Appraisal of complementarity of subsurface drip fertigation and conservation agriculture for physiological performance and water economy of maize

C.M. Parihar Hari Sankar Nayak Dipaka Ranjan Sena Renu Pandey Mahesh Gathala ML JAT (2023, [Artículo])

The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) in north-west (NW) India are facing a severe decline in ground water due to prevalent rice-based cropping systems. To combat this issue, conservation agriculture (CA) with an alternative crop/s, such as maize, is being promoted. Recently, surface drip fertigation has also been evaluated as a viable option to address low-nutrient use efficiency and water scarcity problems for cereals. While the individual benefits of CA and sub-surface drip (SSD) irrigation on water economy are well-established, information regarding their combined effect in cereal-based systems is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a two-year field experiment in maize, under an ongoing CA-based maize-wheat system, to evaluate the complementarity of CA with SSD irrigation through two technological interventions–– CA+ (residue retained CA + SSD), PCA+ (partial CA without residue + SSD) – at different N rates (0, 120 and 150 kg N ha-1) in comparison to traditional furrow irrigated (FI) CA and conventional tillage (CT) at 120 kg N ha-1. Our results showed that CA+ had the highest grain yield (8.2 t ha-1), followed by PCA+ (8.1 t ha-1). The grain yield under CA+ at 150 kg N ha-1 was 27% and 30% higher than CA and CT, respectively. Even at the same N level (120 kg N ha-1), CA+ outperformed CA and CT by 16% and 18%, respectively. The physiological performance of maize also revealed that CA+ based plots with 120 kg N ha-1 had 12% and 3% higher photosynthesis rate at knee-high and silking, respectively compared to FI-CA and CT. Overall, compared to the FI-CA and CT, SSD-based CA+ and PCA+ saved 54% irrigation water and increased water productivity (WP) by more than twice. Similarly, a greater number of split N application through fertigation in PCA+ and CA+ increased agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and recover efficiency by 8–19% and 14–25%, respectively. Net returns from PCA+ and CA+ at 150 kg N ha-1 were significantly higher by US$ 491 and 456, respectively than the FI-CA and CT treatments. Therefore, CA coupled with SSD provided tangible benefits in terms of yield, irrigation water saving, WP, NUE and profitability. Efforts should be directed towards increasing farmers’ awareness of the benefits of such promising technology for the cultivating food grains and commercial crops such as maize. Concurrently, government support and strict policies are required to enhance the system adaptability.

Net Returns Subsurface Drip Irrigation Subsurface Drip Fertigation CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA EFFICIENCY GRAIN NITROGEN PHOTOSYNTHESIS PHYSIOLOGY WATER SUPPLY CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE CONVENTIONAL TILLAGE FERTIGATION GROUNDWATER NITROGEN-USE EFFICIENCY WATER PRODUCTIVITY

Physiological and molecular aspects of seed longevity: exploring intra-species variation in eight Pisum sativum L. accessions

Maraeva Gianella Daniele Dondi Andreas Börner Anca Macovei Andrea Pagano Filippo Guzzon Alma Balestrazzi (2022, [Artículo])

Thermogravimetry CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CARBOHYDRATES PROLINE TOCOPHEROLS GENETICS PHYSIOLOGY PEAS SEEDS SUGARS DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY SEED LONGEVITY THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS

A 'wiring diagram' for source strength traits impacting wheat yield potential

Erik Murchie Matthew Paul Reynolds Gustavo Slafer John Foulkes Liana Acevedo-Siaca Lorna Mcausland Simon Griffiths A Elizabete Carmo-Silva (2023, [Artículo])

Source-Sink Yield Physiology CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA BIOMASS BREEDING PHOTOSYNTHESIS SOURCE SINK RELATIONS YIELDS PHYSIOLOGY

A 'wiring diagram' for sink strength traits impacting wheat yield potential

Gustavo Slafer John Foulkes Matthew Paul Reynolds Erik Murchie A Elizabete Carmo-Silva Simon Griffiths (2023, [Artículo])

Grain Number Grain Weight Yield Physiology CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA BREEDING GRAIN HARVEST INDEX SOURCE SINK RELATIONS YIELD COMPONENTS WHEAT

Editorial: Model organisms in plant science: Maize

Manje Gowda (2023, [Artículo])

Model Organism Genomic Selection CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA MAIZE PLANT SCIENCES RESEARCH CROP IMPROVEMENT PLANT PHYSIOLOGY PLANT BREEDING

Effect of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium on regional organic substrates in Agave salmiana production in Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico

EMILIO RAYMUNDO MORALES MALDONADO MONICA GUTIERREZ ROJAS RAMON JAIME HOLGUIN PEÑA Daniel Ruiz-Juárez Jorge Luis Vega Chávez Ana Cristina Reyes Godoy (2022, [Artículo])

"Mexico has 159 species of Agave spp. In the agri-food industry stand out are Agave tequilana, A. angustifolia, and A. salmiana. A limitation to producing maguey seedlings is the low availability of organic substrates that favor plant adaptation in the field. The objective was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) found in substrates in response to vegetative and root growth of A. salmiana in agricultural areas of Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico. The treatment consisted of earthworm humus (EH) and leaf compost (LC) substrates with materials from the region with different percentages of EH (100, 75, 50%), LC (5, 10%), and sand (20, 40%). The treatments were applied with 14 random replications in two phases in seeds and 40-day-seedlings. The variables evaluated were NPK amount and pH in substrates. The physiological variables measured were plant height, leaf number, stem diameter, root length, and volume. Significant differences (P≤0.05) were observed in seedling physiology due to the effect of the treatment. The best agronomic responses (plant growth and root length/weight) of Agave seedlings were T5 (75% earthworm humus + 20% sand + 5% leaf-soil) and T6 (50% earthworm humus + 40% sand + 10% leaf-soil); in both treatments, the NPK percentages were different from the control (Haplic Phaeozem soil) group. The final concentration of NPK in T6 was N = 0.04%, P = 398.13 mg Kg-1 and K = 11.88 meq 100g-1 . The results infer that NPK availability in soil and progressive acidification (initial pH = 8.6, final pH = 7.4) of the substrate can favorably influence the plant response. The interactions between NPK availability in the substrate and their use for a better response in maguey seedling adaptability open up new lines of research on the productive systems in the región of Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico."

maguey, nutritional quality, plant physiology, productive soils, seedling BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA BIOLOGÍA VEGETAL (BOTÁNICA) FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO

Movements of scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) at Cocos Island, Costa Rica and between oceanic islands in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Elena Nalesso (2019, [Artículo])

Many species of sharks form aggregations around oceanic islands, yet their levels of residency and their site specificity around these islands may vary. In some cases, the waters around oceanic islands have been designated as marine protected areas, yet the conservation value for threatened shark species will depend greatly on how much time they spend within these protected waters. Eighty-four scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini Griffith & Smith), were tagged with acoustic transmitters at Cocos Island between 2005–2013. The average residence index, expressed as a proportion of days present in our receiver array at the island over the entire monitoring period, was 0.52±0.31, implying that overall the sharks are strongly associated with the island. Residency was significantly greater at Alcyone, a shallow seamount located 3.6 km offshore from the main island, than at the other sites. Timing of presence at the receiver locations was mostly during daytime hours. Although only a single individual from Cocos was detected on a region-wide array, nine hammerheads tagged at Galapagos and Malpelo travelled to Cocos. The hammerheads tagged at Cocos were more resident than those visiting from elsewhere, suggesting that the Galapagos and Malpelo populations may use Cocos as a navigational waypoint or stopover during seasonal migrations to the coastal Central and South America. Our study demonstrates the importance of oceanic islands for this species, and shows that they may form a network of hotspots in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. © 2019 Nalesso et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

article, Cocos Island, human, monitoring, nonhuman, resident, shark, South America, animal, Costa Rica, environmental protection, island (geological), movement (physiology), physiology, season, shark, Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Costa CIENCIAS FÍSICO MATEMÁTICAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA Y DEL ESPACIO OCEANOGRAFÍA OCEANOGRAFÍA

Vibrissa growth rate in California sea lions based on environmental and isotopic oscillations

MARTHA PATRICIA ROSAS HERNANDEZ (2018, [Artículo])

Pinniped vibrissae provide information on changes in diet at seasonal and annual scales; however, species-specific growth patterns must first be determined in order to interpret these data. In this study, a simple linear model was used to estimate the growth rate of vibrissae from adult female California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) from San Esteban Island in the Gulf of California, Mexico. The δ15N and δ13C values do not display a marked oscillatory pattern that would permit direct determination of the time period contained in each vibrissa; thus, time (age) was calculated in two ways: 1) based on the correlation between the observed number of peaks (Fourier series) in the δ15N profile and the length of each vibrissa, and 2) through direct comparison with the observed number of peaks in the δ15N profile. Cross-correlation confirmed that the two peaks in the δ15N profile reflected the two peaks in the chlorophyll-a concentration recorded annually around the island. The mean growth rate obtained from the correlation was 0.08 ± 0.01 mm d-1, while that calculated based on the observed number of peaks was 0.10 ± 0.05 mm d-1. Both are consistent with the rates reported for adult females of other otariid species (0.07 to 0.11 mm d-1). Vibrissa growth rates vary by individual, age, sex, and species; moreover, small differences in the growth rate can result in significant differences over the time periods represented by the isotopic signal. Thus, it is important to assess this parameter on a species-by-species basis. © 2018 Rosas-Hernández et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

carbon, nitrogen, animal, California, chemistry, diet, female, island (geological), Mexico, Otariidae, physiology, Animals, California, Carbon Isotopes, Diet, Female, Islands, Mexico, Nitrogen Isotopes, Sea Lions BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA INMUNOLOGÍA INMUNOLOGÍA

Vibrissa growth rate in California sea lions based on environmental and isotopic oscillations

MARTHA PATRICIA ROSAS HERNANDEZ (2018, [Artículo])

Pinniped vibrissae provide information on changes in diet at seasonal and annual scales; however, species-specific growth patterns must first be determined in order to interpret these data. In this study, a simple linear model was used to estimate the growth rate of vibrissae from adult female California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) from San Esteban Island in the Gulf of California, Mexico. The δ15N and δ13C values do not display a marked oscillatory pattern that would permit direct determination of the time period contained in each vibrissa; thus, time (age) was calculated in two ways: 1) based on the correlation between the observed number of peaks (Fourier series) in the δ15N profile and the length of each vibrissa, and 2) through direct comparison with the observed number of peaks in the δ15N profile. Cross-correlation confirmed that the two peaks in the δ15N profile reflected the two peaks in the chlorophyll-a concentration recorded annually around the island. The mean growth rate obtained from the correlation was 0.08 ± 0.01 mm d-1, while that calculated based on the observed number of peaks was 0.10 ± 0.05 mm d-1. Both are consistent with the rates reported for adult females of other otariid species (0.07 to 0.11 mm d-1). Vibrissa growth rates vary by individual, age, sex, and species; moreover, small differences in the growth rate can result in significant differences over the time periods represented by the isotopic signal. Thus, it is important to assess this parameter on a species-by-species basis. © 2018 Rosas-Hernández et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

carbon, nitrogen, animal, California, chemistry, diet, female, island (geological), Mexico, Otariidae, physiology, Animals, California, Carbon Isotopes, Diet, Female, Islands, Mexico, Nitrogen Isotopes, Sea Lions CIENCIAS FÍSICO MATEMÁTICAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA Y DEL ESPACIO OCEANOGRAFÍA OCEANOGRAFÍA