Control Of Crop Production Research Articles

Endophytic fungi as biological control agents and their indirect effects on plants

The use of entomopathogenic fungi represents one of the most important non-chemical alternatives for pest control in crop production. In addition to their pathogenicity to arthropods, they have many other important effects that favor their use in biological control. They live in plants as endophytes and have an inhibitory effect on plant pathogens. They inhabit the rhizosphere of many plants in natural and agricultural ecosystems and have a stimulatory effect on their growth and development. These recently acquired ecological functions are not yet fully understood, but point to the broader potential of using entomopathogenic endophytic fungi in crop production, not only as biopesticides but also as mycofungicides and growth stimulants (biostimulants). To achieve the full potential of entomopathogenic endophytic fungi in daily agricultural practice, practical application should be considered in the development of commercial products and the application techniques of entomopathogenic endophytic fungi that allow successful colonization of plants should be considered.

Effects of Prohydrojasmon on the Number of Infesting Herbivores and Biomass of Field-Grown Japanese Radish Plants.

Prohydrojasmon (PDJ), an analog of jasmonic acid (JA), was found to induce direct and indirect defenses against herbivores in non-infested plants. To test whether PDJ can be used for pest control in crop production, we conducted experiments in pesticide-free Japanese radish fields from October 4 to December 12 in 2015. Twenty-four Japanese radish plants in three plots were treated with a 100 times-diluted commercial formulation (5%) of PDJ (treated plants), and 24 plants in three different plots were treated with water (control plants) until November 29 every week. Throughout the observation period, the number of aphids, leaf-mining fly larvae, vegetable weevils, and thrips was significantly lower on the treated plants than on the control plants. In contrast, the number of lepidopteran larvae was not significantly different between the treated and control plants throughout the study period. Parasitized aphids (mummies) were also observed in both plots. Poisson regression analyses showed that a significantly higher number of mummies was recorded on the treated plants as compared to that on the control plants when the number of aphids increased. This suggested that PDJ application to Japanese radish plants attracted more parasitoid wasps on the treated plants than on the control plants. We also identified eight terpenoids and methyl salicylate as the PDJ-induced plant volatiles in the headspace of the treated plants. Some of these volatiles might be responsible for attracting aphid-parasitoid wasps in the field. However, for other insect pests, we did not find any natural enemies. Interestingly, the genes of the JA and salicylic acid signaling pathways were differentially upregulated in the treated plants. We also observed that the PDJ treatments induced the expression of the genes related to glucosinolate biosynthesis and the subsequent isothiocyanate formation. Additionally, the weights of both the aboveground and belowground parts of the treated plants were significantly lower than those of the respective parts of the control plants. These results indicated that the treatment of Japanese radish plants with a 100 times-diluted commercial formulation of PDJ induced their direct and indirect defenses against several insect pest species to reduce their numbers, and negatively affected their biomass.

Pesticides in agriculture

Pesticides in agriculture

On the Methodology of Satellite Data Utilization in Multi-Modeling Approach for Socio-Ecological Risks Assessment Tasks: A Problem Formulation

The problem of satellite data utilization in multi-modeling approach for socio-ecological risks assessment is formally defined. Methodology of natural geo-systems modeling for variables and indicators selections is described. Observation, measurement and modeling data utilization method in the framework of multi-model approach is described. Methodology and models of risk assessment in framework of decision support approach are defined and described. Brief conclusions on efficiency of the described methodology are proposed. Proposed methodology can applied for wide range of risk-related tasks, such as natural and technological disaster monitoring, air-water-soil pollution control, crop productivity control, etc.

Herbicide Transport in Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed: II. Long-Term Research on Acetochlor, Alachlor, Metolachlor, and Metribuzin1

Lerch, R.N., E.J. Sadler, C. Baffaut, N.R. Kitchen, and K.A. Sudduth, 2010. Herbicide Transport in Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed: II. Long-Term Research on Acetochlor, Alachlor, Metolachlor, and Metribuzin. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1-15. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00504.x Abstract: Farmers in the Midwestern United States continue to be reliant on soil-applied herbicides for weed control in crop production, and herbicide contamination of streams remains an environmental problem. The main objective of this study was to analyze trends in concentration and load of acetochlor, alachlor, metolachlor, and metribuzin in Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed (GCEW) from 1992 to 2006. A secondary objective was to document the effects of best management practices (BMPs) implemented within GCEW on herbicide transport trends. Median relative herbicide loads, as a percent of applied, were 3.7% for metolachlor, 1.3% for metribuzin, 0.36% for acetochlor, and 0.18% for alachlor. The major decrease in alachlor use and increase in acetochlor use caused shifts in flow-weighted concentrations that were observed over the entire concentration range. The smaller decrease in metolachlor use led to a consistent decreasing time trend only for the upper end of the concentration distribution. Metribuzin also showed moderate decreases in concentration with time since 1998. Annual loads were generally correlated to second quarter discharge. Despite extensive education efforts in the watershed, conservation BMPs within GCEW were mainly implemented to control erosion, and therefore had no discernable impact on reducing herbicide transport. Overall, changes in herbicide use and second quarter discharge had the greatest effect on trends in flow-weighted concentration and annual load.

Prospect of Dynamic Data Driven Application System in agricultural and environmental applications

At present,most input data in system dynamic modeling are not able to synchronize with real-world conditions,which often results in inaccurate predictions and/or failure of system control.Dynamic Data Driven Application System(DDDAS) is an innovative paradigm in which real-time computer simulations and measurements,system automated feedback and applications/managements are dynamically integrated.It effectively overcomes setbacks in traditional simulation approaches.This paper is an overview of the emergence and basic concepts of DDDAS and describes the rationale and methodology of DDDAS application in agricultural and environmental sciences through case studies of greenhouse gas emission,irrigation control in crop production and monitoring water pollution in river system.Specific limitations of DDDAS are also discussed.

Biology and Beyond: The Science of “Back to Nature” Farming in the United States

Organic farming, biodynamic farming, and other alternative approaches to agriculture are often described in spatial terms such as “close to,”“going back to,” and “following” nature, and correspondingly represent a production process that is ineluctably local, farmer-led, and relies on minimal external inputs, especially in terms of science and technology. In contrast to this representation, however, this article argues that going back to nature is, and has been, a scientific process. An examination of the development of several key ideas in alternative agriculture reveals the participation of scientists and the pursuit of scientific research resulting in a diverse range of society-nature relationships and agricultural technologies. By applying Bruno Latour's circulatory model of scientific work to the endeavors of people involved in U.S. alternative agriculture, I show how networks of people involved in alternative agriculture, like scientific disciplines, have produced “immutable mobiles,” or ideas that travel across time and space, and have made control of knowledge as much a focus as control of crop production. This investigation seeks to contribute to current analyses of the rise of the organic agriculture movement and more broadly to our understanding of the dynamics of alternative groups and the generation of alternative ideas. Latour's model proves effective for analyzing the mechanisms through which new knowledge is generated, even outside conventional academic disciplines. Deploying this model within a context of power, particularly Foucault's ideas about discourse, is necessary to evaluate why some ideas prove more successful than others.

Optimal Control of Crop Production in Horticultural Glasshouses

Abstract The paper will discuss the addition of a plant growth module onto the preexisting micro-climate control model of a Venlo-type glasshouse developed on the Matlab/SIMULINK package (Young et al ., 1994). The existing model, using True Digital Control (TDC) and Proportional-Integral-Plus (PIP) methods (Young et al., 1987; Lees et al ., 1996) monitors and simulates optimal climatic conditions in the glasshouse via control of temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide concentration. This is achieved by a complex simulation model which takes account of both internal and external climatic considerations, and produces impressive simulated results which have been validated (Young et al. , 1994).

Towards the quantitative control of crop production and quality. III. Some recent developments in research into the root‐soil interface

Abstract In addition to their general role as sinks for ion transfer from the soil, roots can modify uptake by specifically changing conditions within the rhizosphere. The possibility of including such factors in models is illustrated by the effects of pH change, solubilization of iron, mycorrhizal infections, competitive ion uptake and root shrinkage caused by drying.

Towards the quantitative control of crop production and quality

Towards the quantitative control of crop production and quality

Towards the quantitative control of crop production and quality. I. The role of computer models in soil and plant research

Abstract 1. A model contains a heirarchy of sub‐models 2. At each level the sub‐models contain: Facts Mechanistic relations Empirical relations often derived from the output of lower order sub‐models. 3. Model inputs often contain stochastic elements whose effect on output can be assessed statistically. 4. When testing models, empirical inputs should, if possible, be derived from independent experiments. 5. The data from successive years of experiment may be used to update the model parameters. 6. When the sensitivity of the output to its inputs has been determined, the model may be simplified, and models of different crops combined into a comprehensive model. 7. Predictive models with a practical aim should be distinguished from theoretical models which must be rigorously tested at their extremes if they are to be corroborated.

Book Reviews

ELECTRON TRANSPORT AND PHOTOPHOS‐PHORYLATION, TOPICS IN PHOTOSYNTHESIS, VOL. 4. Edited by J. BarberTHE MATHEMATICS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND PRODUCTIVITY. Experimental Botany. An International Series of Monographs, Vol. 16. By D. A. Charles‐EdwardsDIFFERENTIATION IN VITRO. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium of the British Society for Cell Biology. Edited by M. M. Yeoman & D. E. S. TrumanPLASMALEMMA AND TONOPLAST: THEIR FUNCTIONS IN THE PLANT CELL. Edited by D. Marmè, E. Marrè & R. HertelTHE PLANT COMMUNITY AS A WORKING MECHANISM, Special Publications Series of the British Ecological Society 1. Edited by E. I. NewmanTHE NATURAL COUMARINS: OCCURRENCE, CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY. By R D. H. Murray, J. Mendez & S. A. BrownBIOLOGICAL CONTROL IN CROP PRODUCTION. Edited by G. C. Papavizas

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this articles: The Biology of Botrytis, edited by J. R. Coley‐Smith, K. Verhoeff and W. R. Jarvis. Microbial Ecology of the Phylloplane, edited by J. P. Blakeman. Biology and Control of Take‐all, edited by M. J. C. Asher and P. J. Shipton. Phytoalexins, edited by J. A. Bailey and J. W. Mansfield. Strategies for the Control of Cereal Disease, edited for the Federation of British Plant Pathologists by J. F. Jenkyn and R. T. Plumb. Tissue Culture Methods for Plant Pathologists, edited for the Federation of British Plant Pathologists by D. S. Ingram and J. P. Helgeson. Principles of Plant Pathology, by J. G. Manners. Biological Control in Crop Production, edited by George C. Papavizas.

Book Review: Biological Control in Crop Production.

Book Review: Biological Control in Crop Production.

Books Received

Books Received Get access Northeast Gulf Science.—A new journal, succeeding Journal of Marine Science, devoted to disseminating knowledge of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters. Subscriptions are $4.00 per year (two issues), through the Editor, c/o Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528. The first four volumes (1977–1980) contain many articles on systematics and ecology of marine organisms, particularly fishes and crustaceans. Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms.— Sybil P. Parker (ed.). 1982. McGraw-Hill, New York. 2 vols. xviii + 1166, 1232 pp. $149.50.—Semitechnical accounts of the families of living organisms, compiled by over 170 contributors; includes a 5 page essay on “Biological classification” by W. J. Bock. Wallace's Line and Plate Tectonics.— T. C. Whitmore. 1981. Clarendon Press, Oxford, xii + 91 pp. $39.00.—A ridiculously overpriced first volume in a series of “Oxford Monographs on Biogeography,” arguing that Celebes (a hybrid island) marks the collision of Laurasian and Gondwanian fragments a mere 15 million years ago and that biogeographers should now “interpret their own research findings against” this geological knowledge, and including chapters doing precisely that for palms and vertebrates. Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 14.— Max K. Hecht, Bruce Wallace, and Ghillean T. Prance (eds.). 1982. Plenum Press, New York, xiii + 445 pp. $39.50.—Includes chapters on the interrelationships of human races and the evolution of picture-winged Hawaiian Drosophila. Further Studies on the Cavernicole Fauna of Mexico and Adjacent Regions.— James R. Reddell (ed.). 1982. Association for Mexican Cave Studies Bull. 8. Texas Memorial Museum [Bull. 28], Austin. 288 pp. $18.00.—Including contributions on crustaceans, arachnids, millipedes, beetles, fishes, and bats. British Planarians.— Ian R. Ball and T. B. Reynoldson. 1981. Synopses of the British Fauna (new series), no. 19, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. vii + 141 pp. $32.50.—Morphology, natural history, study methods, and systematics. A Review of Copepoda Associated with Sea Anemones and Anemone-like Forms (Cnidaria, Anthozoa).— Arthur G. Humes. 1982. Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc, Vol. 72, Part 2. 120 pp. $12.00.—Includes new genera and species, with host records. Faunal Affinities, Systematics, and Bionomics of the Orthoptera of the California Channel Islands.— D. C. F. Rentz and David B. Weissman. 1982. Univ. of California Publications, Entomology, Vol. 94, Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, xiii + 240 pp.—A well-illustrated monograph, unfortunately with little information on the relationships of the Channel Island endemics. Chondrichthyes I: Paleozoic Elasmobranchii.— Rainer Zangerl. 1981. Handbook of Paleoichthyology, Vol. 3A, Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, New York. 115 pp. 168 German marks.—Heavily illustrated account, with cladograms. The Limits and Relationships of the Lutjanidae and Associated Families.— G. David Johnson. 1981. Bull. Scrips Inst. Oceanogr., Vol. 24, Univ. of California Press, Berkeley. 114 pp. $8.00.—Analysis of three superfamilies of percoid fishes. A Textbook of Entomology.— Herbert H. Ross, Charles A. Ross, and June R. P. Ross. Fourth edition, 1982. John Wiley and Sons, New York, xiii> + 696 pp. $25.95.—With greater emphasis on phylogeny than many comparable volumes. Analysis of Vertebrate Structure.— Milton Hildebrand. 1982. John Wiley and Sons, New York, xiv + 654 pp. $27.95.—Comparative anatomy text, with emphasis on function. Ecology of the Chihuahuan Desert: Organization of Some Vertebrate Communities.— Robert Barbault and Gonzalo Halffter (eds.). 1981. Instituto de Ecologia, Mexico (available from the Instituto, attn. Patricia Reidl, Apartado Postal 18-845, Deleg. Miguel Hidalgo, 11800 Mexico D.F.). 167 pp. $26.00.—Includes chapters on tortoises, lizards, birds, and small mammals. Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind.— Laurence M. Klauber. 1982. University of California Press, Berkeley, xxii + 250 pp. $19.95.—An abridgement of the two volume account. Social Biology of the Bushy-Tailed Woodrat, Neotoma cinerea.— Peter C. Escherich. 1982. Univ. of California Publications, Zoology, Vol. 110, Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, xiii + 132 pp. $10.00—Laboratory and field studies. Mammals of the National Parks.— Richard G. Van Gelder. 1982. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, xvi + 310 pp. $24.50, $8.95.—Field guide. Behavioral Enrichment in the Zoo.— Hal Markowitz. 1982. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, ix + 210 pp. $24.00.—Enhancing the life styles of captive mammals. Perspectives in Running Water Ecology.— Maurice A. Lock and D. Dudley Williams (eds.). 1981. Plenum Press, New York, x + 430 pp. $49.50.—Includes chapters on ciliates and amphipods. The Role of Hyperparasitism in Biological Control: A Symposium.— David Rosen (ed.). 1981. Division of Agricultural Sciences, Univ. of California. Priced Publication 4103, Berkeley. 52 pp. $3.00—On the parasites of parasites. Biological Control in Crop Production.— George C. Papavizas (ed.). 1982. Beltsville Symposia in Agricultural Research, Vol. 5, Allanheld, Osmun and Co., Totowa, New Jersey, xii + 461 pp. $35.00.—Includes a chapter on “Symbiosis of biosystematics and biological control” by L. Knutson. Systematic Biology, Volume 31, Issue 2, June 1982, Pages 234–235, https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/31.2.234 Published: 01 June 1982

Government Purchase of Crop Limiting Easements as a Means of Reducing Production

This paper presents findings of an inquiry concerning the feasibility of using crop limiting easements as a control of crop production. In the hypothetical program, the federal government would purchase perpetual authority to restrict the use of specific agricultural lands from the production of tilled crops. The participants would enter voluntarily and would retain the right to produce and harvest permanent vegetation or convert the tract to nonagricultural use. The easement approach was compared with hypothetical programs similar to the conservation reserve. The results indicate that production control could be achieved at lower cost with the easement alternative. Another apparent advantage of the easement approach would be economy and ease of administration. Also, the easement rights, because of their permanence, give flexibility by avoiding fixed termination dates.