Agrotechnology of Improving Yield and Quality in Field Crops under Climate Change

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2023) | Viewed by 5478

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Land Use, Engineering and Precision Farming Technology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: plant stress physiology; crop production; agrotechnology; tillage; soil conservation; precision nutrient management; yield stability; yield quality
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Guest Editor
Albert Kázmér Faculty in Mosonmagyaróvár, Department of Biological Systems and Precision Technology, Széchenyi University, Vár 2, 9200 Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary
Interests: plant physiological decision support models; big data; digitalisation; IoT in precision farming.
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
1 Institute of Land Use, Technical and Precision Technology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
2 Institutes for Agricultural Research and Educational Farm, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi 138, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: climate change; GHG emissions; drought
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global population growth and the increasing demand for food require an improvement in crop yields. However, climate change poses a major challenge to crop production. The negative effects of weather, climate and pedological-topographical factors that cause crop stresses pose a serious threat to plants. Changes in weather conditions require plants to be well-adapted to the climate and to have a defense system in place. Consequently, great emphasis should be placed on understanding the impact of these stress factors and their mechanisms of action.

The Special Issue focuses on the assessment of the negative effects of climate change and climate extremes and their mitigation by means of the optimization of the production site conditions, genetic basis, ecophysiological parameters (chlorophyll content, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, LAI, dry matter formation) and agrotechnical elements, as well as the use of soil-plant sensors. All types of articles on arable crops, e.g., original research and reviews are welcome.

Dr. Adrienn Széles
Dr. Anikó Nyéki
Dr. Safwan Mohammed
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • precision farming
  • plant stress effects
  • ecophysiological parameters
  • genotype
  • tillage
  • fertilization
  • irrigation
  • plant number

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2333 KiB  
Article
Pruning Boosts Growth, Yield, and Fruit Quality of Old Valencia Orange Trees: A Field Study
by Adel M. Al-Saif, Hosny F. Abdel-Aziz, Sobhy M. Khalifa, Ibrahim A. Elnaggar, Abd El-wahed N. Abd El-wahed, Mohammed H. Farouk and Ashraf E. Hamdy
Agriculture 2023, 13(9), 1720; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091720 - 30 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2506
Abstract
Pruning is an essential practice that helps control branch growth, optimize fruit size, and enhance fruit tree productivity. This study focused on ‘Valencia’ orange trees, which had experienced a decline in productivity after being cultivated on reclaimed lands for several years. The aim [...] Read more.
Pruning is an essential practice that helps control branch growth, optimize fruit size, and enhance fruit tree productivity. This study focused on ‘Valencia’ orange trees, which had experienced a decline in productivity after being cultivated on reclaimed lands for several years. The aim was to explore the impact of pruning intensity on vegetation growth, fruit yield, productivity, and fruit quality in these orange trees. The study involved 35-year-old ‘Valencia’ orange trees, which were subjected to four different levels of pruning. The pruning treatments included: T1—no pruning (control group), T2—light pruning (removal of 25% of main branches), T3—moderate pruning (removal of 50% of main branches), and T4—heavy pruning (removal of 75% of main branches). Each season, these pruning measures were consistently carried out on 15 February. The results indicated that the severity of pruning directly influenced vegetative growth parameters, such as shoot length and leaf area. As the pruning intensity increased, so did the growth of the vegetation. However, the overall volume of the tree’s canopy decreased compared to the control group. These findings provide insights into the relationship between pruning practices and the growth and productivity of ‘Valencia’ orange trees. The highest fruit yields were observed when pruning was carried out at a severity level of 75%, followed by 50 and 25%. These pruning treatments had a positive impact on various aspects of fruit quality, including weight, size, firmness, juice content, TSS (°Brix), TSS/acid ratio, and vitamin C content. Additionally, pruning contributed to a greater fruit yield per tree and an overall increase in the yield percentage. In essence, the findings suggest that pruning performed at different severity levels in February effectively promotes vegetation growth and enhances the physical and chemical properties of ‘Valencia’ orange trees. Notably, it resulted in a nearly 20% rise in fruit yield compared to the control group. Full article
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14 pages, 3673 KiB  
Article
Effect of Nitrogen Application Methods on Yield and Grain Quality of an Extremely Early Maturing Rice Variety
by Yeotae Yun, Gyucheol Kim, Giwon Cho, Youngju Lee, Tugsang Yun and Hakhun Kim
Agriculture 2023, 13(4), 832; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040832 - 5 Apr 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2268
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of nitrogen application methods on the yield and grain quality of an extremely early maturing rice variety. The experiment was conducted in the rice research field of Chungnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services, South Korea, in [...] Read more.
This study aimed to investigate the effect of nitrogen application methods on the yield and grain quality of an extremely early maturing rice variety. The experiment was conducted in the rice research field of Chungnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services, South Korea, in 2019 and 2020. Two nitrogen application methods, BD (100% as a basal dressing) and BTD (70% as a basal dressing + 30% as a top dressing), with three different nitrogen levels (70 kg/ha, 90 kg/ha, and 110 kg/ha), were employed. The results showed that BD treatment had comparable or higher head rice yields and improved grain quality compared to BTD treatment at all nitrogen levels. Additionally, the SPAD value at heading date was highly correlated with both the protein content (r2 = 0.838**) and glossiness of cooked rice (r2 = 0.630**). Therefore, this study suggests that BD treatment could be an effective approach to improve the productivity and quality of extremely early maturing rice varieties while saving on labor costs, and the SPAD value can be used as an index to infer the taste of rice. In conclusion, this study provides useful insights into nitrogen application methods that can be used to enhance the yield and quality of extremely early maturing rice varieties. Full article
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