International Journal of Plant Production
Volume:12 Issue: 2, June 2018

This paper evaluates the environmental impacts and economic aspects of saffron and canola production systems using energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission indices; economic indicators; pesticide risk (field environmental impact—FEIQ); tillage impact (TI); fertilizer, labour, land and water use efficiency, and the eco-efficiency index. Data used in this study were obtained from all growers of saffron and canola (35 for saffron and 60 for canola) in the Maragheh—Bonab plain using a face to face survey. The results showed that canola production was more energy-intensive than saffron. The global warming potential (GWP) and carbon footprint (CF) obtained for canola was higher than saffron. Moreover, FEIQ and TI for canola were higher than saffron. Although canola recorded more economic labour productivity, the saffron was superior to canola in terms of energy and economic indices, environmental aspects (GHG emission, TI, FEIQ), and water, land and nutrients use efficiency.

Plant-based diagnosis is important for determining the status of crop nitrogen (N) nutrition. We aimed to localize a critical N dilution curve and validate the applicability for maize hybrids in the North China Plain (NCP), and to explore the feasibility of using leaf chlorophyll (Chl) to estimate N nutrition index (NNI). Here, the use of a gradient of N fertilizer treatments with maize hybrids was conducted for 2 years, and Chl content from the youngest collared leaf in addition to NNI values were determined for the first season. The parameters of the fitted critical N curve were essentially identical across hybrids and years. The localized curve (N c  = 33.395 W−0.396) and NNI could strongly distinguish plant N status. Chl and relative Chl (R-Chl) increased with increasing N rates, and both were significantly positively related to NNI. Genotype influence was not significant when Chl was normalized to R-Chl, and the response curves of NNI as a function of R-Chl were more stable between the two hybrids. The relationships between relative yield and NNI and R-Chl were expressed as quadratic functions, but the slopes/intercepts varied across hybrids and stages. Therefore, the localization and validation of the critical N dilution curve for summer maize in NCP was confirmed, there were no differences among hybrids and climates, and the R-Chl index was suggested as a candidate for estimating NNI under this conditions. However, further investigations are needed before these results are applied to practical production.

The information on quality aspects of rice genotypes specifically developed for direct seeding in response to sowing time is limited. The present study was aimed to assess the effect of sowing time (1, 10 and 20 June) on quality of rice genotypes (RIL-367 and RIL-1649, PR-115 and PR-121) sown under direct-seeding conditions. The results revealed that newly developed genotypes (RIL-367 and RIL-1649) for dry-seeded rice (DSR) had higher head rice recovery (HRR %) as compared to PR-115 (the popular variety for DSR) and, HRR % of RIL-1649 improved (~ 63–64%) under late sowing (20 June). In each sowing date, RIL-367 and RIL-1649 had similar but lower chalkiness (

Climatic changes and increasing climatic variability’s are likely to aggravate the problems of future food security by exerting pressure on agriculture. A field experiment was conducted with Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) to assess the impact of increased temperature in polyhouse with three different treatment’s viz; 100% organic, 100% inorganic, and 50% organic  50% inorganic nutrient management on growth, yield and carbon dioxide (CO2) evolution compared to that of open natural condition. The results showed that crop production declined with increase in temperature and the mean root and shoot weight were higher in the case of open cultivated plants over the polyhouse cultivated plants. In the case of nutrient management practices, the maximum yield was with 100% application of inorganic fertilizers under open cultivated conditions whereas under polyhouse conditions, higher yield was obtained with 100% application of organic manures. Among the different treatments applied, 100% application of organic manure resulted in maximum carbon dioxide emission in open conditions with 654 mg, whereas polyhouse showed 316 mg only. The lowest value of CO2 evolution of 277 mg was observed with 50% of organic manure  50% of inorganic fertilizer’s application of fertilizers under open conditions. In all the three nutrient management treatments, the CO2 evolution (mg) reached plateau and stabilized over the last two observations. At the last interval, CO2 evolution had the values from 4.00 to 6.80 mg of CO2 in all the treatments. Cumulative CO2 evolution (mg) showed that the emission was higher under open natural conditions when compared to the polyhouse conditions at elevated temperature and this indicated that the microbial respiration was higher under natural conditions. Ambient air temperature and soil temperature was higher under polyhouse conditions than that of open natural conditions. However, soil moisture was higher under open conditions than the polyhouse conditions in most of the observations. Based on the studied parameters, it is suggested that enough mitigation strategies need to be adopted for sustaining the crop production under changing climatic scenario.

Any change in environmental conditions will affect crop growth and development and have an effect on crop productivity. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of climate change on irrigated wheat production and water use efficiency in Fars province in Iran. Accordingly, a general circulation model (HadCM3) was applied for two emission scenarios (A1B and A2) for three periods (2011–30, 2046–65 and 2080–2099) at nine locations in Fars province in central Iran. The APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator) crop model was used to simulate growth and development of wheat as well as water use efficiency under future climate scenarios. The results indicated that the increase in CO2 concentration to 674 ppm in 2099 under A1B neutralized the negative effects of high temperature during the growing season and improved crop yield. The results indicate that, by the end of the century under the A2 emission scenario 10–15% of Fars province will have a grain yield of more than 10 t ha−1 and about 65% will have a grain yield of 8–10 t ha−1. Averaged across locations, scenarios and periods, water use efficiency increased by 3.56 kg ha−1 mm−1 in the future scenarios over baseline. Overall, the improved water use efficiency under future climate change was largely the result of a significant increase in yield (from 6989.5 kg ha−1 at baseline to 8416.5 kg ha−1 in all future scenarios) and decreased evapotranspiration (from 506.8 mm at baseline to 478 mm in all future scenarios).

Twenty-five single-year field experiments were established in order to assess the effects of nitrogen fertilization on grain yield, size, and protein concentration, and to explain its response to fertilization with soil, climate, and crop management variables easy to collect. While grain yield in control treatments was positively related to rainfall during the full crop cycle and negatively related to temperature during the critical period previous to heading, grain yield response to nitrogen was positively related with the product of fertilizer nitrogen rate by rainfall. Grain protein concentration response to nitrogen fertilization was positively related to fertilizer nitrogen rate and negatively related soil nitrate. It is worth noting that the effect of N fertilization on grain protein concentration was not conditioned by rainfall. We could establish that grain protein concentration was determined by the ratio between nitrogen availability (soil nitrogen-nitrate at sowing plus nitrogen added as fertilizer) and grain yield.

The objective of the present study was to identify whether the investment in the in-furrow planting and higher application of cattle manure under irrigation water salinity condition for saffron planting is cost-effective or not. A split–split plot arrangement was conducted in complete randomized block design with irrigation water salinity levels (0.45 (fresh water, S1), 1.0 (S2), 2.0 (S3) and 3.0 (S4) dS m−1) as the main plot, cattle manure levels (30 (F1) and 60 (F2) Mg ha−1) as the sub plot and planting method (basin (P1) and in-furrow (P2)) as the sub–sub plot in three replications. Results showed that we can reach more than two-fold higher water productivity (WP) in the in-furrow planting method compared with the basin planting method. Also, application of higher cattle manure (F2 treatment) resulted in higher WP in higher salinity levels (i.e., S3 and S4 treatments).According to the net income (NI),economic water use efficiency (EWUE) and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) analysis, the production benefit of the in-furrow planting method was higher than the production cost compared with the basin method even in the first year of the planting; whereas, it was not economically feasible for basin planting method. The highest NI for the in-furrow planting method was obtained 372 × 106 Rls ha−1 that was about 3.5 times of the highest NI (12 × 106 Rls ha−1) for the basin planting method in the second year. The economic analysis results led to conclude that planting the saffron corms in furrow was found to be suitable for producing high saffron yield and consequently NI and EWUE even under high irrigation salinity levels. Therefore, it is worthwhile to change conventional basin planting method into the in-furrow planting for saffron production to achieve the higher WP and economic efficiency.