Ryegrass Fields Research Articles

Insight into the herbicide resistance patterns in Lolium rigidum populations in Tunisian and Moroccan wheat regions.

Rigid ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) is one of the most troublesome weeds in Moroccan and Tunisian cereal crop fields. In total, 19 rigid ryegrass field populations were randomly selected in northern wheat crop areas of Morocco and Tunisia to examine the patterns of herbicide resistance to acetolactate synthase (ALS)- and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase)-inhibiting herbicides. Greenhouse experiments confirmed reduced sensitivity to ALS- and/or ACCase-inhibiting herbicides in all L. rigidum populations. The occurrence of target-site resistance (TSR) was tested using high-throughput genotyping. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has enabled easy identification of causal mutations and confirmed the presence of ALS and ACCase mutations at specific codons conferring TSR. Thirteen populations showed resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides associated with point mutations in positions Pro-197-Thr, Pro-197-Ser, Pro-197-Leu, Pro-197-Gln and Trp-574-Leu, while resistance to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides was detected in 18 populations in positions Asp-2078-Val, Trp-2027-Cys, Ile-1781-Leu, Gly-2096-Ala, and Ile-2041-Asn of the enzymes conferring TSR. Additionally, dose-response experiments with pyroxsulam applied after the inhibition of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase by malathion showed an increase in sensitivity in two out of seven highly resistant (HR) rigid ryegrass populations. This demonstrates the presence of non-target-site resistance (NTSR) in some ryegrass populations. Further evidence of NTSR was investigated in dose-response experiments with pyroxsulam, following pretreatment with the glutathione S-transferase (GST) inhibitor 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD-Cl), which partially reversed resistance in only a few individuals of two L. rigidum populations. Hence, our study confirms the existence of multiple and cross-resistance to ALS- and ACCase-inhibiting herbicides in L. rigidum from Morocco and Tunisia with both TSR and NTSR mechanisms. These results emphasize local resistance management as an important tool to detect and mitigate gene flow from rigid ryegrass populations where resistance has evolved.

Progress towards delivering high metabolisable energy ryegrass

A method developed at AgResearch to increase leaf fatty acids (FA) and plant growth called ‘High metabolizable energy’ (‘HME’) could elevate the nutritional quality and productivity of perennial ryegrass-based pastures. The industry strategy has been to perform HME ryegrass field trials offshore to test whether the herbage FA, gross energy (GE) and yield enhancing traits observed in containment translate into field swards. To complement the field testing programme, we have also characterised the growth and nutritional profile of HME miniswards under simulated grazing in containment. The results from one such trial are presented. The major changes measured in HME miniswards; increased FA (+0.8–1.4 %DW), increased GE (+0.3–0.5 MJ/kgDM), and generally similar herbage DW production, closely mirror data from field trials with hemizygous HME populations in the Midwest USA. Changes in other HME nutritional components were generally minor, although WSC was reduced late in the diurnal cycle. Secondary effects of HME on photosynthesis appear to be diminished in swards, suggesting that HME yield benefits may be limited to specific environment and management scenarios. The primary benefit of HME technology is thus expected to come from increasing the energy density of pasture, and animal feeding trials using homozygous HME material are now required.

Resistance to post-emergent herbicides is becoming common for grass weeds on New Zealand wheat and barley farms.

To estimate the prevalence of herbicide-resistant weeds, 87 wheat and barley farms were randomly surveyed in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Over 600 weed seed samples from up to 10 mother plants per taxon depending on abundance, were collected immediately prior to harvest (two fields per farm). Some samples provided by agronomists were tested on an ad-hoc basis. Over 40,000 seedlings were grown to the 2-4 leaf stage in glasshouse conditions and sprayed with high priority herbicides for grasses from the three modes-of-action acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase)-inhibitors haloxyfop, fenoxaprop, clodinafop, pinoxaden, clethodim, acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibitors iodosulfuron, pyroxsulam, nicosulfuron, and the 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate 3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS)-inhibitor glyphosate. The highest manufacturer recommended label rates were applied for the products registered for use in New Zealand, often higher than the discriminatory rates used in studies elsewhere. Published studies of resistance were rare in New Zealand but we found weeds survived herbicide applications on 42 of the 87 (48%) randomly surveyed farms, while susceptible reference populations died. Resistance was found for ALS-inhibitors on 35 farms (40%) and to ACCase-inhibitors on 20 (23%) farms. The number of farms with resistant weeds (denominator is 87 farms) are reported for ACCase-inhibitors, ALS-inhibitors, and glyphosate respectively as: Avena fatua (9%, 1%, 0% of farms), Bromus catharticus (0%, 2%, 0%), Lolium spp. (17%, 28%, 0%), Phalaris minor (1%, 6%, 0%), and Vulpia bromoides (0%, not tested, 0%). Not all farms had the weeds present, five had no obvious weeds prior to harvest. This survey revealed New Zealand's first documented cases of resistance in P. minor (fenoxaprop, clodinafop, iodosulfuron) and B. catharticus (pyroxsulam). Twelve of the 87 randomly sampled farms (14%) had ALS-inhibitor chlorsulfuron-resistant sow thistles, mostly Sonchus asper but also S. oleraceus. Resistance was confirmed in industry-supplied samples of the grasses Digitaria sanguinalis (nicosulfuron, two maize farms), P. minor (iodosulfuron, one farm), and Lolium spp. (cases included glyphosate, haloxyfop, pinoxaden, iodosulfuron, and pyroxsulam, 9 farms). Industry also supplied Stellaria media samples that were resistant to chlorsulfuron and flumetsulam (ALS-inhibitors) sourced from clover and ryegrass fields from the North and South Island.

The First Report of Leaf Spot Caused by Alternaria alternata on Italian Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) in China.

Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) is one of the most important forage crops in southwestern China. In 2018, a leaf spot was observed in a field of Italian ryegrass in Mengyang, Sichuan province, China (30.96925°N, 104.10223°E). From January to early March, this leaf spot developed sporadically and appeared as brown to dark brown lesions. In late May, this disease reached a peak with incidence up to 80% and appeared as reddish-brown necrotic spots with a grayish white to brown center. To isolate the pathogen, sections (0.5 × 1 cm2) of 30 diseased leaves collected from 10 plants were surface-disinfested in 70% ethanol solution for 30 s, 5% NaOCl solution for 5 min, rinsed thrice in sterilized distilled water, air dried, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 25°C in the dark for 4 days. To obtain pure isolates, the single-spore isolation technique (Cai et al. 2009) was used. The conidial suspensions were diluted to a reasonable concentration, spread onto PDA, and incubated at 25°C in dark for 24 to 48 h, and then single germinated conidia were transferred onto new PDA plates (Cai et al. 2009). Nine pure isolates showing similar morphology were obtained for further study. Colonies on PDA were dark gray in the center surrounded by white to gray, with gossypine mycelia on the upper side, and red to dark red on the reverse side. Conidia were obclavate or pyriform, olivaceous to dark brown, with 0 to 6 transverse septa and 0 to 4 longitudinal septa, 13.2 to 55.0 (27.9) × 6.3 to 12.5 (9.8) µm. Conidiophores were septate, hyaline to olivaceous brown, either branched or unbranched, geniculate at the tip, 2.5 to 5.9 μm wide and up to 70 μm long. These morphological and cultural characteristics were consistent with the descriptions of Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl. isolated from Apple (Elfar et al. 2018). To confirm the pathogenicity on Italian ryegrass, healthy plants (8-week-old) of cultivar Splendor grown in five pots filled with potting soil were spray-inoculated with conidial suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml). Plants in another, five pots were sprayed with sterilized distilled water as controls. All pots were individually covered with transparent polyethylene bags for 5 days to maintain high relative humidity and placed in a greenhouse at 18 to 25°C. At 14 days post inoculation, symptoms typical of brown to dark brown leaf spots developed on the plants inoculated with conidial suspension, whereas no symptoms on the control plants. The pathogenicity tests were carried out three times. The same pathogen was consistently re-isolated from inoculated leaves and confirmed by morphological characterization as described above. To further identify this pathogen, isolate HMCH-9 (=CGMCC 3.19924) was selected as a representative for molecular characterization. Following Woudenberg et al. (2015), the internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2 and intervening 5.8S rDNA (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF), RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2), and Alternaria major allergen (Alt) genes were partially amplified and sequenced. Sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession nos. MH567106 for ITS, MH567107 for GPD, MH567109 for TEF, MH567110 for RPB2, and MH567108 for Alt). BLAST analysis of all these five segments showed >99.8% identity with those sequences of ex-type isolate CBS 916.96 of A. alternata (Woudenberg et al. 2015). To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. alternata causing leaf spot on Italian ryegrass in China. The accurate identification of this pathogen would be useful for the prevention and control of leaf spot on Italian ryegrass in the future.

Effects of no-tillage sowing on soil properties and forage wheat and Italian ryegrass yields in winter fallow paddy fields.

In South China, it is common practice for the late rice (Oryza sativa) that is planted during the summer in the paddy fields after harvest to be used for fallowing or to plant winter forage crops. The land is ploughed before early rice planting. Both forage wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) have relatively high nutritional value, and planting them in winter fallow paddy fields could potentially address food shortages and provide quality forage for livestock. In this study, we examined the effects of no-tillage sowing 5 days before rice harvest (NB5), no-tillage sowing 1 day after rice harvest (NA1), and conventional tillage sowing (CK) 1 day after rice harvest on forage wheat and Italian ryegrass soil properties, dry matter (DM), and crude protein (CP) yields. Soil and plant samples were collected after three months of crop growth. The results showed that the NB5 and NA1 soil bulk density (0-20 cm soil layer) tended to increase when compared to that of the CK field. The NA1 treatment increased the total soil nitrogen and organic matter content. The enzyme activities and total soil porosity in the no-tillage forage wheat and Italian ryegrass fields tended to decrease, while the no-tillage water content and soil capillary porosity tended to increase when compared to that of the CK field. Overall, planting year significantly influenced soil chemical properties (except for total nitrogen) and enzyme activity, but crop type had no significant effect on soil physical-chemical properties (except for capillary moisture capacity) and enzyme activity. Sowing methods had no significant effects on the crop DM and CP yields. The DM yield was affected by the interaction between planting year and sowing methods, or between sowing methods and crop type. No-tillage also increased the number of species and aboveground weed biomass. We concluded that the best sowing method for forage wheat and Italian ryegrass in winter fallow paddy fields was no-tillage sowing following rice harvest.

Perpetuum's Sonata

Perpetuum's Sonata Matthew Burnside (Fifty-one things you've always known…) ________ The night S arrives, nothing hurts. As if every string of every violin ever plucked could be, in an instant, undone. Tenderly unteased—an entire history of haunting. Almost, as if, a harp; a lark of a lesson. As in, and all of it so nearly for naught, learning for the first time that we could deserve love. ________ Freakzilla, whose real name you could not for the life of you remember, for years pummeled a punching bag with your name tattooed vertically across its synthetic skin. He punched and punched and punched, every morning, until the name smeared into obscurity and his fists calcified like diamonds, at which point he let your name finally die. ________ The heat of your body, which provided your first love with warmth and gentleness at a time when the world couldn't have been colder to her that one afternoon in a field of ryegrass, wild zinnia, and narcissi, is still retained in the fingerprints of her right hand, caught in the whorling-grooved galaxies of her thumb, index finger, and pinkie. The skin remembers, even if memory cannot. ________ You would also be the first face your grandmother would see in the world after this one, who would lead her by the hand into the garden of her ancestors, whose fresh hands were already shuffling a brand new, bright-red deck under the stars. There she is! They would greet her, hooting and hollering. Sit down and cut 'em already, sister. And, while it is true she let you win every hand, she often had to cheat just to give you the satisfaction. [End Page 50] ________ 5.6 million dollars is roughly the same weight as a kangaroo, a beer keg, a toilet, and your standard-size octopus. When you were young you used to dream of wrestling an octopus in your bathtub. These days, you dream of wrestling the ocean, twilight, sand you cannot even see but reach out sometimes in your sleep to grab a fistful of. ________ The man who used to mow your lawn lives way out in the country now. Deconstructing any machine he can get his hands on, he rips out the engines, converts the rotors into breathtaking Dadaist configurations that he erects in the woods. Sometimes at night he walks through his impossible creations barefoot. In just the right light, with night slicing through the tree's gap tooth branches, shivering silvery the wings of warped blades with moonglow, he imagines himself a doomsday angel there to avenge all silence. ________ There your professor's novel sits, in a box with all the other novels in his campus office. He has never been to New York. He always hated the term 'slush pile'—that throwaway term for roadside sludge that inherits all the mud, soot, juices of a fresh winter's thaw. He doesn't mind what melts unseen under the sun's magnanimous strobe, but he does take issue with all that's buried thinking it deserves to be there. Tonight, he reads your short story aloud to himself, pacing up and down the staircase gesticulating wildly at the parts that move him so as to sweep his elbows and trace great, phantom lemniscates through the air like a conductor choregraphing ghosts singing the Star-Spangled Banner. You WILL be a writer, he scribbles in chicken scratch in the corner. Indeed, you already are one! After grading thirty papers he stares at the grass growing imperceptibly under his disintegrating tennis shoes. He believes in the inner lives of rocks, that every matter matters. How the birds move with such stirring force, phlegmatic repose even as they glide against the wind, going nowhere and everywhere. Coughing along campus, two minutes before class he X's out the lecture on prosody that he spent an hour transcribing and tells the students instead, "Making art is all good and well but please don't ever forget that you, too, are art" before cancelling class and encouraging them all to go whisk an insect out of danger and then go listen to a field...

Design of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle and LiDAR Pipeline for the High-Throughput Phenotyping of Biomass in Perennial Ryegrass

Perennial ryegrass biomass yield is an important driver of profitability for Australian dairy farmers, making it a primary goal for plant breeders. However, measuring and selecting cultivars for higher biomass yield is a major bottleneck in breeding, requiring conventional methods that may be imprecise, laborious, and/or destructive. For forage breeding programs to adopt phenomic technologies for biomass estimation, there exists the need to develop, integrate, and validate sensor-based data collection that is aligned with the growth characteristics of plants, plot design and size, and repeated measurements across the growing season to reduce the time and cost associated with the labor involved in data collection. A fully automated phenotyping platform (DairyBioBot) utilizing an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) equipped with a ground-based Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor and Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning system was developed for the accurate and efficient measurement of plant volume as a proxy for biomass in large-scale perennial ryegrass field trials. The field data were collected from a perennial ryegrass row trial of 18 experimental varieties in 160 plots (three rows per plot). DairyBioBot utilized mission planning software to autonomously capture high-resolution LiDAR data and Global Positioning System (GPS) recordings. A custom developed data processing pipeline was used to generate a plant volume estimate from LiDAR data connected to GPS coordinates. A high correlation between LiDAR plant volume and biomass on a Fresh Mass (FM) basis was observed with the coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.71 at the row level and R2 = 0.73 at the plot level. This indicated that LiDAR plant volume is strongly correlated with biomass and therefore the DairyBioBot demonstrates the utility of an autonomous platform to estimate in-field biomass for perennial ryegrass. It is likely that no single platform will be optimal to measure plant biomass from landscape to plant scales; the development and application of autonomous ground-based platforms is of greatest benefit to forage breeding programs.

Fiber composition and digestibility of fodder in different ryegrass fields submitted to different harvesting management systems

ABSTRACT This essay aims to evaluate the composition of fiber in neutral detergent, digestibility of plant components, as well as ruminal disappearance rate of fodder dry matter from five ryegrass fields submitted to different cut systems for the production of haylage. The experimental design was the randomized blocks one, at a 5 x 3 factorial scheme, with five cultivars (cv.) of ryegrass Lolium multiflorum (cv. Barjumbo, cv. BarHQ, cv. Ribeye, cv. Potro and cv. Willians) associated with three harvesting management systems: 1- single harvesting system at a pre-floral stage; 2 - double harvesting system, with a cut at vegetative stage and another at pre-floral stage; and 3 - triple harvesting system, with a cut at vegetative stage, a cut at full vegetative stage and a cut at pre-floral stage, with three repetitions each. Similarities were noticed on the results of fodder digestibility of different fields, however, cv. Potro presented a higher ruminal disappearance rate after 48 hours, with 69.27%. Generally, the harvesting management system with the increase of ryegrass cut frequency determined increments on the percentage of lignin and the reduction in the concentration of total nutrients and dry matter digestibility of the resulting hylage.

Characterization of Pyrenophora Species Causing Brown Leaf Spot on Italian Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) in Southwestern China.

Drechslera leaf spot (DLS) caused by Pyrenophora (Drechslera) species is one of the most serious diseases affecting Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) in China. Between 2015 and 2018, this disease was observed in three Italian ryegrass fields in the province of Sichuan, China. Average leaf disease incidence was approximately 1 to 12% but could range up to 100%. Symptoms appeared as brown or tan spots surrounded by a yellow halo, or brown to dark brown net blotch; subsequently, spots increased in number and size, and they later covered a large area of leaf, eventually causing leaf death. In this study, 86 strains of Pyrenophora fungi were isolated from leaf lesions of Italian ryegrass. Coupled with phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region, partial 28S ribosomal RNA gene, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene, morphological characteristics showed that Pyrenophora dictyoides and P. nobleae are associated with Italian ryegrass in southwest China. Pathogenicity tests confirmed that both species can infect Italian ryegrass, causing leaf spot, whereas the virulence of the two species differed; P. nobleae showed lower pathogenicity to Italian ryegrass. This is the first time that these two Pyrenophora species were formally reported on Italian ryegrass based on both morphological and molecular characters. Overall, this study improves knowledge of the Pyrenophora species associated with Italian ryegrass and provides a foundation for control of this disease in the future.

Using Sensors and Unmanned Aircraft Systems for High-Throughput Phenotyping of Biomass in Perennial Ryegrass Breeding Trials.

Increasing herbage biomass is the predominant objective for pasture plant breeding programs. Three types of field trials are commonly involved during forage plant breeding, i.e., individually spaced plants, row plot, and sward trials. Assessments of biomass production at individual plant, row plot, and sward plot levels are through visual scoring and/or cutting of biomass manually or mechanically. Both visual scoring and cutting of plants are laborious, time consuming, and costly. The development of sensor technology such as multispectral sensors and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) provide the opportunity to accelerate the process of biomass evaluation and to increase throughput, improve resolution, and reduce time and cost. We tested either the handheld Trimble GreenSeeker® or Parrot Sequoia multispectral sensors attached to a 3DR Solo Quadcopter to assess biomass in perennial ryegrass field trials sown as spaced individual plants, row plots, and simulated sward plots. Significant correlations were observed between visual score and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in a spaced plant field trial and between biomass yield and NDVI in row plot and sward trials (r = 0.12 ~ 0.93). NDVI obtained from multispectral sensors and UAS can replace visual scoring in spaced plant trials. It was also a valuable proxy for yield estimation in row plot and sward trials. These technologies will assist in transition for the forage grass breeding from pen and notepad to digital and data era.

Study on the adsorption and desorption characteristics of Phosphorus in Ryegrass and natural grasses in sloping land of Rainy Area of West China

In this study, runoff plot test was carried out in Rainy Area of West China to study the adsorption and analytical characteristics of phosphorus on ryegxass(Lolium perenne L.) and natural grass soil planted on different slopes. The results showed that the content of available phosphorus and total p in ryegrass was higher than that in natural grassland. Langmuir equation can well fit the adsorption of phosphorus on soil, and the maximum adsorption capacity and adsorption coefficient are 434.76mg/kg and 0.57, respectively, which all appear in ryegrass field. The secondary kinetic equation can well fit the adsorption dynamic characteristics of phosphorus. The equilibrium adsorption capacity and adsorption rate are between 44.64∼49.06 mg/kg and 0.0258~0.0466 kg/(mgh), and the maximum value is in ryegrass field. The phosphorus analysis rate of the soil in the study area was 30.93∼34.41%, which showed that the natural grassland was > ryegrass. At the same adsorption amount, the soil phosphorus content was > ryegrass. The results showed that the soil phosphorus fixation effect of ryegrass was good. The rational planting of ryegrass on the slope of yuping district in west China can effectively reduce the pollution of phosphorus from non-point sources.

Soil compaction effects on grassland silage yields and soil structure under different levels of compaction over three years

Soil compaction has been estimated to be responsible for 33 million ha of soil degradation in Europe, reducing crop yields, however there is limited data on grassland silage yields loss. Extended grazing periods, increased size and weight of farm vehicles and more extreme weather have fostered concern over the consequences of grassland management on reduced grass yield and soil quality. This work aimed at studying the effect of increased animal trampling and mechanical (tractor) soil compaction on grassland silage mean dry matter (DM) yields and soil structure over a three year period at two UK sites. These sites were on two established perennial ryegrass fields with contrasting soil textures; an imperfectly drained silty clay loam in SW Scotland and a well drained sandy loam from central England. Results showed trampling and tractor compaction decreased mean DM yields over three years and by the third year DM yield for the trampled area was 11.4% less on the soil with greater clay content soil and 12.0% less on the more sandier soil than the no compaction control. DM yield for the tractor compaction, by the third year, was 14.5% less than no compaction DM yield, on both soil types. Compaction treatments gave the greatest reductions for the first silage cut DM yields annually, for both soil types. The largest reductions (19.0% for trampling and 37.7% for tractor) were on the soil with the greater clay content in the second year, with the coolest start to the growing season. Compaction reduced N uptake, decreased drainage and increased water filled pore spaces (WFPS). Linear regression of visual evaluation of soil structure (VESS) scores and bulk densities provided evidence that VESS is an effective tool for detecting grassland compaction and would assist with the management of moderately compacted soils where deteriorate soil conditions may result in yield loss.

Dispersal Potential of Ergot Spores by Insects Foraging in the Perennial Ryegrass Fields in the Columbia Basin of Oregon and Washington

Dispersal Potential of Ergot Spores by Insects Foraging in the Perennial Ryegrass Fields in the Columbia Basin of Oregon and Washington

A simple visible and near-infrared (V-NIR) camera system for monitoring the leaf area index and growth stage of Italian ryegrass

Crop growth stage is critical for making decisions in nutrient management and for evaluating crop productivity. In this study, a simple visible and near-infrared (V-NIR) camera system was developed for monitoring the leaf area index (LAI) and quantifying the quick growth stage (QGS) of Italian ryegrass. RAW format images in the red, green and NIR channels over two growing seasons of 2014–15 and 2015–16 were captured hourly each day by the V-NIR camera system installed in three Italian ryegrass fields at the farm of Hiroshima University. Multiple linear regression (MLR) models that predict the forage LAI from the imagery data were calibrated and validated, with high coefficient of determination (R2=0.79) and low root-mean-square error (RMSE=1.09) between the measured and predicted LAIs. The predicted LAI to which three vegetation indices were compared was fitted against a logistic model to extract forage QGS from smoothed time-series data under various micro-meteorological and nutrient conditions. The result shows the time-series data of LAI can be applied for monitoring seasonal changes regardless of the environmental conditions. The RMSE of the predicted phenology dates against the field-measured LAI was 0.58 and 5.2 days for the start- and end-QGS, respectively, under the high-yield condition in season 1. However, in season 2, only the start-QGS was identifiable, with an RMSE of 2.65 days under the nutritional stress condition. The forage LAI and QGS were predicted and identified with acceptable accuracy and reliability, which suggests that the V-NIR camera system can be employed as a cost-effective approach for monitoring seasonal changes in crop growth, aiding in better personalized crop and nutrient management.

Low‐cost visible and near‐infrared camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle for assessing the herbage biomass and leaf area index in an Italian ryegrass field

AbstractAutomated monitoring systems with different temporal and spatial resolutions can achieve precision agriculture management. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems open new possibilities for effectively characterizing the variability within cropping systems with high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study, a UAV with a low‐cost visible and near‐infrared camera assessed the spatial variability in the herbage biomass (BM) and leaf area index (LAI) in an Italian ryegrass field. Using multiple linear regression (MLR) models, high coefficients of determination (R2) and low root‐mean‐squared error (RMSE) values were obtained between the observed and predicted herbage BM (R2 = 0.84, RMSE = 90.43 g m−2) and LAI (R2 = 0.88, RMSE = 0.82). The MLR models successfully recovered high‐resolution spatial distributions of the herbage BM and LAI from the ortho‐photos. The reconstructed maps verified that the proposed method can effectively characterize spatial field variations and assess forage growth to optimize field‐level forage crop management.

Prevalence of bacterial resistance within an eco-agricultural system in Hangzhou, China.

The wide use of antibiotics in the animal husbandry and the relevant sustainable industries may promote the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), which constitutes a growing threat to human health. The objective of this study was to determine the abundance and diversity of sulfonamide- and tetracycline-resistant bacteria within an eco-agricultural system (EAS) in Hangzhou, China. We investigated samples at every link in the EAS, from livestock manure, to biogas residues and biogas slurry, to vegetable and ryegrass fields, to a fish pond. A combination of culture-based and 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing method was used in this study. Within the studied system, the average rate of bacterial resistance to sulfonamide (46.19%) was much higher than that of tetracycline (8.51%) (p<0.01). There were 224 isolates that were enumerated and sequenced, 108 of which were identified to species level. The genera comprising the sulfamethoxazole-resistant (SMXr) bacteria were generally different from those of tetracycline-resistant (TCr) bacteria. Staphylococcus and Acinetobacter were the most dominant genera of SMXr bacteria (19.30% of the total resistant bacteria) and TCr bacteria (14.04% of the total resistant bacteria), respectively. Several strains of resistant opportunistic pathogens (e.g., Pantoea agglomerans) were detected in edible vegetable samples, which may exert a potential threat to both pig production and human health. In general, this study indicates that the EAS is an important reservoir of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, some of which may be pathogenic.

Spring growth stage detection in Italian ryegrass field using a ground‐based camera system

AbstractInformation on the spring growth status of winter forage crops is crucial for evaluating productivity and nutrient management. This study aimed to determine the spring quick growth stage (QGS) of Italian ryegrass using a ground‐based camera system. The camera system, installed in two Italian ryegrass fields at the farm of Hiroshima University, captured images automatically three times per day in red, green and blue channels over the growing season in 2012–13. Four presumed color intensities/indices were fitted using a logistic model to construct smoothed time‐series data. Among the color intensities/indices, excess green was suggested to be the best parameter for monitoring seasonal changes. The root mean squared error of the estimated phenology dates against plant height was 7.7 days for the start‐QGS and 2.8 days for the end‐QGS. These results from a single year should be broadened to examine other methodologies for image processing and extended to multi‐year data.

Lipid, sterol and saccharide sources and dynamics in surface soils during an annual cycle in a temperate climate region

Multi-biomarkers were characterized in surface soils with different vegetation during an annual cycle in Oregon, U.S.A., to study the composition and dynamics of soil organic matter (SOM). The major compound classes identified include saccharides, steroids, terpenoids, and homologous series of aliphatic lipids (n-alkanoic acids, n-alkanols, and n-alkanes). Saccharides, n-alkanoic acids, and sterols were the most dominant compound groups identified in Ryegrass field soils, whereas n-alkanoic acids, n-alkanols, and sterols were dominant in soils under conifer and deciduous vegetation. Plant species, instead of microbial organisms, was found to be the primary source influencing the concentration and distribution of the major biomarker tracers in the studied surface soils. Over an annual cycle, concentrations of higher plant lipids such as monoacyl glycerides, sterols, n-alkanoic acids and total wax were higher during summer (especially June–August). During fall into winter, the concentrations of all compounds decreased to steady state levels due to cessation of de novo synthesis and concomitant biodegradation and remineralization of detritus. Sucrose and glucose reached maximum concentrations during spring (especially March–May), which could be related with plant growth, especially rootlets in the soils. Mycose, the microbial/fungal metabolite, maximized during late summer, suggesting the concomitant increase of microbial/fungal activity with the increasing primary production. The composition and variation of biomarkers observed over an annual cycle improved our understanding of SOM dynamics in temperate soils, which could also be linked to regional and global carbon cycles.

Plant-biochar interactions drive the negative priming of soil organic carbon in an annual ryegrass field system

There is a knowledge gap on biochar carbon (C) longevity and its priming effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) and recent root-derived C under field conditions. This knowledge would allow the potential of biochar in long-term soil C sequestration to be established. However, most studies on biochar C longevity and its priming effect have been undertaken in plant-free laboratory incubations.A 388 d field study was carried out in the presence of an annual ryegrass (C3) growing on a rhodic ferralsol with established C3/C4 plant-derived SOC (δ13C: −20.2‰) in a subtropical climate. A 13C-depleted hardwood biochar (δ13C: −35.7‰, produced at 450 °C) was applied at 0 and 30 dry t ha−1 and mixed into the top 100-mm soil profile (equivalent to 3% w/w). We report on the differentiation and quantification of root respiration and mineralisation of soil-C and biochar-C in the field. Periodic 13CO2 pulse labelling was applied to enrich δ13C of root respiration during two separate winter campaigns (δ13C: 151.5–184.6‰) and one summer campaign (δ13C: 19.8–31.5‰). Combined soil plus root respiration was separated from leaf respiration using a novel in-field respiration collar. A two-pool isotope mixing model was applied to partition three C sources (i.e. root, biochar and soil). Three scenarios were used to assess the sensitivity associated with the C source partitioning in the planted systems: 1) extreme positive priming of recent SOC derived from the current ryegrass (C3) pasture; 2) equivalent magnitude of priming of SOC and labile root C; and 3) extreme positive priming of the native C4-dominant SOC.We showed that biochar induced a significant negative priming of SOC in the presence of growing plants but no net priming was observed in the unplanted soil. We also demonstrated the importance of experimental timeframe in capturing the transient nature of biochar-induced priming, from positive (day 0–62) to negative (day 62–388). The presence/absence of plants had no impact on biochar-C mineralisation in this ferralsol during the measurement period. Based on a two-pool exponential model, the mean residence time (MRT) of biochar varied from 351 to 449 years in the intensive pasture system to 415–484 years in the unplanted soils.

Evaluating a hand‐held crop‐measuring device for estimating the herbage biomass, leaf area index and crude protein content in an Italian ryegrass field

AbstractThe objective of this study is to evaluate the ability of a newly developed hand‐held crop‐measuring device and vegetation indices (VIs) to estimate the herbage biomass (BM), leaf area index (LAI) and forage crude protein mass (CPmass) in an Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) field, Japan. The device uses bi‐directional passive sensors (550, 650 and 880 nm) upward and downward to overcome the major drawback of optical remote sensing as influenced by weather conditions. The canopy reflectance and plant sample data were collected 11 times during two winter growing seasons in 2010–11 and 2011–12. Seven VIs were compared to estimate the forage parameters in the normal and logarithmic forms. The predictive ability of the VIs was assessed by the cross‐validated coefficient of determination (R2cv) and the residual prediction (RPD) values. Acceptable RPD values (&gt;1.5) were found in most of the log‐transformed forage parameters with all of the VIs but not in most of the normal‐form. The highest R2cv and RPD were obtained in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for the ln BM (R2cv = 0.76, RPD = 2.04) and ln LAI (R2cv = 0.80, RPD = 2.25), and the highest modified soil‐adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI) was obtained for the ln CPmass (R2cv = 0.78, RPD = 2.16). By evaluating the limitation of NDVI or MSAVI sensitivity with ranges of cumulative data, the log‐transformed forage parameters showed good R2cv values in the ln BM (0.76–0.79), ln LAI (0.80–0.84) and ln CPmass (0.71–0.84) with acceptable RPD values throughout most of the range, whereas in the normal‐form, the NDVI or MSAVI was saturated at moderate‐high BM, LAI or CPmass, causing the R2cv and RPD values to decrease with increasing plant parameters. These results suggest that this device is applicable in log‐transformed BM, LAI and CPmass throughout the growing season without cloud effect.