Agricultural Improvement Research Articles

P450Rdb: A manually curated database of reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes

IntroductionCytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s) are recognized as the most versatile catalysts worldwide, playing vital roles in numerous biological metabolism and biosynthesis processes across all kingdoms of life. Despite the vast number of P450 genes available in databases (over 300,000), only a small fraction of them (less than 0.2 %) have undergone functional characterization. ObjectivesTo provide a convenient platform with abundant information on P450s and their corresponding reactions, we introduce the P450Rdb database, a manually curated resource compiles literature-supported reactions catalyzed by P450s. MethodsAll the P450s and Reactions were manually curated from the literature and known databases. Subsequently, the P450 reactions organized and categorized according to their chemical reaction type and site. The website was developed using HTML and PHP languages, with the MySQL server utilized for data storage. ResultsThe current version of P450Rdb catalogs over 1,600 reactions, involving more than 590 P450s across a diverse range of over 200 species. Additionally, it offers a user-friendly interface with comprehensive information, enabling easy querying, browsing, and analysis of P450s and their corresponding reactions. P450Rdb is free available at http://www.cellknowledge.com.cn/p450rdb/. ConclusionsWe believe that this database will significantly promote structural and functional research on P450s, thereby fostering advancements in the fields of natural product synthesis, pharmaceutical engineering, biotechnological applications, agricultural and crop improvement, and the chemical industry.

A Centrally Driven Place-Based Economic Development Strategy: A Local Perspective of Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor

We contrast place-based economic development strategies (PBEDS) in Thailand and in economically advanced countries. Through government initiatives, PBEDS focuses on improving economically underdeveloped areas' economic conditions. Thailand's PBEDS began in 1959 to develop the impoverished Northeast region, focusing on agricultural improvements. Since 1970, infrastructure and industrial development zones have been the main strategies to attract foreign investment for export-oriented growth. In economically advanced countries, the primary purpose of PBEDS is to reduce regional economic disparity. However, as they are implemented in Thailand, they increase regional inequality as development is concentrated in and around Bangkok. Thailand's latest PBEDS is the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project in three eastern provinces. The national government oversaw the EEC and granted the EEC Office special powers to streamline investment approvals, although local governments have no formal role. We contrast Thailand's top-down PBEDS with approaches in other countries that emphasize local decision-making and leveraging regional assets. Thailand's policies focus on national growth, while international evidence suggests that locally-led PBEDS more effectively address regional disparities and increase national output. Thailand should empower local governments, coordinate with them, and invest in poorer regions. At the same time, the EEC may promote growth, but its centralized approach risks misaligning with local needs. A balanced strategy accounting for local contexts could better lift Thailand economically.

Effects of government policies reform on environmental sustainability: An integrated approach of PMP and system dynamics simulation model

The government's supportive policies in the agricultural sector may provide some goals intended by policymakers; however, they may have environmental, social, and sometimes economic inefficiencies. Therefore, policy analysis not only needs to examine the effectiveness of these policies from the point of view of economic components but also, in a more comprehensive view, should assess the impact of these policies on other aspects like sustainability. In this study, an integrated Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) and System Dynamics (SD) model was developed to investigate the effects of the agricultural policy reform on the cultivation pattern and water resources sustainability in the Doroodzan Dam basin in Fars Province, southern Iran, where managing water resources is a seriously challenging due to population growth and periodic drought. The initial investigation involved analyzing how price policies (guaranteed price and world price of crops) and non-price policies (removal of subsidy payments to agricultural inputs and improvement of irrigation efficiency) impacted the cropping pattern. The results of the study showed that the most significant decrease in cropland area occurs due to the removal of agricultural input subsidies. Although this crop pattern can lead to environmental sustainability, it is not considered from the point of view of food self-sufficiency. Based on the results, applying world prices increase cropping area for crops like rice, which is a water-intensive crop. Another point was the high priority of onions, fodder corn, and beans while they are not subjected to governmental pricing intervention. This may indicate the extent of public policies' impact on agriculture. Although under some policy scenarios changes in the gross margin or cropping area do not sound significant, the water-saving nature of these policies is more compelling. Finally, the impact of altering cropping patterns along with climate change and population growth on water indices was assessed using SD modeling. Thus, reforming the government's policies in the agricultural sector may help reduce the water shortage index in the basin. The policy of removing subsidies for the agricultural inputs led to the attainment of the lowest water shortage index.

Agricultural specialization activates the industry chain: Implications for rural entrepreneurship in China

AbstractAs one of the means of specialization, agricultural outsourcing is regarded as a breakthrough point for agricultural efficiency improvement and rural economic growth by many developing countries. From the perspective of the interest linkage across the entire agricultural industry chain, the potential entrepreneurial effects of agricultural outsourcing have rarely been discussed. The study innovatively treats a Chinese policy as a quasi‐natural experiment, uses cutting‐edge econometric methods to make rigorous causal inferences, and addresses the difficulty of quantifying agricultural outsourcing. We find that agricultural outsourcing significantly increases rural entrepreneurship activity, with an increase of 9.1% of the rural population working for rural private enterprises and rural self‐employed businesses. From the perspective of heterogeneity, the entrepreneurial effect of agricultural outsourcing is more impressive in nonmajor grain‐producing areas. In addition, agricultural outsourcing mainly promotes opportunistic entrepreneurship. Influencing mechanisms include industrial chain extension, off‐farm employment and credit access. Accordingly, we suggest that policymakers take agricultural outsourcing as a starting point to promote rural innovation and entrepreneurship to complete industrial upgrading and transformation. [EconLit Citations: D13, L26, Q16].

Identification of cold tolerance and some agronomic traits of advanced safflower genotypes developed by hybridization

AbstractThe development of winter‐tolerant safflower genotypes is crucial for the improvement of global safflower agriculture. The aim of the present study was to determine the cold tolerance abilities and some agricultural characteristics of advanced safflower genotypes. For this purpose, 10 advanced safflower genotypes were used in four different locations. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three replications. Winter survival and agricultural characteristics were significantly affected by growing season, location and genotype. Winter survival varies between 86.43% and 93.91% among the genotypes which is promising for winter sowing. As the average of 2 years, the highest oil content (36.25%) was observed in genotype EC21 and it was followed by genotypes EC11 (35.51%) and EC20 (35.49%). As with the seed yield, the high winter survival of genotypes with high oil content is highly promising in terms of winter sowing. Safflower should be grown in winter with mild temperature regions for high seed yield and sustainable safflower production. Therefore, this study focused on winter‐tolerant genotypes that are superior one in terms of seed yield and oil content.

Review on Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Carbon Sink in Agroecosystem

Globally, mankind is facing an increasingly severe challenge of climate change, and the vast majority of countries are making sustained efforts to solve the problem. Agroecosystem is not only an important source of greenhouse gas emissions, but also has a large potential of carbon sink, so research on greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon sink in agroecosystems is an important initiative to address the challenge of climate change. However, the current domestic research on carbon sinks mainly focuses on forests, grasslands and oceans, and there are relatively few studies on carbon sinks in agroecosystems. Studies on greenhouse gas emission reduction is also mainly concentrated in the fields of industry, energy and lacks the attention in the field of agriculture. Therefore, the research on greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon sink in agroecosystems needs to be carried out urgently. This paper systematically reviewed the research progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sinks in agroecosystem, and focused on the role of a series of agricultural management measures, such as agricultural waste disposal, fertilizer management and soil improvement in reducing emissions and increasing sinks in agroecosystem, and put forward relevant suggestions and prospects for the measures to reduce emissions and increase sinks in agroecosystem and the future research direction, with a view to providing useful reference for agricultural practice and realize green and sustainable agricultural production.

Russia Germans in the Turkestan Governorate-General: resettlement and economic activity (the last third of the 19th — beginning of the 20th century)

The paper is concerned with the history of the resettlement of Germans to the Turkestan Governorate-General in the last third of the 19th — beginning of the 20th c. This territory was actively developing after the ac-cession to the Russian Empire. This process was joined also by German settlers from the Ekaterinoslav, Taurida, Samara, and Saratov governorates. Some of them sought to acquire land, as they suffered from the land scarcity or even its total lack in the ‘mother colonies’. Others wanted to obtain easement in the military service for religious reasons. The aim of the research is the analysis of the economic activity of the Germans and their adaptation to the new natural-climatic and agricultural conditions. The paper is based on various sources: publications of the 19th — early 20th century, reports of the officials, and archival materials. Methodologically, the authors draw upon the theory of modernisation and consider the resettlement process through the prism of the Central Asian model of frontier modernisation at the turn of the 19th — 20th century. This enabled us to reconsider the topic, which is partially covered in Russian and foreign historiography. It has been found that there were two waves of resettle-ment to the Central Asian region. The first one is related to the acquisition by the German colonists of the status of resettlers-proprietors in 1871 and to the military reform conducted in 1874. The second reason is related to the famine that affected the European part of the country. The Germans could get land plots in this region in several ways: from the authorities, or by buying or taking them on lease from the local population. The Germans managed the land reserves at their own discretion, distributing them for domestic purposes amongst the members of the settlements or keeping them for the community. First years were difficult for the Germans because of the lack of funding and knowledge of farming conditions. However, following the financial assistance from the authorities and familiarisation with the area, they managed to decide on the management model. Cereal crops and potatoes were grown on the land suitable for agriculture. In other areas, they started breeding improved livestock of cows and horses. Agricultural products and animals were in high demand at the local markets. Moreover, the local popula-tion adopted many agricultural improvements from the Germans. The economic and natural-geographical surveys of this region conducted by the authorities demonstrated that the German settlers by the beginning of the 20th cen-tury managed to set up prosperous farming units. Their products won numerous awards at agricultural exhibitions.

The Preanalytical Stability of Emerging Cannabinoid Analogs (Delta-8 THC and its Metabolites, Delta-10 THC, and Carboxy-HHC) in Urine.

There has been a surge in the presence and use of cannabinoids since the federal legalization of hemp (Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018). This increase is attributed not only to the use of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the most abundant phytocannabinoid components of cannabis and hemp, respectively, but with the use of many other emerging THC analogs. Structurally, these analogs are similar to ∆9-THC. Urine specimens for drug analysis are often collected offsite and transported to a laboratory for analysis. Screening assays are usually the first step in urine drug testing. These assays are usually qualitative and automated, which for negative specimens, reduces cost and reporting time. The stability of ∆9-THC and its metabolites has been known for some time, however the stability of emerging analogs has not been elucidated, therefore assuming equivalent storage stability can be erroneous. Previous work assessed the cross-reactivity of ∆8-THC and its major metabolites, the ∆1°-THC chiral analogs, and the chiral 11-COOH-HHC analogs. Stability was assessed for each analyte at a concentration two times greater than the analytes determined decision point. Samples were prepared in drug-free urine at three different pHs (4.5, 7, and 9) and stored at three different temperatures (4°C, 20°C, and 45°C) in triplicate. Samples were analyzed utilizing the LZI Cannabinoids (cTHC) Enzyme Immunoassay cannabinoid screening kit calibrated at the 25 ng/mL cutoff. Overall, the cannabinoid analogs produced diminishing instrument responses depending on pH and temperature. The parent analogs were not detected after a single day at 45°C regardless of pH. In general, carboxylic acid analogs at the acidic pH (4.5) produced diminished instrument responses when compared to their counterparts stored at neutral (7) and basic (9) pH. The time, storage temperature, and pH of urine specimens may affect the screening results of specimens collected for cannabinoid drug screening.

Agricultural Improvement of Marginalized Tribal Farmers Through Watershed Development: A Case Study in Odisha

Neoliberal policies have put farmers in a greater situation of vulnerability. Tribal farmers are among the most neglected in policymaking as well as in the larger capitalist framework of development. Watershed development might play a transformative role in reducing the burden of tribal farmers in Odisha. However, it is yet to gain traction in policymaking circles. Increasing the level of production and productivity are two major dimensions of watershed development, along with the conservation of land and water resources. This study is an attempt to examine the impact of watershed development on the shift toward productivity and income-enhancing cropping patterns. We have collected data among 160 farmers from four watershed development areas of Koraput and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha, where the tribal population is a significant portion of the overall demographic composition, using a multistage sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and paired t-test have been used in the study as statistical tools.

The Cross Reactivity of Cannabinoid Analogs (Delta-8-THC, Delta-10-THC and CBD), their metabolites, and Chiral Carboxy HHC metabolites in Urine of Six Commercially Available Homogeneous Immunoassays.

There has been an exponential surge in the presence and use of cannabinoids since the federal legalization of hemp (Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018). This growth is attributed to Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the most abundant phytocannabinoid components of cannabis and hemp, respectively, but with many other emerging THC analogs. Structurally, these analogs are similar to Delta-9-THC, yet very little information is available about their potency and even less information is available regarding their detectability using commercially available cannabinoid screening kits. Due to their structural similarity, current cannabinoid homogeneous immunoassay screening methods may be able to detect these emerging cannabinoid analogs and their metabolites. Six urine immunoassay kits (Abbott Cannabinoids - Abbott Diagnostics, LZI Cannabinoids (cTHC) Enzyme Immunoassay - Lin-Zhi International, DRI® Cannabinoid Assay and CEDIA™ THC - Thermo Fisher Scientific, ONLINE DAT Cannabinoid II - Roche Diagnostics, and Syva EMIT®II Plus - Siemens Healthineers) were evaluated at two different cutoff concentrations: 50ng/mL and 20 or 25ng/mL, assay dependent. The analysis was performed on an Abbott Architect Plus c4000 (Abbott Diagnostics). Delta-8-THC, CBD, olivetol and their major metabolites, and Delta-10-THC and HHC carboxylic acid chiral analogs were evaluated. The cross reactivity was evaluated by preparing each analyte at 20, 50, 100, and 1000ng/mL in urine. Analytes that did not cross react at 1000ng/mL for a cutoff were considered not detectable. If detected, the lowest concentration was used as the decision point to determine the precision at the immunoassay's cutoff. The six commercially available urine cannabinoid homogeneous immunoassay screening kits cross reacted with the following analogs: Delta-8-THC, 11-OH-Delta-8-THC, 11-COOH-Delta-8-THC, 6-OH-CBD, 7-OH-CBD, all Delta-10-THC and HHC carboxylic acid chiral analogs, and olivetol with varying selectivity depending on the screening kit and cutoff concentration. The kits did not cross react with the following analogs: CBD, 7-COOH-CBD, Abnormal CBD, CBDA-A, and olivetolic acid.

Agricultural wetland utilization based on land cover restoration and water–ecosystem nexus

Abstract Wetlands, as a special ecological environment, are not only important biodiversity conservation areas but also one of the important agricultural resources. Agriculture plays an irreplaceable role in human society. It is directly related to human survival and development, and is also a part of people's environmental awareness and cultural inheritance. Based on the principles of sustainable development and strengthening environmental protection, people should pay more attention to the development and improvement of agriculture. However, with the advancement of urbanization, the area of wetlands continues to decrease, causing damage to ecosystems and posing a threat to some agricultural production. This article combined the transfer matrix of agricultural wetland utilization, landscape change rate, and landscape pattern index, used RS (Remote Sensing) and GIS (Geographic Information System) technologies to analyze the dynamic changes in agricultural wetland utilization and landscape of Honghu Lake in the Four Lakes region, and explored its changing factors. The results indicated that the construction land area showed an increasing trend in 2016, 2019, and 2022, while the wetland area of rice fields showed a first decreasing and then increasing trend.

Revisiting Climate-Related Agricultural Losses across South America and Their Future Perspectives

Climate plays a major role in the spatiotemporal distribution of most agricultural systems, and the economic losses related to climate and weather extremes have escalated significantly in the last decades. South America is one of the most productive agricultural areas of the globe. In recent years, remote sensing data and geographic information systems have been used to improve geo-environmental hazard assessment. However, food security is still highly dependent on small farmer practices that are frequently the most vulnerable to climate extremes. This work reviews climate and weather extremes’ impacts on crop production for South American countries, focusing on the projected ones considering different climate scenarios and countries. A positive trend in the productivity of maize, mainly related to agricultural improvements, was recently observed in Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay by up to 200%, as well as in the case of soybean in Bolivia and Uruguay by about 125%. Despite the generalized adverse impacts of climate extremes, results from agrometeorological models generally indicate an increase in crop production in southern regions of Chile (and highlands) and Brazil mainly related to increased temperature. Positive impacts in response to CO2 fertilization are also foreseen in Peru and Brazil (southeast, south, and Minas Gerais); in particular, in Brazil, increases in productivity can be raised by about 40%. The use of double-cropping systems, although with very good results in recent years, may also be at risk in a few decades, mainly due to forecasted precipitation decrease, delay in rainy season onset, and temperature increase. The development of timely early warning systems is imperative to produce technically accurate alerts and the interpretation of the risk assessment based on the link between producers and consumers. Promoting climate index insurance is crucial to build resilient food production, but its implementation should rely on regional or international support systems. Moreover, the implementation of adaptation and mitigation also requires climate-resilient technologies that involve an interdisciplinary approach.

Effect of Magnetic Irrigation Saline Water and Pre-Sowing of Grains Treated with Magnetic Field on Saline Soil Fertility and Wheat Productivity and Quality

A field experiment was carried out in a privet farm in Romana village, North Sinia, governorate, Egypt, during winter of two successive years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 to study the effect of magnetic irrigation water with different salinity levels (1000, 2000, 4000 and 6000 ppm) from four wells and pre-sowing of seeds wheat seeds at (0, 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 hr) treated with magnetic field on soil fertility and wheat productivity in newly reclaimed soil. In both seasons each experiment was carried out in a split plot design with three replicates. The results suggested that magnetized irrigation saline water and the magnetic pre-sowing grains treatment led to reduce of EC and soil pH and the increasing of availability macro-micronutrients contents in the soil Magnetic treated of both seeds and irrigation water salinity led to an increase of yield components and quality for wheat plant as well as the increase of macro-micronutrients concentrations in straw and wheat grains plant Finally, the technique of magnetic field in agricultural fields could be a promising technique for agricultural improvement but extensive research is still required to many studies in the future.

Agricultural Value Chain in the North-East Region of India: Present Scenario and Future Prospects

Developing agricultural value chains for local and international markets might alleviate poverty and food insecurity in northeast India. This is particularly true in north-east India, where farmers may produce agricultural commodities with higher value-added potential if processing, marketing and distribution are available, therefore boosting the value of the end product. This article addresses the need for shared knowledge and awareness of modern agricultural value chain improvements to aid decision-making. This study addressed agricultural value chain challenges holistically. Agribusiness expansion and value chain management in northeast India are also explored. A brief literature overview highlights real-world applications and ongoing research. Secondary data from value chain and related literature was utilised. The study highlighted key agricultural value chain concerns and recommended their establishment and growth in North Eastern India. This study enhances agricultural value chain management.

Engineering homoeologs provide a fine scale for quantitative traits in polyploid.

Numerous staple crops exhibit polyploidy and are difficult to genetically modify. However, recent advances in genome sequencing and editing have enabled polyploid genome engineering. The hexaploid black nightshade species Solanum nigrum has immense potential as a beneficial food supplement. We assembled its genome at the scaffold level. After functional annotations, we identified homoeologous gene sets, with similar sequence and expression profiles, based on comparative analyses of orthologous genes with close diploid relatives Solanum americanum and S. lycopersicum. Using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated mutagenesis, we generated various mutation combinations in homoeologous genes. Multiple mutants showed quantitative phenotypic changes based on the genotype, resulting in a broad-spectrum effect on the quantitative traits of hexaploid S. nigrum. Furthermore, we successfully improved the fruit productivity of Boranong, an orphan cultivar of S. nigrum suggesting that engineering homoeologous genes could be useful for agricultural improvement of polyploid crops.

How Did the Southwest China Mountains Turn Green from 2000 to 2020? A Case Study in Chongqing

Vegetation, as a comprehensive ecological indicator of environmental change, plays an essential role in terrestrial ecosystems. Dramatic climate change and increasing anthropogenic disturbances have led to a profound change in vegetation cover. This study employed Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and other relevant data in Southwest China mountains, using Chongqing as a case study, to explore the variation in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and its spatial differentiation mechanisms, quantify the relative contributions of climate change and human activities to these variations, and assess the effects of ecological policies, including afforestation, mountain closure forestry and natural forest conservation, and agricultural improvement. Results showed that the spatial distribution of annual NDVI, on average, varied 0.109 to 0.929, with the rate varying from −0.033 to 0.017 yr−1. NDVI was improved in 83.4% areas of Chongqing, and human activities contributed 69.1% of revegetation, whereas climate contributed 30.9%. On the other hand, human activities and climate change contributed 76.3% and 23.7% to vegetation degradation in 17.6% areas, respectively. Moreover, the explanatory power of anthropogenic factors on spatial differentiation of NDVI were stronger than that of climatic factors, and land use type was the dominant factor. The cumulative afforestation area, effective irrigation rate, fertilizer application, and total agricultural machinery power of the whole city was extremely significantly correlated with NDVI (p < 0.01), and the vegetation cover fluctuation in the region affected by natural forest protection and mountain closure forestry project was much more stable than that in non-protected areas, which to a certain extent reflected the effective implementation of local ecological protection, agricultural improvement, and other related policies.

The contribution of cassava production and marketing on smallholder farmers’ livelihood in Dodoma Region, Tanzania

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has remained a major source of food security and income generation for most developing countries including Tanzania due to its ability to drought and disease resistance. At present, its production in Tanzania stands at 630,000 tons while the country's market demand is expected to grow at 7% by 2026. Therefore, this study assessed the contribution of cassava production and marketing on the livelihood of smallholder farmers in Tanzania particularly in the Dodoma region, so as to explore its potential contributions to the society welfare. A cross-sectional research design was employed whereby a multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting a sample of 240 cassava smallholder farmers from four districts in the Dodoma region namely Kondoa, Chemba, Kongwa, and Mpwapwa. Quantitative data were collected through self-administered structured questionnaires and focus group discussion, interview and observation methods also were used in collecting qualitative data from the study area. Content analysis was used in analyzing qualitative data. A binary logistic regression model was employed to estimate the contribution of cassava production and marketing on smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in the region. The findings from the study indicated that family size, farmers’ experience, land size, education, number of visits by extension, and market access statistically were significant with showed a positive relationship with the improvement in the livelihood of farmers in the selected districts. On the other hand, transportation costs showed a negative relation with the improvement of farmers’ livelihood. Generally, it can be concluded that an increase in production and improvement in marketing variables could contribute much to the improvement of smallholder farmers’ livelihood. Based on these findings, it is recommended that Ministries responsible for cassava production and marketing which included the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade focus more on the design, promotion, and implementation of policies and programs that are intended to enhance cassava production in rural areas and increase the provision of best farming practices through employing more extension officers.

A high-yielding traits experiment for modeling potential production of wheat: field experiments and AgMIP-Wheat multi-model simulations

Grain production must increase by 60% in the next four decades to keep up with the expected population growth and food demand. A significant part of this increase must come from the improvement of staple crop grain yield potential. Crop growth simulation models combined with field experiments and crop physiology are powerful tools to quantify the impact of traits and trait combinations on grain yield potential which helps to guide breeding towards the most effective traits and trait combinations for future wheat crosses. The dataset reported here was created to analyze the value of physiological traits identified by the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) to improve wheat potential in high-yielding environments. This dataset consists of 11 growing seasons at three high-yielding locations in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Ciudad Obregon (Mexico), and Valdivia (Chile) with the spring wheat cultivar Bacanora and a high-yielding genotype selected from a doubled haploid (DH) population developed from the cross between the Bacanora and Weebil cultivars from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). This dataset was used in the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) Wheat Phase 4 to evaluate crop model performance when simulating high-yielding physiological traits and to determine the potential production of wheat using an ensemble of 29 wheat crop models. The field trials were managed for non-stress conditions with full irrigation, fertilizer application, and without biotic stress. Data include local daily weather, soil characteristics and initial soil conditions, cultivar information, and crop measurements (anthesis and maturity dates, total above-ground biomass, final grain yield, yield components, and photosynthetically active radiation interception). Simulations include both daily in-season and end-of-season results for 25 crop variables simulated by 29 wheat crop models.

Agricultural Biotechnology and Crop Improvement: A Review

Agricultural Biotechnology and Crop Improvement: A Review

Agroclimatic and Phytosanitary Events and Emerging Technologies for Their Identification in Avocado Crops: A Systematic Literature Review

Avocado is one of the most commercialized and profitable fruits in the international market. Its cultivation and production are centered in countries characterized by tropical and subtropical climatic conditions, many of them with emerging economies. Moreover, the use of technology is key to agricultural production improvement strategies. Using avocado crop data to forecast the potential impacts of biotic and abiotic factors, combined with smart farming technologies, growers can apply measures during a single production phase to reduce the risks caused by pests and weather variations. Therefore, this paper aims to distinguish the most relevant variables related to agroclimatic and phytosanitary events in avocado crops, their incidence on production and risk management, as well as the emerging technologies used for the identification and analysis of pests and diseases in avocados. A scientific literature search was performed, and the first search found 608 studies, and once the screening process was applied, 37 papers were included in this review. In the results, three research questions were answered that described the pests and diseases with high impact on avocado production, along with the data sources and the principal enabling technologies used in the identification of agroclimatic and phytosanitary events in avocados. Some challenges and trends in the parameterization of the technology in field conditions for data collection are also highlighted.