Diagnosing soybean yield gaps under water-limited conditions using a reference gross primary productivity approach

We present a century-scale dataset on crop yield and agronomic trait evolution under field management in China. This resource compiles 22,017 records from 802 sites and 504 studies conducted across China over the past century, with a primary focus on long-term experiments. The dataset covers five major crops: rice, wheat, maize, soybean, and rapeseed. It includes 56 variables, such as crop yields, agronomic traits, field management practices (including fertilizer application, tillage, and crop rotation), and variety characteristics. Maximum potential yield for each variety under ideal conditions is also provided. Each record is georeferenced and time-specific, supporting analyses of yield trends and impacts of management or breeding strategies. This dataset enables detailed investigation of the temporal evolution of soil fertility and yield gaps. It serves as a robust foundation for crop yield modeling, sustainability assessment, and food security research. The data effectively complements existing statistical and remote sensing resources.

Multi-model estimation reveals substantial but decreasing wheat yield gaps in China during the last four decades

What drives the potato yield gap in China?

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and HIV fuels the TB epidemic in many countries. While there is overlap, there are also critical differences in the diagnosis and management of HIV-associated TB, compared to TB in HIV-uninfected patients. To prevent deaths, the diagnosis and treatment of TB in people with HIV (PWH) needs to occur without delay. Non-sputum-based samples are important to fill the diagnostic yield gap created by challenges obtaining sputum, and reduced sensitivity of sputum diagnostics in PWH. Management of rifampicin-susceptible HIV-associated TB remains a 6month regimen initially with four drugs; an alternative 4month rifapentine and moxifloxacin containing regimen cannot be used in certain PWH (those with CD4 count <100 cells/mm3) and is currently not widely available. Management of rifampicin-resistant TB now involves a 6month all-oral regimen for most patients, including PWH. While significant gains have recently been made toward decreasing mortality from HIV-associated TB, there are many ongoing challenges, some of which are being addressed in active clinical trials.

Tropical Africa is globally one of the most sensitive regions to accelerated soil erosion, and much of its cropland is characterised by a substantial yield gap. In particular, the White Nile-Congo ridge (NiCo) region of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda is a hotspot for issues relating to food security driven by soil degradation due to steep terrain, highly erosive rainfall and low soil cover. Most soil erosion studies in the region are based on plot or large-scale modelling. Both approaches lack information on inter-field connectivity processes, which are especially important in smallholder farming systems with average field sizes below 0.1 ha. To address this knowledge gap, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based high-spatial and temporal-resolution monitoring campaign was carried out over four smallholder farming areas within the eastern DR Congo and western Uganda, with substantial differences in cropland management and productivity. The campaign covered 833 individual fields, which were monitored up to twice per month (for two years) using UAV-based aerial photography to provide insight into event-based rill erosion processes and landscape connectivity. The aerial photography data were classified according to field conditions: (i) dense vegetation cover, (ii) low vegetation cover or bare soil without signs of rill erosion, (iii) low vegetation cover or bare soil with signs of rill erosion. Land-use patchiness associated with smallholder farming systems was found to reduce inter-field connectivity and to promote highly localised rill development. Furthermore, rill erosion in the NiCo region is not an episodic process but takes place regularly during the rainy season due to frequent storm events falling on bare soil in fields left fallow for individual cultivation periods. Soil erosion dynamics of smallholder farming regions in the study area, therefore, pose unresolved challenges regarding their implementation in large-scale predictions.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-50821-7.

Nutrient management plays a crucial role in yield and productivity of sweet potato. Nutrient application as per crop requirement and proper method is very much essential to bridge the yield gap. In this background, a field experiment was conducted at the Instructional Farm, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram to enhance the productivity of sweet potato with potassium salt of active phosphorus (PSAP) and nano urea. The experiment was laid out in factorial factorial randomised complete block design (RCBD) with 2 levels of recommended dose of nutrients (l1: 75 % NPK and l2: 50 % NPK) and four combinations of foliar application (FA) with PSAP and nano urea along with soil drenching (SD) of PSAP (n1: Nano urea at 0.2 % at 30 Days after planting (DAP) and PSAP at 0.2 % at 45 DAP ; n2: Nano urea at 0.2 % at 30 DAP and PSAP at 0.4 % at 45 DAP; n3: Nano urea at 0.4 % at 30 DAP and PSAP at 0.2 % at 45 DAP; n4: Nano urea at 0.4 % at 30 DAP and PSAP at 0.4 % at 45 DAP. Soil drenching was given uniformly to all treatments at the rate of 0.4 % at 15 DAP except Kerala Agricultural University package of practices (KAU POP) (control). Among the treatments, l2n4 recorded significantly higher average tuber weight (258 g), marketable tuber yield (17.27 t ha-1) and tuber yield (19.93 t ha-1). From the study it could be concluded that soil application of 50 % of recommended dose of NPK with soil drenching of PSAP at 0.4 % at 15 DAP supplemented with foliar application of nano urea at 0.4 % at 30 DAP and PSAP at 0.4 % at 45 DAP could enhance productivity by 37.64 % in sweet potato.

Cost-competitiveness of irrigation and nutrient management strategies for closing global yield gaps

Closing maize yield gaps in North China plain: Based on plot-scale farmer survey and simulation

Sulfur-mediated strategies for enhanced yield, photosynthetic efficiency and antioxidant activity of mustard in north-western India

Understanding rice yield gaps with crop modeling and machine learning in a long-term continuous cropping experiment

Malaysia’s poultry industry heavily relies on imported grain maize, posing challenges to national food security and economic sustainability. To address this, the development of high-yielding maize varieties is critical. This study evaluated morphological and yield-related traits of ten maize genotypes, which were five experimental hybrids (GH, GJ, HI, HJ, JK) and five check varieties (BTL 1, Pacific 338, Suwan 5, TVDC, GWG888) using a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Selangor. Significant differences were observed across all measured parameters. Experimental hybrids, particularly GJ, outperformed check varieties in key yield determinants, including dehusked ear weight, ear diameter, and kernel row count. The most distinctive finding was that hybrid GJ achieved the highest grain yield of 11,794 kg/ha, substantially exceeding that of the check varieties. Strong positive correlations were identified between dehusked ear weight and grain weight (r = 0.85, p-value = 0.02, α = 0.05), and between plant and ear height (r = 0.78, p-value = 0.05, α = 0.05), indicating synchronised plant development. Importantly, dehusked ear diameter emerged as a key yield predictor, showing moderate but meaningful correlations with grain yield, kernel rows, and ear weight (r = 0.61 - 0.68, p-value = 0.05, α = 0.05). These results highlight the pivotal role of ear diameter as a selection criterion in maize breeding programs. The superior performance of hybrid GJ presents a promising solution to Malaysia’s maize yield gap. Adoption and further development of such high-performing genotypes could reduce import dependency, strengthen local feed grain supply chains, and enhance national food security.

Quantifying Yield Gaps and Agronomic Drivers of Potato Productivity in Bhutan

Agroecological and Socioeconomic Determinants of Maize Yield Gaps in Liberalized Agricultural Systems: A Systematic Review

Soybean is a vital crop supporting global food, feed, and biofuel production. Soybean yields have surged, with record yields reaching 14,678 kg/ha-1, though average farm yields remain stagnant at 2770-2790 kg ha-1. The persistent yield gaps leave 44% of potential production unrealized due to climate change, threatening food security. To meet future caloric demands, which are projected to rise by 46.8% by 2050, soybean breeding must prioritize climate-resilient, high-yielding varieties with minimal ecological footprints. In this comprehensive and in-depth review, we synthesized existing literature and Google Patents and reviewed the multifaceted impacts of climate-change driven eCO2 and stresses (heat, drought, flooding, salinity, and pathogens), revealing non-linear interactions where eCO2 may not compensate yield losses under combined stresses. We then highlight key strategies for soybean breeding under climate-change scenario. To this regard, we provide a detailed trait-by-trait breeding roadmap covering seed number, seed size, seed weight, protein-oil balance and their metabolic trade-offs, above and below ground plant architecture, nitrogen fixation and nodulation dynamics, root system architecture, water use efficiency, canopy architecture, flowering time regulation, early maturity etc., in light of specific genes and validated strategies. We explicitly discuss the novel strategies including deeper understanding of traits, abiotic stress physiology, changing pathogen dynamics, phenomics, (multi-)omics, machine learning, and modern biotechnological techniques for developing future soybean varieties. We provide a future roadmap prioritizing specific actions, including engineering climate-resilient ideotypes through gene stacking, optimizing nitrogen fixation and nutrition under stresses leveraging omics data, pan-genome, wild soybean, speeding breeding hubs, and participatory farmer-network validation, while redefining the future soybean breeder would be a hybrid orchestrator of data and dirt. This review establishes a foundational framework for translating climate-adaptive morphological, biochemical, physiological, omics, agronomic, phenomics, and biotechnological insights into actionable breeding strategies, thereby guiding policy-driven investment in soybean improvement programs targeting 2050 and beyond.

Lithium-ion encapsulated fullerene (Li+@C60) represents a novel class of ionic endohedral metallofullerenes possessing distinct electronic properties, including high ionic conductivity and superior electron-accepting capabilities compared to pristine C60. While the "plasma shower" ion implantation method has enabled the continuous synthesis of Li+@C60, the industrial application of this material is currently impeded by a critical disparity between the theoretical synthesis yield and the actual recovered yield. Current extraction protocols typically recover only approximately 0.8% of Li+@C60, which is significantly lower than theoretical predictions. This study aims to rigorously quantify the Li+@C60 content in the postsynthesis crude soot to determine the true efficiency of the plasma shower synthesis and identify the physicochemical factors limiting extraction. We employed a multifaceted analytical approach combining Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS), solid-state 7Li Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analysis. Quantitative analysis based on three independent synthesis runs (N = 3) reveals that the crude soot contains Li+@C60 at a mass percentage of 3.4 ± 0.1%. Furthermore, spectral analysis identified a significant abundance of oxidized derivatives (Li+@C60O, 4.3 ± 0.1%), indicating a total encapsulation efficiency of 7.7% ± 0.1%. Additionally, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) revealed the formation of robust clusters with a median diameter of approximately 8 nm. Collectively, these findings confirm that the low recovery in conventional methods (∼0.8%) is not due to synthesis failure, but rather due to the formation of insoluble aggregates and oxidative derivatives. This report provides a detailed quantitative framework for evaluating Li+@C60 synthesis and proposes that optimizing physical disintegration techniques, such as dual-frequency ultrasonication, alongside strict oxidation control, is essential for bridging the yield gap.

Narrowing the Ethiopian maize yield gap and identifying its determinants for surplus in production

Yield and protein gaps in barley: Quantifying nitrogen and sulfur contributions

A review was conducted to study and synthesize major agronomic errors and their corrective strategies in four economically important crops: wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.), and berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.). Agronomic errors in wheat are noticed in seeding rate, fertilizer use, irrigation, and weed management that result in 20–25% yield loss. Whereas in rice errors plant population, nutrient control, planting, and irrigation and account for 15–30% loss. Maize is also affected by improper planting depth, shortage of nutrients, improper pest guarding, and inadequate crop rotation and accounts for 15–25% loss in yield. Berseem yield is also affected by agronomic errors in date of sowing, irrigation, soil fertility management, and weed control and account for 10–20% loss. The findings highlight the importance of optimal sowing time, balanced fertilizer application, scheduling of irrigation, and integrated weed and pest management has in managing yield gaps as well as sustaining the system.

Meeting food demand without expanding agricultural land remains one of the greatest sustainability challenges. While crop diversification is often promoted as a strategy for sustainable intensification, its real-world effectiveness under varying socio-environmental conditions remains unclear. We addressed this critical gap by analyzing national-scale yield gap reduction across 105 countries from 1992 to 2021, linking crop diversification "strategies" with forms of capital defined by the Sustainable Livelihood Framework. Using Random Forest model we found that the dominance of major crops is consistently associated with yield gap reduction, especially in countries with strong financial, human, and socio-political capital. Diversification within major crops often has neutral or negative effects. By contrast, broader functional diversity across all crops contributes positively under enabling conditions(high human, financial and socioeconomic capital). These results emphasize the value of agriculture specialization and redefine diversification as a context-dependent strategy, thus providing a framework for advancing sustainable intensification.