Agriculture, Volume 11, Issue 6

In Ghana, smallholder maize farmers continue to serve as the primary contributor to maize production. These farmers, however, still face challenges of access to appropriate, effective, and efficient drying systems. They continue to depend on open sun...

Climate change is a global problem since many countries worldwide are becoming increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters. Numerous climate models in various studies project a decline in agricultural productivity that will mainly be due to excessiv...

Rice straw is a residue that causes significant environmental problems, as burning it causes CO₂ and ash emissions, while buried waste can cause issues associated with eutrophication. The extraction of straw from fields for alternative uses may contr...

Decision-support system (DSS) IoFarm was developed to identify economically optimal fertilizer strategies on the farm level. The average cost savings are 66 EUR ha⁻¹. This study aimed to determine whether this approach impacts yield, protein content,...

Estimation of plant canopy using low-altitude imagery can help monitor the normal growth status of crops and is highly beneficial for various digital farming applications such as precision crop protection. However, extracting 3D canopy information fr...

Microalgae have long been used for the commercial production of natural colorants such as carotenoids and chlorophyll. Due to the rising demand for carotenoids and other natural products from microalgae, strategies to increase production efficiency a...

Grain size affects the yield and quality of rice. The large grain line (LGL), showing a large grain size and japonica-like genome, was selected in the breeding field. The 94 F₂ plants derived from a cross between LGL and Hanareum (a high-yielding ton...

In recent years, horticultural plants have frequently suffered significant heat damage due to excessive temperatures. In this study, a horticultural spray cooling system was designed, consisting mainly of a jet fan and spraying system. CFD simulation...

Common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) is a widespread legume crop in the Mediterranean mega-environment, due to its versatile uses and its compatibility with organic and low-input farming systems. However, its adaptation to various such environments should...

The results of this study provided accurate guidance on the possibility of using common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) in phytoremediation practices for mineral soil or organic soils contaminated with Cd or Pb. Based on a model pot experimen...

Rice yield is a complex trait that is strongly affected by environment and genotype × environment interaction (GEI) effects. Consideration of GEI in diverse environments facilitates the accurate identification of optimal genotypes with high yield per...

The small hive beetle (Aethina tumida Murray) is a serious threat to beekeeping and crops that rely on honeybees for pollination. The small hive beetle not only causes significant damage to honeybees by feeding on pollen and honey, attacking bee broo...

The rapid development of cities in the recent 10 years caused a reduction in the cultivated land area, which only accounts for 14% of the total land area in China. Land development and reclamation have been regarded as an effective way to compensate...

Rice straw is a byproduct of agricultural production and an important agricultural resource. However, rice straw has not yet been effectively used, and incorrect treatment methods (such as burning in the field) can cause serious damage to the environ...

Pastures are important for the agricultural sector as forage, recreational and sports systems. The Chilean pasture seed market is highly dependent on introduced genetics; however, the effect of climate change and market conditions can modify pasture...

Despite phosphorus resources on Earth being limited, over fertilization in many agricultural situations causes significant resource consumption. Phosphorus-recycling within agricultural production can reduce global dilution into the environment and i...

The effects of rumen buffer agents on ruminal fermentation parameters and bacterial community composition were determined using in vitro and in vivo experiments in three rumen-cannulated, high-concentrate fed Holstein Friesian dairy cows. Experiment...

Antioxidant activity (AOA) in fruits of Sambucus nigra and several new elderberry interspecific hybrids involving S. javanica (JA), S. nigra subsp. nigra (NI), S. nigra subsp. nigra ‘Black Beauty’ (BB), S. nigra subsp. cerulea (CER) and S. racemosa (...

Returning corn cobs to the field during corn kernel harvesting is an effective way to improve soil properties and increase crop yield. However, seasonally frozen soil seriously hinders the field decomposition process of corn cobs. To explore the deco...

Water deficit is one of the most problematic stressors worldwide. In this context, the use of biostimulants represents an increasingly ecological practice aimed to improve crop tolerance and mitigate the negative effects on the productivity. Here, th...

The following should be added to the Acknowledgments section of this paper [...]

In most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, precipitation is impacted by climate change. In some countries like Cameroon, it is still not clear how maize, millet and rice will respond to changes in growing season precipitation. This work examines the exposu...

Ascaridiosis in poultry results in a reduction in body weight gain, egg production, as well as microelement levels. Infected poultry have higher demands on feed with the addition of essential elements including zinc. The effects of the infection by A...

Intensive cultivation and unprecedented utilization of ammoniacal fertilizer has accelerated soil acidification in the southern Great Plains and many other parts of the world. During a two-year study that evaluated the impact of soil pH and aluminum...

The need for a transition to sustainable food systems is widely recognised. Over the last three decades, movements have been demanding and proposing a radical transformation, foregrounding the social values of food. Experiences inspired by solidarity...

The mineralization of urea fertilizer mostly regulates the nitrogen dynamics in the soil. A laboratory-scale study was conducted to compare the nitrogen dynamics in two tropical soil series incubated with either liquid urea (LU) or granular urea (GU)...

Late pear cultivars, such as ‘Conference’, can be stored for a long period if kept in good storage conditions. A three-year study (2011–2013) compared the impact of six-month storage using four technologies—normal atmosphere, normal atmosphere + 1-me...

Sorghum–sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor × S. sudanense (Piper) Stapf.) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) provide adequate nutritive value for growing beef cattle; however, unlike pearl millet, sorghum–sudangrass produces hydrocyanic acid...

Lamprocapnos spectabilis (L.) Fukuhara (bleeding heart) is valued both in the horticultural and pharmaceutical markets. Despite its great popularity, information on the in vitro tissue culture technology in this species is limited. There is also litt...

Sheep liveweight and liveweight change are vital tools both for commercial and research farm management. However, they can be unreliable when collection procedures are not standardized or when there are varying time delays between sheep removal from...

Almond is an important tree nut crop worldwide, and planted areas have been increasing year after year. While self-fertility is one of the key factors when it comes to improved almond productivity of new cultivars, yield is also affected by the numbe...

The use of synthetic insecticides may cause failures in the biological control of insect pests due to undesired side effects on natural enemies and the rapid evolution of insecticide resistance in agroecosystems. Residues of neurotoxic insecticides c...

Lipases are enzymes that catalyze various types of reactions and have versatile applications. Additionally, lipases are the most widely used class of enzymes in biotechnology and organic chemistry. Lipases can be produced by a wide range of organisms...

In light of foreseen global climatic changes, we can expect crops to be subjected to several stresses that may occur at the same time, but information concerning the effect of long-term exposure to a combination of stresses on fruit yield and quality...

Genetic improvement programs have resulted in spectacular productivity gains for most animal species in recent years. The introduction of quantitative genetics and the use of statistical models have played a fundamental role in achieving these advanc...

In the past decade Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. karstii, and Alternaria alternata represent emerging fungal pathogens on citrus in the Mediterranean basin. Selection of tolerant Citrus germplasm offers evaluable long-term solution and should be...

The climate warming and changes in weather patterns in Europe are negatively affecting the structure of grassland swards. The disappearance of valuable forage grasses can be observed. Therefore, in order to keep grassland productivity high, high-yiel...

Background: This study of the large-flowered azalea cv. ‘Anneke’ investigated the impact of two factors, i.e., methods of fertilization and mycorrhization, on the nutritional status of plants during three years of nursery cultivation. Methods: Single...

The cultivation of vegetables in greenhouses is characterised by high planting density and environmental conditions that favour the development of pests and diseases. These are mainly controlled using plant protection products applied with a hand-hel...

Sugarcane breeding programs require 15 years of experimentation to create more productive cultivars, and estimates of genetic progress can indicate the efficiency of breeding programs. In this study, we used a diversity panel, the Brazilian Panel of...

Metabolic energy budgeting (MEB) was used to evaluate evolution over 30 years (1980–1981 to 2010–2011) in New Zealand southern North Island ‘hill country’ sheep and beef cattle systems. MEB calculates energy required by animals for body weight mainte...

This study analyzes the factors that influence the probability and extent of the adoption of mungbean production technologies in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, using multivariate probit and Poisson regression models. The results show that the probabilit...

For more than three decades, honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) have experienced high losses during winter and these losses are still continuing. It is crucial that beekeepers monitor their colonies closely and anticipate losses early enough to apply...

The quantity of land covered by various crops in a specific time span, referred to as a cropping pattern, dictates the level of agricultural production. However, retrieval of this information at a landscape scale can be challenging, especially when h...

Current approaches to topdressing and weeding operations for rice cultivation present several disadvantages, such as poor precision, low efficiency, serious environmental pollution, and so on. This paper presents a row-controlled fertilizing–weeding...

The effectiveness of commonly used parasiticides decreases due to the drug resistance developed by many organisms. Therefore, the application of feed additives possessing antiparasitic properties may be helpful in limiting the burden of parasites. Th...

Contamination by ergot caused by the phytopathogenic fungus Claviceps purpurea is a constant threat to the whole rye value chain. Ergot alkaloids (EA) produced within the fungal sclerotia are toxic for humans and animals and are subjected to strict r...

While the effects of carbon on soil nitrogen (N) cycle have been extensively studied, it is not clearly understood how co-existing macronutrients, such as phosphorus (P), affect the N cycle in agroecosystems. In this study, P amendment effects on nit...

A linear programming optimization tool is useful to assist farmers with optimizing resource allocation and profitability. This study developed a linear programming profit optimization model with a silage supplement scenario. Utilizable kilograms of p...

We used 5 years of data from multi-environmental trials conducted in Poland to assess average winter wheat yield based on selected environmental factors to recommend cultivars depending on their performance in environments of different productivity....