Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

B.R. Wells Rice Research Studies 1996, R. J. Norman, T. H. Johnston

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

No abstract provided.

Proceedings Of The Global Conference On Ergot Of Sorghum, Carlos R. Casela, Jeffery A. Dahlberg

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

In June 1996, several of us had the opportunity to see sorghum ergot in Brazil and the damage that the disease can do. We saw severe damage in seed production plots and witnessed the pain that seed producers had to go through to deal with this new problem. There was a wide spread scare in the sorghum community in the Americas because of the infamous reputation of the disease in causing damage in seed production fields. As a silver lining, we also observed first hand, the excellent research program that the Brazilians had in place. It became apparent that all …

Bulletin 4328 - Soil Testing For Vegetable Production On The Coastal Plain, Ian Mcpharlin, Murray Hegney

Bulletins 4000 -

Vegetable growers need to use fertiliser efficiently. Under-fertilising can reduce yield, which results in economic losses. Over-fertilising can reduce yield and contribute to nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of ground and surface waters. Concerns have been expressed that fertilisers applied to horticultural crops contribute to the phosphorus pollution of the rivers and estuaries of the west and south coast of Western Australia.

Soil testing is a technique that can be used by growers to make better fertiliser decisions. When soil tests show high levels of nutrients, growers can reduce fertiliser application for the current crop. This should enable growers to maintain …

Bulletin 4333 - Furrow Sowing On Water Repellent Soils, Paul Blackwell, Grant Morrow

Bulletins 4000 -

This Bulletin discusses the benefits that furrow sowing brings to crop growth and production on water repellent sand, based on research and farm observations in Western Australian. By understanding the benefits and risks of several key processes, producers can better evaluate the potential role of furrow sowing in combating water repellency. This is true whether one is using direct drilling, no-till (narrow points or discs) or zero till (single, double or triple disc openers) methods.

Molecular And Functional Characterization Of A Novel Low-Affinity Cation Transporter (Lct1) In Higher Plants, Daniel P. Schachtman, Raman Kumar, Julian I. Schroeder, Ellen L. Marsh

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The transport of cations across membranes in higher plants plays an essential role in many physiological processes including mineral nutrition, cell expansion, and the transduction of environmental signals. In higher plants the coordinated expression of transport mechanisms is essential for specialized cellular processes and for adaptation to variable environmental conditions. To understand the molecular basis of cation transport in plant roots, a Triticum aestivum cDNA library was used to complement a yeast mutant deficient in potassium (K⁺) uptake. Two genes were cloned that complemented the mutant: HKT1 and a novel cDNA described in this report encoding a cation …

Resource Management Decision Support Tools - Brief Model Descriptions, Campbell White & Associates Pty Ltd

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

During the past 10 years, a number of financial models have been developed within Agriculture Western Australia to assist decision making in resource management. Various approaches have been taken including whole farm, development and partial budgets.

Natural resource managers within Agriculture Western Australia, have identified a need to preserve these decision support systems in a central library. The models should be readily accessible to new staff, and the library should provide an 'engine' through which the models can be promoted, and information relating their application distributed. Recent technology such as the development and mainstream adoption of the World Wide Web …

Soil Temperature And Fumigation Effects On Plant Phosphorus Uptake And Related Microbial Properties, Dennis L. Mccallister, L. A. Jawson, M. D. Jawson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Early season problems with growth of corn (Zea mays L.) under cool, wet conditions prompted a study of the effects of soil and environmental conditions on mineralization and plant uptake of phosphorus (P). Our objective was to determine the effect of soil test P, temperature, and soil fumigation on soil P availability and uptake during early corn growth. Corn was grown in growth chambers at temperatures of 14°C or 25°C. Soils were a high-P Hastings silty clay loam (fine, montmorillonitic, mesic Udic Argiustoll) and a low-P Sharpsburg clay loam (fine, montmorillonitic, mesic Typic Argiudoll). Plants grew for up to …

Notes: Forage Yield, Quality, And Fertility Of Sorghum X Sudan Grass Hybrids In A1 And A3 Cytoplasm, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, J. J. Toy

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Currently, no information is available comparing the agronomic performance of A1 and A3 cytoplasms in sorghum x sudangrass [Sorghumbi color (L.) Moench] hybrids. The objectives of this study were to compare the effects of A1 and A3 cytoplasm on the maturity, fertility, height, forage yield, and forage quality of sorghum × sudangrass hybrids. In 1989, pollen from a bulk of eight sudangrass populations was used to pollinate four sorghum lines that had been male-sterilized in both A1 and A3 cytoplasm. Hybrids were grown at the Univ. of Nebraska Field Laboratory Ithaca, NE, in 1990 and 1991, in a split-plot …

Western Australian Salinity Action Plan, Agriculture Western Australia, Department Of Conservation And Land Management, Department Of Environmental Protection, Water And Rivers Commission

Natural resources published reports

Salinity is one of the State's most critical environmental problems, threatening major economic and social consequences. It is preventable and, in the long term, reversible. Complete elimination is not realistic, but we can dramatically reduce its impact.

Salinity is caused by replacing deep-rooted native plants with shallow-rooted crops and pastures. More rainfall passed below the root zone and accumulates as groundwater so that watertables rise. The groundwater mobilises natural salts in the soil as it rises and carries them towards the surface, eventually degrading land and streams.

Proceedings Of The International Conference On Genetic Improvement Of Sorghum And Pearl Millet, Darrell Rosenow, Gary Peterson, John Mullet, Henry Nguyen, Gebisa Ejeta, John Axtell, David Andrews, Jeff Dahlberg, A. Bruce Maunder, Kay Porter, Mike Gilbert, John Witcombe, John Stenhouse, C. Tom Hash, Kanayo Nwanze, Sam Mukuru, Anand Kumar, Francisco Gomez, Aboubacar Toure, Ouendeba Botorou

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

In 1971, an international symposium, "Sorghum in the Seventies", organized by the All India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement Project with support from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Rockefeller Foundation was held in Hyderabad, India. The symposium reviewed the current knowledge base of the scientific, production and nutritional aspects of sorghum as a crop and as a human food. In 1981, ICRISAT, INTSORMIL, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) sponsored "Sorghum in the Eighties", an international symposium at ICRISAT Center in India, to review the achievements accomplished in sorghum research during the preceding 10 years. They reviewed …

Bulletin 4329 - Environmental Hazards Of Farming In Western Australia, Greg Hamilton, Ian Foster, Philip M. Goulding

Bulletins 4000 -

This Bulletin is one of a series on crop establishment practices which minimise soil disturbance and improve stubble retention. In partnership with primary producers, Agriculture Western Australia 1s focussed on improved and profitable farming which conserves or improves the quality of the State's soil resources.

Agricultural land in Western Australia is naturally fragile and susceptible to degradation. Salinity and wind erosion are the most visible and significant forms of degradation, but all forms are present over large areas of agricultural land (House of Representatives Enquiry into Land Degradation in Western Australia, 1988).

The fragility of Western Australia's soils has been …

Arkansas Rice Research Studies 1995, R. J. Norman, B. R. Wells

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The research reports in this publication represent one year of results; therefore, these results should not be used as a basis for long-term recommendations. Several research reports in this publication dealing with soil fertility also appear in Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 1995 , Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series 450. This duplication is the result of the overlap in research coverage between the two series and our effort to inform Arkansas rice producers of all the research being conducted with funds from the rice check-off. Use of products and trade names in any of the research reports of this publication …

Esperance Region Catchment Planning Strategy, John Platt, Brendan Nicholas, Rod Short, Stephen Gee

Natural resources published reports

The Esperance Region Catchment Planning Strategy project was initiated by the Esperance Land Conservation District Committee.

This report provides a reference document for farmers and other land managers such as government agencies and local government, and should help them to strategically focus their catchment planning activities.

It will help land managers to identify the major catchments and land systems in their area, management issues for long term sustainability, and a regional strategy for catchment planning.

Catchment planning involves both technical and social processes.

Technically it is a process of planning the sustainable use of water resources within a catchment.

Bulletin No 4315 - Western Australian Agricultural & Fishery Exports At A Glance...1995/96, Graeme Robertson Dr, P. P. Rogers

Bulletins 4000 -

Second edition (revised and updated) January 1997.

Western Australia's economic growth and high productivity is based on a well established export-oriented economy that relies heavily on primary production.

Our abundant and diverse range of agricultural and fish products is supported by highly innovative and dynamic primary industries. These are backed by modern financial and physical infrastructure.

Western Australia's agricultural industries and fisheries have an international reputation for a professional approach to business and a proven track record in producing and supplying food and fibre products of consistently high quality. Clean air, unpolluted oceans and waterways, and abundant quality farmland are …

Germplasm And Cultivar Development, M. D. Casler, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, G. C. Eizenga, S. D. Stratton

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cool-season forage grasses have evolved, and continue to evolve, in natural ecosystems subject to environmental factors both in the presence and absence of human influences. The literature often lacks facts describing the evolution and domestication of forage grasses. Furthermore, the literature on this subject mainly deals with evolution of species in the broad scope, i.e., on a scale of hundreds of thousands or millions or years. Thus, some of our conclusions are necessarily speculative and are highly subject to the nature of the research that has been reported. We describe the forces of selection that act upon cool-season forage grasses …

Nf96-273 Establishment Of Kentucky Bluegrass For Seed Production In The Nebraska Panhandle And Southeastern Wyoming, Ray E. Weed, David D. Baltensperger, Robert C. Shearman, Roger Hammons, Jim Krall

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebFact contains information on selecting turfgrass seed fields, preparation of the fields for seeding, fertilizing for grass establishment, seeding, certification of seed quality, cultivar selection and quality maintenance, and suggested additional readings and resources.

Application Of The Single Kernel Wheat Characterization Technology To Sorghum Grain, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, C. R. Martin, F. C. Felker, J. L. Steele

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A single kernel wheat characterization system (SKWCS) was recently developed by the USDA, ARS Grain Marketing Research Laboratory and is currently being marketed by Perten Instruments North America, Inc. This device has been shown to accurately measure individual seed hardness, moisture, and size of wheat. The objective of this study was to determine if the SKWCS technology could be applied to the measurement of sorghum grain. Grains from 64 sorghum plots grown at Mead, NE in 1992 were characterized using a prototype SKWCS at the USDA, ARS Grain Marketing Research Laboratory. Problems encountered were primarily associated with the single kernel …

Annual Forages: New Approaches For C-4 Forages, Jeffrey F. Pedersen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The current agricultural paradigm in the U.S. is heavily biased towards the production and marketing of crops as commodities. This paradigm is kept in place by grain handling and marketing infrastructure, as well as government farm programs, designed for crops as commodities. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) and maize (Zea mays L.) grown for grain certainly fit into this current paradigm.

A new approach to agricultural production and marketing, identity preserved products, is gaining in importance. This is made possible through new technologies and markets demanding products designed specifically for their needs. Examples of investment in identity preserved …

Breeding Sorghum And Pearl Millet For Forage And Fuel, Jeffrey F. Pedersen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] are unique species in their ability to be used in many forage llivestock system roles. Such flexibility has made prioritizing breeding objectives difficult and has even contributed to contradictory opinions on appropriate forage breeding objectives. Few breeding projects identified in the USDA-ARS, USDA-CREES, or at ICRISAT had forage sorghum or forage pearl millet as their sole research assignment. In the United States, it can be argued that breeding resources committed to forage sorghum improvement are probably declining. A new forage sorghum and forage pearl millet …

Media Effects On Phenotype Of Callus Cultures Initiated From Photoperiod-Insensitive, Elite Inbred Sorghum Lines, H. F. Kaeppler, Jeffrey F. Pedersen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a crop of worldwide agronomic importance. Routine production of high quality (friable, embryogenic, fast growing) callus cultures is fundamental to tissue culture based genetic study and improvement of sorghum. Genotype by culture medium interactions for sorghum callus growth and morphology have been previously reported. The objective of this study was to identify tissue culture media that would support high quality callus growth across photoperiod insensitive, relatively elite genotypes. Explants from immature inflorescences of 11 sorghum genotypes were cultured on 6 tissue culture media of differing composition. After 3 and 5 months in culture, calli …

Bulletin 4307 - Grass Control In Pastures Using Herbicides, Alexandra Wallace

Bulletins 4000 -

This Bulletin discusses three methods for herbicide control of grasses in pastures:

• pasture manipulation, in the early stages of pasture growth;
• spray-topping late in the growing season; and
• hay freezing, late in the growing season.

Arkansas Rice Research Studies 1994, B. R. Wells

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

The research reports in this publication represent one year of results; therefore, these results should not be used as a basis for longterm recommendations. Several research reports in this publication dealing with soil fertility also appear in Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 1994, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series 443. This duplication is the result of the overlap in research coverage between the two series and our effort to inform Arkansas rice producers of all the research being conducted with funds from the rice check-off.

Effects Of Tactical Responses And Risk Aversion On Farm Wheat Supply, Ross S. Kingwell

Natural Resources Research Articles

A discrete stochastic programming model of the farming system of the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia is used to examine the effect of tactical responses and risk aversion on wheat supply. Including within-season tactical changes to wheat areas decreases the own-price elasticity of supply. By contrast, introducing risk aversion has no consistent effect on the own-price elasticity of supply. The implications for supply models are discussed.

Buntine-West Wubin And West Maya Catchment Management Report, William Oldfield, Natalie Hunt

Natural resources published reports

Buntine West/Wubin land Conservation District was formed when a number of landholders wanted to extend and join on to some existing deep drains. At first the group concentrated on the deep drains with some farmers joining on anda project to connect the drains up througha naturally occurring saline area and to run the main drain into a salt lake system. Funding was attained for 50% of the project and farmers with drains paid for the rest. It was considered unfair for landowners whose land this drain went through to pay all the cost as it was not draining arable land. …

Intsormil Annual Report 1994, John M. Yohe, Joan Frederick, Dorothy Stoner

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

USAID conducted an overall evaluation of the Collaborative Research Support Programs (CRSPs), including lNTSORMIL, between May and July 1994. According to the "CRSP Evaluation Scope of Work" developed by USAID, the goal of this evaluation was to provide an objective assessment of the degree to which each of the CRSPs has had an impact on increasing agricultural production and development, and improving natural resource management through the development and dissemination of new and/or more appropriate sustainable agriculture technologies. The evaluation also assessed the extent to which the CRSP framework has responded to past Agency expectations and objectives and if the …

Bulletin Ma 1/95 - Cauliflower Growing In The South West, M. Shellabear, D. Phillips

Horticulture published reports

Manjimup Regional Office

Agdex No 254/11

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracae, variety botrytis) is closely related to cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts and kohl rabi. This group of plants may be referred to as crucifers, brassicas or cole crops.

The cauliflower probably developed in Italy from broccoli. The head is the short. thickened part of the immature flowers, before these have differentiated into flower-buds. Cauliflowers are the third most valuable vegetable crop grown in WA.

An Automated Plot Harvest System For Use With A Commercial Forage Harvester, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, Kenneth J. Moore

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

This automated harvest system is based on minimal modification of currently available commercial forage harvesters. Using 6.8 m plots separated by 0.75 m alleys, a single operator can harvest, finely chop, and collect wet plot weights of forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] or pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Hr.] in <1 min per plot. Harvested material is deposited in a pile in the center of each plot. Subsamples for moisture and quality analysis can easily and safely be obtained from the pile.

Brown· Midrib Sorghum Silage For Midlactation Dairy Cows, R. J. Grant, S. G. Haddad, K. J. Moore, Jeffrey F. Pedersen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Brown midrib sorghum silage was compared with alfalfa, corn, and normal sorghum silages for its effect on performance, ruminal metabolism, and digestive kinetics of Holstein dairy cows in midlactation. Twelve cows averaging 90 ± 5 DIM were assigned to one of four diets in replicated 4 X 4 Latin squares with 4-wk periods. Additionally, 3 ruminally fistulated cows (95 ± 20 DIM) were assigned to the same diets in a 3x 4 Youden square for measurement of ruminal characteristics. Diets were fed as isonitrogenous TMR that contained 65% silage (OM basis). The DMl was greater for the corn and brown …

Land Management Report For The Kent River Catchment, Sue Kelly

Natural resources published reports

The Kent River Catchment is located in the South-West of Western Australia, approximately between latitudes 34° 15' and 35° 10' South and longitudes 116° 45" and 117° 50° East. The north-eastern boundary of the catchment stretches to the Albany Highway at Tenterden, and from there the catchment curves towards Rocky Gully before continuing to the South Coast (Figure 1.1.1). The catchment is located within the Shires of Cranbrook, Plantagenet and Denmark.

The Kent River Catchment is part of Basin 604, which is the Water Authority descriptor for the Kent, Bow and Kordabup River catchments collectively. Basin 604 has a total …

Understanding Fertilisers For Table Grapes, B. H. Goldspink, I. Cameron, J. Campbell-Clause, N. Lantzke, C. Gordon

Viticulture research reports

A course run by the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, August 1995.

The purpose of this publication is to clarify the role fertilisers play in commercial table grape production and to detail methods of selecting fertilisers. This selection process however is not easy as there are over 600 registered fertilisers in Western Australia.

In deciding which is the best fertiliser for a particular property many factors have to be considered. These include:

* Age of vine

* Rootstock

* Variety of table grape

* Soil type

* Soil chemistry

* Irrigation methods

* Previous fertiliser history Previous yield, vigour and …