Agricultural Science Commons^™

Gene Expression Profiling Of Iron Deficiency Chlorosis Sensitive And Tolerant Soybean Indicates Key Roles For Phenylpropanoids Under Alkalinity Stress, Brian M. Waters, Keenan Amundsen, George L. Graef

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Alkaline soils comprise 30% of the earth and have low plant-available iron (Fe) concentration, and can cause iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC). IDC causes soybean yield losses of $260 million annually. However, it is not known whether molecular responses to IDC are equivalent to responses to low iron supply. IDC tolerant and sensitive soybean lines provide a contrast to identify specific factors associated with IDC.We used RNA-seq to compare gene expression under combinations of normal pH (5.7) or alkaline pH (7.7, imposed by 2.5mM bicarbonate, or pH 8.2 imposed by 5mM bicarbonate) and normal (25μM) or low (1μM) iron conditions from …

Crop Residue Harvest Impacts Wind Erodibility And Simulated Soil Loss In The Central Great Plains, Yuxin He, Deann R. Presley, John Tatarko, Humberto Blanco-Canqui

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Crop residue removal can affect the susceptibility to soil wind erosion in climates such as those of the Central Great Plains, United States. Six on-farm trials were conducted in Kansas from 2011 to 2013 to determine the effects of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), residue removal at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of initial height on soil wind erosion parameters. Those parameters include soil surface random roughness (RR), and wind erodible fraction (EF; aggregates -¹ for three hours. Threshold wind velocity required to initiate …

Genetic Diversity And Population Structure Of F3:6 Nebraska Winter Wheat Genotypes Using Genotyping-By-Sequencing, Shamseldeen Eltaher, Ahmed Sallam, Vikas Belamkar, Hamdy A. Emara, Ahmed A. Nower, Khaled F. M. Salem, Jesse Poland, Peter S. Baenziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The availability of information on the genetic diversity and population structure in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines will help wheat breeders to better use their genetic resources and manage genetic variation in their breeding program. The recent advances in sequencing technology provide the opportunity to identify tens or hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in large genome species (e.g., wheat). These SNPs can be utilized for understanding genetic diversity and performing genome wide association studies (GWAS) for complex traits. In this study, the genetic diversity and population structure were investigated in a set of 230 genotypes …

An Efficient And Improved Method For Virus-Induced Gene Silencing In Sorghum, Dharmendra Kumar Singh, Hee-Kyung Lee, Ismail M. Dweikat, Kirankumar S. Mysore

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Although the draft genome of sorghum is available, the understanding of gene function is limited due to the lack of extensive mutant resources. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is an alternative to mutant resources to study gene function. This study reports an improved and efficient method for Brome mosaic virus (BMV)-based VIGS in sorghum.

Methods: Sorghum plants were rub-inoculated with sap prepared by grinding 2 g of infected Nicotiana benthamiana leaf in 1 ml 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) and 100 mg of carborundum abrasive. The sap was rubbed on two to three top leaves of sorghum. Inoculated …

Can Bangladesh Produce Enough Cereals To Meet Future Demand?, J. Timsina, J. Wolf, N. Guilpart, L G. J. Van Bussel, P. Grassini, J. Van Wart, A. Hossain, H. Rashid, S. Islam, M. K. Van Ittersum

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Bangladesh faces huge challenges in achieving food security due to its high population, diet changes, and limited room for expanding cropland and cropping intensity. The objective of this study is to assess the degree to which Bangladesh can be self-sufficient in terms of domestic maize, rice and wheat production by the years 2030 and 2050 by closing the existing gap (Yg) between yield potential (Yp) and actual farm yield (Ya), accounting for possible changes in cropland area. Yield potential and yield gaps were calculated for the three crops using well-validated crop models and site-specific weather,management and soil data, and upscaled …

Parallel Altitudinal Clines Reveal Trends In Adaptive Evolution Of Genome Size In Zea Mays, Paul Bilinski, Patrice S. Albert, Jeremy J. Berg, James A. Birchler, Mark N. Grote, Anne Lorant, Juvenal Quezada, Kelly Swarts, Jinliang Yang, Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

While the vast majority of genome size variation in plants is due to differences in repetitive sequence, we know little about how selection acts on repeat content in natural populations. Here we investigate parallel changes in intraspecific genome size and repeat content of domesticated maize (Zea mays) landraces and their wild relative teosinte across altitudinal gradients in Mesoamerica and South America. We combine genotyping, low coverage whole-genome sequence data, and flow cytometry to test for evidence of selection on genome size and individual repeat abundance. We find that population structure alone cannot explain the observed variation, implying that …

Genomic Prediction Accuracy For Switchgrass Traits Related To Bioenergy Within Differentiated Populations, Jason D. Fiedler, Christina Lanzatella, Serge J. Edme, Nathan A. Palmer, Gautam Sarath, Rob Mitchell, Christian M. Tobias

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Switchgrass breeders need to improve the rates of genetic gain in many bioenergy-related traits in order to create improved cultivars that are higher yielding and have optimal biomass composition. One way to achieve this is through genomic selection. However, the heritability of traits needs to be determined as well as the accuracy of prediction in order to determine if efficient selection is possible.

Results: Using five distinct switchgrass populations comprised of three lowland, one upland and one hybrid accession, the accuracy of genomic predictions under different cross-validation strategies and prediction methods was investigated. Individual genotypes were collected using GBS …

Method For The Production Of High Saturated, Low Polyunsaturated Soybean Oil, Thomas E. Clemente, Hyunwoo Park, Edgar B. Cahoon, Hanh Nguyen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Methods of genetically modifying soybean plants to alter the fatty acid properties of the oil are described.

Exploring Spatial And Temporal Variability Of Soil And Crop Processes For Irrigation Management, Javier Reyes

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Irrigation needs to be applied to soils in relatively humid regions such as western Kentucky to supply water for crop uptake to optimize and stabilize yields. Characterization of soil and crop variability at the field scale is needed to apply site specific management and to optimize water application. The objective of this work is to propose a characterization and modeling of soil and crop processes to improve irrigation management. Through an analysis of spatial and temporal behavior of soil and crop variables the variability in the field was identified. Integrative analysis of soil, crop, proximal and remote sensing data was …

Impact Of Giant Miscanthus (Miscanthus X Giganteus) Cultivation On Midwestern Farmland Birds, Matthew Craffey

Masters Theses

Giant Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus) is a promising bioenergy feedstock, newly introduced to North America. However, the qualities that make Giant Miscanthus an attractive bioenergy feedstock may pose challenges to local wildlife. To assess the impacts of Giant Miscanthus on Midwestern farmland birds, I conducted point count and vegetation surveys at three sites in east-central Illinois where Giant Miscanthus was being cultivated. I used occupancy modeling to assess the relative influence of Giant Miscanthus on five species relative to other habitat and landscape characteristics. Dickcissel (Spiza Americana), Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna), and Red-Winged Blackbird …

Lepidopteran Stem Borer Species Abundance And Associated Damages On Irrigated Kilombero Low Land Rice Ecosystem In Tanzania, Bonaventure January, Gration M. Rwegasira, Tadele Tefera

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Background: Rice stem borers are among the most biotic stresses of economic importance in agriculture. Little was known about stem borer problem in Tanzania prior to this study. Understanding stem borer abundance and damages would help to design appropriate stem borer integrated pest management strategy in rice. This study was aimed at investigating rice stem borer’s species abundance and their associated damages in irrigated lowland rice ecosystem in Kilombero Tanzania. Materials and Methods: Field survey study on rice stem borer abundance and incidences were conducted in farmer’s fields on selected rice varieties at varied growth stages in Kilombero district under …

Push-Pull Farming System Controls Fall Armyworm: Lessons From Africa, Zeyaur R. Khan, Jimmy O. Pittchar, Charles A.O. Midega, John A. Pickett

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda invaded Africa, with the first detections being reported in Central and Western Africa in early 2016, and now affects at least 40 countries in Africa, causing up to total crop loss amounting to over $6.2 billion p.a. FAW is an invasive polyphagous pest that causes damage to economically important crops and has recently been reported in the Indian sub-continent. Effective control of FAW through use of synthetic chemical pesticides and genetically modified crops such as Bt maize faces challenges including improper use, unaffordability by smallholder farmers and development of resistance by the pest. Additionally, dispersal …

An Assessment Of Effectiveness Of Participatory Video And Drama In Enhancing Learning Of “Climate-Smart” Push-Pull Technology: A Case Study Of Butere And Vihiga Farmers In Western Kenya, Wakesho George, Pittchar Jimmy, Midega Charles, Khan Zeyaur

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

This study assessed the effectiveness of participatory video and drama in enhancing learning of climate-smart pushpull technology in western Kenya. A total of 80 farmers who had no knowledge of push pull technology were exposed to participatory drama and video that had been developed by farmers who are adopting push pull technology. Validated questionnaires were used for data collection where sampled non push pull farmers were interviewed before and after exposure to push pull knowledge using participatory video and drama. Data obtained was analyzed using chi square at 0.05 confidence level set a priori and also presented using frequency tables, …

Farmers’ Perception And Control Practices Against The Invasive Red Spider Mite (Tetranychus Evansi Baker & Pritchard) In Benin, G. Y. Azandémè-Hounmalon, H. D. Affognon, F. Assogba-Komlan, M. Tamò, K. K.M. Fiaboe, S. Kreiter, T. Martin

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Tetranychus evansi (Acari: Tetranychidae), is an important pest of solanaceous plants in Benin where it damages tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.; Solanaceae), African eggplant (S. macrocarpon L.; Solanaceae), purple amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L.; Amaranthaceae). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the intensity of T. evansi damage and impact of farmers’ control practices in Benin. Two surveys were conducted between 2013 and 2016. The first survey revealed Tetranychus evansi as the only mite, causing production losses of 65% for African eggplant, 56% for tomato and 25% for purple amaranth. To protect the infested crops, growers sprayed various synthetic pesticides …

Waste Not, Want Not: Using Source-Separated Urine To Cultivate Maize In The Southern Highlands, Tanzania, Lucy Hatfield

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In Sub-Saharan African countries, soil fertility is low due to unsustainable agricultural practices and little to no access to chemical fertilizer. Poor yields have resulted in many of these countries struggling to produce enough food to feed their growing populations. Human urine has been used as an effective, low-cost alternative to chemical fertilizers in greenhouse and plot trials on a variety of vegetables, but its effects on elemental grain composition in cereal crops are largely unknown. Here we tested whether diluted human urine applied as a fertilizer can increase maize crop growth, yield and nutritional content on small family-owned plots. …

The Rhetoric Of Science Education And Technology, Iwasan D. Kejawa

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Nearly thousands of science experiments are performed both on humans and animals every year in the United States (Gregory, 1999). Does Science enormously play a role in the well-beings of individual in the society? Research has found that science education is through motivation and satisfying the needs of humans. The scientific world is part of an elongated human development. This can be substantiated with the use and evolution of TECHNOLOGY and SCIENCE (Minton, 2004). Education of the entities that comprise the need to achieve the goal of TECHNOLOGY and SCIENCE which are important issues of today. Research has shown that …

Sifting And Winnowing: Analysis Of Farmer Field Data For Soybean In The Us North-Central Region, Spyridon Mourtzinis, Juan I. Rattalino Edreira, Patricio Grassini, Adam C. Roth, Shaun N. Casteel, Ignacio A. Ciampitti, Hans J. Kandel, Peter M. Kyveryga, Mark A. Licht, Laura E. Lindsey, Daren S. Mueller, Emerson D. Nafziger, Seth L. Naeve, Jordan Stanley, Michael J. Staton, Shawn P. Conley

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Field trials are commonly used to estimate the effects of different factors on crop yields. In the present study, we followed an alternative approach to identify factors that explain field-to-field yield variation, which consisted of farmer survey data, a spatial framework, and multiple statistical procedures. This approach was used to identify management factors with strongest association with on-farm soybean yield variation in the US North Central (NC) region. Field survey data, including yield and management information, were collected over two crop growing seasons (2014 and 2015) from rainfed and irrigated soybean fields (total of 3568 field-year observations). Fields were grouped …

Genome-Wide Association Study For Identification And Validation Of Novel Snp Markers For Sr6 Stem Rust Resistance Gene In Bread Wheat, Amira M. I. Mourad, Ahmed Sallam, Vikas Belamkar, Stephen N. Wegulo, Robert Bowden, Yue Jin, Ezzat Mahdy, Bahy Bakheit, Atif A. El-Wafaa, Jesse Poland, Peter S. Baenziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici Erikss. & E. Henn.), is a major disease in wheat (Triticum aestivium L.). However, in recent years it occurs rarely in Nebraska due to weather and the effective selection and gene pyramiding of resistance genes. To understand the genetic basis of stem rust resistance in Nebraska winter wheat, we applied genome-wide association study (GWAS) on a set of 270 winter wheat genotypes (A-set). Genotyping was carried out using genotyping-by-sequencing and ~35,000 high-quality SNPs were identified. The tested genotypes were evaluated for their resistance to the common stem rust race in …

Can Bangladesh Produce Enough Cereals To Meet Future Demand?, J. Timsina, J. Wolf, N. Guilpart, L.G.J. Van Bussel, P. Grassini, J. Van Wart, A. Hossain, H. Rashid, S. Islam, M.K. Van Ittersum

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Bangladesh faces huge challenges in achieving food security due to its high population, diet changes, and limited room for expanding cropland and cropping intensity. The objective of this study is to assess the degree to which Bangladesh can be self-sufficient in terms of domestic maize, rice and wheat production by the years 2030 and 2050 by closing the existing gap (Yg) between yield potential (Yp) and actual farm yield (Ya), accounting for possible changes in cropland area. Yield potential and yield gaps were calculated for the three crops using well-validated crop models and site-specific weather,management and soil data, and upscaled …

Doublethink And Scale Mismatch Polarize Policies For An Invasive Tree, Caleb P. Roberts, Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr.

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Mismatches between invasive species management policies and ecological knowledge can lead to profound societal consequences. For this reason, natural resource agencies have adopted the scientifically-based density-impact invasive species curve to guide invasive species management. We use the density-impact model to evaluate how well management policies for a native invader (Juniperus virginiana) match scientific guidelines. Juniperus virginiana invasion is causing a sub-continental regime shift from grasslands to woodlands in central North America, and its impacts span collapses in endemic diversity, heightened wildfire risk, and crashes in grazing land profitability. We (1) use land cover data to identify the stage …

Managing Grazing Lands To Improve Soils And Promote Climate Change Adaptation And Mitigation: A Global Synthesis, Marcia Delonge, Andrea D. Basche

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The potential to improve soils to help farmers and ranchers adapt to and mitigate climate change has generated significant enthusiasm. Within this discussion, grasslands have surfaced as being particularly important, due to their geographic range, their capacity to store substantial quantities of carbon relative to cultivated croplands and their potential role in mitigating droughts and floods. However, leveraging grasslands for climate change mitigation and adaptation will require a better understanding of how farmers and ranchers who rely on them for their livelihoods can improve management and related outcomes. To investigate opportunities for such improvements, we conducted a meta-analysis of field …

Quantifying Variance Across Spatial Scales As Part Of Fire Regime Classifications, Rheinhardt Scholtz, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Sherry A. Leis, Joshua J. Picotte, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The emergence of large-scale fire classifications and products informed by remote sensing data has enabled opportunities to include variability or heterogeneity as part of modern fire regime classifications. Currently, basic fire metrics such as mean fire return intervals are calculated without considering spatial variance in a management context. Fire return intervals are also only applicable at a particular grain size (defined as the spatial unit of interest) even though they are typically applied homogeneously. In this study, we utilized a 29-yr fire occurrence database to show how spatial variance changes with respect to grain as postulated by Wiens (1989) when …

Social–Ecological Landscape Patterns Predict Woody Encroachment From Native Tree Plantings In A Temperate Grassland, Victoria M. Donovan, Jessica L. Burnett, Christine H. Bielski, Hannah E. Birge, Rebecca Bevans, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr, Craig R. Allen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Afforestation is often viewed as the purposeful planting of trees in historically non-forested grasslands, but an unintended consequence is woody encroachment, which should be considered part of the afforestation process. In North America’s temperate grassland biome, Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is a native species used in tree plantings that aggressively invades in the absence of controlling processes. Cedar is a well-studied woody encroacher, but little is known about the degree to which cedar windbreaks, which are advocated for in agroforestry programs, are contributing to woody encroachment, what factors are associated with cedar spread from windbreaks, nor where encroachment …

Optimising The Identification Of Causal Variants Across Varying Genetic Architectures In Crops, Chenyong Miao, Jinliang Yang, James C. Schnable

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Association studies use statistical links between genetic markers and the phenotype variation across many individuals to identify genes controlling variation in the target phenotype. However, this approach, particularly conducted on a genome-wide scale (GWAS), has limited power to identify the genes responsible for variation in traits controlled by complex genetic architectures. In this study, we employ real-world genotype datasets from four crop species with distinct minor allele frequency distributions, population structures and linkage disequilibrium patterns. We demonstrate that different GWAS statistical approaches provide favourable trade-offs between power and accuracy for traits controlled by different types of genetic architectures. FarmCPU provides …

Maize Genomes To Fields: 2014 And 2015 Field Season Genotype, Phenotype, Environment, And Inbred Ear Image Datasets, Naser Alkhalifah, Darwin A. Campbell, Celeste M. Falcon, Jack M. Gardiner, Nathan D. Miller, Maria Cinta Romay, Ramona Walls, Renee Walton, Cheng-Ting Yeh, Martin Bohn, Jessica Bubert, Edward S. Buckler, Ignacio Ciampitti, Sherry Flint-Garcia, Michael A. Gore, Christopher Graham, Candice Hirsch, James B. Holland, David Hooker, Shawn Kaeppler, Joseph Knoll, Nick Lauter, Elizabeth C. Lee, Aaron Lorenz, Jonathan P. Lynch, Stephen P. Moose, Seth C. Murray, Rebecca Nelson, Torbert Rocheford, Oscar Rodriguez, James C. Schnable, Brian Scully, Margaret Smith, Nathan Springer, Peter Thomison, Mitchell Tuinstra, Randall J. Wisser, Wenwei Xu, David Ertl, Patrick S. Schnable, Natalia De Leon, Edgar P. Spalding, Jode Edwards, Carolyn J. Lawrence-Dill

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Crop improvement relies on analysis of phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental data. Given large, well-integrated, multi-year datasets, diverse queries can be made: Which lines perform best in hot, dry environments? Which alleles of specific genes are required for optimal performance in each environment? Such datasets also can be leveraged to predict cultivar performance, even in uncharacterized environments. The maize Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative is a multi-institutional organization of scientists working to generate and analyze such datasets from existing, publicly available inbred lines and hybrids. G2F’s genotype by environment project has released 2014 and 2015 datasets to the public, with …

Phosphate Deficiency Negatively Affects Early Steps Of The Symbiosis Between Common Bean And Rhizobia, Mariel C. Isidra-Arellano, Maria Del Rocio Reyero-Saavedra, Maria Del Socorro Sanchez-Correa, Lise Pingault, Sidharth Sen, Trupti Joshi, Lourdes Girard, Norma A. Castro-Guerrero, David G. Mendoza-Cozatl, Marc Libault, Oswaldo Valdes-Lopez

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Phosphate (Pi) deficiency reduces nodule formation and development in different legume species including common bean. Despite significant progress in the understanding of the genetic responses underlying the adaptation of nodules to Pi deficiency, it is still unclear whether this nutritional deficiency interferes with the molecular dialogue between legumes and rhizobia. If so, what part of the molecular dialogue is impaired? In this study, we provide evidence demonstrating that Pi deficiency negatively affects critical early molecular and physiological responses that are required for a successful symbiosis between common bean and rhizobia. We demonstrated that the infection thread formation and the expression …

Intragenic Meiotic Crossovers Generate Novel Alleles With Transgressive Expression Levels, Sanzhen Liu, James C. Schnable, Alina Ott, Cheng-Ting Yeh, Nathan M. Springer, Jianming Yu, Gary Muehlbauer, Marja C. P. Timmermans, Michael J. Scanlon, Patrick S. Schnable

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Meiotic recombination is an evolutionary force that generates new genetic diversity upon which selection can act. Whereas multiple studies have assessed genome-wide patterns of recombination and specific cases of intragenic recombination, few studies have assessed intragenic recombination genome-wide in higher eukaryotes. We identified recombination events within or near genes in a population of maize recombinant inbred lines (RILs) using RNA-sequencing data. Our results are consistent with case studies that have shown that intragenic crossovers cluster at the 5' ends of some genes. Further, we identified cases of intragenic crossovers that generate transgressive transcript accumulation patterns, that is, recombinant alleles displayed …

Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Novel Genomic Regions For Grain Yield And Yield-Related Traits In Drought-Stressed Synthetic Hexaploid Wheat, Madhav Bhatta, Alexey Morgounov, Vikas Belamkar, P. Stephen Baenziger

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW; 2n = 6x = 42, AABBDD, Triticum aestivum L.) is produced from an interspecific cross between durum wheat (2n = 4x = 28, AABB, T. turgidum L.) and goat grass (2n = 2x = 14, DD, Aegilops tauschii Coss.) and is reported to have significant novel alleles-controlling biotic and abiotic stresses resistance. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to unravel these loci [marker–trait associations (MTAs)] using 35,648 genotyping-by-sequencing-derived single nucleotide polymorphisms in 123 SHWs. We identified 90 novel MTAs (45, 11, and 34 on the A, B, and D …

Wheat Height Estimation Using Lidar In Comparison To Ultrasonic Sensor And Uas, Wenan Yuan, Jiating Li, Madhav Bhatta, Yeyin Shi, P. Stephen Baenziger, Yufeng Ge

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

As one of the key crop traits, plant height is traditionally evaluated manually, which can be slow, laborious and prone to error. Rapid development of remote and proximal sensing technologies in recent years allows plant height to be estimated in more objective and efficient fashions, while research regarding direct comparisons between different height measurement methods seems to be lagging. In this study, a ground-based multi-sensor phenotyping system equipped with ultrasonic sensors and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) was developed. Canopy heights of 100 wheat plots were estimated five times during a season by the ground phenotyping system and an unmanned …

Improving Fertilizer Recommendations For Nepalese Farmers With The Help Of Soil-Testing Mobile Van, Sunil Pandey, Netra Prasad Bhatta, Prakash Paudel, Rajan Pariyar, Kiran Hari Maskey, Janardan Khadka, Tuk Bahadur Thapa, Balaram Rijal, Dinesh Panday

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Smallholder farmers dominate agriculture in Nepal. These farmers have poor knowledge about agriculture and lack of support for soil management and integrated plant-nutrient systems. Focusing on the importance and need for soil-fertility management, a soil-testing mobile van program has recently been introduced in Nepal by Soil Management Directorate, Hariharbhawan. With the introduction of the mobile lab, famers can get their soil tested for nutrient deficiencies and fertilizer requirements at their doorsteps. Using mobile lab, spatial distributions of chemical properties, including pH, organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (as P₂O₅), and available potassium (as K …