Feed Crops Research Articles

Seaweed-Derived Phenolic Compounds in Growth Promotion and Stress Alleviation in Plants.

Simple SummaryThis review paper discusses the importance of phenolic compounds isolated from seaweed in improving plant growth and controlling the negative effects of environmental and biological factors.Abiotic and biotic stress factors negatively influence the growth, yield, and nutritional value of economically important food and feed crops. These climate-change-induced stress factors, together with the ever-growing human population, compromise sustainable food security for all consumers across the world. Agrochemicals are widely used to increase crop yield by improving plant growth and enhancing their tolerance to stress factors; however, there has been a shift towards natural compounds in recent years due to the detrimental effect associated with these agrochemicals on crops and the ecosystem. In view of these, the use of phenolic biostimulants as opposed to artificial fertilizers has gained significant momentum in crop production. Seaweeds are marine organisms and excellent sources of natural phenolic compounds that are useful for downstream agricultural applications such as promoting plant growth and improving resilience against various stress conditions. In this review, we highlight the different phenolic compounds present in seaweed, compare their extraction methods, and describe their downstream applications in agriculture.

Mitigating environmental impacts using net energy system in feed formulation in China's pig production

As the world's largest pork producer, China is facing substantial environmental pressures caused by pig production and the relevant feed production. The net energy (NE) system is promoted as a new evaluation method to evaluate energy content in feed and energy requirements of pigs, but its application lacks of comprehensive and comparative evaluation from the environmental perspective. To identify influence factors and to develop mitigation strategies, the carbon and nitrogen footprints and land use (LU) of pigs (25–120 kg) in China were explored through scenario analysis and cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessment (LCA). Functional unit (FU) was defined as 1 kg of live weight increase in pig. Among all the procedures of pig production, feed crop production and manure management were the principal contributors to the greenhouse gas (GHG) and nitrogen emissions. As for the carbon footprint, the GHG emissions ranged from 2.37 to 2.55 kg CO2-eq. FU−1 for scenarios using the NE system, 2 % lower than that of the metabolizable energy (ME) system. Cottonseed meal-based scenario generated the lowest GHG emissions, and anaerobic digestion achieved the same effects as other manure management methods. As for the nitrogen footprint, reactive nitrogen (Nr) emissions ranged from 53.4 to 66.2 g Nr FU−1 for scenarios using the NE system, 4 % lower than that of the ME system. Peanut-based scenario won the lowest Nr losses. Moreover, arable LU ranged from 4.63 to 5.85 m2 FU−1 for scenarios using the NE system, 4 % lower than that of the ME system, and economic advantage by using the NE system was also proved. Sensitivity analysis and data quality assessment were conducted to quantify the uncertainties of the above models. In conclusion, the application of the NE system in feed formulation was an effective strategy to improve the environmental sustainability of China's pig production.

Estimates of genotypic and phenotypic variance, heritability, and genetic advance of horticultural traits in developed crosses of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp).

Cowpea, in addition to being a food and feed crop, plays a key role in sustainable farming. The present study’s goal is to develop new high-yielding cowpea varieties. A Field experiment was carried out across 3 summer seasons and the breeding program included 28 distinct cowpea varieties, out of which five potential parents were selected for this investigation. Local cultivars, i.e., Cream 7 ‘Cr7’, Dokki 331 ‘D331’, Commercial 1 ‘Com1’, and introduced cultivars, i.e., Colossus ‘Col’ and Asian Introduction ‘AI’ were utilized to produce six crosses in two generations apart; F1 and F2: Col x AI, Col x Com1, Cr7 x AI, Cr7 x Com1, D331 x AI, and D331 x Com1. ‘AI’ and ‘Com1’ were superior in pod length, pod diameter, number of seeds/pod and seeds weight/pod, whereas ‘Col’, ‘Cr7’ and ‘D331’ were superior in seeds yield/plant, number of pods/plant and the least number of aborted ovules/pod. The genotypes/crosses showed greater genotypic variance (GV) than phenotypic variance (PV) for number of pods/plant, pod length, number of seeds/pod, number of aborted ovules/pod, fresh pod weight, seeds weight/pod, and seeds yield/plant. All studied variables showed high heritability (H%) in genotypes/crosses, despite the exception of seeds weight/pod, which ranged from 29.14 in ‘D331’ to 83.7 in F2 of Col x Com1. F2 plants and their parents’ genotypes showed greater H%. Cr7 x AI developed the most H%, 99.04% for number of pods/plant. D331 x Com1 and Cr7 x AI exhibited moderate H% for fresh pod weight in F1, but all other crosses had high H%. F1 and F2 crosses yielded moderate to high GCV and PCV for number of seeds/pod. Variations in parental genotypes and crossings reflect genetic diversity and the possibility of selection. Crossing with ‘AI,’ and ‘Com1’ genotypes enhanced the performance of the other varieties, ‘Col’, ‘D331’ and ‘Cr7’. Cr7 x Com1 and D331 x AI were selected as the most promising crosses for cowpea breeding programs.

Integrating intensive livestock and cropping systems: Sustainable design and location

CONTEXTA mismatch between nutrient demand and consumption in livestock and cropping systems makes these sectors responsible for 24.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reduce the gap between the two industries, approaches focused on integrating livestock and crop management have been presented. Location is a key factor in the sustainable operation of these integrated systems since this variable affects both the economic and environmental dimensions of the design of the farm. OBJECTIVEIn this work, a two-step methodology is proposed to address simultaneously the formulation of the feed, the design of the nutrient recovery process, the location of the facilities, and its size, from economic and environmental points of view. METHODSFirst, prescreening is used to discard locations that do not meet a series of environmental constraints. Next, an optimization framework is developed by integrating empirical models that estimate the nutritional needs of the animals, fertilizer consumption, waste production, as well as the effect of selection of locations and the size of the farm on the objective function. The farm is designed to produce the feed on the premises and animal wastes are used to produce fertilizers and biogas, implementing the circular economy. The optimization framework is used to estimate the optimal feed formulation, crop selection, size and location, following a multi-objective approach. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe methodology is applied to a case study in Spain. Of the 345 agricultural districts considered, 145 are discarded in the prescreening. The optimal number of initial animals is 1000. The results show that the selection of ‘Bureba-Ebro’ and a crop distribution that consumes 12% less nutrients than the economic scenario, results in the reduction of 35% in the environmental impact. In addition, meat production cost is 8.87€/kg (1.6€/kg corresponds to the waste treatment). Nevertheless, it can be reduced down to 1.51€/kg by considering the income from crop sales. SIGNIFICANCEOnly through this integrated framework it is possible to determine the feed formulation and facility location that best balance the economic and environmental objective, and determines the percentage of nutrients that can be recovered. The methodology is generic enough to be applied to other locations, crops, and animals.

Functional characterization of a new ORF βV1 encoded by radish leaf curl betasatellite.

Whitefly-transmitted begomoviruses infect and damage a wide range of food, feed, and fiber crops worldwide. Some of these viruses are associated with betasatellite molecules that are known to enhance viral pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the function of a novel βV1 protein encoded by radish leaf curl betasatellite (RaLCB) by overexpressing the protein using potato virus X (PVX)-based virus vector in Nicotiana benthamiana. βV1 protein induced lesions on leaves, suggestive of hypersensitive response (HR), indicating cell death. The HR reaction induced by βV1 protein was accompanied by an increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), free radicals, and HR-related transcripts. Subcellular localization through confocal microscopy revealed that βV1 protein localizes to the cellular periphery. βV1 was also found to interact with replication enhancer protein (AC3) of helper virus in the nucleus. The current findings suggest that βV1 functions as a protein elicitor and a pathogenicity determinant.

Genetic Containment for Molecular Farming.

Plant molecular farming can provide humans with a wide variety of plant-based products including vaccines, therapeutics, polymers, industrial enzymes, and more. Some of these products, such as Taxol, are produced by endogenous plant genes, while many others require addition of genes by artificial gene transfer. Thus, some molecular farming plants are transgenic (or cisgenic), while others are not. Both the transgenic nature of many molecular farming plants and the fact that the products generated are of high-value and specific in purpose mean it is essential to prevent accidental cross-over of molecular farming plants and products into food or feed. Such mingling could occur either by gene flow during plant growth and harvest or by human errors in material handling. One simple approach to mitigate possible transfer would be to use only non-food non-feed species for molecular farming purposes. However, given the extent of molecular farming products in development, testing, or approval that do utilize food or feed crops, a ban on use of these species would be challenging to implement. Therefore, other approaches will need to be considered for mitigation of cross-flow between molecular farming and non-molecular-farming plants. This review summarized some of the production systems available for molecular farming purposes and options to implement or improve plant containment.

Global inventory of suitable, cultivable and available cropland under different scenarios and policies

Where land-use change and particularly the expansion of cropland could potentially take place in the future is a central research question to investigate emerging trade-offs between food security, climate protection and biodiversity conservation. We provide consistent global datasets of land potentially suitable, cultivable and available for agricultural use for historic and future time periods from 1980 until 2100 under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, available at 30 arc-seconds spatial resolution and aggregated at country level. Based on the agricultural suitability of land for 23 globally important food, feed, fiber and bioenergy crops, and high resolution land cover data, our dataset indicates where cultivation is possible and how much land could potentially be used as cropland when biophysical constraints and different assumptions on land-use regulations are taken into account. By serving as an input for land-use models, the produced data could improve the comparability of the models and their output, and thereby contribute to a better understanding of potential land-use trade-offs.

Natural and artificial sources of genetic variation used in crop breeding: A baseline comparator for genome editing.

Traditional breeding has successfully selected beneficial traits for food, feed, and fibre crops over the last several thousand years. The last century has seen significant technological advancements particularly in marker assisted selection and the generation of induced genetic variation, including over the last few decades, through mutation breeding, genetic modification, and genome editing. While regulatory frameworks for traditional varietal development and for genetic modification with transgenes are broadly established, those for genome editing are lacking or are still evolving in many regions. In particular, the lack of “foreign” recombinant DNA in genome edited plants and that the resulting SNPs or INDELs are indistinguishable from those seen in traditional breeding has challenged development of new legislation. Where products of genome editing and other novel breeding technologies possess no transgenes and could have been generated via traditional methods, we argue that it is logical and proportionate to apply equivalent legislative oversight that already exists for traditional breeding and novel foods. This review analyses the types and the scale of spontaneous and induced genetic variation that can be selected during traditional plant breeding activities. It provides a base line from which to judge whether genetic changes brought about by techniques of genome editing or other reverse genetic methods are indeed comparable to those routinely found using traditional methods of plant breeding.

Nutritional value of sorghum as a feedstock for poultry

Recently, many farms are increasingly using such a reserve of intensification of feed production as the cultivation of new low-spread varieties of feed crops. In this regard, sorghum, a widespread crop of southern latitudes, is attracting more and more attention. Sorghum crops due to their high heat and drought resistance, unpretentiousness to soils and low demands on nutrients, can replace cereal crops such as wheat, barley, corn, etc. The article is devoted to the study of the chemical composition and nutritional value of 15 sorghum varieties grown in the Stavropol Territory. The originator and patent holder of all these varieties is Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “North Caucasian Federal Scientifi c Agrarian Center”. The results of the study of these sorghum varieties in the laboratory of physiology and biochemical analysis in the Siberian Scientifi c and Research Institute of Poultry showed that the nutritional value of sorghum grain has diff erences both in varieties and in comparison with the average data specifi ed in the reference manual for poultry feeding. The varieties Zersta-38A, Knyazhna, A-63, Pharaoh, KiM, Ayushka, Athlete, Stavropol-63 and Krusta turned out to be the richest in crude protein content, but at the same time crude fat content and metabolic energy in them are less than those indicated in the methodological guide. Based on the results obtained, experimental compound feed recipes for broiler chickens and laying hens have been developed with the inclusion of varieties of different nutritional values and doses of sorghum grain with the possibility of partial or complete replacement of wheat. The conducted research is of interest because poultry is a competitor of humans in wheat consumption in order to save the traditional widely used grain crop.

Relative importance of genotype, gene expression, and DNA methylation on complex traits in perennial ryegrass.

The growing demand for food and feed crops in the world because of growing population and more extreme weather events requires high-yielding and resilient crops. Many agriculturally important traits are polygenic, controlled by multiple regulatory layers, and with a strong interaction with the environment. In this study, 120 F2 families of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) were grown across a water gradient in a semifield facility with subsoil irrigation. Genomic (single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP]), transcriptomic (gene expression [GE]), and DNA methylomic (MET) data were integrated with feed quality trait data collected from control and drought sections in the semifield facility, providing a treatment effect. Deep root length (DRL) below 110 cm was assessed with convolutional neural network image analysis. Bayesian prediction models were used to partition phenotypic variance into its components and evaluated the proportion of phenotypic variance in all traits captured by different regulatory layers (SNP, GE, and MET). The spatial effects and effects of SNP, GE, MET, the interaction between GE and MET (GE × MET) and GE× treatment (GEControl and GEDrought ) interaction were investigated. Gene expression explained a substantial part of the genetic and spatial variance for all the investigated phenotypes, whereas MET explained residual variance not accounted for by SNPs or GE. For DRL, MET also contributed to explaining spatial variance. The study provides a statistically elegant analytical paradigm that integrates genomic, transcriptomic, and MET information to understand the regulatory mechanisms of polygenic effects for complex traits.

Development of the engineered “glanded plant and glandless seed” cotton

After fiber, cottonseed is the second most important by-product of cotton production. However, high concentrations of toxic free gossypol deposited in the glands of the cottonseed greatly hamper its effective usage as food or feed. Here, we developed a cotton line with edible cottonseed by specifically silencing the endogenous expression of GoPGF in the seeds, which led to a glandless phenotype with an ultra-low gossypol content in the seeds and nearly normal gossypol in other parts of the plants. This engineered cotton maintains normal resistance to insect pests, but the gossypol content in the seeds dropped by 98%, and thus, it can be consumed directly as food. The trait of a low gossypol content in the cottonseeds was stable and heritable, while the protein, oil content, and fiber yield or quality were nearly unchanged compared to the transgenic receptor W0. In addition, comparative transcriptome analysis showed that down-regulated genes in the ovules of the glandless cotton were enriched in terpenoid biosynthesis, indicating the underlying relationship between gland formation and gossypol biosynthesis. These results pave the way for the comprehensive utilization of cotton as a fiber, oil, and feed crop in the future.

Performance and mineral status of laying hens fed diets with different levels of glyphosate

Concern has been raised about the potential influence of glyphosate on livestock health and performance due to its antimicrobial and mineral-chelating properties. The present study investigated potential effects of feeding diets amended with glyphosate (as a commercial product, Glyphomax HL, or as pure isopropylamine salt, IPA) to laying hens (layers). At the age of 22 weeks, a total of 320 Lohmann LSL-Lite layers started on one of four treatment diets: Control (CON), 20 mg glyphosate/kg as Glyphomax HL (GM20), 20 mg glyphosate/kg as IPA (IPA20) and 200 mg glyphosate/kg as IPA (IPA200). The EU-defined maximum residue level (MRL) of glyphosate for several feed crops is 20 mg/kg. The layers were housed in 32 enriched cages for 27 weeks. Glyphosate levels in the diets (mg/kg feed) were analysed to 0.03 for CON, 19.3 for GM20, 18.5 for IPA20 and 191.7 for IPA200. Using preselected contrasts, there were no clear effects of diet glyphosate amendment on average egg weight, egg mass, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and rate of lay, while post hoc contrasts suggested that diet glyphosate concentrations above 20 mg/kg may reduce rate of lay by 0.9%-point. Mineral levels of Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn in blood as well as indicators of welfare measured by plumage scoring and by a novel object test were not significantly affected by treatment. Glyphosate levels in blood serum (µg/L) were 0.29 for CON, 22.5 for GM20, 25.0 for IPA20 and 128.9 for IPA200. Glyphosate levels in egg yolk and egg white (ng/g) were respectively 0.26 and 0.01 for CON, 20.1 and 0.20 for GM20, 21.4 and 0.25 for IPA20 and 223.3 and 3.09 for IPA200. Glyphosate concentrations in blood serum, egg yolk and egg white reflected diet concentrations. The glyphosate degradation product, AMPA, followed the same trend as glyphosate in all analysed compartments. In conclusion, there were no clear adverse effects of glyphosate-amended diets on performance, welfare indicators and mineral status of Lohmann LSL-Lite layers even at a level approximately 10x higher than the MRL for soybeans and other common feed crops (20 mg glyphosate per kg feed). However, post hoc contrasts suggested that diet glyphosate concentrations above 20 mg/kg may reduce rate of lay by 0.9%-point. Moreover, the layers exposed down to 0.03 mg of glyphosate per kg feed produced eggs with residues of this pesticide.

Review Aktivitas Fotosintesis pada Tanaman Sorgum (Sorghum bicolor) dalam Kondisi Cekaman Kekeringan

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a cereal crop that has the potential to be developed in Indonesia as a food, feed and industrial crop. Sorghum is a C4 plant that has the advantage of efficiency in hot and dry environments. Drought stress is one of the most limiting environmental factors for crop productivity worldwide, and can be caused by water deficits in the soil and in the atmosphere. On the decreasing leaf water status, the rate of CO2 assimilation and the conductance of stomata decreased rapidly. The CO2 concentration mechanism is able to saturate C4 photosynthesis under the relatively low intercellular CO2 concentration. In addition, CO2 photorespiration is likely to be repaired before it exits the bundle sheat cells. The effects of non-stomatal factors include reduced activity of photosynthetic enzymes, inhibition of nitrate assimilation, induction of premature aging, and changes in leaf anatomy. Photosynthesis in C4 plants, including sorghum, involves, others, the PEPC and Rubisco enzymes. Drought can also trigger oxidative stress, which is an environmental condition that has increased Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) due to an over reduction of the photosynthesis process.

Effect of ornithokinin on feeding behavior, cloacal temperature, voluntary activity and crop emptying rate in chicks

Bradykinin is a well-studied bioactive peptide associated with several physiological functions, including vasodilation and inflammation, in mammals. However, its avian homolog, ornithokinin, has received less research attention in birds. Therefore this study aimed to investigate the effect of intraperitoneal (IP) and intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of ornithokinin on feeding behavior, cloacal temperature, voluntary activity, crop emptying rate, and blood constituents in chicks (Gallus gallus). We also investigated the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a cell wall component of gram-negative bacteria, on ornithokinin-associated gene expression was also investigated to determine whether activation of the ornithokinin system is induced by bacterial infection. Both IP and ICV injections of ornithokinin significantly decreased feed intake, cloacal temperature, voluntary activity, and crop emptying rate in chicks, but they did not affect the plasma concentration of corticosterone. Additionally, LPS significantly increased the expression of ornithokinin B2 receptor mRNA in several organs. Hence, ornithokinin is associated with a range of physiological responses in chicks and may be related to their response to bacterial infection.

First Report of Maize Seedling Blight Caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum in China.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important food and feed crops in China, with a cultivation area of more than 40 million hectares (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC). In July 2021, a serious maize seeding blight occurred in Changjia Town, Gaoqing Country, Zibo City, Shandong Province, China, and the disease incidence was up to 50% in some fields. The root system of infected plants displayed poor development. The primary roots were brown and rotted. The leaves at the base of the plants were drying up, then the whole plant withered. To determine the cause agent of the disease, symptomatic roots of diseased seedlings were collected and surface-sterilized (70% ethanol for 30 s and 3% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) for 90 s), subsequently rinsed three times with sterile distilled water, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA), then incubated at 25°C for 2 days. Two cultures with similar morphological characteristics were purified through single-spore isolation technique and identified by morphology and molecular methods as Fusarium pseudograminearum O'Donnell & T. Aoki 1999. Plentiful macroconidia formed in 5-day-old carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) cultures; microconidia were absent. Macroconidia were thick-walled and curved, usually 3- to 5- septa, 31.6 ± 0.6 μm × 4.8 ± 0.1 μm (n = 50). Colony pigmentation on PDA was pink to red, with white to pink aerial mycelia on PDA cultures was abundant and filled the petri dishes. For molecular identification, the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene and translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF-1α) gene of two isolates (SAIA41B and SAIA41C) were amplified with ITS1/ITS4 (White et al., 1990) and EF-1/EF-2 (O'Donnell et al., 1998), respectively. Blastn analysis of both the ITS sequence (accession numbers OM108101 and OM108102) and TEF-1α sequence (accession numbers OM142205 and OM142206) revealed 100% (481/481 bp for ITS and 637/637 bp for TEF-1α) sequence identity with the sequences of F. pseudograminearum reported in GenBank (MW699613 for ITS and JN862232 for TEF-1α). The molecular identification was further confirmed by the F. pseudograminearum species-specific PCR primers Fp1-1/Fp1-2 (Aoki and O'Donnell 1999). The expected 523-bp fragments were obtained for isolates SAIA41B and SAIA41C. In the pathogenicity test, healthy germinating maize roots (Zhengdan958) were inoculated with PDA culture blocks of isolate SAIA41C. Plants inoculated only with PDA culture blocks served as controls. Maize plants were put in petri dishes and placed in an incubator with a 12-h photoperiod at 25 oC and 100% relative humidity. Seven days later, roots of the plants inoculated with isolate SAIA41C were poorly developed and became brown necrotic and rotted, which were identical to the symptoms observed in the fields, whereas the roots of control plants were developed normally. The pathogen was re-isolated from the necrotic tissue of the inoculated roots but not from the control plants, and its identity was confirmed by PCR with the primes Fp1-1/Fp1-2 described above, fulfilling Koch's Postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of maize seedling blight caused by F. pseudograminearum in China. Our finding indicates the potential spread of F. pseudograminearum on maize, and more attention should be paid to prevention and control of maize seedling blight caused by F. pseudograminearum. The author(s) declare no conflict of interest. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32102181), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. ZR2021QC059), Wheat Industry Technology System of Shandong Province (No. SDAIT-01-10), and Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Project of SAAS (No. CXGC2021A38 and CXGC2021A33).

Dynamics of nitrous oxide emissions from two cropping systems in southwestern France over 5 years: Cross impact analysis of heterogeneous agricultural practices and local climate variability

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were measured and compared on 2 typical crop rotations of a grain farm and a dairy farm with feed cropping, over 5 years (from 2012 to 2016) in southwestern France. The annual N2O emissions of the 5 typical rotational crops of the region (summer crops: irrigated maize and sunflower; winter crops: winter wheat, rapeseed and barley) varied from 0.95 ± 0.88 to 7.96 ± 1.73 kgN ha−1, with the highest values observed on the dairy farm plot and for summer crops. N2O emissions were analysed on a daily, monthly, seasonal and annual basis, and correlated with their main direct or indirect drivers, i. e. water and nitrogen (mineral or organic) supply amount, rotational crops, vegetation covering and tillage. We observed a marked seasonal pattern of N2O emission peaks. On average, more than 50% of N2O emissions occurred during spring for summer crops, and more than 40% occurred in winter for winter crops. We have identified agricultural practices that increase N2O emissions. In particular, our results show that when the soil is left bare or with limited crop development, spring mineralization of organic N residues (from previous crop or winter cover crop) results in N losses, partly as emissions of N2O, which are detrimental to agronomic performance (low NUE). We also conducted an agronomic assessment of annual N2O emissions versus nitrogen surplus and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), which lead us to discuss agricultural practices that may mitigate N2O emissions while optimizing agronomic and economic performance of crops. Indeed, we point out that N surplus and N fate may be controlled through the right timing of sowing, cover crop, irrigation and fertilization.

Ecological and energy assessment of the technology of processing chestnut soils of fallow lands in Central Siberia

Relevance. The disadvantages of steppe environmental management include soil degradation, high cost of grain, feed and other adverse phenomena. Similar processes are observed in Siberia. Currently, the re-development of fallow lands is starting and soil degradation is again manifesting itself in the steppe regions of Khakassia. For the efficient use of land resources, it is necessary to develop a resource-saving technology for tillage of fallow lands in the arid steppe zone of the south of Central Siberia.Methods. The study of the effectiveness of soil tillage technologies of the erosive agroecological group of fallow lands was carried out in the arid steppe agro-landscape region of the Republic of Khakassia, located in the south of Central Siberia. Research for four years was carried out in the feed crop rotation link: a long-term (20–25 years) grain– grass fallow land — oats (corn) for green mass, by the method of field experiment of B.A. Dospekhov. Mеthods of water-physical, agrochemical, economic and energy research were used in the performance of the work.Results. It has been established that on long-term fallow lands (20–25 years) soil compaction, low moisture content and mineral nutrition elements are noted. The influence of the complex application of continuous herbicides (Tornado 500, Sprut Extra) and tillage technology on environmental and energy indicators was revealed. During the summer tillage of the soil of a long-term fallowland, the introduction of a herbicide, an increase in the yield of agricultural crops is noted. In the arid steppe zone, with the technology with the processing of chestnut soilof the long-term fallow land net conversion efficiency was 2.10–2.84.

Smallholder Farmers Contribution to Food Production in Nigeria.

Several studies have shown that smallholder farmers produce most of the food in low-income and developing countries and form the backbone of the country’s food supply. This study examines the extent these smallholder farmers in Nigeria can put the country on the path to self-sufficiency and ensure satiety for household food consumption through their local production. The study also examines food production and their resulting yield based on crop production and harvested area, as well as the percentage of crops produced for food or other purposes. The results show that production of rice, sorghum, soybean, cassava, and yam is low; and their corresponding yields are declining, with the exception of maize, although the harvested area increased from 2015 to 2018. As it is, the findings are a clear indication of inadequate per capita food supply due to low food production, especially for cereals. The study suggests closing the yield gap specifically for cereals, limiting post-harvest losses, and finding a sustainable balance between the uses of major food crops for animal feed to reduce pressure on land resource use. The different states production performance requires special attention to harness the agricultural potential of each geopolitical zone. Lastly, dry-season cultivation should be encouraged through irrigation to enable harvesting two-times in a year. The study offers useful approaches to assess the contribution of local farmers to the food supply of a growing population and provides suggestions for the government, stakeholders, and the international community willing to collaborate and invest in the agricultural sector.

Growing Crops in Arid, Drought-Prone Environments: Adaptation and Mitigation

Drought poses significant risks to society, in particular irrigated-crop production, which accounts for a large share of global freshwater use. Given its key role in the production of food, feed and fiber crops, there exists a need for policy measures to prevent and mitigate the impacts of drought on irrigated agriculture. This paper proposes that the design of drought policy should take into account actual farmer behavior in response to water scarcity. To this end, we offer a detailed analysis of land allocation and crop-choice decisions over time in an irrigation district located in the dry plains of Northern Mexico. We find that farmers systematically change their crop mix in response to water availability. In particular, in times of drought, irrigation water flows to higher-yield and higher-price crops (which also require more intense irrigation) to the detriment of less water-demanding (but lower value) crops. Farmers use water with the goal of earning a living—economizing on water per se has no relevance in that context. Policies that do not explicitly recognize this may result in ineffective, inefficient and/or unfair outcomes.

Evaluating Gas Emissions from Different Feed Cropping Systems in the North China Plain: A Two-Year Field Measurement

The cultivation of silage crops is encouraged to enhance the connection between crop and livestock production in the North China Plain (NCP). A field experiment was designed to evaluate the ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) emissions of five silage cropping systems, including triticale-summer maize (Tr-SuM), triticale-spring maize (Tr-SpM), triticale-double forage maize (Tr-DFM), double forage maize (DFM), and winter wheat-summer maize (WW-SuM), as well as their biomass- and crude protein-scaled emission intensities, with respect to NH3 and greenhouse gas (GHG). The annual nitrogen (N) emissions through NH3, N2O, and CH4 emissions of these systems were 13.43–23.77 kg ha−1 (4.2–5.6% of N fertilizer input), 3.43–4.56 kg ha−1 (0.75–1.08% of N fertilizer input) and 2.10–2.85 kg ha−1, respectively. The total GHG emissions of these systems was dominated by the contributions of N2O. Ranking these systems according to their biomass and crude protein production gave Tr-DFM > DFM > WW-SuM > Tr-SuM and Tr-SpM, their partial factor productivity was in the order of Tr-DFM > WW-SuM > Tr-SuM and Tr-SpM > DFM, and the order of their emission intensity was DFM > Tr-SuM > Tr-DFM > WW-SuM > Tr-SpM. In conclusion, the Tr-DFM needs to be further investigated for its suitability in the NCP, owing to its superior productivity and moderate emission intensities.