Agricultural Science Commons^™

Emission Of Green House Gases From Grasslands And Their Mitigation, Prem N. Sharma, Shyam Khadka

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The concentrations of green house gases (GHG) in the atmosphere began in pre-industrial times and it continues to increase. This could result into an alarming increase in temperature of up to 5.4 ^oC by year 2100 due to a net global annual GHG emission of H 4.5-6.5 Gt C equivalent. About 18% of the world’s GHG are contributed by livestock and related activities on grasslands that are spread over almost 35 million Km².These grasslands give livelihood to over a billion people most of who are poor. Twenty to 70% of the land surface area is degrading often …

High-Altitude Grassland Management And Improvement Of Pastoral Livelihoods In The Hindu Kush Himalayan Region, Eklabya Sharma

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is the largest mountain systems in the world, spanning over 4.3 million km2 and covering 3500 km long fragile environment. Grasslands in the HKH region are the source of livelihoods for approximately 25 to 30 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. High altitude grasslands play a significant role in storage and regulation of water; storage of carbon in soil and peat lands; permafrost storage; and stabilization of climate, soil, and nutrients. They foster a rich biodiversity with endemic species of fauna and flora; provide clean air and open spaces for recreational purposes, and bolster a rich …

Animal And Pasture Responses To Grazing Management Of Chemically Suppressed Tall Fescue In Mixed Pastures, Jessica A. Williamson

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Treatment of endophyte-infected tall fescue [Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh] with the broad leaf herbicide Chaparral® can mitigate fescue toxicosis and enhance forage quality by suppressing seedhead emergence. Applying the herbicide to fescue pastures also reduces forage mass and promotes severe spot grazing when pastures are continuously grazed. A grazing experiment was conducted with steers (2013) and heifers (2014) to evaluate animal and plant responses in fescue-bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) mixtures treated with Chaparral to determine the effects of grazing management on pasture carrying capacity, nutritive values, botanical composition, and animal performance. Continuous and rotational (i.e., four subdivisions to …

Cover Crops And Ecosystem Services: Insights From Studies In Temperate Soils, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Tim M. Shaver, John L. Lindquist, Charles A. Shapiro, Roger Wesley Elmore, Charles A. Francis, Gary W. Hergert

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cover crops (CCs) can provide multiple soil, agricultural production, and environmental benefits. However, a better understanding of such potential ecosystem services is needed. We summarized the current state of knowledge of CC effects on soil C stocks, soil erosion, physical properties, soil water, nutrients, microbial properties, weed control, crop yields, expanded uses, and economics and highlighted research needs. Our review indicates that CCs are multifunctional. Cover crops increase soil organic C stocks (0.1–1 Mg ha^–1 yr^–1) with the magnitude depending on biomass amount, years in CCs, and initial soil C level. Runoff loss can decrease by up …

The Effect Of Turning Frequency On In-Vessel Compost Processing And Quality, Paige E. Boyle, Mary C. Savin, Lisa S. Wood

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Composting can contribute to the zero waste initiative on the University of Arkansas (UA) campus. In-vessel systems like Earth Tubs™ are purported to provide better control of temperature and moisture during the composting process. Turning materials helps facilitate microbial activity and thermophilic composting. The goal of this research was to determine if turning frequency affects processing or final quality of compost made with pre- and post-consumer food waste feedstock and a wood chip bulking agent. Turning frequencies (treatment) of 3 days/week and 7 days/ week were evaluated simultaneously throughout three sequential runs. Temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and moisture content …

Conservation Agriculture In Kentucky: Investigating Nitrogen Loss And Dynamics In Corn Systems Following Wheat And Hairy Vetch Cover Crops, Rebecca Erin Shelton

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Unintentional nitrogen (N) loss from agroecosystems produces greenhouse gases, induces eutrophication, and is costly for farmers; therefore, adoption of conservation agricultural management practices, such as no-till and cover cropping, has increased. This study assessed N loss via leaching, NH₃ volatilization, N₂O emissions, and N retention in plant and soil pools of corn conservation agroecosystems across a year. Three systems were evaluated: 1) an unfertilized organic system with cover crops Vicia villosa, Triticum aestivum, or a mix of the two; 2) an organic system with a Vicia cover crop employing three fertilization schemes (0 N, organic N, …

Susceptibility Of Northern Corn Rootworm Diabrotica Barberi (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) To Mcry3a And Ecry3.1ab Bacillus Thuringiensis Proteins, Isaac O. Oyediran, Phillip Matthews, Narendra Palekar, Wade French, Jared Conville, Tony Burd

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The susceptibility of the northern corn rootworm Diabrotica barberi (Smith & Lawrence) to mCry3A and eCry3.1Ab proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was determined using a diet bioassay. Northern corn rootworm neonates were exposed to different concentrations of mCry3A and eCry3.1Ab, incorporated into artificial diet. Larval mortality was evaluated after 7 d. The mCry3A and eCry3.1Ab proteins were found to be toxic to the northern corn rootworm larvae. The LC₅₀ and LC₉₉ values for mCry3A were 5.13 and 2482.31 μg/mL, respectively. For eCry3.1Ab, the LC₅₀ and LC₉₉ values were 0.49 and 213.01 μg/mL. Based on the …

Control Of Vegetable Pests In Benin - Farmers' Preferences For Eco-Friendly Nets As An Alternative To Insecticides, Faustin Vidogbéna, Anselme Adégbidi, Rigobert Tossou, Françoise Assogba-Komlan, Mathieu Ngouajio, Thibaut Martin, Serge Simon, Laurent Parrot, Kerstin K. Zander

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

We investigated if eco-friendly nets (EFNs) are a viable and acceptable alternative to extremely high levels of insecticide use in vegetable production. Using a choice experiment, we found that vegetable producing farmers in Benin preferred all of the characteristics of EFNs except the higher labor requirements. The nets had been distributed in a trial phase for free but in the long run farmers would need to purchase the EFNs. The break-even point for investing in nets was found to vary with the lifespan of EFNs, their purchase price and potential health benefits from avoiding large quantities of insecticides. To break …

Potential For Crop Production Increase In Argentina Through Closure Of Existing Yield Gaps, Fernando Aramburu Merlos, Juan Pablo Monzon, Jorge L. Mercau, Miguel Taboada, Fernando H. Andrade, Antonio J. Hall, Esteban Jobbagy, Kenneth Cassman, Patricio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Favorable climate and soils for rainfed crop production, together with a relatively low population density,results in 70–90% of Argentina grain production being exported. No assessment to date has tried to estimate the potential for extra grain production for soybean, wheat and maize, which account for 78%of total harvested area, by yield gap closure on existing cropland area and its impact at a global scale.The objectives of this paper are (i) to estimate how much additional grain could be produced without expanding crop area by closing yield gaps in Argentina, (ii) to investigate how this production and yield gaps varies across …

Qtl For Seed Protein And Amino Acids In The Benning × Danbaekkong Soybean Population, C. V. Warrington, H. Abdel‑Haleem, D. L. Hyten, P. B. Cregan, J. H. Orf, A. S. Killam, N. Bajjalieh, Z. Li, H. R. Boerma

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean, rather than nitrogen-containing forages, is the primary source of quality protein in feed formulations for domestic swine, poultry, and dairy industries. As a sole dietary source of protein, soybean is deficient in the amino acids lysine (Lys), threonine (Thr), methionine (Met), and cysteine (Cys). Increasing these amino acids would benefit the feed industry. The objective of the present study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with crude protein (cp) and amino acids in the ‘Benning’ × ‘Danbaekkong’ population. The population was grown in five southern USA environments. Amino acid concentrations as a fraction of cp (Lys/cp, Thr/cp, …

Fingerprinting Soybean Germplasm And Its Utility In Genomic Research, Qijian Song, D. L. Hyten, Gaofeng Jia, Charles V. Quigley, Edward W. Fickus, Randall L. Nelson, P. B. Cregan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The United States Department of Agriculture, Soybean Germplasm Collection includes 18,480 domesticated soybean and 1,168 wild soybean accessions introduced from 84 countries or developed in the U.S. This collection was genotyped with the SoySNP50K BeadChip containing greater than 50K SNPs. Redundant accessions were identified in the collection and distinct genetic backgrounds of soybean from different geographic origins were observed that could be a unique resource for soybean genetic improvement. We detected a dramatic reduction of genetic diversity based on linkage disequilibrium and haplotype structure analyses of the wild, landrace and North American cultivar populations and identified candidate regions associated with …

A Genomic Selection Index Applied To Simulated And Real Data, J. Jesus Ceron-Rojas, Jose Crossa, Vivi N. Arief, Kaye Basford, Jessica Rutkoski, Diego Jarquin, Gregorio Alvarado, Yoseph Beyene, Kassa Semagn, Ian Delacy

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A genomic selection index (GSI) is a linear combination of genomic estimated breeding values that uses genomic markers to predict the net genetic merit and select parents from a nonphenotyped testing population. Some authors have proposed a GSI; however, they have not used simulated or real data to validate the GSI theory and have not explained how to estimate the GSI selection response and the GSI expected genetic gain per selection cycle for the unobserved traits after the first selection cycle to obtain information about the genetic gains in each subsequent selection cycle. In this paper, we develop the theory …

First Approximations Of Prescribed Fire Risks Relative To Other Management Techniques Used On Private Lands, Dirac L. Twidwell, Carissa L. Wonkka, Michael T. Sindelar, John R. Weir

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Fire is widely recognized as a critical ecological and evolutionary driver that needs to be at the forefront of land management actions if conservation targets are to be met. However, the prevailing view is that prescribed fire is riskier than other land management techniques. Perceived risks associated with the application of fire limits its use and reduces agency support for prescribed burning in the private sector. As a result, considerably less cost-share support is given for prescribed fire compared to mechanical techniques. This study tests the general perception that fire is a riskier technique relative to other land management options. …

Transgenic Wheat Expressing A Barley Udp-Glucosyltransferase Detoxifies Deoxynivalenol And Provides High Levels Of Resistance To Fusarium Graminearum, Xi Li, Sanghyun Shin, Shane Heinen, Ruth Dill-Macky, Franz Berthiller, Natalya Nersesian, Thomas Clemente, Susan Mccormick, Gary J. Muehbauer

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Fusarium head blight (FHB), mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum, is a devastating disease of wheat that results in economic losses worldwide. During infection, F. graminearum produces trichothecene mycotoxins, including deoxynivalenol (DON), that increase fungal virulence and reduce grain quality. Transgenic wheat expressing a barley UDP-glucosyltransferase (HvUGT13248) were developed and evaluated for FHB resistance, DON accumulation, and the ability to metabolize DON to the less toxic DON-3-O-glucoside (D3G). Pointinoculation tests in the greenhouse showed that transgenic wheat carrying HvUGT13248 exhibited significantly higher resistance to disease spread in the spike (type II resistance) compared with nontransformed controls. Two transgenic …

Understanding Rice Adaptation To Varying Agro-Ecosystems: Trait Interactions And Quantitative Trait Loci, Shalabh Dixit, Alexandre Grondin, Cheng-Ruei Lee, Amelia Henry, Thomas-Mitchell Olds, Arvind Kumar

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Interaction and genetic control for traits influencing the adaptation of the rice crop to varying environments was studied in a mapping population derived from parents (Moroberekan and Swarna) contrasting for drought tolerance, yield potential, lodging resistance, and adaptation to dry direct seeding. A BC₂F₃-derived mapping population for traits related to these four trait groups was phenotyped to understand the interactions among traits and to map and align QTLs using composite interval mapping (CIM). The study also aimed to identify QTLs for the four trait groups as composite traits using multivariate least square interval mapping (MLSIM) …

Aquaporins Contribute To Aba-Triggered Stomatal Closure Through Ost1-Mediated Phosphorylation, Alexandre Grondin, Olivier Rodrigues, Lionel Verdoucq, Sylvain Merlot, Nathalie Leonhardt, Christophe Maurel

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Stomatal movements in response to environmental stimuli critically control the plant water status. Although these movements are governed by osmotically driven changes in guard cell volume, the role of membrane water channels (aquaporins) has remained hypothetical. Assays in epidermal peels showed that knockout Arabidopsis thaliana plants lacking the Plasma membrane Intrinsic Protein 2;1 (PIP2;1) aquaporin have a defect in stomatal closure, specifically in response to abscisic acid (ABA). ABA induced a 2-fold increase in osmotic water permeability (P_f) of guard cell protoplasts and an accumulation of reactive oxygen species in guard cells, which were both abrogated in …

Proteomic Profiling Of Maize Opaque Endosperm Mutants Reveals Selective Accumulation Of Lysine-Enriched Proteins, Kyla J. Morton, Shangang Jia, Chi Zhang, David R. Holding

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Reduced prolamin (zein) accumulation and defective endoplasmic reticulum (ER) body formation occurs in maize opaque endosperm mutants opaque2 (o2), floury2 (fl2), defective endosperm*B30 (DeB30), and Mucronate (Mc), whereas other opaque mutants such as opaque1 (o1) and floury1 (fl1) are normal in these regards. This suggests that other factors contribute to kernel texture. A liquid chromatography approach coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) proteomics was used to compare non-zein proteins of nearly isogenic opaque endosperm mutants. In total, 2762 proteins were identified that were enriched for biological processes such as protein transport and folding, amino acid biosynthesis, …

Tonoplast Sugar Transporters (Sbtsts) Putatively Control Sucrose Accumulation In Sweet Sorghum Stems, Saadia Bihmidine, Benjamin T. Julius, Ismail M. Dweikat, David M. Braun

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Carbohydrates are differentially partitioned in sweet versus grain sorghums. While the latter preferentially accumulate starch in the grain, the former primarily store large amounts of sucrose in the stem. Previous work determined that neither sucrose metabolizing enzymes nor changes in Sucrose transporter (SUT) gene expression accounted for the carbohydrate partitioning differences. Recently, 2 additional classes of sucrose transport proteins, Tonoplast Sugar Transporters (TSTs) and SWEETs, were identified; thus, we examined whether their expression tracked sucrose accumulation in sweet sorghum stems. We determined 2 TSTs were differentially expressed in sweet vs. grain sorghum stems, likely underlying the massive difference in sucrose …

Selection For Silage Yield And Composition Did Not Affect Genomic Diversity Within The Wisconsin Quality Synthetic Maize Population, Aaron Lorenz, Timothy M. Beissinger, Renato Rodrigues Silva, Natalia De Leon

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Maize silage is forage of high quality and yield, and represents the second most important use of maize in the United States. The Wisconsin Quality Synthetic (WQS) maize population has undergone five cycles of recurrent selection for silage yield and composition, resulting in a genetically improved population. The application of high-density molecular markers allows breeders and geneticists to identify important loci through association analysis and selection mapping, as well as to monitor changes in the distribution of genetic diversity across the genome. The objectives of this study were to identify loci controlling variation for maize silage traits through association analysis …

A Roadmap For Functional Structural Variants In The Soybean Genome, Justin E. Anderson, Michael B. Kantar, Thomas Y. Kono, Fengli Fu, Adrian O. Stec, Qijian Song, Perry B. Cregan, James E. Specht, Brian W. Diers, Steven B. Cannon, Leah K. Mchale, Robert M. Stupar

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Gene structural variation (SV) has recently emerged as a key genetic mechanism underlying several important phenotypic traits in crop species. We screened a panel of 41 soybean (Glycine max) accessions serving as parents in a soybean nested association mapping population for deletions and duplications in more than 53,000 gene models. Array hybridization and whole genome resequencing methods were used as complementary technologies to identify SV in 1528 genes, or approximately 2.8%, of the soybean gene models. Although SV occurs throughout the genome, SV enrichment was noted in families of biotic defense response genes. Among accessions, SV was nearly eightfold less …

Overexpression Of The Transporters Atzip1 And Atmtp1 In Cassava Changes Zinc Accumulation And Partitioning, Eliana Gaitán-Solis, Nigel J. Taylor, Dimuth Siritunga, William Stevens, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Zinc deficiency in humans is a serious problem worldwide with an estimated one third of populations at risk for insufficient zinc in diet, which leads to impairment of cognitive abilities and immune system function. The goal of this research was to increase the bioavailable zinc in the edible portion of cassava roots to improve the overall zinc nutrition of populations that rely on cassava as a dietary staple. To increase zinc concentrations, two Arabidopsis thaliana genes coding for ZIP1 and MTP1 were overexpressed with a tuber-specific or constitutive promoter. Eighteen transgenic events from four constructs, out of a total of …

Differential Expression Analysis In Rna-Seq By A Naive Bayes Classifier With Local Normalization, Yongchao Dou, Xiaomei Guo, Lingling Yuan, David R. Holding, Chi Zhang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

To improve the applicability of RNA-seq technology, a large number of RNA-seq data analysis methods and correction algorithms have been developed. Although these new methods and algorithms have steadily improved transcriptome analysis, greater prediction accuracy is needed to better guide experimental designs with computational results. In this study, a new tool for the identification of differentially expressed genes with RNA-seq data, named GExposer, was developed. This tool introduces a local normalization algorithm to reduce the bias of nonrandomly positioned read depth. The naive Bayes classifier is employed to integrate fold change, transcript length, and GC content to identify differentially expressed …

Plants Coping Abiotic And Biotic Stresses: A Tale Of Diligent Management, Hatem Rouached, Sikander Pal, Shimon Rachmilevitch, Marc Libault, Lam-Son Phan Tran

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Plants unlike other living forms are sessile thereby facing severe biotic and abiotic stresses. Plants have evolved different efficient defence responses which thrive upon a number of intrinsic factors, such as genotypic and phenotypic constitutions and developmental circumstances, and extrinsic factors like severity and duration of the stresses. Stress management uses molecular and biochemical level controls, the competence, and speed, at which a stress signal is perceived and transmitted to generate stress signal molecules and activate stress-protective mechanisms. A well-concerted action of the plants’ competence at morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular strata regulates numerous adaptive responses to biotic and abiotic …

Identification Of Novel Qtl Governing Root Architectural Traits In An Interspecific Soybean Population, Lakshmi P. Manavalan, Silvas J. Prince, Theresa A. Musket, Julian Chaky, Rupesh Deshmukh, Tri D. Vuong, Li Song, Perry B. Cregan, James C. Nelson, J. Grover Shannon, James E. Specht, Henry T. Nguyen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cultivated soybean (Glycine max L.) cv. Dunbar (PI 552538) and wild G. soja (PI 326582A) exhibited significant differences in root architecture and root-related traits. In this study, phenotypic variability for root traits among 251 BC₂F₅ backcross inbred lines (BILs) developed from the cross Dunbar/PI 326582A were identified. The root systems of the parents and BILs were evaluated in controlled environmental conditions using a cone system at seedling stage. The G. max parent Dunbar contributed phenotypically favorable alleles at a major quantitative trait locus on chromosome 8 (Satt315-I locus) that governed root traits (tap root length and …

Genetic And Molecular Characterization Of Submergence Response Identifies Subtol6 As A Major Submergence Tolerance Locus In Maize, Malachy T. Campbell, Christopher A. Proctor, Yongchao Dou, Aaron J. Schmitz, Piyaporn Phansak, Greg R. Kruger, Chi Zhang, Harkamal Walia

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Maize is highly sensitive to short term flooding and submergence. Early season flooding reduces germination, survival and growth rate of maize seedlings. We aimed to discover genetic variation for submergence tolerance in maize and elucidate the genetic basis of submergence tolerance through transcriptional profiling and linkage analysis of contrasting genotypes. A diverse set of maize nested association mapping (NAM) founder lines were screened, and two highly tolerant (Mo18Wand M162W) and sensitive (B97 and B73) genotypes were identified. Tolerant lines exhibited delayed senescence and lower oxidative stress levels compared to sensitive lines. Transcriptome analysis was performed on these inbreds to provide …

Allmaps: Robust Scaffold Ordering Based On Multiple Maps, Haibo Tang, Xingtan Zhang, Chenyong Miao, Jisen Zhang, Ray Ming, James C. Schnable, Patrick S. Schnable, Eric Lyons, Jianguo Lu

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The ordering and orientation of genomic scaffolds to reconstruct chromosomes is an essential step during de novo genome assembly. Because this process utilizes various mapping techniques that each provides an independent line of evidence, a combination of multiple maps can improve the accuracy of the resulting chromosomal assemblies. We present ALLMAPS, a method capable of computing a scaffold ordering that maximizes colinearity across a collection of maps. ALLMAPS is robust against common mapping errors, and generates sequences that are maximally concordant with the input maps. ALLMAPS is a useful tool in building high-quality genome assemblies. ALLMAPS is available at: https://github.com/tanghaibao/jcvi/wiki/ALLMAPS.

Evaluating A Satellite-Based Seasonal Evapotranspiration Product And Identifying Its Relationship With Other Satellite-Derived Products And Crop Yield: A Case Study For Ethiopia, Tsegaye Tadesse, Gabriel B. Senay, Getachew Berhan, Teshome Regassa, Shimelis Beyene

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Satellite-derived evapotranspiration anomalies and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are currently used for African agricultural drought monitoring and food security status assessment. In this study, a process to evaluate satellite-derived evapotranspiration (ETa) products with a geospatial statistical exploratory technique that uses NDVI, satellite-derived rainfall estimate (RFE), and crop yield data has been developed. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the ETa using the NDVI and RFE, and identify a relationship between the ETa and Ethiopia’s cereal crop (i.e., teff, sorghum, corn/maize, barley, and wheat) yields during the main rainy …

From Field To Atlas: Upscaling Of Location-Specific Yield Gap Estimates, Lenny G.J. Van Bussel, Patricio Grassini, Justin Van Wart, Joost Wolf, Lieven Claessens, Haishun Yang, Hendrik Boogaard, Hugo De Groot, Kazuki Saito, Kenneth Cassman, Martin K. Van Ittersum

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Accurate estimation of yield gaps is only possible for locations where high quality local data are available,which are, however, lacking in many regions of the world. The challenge is how yield gap estimates based on location-specific input data can be used to obtain yield gap estimates for larger spatial areas. Hence,insight about the minimum number of locations required to achieve robust estimates of yield gaps at larger spatial scales is essential because data collection at a large number of locations is expensive and time consuming. In this paper we describe an approach that consists of a climate zonation scheme supplemented …

Effects Of Sowing Date On Phenotypic Plasticity Of Fitness-Related Traits In Two Annual Weeds On The Songnen Plain Of China, Haiyan Li, John L. Lindquist, Yunfei Yang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background Phenotypic plasticity of fitness-related traits is vital for plant species to adapt to variable environments. Chenopodium glaucum L. and Amaranthus retroflexus L. are two common weed species globally. Understanding the plasticity in life-history traits, especially in reproductive allocation, within and among these species is important for predicting their success and for managing them in different environments.

Methodology/Principal Findings Seeds of the two plant species were sown every 10 days from 26 Jun to 15 Aug. Life-history and fitness-related traits of both phenology and morphology were measured, and dry biomass of roots, stems, leaves, and reproductive tissues was determined at …

Assessment Of Rice Self-Sufficiency In 2025 In Eight African Countries, P. A.J. Van Oort, K. Saito, E. Amovin-Assagba, Lenny G.J. Van Bussel, Justin Van Wart, Hugo De Groot, Martin K. Van Ittersum, Kenneth Cassman, M. C.S. Wopereis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Most African countries are far from self-sufficient in meeting their rice consumption; in eight countries the production: consumption ratio, ranged from 0.16 to 1.18 in 2012. We show that for the year 2025, with population growth, diet change and yield increase on existing land (intensification), countries cannot become fully self-sufficient in rice. This implies that for the future, a mixture of area expansion and imports will be needed on top of yield gap closure. Further research is needed for identification of most suitable new land for rice area expansion and areas that should be protected.