How long can a herbicide remain in the spray tank without losing efficacy?

Five field trials were conducted over a three-year period (2006–2008) at two locations in southwestern Ontario to determine the length of time herbicides can remain in the spray tank prior to application in the field without impacting efficacy. Four pre-emergence and five post-emergence herbicides were mixed at their labelled rates and then applied in maize. Herbicides were either applied immediately after mixing in water, or after being held in solution for 1, 3 or 7 days. The most common weed species in the trials were Abutilon theophrasti, Amaranthus retroflexus, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, and Chenopodium album. Holding the herbicides in spray solution for up to 7 days did not affect the efficacy of the post-emergence herbicides in this study. Similarly, control of A. retroflexus and C. album with the pre-emergence herbicides was not affected holding the herbicides in spray solution for up to 7 days. However, control of A. theophrasti was decreased when isoxaflutole plus atrazine, dimethenamid plus dicamba/atrazine, or rimsulfuron plus S-metolachlor plus dicamba was in spray solution for more than 1 day. Nonetheless, there were no decreases in yield for any of the treatments evaluated. These data provide valuable information which growers can use to make informed decisions on whether to apply herbicides in non-ideal weather or to postpone application. The results of this study suggest that for the herbicides and weed species tested it is better to postpone application rather than make applications under non-ideal conditions.     

Delayed permanent water rice production systems do not improve the recovery of 15N-urea compared to continuously flooded systems

Crop recovery of nitrogen (N) fertiliser in flooded rice systems is low relative to fertiliser N recoveries in aerobic crops, and the N losses have environmental consequences. Recent water shortages across the globe have seen a move towards alternative water management strategies such as delayed permanent water (DPW, also known as delayed flood). To investigate whether N fertiliser regimes used in DPW systems result in greater recovery of N fertiliser than traditional continuously flooded (CF) rice systems, we conducted a multi-N rate field trial using ¹⁵N-labelled urea. Around 27% of the ¹⁵N-labelled fertiliser was recovered in aboveground biomass at maturity, regardless of water regime or N fertiliser rate, and approximately 20% recovered in the soil to 300 mm depth. Plants in the CF system accumulated more total N at each rate of applied N fertiliser than plants in the DPW system due to greater exploitation of native soil N reserves, presumably because the earlier application of N fertiliser in the CF systems led to greater early growth and higher crop N demand. The greater crop biomass production as a result of higher N uptake in the CF system did not increase grain yields above those observed in the DPW system, likely due to cold weather damage. In the following season at the same site, a single N rate (150 kg N ha⁻¹) trial found no significant differences in crop N uptake, biomass yields, grain yields or ¹⁵N-labelled urea recovery in DPW, CF and drill sown-CF (DS-CF) treatments. However, owing to higher ¹⁵N fertiliser recovery in the 0–100 mm soil horizon, total plant + soil recovery of ¹⁵N was significantly higher in the CF treatment (63%) than the DS-CF and DPW treatments (around 50% recoveries). The loss of 40–50% of the applied N (presumably as NH₃ or N₂) in both seasons regardless of watering regime suggests that new fertiliser N management strategies beyond optimising the rate and timing of urea application are needed, particularly in light of increasing N fertiliser prices.     

A wireless sensor network for precision viticulture: The NAV system

In the last decade, wireless technologies have been increasingly applied in precision agriculture. Wireless monitoring systems in particular have been used in precision viticulture in order to understand vineyard variability, and therefore suggest appropriate management practices for improving the quality of the wines.The NAV (Network Avanzato per il Vigneto – Advanced Vineyard Network) system is a wireless sensor network designed and developed with the aim of remote real-time monitoring and collecting of micro-meteorological parameters in a vineyard. The system includes a base agrometeorological station (Master Unit) and a series of peripheral wireless nodes (Slave Units) located in the vineyard. The Master Unit is a typical single point monitoring station placed outside the vineyard in a representative site to collect agrometeorological data. It utilizes a wireless technology for data communication and transmission with the Slave Units and remote central server. The Slave Units are multiple stations placed in the vineyard and equipped with agrometeorological sensors for site-specific environmental monitoring, which store and transmit data to the Master Unit. Software was developed for setup and configuration functionality. A graphical user interface operating on the remote central server was implemented to collect and process data and provide real-time control. The devices were tested in a three-step process: hardware functionality and data acquisition, energy consumption and communication. The NAV system is a complete monitoring system that gave flexibility for planning and installation, which fully responded to the objectives of the work in terms of energy efficiency and performance.     

氮肥后移促进受渍夏玉米根系形态恢复和提高花后光合性能

江淮地区受梅雨影响,玉米苗期易发生渍害,如何通过合理运筹氮肥达到减灾效果值得研究。以夏玉米品种‘隆平206’为试验材料,研究不同氮肥运筹方式[氮肥全部基施(N1)、基肥70%+拔节肥30%(N2)、基肥50%+拔节肥50%(N3)和基肥30%+拔节肥50%+大喇叭口肥20%(N4)]对苗期受渍夏玉米根系形态和花后光合性能恢复的影响,以期为苗期受渍夏玉米合理施肥提供理论依据。结果表明,苗期渍水7 d抑制根系生长,根重、根长度、根表面积和根直径均显著降低,渍水对根系形态指标抑制效应表现为:根长度根表面积根直径。氮肥后移对渍水后根系生长有显著的补偿效应,氮肥后移量增加,根重、根长度和根表面积显著增加。渍水胁迫解除后18 d,N1-N4处理根长度较渍水前提高1.9~5.1倍,根表面积提高6.3~10.3倍,根直径提高0.7~1.0倍,氮肥后移对根系形态指标补偿生长效应强弱表现为:根表面积根长度根直径。渍水使群体叶面积系数降低9.3%~22.5%,氮肥后移可提高群体叶面积系数,较全部基施处理提高3.2%~20.7%。苗期渍水7 d显著降低灌浆期间穗位叶片的光合能力,净光合速率下降,灌浆中期和末期净光合速率分别下降16.1%和28.9%,灌浆后期光合能力下降幅度高于对照,非气孔限制是导致渍水胁迫下净光合速率下降的主要原因。渍水胁迫下,氮肥后移处理改善了穗位叶光合性能,光合能力优于氮肥前移处理。在苗期易导致渍害的地区适当减少基肥比例,后移氮素至拔节期和大喇叭口期,能够对受渍夏玉米起到较好的补偿生长效应。     

The use of mobile devices with multi-tag technologies for an overall contextualized vineyard management

This paper describes a Viticulture Service-Oriented Framework (VSOF) which turns around context elements or tags that are placed in the field and which can be decoded by mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs. The tags are used to automatically associate a field location to the relevant database tables or records and also to access contextual information or services. By pointing a mobile device to a tag, the viticulturalist may download data such as climatic data or upload information such as disease and pest incidence in a simple way, without having to provide coordinates or any other references, and without having to return to a central office. This work is part of an effort to implement a large-scale distributed cooperative network in the Douro Demarcated Region in Northeast Portugal, a region in which the effort makes particular sense due to the extremely variable topography and mesoclimates. The possibility of exchanging contextualized information and accessing contextualized services in the field, using well-known devices such as cell phones, may contribute to increase the rate of adoption of information technology in viticulture, and contribute to more efficient and closer-to-the-crops practices.     

棉花延迟吐絮收桃增产与机采收桃的可行性研究

为探寻棉花增产和机械化摘桃采收新方式的可行性,以开辟新的收获途径来实现棉花增产和全程机械化。在总结前人研究成果的基础上,进行了棉花延迟吐絮方法的试验。结果表明,棉铃在50~55天左右干物质重达到最大,后期吐絮反而会因消耗使重量降低,通过生长调节剂实现了棉花的延迟吐絮,棉花吐絮时间延迟5~10天,并获得了该方式下棉花增产的理论基础和依据。由此得出,棉花延迟吐絮实现增产是有据可依的,奠定了机械化摘桃的研究基础,为最终实现棉花收获全程机械化提供了研究参考。     

Preference of foraging ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for bait toxicants in South African vineyards

Argentine ants Linepithema humile (Mayr), common pugnacious ants Anoplolepis custodiens (F. Smith) and cocktail ants Crematogaster peringueyi Emery are the main indirect ant pests in South African vineyards. These ants form mutualistic relationships with the vine mealybug Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), an economic phloem-feeding pest of vines that excretes honeydew. Ants feed on the honeydew from mealybugs and also affect predator-prey interactions by protecting them from attack by natural enemies. This consequently reduces the efficacy of predators and parasitic Hymenoptera in controlling P. ficus. Current strategies for ant control are limited to the application of long term residual insecticides that are detrimental to the environment, labour intensive to apply and potentially disruptive to biological control. Here, we report on the development of an alternative method of ant control using baits which are likely to show delayed toxicity to these ant species. Field bait preference assessments were carried out during spring, summer and autumn in three vineyards of the Cape Winelands region, Republic of South Africa during 2007/08. Preference/non-preference is the first behaviour an ant exhibits when encountering bait and this was measured in terms of numbers of ants at bait stations. Five toxicants comprising Gourmet ant bait (containing 0.5% boric acid as active ingredient and a honeydew mimic as an attractant), boric acid (0.5%), fipronil (0.0001%), fenoxycarb (0.5%) and spinosad (0.01%) all dissolved in 25% sucrose solution were tested against a 25% sucrose solution control. Gourmet ant bait was overall the most preferred bait during spring, summer and autumn, and on some occasions being significantly more preferable to ants than the control solution.     

美国加州的葡萄生产与科研

对美国加州的葡萄种质资源保存与研究、栽培技术、贮藏保鲜、病虫害防治、脱毒技术以及无核葡萄品种与育种等作了较为详细的论述 ;同时强调指出 ,我国进行葡萄引种时除重视经济性状外 ,还应特别注意病虫检疫。     

亚临床酮病对泌乳早期奶牛繁殖性能的影响

为探究围产期亚临床酮病与泌乳奶牛繁殖性能及卵泡发育之间的关系,本试验选择了黑龙江省某大型集约化牛场开展试验,根据产后血酮水平确定亚临床酮病组和健康组奶牛共80头,该牛场亚临床酮病发生率为71%;两组奶牛跟踪到产后50 d进行直肠检查和B超检查了解卵泡发育状况,并记录繁殖性能数据。结果显示:与健康组奶牛相比,亚临床酮病组奶牛产后首次发情天数延长10 d,产后60 d内发情次数少0.58次;产后50 d子宫复旧不全高15%,与亚临床酮病呈显著正相关(R^2=8.74);产后60 d卵泡直径小3 mm(P<0.05)。结论:该牛场奶牛亚临床酮病发病率较高,是引起奶牛产后繁殖障碍的风险因素,也是造成卵泡发育受阻的不良因素,会导致奶牛繁殖力下降。     

氮素追肥后移对小麦籽粒产量和旗叶光合特性的影响

用4个小麦品种，研究了高产水平下氮素追肥后移对小麦群体结构、籽粒产量和旗叶光合特性的影响，在基肥量相同的情况下，每公顷追施氮素150kg，追肥由越冬至返青期（N1），延迟到返青至拔节期（N2）和拔节至孕穗期增加籽粒产量的作用，其效果N3处理优于N2处理。