Plant Harvest Research Articles

Mitigating the adverse effect of warming on rice canopy and rhizosphere microbial community by nitrogen application: An approach to counteract future climate change for rice

The adverse impact of climate change on crop production continues to increase, necessitating the development of suitable strategies to mitigate these effects and improve food security. Several studies have revealed how global warming negatively impacts the grain-filling stage of rice and that this effect could be mitigated by nitrogen; however, the impact of nitrogen application on rice canopy and rhizosphere microbial communities remains unclear. We conducted a study using an open-field warming system. Results showed that warming influenced rice canopy by decreasing aboveground biomass and harvest index, whereas nitrogen application had positive effect on rice production under warming conditions by increasing the plant nitrogen content, biomass, harvest index and soil fertilities. Moreover, soil ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) contents were significantly decreased under warming, which were higher after nitrogen application. Notably, warming and nitrogen fertilizer caused 19 % (P < 0.01) and 7 % (P < 0.05) variations, respectively, in the β diversity of the microbial community, respectively. The impact of warming was significant on NH4+-N-related microorganisms; however, this impact was weakened by nitrogen application for microbes in the rhizosphere. This study demonstrated that enhanced nitrogen fertilizer can alleviate the adverse impact of warming by weakening its effects on rhizosphere microbes, improving soil fertility, promoting rice nitrogen uptake, and increasing the aboveground biomass and harvest index. These findings provide an important theoretical basis for developing practical, responsive cultivation strategies.

Ethnobotanical study of plants used in management of diabetes mellitus in Eastern Uganda

Ethnopharmacological relevanceDiabetes mellitus (DM) is the fourth leading cause of morbidity and mortality among non-communicable diseases affecting about 422 million people worldwide and an estimated 1.5 million deaths directly attributed to diabetes each year with a prevalence of approximately 4.1% in Uganda. The disease is on an unprecedented rise in developing countries yet access to conventional diabetes medication is a huge challenge due to limited resources. Moreover, the current management and treatment options are life-long, expensive and associated with undesirable side effects. Consequently, there is widespread use of complementary and alternative medicines, mostly herbal medicines in the management of DM in Uganda. Aim of the studyTo conduct an ethnobotanical study about medicinal plants for the management of DM in Eastern Uganda, a resource-limited area with rich plant biodiversity. Materials and methodsAn ethnobotanical survey was conducted in eight districts of Eastern Uganda. Eighty-six TMPs were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Data on screening of DM, medicinal plant harvesting, herbal medicine preparation, packaging, posology and toxicities were generated. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 26. ResultsSixty-one plant species belonging to 38 families and 59 genera were used by the TMPs in the preparation of herbal remedies for the management of symptoms of DM. The most commonly used plant species were Kigelia africana, Tamarindus indica, Aloe vera, Erythrina abyssinica, Entada abyssinica, Carica papaya, and Maytenus senegalensis. The most frequently used life forms were trees (63.2%) and herbs (20%) belonging to families Fabaceae (11.4%) and Asteraceae (10%). Roots and leaves were the most used plant parts harvested predominantly from the wild. Most herbal remedies were prepared as decoctions and administered orally with no reported toxicities. ConclusionA wide range of medicinal plants are used by TMPs for management of diabetes in Eastern Uganda. Scientific evaluation of the antidiabetic potential, phytochemistry and toxicology of these remedies is needed to validate their use and inform the production of improved herbal medicines or discover novel molecules for effective management of DM.

Site Selection for Sustainable Wind-Solar Hybrid Energy Harvesting Plant

The world’s energy landscape is undergoing rapid transformation as societies strive towards renewable and sustainable power sources in response to the need for energy security and climate change. Depletion of fossil fuels and increasing focus on environmental sustainability have been significant drivers in this global shift towards renewables. Among the promising solutions, solar-wind hybrid energy systems have gained attention, capitalizing on the complementary nature of solar and wind resources. However, selecting the optimal site for these hybrid plants is crucial for their successful implementation and efficiency. This research introduces a comprehensive methodology for site selection, seamlessly integrating the Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The Delphi method harnesses expert consensus to distil essential criteria, while AHP offers a structured framework to evaluate and prioritize these criteria. The results showed successful utilization of the AHP and Delphi techniques for evaluating the optimal location selection among different cities for solar-wind hybrid energy harnessing in the northwest region of Pakistan. The key factors for selection of optimal location were identified through expert feedback and analysis. Among the selected key main criteria, resource availability and infrastructure and socio-economic factors emerged as the top-ranked criteria in this study. The results of this study hold significant relevance and should be duly considered for solar-wind power project site selection, while also offering opportunities for further enhancements in the future.

Modelling weed seed predation by carabids and its effects on crop production under contrasted farming systems

To reduce herbicide use, different avenues of biological weed regulation are currently investigated. Among these, weed seed predation by carabid beetles appears promising. Though observed in different cropping systems and conditions in fields, there was to date no demonstration that this process actually influences weed dynamics over time and reduces weed harmfulness for crop production. Consequently, the objective of the present paper was to (1) model the impact of cropping system, field margin and pedoclimate on weed seed predation by carabids to complete the FlorSys model, which simulates weed dynamics and crop production from cropping systems, soil and weather, (2) evaluate whether including seed predation is needed to correctly predict weed dynamics in different cropping systems, (3) which components of the seed predation submodel are the most influential. The new seed-predation submodel calculates the daily predation rate for each weed species from seed traits, weather data, canopy state variables and management operations. In FlorSys, this predation rate is applied to the newly shed weed seeds on the soil surface. The equations and parameters were based on past publications from our team and other literature. Then, simulations were run with FlorSys over 13 years, with and without the seed predation submodel, using weather data and management operations from 10 fields from the INRAE Dijon-Epoisses experimental station. The resulting output in terms of weed and crop state variables (plant density, biomass, seed bank, yield) were compared to measurements from the 10 fields, showing that including weed seed predation in the simulations improved the model's prediction quality, by reducing the overestimation in weed-variable predictions. Finally, a sensitivity analysis to the components of the predation submodel was run, by repeating the simulations after successively switching off individual components of the submodel. This showed that daily incident radiation, light interception by plant canopy, harvest, carabid reproduction and daily temperature had the most influence on seed predation rates. The simulations showed that weed seed predation by carabids can indeed contribute to managing weeds, by reducing field infestation and improving crop yields, but with large variations among crops. However, to determine which cropping systems and field margins favour weed seed predation enough to noticeably contribute to biological weed regulation, a larger diversity of cropping systems and weather series needs to be explored by simulation.

Assessment of Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance of Rice Genotypes (Oryza sativa L.)

The present investigation was carriedout with 25 rice genotypes. The evaluation was taken under three different environmental locations based on 11 quantitative traits. The trials were laid out in RBD with three replications at Students Instructional Farm, MES (Main Experimental Station) and Agronomy Farm of A.N.D.U.A.T., Kumarganj, Ayodhya. The environment-wise analysis of variance and pooled analysis of variance for three environments covering one crop seasons, revealed high significant mean squares for all the eleven characters under evaluation. Considering the mean performance of genotypes for different environmental conditions, the genotypes viz. T-3, Kavery Sampoorna, NDRK-11-27, Moti Gold and NDRK-11-29 were exhibiting high mean performance for grain yield per plant and some of its important components under irrigated condition. Three genotypes, T-3, Kavery Sampoorna, NDRK-11-27 possessed highest grain yield per plant among 25 genotypes across three environments. A wide range of phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variability was observed. The high magnitude (&gt;20%) of PCV along with GCV observed for productive biological yield per plant (34.88), grain yield per plant (33.41%), L/B ratio (24.76) while high GCV recorded in biological yield per plant (31.00%), grain yield per plant (25.14%), no. of spikelet per panicle (21.15%). Moderate estimates of PCV along with GCV were recorded for harvest index (17.75%), panicle length (15.21%), plant height (13.6%) and days to 50% flowering (12.41%) and GCV were recorded productive tiller per plant (17.92%), harvest index (15.28%), leaf area index (13.81%), L/B ratio (13.55%), plant height (12.37%), days to 50% flowering (11.98%) and panicle length (10.75%). The magnitude of heritability in broad sense varied between 93.28% in case of days to 50% flowering to 27.37% in case of L/B ratio. The high estimation of heritability recorded into days to 50% flowering (93.28%) followed by plant height (82.72%), biological yield per plant (78.99%), spikelet fertility (75.70%). moderate estimates of heritability were reported for harvest index (74.08%), productive tiller per plant (69.72%), number of fertile spikelet per panicle (66.78%). while low estimates of heritability were reported in case of L/B ratio (27.37), leaf area index (31.14%). High heritability along with high genetics advance in percent of mean was recorded for days to 50% flowering indicating the preponderance of additive gene action.

Outils bifaciaux multifonctionnels emmanchés comme marqueurs des premiers habitants des forêts de montagne en Colombie occidentale

The sub-Andean forests in the Middle Cauca River Valley (Central West of Colombia) show evidences of preceramic lithic industry, recovered from paleo-soils buried by volcanic debris. Their production and use were dated by 12,000 to 4000 BP. Lithic assemblages included cobbles with modified edges with surface modification by use. According to the shape, size or raw material those instruments were used as hammers or ground-stones. Other flint knapped products, such as cores and flakes, or products of bipolar percussion, are present. Additionally, in those cultural contexts there were some particular instruments with bifacial manufacture, standardized shape and preparation for hafting. Those instruments were used in different tasks, basically for preparation of soils toward domestication and harvest of plants. Lithic assemblages were localized on rolling hills, alluvial or colluvial terraces. Artifacts demonstrated careful selection of raw material, from volcanic or metamorphic origin. A relative stability can be proposed during the Early and Middle Holocene in the inland basin of Cauca, taking into account the similar typological and technological characteristics of the lithic ensembles, attesting to the role of this region in the origins of horticulture.

Impact of Plant Harvesting on Soil Properties and Carbon Storage in Canal Command area of Indian Desert

Impact of Plant Harvesting on Soil Properties and Carbon Storage in Canal Command area of Indian Desert

Response of Biofertilizer and Foliar Spray of Boron on Growth and Yield of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

A field experiment was carried out at Crop Research Farm, Naini Agriculture Institute, Department of Agronomy, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj during Rabi, 2022 on sandy loamy soil. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design, Replicated thrice, consisting of ten treatments i.e., Rhizobium 20 g + Boron 0.25%, Rhizobium 20 g + Boron 0.5%, Rhizobium 20 g + Boron 0.75%, PSB 20 g + Boron - 0.25%, PSB 20 g + Boron - 0.5%, PSB 20 g + Boron – 0.75%, Rhizobium 10 g + PSB 10 g + Boron - 0.25%, Rhizobium 10 g + PSB 10 g + Boron - 0.5%, Rhizobium 10 g + PSB 10 g + Boron - 0.75%, and Control Plot. The field experiment result revealed that Rhizobium 10 g + PSB 10 g + Boron - 0.75% has significantly increased the growth parameters viz., Plant height (46.54 cm), Number of nodules/plant (16.44), Plant dry weight (15.37 g/plant), pods/plant (55.61), seeds/pod (2.52), test weight (265.6 g), Seed yield (1.99 t/ha), Stover yield (5.95 t/ha) and Harvest index (25.06%). The economics of experiment, i.e., maximum gross return (106464.00 INR/ha), net return (76796 INR/ha) and B:C ratio (2.58) was also recorded in Rhizobium 10 g + PSB 10 g + Boron - 0.75%.

Effect of Nano Phosphorus on Growth and Yield of Groundnut Varieties (Arachis hypogaea L.) and Yield Prediction over SPSS Model

The experiment was conducted during the Summer season 2022, at the Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Science, Prayagraj (U.P.) to find out the “Effect of Nano phosphorus on growth and yield of different varieties of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) and Yield validation using SPSS model”. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design comprising of 9 treatments which include 3 varieties Kadiri Lepakshi (K1812), Kadiri 6 (K6) and Kadiri 9 (K9) and 3 Different levels of nano phosphorous 2ml/litre, 4ml/litre and 6m/litre. Whose effect is observed in Ground nut varieties The result was observed in K-1812 by the application of nano phosphorus at the rate of 6 ml/lit was recorded maximum plant height (61.39 cm), plant dry weight (42.34 g/plant), number of pods per plant (32.87), seed index (42.09 g), pod yield (2.98 t/ha) and haulm yield (4.46 t/ha) and harvest index (40.07 %) were recorded in K-1812 with application of Nano phosphorus at the rate of 6 ml/lit respectively. At the same time higher gross return (1,25,307.00 INR/ha), net return (88,467.35 INR/ha) and benefit cost ratio (2.40).Treatment 3 has shown 42.28% increase over predicted yield where as there were 10.88% increase in treatment 7 over predicted yield through SPSS model.

Increased clonal growth in heavily harvested ecosystems failed to rescue ayahuasca lianas from decline in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest

Abstract Increasing harvest and overexploitation of wild plants for non‐timber forest products can significantly affect population dynamics of harvested populations. While the most common approach to assess the effect of harvest and perturbation of vital rates is focused on the long‐term population growth rate, most management strategies are planned and implemented over the short‐term. We developed an integral projection model to investigate the effects of harvest on the demography and the short‐ and long‐term population dynamics of Banisteriopsis caapi in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Harvest had no significant effect on the size‐dependent growth of lianas, but survival rates increased with size. Harvest had a significant negative effect on size‐dependent survival where larger lianas experienced greater mortality rates under high harvest pressure than smaller lianas. In the populations under high harvest pressure, survival of smaller lianas was greater than that of populations with low harvest pressure. Harvest had no significant effect on clonal or sexual reproduction, but fertility was size‐dependent. The long‐term population growth rates of B. caapi populations under high harvest pressure were projected to decline at a rate of 1.3% whereas populations with low harvest pressure are expected to increase at 3.2%. However, before reaching equilibrium, over the short‐term, all B. caapi populations were in decline by 26% (high harvested population) and (low harvested population) 20.4% per year. Elasticity patterns were dominated by survival of larger lianas irrespective of harvest treatments. Life table response experiment analyses indicated that high harvest caused the 6% reduction in population growth rates by significantly reducing the survival of large lianas and increasing the survival‐growth of smaller lianas including vegetative reproductive individuals. Synthesis and applications. This study emphasizes how important it is for management strategies for B. caapi lianas experiencing anthropogenic harvest to prioritize the survival of larger size lianas and vegetative reproducing individuals, particularly in increased harvested systems often prone to multiple stressors. From an applied conservation perspective, our findings illustrate the importance of both prospective and retrospective perturbation analyses in population growth rates in understanding the population dynamics of lianas in general in response to human‐induced disturbance.

An Interplay of Dryland and Wetland: Millet and Rice Cultivation at the Peiligang Site (8000–7600 BP) in the Middle Yellow River Valley, China

The Peiligang culture (ca. 9000–7000 cal. BP) represents the first Neolithic settlements in the middle Yellow River Valley, marking the beginning of millet and rice farming in the region. While previous studies have focused primarily on identifying cultivated cereals, less attention has been given to plant harvesting and processing practices or environmental conditions. To address this gap, we present new phytolith data from the Peiligang site (8000–7600 cal. BP) to make three key contributions. First, we show that the Peiligang people utilized two microhabitats: hillslopes for dryland millet cultivation and alluvial plain for wetland resources. Second, we combine our findings with other archaeological evidence to reconstruct the environmental conditions of the Peiligang site, suggesting that it was a water-rich habitat. Finally, by analyzing phytolith remains of plant processing waste in middens, we reconstruct how people harvested and processed millets and rice at the site. This study sheds light on the plant-based subsistence strategies employed by the Peiligang people and offers insights into the environmental factors that contributed to the development of early farming in the middle Yellow River Valley.

Rapid and sensitive detection of cyhalofop-butyl in foods using a gold nanoparticle-based lateral-flow strip

In this study, we prepared a highly sensitive monoclonal antibody (mAb) against Cyhalofop-butyl (Cyh) by indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA). Based on this mAb, an immunochromatographic strip (ICA) was established to detect Cyh in corn and brown rice samples. Through screening different coating antigens and antibodies, the half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the highly specific Cyh mAb 1A3 was 2.2 ng/mL, and the detection linear range (IC20-IC80) was 0.5–5.2 ng/mL. When Cyh in corn samples was detected by ICA, the detection limit of the T line elimination value was 100 μg/kg, and the detection limit for colorimetric value was 25 μg/kg. When the detection sample was brown rice, the detection limit of the T line elimination value was 100 μg/kg, and the detection limit for colorimetric value was 12 μg/kg. The results of recovery experiments for both ic-ELISA and LC-MS/MS were consistent with those of the test results when using the ICA. The ICA test strip met the requirements for on-site rapid detection of Cyh in corn and brown rice samples. Therefore, this method is suitable for real-time detection and monitoring of agricultural products as well as during plant growth, harvesting, transportation, storage, and sales, thereby guaranteeing the safety of consumers.

Eco-Engineering Technologies and Achievements of Projects for Reconstructing Landscape Water from Aquaculture Ponds in Shanghai

The post-evaluation of ecological redevelopment is a good way of describing its achievements. In this paper, eco-engineering techniques, including hydrodynamic circulation reconstruction, water purification treatment, and aquatic ecosystem restoration, along with plant harvesting management, have been applied to reconstruct landscape water from aquaculture ponds. Both sediments and water quality were sampled and tested for basic physicochemical parameters and heavy metals. The ecological redevelopment of landscape water reconstructed from aquaculture ponds was evaluated using the single and Nemero comprehensive pollution index methods. The results demonstrate that nutrients, including organic matter and organic nitrogen and their ratio to sediments, were confirmed to be in a state of moderate pollution, while the ecological risk of heavy metal pollution was relatively low. Although the concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorus were significantly higher than those of other indexes, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen and total phosphorus, all presented obvious downward trends over time, and a majority of the water samples exhibited mild-to-moderate pollution levels. In general, this study provides a set of reference values for redeveloping water ecosystems from aquaculture ponds using eco-engineering technologies.

Cultural importance, availability and conservation status of Spanish wild medicinal plants: Implications for sustainability

AbstractThe harvest of wild plants with medicinal uses is increasing globally, both for self‐treatment and as a source of income. The increasing demand for these remedies could lead to the over‐harvest of some species. Despite a recent surge in the number of studies analysing wild medicinal plants management, little is known about the effects of non‐commercial harvesting on the conservation status of medicinal plants.We explore the connection between the cultural importance (CI) of medicinal vascular plants traditionally used in Spain for self‐treatment and their availability, conservation and legal protection status, and discuss the implications of our results for sustainability. We focus on Spain, located in one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots and the most diverse country in Europe regarding vascular plants (7071 species, 1357 endemic), while also being culturally and linguistically diverse.Spain has a rich body of traditional knowledge referring to wild medicinal plants, with 1376 species with medicinal uses, which represents nearly a fourth (22%) of the total autochthonous vascular flora of the country (16% endemic). Species CI is positively correlated with abundance (ρ = 0.466) and occupancy area (ρ = 0.495). Only 8% of the wild medicinal plants traditionally used in Spain have an endangered conservation status and just 6% are fully or largely affected by protection measures. Most species used for self‐treatment in Spain are common, highly available and not threatened. This suggests that domestic use alone does not result in overexploitation and that traditional knowledge systems of plant management might ensure their sustainability.Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.

First report of Fusarium concentricum as a causal agent of Fusarium leaf blotch on pecan (Carya illinoinensis) in Southeast China.

The economically important nut crop pecan (Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch) is seriously affected by increasing incidence of fungal disease worldwide (Xiao et al 2021). The top leaves of the pecan variety 'Pawnee' in the orchard of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhejiang, China were damaged by massive dark brown plaques in summer to autumn 2021. The causal agent was isolated from leaves with target plaques following the steps: sterilized with 70% alcohol (30 s × 2), rinsed with sterilized water (3 ×) before and after 5% sodium hypochlorite (30 s), excised the plaques, and placed on PDA medium at 28℃ in a dark incubator for 3-d. The mycelium on the edge of each colony was transferred to fresh SNA medium in dark for 2 weeks to induce conidia formation. A few conidia-germinated mycelia were transferredand inoculated on new plates containing fresh PDA medium to obtain the purified cultures. Koch's postulates were applied to validate the pathogenicity of the purified isolates. Non-woundedly healthy leaves (disinfected with 5% sodium hypochlorite) of 'Pawnee' seedlings were inoculated with 5 mm 7-d old purified cultures. Dark-brown spots appeared on the leaves 2 days post inoculation at 25℃. The spots became larger accompanied by partially cracking and slight deformation of inoculated leaves from day 2 to day 4, while the control leaves remained asymptomatic. A re-isolated strain ZJ-6 from these infected leaves was identified as the pathogenic isolate with the same symptom as the previous one. Morphologically, aerial mycelia of the pathogenic isolate ZJ-6 cashmere and white. The reverse of colony orange. The edge of the colony appeared gradually thinner, the aerial mycelia loose and flocky, and the matrix mycelium whitened. Hyphae were septate, translucent with smooth wall and 1.47-7.14 µm in width. Microconidia (n = 20) obovoid to fusoid, mainly with 0-septate, 4.45-7.78×4.79-16.25 µm. Macroconidia (n = 20) sickle, mainly with 3-5 septa, 5.56-10.28×56.67-114.54 µm. Simultaneous of monophialidic and polyphialidic conidiophores. Conidiophore width 1.47-3.68 µm, slightly smaller than vegetative hyphae. The morphological characteristics matched with previous descriptions of Fusarium species (Nirenberg and O'Donnell 1998; Wang et al 2013). The identity of ZJ-6 was confirmed by phylogenetic reconstruction using the concatenated sequences of the ATP citrate lyase (ACL1), Calmodulin (CaM), the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region, ribosomal RNA gene (LSU), the largest subunit of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II (RPB1), partial translation elongation factor-1 alpha (TEF) and β-Tubulin (TUB). To this end, the genomic DNA of ZJ-6 was extracted by the M5 hipermix-MF859 (Mei5 Biotechnology) and submitted to GenBank under the accession numbers OP933646, OP933647, OP925890, OP925889, OP933396, OP933648, and OP933397, respectively. The obtained sequences of ZJ-6 were used for nucleotide BLAST against thetandard databases, respectively, and the strains with sequence identification values above 98% were selected to construct multiple alignment for building a phylogenetic tree. This analyses allowed the identification of ZJ-6 as Fusarium concentricum Nirenberg & O'Donnell, a species with few reports that can cause serious damage to the fruits and branches of other hosts (Hasan et al 2020; Huda-Shakirah et al 2020; Wang et al 2013). This is the first report of pathogenic F. concentricum on pecan in Southeast China that caused no harvest of infected plants.

Simulation of a floating solar farm in waves with a novel sun-tracking system

The awareness of the energy and climate crisis has accelerated the development of renewable energy sources. Photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants harvest clean solar energy and convert it to electricity, which will be one of the most promising alternatives to the power industry in the context of a low-carbon society. Due to its low power density, the traditional deployment of PV systems on land or inland rivers requires much space. Therefore, industries are increasingly interested in expanding offshore Floating PhotoVoltaics (FPV) to oceans, where FPV has less influence on the marine environment and does not occupy precious space for land resources and human activities. This study performs a hydrodynamics-based structural response analysis for a novel FPV system in OpenFOAM. The wave-proof FPV platform is newly designed for this work, which integrated breakwater technologies to sustain the system’s survivability in harsh ocean-wave environments. Firstly, the rational mooring types for FPVs installed close to the island are studied considering seabed effects. Subsequently, extensive parametric studies have been conducted to determine a rational design strategy for the mitigation of wave impact. Several potential effects of the proposed platforms on the hydrodynamics in a coastal sea are evaluated for the first time.

Plant leaf deep semantic segmentation and a novel benchmark dataset for morning glory plant harvesting

Computer vision and deep learning have made substantial progress in the areas of agriculture and smart farming, particularly for enhancing crop production using image segmentation techniques for crop yield prediction. Further improvements to crop yield prediction results can be achieved by developing accurate and efficient methods. In response to such demands, this paper proposes a novel convolutional neural network architecture, called densely connected SegNet (D-SegNet) and demonstrates its advantages on plant segmentation using a new morning glory plant dataset, and also on a complimentary publicly available dataset to promote research in this direction. The D-SegNet is evaluated using 10-fold cross validation. It achieves performance better than the state-of-the-art SegNet algorithm. The evaluated precision, recall and F1-score values are 98.20%, 90.64% and 94.26%, respectively, for the morning glory plant dataset. The intersection over union (IoU) value in the image segmentation tasks is 90.56%. A series of experiments on the morning glory plant dataset as well as on the publicly available dataset were conducted. The results show that the proposed method achieves accurate segmentation results and can be useful for assessing the plant weight during harvesting. In summary, this new plant segmentation network, D-SegNet, could form an important component of future cloud-based machine learning systems to predict crop yield from noisy smartphone images taken in the field.

Complementarity of road salt and heavy metal pollutant removal through invasive Typha and Phragmites harvest in urban wetland detention basins

Plant-based bioremediation has been proposed as a strategy to mitigate the growing risks associated with freshwater salinization, but large-scale experimental field tests of how harvesting plants can reduce deicing salts and heavy metals common in roadside environments are lacking. We implemented a three-year, large-scale field experiment (across 180 ha) in ten urban wetland detention basins in the Chicago region (Illinois, USA) to investigate the potential of plant biomass harvest to remove salts and heavy metals from roadside environments. Harvesting both Typha and Phragmites, ubiquitous plants that co-occur in wetlands around the globe, has the potential to remove both salts (Na, Cl, Ca, Mg) and heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn), as we observed complementarity in the pollutants concentrated in the aboveground tissues of these two species. We observed greater salt stocks in Typha biomass while heavy metals (especially Zn) were more abundant in Phragmites. Salts associated with deicing salts (Na, Cl) were particularly concentrated in live green Typha tissue, while metals tended to be more abundant (>50% of total stocks) in senescent litter, suggesting that plant phenology is important to consider when mitigating target pollutants via harvesting. Although repeated harvests reduced aboveground biomass and associated salt and metal stocks relative to unmanipulated controls, rotational harvest of common macrophytes growing in road-adjacent wetlands could maximize the reduction of roadside pollutants through harvesting. However, our data suggest that harvesting invasive macrophytes from urban roadside detention basins is not a silver bullet to remedy freshwater salinization, as it mitigates only a small fraction of added road salt loads.

CONTROL OF WHITE CABBAGE DISEASES USING BIOLOGICALS

Purpose. To investigate effects of biologicals on disease-induced damage to white cabbage plants during the growing period and on yield. Methods. Informational/analytical (collection and review of publications), field research (planning and conducting experiments, records of plant damage, harvesting and accounting of yields), phytopathological (isolation and identification of pathogens), mathematical/statistical (processing of data). The following biologicals were used in he experiments: Azotobacterin liq. (Azotobacter chroococcum IMV B-7171), Ecophosphorin liq. (Bacillus megaterium IMV B-7168, Azotobacter chroococcum IMV B7171, Agrobacterium radiobacter IMV B-7246), Planrhiz liq. (Pseudomonas fluorescens), Haupsin liq. (Pseudomonas auerofaciens), Serenade ASO SC, Serenade MAX WP (Bacillus subtilis QST 713), and Trichodermin liq. (Trichoderma lignorum TD 93). Biologicals were sprayed on plants 3-4 times during the cabbage growing period. Antifungal potentials of mixtures of biologicals with fungicides were also investigated on white cabbage. Results. During the study years, Alternaria leaf spot, Fusarium wilt, black and soft rots were dominating diseases on plantations with different varieties of white cabbage. Biologicals effectively restrained the development of both fungal and bacterial diseases of white cabbage. The protective effect of the biologicals against fungal diseases averaged 45-62%, against bacterial diseases – 65-79%. The effectiveness of mixtures of biologicals and chemicals, in which fungicides were applied at minimally permissible doses, was similar to that of fungicides applied at full doses. Biologicals, due to their protective and growthstimulating properties, significantly increased the crop yield. Conclusions. The potentials of biologicals to control fungal and bacterial diseases of white cabbage during the growing period were evaluated. The biologicals effectively limited infection-inflicted damage to cabbage. The protective effect of the biologicas against various diseases of white cabbage during the growing period of different varieties averaged 45-79%. The biologicals increased the yields of late-ripening white cabbage varieties on average by 14.5–92%.

Chemical composition and in vitro gas production of Brachiaria decumbens harvested at different stages of growth in the hot humid region

The study evaluated the effect of harvesting date on the chemical composition and in vitro gas production of the botanic fractions of Brachiaria decumbens grass. The botanic fractions (leaf, stem and whole plant) of the grass at two maturities (60 and 120 days) in a Completely Randomised Design with factorial arrangement. Samples of botanic fractions at the different harvest dates were chemically analyzed for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), fibre concentrations and in vitro gas production (IVGP) was measured at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, 48, 72 and 96 h to estimate the volume and rate of gas production. Short-chain volatile fatty acids, microbial protein production, in vitro organic matter digestibility, and metabolizable energy were estimated from established models. Organic matter, crude fibre, NDF, ADF and ADL increased (P&lt;0.05) with increasing maturity whereas the reverse was so for CP and ash contents (P&lt;0.05). Significant interactions (P&lt;0.05) between harvest date and plant fraction were present for both ‘b’ and ‘c’ attributable to treatment effects. Potential gas production ‘b’ elicited a negative response for all plant fractions across the two harvest dates as the values decreased linearly. The rate at which the gases were produced ‘c’ also induced a negative response for the leaf and whole fraction but a positive one for the stem fraction. The nutrient composition and gas production characteristics of grasses harvested at day 60 offer a better potential as high quality forage for improved intake and digestibility. The leaf fractions performed relatively better based on the afore-mentioned methods of quality assessment at both maturity periods.