Influence of conservation agriculture-based production systems on bacterial diversity and soil quality in rice-wheat-greengram cropping system in eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Anup Das virender kumar Peter Craufurd Andrew Mcdonald Sonam Sherpa (2023, [Artículo])

Introduction: Conservation agriculture (CA) is gaining attention in the South Asia as an environmentally benign and sustainable food production system. The knowledge of the soil bacterial community composition along with other soil properties is essential for evaluating the CA-based management practices for achieving the soil environment sustainability and climate resilience in the rice-wheat-greengram system. The long-term effects of CA-based tillage-cum-crop establishment (TCE) methods on earthworm population, soil parameters as well as microbial diversity have not been well studied. Methods: Seven treatments (or scenarios) were laid down with the various tillage (wet, dry, or zero-tillage), establishment method (direct-or drill-seeding or transplantation) and residue management practices (mixed with the soil or kept on the soil surface). The soil samples were collected after 7 years of experimentation and analyzed for the soil quality and bacterial diversity to examine the effect of tillage-cum-crop establishment methods. Results and Discussion: Earthworm population (3.6 times), soil organic carbon (11.94%), macro (NPK) (14.50–23.57%) and micronutrients (Mn, and Cu) (13.25 and 29.57%) contents were appreciably higher under CA-based TCE methods than tillage-intensive farming practices. Significantly higher number of OTUs (1,192 ± 50) and Chao1 (1415.65 ± 14.34) values were observed in partial CA-based production system (p ≤ 0.05). Forty-two (42) bacterial phyla were identified across the scenarios, and Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes were the most dominant in all the scenarios. The CA-based scenarios harbor a high abundance of Proteobacteria (2–13%), whereas the conventional tillage-based scenarios were dominated by the bacterial phyla Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi and found statistically differed among the scenarios (p ≤ 0.05). Composition of the major phyla, i.e., Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes were associated differently with either CA or farmers-based tillage management practices. Overall, the present study indicates the importance of CA-based tillage-cum-crop establishment methods in shaping the bacterial diversity, earthworms population, soil organic carbon, and plant nutrient availability, which are crucial for sustainable agricultural production and resilience in agro-ecosystem.

Metagenomics Bacterial Diversity Rice-Wheat-Greengram CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE DNA SEQUENCES EARTHWORMS METAGENOMICS SOIL QUALITY AGROECOSYSTEMS

Effect of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium on regional organic substrates in Agave salmiana production in Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico

EMILIO RAYMUNDO MORALES MALDONADO MONICA GUTIERREZ ROJAS RAMON JAIME HOLGUIN PEÑA Daniel Ruiz-Juárez Jorge Luis Vega Chávez Ana Cristina Reyes Godoy (2022, [Artículo])

"Mexico has 159 species of Agave spp. In the agri-food industry stand out are Agave tequilana, A. angustifolia, and A. salmiana. A limitation to producing maguey seedlings is the low availability of organic substrates that favor plant adaptation in the field. The objective was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) found in substrates in response to vegetative and root growth of A. salmiana in agricultural areas of Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico. The treatment consisted of earthworm humus (EH) and leaf compost (LC) substrates with materials from the region with different percentages of EH (100, 75, 50%), LC (5, 10%), and sand (20, 40%). The treatments were applied with 14 random replications in two phases in seeds and 40-day-seedlings. The variables evaluated were NPK amount and pH in substrates. The physiological variables measured were plant height, leaf number, stem diameter, root length, and volume. Significant differences (P≤0.05) were observed in seedling physiology due to the effect of the treatment. The best agronomic responses (plant growth and root length/weight) of Agave seedlings were T5 (75% earthworm humus + 20% sand + 5% leaf-soil) and T6 (50% earthworm humus + 40% sand + 10% leaf-soil); in both treatments, the NPK percentages were different from the control (Haplic Phaeozem soil) group. The final concentration of NPK in T6 was N = 0.04%, P = 398.13 mg Kg-1 and K = 11.88 meq 100g-1 . The results infer that NPK availability in soil and progressive acidification (initial pH = 8.6, final pH = 7.4) of the substrate can favorably influence the plant response. The interactions between NPK availability in the substrate and their use for a better response in maguey seedling adaptability open up new lines of research on the productive systems in the región of Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico."

maguey, nutritional quality, plant physiology, productive soils, seedling BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA BIOLOGÍA VEGETAL (BOTÁNICA) FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO

Manejo de pasturas para la crianza de llamas

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura Ravi Gopal Singh (2022, [Libro])

Pasturas CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURA DE CONSERVACIÓN GANADERÍA ARBUSTOS LEGUMINOSAS FORRAJES PASTOREO SUELO CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE ANIMAL HUSBANDRY SHRUBS LEGUMES FORAGE GRAZING SOIL CLIMATE CHANGE LLAMAS AGACHO

Maintenance of UK bread baking quality: Trends in wheat quality traits over 50 years of breeding and potential for future application of genomic-assisted selection

Nick Fradgley Alison Bentley Keith Gardner Stéphanie M. Swarbreck (2023, [Artículo])

Sustainable Food Systems Genomic Prediction Genome-Wide Association Analysis CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA WHEAT BREEDING MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION VARIETIES FOOD SYSTEMS QUALITY

Application of ammonium to a N limited arable soil enriches a succession of bacteria typically found in the rhizosphere

Yendi Navarro-Noya Marco Luna_Guido Nele Verhulst Bram Govaerts Luc Dendooven (2022, [Artículo])

Crop residue management and tillage are known to affect the soil bacterial community, but when and which bacterial groups are enriched by application of ammonium in soil under different agricultural practices from a semi-arid ecosystem is still poorly understood. Soil was sampled from a long-term agronomic experiment with conventional tilled beds and crop residue retention (CT treatment), permanent beds with crop residue burned (PBB treatment) or retained (PBC) left unfertilized or fertilized with 300 kg urea-N ha-1 and cultivated with wheat (Triticum durum L.)/maize (Zea mays L.) rotation. Soil samples, fertilized or unfertilized, were amended or not (control) with a solution of (NH4)2SO4 (300 kg N ha-1) and were incubated aerobically at 25 ± 2 °C for 56 days, while CO2 emission, mineral N and the bacterial community were monitored. Application of NH4+ significantly increased the C mineralization independent of tillage-residue management or N fertilizer. Oxidation of NH4+ and NO2- was faster in the fertilized soil than in the unfertilized soil. The relative abundance of Nitrosovibrio, the sole ammonium oxidizer detected, was higher in the fertilized than in the unfertilized soil; and similarly, that of Nitrospira, the sole nitrite oxidizer. Application of NH4+ enriched Pseudomonas, Flavisolibacter, Enterobacter and Pseudoxanthomonas in the first week and Rheinheimera, Acinetobacter and Achromobacter between day 7 and 28. The application of ammonium to a soil cultivated with wheat and maize enriched a sequence of bacterial genera characterized as rhizospheric and/or endophytic independent of the application of urea, retention or burning of the crop residue, or tillage.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AMMONIUM CROP RESIDUES WHEAT MAIZE TILLAGE SOIL

Arbustos y pastos para restablecer la cobertura vegetal en zonas áridas del Sur de Bolivia

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura Ravi Gopal Singh (2022, [Libro])

Pastos CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURA DE CONSERVACIÓN SUELO COBERTURA DE SUELOS FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO GANADERÍA VEGETACIÓN ARBUSTOS CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE SOIL LAND COVER CLIMATE CHANGE ANIMAL HUSBANDRY VEGETATION SHRUBS

On-farm assessment of yield and quality traits in durum wheat

Facundo Tabbita Iván Ortíz-Monasterios Francisco Javier Pinera-Chavez Maria Itria Ibba Carlos Guzman (2023, [Artículo])

BACKGROUND: Durum wheat is key source of calories and nutrients for many regions of the world. Demand for it is predicted to increase. Further efforts are therefore needed to develop new cultivars adapted to different future scenarios. Developing a novel cultivar takes, on average, 10 years and advanced lines are tested during the process, in general, under standardized conditions. Although evaluating candidate genotypes for commercial release under different on-farm conditions is a strategy that is strongly recommended, its application for durum wheat and particularly for quality traits has been limited. This study evaluated the grain yield and quality performance of eight different genotypes across five contrasting farmers’ fields over two seasons. Combining different analysis strategies, the most outstanding and stable genotypes were identified. RESULTS: The analyses revealed that some traits were mainly explained by the genotype effect (thousand kernel weight, flour sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation volume, and flour yellowness), others by the management practices (yield and grain protein content), and others (test weight) by the year effect. In general, yield showed the highest range of variation across genotypes, management practices, and years and test weight the narrowest range. Flour yellowness was the most stable trait across management conditions, while yield-related traits were the most unstable. We also determined the most representative and discriminative field conditions, which is a beneficial strategy when breeders are constrained in their ability to develop multi-environment experiments. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that assessing genotypes in different farming systems is a valid and complementary strategy for on-station trials for determining the performance of future commercial cultivars in heterogeneous environments to improve the breeding process and resources.

Wheat Quality GGE Analysis Flour Yellowness CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA FLOURS WHEAT QUALITY YIELDS FIELD EXPERIMENTATION

Remote sensing of quality traits in cereal and arable production systems: A review

Zhenhai  Li xiuliang jin Gerald Blasch James Taylor (2024, [Artículo])

Cereal is an essential source of calories and protein for the global population. Accurately predicting cereal quality before harvest is highly desirable in order to optimise management for farmers, grading harvest and categorised storage for enterprises, future trading prices, and policy planning. The use of remote sensing data with extensive spatial coverage demonstrates some potential in predicting crop quality traits. Many studies have also proposed models and methods for predicting such traits based on multi-platform remote sensing data. In this paper, the key quality traits that are of interest to producers and consumers are introduced. The literature related to grain quality prediction was analyzed in detail, and a review was conducted on remote sensing platforms, commonly used methods, potential gaps, and future trends in crop quality prediction. This review recommends new research directions that go beyond the traditional methods and discusses grain quality retrieval and the associated challenges from the perspective of remote sensing data.

Quality Traits Grain Protein CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA REMOTE SENSING QUALITY GRAIN PROTEINS CEREALS PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Hacia un manejo sustentable de la quinua en el altiplano sur de Bolivia

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura Ravi Gopal Singh (2022, [Libro])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA QUINUA FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO GANADERÍA AGRICULTURA DE CONSERVACIÓN SUELO SIEMBRA PLAGAS QUINOA SOIL FERTILITY ANIMAL HUSBANDRY CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE SOIL SOWING PESTS

The fate of rice crop residues and context-dependent greenhouse gas emissions: Model-based insights from Eastern India

Sonam Sherpa virender kumar Andrew Mcdonald (2024, [Artículo])

Crop residue burning is a common practice in many parts of the world that causes air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regenerative practices that return residues to the soil offer a ‘no burn’ pathway for addressing air pollution while building soil organic carbon (SOC). Nevertheless, GHG emissions in rice-based agricultural systems are complex and difficult to anticipate, particularly in production contexts with highly variable hydrologic conditions. Here we predict long-term net GHG fluxes for four rice residue management strategies in the context of rice-wheat cropping systems in Eastern India: burning, soil incorporation, livestock fodder, and biochar. Estimations were based on a combination of Tier 1, 2, and 3 modelling approaches, including 100-year DNDC simulations across three representative soil hydrologic categories (i.e., dry, median, and wet). Overall, residue burning resulted in total direct GHG fluxes of 2.5, 6.1, and 8.7 Mg CO2-e in the dry, median, and wet hydrologic categories, respectively. Relative to emissions from burning (positive values indicate an increase) for the same dry to wet hydrologic categories, soil incorporation resulted in a −0.2, 1.8, or 3.1 Mg CO2-e change in emissions whereas use of residues for livestock fodder increased emissions by 2.0, 2.1, or 2.3 Mg CO2-e. Biochar reduced emissions relative to burning by 2.9 Mg CO2-e in all hydrologic categories. This study showed that the production environment has a controlling effect on methane and, therefore, net GHG balance. For example, wetter sites had 2.8–4.0 times greater CH4 emissions, on average, than dry sites when rice residues were returned to the soil. To effectively mitigate burning without undermining climate change mitigation goals, our results suggest that geographically-target approaches should be used in the rice-based systems of Eastern India to incentivize the adoption of regenerative ‘no burn’ residue management practices.

Soil Carbon Rice Residue Burning Life Cycle Assessment CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SOIL CARBON RICE LIFE CYCLE GREENHOUSE GASES CLIMATE CHANGE