotton in order to test for the improvement promised by the genetically engineered crop. The environmental and cost efficiency of pesticide use is assessed by means of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the external effects of pesticide are quantified by means of the pesticide leaching potential. To account for the fact that conditions other than the ‘treatment” (seed type) are not equal in farm surveys the study employs a second step Tobit regression. The data are from a survey of cotton growers in North Carolina, USA. Differences in environmental efficiency are found to be significant between herbicide tolerant and stacked gene (herbicide tolerant and insect resistant) cotton and between stacked gene and conventional cotton. In contrast, no statistically significant differences are found for efficiency of pest control cost. In the follow-up Tobit regression, differences in production environment and in farm, farmer and field characteristics are accounted for so that the contribution of seed type to efficiency can be observed. The regression results confirm the importance of stacked gene cotton for improving the environmental efficiency of pesticide use in cotton. In contrast, seed type was not significant in explaining differences in cost efficiency among North Carolina cotton growers. The new technology reduces pesticide application but these benefits are curbed by the high price of cotton seed (technology fee).     

时段划分对冬小麦作物水模型影响的研究

引入逻辑斯蒂函数描述水分敏感指数随时间的变化过程,对Jensen模型(模型一)进行了改进,使得改进后的作物水模型(模型二)的参数固定为4个,避免了模型一参数随时段数增加而增加的缺陷。采用山西水利职业技术学院试验基地2007年和2008年冬小麦田间试验资料,将冬小麦全生育期等间隔地划分为23、21、19、17、……、3共11个时段,利用非线性规划的方法求得了相应的模型参数,进行了比较分析。结果表明,采用模型一时,相对腾发量划分的时段数以5左右为宜,不宜超过7;采用模型二时,则不受时段数的限制;模型二的修正复相关系数Ra随时段数的增加略有增大的趋势,均在0.84以上,F值均在16以上,大于F0.001=12.56,达到极显著水平,能够用于模拟供水对产量的影响;模型二的标准误随时段数的增加上下波动,变化于0.100~0.108之间,小于模型一的标准误,模拟精度高于模型一;采用模型二模拟产量时宜尽量使用较大时段数的参数,且腾发量划分的时段数与参数的时段数应尽可能一致。