Crop Production Efficiency Research Articles

Spatial-temporal dynamics of qualitative changes in efficiency of agricultural production in agricultural holdings of Ukraine in 2015 and 2019

The agricultural holdings are one of the most common types of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine. The experience of foreign countries shows that the agricultural holdings should be the basis for the formation and effective development of agricultural industries in the country. They are one of the effective forms of management with the appropriate level of organization of the production technological processes and optimal territory order. However, rapid market transformations and the economic crisis in recent years have had a negative impact on the activities of the agricultural holdings. Theoretical aspects of the agro-industrial complex study, in particular the crop industry of Ukraine are covered in the works of the following homeland scientists: Malik M.Yo., Shpykuliak O.H., Tabinskyi V.A., Koliesnik Ye.O., Silina I.S., Urkevych V.Yu., Mokhnenko A.S. and others. Significant number of problems, such as low level of specialization; insufficient level of development of production, processing and marketing infrastructure; imperfect structure of production and its material and technical support affects the formation of the competitiveness of the agricultural holdings in the homeland market. To solve these problems requires scientific development and practical implementation of a set of measures that will improve the efficiency of the agricultural holdings. The purpose of the article is to study the spatial-temporal trends in the efficiency of the crop branch development in the agricultural holdings of the regions of Ukraine. The object of the research is the plant branch of Ukraine. The subject of the study is the spatial-temporal trends in the efficiency of the crop branch development of the regions of Ukraine. During the research, the statistical data of spatial-temporal activity of the agricultural holdings in the context of regions for 2015 - 2019 were used. Previous scientific works of homeland scientists were also used. During the study, we used the following methods: statistical, cartographic and comparative-geographical. Agricultural production is influenced by many different factors that determine the peculiarities of its functioning (natural-geographical and socio-geographical). The territory of Ukraine has a favorable geographical, transport and geopolitical position. Demographic features of rural areas have negative trends, which in turn is a factor that determines the agricultural production of the territory. Therefore, all measures must be taken to stabilize the demographic situation in rural areas. Natural-geographical factors include climate and agro-climatic resources, which throughout Ukraine are very favorable for the crop branch development. Despite the favorable conditions for the development of the agricultural complex, in recent years throughout Ukraine there has been a negative trend of reducing the efficiency of crop production. Therefore, the study of spatial-temporal dynamics of sectoral and intra-sectoral specializations and the identification of territorial imbalances in agricultural land use of Ukraine, their causes and solutions is a very important scientific problem today. To increase economic efficiency and smooth operation of the agricultural holdings, our country must take the following measures: improving the legal framework; quality training of qualified personnel; updating the material and technical base; providing long-term and low-interest loans; irrigation system upgrades, etc.

Agricultural land use in the post-reform period (2000-2020) in a market economy

The formation of agricultural land use adequate to the tasks of the market economy is the most important task of the post-reform period. Agrarian transformations were of a social and political nature and solved the problems of transition from a planned to a market economy. To implement them, we used not the experience of Russia in previous years, but examples from the practice of advanced economies of the European Union. Therefore, the appearance of such a phenomenon as unused land (in general, characteristic of the crisis periods of the market economy) caused a negative perception. The paper considers this problem as an important social and economic phenomenon and suggests ways to solve it. For this purpose, the technology of identifying and detailed study of the state of the land is proposed. The identification of the natural suitability for the cultivation of the main agricultural crops is confirmed by ensuring sufficient efficiency of crop production. Based on the analysis of the conditions of land use (labor, capital and energy supply) and their legal status, the economic feasibility of involving unused plots in economic turnover is established. This will make it possible to make the necessary and reasonable decisions to restore the land and resource potential of agricultural production. To ensure the controlled and systematic implementation of the program to solve the problem, a state-commercial center is being created in the subject of the Federation, which organizes, controls and finances the activities carried out.

Temporal and spatial variations in nitrogen use efficiency of crop production in China

The low value of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) (around 30%) of crop production in China highlights the necessity to adopt reasonable N managements in national scale. After the implementation of ‘National Soil Testing and Formulated Fertilization’ program in 2005, many field experiments have reported an increase of NUE for crop productions in China. This has prompted discussion regarding the extent to which NUE in crop production has been improved. Here, we analyzed the temporal and spatial changes in NUE (crop N uptake/total N input) and cumulative synthetic and non-synthetic N fertilizer recovery efficiency of crop production in China during 1980–2014, and evaluated the relationship between NUE and economic growth (purchasing power parity, PPP) at national and provincial scale. The results showed that the overall NUE of crop production in China clearly increased from 35 to 42% during 2003–2014, and an increase in NUE was further evidenced by increases in cumulative recovery efficiency of both synthetic and non-synthetic N fertilizer. The relationship between NUE and PPP can be described by an environmental Kuznets curve at the national scale, with NUE first decreasing then increasing with PPP. However, this relationship exhibited large spatial variation: 1) In economically developed (e.g., Guangdong and Zhejiang) and undeveloped provinces (e.g., Yunnan and Guizhou), NUE generally decreased and then remained at low levels (20–35%) as PPP increased. 2) In major agricultural provinces with high (e.g., Shandong and Jiangsu) or intermediate levels (e.g., Hunan and Hebei) of economic development, a pronounced increasing trend in NUE with PPP was observed. These results highlight the necessity of developing region-oriented N management strategies to further increase the NUE of crop production in China, particularly in the economically developed and undeveloped provinces.

Energy efficiency and congestion considering data envelopment analysis and bounded adjusted measure: A case of tomato production

Auditing energy usage of farming operations is a key step towards agricultural sustainability. The current systems of tomato production use a considerable quantity of energy. As a result, improving energy efficiency is a crucial stage in decreasing energy consumption in tomato production. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is an established methodology to assess energy efficiency in crop production. In this study, the bounded adjusted measure (BAM) is applied for improving the efficiency of tomato production as well as decreasing the carbon footprint. In this regard, the overall, environmental, production, and pure emission efficiency of tomato production in 24 provinces of Iran are investigated. The nine overall efficient tomato producing provinces recognized that showed they had no input excesses and/or output shortfalls. Also, similar to the overall efficiency, nine out of the 24 DMUs were recognized as environmental, production, and pure emission efficient. Finally, in order to measure the probable amounts of excessive investments in inputs, with the aim of obtaining more outputs, a new approach of determining congestion is proposed based on BAM model.

Agricultural Productivity and Urbanization: Evidence from Grain and Tobacco Production Efficiency in China

This paperbased on grain production efficiency and tobacco production efficiency studies the impact of agricultural productivity on urbanization in open economy. Theoretically, a theoretical model allowing biased technological progress is constructed. The research finds that when technological progress is labor-saving technological progress, the improvement of agricultural productivity can significantly improve the level of urbanization. Empirically, using The Panel data of Chinese cities from 2000 to 2014, the empirical study finds that The improvement of grain production efficiency and the improvement of tobacco as a cash crop production efficiency will significantly improve the urbanization rate, and each standard deviation increase of agricultural productivity will increase the urbanization rate by about 4-9.6 percentage points, or about 12-30%. The above findings are robust and hold even after using instrumental variables and introducing more control variables. The research of this paper shows that the improvement of staple grain production efficiency and cash crop production efficiency can effectively improve the level of urbanization in China. Under the new normal of the economy, implementing the rural revitalization strategy and continuing to improve the efficiency of agricultural production is conducive to further improving the urbanization rate and boosting high-quality economic development.

Features of technological processing of seeds with an electromagnetic field of microwave before sowing

To increase the efficiency of crop production in the arsenal of the agronomic service there is a number of techniques, methods and technologies that reveal the potential of agricultural plants for all stages of production, starting with soil preparation, selection and preparation of seeds for sowing, agrotechnological measures during the growing season, harvesting technologies, storage and processing of products. The article presents the results of experimental studies on the use of the energy of ultra-high frequency electromagnetic fields for pre-sowing treatment of lupine seeds in order to increase their germination. Revealed the relationship between the parameters of microwave exposure and seed germination. The areas of modes where microwave treatment allows to increase germination, as well as areas of modes in which the impact does not reach the planned effect, or has a negative (depressing) effect, have been determined. Recommendations are given for ensuring the optimal modes of microwave processing and ensuring control of the parameters of the technological process. Based on the results obtained, it can be reliably asserted that the region of microwave treatment of lupine seeds, with a result exceeding the control values, is observed at exposure in the range from 50 to 60 s and at a specific microwave power of exposure from 1.0 to 1.17 kW/kg. The best result of an increase in germination by 1.5% was obtained at 60 s and 1.17 kW/kg. When treating seeds, it is recommended to maintain an average microwave heating rate of 0.50 °C/s until an average microwave heating temperature of 51.5 °C is reached.

Smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation practices contribute to crop production efficiency in southern Ethiopia

AbstractClimate‐smart practices that have added benefits of improving agricultural productivity are an imperative for improving smallholder farming. However, there are few insights into how smallholder climate‐smart adaptation practices influence their technical (in)efficiency. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of smallholders’ climate‐smart adaptation practices on their crop production technical efficiency (TE) in the Lemo district of southern Ethiopia. We used focus group discussion, experts’ consultations and household survey to collect data from 600 smallholder crop producers across six rural kebeles. We computed smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation indices based on experts' consultations and estimated the TE of the smallholder farmers using Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The smallholder farmers in the Lemo district have adopted climate‐smart agricultural practices such as terracing, crop diversification, improved soil amendment practices, varying planting or harvesting schedules, and crop rotation. The smallholder farm households practicing more adaptation strategies on a larger scale were more technically efficient than their counterparts with their TE averaging 11.31, 8.62, and 6.71% for major crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and teff [Eragrostis tef) (Zucc.) Trotter] production, respectively. Our model also revealed that adaptation to climate change has a positive and significant contribution to the technical efficiency of major crops, wheat, and teff production. Other key determinants of TE are farming experience, education, access to extension services, livestock holdings, and farm household income. Overall, our study suggests a policy shift to promote smallholder farmers adaptation to climate change using climate‐smart practices for an effective response to climate change impact while enhancing TE.

Novel S. pennellii × S. lycopersicum Hybrid Rootstocks for Tomato Production with Reduced Water and Nutrient Supply

Drought stress and nutrient deficiency are limiting factors in vegetable production that will have a decisive role due to the challenges of climate change in the future. The negative effects of these stressors on yield can be mitigated by crop grafting. The increasing demands for resource-use efficiency in crop production, therefore, require the development and phenotyping of more resilient rootstocks, and the selection of appropriate scions. We tested the effect of combined drought stress and nutrient deficiency on yield and fruit quality of the two tomato cultivars ‘Lyterno’ and ‘Tastery’ in the greenhouse, grafted onto different rootstock genotypes. The use of four different rootstocks, including two novel S. pennellii × S. lycopersicum hybrids and the proven-effective use of ‘Beaufort’, as well as self-grafted plants, allowed conclusions to be drawn about the differential stress mitigation of the rootstocks used. The stress-induced yield reduction of the scion ‘Lyterno’ can be mitigated more significantly by the novel hybrid rootstocks than by the commercial rootstock ‘Beaufort’. At the same time, however, the individual fruit weight and the lycopene content of the fruits were significantly reduced when grafted onto the hybrid rootstocks. In contrast, the cultivar ‘Tastery’ showed a weak stress response, so that a generally positive influence of the rootstocks independently of the scions could not be demonstrated. We conclude that, particularly for more sensitive cultivars, the selection of more resilient rootstocks offers the potential for sustainable and resource-efficient production not competing with the overall quality of tomatoes.

Complex agricultural zoning of the territory for assessing the land and resource potential and for production planning

In accordance with Russian laws, agricultural land has priority in use and should be protected. However, arable land varies in quality, even within the same land plot. Applying the method of complex agricultural zoning of the territory of agricultural organizations, the land and resource potential is assessed with the subsequent allocation of specialized zones that allow for determining the value of this potential. Methodological recommendations presented in this article will allow agricultural producers to organize effective agricultural production aimed at sustainable land use development. It is proposed to plan the scale and level of intensification of the use of arable land according to the average annual indicators (with average weather and current economic conditions over 10 years) of spring wheat production. The paper presents possible scenarios for the development of situations for planning production: with an increase and decrease in yield by 20%, with an increase and decrease in the cost of products by 20%, with an increase in production costs by 10%. After the calculations were completed, each plot of the agricultural organization was assigned to groups according to the efficiency of arable land use: constantly ineffective land (under any conditions); constantly efficient land under any changes in natural and economic conditions; precariously efficient lands. The research substantiates the need to take into account the conditions of land use by means of comprehensive agricultural zoning of the territory to ensure the adoption of effective management decisions on the available arable land. At the same time, improving the quality of land and creating proper conditions for its use is one of the mechanisms for increasing the efficiency of crop production.

Production efficiency of major crops among smallholder farmers in Central Ethiopia

Agricultural production of most smallholders in Ethiopia is dependent with recurrent rainfall resulted in production variations. Limited input availability and precarious environmental conditions determine smallholders’ decisions on their production and the production efficiencies vary from farmer to farmer. This study was carried out with the aim of analyzing the technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of smallholder farmers in the production of major crops and their determinants in central Ethiopia, Oromia special zone surrounding Addis Ababa. Multistage sampling technique was employed to randomly and proportionally select 386 smallholders from ten PAs. Primary data were collected from smallholders through a semi structured questionnaire using face to face interview. Cross sectional data collected from sampled households in the study area were analyzed using mathematical and econometric methods. Mathematical programming technique selected for this study was Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) using linear programming technique assuming multi-input and multi-outputs were handled. Tobit regression model was regressed against the socioeconomic, demographic, and institutional variables that are expected to affect the technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of sampled households. The results of estimated efficiency scores show the mean technical, allocative and economic efficiencies were 0.75, 0.60 and 0.45 respectively. The mean scores of efficiencies show underutilization of resources and the possibilities of smallholders to increase their agricultural production by 25%, and reduce cost of production by 40% and total cost by 55%. Marital status, level of education, farming experience, access to credit, cooperative membership, access to farming information, and off/non-farm income has positive influence on the technical, allocative and economic efficiencies. While age of the household head, access to training and livestock size has negative relations to efficiencies. Delivery of agricultural inputs and trainings on time by the government is the key policy implication to improve the efficiencies of smallholders.

Analytical Evaluation of Mobile In Situ Soil Nitrate Infrared Sensor Designs for Precision Agriculture

One approach to improving nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency in crop production is to use infrared (IR) soil nitrate sensors to analyze soil nitrate and then spatially modulate fertilizer application rates. The most commonly used Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectrometers are sensitive to vibration and hence not suitable for real-time measurements in agricultural fields when mounted on tractors that experience severe vibrations as they are driven across a field. In this paper, we propose IR sensor designs to address the vibration issues currently limiting the use of IR spectroscopy for precision nitrogen fertilizer management in agriculture. We evaluate the performance of different nitrate sensor configurations based on diamond attenuated total reflection (D-ATR) spectrometers, that do not have moving parts and less sensitive to vibrations than FTIRs. We study sensor configurations based on the following infrared light sources: commercially available tunable quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), thermal sources, superluminescent diodes (SLDs), and superlattice light emitting diodes (SLEDs). Performance of the different sensor systems is evaluated and optimized to achieve maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We also propose a sensing limit variable, S, to characterize different sensor configurations. The work presented in this manuscript provides design options for agricultural nitrate sensors that can be rugged in the field and collect spectral data at fast rates with high SNR.

Assessment of major food crops production-based environmental efficiency in China, India, and Pakistan.

Global warming and food security have led to increasing concern about agricultural crop production efficiency, especially wheat and rice farming. The purpose of the current study is to measure wheat and rice production efficiency scores with environmental quality in China, India, and Pakistan by using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The DEA results show that China and India are more efficient in wheat and rice production but it is not efficient in the environment in the study period. The results also show that Pakistan has also relatively small wheat and rice efficiency compared with China and India and increased the efficiency with the passage of time. The practical outcomes also show that Pakistan has the most efficient and effective states from the periods 2008 to 2019 in terms of wheat and rice efficiency and also a small increase in carbon emission. Based on the findings, policymakers should pay attention to the role of green technology in reducing agricultural CO2 emissions.

Will Plant Genome Editing Play a Decisive Role in "Quantum-Leap" Improvements in Crop Yield to Feed an Increasing Global Human Population?

Growing scientific evidence demonstrates unprecedented planetary-scale human impacts on the Earth’s system with a predicted threat to the existence of the terrestrial biosphere due to population increase, resource depletion, and pollution. Food systems account for 21–34% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Over the past half-century, water and land-use changes have significantly impacted ecosystems, biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity, and climate. At the same time, food production is falling behind consumption, and global grain reserves are shrinking. Some predictions suggest that crop yields must approximately double by 2050 to adequately feed an increasing global population without a large expansion of crop area. To achieve this, “quantum-leap” improvements in crop cultivar productivity are needed within very narrow planetary boundaries of permissible environmental perturbations. Strategies for such a “quantum-leap” include mutation breeding and genetic engineering of known crop genome sequences. Synthetic biology makes it possible to synthesize DNA fragments of any desired sequence, and modern bioinformatics tools may hopefully provide an efficient way to identify targets for directed modification of selected genes responsible for known important agronomic traits. CRISPR/Cas9 is a new technology for incorporating seamless directed modifications into genomes; it is being widely investigated for its potential to enhance the efficiency of crop production. We consider the optimism associated with the new genetic technologies in terms of the complexity of most agronomic traits, especially crop yield potential (Yp) limits. We also discuss the possible directions of overcoming these limits and alternative ways of providing humanity with food without transgressing planetary boundaries. In conclusion, we support the long-debated idea that new technologies are unlikely to provide a rapidly growing population with significantly increased crop yield. Instead, we suggest that delicately balanced humane measures to limit its growth and the amount of food consumed per capita are highly desirable for the foreseeable future.

Plant-Derived Pesticides as an Alternative to Pest Management and Sustainable Agricultural Production: Prospects, Applications and Challenges.

Pests and diseases are responsible for most of the losses related to agricultural crops, either in the field or in storage. Moreover, due to indiscriminate use of synthetic pesticides over the years, several issues have come along, such as pest resistance and contamination of important planet sources, such as water, air and soil. Therefore, in order to improve efficiency of crop production and reduce food crisis in a sustainable manner, while preserving consumer’s health, plant-derived pesticides may be a green alternative to synthetic ones. They are cheap, biodegradable, ecofriendly and act by several mechanisms of action in a more specific way, suggesting that they are less of a hazard to humans and the environment. Natural plant products with bioactivity toward insects include several classes of molecules, for example: terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, polyphenols, cyanogenic glucosides, quinones, amides, aldehydes, thiophenes, amino acids, saccharides and polyketides (which is not an exhaustive list of insecticidal substances). In general, those compounds have important ecological activities in nature, such as: antifeedant, attractant, nematicide, fungicide, repellent, insecticide, insect growth regulator and allelopathic agents, acting as a promising source for novel pest control agents or biopesticides. However, several factors appear to limit their commercialization. In this critical review, a compilation of plant-derived metabolites, along with their corresponding toxicology and mechanisms of action, will be approached, as well as the different strategies developed in order to meet the required commercial standards through more efficient methods.

Analysis of Consumption of Nitrogen Fertilisers and Environmental Efficiency in Crop Production of EU Countries

Mineral fertilisers such as nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) are commonly used as important inputs in agricultural production. Their inadequate use can result in lower yields and loss of quality. However, excessive use of nitrogen can lead to environmental pollution and adverse effects on human health. This paper assesses nitrogen fertiliser use and the environmental efficiency of crop production of EU member states using the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) approach. The results of the analysis show that the crop sector in the five member states of the European Union (i.e., Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Austria and Spain) is relatively environmentally efficient. In the remaining member states, efficiency is lower by varying degrees. This means that their agricultural sectors use too much fertiliser to produce the same output as more efficient farms, compared to other countries. The results of the study shed light on the environmental efficiency of crop production in the tEU and can contribute to the application of better management techniques and more effective agricultural policies.

Impact of human capital on technical efficiency in sustainable food crop production: a meta-analysis

ABSTRACT A meta-analysis is substantial for integrating the findings of all related studies into one consistent research to establish a knowledge bank of a common issue. Although several studies have examined the impact of the individual aspect of human capital on farmers’ technical efficiency, the composite impact was not synthesized. Therefore, our analysis examines the key determinants driving systematic variations in technical efficiency estimates from 268 food-crop farming studies published recently in peer-reviewed journals. Our results have supported our hypothesis that human capital increases farming efficiency. The studies’ location indicates the importance of farmer beliefs, trust in their institutions and land accumulation to increase food-crop farmer technical efficiency. Our findings contribute to the applied agricultural economics literature by theoretically systematizing literature on human capital in accordance with social and natural capitals in agricultural productivity and empirically validating the technical efficiency in food-crop farming studies toward developing agricultural sustainability in harmony with our biosphere.

Mycorrhizosphere bacteria and plant-plant interactions facilitate maize P acquisition in an intercropping system

The intensive use of chemical fertilizer particularly phosphorus (P) to provide sufficient plant nutrients to meet the global food demand can deteriorate the quality of the ecosystem and are not affordable to farmers in low-resource environments. Additionally, low use efficiency of P in agriculture due to its low immobility in soil and rapid precipitation with soil minerals, which caused low bioavailable P content in soil. Therefore, a sustainable P use and management mode for cleaner agricultural production is an urgent issue to solve. Here we evaluated an alternative strategy to facilitate plant P nutrient availability with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Rhizophagus irregularis) and their associated bacteria in cereal-legume intercropping based on a pot experiment. Plants were grown with or without Rhizophagus irregularis (AM) in pots against three different phosphorus levels and were inoculated with two bacteria strains (B). AMF root colonization and the influence of intercropping and microbial inoculation on plant growth and nutrient absorption were investigated. The findings showed that inoculated plants under the intercropping system produce the greatest plant growth responses and highest P uptake. The highest plant growth performance, soil P availability, and uptake were observed under the intercropping system with 30 kg P ha−1 (50% of the regular recommended P fertilizer rate) application. Further, we evaluated the influence of the microbial inoculation on mobilization of sparingly soluble phosphate. The results demonstrated a significant decreased in Al–P, Fe–P and Ca–P under the 30 kg P ha−1 fertilizer rate. Specifically, comparing with the control (Ctrl) there was 30.32% (AM) and 36.35% (AMB) reduction in Al–P, 44.53% (AM) and 45.11% (AMB) reduction in Fe–P, and 39.68% (AM) and 43.61% (AMB) decrease in Ca–P. These findings extend our knowledge regarding the significant role of plant-microbes symbiosis under intercropping system on sustainable crop production and nutrient (P) use efficiency.

Aerated irrigation offsets the negative effects of nitrogen reduction on crop growth and water-nitrogen utilization

High nitrogen (N) fertilizer application in croplands causes environmental problems, including soil quality deterioration and water contamination, which threaten the sustainable development of agricultural systems. Aerated irrigation (AI) is an effective irrigation technique put forward to mitigate root zone oxygen deficiency, improve the root growth environment, and promote crop production and water-fertilizer use efficiency. We conducted this study, therefore, to explore this new and promising strategy in order to balance the negative impacts of N reduction on crop productivity and water-nitrogen utilization. Greenhouse experiments on muskmelon, cucumber, and tomato were carried out for 2 years in Yangling, China. Reducing N application rates inhibited photosynthesis and decreased aboveground dry matter and N absorption compared to conventional N application (i.e., 225, 360, and 250 kg ha−1 for muskmelon, cucumber, and tomato, respectively). AI combined with 150 kg ha−1 (for muskmelon and tomato) or 240 kg ha−1 (for cucumber) of N, however, improved photosynthesis, aboveground dry matter, and N accumulation, thereby resulting in better yield, fruit quality, water-nitrogen utilization, and economic benefits. These findings imply that AI has great potential for balancing the negative effects of N reduction on crop productivity and water-fertilizer utilization in facility agricultural production. We propose that the adoption of an appropriately reduced N application combined with AI can be an effective means to achieve high crop yield, efficient resource utilization, and sustainable agricultural development. More experiments with multiple N application reduction levels should be carried out to determine the optimal N application amount to be used alongside AI.

Application of Bayesian Networks of Genotype by Environment Interaction Evaluation Under Plant Disease, Soil Types and Climate Condition-using Bayesia Lab

Genotype by environment interaction (GEI) linked to plant disease, soil properties and climate conditions add potential value for a breeding program to underpin decision making. In understanding genotype x environment interaction, the most challenging factors are the identification of genetic variation for a range of traits and their responsiveness to the climate change factors. In order to study the complex relationships with genetic and non-genetic factors, the application of Bayesian network tools will help understand and accelerate plant breeding progress and improve the efficiency of crop production. In this study, we proposed the application of Bayesian networks (BNs) to evaluate genotype by environment interaction under plant diseases, soil type, and climate variables. An adapted to simulate multiple environmental trial (MET) data of maize (corn) was used to examine the performance of the BN predictive modeling using BayesiaLab for deriving knowledge and graphical structure for exploring GEI diagnosis and analysis. The results highlighted that genotypes have the same probability and the frequentist of rainfall, temperature, soil type, and disease type occurred as <=88 (46%), 35 (37%), clay (27%), and MB (47%) respectively, which have to monitor reflects in each discretization. This study provided a roadmap to knowledge modeling of GEI using BayesiaLab software. On a broader scale, this study helps predict the yield of crop varieties by understanding agronomic and environmental factors under farm conditions rather than conducting long-term agricultural testing under well-controlled conditions of the on-station trials. Future improvements of BNs application of METs should consider working on a larger and more detailed soil and irrigation system linked to agro system.

Increasing greenhouse production by spectral-shifting and unidirectional light-extracting photonics.

Improving photosynthesis and light capture increases crop yield and paves a sustainable way to meet the growing global food demand. Here we introduce a spectral-shifting microphotonic thin film as a greenhouse envelope that can be scalably manufactured for augmented photosynthesis. By breaking the intrinsic propagation symmetry of light, the photonic microstructures can extract 89% of the internally generated light and deliver most of that in one direction towards photosynthetic organisms. The microphotonic film augments lettuce production by more than 20% in both indoor facilities with electric lighting and in a greenhouse with natural sunlight, offering the possibility of increasing crop production efficiency in controlled environments.