Reducing copper-based fungicide use in organic crop production systems

Yellow and purple nutsedge are common in the southeastern United States, and both perennial species are difficult to control in organic crop-production systems. Tubers are generally confined to the upper portions of the soil profile and are vulnerable to desiccation when brought to the soil surface. A peanut digger is a common implement found in the coastal plain region of the southeastern United States and has shown promise controlling perennial nutsedges in fallow sites. The peanut digger undercuts perennial nutsedges, deposits weeds on the soil surface, and exposes weeds to desiccation. However, rainfall after tillage with the peanut digger allows displaced nutsedges to survive. As part of a senior-level class project, undergraduate mechanical engineering students from Auburn University designed and constructed a cart attached to a peanut digger that collected nutsedges. Key features included a custom hitch that allowed the correct plane of movement and a hydraulic conveyor system that discarded the perennial nutsedges off-site, away from the field. The prototype was tested in a fallow location in the summer of 2014 with a yellow nutsedge infestation averaging 148 plants m−2. One week after the initial field test, tillage using the peanut digger with specialized cart reduced yellow nutsedge densities in the tilled area by > 99%.

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Approaches to disease management in organic crop production systems: a case of cassava mosaic disease and black pod disease of cocoa

IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science ◽

10.9790/2380-071224252 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. 42-52

Author(s):

Aregbesola, O.Z ◽

◽

Owombo, P.T

Keyword(s):

Disease Management ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Mosaic Disease ◽

Cassava Mosaic Disease ◽

Black Pod ◽

Black Pod Disease ◽

Organic Crop Production

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How Effective Is Conservation Biological Control in Regulating Insect Pest Populations in Organic Crop Production Systems?

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11110744 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 744

Author(s):

Raymond A. Cloyd

Keyword(s):

Biological Control ◽

Natural Enemies ◽

Crop Production ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Production Systems ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Conservation Biological Control ◽

Flowering Plants ◽

Floral Resources ◽

Organic Crop Production

Organic crop production systems are designed to enhance or preserve the presence of natural enemies, including parasitoids and predators, by means of conservation biological control, which involves providing environments and habitats that sustain natural enemy assemblages. Conservation biological control can be accomplished by providing flowering plants (floral resources) that will attract and retain natural enemies. Natural enemies, in turn, will regulate existing insect pest populations to levels that minimize plant damage. However, evidence is not consistent, based on the scientific literature, that providing natural enemies with flowering plants will result in an abundance of natural enemies sufficient to regulate insect pest populations below economically damaging levels. The reason that conservation biological control has not been found to sufficiently regulate insect pest populations in organic crop production systems across the scientific literature is associated with complex interactions related to intraguild predation, the emission of plant volatiles, weed diversity, and climate and ecosystem resources across locations where studies have been conducted.

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Comparison of the Effects of Different Crop Production Systems on Soil Physico-Chemical Properties and Microbial Activity under Winter Wheat

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10081130 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 1130

Author(s):

Anna Maria Gajda ◽

Ewa Antonina Czyż ◽

Aleksandra Ukalska-Jaruga

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Winter Wheat ◽

Dehydrogenase Activity ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Production System ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Soil Condition ◽

Organic Production ◽

Organic Crop Production

In many areas, organic crop production systems have been shown to contribute to maintaining good soil condition. The organic production system has been recommended as an alternative to conventional agriculture. However, in order to recommend this practice in new regions, it is necessary to obtain information about its effects and consequences in local environmental conditions. The research was completed during 2016–2018 in Osiny (Lublin region, Poland) on a field experiment established 26 years previously in a Haplic Luvisol soil. The research was aimed at comparing the effects of long-term use of tilled soil with organic (ORG) and conventional (CON) crop production systems with those in non-tilled soil under permanent grass (PRG) as a control. This comparison was done on the basis of changes in the values of soil properties as follows: Total porosity (TP), total organic matter (OM), particulate organic matter (POM), humic substances (HS), water-extractable carbon (WEC), microbial biomass carbon pool (MBC) and dehydrogenase activity (DH). Soil samples were collected from experimental fields (each treatment 1 ha) under winter wheat and permanent grass each year from 0–5, 5–10, 15–20 and 30–35 cm depths. Over the three year study period, it was found that permanent grass and the organic crop production system contributed to increased soil OM, POM, HS, WEC and MBC contents and DH activity compared to the CON system, especially in the top soil layer, 0–5 cm. To obtain a clearer picture of soil quality change our study examined for the first time the metabolic potential index (MPI) as a ratio of dehydrogenase activity to the soluble organic carbon content. The MPI values confirmed the increase of metabolism in ORG soil as a consequence of management practices compared with CON soil. The obtained correlations showed strong mutual relationships within properties of the heterogeneous soil complex. The results show the positive effects of the ORG management system causing soil condition improvement which is based on organic fertilization, enriching the soil with a large amount of plant residues in creating positive changes in the soil quality in contrast to the CON system.

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The main directions of scientific support for the implementation of the system of organic farming in Ukraine

Interdepartmental thematic scientific collection "Agriculture" ◽

10.31073/zem.90.22-24 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (90) ◽

pp. 22-24

Author(s):

V.F. Kaminskyi ◽

S.G. Korsun

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Organic Farming ◽

Crop Production ◽

Land Ownership ◽

Scientific Support ◽

Speed Up ◽

Organic Crop Production ◽

Advanced Production ◽

And Training ◽

Organizational Issue

The aim of this work was to study the basic directions of scientific support introduction of organic farming in Ukraine. The study used methods of comparison, synthesis, analysis, induction and deduction. The article indicated on the main areas that need special attention from researchers and suggests one possible mechanism to remove the remaining obstacles to organizational issue introduction of scientific developments in the production of organic and training areas. This can speed up the creation of new and manage existing land ownership and land use organic farming with the introduction of advanced production technology of organic crop production.

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Semi-Transparent Organic Photovoltaics Applied as Greenhouse Shade for Spring and Summer Tomato Production in Arid Climate

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11061152 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1152

Author(s):

Rebekah Waller ◽

Murat Kacira ◽

Esther Magadley ◽

Meir Teitel ◽

Ibrahim Yehia

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Organic Photovoltaics ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

High Light ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Control Group ◽

Tomato Crop ◽

Tomato Production ◽

Control Section

Recognizing the growing interest in the application of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with greenhouse crop production systems, in this study we used flexible, roll-to-roll printed, semi-transparent OPV arrays as a roof shade for a greenhouse hydroponic tomato production system during a spring and summer production season in the arid southwestern U.S. The wavelength-selective OPV arrays were installed in a contiguous area on a section of the greenhouse roof, decreasing the transmittance of all solar radiation wavelengths and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) wavelengths (400–700 nm) to the OPV-shaded area by approximately 40% and 37%, respectively. Microclimate conditions and tomato crop growth and yield parameters were measured in both the OPV-shaded (‘OPV’) and non-OPV-shaded (‘Control’) sections of the greenhouse. The OPV shade stabilized the canopy temperature during midday periods with the highest solar radiation intensities, performing the function of a conventional shading method. Although delayed fruit development and ripening in the OPV section resulted in lower total yields compared to the Control section (24.6 kg m−2 and 27.7 kg m−2, respectively), after the fourth (of 10 total) harvests, the average weekly yield, fruit number, and fruit mass were not significantly different between the treatment (OPV-shaded) and control group. Light use efficiency (LUE), defined as the ratio of total fruit yield to accumulated PAR received by the plant canopy, was nearly twice as high as the Control section, with 21.4 g of fruit per mole of PAR for plants in the OPV-covered section compared to 10.1 g in the Control section. Overall, this study demonstrated that the use of semi-transparent OPVs as a seasonal shade element for greenhouse production in a high-light region is feasible. However, a higher transmission of PAR and greater OPV device efficiency and durability could make OPV shades more economically viable, providing a desirable solution for co-located greenhouse crop production and renewable energy generation in hot and high-light intensity regions.

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Precision agriculture and geospatial techniques for sustainable disease control

Indian Phytopathology ◽

10.1007/s42360-021-00334-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel P. Roberts ◽

Nicholas M. Short ◽

James Sill ◽

Dilip K. Lakshman ◽

Xiaojia Hu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Big Data ◽

Disease Control ◽

Crop Production ◽

Plant Disease ◽

Production Systems ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Data Driven ◽

Agricultural Community ◽

Plant Disease Control ◽

Crop Germplasm

AbstractThe agricultural community is confronted with dual challenges; increasing production of nutritionally dense food and decreasing the impacts of these crop production systems on the land, water, and climate. Control of plant pathogens will figure prominently in meeting these challenges as plant diseases cause significant yield and economic losses to crops responsible for feeding a large portion of the world population. New approaches and technologies to enhance sustainability of crop production systems and, importantly, plant disease control need to be developed and adopted. By leveraging advanced geoinformatic techniques, advances in computing and sensing infrastructure (e.g., cloud-based, big data-driven applications) will aid in the monitoring and management of pesticides and biologicals, such as cover crops and beneficial microbes, to reduce the impact of plant disease control and cropping systems on the environment. This includes geospatial tools being developed to aid the farmer in managing cropping system and disease management strategies that are more sustainable but increasingly complex. Geoinformatics and cloud-based, big data-driven applications are also being enlisted to speed up crop germplasm improvement; crop germplasm that has enhanced tolerance to pathogens and abiotic stress and is in tune with different cropping systems and environmental conditions is needed. Finally, advanced geoinformatic techniques and advances in computing infrastructure allow a more collaborative framework amongst scientists, policymakers, and the agricultural community to speed the development, transfer, and adoption of these sustainable technologies.

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Effects of cereal rye seeding rate on waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) emergence and soybean growth and yield

Weed Technology ◽

10.1017/wet.2021.28 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-25

Author(s):

Mandy Bish ◽

Brian Dintelmann ◽

Eric Oseland ◽

Jacob Vaughn ◽

Kevin Bradley

Keyword(s):

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Soil Seed Bank ◽

Linear Regression Analysis ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Seeding Rate ◽

Early Season ◽

Cereal Rye ◽

Herbicide Resistant ◽

Growing Seasons

Abstract The evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds has resulted in the necessity to integrate non-chemical control methods with chemicals for effective management in crop production systems. In soybean, control of the pigweed species, particularly herbicide-resistant waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, have become predominant concerns. Cereal rye planted as a winter cover crop can effectively suppress early-season weed emergence in soybean, including waterhemp, when planted at a rate of 123 kg ha−1. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of different cereal rye seeding rates (0, 34, 56, 79, 110, and 123 kg ha−1) on early-season waterhemp suppression and soybean growth and yield. Soybean was planted into fall-seeded cereal rye, which was terminated within four days of soybean planting. The experiment was conducted over the 2018, 2019, and 2020 growing seasons in Columbia, Missouri. Effects of cereal rye on early-season waterhemp suppression varied by year and were most consistent at 56 kg ha−1 or higher seeding rates. Linear regression analysis of cereal rye biomass, height, or stand at soybean planting showed inverse relationships with waterhemp emergence. No adverse effects to soybean growth or yield were observed at any of the cereal rye seeding rates relative to plots that lacked cereal rye cover. Result differences among the years suggest that the successfulness of cereal rye on suppression of early-season waterhemp emergence is likely influenced by the amount of waterhemp seed present in the soil seed bank.

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Revisiting Sulphur—The Once Neglected Nutrient: It’s Roles in Plant Growth, Metabolism, Stress Tolerance and Crop Production

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture11070626 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 626

Author(s):

Tinashe Zenda ◽

Songtao Liu ◽

Anyi Dong ◽

Huijun Duan

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Abiotic Stresses ◽

Crop Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Plant Phenotyping ◽

Special Importance ◽

Nutrient Deficiencies ◽

Sulphur Nutrition ◽

Physiological Processes

Sulphur plays crucial roles in plant growth and development, with its functions ranging from being a structural constituent of macro-biomolecules to modulating several physiological processes and tolerance to abiotic stresses. In spite of these numerous sulphur roles being well acknowledged, agriculture has paid scant regard for sulphur nutrition, until only recently. Serious problems related to soil sulphur deficiencies have emerged and the intensification of food, fiber, and animal production is escalating to feed the ever-increasing human population. In the wake of huge demand for high quality cereal and vegetable diets, sulphur can play a key role in augmenting the production, productivity, and quality of crops. Additionally, in light of the emerging problems of soil fertility exhaustion and climate change-exacerbated environmental stresses, sulphur assumes special importance in crop production, particularly under intensively cropped areas. Here, citing several relevant examples, we highlight, in addition to its plant biological and metabolism functions, how sulphur can significantly enhance crop productivity and quality, as well as acclimation to abiotic stresses. By this appraisal, we also aim to stimulate readers interests in crop sulphur research by providing priorities for future pursuance, including bettering our understanding of the molecular processes and dynamics of sulphur availability and utilization in plants, dissecting the role of soil rhizospherical microbes in plant sulphur transformations, enhancing plant phenotyping and diagnosis for nutrient deficiencies, and matching site-specific crop sulphur demands with fertilizer amendments in order to reduce nutrient use inefficiencies in both crop and livestock production systems. This will facilitate the proper utilization of sulphur in crop production and eventually enhance sustainable and environmentally friend food production.

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