Yield Components Number Research Articles

Valorization of a Bio-Stabilized Municipal Solid Waste Amendment for Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Fertilization

The valorization of municipal solid waste (MSW) can serve as an organic amendment in agriculture while reducing solid waste accumulation in the environment. This research aimed to evaluate the valorization of a bio-stabilized MSW amendment for the production of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) crop. For this purpose, biomass production and growth, as well as, seed yield and seed components, seed nutrient accumulation, plant pigments, soil properties, and microorganisms were evaluated in comparison with faba bean mineral fertilization in a greenhouse experiment. The results demonstrated that the bio-stabilized MSW amendment achieved similar biomass production, plant growth, seed yield, nitrogen and protein content, and pigment content as the mineral fertilization treatment. On the other hand, the organic fertilization did not exhibit significant effects on the yield components number of pods per plant, and number of seeds per pod, and nutrient accumulation in seeds with respect to mineral and control treatments in both soils. Sandy and clay soil properties were improved in the organic treatments in comparison with the control soils by increasing soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and other soil nutrients, and providing a suitable pH for faba bean growth. Additionally, biological activity was favored by applying this source of organic fertilizer, enriching the nematode community. Reusing bio-stabilized MSW for agronomical purposes can add value to this waste product, serving as an effective alternative to mineral fertilizers in faba bean cultivation.

Improving rice water productivity using alternative irrigation (case study: north of Iran)

Abstract Increasing population and the need for more food has made demands on water resources due to crop productions. One of the strategies for preventing the overuses of safe water resources for agriculture is to increase agricultural productivity by reducing the amount of irrigation water with a slight reduction or even maintaining the yields. Rice production in the northern region of Iran which is strategically and economically very important, requires irrigation management changing with traditional irrigation methods (flood irrigation). This study was conducted in the 2017–2018 crop season to investigate the effect of different irrigation management on water consumption, rice yield and water productivity in paddy field of Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran. The experiment was performed in the field in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and four treatments in 12 plots. The treatments were TI (Traditional/flood Irrigation), and AI1, AI3 and AI5 (Alternative Irrigation one, three and five days after the disappearance of water from the soil surface, respectively). The number of yield components and the water productivity indexes were determined. The results of this study showed a significant difference (at 1% level) between irrigation treatments in terms of yield components including tiller number, Panicle length, filling percentage, and water productivity, but they did not have any significant effect on plant height and grain yield. The applied irrigation water for TI, AI1, AI3, and AI5 treatments was measured to be 7,940, 4,910, 4,090 and 3,290 m3/ha, respectively. The maximum yield (6.11 ton/ha) belonged to TI treatment and after that with the value of 6.02 ton/ha belonged to AI5 treatment with the least application of water. Rice water productivities for TI, AI1, AI3, and AI5 treatments were calculated to be 0.82, 1.05, 1.38 and 1.83 kg/m3, respectively. Therefore, alternate irrigation five days after the disappearance of surface water (AI5) was accepted to be the best irrigation practices among the other different irrigation management due to 56.07% reduction in water use and only 1.47% reduction in grain yield compared to control treatment.

Agronomic traits of einkorn and emmer under different seeding rates and topdressing with organic fertilizers

The goal of this research carried out at the experimental facility of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Zagreb in 2015/2016, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 was to determine the influence of seeding rate and topdressing with organic fertilizers on yield and yield components in einkorn (Triticum monococcum subsp. monococcum) and emmer (Triticum dicoccon) populations collected in the Croatian region of Slavonia. The research comprised four seeding rates: 100, 150, 200, and 250 grains per m2; topdressing with organic fertilizers (Fertil Supernova 12.5 N and Ilsamin N90); and a control (no topdressing). Einkorn populations achieved a higher yield of hulled grain relative to the emmer population as a result of their higher coefficient of productive tillering. Conversely, the emmer population showed superiority in a greater number of yield components. On average, for both cereals, yield increased with increasing seeding rates; however, increased yields for seeding rates above 150 grains per m2 were not statistically significant. Einkorn populations showed a yield increase up to the seeding rate of 200 grains per m2, while in emmer the equivalent cutoff value amounted to 250 grains per m2. Topdressing with organic fertilizers positively influenced yield and yield components in both einkorn and emmer populations, except for the year marked by inclement weather conditions in June. Topdressing with organic fertilizers increased the number of spikelets and grains per ear, as well as the grain weight per ear, except in the year with lower precipitation.

Yield and its components according to maize sowing times at offseason in the Northern of Mato Grosso state, Brazil

The objective with this work was to evaluate yield and its components of maize single crosses of early cycle sowed at off-season in the Northern of Mato Grosso State. Then, six experiments were installed at 7-days intervals of sowing time in Sinop-MT. The experimental design was randomized complete blocks with four replications. The three single crosses used were: Maximus; Truck (Syn7316) and Status (Syn7205) and the sowing times was done at 7-days intervals from the base date 01/26/2014. The sowing times in Days After Base Date (DADB) were: 1 st – 01/26/2014(0 DADB); 2 nd - 02/02/2014(7 DADB); 3 rd - 02/09/2014(14 DADB); 4 th – 02/16/2014(21 DADB); 5 th – 02/23/2014(28 DADB) and 6 th – 03/02/2014(35 DADB). The traits analyzed were: dry matter, chlorophyll index, number of grain rows, number of grains pre row, mass of a thousand grain and grain yield. The off-season maize sowing times had effect in all the traits evaluated. There were interaction between single crosses and sowing times for the yield components number of grain rows, number of grains per row and mass of a thousand grain. The single crosses did not differ regarding yield.

Characterizing an outperforming pea cultivar for intercropping with oat at high latitudes

The cereal often dominates the grain legume in intercrops, especially when sown in larger amounts. This study assessed yield formation of pea (Pisum sativum L.) and oat (Avena sativa L.) in an intercropping system in high-latitude conditions. Three pea cultivars (Hulda, Karita and Perttu) and one oat cultivar (Roope) were grown as sole crops and intercrops with shares of either 7.5% or 15% of oat (as weight of sown seed mixture). Experiments were organized in three (southern, western and northern) locations of Finland for three years. Yield and vegetative above-ground biomass, their land equivalent ratio (LER, i.e., the yield in intercrop compared to that of the component yields in pure stands), and a number of yield components were measured prior to harvest at crop-stand and single-plant levels. The share of oat in the intercrop did not have any impact on variation in LERyield. Oat yield and yield components generally benefitted from a pea companion crop. The pea cultivar Perttu was superior in intercrops: it had a LERyield>1 in seven out of eight experiments (mean LERyield=1.06), while Karita had a LERyield>1 in four (mean LERyield=1.00) and Hulda only in one experiment (mean LERyield=0.98). Perttu proved to be a compatible pea companion for a pea-oat intercrop, likely because it was successful in overcompensating for decline in relative yield (RGY) of oat in intercrops, contrary to Hulda. However, none of the measured yield components of Perttu were associated with LERyield, suggesting compensation ability between them, while in Karita and Hulda, e.g., higher grain yield and number of grains and pods per square meter were associated with decline in LERyield. It was concluded that the success of Perttu as a companion for oat in intercrops is likely attributable to its flexibility in building yield through a variable combination of yield components rather than being outperformed due to some superior traits. Such flexibility, likely attributable to long duration of flowering supports resilience to weather variability that is typical for northern European conditions allowing Perttu to consistently sustain a LERyield >1.

Rice sensitivity to saline irrigation in Southern Spain

Losses of productivity of flooded rice in Southern Spain may occur due to the use of saline water coming from the existent tidal regime in the marshes of Guadalquivir River, and the sensibility of the plants is variable according to its stage of development. The aim of this research was to evaluate the production of rice grains and its components, spikelet sterility and the phenological development of rice at different levels of salinity and in different periods of its cycle. In the conditions of the trial, the productive potential of rice based on the electrical conductivity (EC) of the irrigation water can be estimated by using the equation “Percentage of grain yield=100−12.0 (EC – 0.92)”. It was estimated that from 1.6–1.7dSm−1 salt content affects rice grain yield. Salinity also had a negative impact on a number of yield components including panicles per surface unit, tillers and spikelets per plant; floret sterility; and even delayed heading. Individual grain size was scarcely affected by salinity increase. The vegetative and reproductive phases were significantly more sensitive to salinity than grain filling and maturation phase. Irrigation management practices should be adopted to minimize salinity during these critical growth stages.

Effects of weather conditions during different growth phases on yield formation of winter oilseed rape

Winter oilseed rape (WOSR) is an important oil and protein crop in Europe, used in biofuel production and as protein source in livestock farming. In contrast to cereals, WOSR seed yields are still increasing in most countries but yield stability was not improved during the last decades.In our study, we analyzed the effects of weather conditions during different growth stages on maximum seed yield, maximum oil yield, number of seeds per m2 and 1000-seed weight to get further information on yield formation processes.Field trials performed at 34 environments (site×year combinations) representing different soil characteristics and climate regions in Germany were used for the analysis. About 40% of seed yield variability could be explained by weather conditions during specific growth phases. The most important phenological phases thereby were: onset of pods and seeds (BBCH 50–65) and seed development (BBCH 71–79). During onset of pods and seeds, yield was significantly influenced by temperature, radiation and drought stress. Assimilate availability during this phase determines the number of seeds per m2 (sink size). After flowering, only temperature significantly affected WOSR yield. Temperature is the major parameter determining the duration of growth stages. Lower temperature elongates the time of assimilate production and translocation to the seeds. During this growth stage, seed weight is determined. In our data sets, low sink size was not yield limiting due to compensatory effects between the yield components number of seeds per m2 and 1000-seed weight. Yield response pattern suggests that WOSR yield is predominantly source-limited, especially during the late reproductive phase.

Genetic Parameters and Breeding for Yield in Red Raspberry

For most small fruit-breeding programs, high yield is a key objective and breeders face a number of challenges breeding for high yield, including interaction of environmental influences and the high cost of yield measurements. Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) yield is determined by a number of yield components (YC), including cane number, cane length, number of fruiting laterals, fruit numbers, and fruit size. The ultimate goal for breeders would be to be able to select for high-yield genotypes using key YC as early in the life of the plant as possible. In this study we set out to determine how individual components of yield are inherited, determine which components contribute the most to total yield, and investigate whether it is possible using key components to make selections for high-yielding genotypes on 1- and 2-year-old plants. We estimated variance components, heritabilities, phenotypic and genotypic correlations, and breeding values for yield and YC from 1008 genotypes based on 85 families derived from 45 parents harvested over three seasons in Washington state. Narrow-sense heritability estimates varied from moderately low [0.2 for number of canes (NCAN)] to moderately high [0.69 for berry weight (BWT)]. In general, all YCs were positively correlated with total yield (TYLD). The highest genetic correlation with TYLD was found for BWT (0.8), followed by cane length (CLEN) (0.54) and number of fruit per lateral (NFRT) (0.5). NCAN had the lowest genetic correlation with TYLD (–0.03). Genotype × year (G×Y) interaction was higher for some YCs than others. Berry weight, lateral length (LLEN), and NFRT were found to be the most stable overall seasons and the interaction was higher between the first and second years than between the second and third years of the study. To determine the most important YC, we calculated the correlations between the product of all combinations of subsets of the YC breeding values and TYLD. Berry weight, CLEN, and cane diameter (CDIA) were found to be the most important for 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. The two most important YCs were LLEN and BWT and this was consistent overall seasons. We demonstrate that it is possible to select high-yielding genotypes by measuring key components such as LLEN, CLEN, and BWT in the first and second fruiting seasons.

Rice is more sensitive to salinity than previously thought

Field studies conducted by UC and under controlled greenhouse conditions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service indicate that rice is more sensitive to salinity than current guidelines suggest. This information is particularly important to rice growers who have experienced salinity problems after holding water on fields for longer time periods to reduce pesticide loading into the Sacramento River. Our field experiments show that an average seasonal salinity of the field water in excess of 1.9 deciSiemens per meter (dS/m) can reduce grain yields; current guidelines indicate that salinity affects rice yield at or above 3.0 dS/m. Salinity had a negative impact on a number of yield components including stand establishment; panicles, tillers and spikelets per plant; floret sterility; individual grain size; and even delayed heading. The emergence and early seedling growth stages were most sensitive to salinity, as was the three-leaf to panicle-initiation stages. Irrigation management practices should be adopted to minimize salinity during these critical growth stages.

Analysis of Grain‐Yield Components and Inflorescence Levels in Winter‐Type White Lupin

In winter‐type white lupin (Lupinus albus L.), an improved understanding of the importance of inflorescence levels and yield components among environments could be useful when considering selection criteria for breeding. We examined inflorescence levels and yield components of indeterminate, determinate, and dwarf accessions among a broad range of environments. Data were acquired from date‐of‐seeding (DOS) and dry matter partitioning (DMP) studies. The DOS studies were conducted from 1991 to 1993 in north, central, and south Alabama, USA. The DMP studies were conducted for 2 yr in western France and central Alabama. We used principal‐component analysis to reduce the number of yield components for further consideration in future breeding. The first four principal components had Eigenvalues >1 and contributed ≥74% of the variance. Pod number m−2, seed number m−2, pod yield m−2, and seed yield m−2 were highly correlated (r ≥0.80, P ≤0.01) with most principal components. The first two to four principal components also had biological meaning because yield components that were highly correlated with each principal component were associated with a specific inflorescence level. Mainstem and primary‐branch inflorescence levels were most important for yield and yield‐component development. Basal branches were important in the southeastern USA, but these inflorescence levels should be selected against in France. Pod number m−2 and seed weight had the greatest effect on grain yield. Breeding for higher seed weight will improve cold tolerance and stabilize grain yield in western France, but further testing is needed in Alabama. Selecting germplasm with low pod abortion will help increase pod number potential.

Grain Yield Components of Winter Wheat New Cultivars in Correlation with Sowing Rate

During the process of plant breeding and selection of new winter wheat cultivars a lot of attention is paid to the improvement of the main components of grain yield-number of ears/m2, number of grains per ear and 1000 seed weight. Production of cultivars that achieve a large number of fertile ears per unit area, a large number of grains per ear and a heavy 1000 seed weight, even with a lower density, would mean that a high grain yield is achieved with lower costs. It is of great importance for wheat production in Croatia. Along with the research on sowing rate influence (400, 500, 600 and 700 germinable seeds/m2) on winter wheat grain yield, other trials were done on the grain yield components (number of ears per unit area, number of grains per ear and 1000 seed weight) during periods 1996–1997 and 1997–1998 both on three AG cultivars of winter wheat Lara, Kruna and Lenta and on the check cultivar Ẑitarka. The trial was done according to the split-plot method in 4 replications. Statistically speaking, various sowing rates had a very significant influence on the number of ears per unit area. The largest number was achieved with the sowing rate of 700 germinable seeds/m2 (783,38 ears/m2). This number of ears is statistically more significant (P<0,05) in relation to the sowing rate of 600 germinable seeds/m2, and statistically very significant (P<0,01) in relation to the sowing rates of 400 and 500 germinable seeds/m2. On the grounds of the results obtained by a statistical analysis it was established that the sowing rate did not have a statistically significant influence on the other two grain yield components — number of grains per ear and 1000 seed weight. The investigated cultivars had a statistically very significant influence (P<0,01) on the number of grains per ear, and a statistically significant influence on 1000 seed weight, whereas there were no statistically significant differences between the investigated cultivars in relation to the number of ears per unit area. The largest grain number was achieved with the cultivar Lenta (46,36 grains) and the heaviest 1000 seed weight with the cultivar Lara (45,72 g). The year of research had a very significant influence on the height of all investigated yield components in terms of statistics; the first year of research is characterized by better results, unlike the second. On the grounds of the obtained results it may be concluded that production of the investigated cultivars with lower density is possible, despite the fact that two out of three main yield components were not under influence of the sowing rate.

Effects of Striga hermonthica on yield components in maize

A split-plot experiment was conducted in 1992 and 1993 at Mokwa in the southern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria to determine the responses of maize yield components to infestation by parasitic weed Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. and identify the most important yield components under Striga parasitism. Infestation treatments (infested v. non-infested) and hybrids [9022-13 (highly tolerant), 8644-31 (moderately tolerant), 8321-21 (moderately susceptible) and 8338-1 (highly susceptible)] were the main and subplots, respectively.Striga significantly reduced grain yield and all the yield components considered. Pre-flowering stress due to Striga parasitism was higher than post-flowering stress and resulted in higher reduction for ears per plant (44%) than reductions for other yield components (12–29%). The numbers of yield components for which the hybrids exhibited the highest percentage reduction increased with the degree of susceptibility to Striga. Thus, 8338-1, the highly susceptible hybrid, suffered more severe reductions in a larger number of yield components than the other hybrids. Number of ears per plant was a major yield component and accounted for an overwhelming proportion (R2 = 0·95) of the variation in grain yield under Striga. Reductions in maize grain yield and its components were more severe under the moisture stress that occurred in 1992.

Contribution of Rice Tillers to Dry Matter Accumulation and Yield

AbstractA rice (Oryza sativa L.) crop functions as a population of tillers produced at different times and possessing specific growth characteristics. The objective of this study was to characterize the contribution of cultivar tillering ability to dry matter accumulation, yield components, and grain yield. Field experiments were conducted over a 2‐yr period using a completely randomized plot design at Beaumont, TX, grown under a pin‐point flood system, with a China clay soil (fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Dystrudert). Three cultivars were chosen (Gulfmont, Rosemont, and Teqing), to represent moderate to high tillering abilities, and three plant densities were chosen (56, 112, and 169 plants m−2), to produce differential competition for light and nutrients. Teqing had the highest tillering ability and partitioned more mass to tillers, especially at the lowest plant density, with 77% of the total mass represented by tillers, compared with 71 and 69% for Gulfmont and Rosemont, respectively. However, total dry mass per unit area at harvest was not significantly different, contrasting the plant density treatments (1618, 1725, and 1744 g m−2 for the 56, 112, and 169 plants m−2 treatments, respectively, when averaged across cultivars). Both cultivar and plant density significantly affected a number of yield components, but not kernel weight. The higher yield of Teqing (918 g m−2), contrasted with the lower‐yielding Gulfmont (791 g m−2) and Rosemont (729 g m−2), appears largely to have resulted from its greater tillering ability, higher spikelet density, and longer maturation period, which makes greater use of the relatively long growing season length at Beaumont.

Effect of Intercropping on the Yield Components of Rice, Mungbean, Soybean, Peanut and Blackgram

AbstractAn experiment with sixteen cropping systems (pure and intercroppings) was conducted during the kharif season of 1985 and 1986. The sixteen cropping systems were: sole rice, sole mungbean, sole soybean, sole peanut, sole blackgram, rice + mungbean (2:1), rice + mungbean (4:1), rice + mungbean deferred (2:1), rice + soybean (2:1), rice + soybean (4 : 1), rice + soybean deferred (2 : 1), rice + peanut (2:1), rice + peanut (4 : 1), rice + blackgram (2:1), rice + blackgram (4:1) and rice + blackgram deferred (2:1). Sole crop of rice always recorded higher number of effective tillers/m2, however, it was observed that legumes had an influence on the number of filled grains per panicle and thousand grain weight of rice in rice + legume combinations. Among legumes, pure crops of soybean and peanut always gave rise to increased number of yield components than the other crops grown in association with rice. In case of mungbean, number of pods per plant and thousand seed weight was higher in pure crops though number of seeds per pod was more with rice + mungbean combination. Deferred sown blackgram in association with rice yielded greater number of seeds per pod and thousand seed weight though sole crop of blackgram significantly produced higher number of pods per plant.

Variation in monoculture and in mixture for grain yield and other characters in spring barley

SUMMARYFourteen north‐west European spring barley cultivars were grown alone or in binary mixtures sampled according to a partial diallel scheme. On the basis of the association between cultivars in mixture and monoculture, three groups of characters were distinguished. Group A characters, plant height, ear weight/tiller, grain yield/tiller, number of grains/tiller and 1000‐grain weight, showed strong positive associations between performance in monoculture and mixture. Group B characters, number of tillers/plant and harvest index showed incomplete positive associations, while for group C characters, dry matter/plant, ear weight/plant, grain yield/plant and number of grains/plant, associations were weak or non‐existent. Compound characters in group C showed less genetic variation in monoculture and lower general competitive effects in mixture than component characters in groups A or B.These results clearly indicate that while selection for grain yield and other characters on a per plant basis (group C characters) is confounded by intergenotypic competition, characters such as the yield components number of grains/tiller and 1000‐grain weight (group A characters) are hardly affected in this range of cultivars. Selection for opposing group A characters may start in the F2 generation, while any selection for group B and C characters should be delayed until later generations.The merits of indirect selection for yield using visual assessment of yield components are discussed.Separate analyses obtained by the inclusion of spring wheat cv. Timmo in monoculture and in the set of mixtures indicated that the use of spring wheat plants to minimise intergenotypic competition ranges from superfluous (group A characters) to useless (group C characters).A large degree of mixture advantage and the lack of complementary dominance and suppression between competitor and associate was attributed to the relatively low density of plants in the experiment which, though suitable for single plant selection, is not typical of normal seed rates for cropping.

A Study on Heterosis in Sesamum (Sesamum indicum L)

Heterosis for yield and three yield components, viz. capsules per plant, branches per plant and plant height was studied in 30 crosses involving six varieties of sesamum (Seas- mum indicum L.) Significant heterosis for yield was observed in 13 and 6 crosses over mid- and better parent respectively. The hybrid TS 15-72x Til black gave the highest heterosis over mid-(69.86%) and better parent (59.96%) followed by TS 15-72x Kalanag with respec- tive values of 57.14% and 30.69%. The heterosis in yield was due to simultaneous heterosis for a number of yield components. The cross TS 15-72x Til black recorded significant heterosis over both mid-and better parent for grain yield, capsules per plant, branches per plant and plant height. Heterosis over better parent could be used as criterion in future breeding programme.

THE EFFECTS OF SEEDING RATE AND ROW WIDTH IN RELATION TO SEED PRODUCTION IN ORCHARD GRASS, DACTYLIS GLOMERATA L.

The effects of six seeding rates and five row spacings on seed yield, seed quality and the yield components—number of fertile culms per square foot, number of seeds per culm and seed weight were studied in orchard grass.Row width had a marked effect on seed yield each year. Rate of seeding affected seed yield to a lesser extent and a row width × seeding rate interaction did occur. Seeding rates and row width caused small relatively unimportant differences in seedling establishment and early seedling vigour only in the third harvest year. Considering seed yield, seed quality and the ease of weed control, the best treatment combination appeared to be a seeding rate in the area of [Formula: see text] in 14-in. rows for stands to produce for 2 or 3 years.Seed yield was positively and closely correlated with the number of fertile culms in the first 2 crop years but a negative relationship was found in the third crop year. Seed weight was negatively correlated with seed yield. The number of seeds per panicle was closely associated with yield in the third crop year and negatively correlated with seed weight and culm numbers.