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Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2021, Nathan A. Slaton

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Rapid technological changes in crop management and production require that the research efforts be presented in an expeditious manner. The contributions of soil fertility and fertilizers are major production factors in all Arkansas crops. The studies described within will allow producers to compare their practices with the university’s research efforts. Additionally, soil-test data and fertilizer sales are presented to allow comparisons among years, crops, and other areas within Arkansas.

Oestrogenic Subterranean Clover Guide. Identification And Remediation, Kevin J. Foster, Megan H. Ryan, Daniel R. Kidd

Bulletins 4000 -

Subterranean clover (subclover, Trifolium subterraneum L.) is an annual pasture legume that provides high quality feed for livestock. It is estimated to be sown over 30 million hectares across southern Australia, with cultivars developed for the low, medium and high rainfall zones. Unfortunately, some older cultivars contain high levels of phytoestrogen which can affect the reproductive system of sheep and cause other health issues. This became a significant issue for sheep producers from the 1940s as new land was cleared and sheep grazed subclover-dominant pastures. There was a collection of livestock issues observed and these were grouped together under the …

Re-Evaluation Of Late Season Action Thresholds And The Effect Of Seed Treatments On Early Season Colonization Of Threecornered Alfalfa Hopper, Spissistilus Festinus (Say), In Louisiana Soybean, Glycine Max (L) Merr, Tyler Ray Tagle Musgrove

LSU Master's Theses

Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr, is considered the most economically important oil and feed crop in the US and is grown on nearly 35,000,000 ha on an annual basis. Factors that limit yield include weed pressure, disease infection, and of particular interest to entomologists, insect herbivory. Soybean is targeted by a range of above and below ground pests which are primarily controlled by insecticides. Neonicotinoids are a recently popularized insecticide class that when applied as a seed treatment, can provide protection from early season pests. The most economically significant early season pest is threecornered alfalfa hopper, Spissistilus festinus (Say), whose …

Development Of Alternative Materials And Strategies For Enhancing Rice Health, Jobelle S. Bruno

LSU Master's Theses

Bacterial panicle blight (BPB) and sheath blight (ShB) are economically important diseases of rice (Oryza sativa) in Louisiana and other rice-growing regions around the world. However, there are challenges in the current disease management practices for these diseases. Thus, the main goal of this study is to identify new materials and their application methods that effectively suppress BPB and ShB. To achieve this goal, we evaluated the effect of various materials and application methods against the rice diseases. In 2020 and 2021, various materials, such as ascorbic acid (AA), N-acetylcysteine, chitosan, the avirulent strain of Burkholderia glumae 257sh-1 …

Pemilihan Teknik Aplikasi Dan Dosis Pupuk Hayati Pelarut Kalium Untuk Meningkatkan Serapan Kalium Dan Pertumbuhan Tanaman Jagung Pada Tanah Inceptisols, Diyan Herdiyantoro, Tualar Simarmata, Mieke Rochimi Setiawati, Nenny Nurlaeny, Benny Joy, Mahfud Arifin, Jajang Sauman Hamdani, Iin Handayani

Jurnal Kultivasi

Salah satu strategi yang diterapkan pada pupuk hayati untuk menunjukkan efek positif pada tanaman yang diinokulasi adalah pemilihan teknik aplikasi dan dosis yang tepat, baik pada tanah, benih, atau kombinasi keduanya. Tujuan dari percobaan ini adalah mendapatkan teknik aplikasi dan dosis pupuk hayati pelarut K yang memberikan hasil terbaik terhadap penyerapan K dan pertumbuhan tanaman jagung (Zea mays L.) pada Inceptisols Jatinangor. Percobaan dilaksanakan pada November 2018-Januari 2019 di rumah kaca Fakultas Pertanian Universitas Padjadjaran. Percobaan menggunakan rancangan acak kelompok dengan 9 perlakuan dan 3 kali ulangan. Perlakuan terdiri dari tanpa perlakuan (kontrol), aplikasi pada benih 400 g.ha-1 dan 800 …

Editorial: Accelerating Genetic Gains In Pulses, Aditya Pratap, Shiv Kumar, Patricia L. Polowick, Matthew W. Blair, Michael Baum

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Viability Test Of Halotolerant Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobacteria On Different Carrier Composition And Application Dosage Of Nitrogen Biofertilizer To Increase Rice Growth On Saline Ecosystems, Fiqriah Hanum Khumairah, Fachruddin Azwari, Mieke Rochimi Setiawati, Betty Natalie Fitriatin, Tualar Simarmata

Jurnal Kultivasi

The use of saline soils as productive agricultural land poses major challenges. The utilization of nitrogen biofertilizer with halotolerant N-fixing rhizobacteria as the active material at the right dosage can increase soil productivity and support plant growth. The aim of this study was to obtain the composition of the carrier material that can maintain rhizobacteria viability, water content, and pH of nitrogen biofertilizer and to obtain the right dosage to increase the growth of rice plants in saline ecosystems. The research location was at Microbiology Laboratory of CV Bintang Asri Arthauly, Bandung and greenhouse of Jayamukti Village, Banyusari District, Karawang …

Trigonella Foenum-Graecum Methanolic Extract On Isolated Smooth Muscles And Acetylcholinesterase Enzyme: An In Vitro And Mechanistic In Silico Investigation, Muhammad Nabeel Ghayur, Mohnad Abdalla, Asaad Khalid, Saeed Ahmad, Anwar Gilani

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Results: When tested on the baseline of isolated tissues, Tfg.Cr was devoid of any activity (stimulant or relaxant) till 10 mg/ml. This is an interesting finding, keeping in mind that the fenugreek seeds are used to alleviate constipation and diarrhoea. When Tfg.Cr was tried for any potential AChE inhibitory activity, it did show an inhibitory effect in increasing concentrations (47-380 μg/ml). This inhibitory effect was comparable to the effect produced by a standard AChE inhibitor physostigmine. One of the known fenugreek constituents, diosgenin, was also tested, and it also showed an AChE inhibitory effect in a concentration-dependent manner (11-190 …

Pestfacts Wa Issue 01 - April 2022, Cindy L. Webster, Svetlana Micic, Saleh Adnan, Janette Pratt, Jean Galloway, Adam H. Sparks, Jeff Russell

PestFacts WA

PestFacts WA Issue 01 - April 2022 contents:

• What to expect from mollusc pests after a hot dry summer
• Meet our new team member – Dr Saleh Adnan
• Canola blackleg risk forecasts
• Have you checked out the new Grains Farm Biosecurity website?

Drivers And Barriers Of The Transition To Regenerative Agriculture Within The Eu’S Common Agricultural Policy Reform: Comparative Analysis With The Us Farm Bill, Samantha Gish

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the wake of multiple crises, such as climate change and international conflict, there is increased urgency to ensure a stable food system. Additionally, changing priorities of citizens have fostered the desire for sustainable production of food. One innovative method of food production is regenerative agriculture and in this practice the main goals are to increase system resilience, improve soil and sequester carbon. This is done through practices such as no tilling, cover and intercropping, and incorporation of livestock into crop fields. Although great in theory, these practices go against traditional agricultural practices and therefore the policy currently in place …

Cattle Diet Selection During The Growing Season On Upland Sandhills Rangelands, Alejandro Orozco-Lopez

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Sandhills is a diverse and complex ecosystem comprised of different topographic positions (i.e. slopes and interdunes) that influence grazing distribution, plant species composition, and cattle diet selection. The first objective of this study was to evaluate how grazing intensity influences species composition on slopes and interdunes on native rangeland within the Hillside pasture (160 ha) at the UNL Gudmundsen Sandhill’s Laboratory (GSL). The second objective of this study was to evaluate forage quality of individual species from three plant functional groups (i.e. warm-season grasses, cool-season grasses, and forbs/shrubs) on native rangeland within the Hillside pasture (160 ha) at GSL. …

Microbiome Variation Across Populations Of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum Qatarensis, Abdul Latif Khan, Lucas Dantas Lopes, Saqib Bilal, Sajjad Asaf, Kerri M. Crawford, Venkatesh Balan, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients …

Microbiome Variation Across Populations Of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum Qatarensis, Abdul Latif Khan, Lucas Dantas Lopes, Saqib Bilal, Sajjad Asaf, Kerri M. Crawford, Venkatesh Balan, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients …

Management Strategies And Distribution Of Aphanomyces Root Rot Of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa), A Continuing Threat To Forage Production In The United States, Jennifer M. Giles, Conner L. Tordsen, Travis R. Rebstock, Bruna Bucciarelli, Deborah A. Samac, Andrew E. Sathoff

Research & Publications

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is one of several legumes that is affected by Aphanomyces root rot (ARR) caused by Aphanomyces euteiches. Symptoms of ARR on alfalfa seedlings include a yellow-grey discolouration of roots, rotting and loss of lateral roots, stunted growth, chlorotic foliage and reduction of nitrogen-producing nodules on roots. Infection can also occur on adult plants leading to loss of lateral roots and nodules. At the seedling stage, ARR decreases alfalfa stand establishment, and field longevity is reduced when adult plants are infected. A. euteiches is an oomycete pathogen that has motile zoospores and thick-walled oospores that …

Seabem: An Artificial Intelligence Powered Web Application To Predict Cover Crop Biomass, Aime Christian Tuyishime, Andrea Basche

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

SEABEM, the Stacked Ensemble Algorithms Biomass Estimator Model, is a web application with a stacked ensemble of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms running on the backend to predict cover crop biomass for locations in Sub-Saharan. The SEABEM model was developed using a previously developed database of crop growth and yield that included site characteristics such as latitude, longitude, soil texture (sand, silt, and clay percentages), temperature, and precipitation. The goal of SEABEM is to provide global farmers, mainly small-scale African farmers, the knowledge they need before practicing and benefiting from cover crops while avoiding the expensive and time-consuming operations that come …

A Global Soil Spectral Calibration Library And Estimation Service, Keith D. Sheperd, Rich Ferguson, David Hoover, Fenny Van Egmond, Jonathan Sanderman, Yufeng Ge

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

There is growing global interest in the potential for soil reflectance spectroscopy to fill an urgent need for more data on soil properties for improved decision-making on soil security at local to global scales. This is driven by the capability of soil spectroscopy to estimate a wide range of soil properties from a rapid, inexpensive, and highly reproducible measurement using only light. However, several obstacles are preventing wider adoption of soil spectroscopy. The biggest obstacles are the large variation in the soil analytical methods and operating procedures used in different laboratories, poor reproducibility of analyses within and amongst laboratories and …

Ruminant Livestock Production Systems And Imperatives For Sustainable Development, J. W. Smith

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Nutritional Sensitivity Per Morphological Component In Urochloa Hybrid Under Tropical Environments, Bernal-Flores Alvaro, E. A. Pizarro, Adrián R. Quero-Carrillo, Paulino Pérez-Rodríguez, Ramon Rodolfo Ruíz, Thiago Da Cruz Madeira

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Camello^® (GP 3025) is a tolerant to drought Urochloa hybrid grass showing good forage production, early flowering with high regrowth rates. The objective was to define nutrient concentration changes by morphological component and, their differences for two tropical contrasting environments. Nutrient concentrations differences (P≤0.05) were observed among morphological components over time. In environments (Aw₁) the morphological components showed higher average protein content in comparison to that from hostile conditions (Aw₀); lamina (12.2% vs 10.4%), pseudostem (9.5% vs 6.6%) and sheath (9.8% vs 6.8%). Hostile environments (Aw0) promoted increases for FAD (47.9%, 46.9%, pseudostem …

Understanding Common Perceptions Of The Drylands, C. Bedelian, D. Pertaub, F. Ngarachu, C. Hesse, S. Krätli, J. Obando, C. Shisanya, J. Maraigua

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Drylands occupy over 40% of the earth’s surface and are home to more than 2 billion people. Drylands are key to the food and nutritional security of the planet and vital to the economies and livelihoods of dryland inhabitants. Yet, drylands are commonly perceived as unproductive, economically inefficient and marginal lands where small-scale farmers and pastoralists practice environmentally degrading activities. Driven by inadequate understanding and misconceptions of the drylands, policy-makers devise inappropriate policies and interventions. The BRECcIA project developed an online Drylands Perceptions Survey to understand the perceptions of researchers, practitioners and policy makers working in the drylands of Kenya, …

Methane And Nitrous Oxide Emissions From Grazed Grasslands, Harry Clark, C. Pinares-Patiño, C. De Klein

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Emissions of methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) from grasslands make a substantial contribution to total agricultural emissions of these two gases.

2. At present practical mitigation options that relate to grazing ruminants and grazed pastures are limited.

3. Research into agricultural greenhouse gas emissions is of low priority in most developed countries.

4. Direct manipulation of the rumen ecosystem provides the best opportunity for large reductions in CH₄ in the long term.

5. Reducing the amount of nitrogen (N) excreted by grazing animals is a priority in N₂O research, …

Global Atmospheric Change And Its Effect On Managed Grassland Systems, Andreas Lüscher, J. Fuhrer, P. C. D. Newton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and a trend to warmer mean temperatures are the most reliable aspects of global atmospheric change. Projections of the extent of climate change and the frequency of extreme weather conditions remain uncertain.

2. Research has considerably reduced the uncertainty about effects of global atmospheric change on physiology of plants, productivity and species composition of plant communities.

3. Other factors (e.g. nutrient availability, soil type) and long-term adaptation of the ecosystem (e.g. nutrient cycling and sequestration) influence the response of plant communities to global atmospheric change. Generalisation is not possible with respect to the …

Water Resources, Agriculture And Pasture: Implications Of Growing Demand And Increasing Scarcity, M. W. Rosegrant, R. A. Valmonte-Santos, S. A. Cline, C. Ringler, W. Li

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Water availability for irrigation is threatened in many regions by rapidly increasing demand for nonagricultural water uses in industry, households, and the environment. The scarcity of irrigation water will not only impact crop production, but also meat production, as much of the pasture used to feed livestock is irrigated.

2. Grassland is caught between two countervailing forces: a requirement for increasing meat demand that boosts the need for additional pasture to support livestock production, and rapidly increasing water scarcity that makes pasture irrigation uneconomical.

3. The most effective means of dealing with water scarcity is likely to …

Adoption Of Tropical Legume Technology Around The World: Analysis Of Success, H. M. Shelton, S. Franzel, M. Peters

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Examples of successful adoption of forage legumes are reported from all continents, where they delivered profitability and often provided multipurpose benefits to farmers.

2. Factors vital to successful adoption were: meeting the needs of farmers; building relevant partnerships; understanding the socio-economic context and skills of farmers; participatory involvement with rural communities; and long-term involvement of champions.

3. Organisation of seed supply, achieving scale-up and forming partnerships to implement adoption are key features.

4. Legumes remain an important but under-exploited resource for tropical farming systems. The alternative to legumes will be greater and more costly use of N-fertilisers …

Grasses As Biofactories: Scoping Out The Opportunities, Nick Roberts, K. Richardson, G. Bryan, C. Voisey, W. Mcnabb, T. Conner, M. Christey, R. Johnson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Plant biopharming is set to dominate commercial recombinant protein expression for specific proteins.

2. The choice of plant species depends on a multitude of factors and is determined on a caseby- case basis.

3. As a leaf based expression system grasses would have to compete predominantly with tobacco and alfalfa.

4. The grass-endophyte symbiosis offers a number of unique possibilities for biopharming.

Evolution Of Integrated Crop-Livestock Production Systems, Martin H. Entz, William D. Bellotti, J. M. Powell, S. V. Angadi, W. Chen, K. H. Ominski, B. Boelt

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Many factors contribute to changes in the crop-livestock systems, but no logical end-point in the evolution process exists.

2. While benefits of integrated crop-livestock systems over specialised crop and livestock systems are well documented, there has been a move to specialised crop and livestock production.

3. Sustainability issues (manure nutrient concentration, soil quality maintenance, salinity, herbicide resistance, economic instability) have created a renewed interest in integrated crop-livestock systems.

4. Farmer adaptability is as an important link in the evolution between ‘states of integration’.

Overcoming Seasonality Of Production: Opportunities Offered By Forage Conservation Technologies, P. O'Kiely, A. G. Kaiser

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Seasonality of forage supply is a key contributor to the seasonality of meat and milk production.

2. Conserving forages as silage or hay can help reduce the seasonality of feed supply.

3. Forage conservation technologies make this contribution mainly through increases in the yield or quality of suitable crops, through an improved efficiency of the conservation process or by allowing a reduction in costs.

4. Future research needs differ considerably among regions of the world.

Strategies To Mitigate Seasonality Of Production In Grassland-Based Systems, Claudio Porqueddu, S. Maltoni, John G. Mcivor

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Fertilisation use and manipulation can cost-effectively alter species composition, increase seasonal herbage production and improve herbage quality.

2. Choice of suitable grassland species, varieties and mixtures offers opportunity to mitigate limitations of seasonal grassland production.

3. Special purpose fodder crops, cereals, shrubs and trees offer alternative or supplementary feed sources.

4. Manipulation of stocking rates, grazing systems, transhumance and pasture management at various times of the season are significant advantageous options.

5. Integration of different strategies is essential to mitigate seasonality in systems of animal production that must be inherently more sustainable over a longer time frame.

Interactions Between Foraging Behaviour Of Herbivores And Grassland Resources In The Eastern Eurasian Steppes, Deli Wang, Guodong Han, Yuguang Bai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. In rangeland areas such as the eastern Eurasian steppes (Mongolia and China), foraging behaviour is influenced by plant or vegetation properties with high heterogeneity.

2. Until recently foraging theory has not accounted for the foraging process or ingestive behaviour. Existing theories on foraging behaviour need to evolve and begin to coalesce, and combine with observations or manipulative experiments.

3. Plant and patch properties such as diversity and height influence animal foraging behaviour (related to foraging process or diet selection) in heterogeneous steppes.

4. Stocking rate is the most important management factor for grazing or vegetation management, and …

Foraging Behaviour And Herbage Intake In The Favourable Tropics/Subtropics, S. C. Da Silva, Paulo C. De F. Carvalho

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Herbage intake by animals grazing tropical/sub-tropical pastures is directly related to bite mass, as it is for those grazing temperate pastures.

2. Where these swards have low proportions of stem and dead material (controlled swards), herbage intake follows a similar pattern to that of temperate pasture species, but leaf characteristics, such as lamina length play an important role and influence the short-term rate of intake.

3. Sward structural characteristics and behavioural factors are relatively more important than nutritional factors in terms of herbage intake regulation. The feeding value of the herbage produced is potentially adequate to sustain …

Grass And Forage Plant Improvement In The Tropics And Sub-Tropics, Liana Jank, Cacilda B. Do Valle, Rosangela M. S. Resende

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. The majority of tropical and subtropical forage grass genera and/or species have not yet been collected, or need further collection to be representative of their natural distribution.

2. New biotechnological techniques will only result in the release of superior forage cultivars if supported by strong breeding programs.

3. More funding and investment in the formation of strong public research teams in forage conservation and improvement are needed to guarantee the sustainability of tropical and subtropical pasture-based livestock systems in the future.

4. The creation of a permanent international working group on tropical and subtropical forages is essential …