While the individual benefits of technologies like alternate wetting and drying (AWD), site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), mechanical transplanting, laser-guided land leveling (LLL), and herbicide application are well-documented, limited information exists on their combined effects on rice productivity and profitability.

Remote sensing has shown potential to provide accurate and real-time information on grassland forage quality, crucial for the management of livestock systems. However, there are still uncertainties that must be considered to make models reliable and practical. A source of discrepancy regards the measurement unit describing forage quality variables, namely either mass-based concentration (%) or mass

The rise in winter and spring nighttime temperatures is a hallmark of global climate change, and warming has been proven to stimulate N2O emissions from wheat fields. However, it remains elusive whether this increasing effect is influenced by straw return, a practice considered globally as a future climate-smart agricultural strategy.

The partitioning of light between species in intercrops changes over time in relation to the earliness of canopy development of each species, the final plant height, and the growth duration. Seasonal patterns of light capture in crop species mixtures may be reflected in the yield components of the species.

Mitigating methane (CH4) emissions from the rice paddy is crucial for preventing global warming and achieving carbon neutrality in agroecosystems. While biochars are effective soil amendments for reducing CH4 emissions, their efficacy varies with different feedstocks, soil properties, climate conditions, and field management. A global evaluation needs to be conducted.

Monitoring the aboveground biomass (AGB) is critical for assessing crop growth status, predicting yield, and making informed crop management decisions.

Enhancing crop yield by increasing planting density has long been a widely accepted agricultural practice. However, high-density planting is prone to problems, such as increased intraspecific competition. Growth regulators are often used to mitigate the challenges posed by heightened intraspecific competition and the negative effects on kernel setting and final yield associated with dense planting

Given the significant impact of grain number (GN) on wheat grain yield, it is critical to gain a deeper understanding of the physiological bases of GN determination. The formation of both spike number (SN) and grains per spike (GS) coincides temporally and undergoes a parallel process characterized by the extensive generation of structures (such as tillers or floret primordia), succeeded by substantial

The agricultural intensification due to global increased food demand has harmed pollinator communities worldwide. However, some of the economically most important oilseed crops, such as the sunflower, depend on pollinators to produce seeds. While self-fertile varieties have undergone genetic selection to guarantee productivity, the pollinator-dependence levels and the economic contribution of pollinators

Soil acidification poses a severe threat to both global food security and sustainable agriculture. However, a quantitative assessment of its impact on crop yield reduction across different soil conditions and crop varieties is still lacking.

Legume-grass intercropping is proposed as a globally sustainable approach to enhance forage crop productivity and quality while supporting agropastoral ecosystem functioning. However, the mechanism involved in interspecific complementarity and competition driven forage productivity, quality, resource utilization, and economic benefits across different proportions of intercrops remains unclear, particularly

Agricultural management practices are changing from the high-yield production to high-efficient production and now sustainable production in order to satisfy the increasing demand for food. We attempted to establish a high-yielding and high-efficient maize production practice, Integrated Soil-Crop System Management (ISCM). The ISCM increased yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), which could be due

Potato belongs to the category of the staple food playing an important role in global food security and nutrition. Because potato plants have a shallow root system and stop nitrogen uptake early in the growing season (between 20 and 60 days after emergence), potato fields are more prone to leaching of nitrate to lower soil layers and the groundwater than deep rooting crops, thus posing a higher risk

Humic acid urea (HAU) has become the leading product of high-efficiency nitrogen (N) fertilizer worldwide. Value-added urea products represented by HAU account for 80 % of the market share of high-efficient urea in China. To our knowledge, precise field monitoring of the agronomy and environmental performance of HAU has not been conducted.

A better understanding of the plasticity of grain number (GN) components may be essential to design better management and breeding strategies. Alterations in resource availability during pre-anthesis may affect the interplay between the main GN components, spike number (SN) and grains per spike (GS). Quantifying the magnitude, and understanding the physiological bases, of differences in plasticity

Limited irrigation is a measure to avoid sugar beet yield reduction and improve water use efficiency in arid areas. However, it is unclear whether the optimization of traditional nitrogen fertilizer management under the limited irrigation conditions can further improve sugar beet yield and economic benefits.

Nitrogen (N) plays integral roles in plant growth and yield. Finding ways to increase plant yield with reduced N usage will promote both agricultural and environmental sustainability. Melatonin acts as a multifunctional regulatory molecule in numerous metabolic processes crucial for plant growth and development as well as response to environmental stresses. The effects of melatonin on the material

Comprehending the intricacies of crop growth and its impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is crucial for food security and agricultural resilience to climate change.

Wheat is an important food crop for mankind, simultaneous improvement of wheat yield and quality is human most important goal, but they often cannot increase at the same time.

It is well-established that maize (Zea mays L.) grown in extended rotations produces higher grain yields compared to maize grown in one- or two-phase rotations, even when nitrogen (N) is not limiting. Understanding the mechanisms driving this phenomenon, commonly referred to as ‘the rotation effect’, is important for designing cropping systems that use land and other resources efficiently. Differences

The random forest model (RF) has been widely applied for crop yield prediction. However, extrapolation, measurement errors, and uncertainty arising from limited predictive power of covariates may affect the model performance.

Mitigating environmental impacts while enhancing grain yield is essential for sustainable rice production. One-time urea deep placement (UDP) has been recognized for its potential to reduce nitrogen (N) loss and improve rice yield. However, this method applies an excessive amount of nitrogen as a basal fertilizer, which increases N₂O emissions during the mid-season aeration (MSA) phase and promotes

Accurately estimating the partitioning of daily photosynthetic assimilates among different plant organs is crucial for understanding crop growth and yield formation. However, challenges in field measurements, especially in assessing belowground biomass, hinder precise evaluation of the partitioning process.

Unbalanced competition for water poses a major challenge to intercropping systems in semiarid regions. The role of biochar as a soil amendment in regulating water balance and crop productivity is unclear.

Legume-inclusive cropping is increasingly appreciated for enhancing crop yield and sustainability. However, their impacts on subsequent oilseed rape productivity under reduced nitrogen (N) inputs have not been well explored. In a five-year field rotation experiment, oilseed rape was cultivated with N fertilizer at zero (MN0), recommended (MN100), and 35 % reduction (MN65) following maize monoculture

The effects of sulfur and potassium fertilizers on wheat yield and quality have been well studied, but most of them are used as basal fertilizers. However, the root system is senescent at the later stages of wheat growth and cannot absorb sufficient sulfur and potassium fertilizers plant needed. It is still unclear whether sulfur and potassium foliar applications at the later stages can affect wheat

Sulfur (S) deficiency has been increasing due to decreased natural deposition in the United States (US), highlighting the need to integrate S with nitrogen (N) in corn (Zea mays) nutrient management. Herein, we assessed corn response to various N and S rates and examined the impact of N, S, and N × S on i) grain yield, N/S agronomic efficiency (NAE/SAE), and N/S partial factor productivity (NPFP/SPFP)

Effective nutrient management is critical for crop growth and development. However, using nitrogen-based fertilizers in agriculture raises substantial concerns about environmental pollution. The optimal timing for applying nitrogen to maximize floret fertility and production efficiency in wheat remains undetermined.

Irrigation and fertilizer applications, the two most common practices to ensure high yield, affect almost all soil biogeochemical processes including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. How to balance irrigation and nitrogen application in farmland to synergize GHG emissions and crop yield is an inherent requirement for achieving sustainability, particularly in China rice paddy fields.

Conversion from single rice (SR) or double rice (DR) to ratoon rice (RR) is gaining growing popularity in China. Yet, a quantitative synthesis of their impact on greenhouse gas (GHG, including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O)) emissions and grain yield has not been conducted.

Wheat is an essential food source and is subjected to intense breeding efforts for increased grain yield, but stagnation in grain yield improvements has been reported in many regions. The identification of genetically linked factors impeding further progress in wheat grain yield improvement is therefore urgently required.

Cover crops (CCs) exert significant influences on both soil water content (SWC) and nitrogen (N) cycling, with their effects often varying across different stages of crop succession. Many research endeavors overlook this seasonal variability by focusing solely on single sampling time points.

Understanding the canopy-root interactions is the key to further improving maize yield with dense planting. However, the effects of nature-based nutrient management on these interactions in dense maize production are not yet well understood.

Leaf area index (LAI) and leaf area distribution within the maize plant are important traits used to explain and predict light interception and thus crop productivity.

Soil water and fertility management have been the main challenges of crop production in West Africa, and their impacts are exacerbated by climate variability. While research has been conducted to optimize fertility and water applications for rainfed crops production in this region, little is known about the management of these resources for off-season cereal crops production.

Soil nutrient deficiency is one of the significant challenges in grain production, particularly nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). These deficiencies not only reduce crop yields but also cause associated environmental issues, such as soil structure deterioration and ecosystem services diminution.

Ratoon rice (RR) has witnessed a rapid expansion in China primarily driven by its superior profitability, cost-effectiveness and lower labor requirements compared to double-season rice (DR). Identifying proper management of irrigation and stubble height cutting is essential for balancing crop production, greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O, and economic benefits in RR cropping systems

Intercropping has gained attention as a strategy to diversify cereal-based systems and enhance sustainability. However, its performance in Mediterranean conditions, especially in non-organic farming, remains less explored.

Improving the productivity of agro-ecosystems and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential for ensuring food security and mitigating global warming. However, frequent shallow tillage (ST) compromises crop productivity and resource utilization in China’s paddy rice-upland crop rotation system, resulting in high GHG emissions and low ecological economic benefits.

High nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs coupled with abundant water and heat in region of rice–vegetable rotation systems lead to low N use efficiency and high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Biochar amendment can mitigate GHG emissions and enhance crop yield. However, its effect on these systems remains poorly understood.

Several meta-analyses have demonstrated that intercropping increases land use efficiency and fertilizer use efficiency of grain-producing crop species, but no overarching synthesis has been made on the effects of fertilizer management on fertilizer use efficiency.

In high-latitude regions, variable weather conditions during the growing season and in winter cause considerable variation in forage grass productivity. Tools for predicting grassland status and yield, such as field measurements, satellite image analysis and process-based simulation models, can be combined in decision support for grassland management. Here, we calibrated and validated the BASic GRAssland

Poor fertilizer management and intensive tillage have increased production costs, lowered productivity, and significantly depleted soil nutrients. Although nutrient management options (NMOs) within crop establishment options (CEOs) based maize production system (MPS) is seldom explored, CEOs is increasingly advocated to tackle problems with soil health, food security, and climate change. Developing

Global dimming reduces incident radiation, and thus affects rice yield. Canopy structure is closely related to light interception, internal light distribution, photosynthesis and radiation use efficiency (RUE). However, less attention is paid to the effects of global dimming on rice canopy structure. Whether weak light leads to poor canopy structure and thus affects light distribution and RUE, thereby

The use of alfalfa in rotation with intensive crops is common practice to mitigate the physical and chemical issues arising from intensive farming practices. However, there is a dearth of studies on this practice. Given the current concern regarding climate change and the significant impact agriculture has on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, understanding the emissions associated with this practice

There is an urgent need to address the contradiction between maize production and soil nutrient shortages to achieve efficient maize production with minimum fertilizer, labor and environmental costs. Determination of rational Nitrogen (N) application patterns is the key to solving this problem.

Traditionally, 100 % phosphorus (P) fertilizer application as a band at various depths before sowing significantly influenced crop root growth and yield by reducing P fixation and optimizing its spatial distribution. However, with the advent of drip fertigation in Xinjiang, China, P fertilization practices have shifted from 100 % basal to a combination of basal and fertigation for enhanced P nutrition

Rice production systems are significant sources of anthropogenic emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) i.e., methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Practicing alternate wetting and drying (AWD) in rice substantially affects rice yield as well as CH4 and N2O emissions from rice fields. However, it is difficult to determine global impacts from individual experiments as these studies differ in practice

Rice yield is low at 2.1 t ha−1 in sub-Saharan Africa. Increased yield is a critical challenge to food security and environmental conservation in this region. However, smallholder farmers have limited access to irrigation, mineral fertilizers, and improved crop varieties. One approach that even resource-limited farmers can easily manipulate is to optimize planting densities. However, there is limited

Shifting the sowing date has been proposed as a simple agronomic lever to enhance crop establishment, growth, and yield, which could be a climate change adaptation strategy.

Cropping systems and tillage practices suitable for local environmental conditions to balance the demand for food production and environmental impacts are critical for achieving a low-carbon cycle and sustainability of agricultural production systems in arid and semiarid regions.

Organic agriculture is often regarded as less damaging to the environment than conventional agriculture, though at the expense of lower yields. Field-specific precision agriculture may benefit organic production practices given the inherent need of organic farmers to understand spatiotemporal variation on large-scale fields. Here the primary research question is whether on-farm precision experimentation

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) consumes a large amount of soil inorganic nitrogen (N) but can supply ample rhizosphere deposited N to subsequent crops. Therefore, N fertilizer application levels should be optimized for corn under long-term alfalfa-corn (AC) rotation system to achieve high yield and N use efficiency.

Two of the key limitations for sustainably increasing agricultural production are the scarcity of land and fresh water resources. Establishing land and water productivity gaps is, therefore, essential for measuring how efficiently these resources are being utilised and assessing the scope for increasing feed and food production. Monitoring the productivity gaps at large scales or over time using field

Increasing global demand for wheat necessitates heightened the nitrogen (N) input. However, this amplifies nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, impairing global climate change.

Although alternative cropping systems are crucial for enhancing food security and soil quality, continuous maize monoculture remains leading to high environmental consequences and lower sustainability.

Randomised designs are often preferred over systematic designs by agronomists and biometricians. For on-farm trials, however, the choice may depend on the objective of the experiment. If the purpose is to create a prescription map of a continuous input for each plot in a grid covering a large strip trial, a systematic design may be a better choice, although it often attracts less discussion and attention

Summer crops are exposed to heat and drought stresses at critical stages during and after flowering, and their intensity and frequency are likely to increase with climate change. Agronomic stress avoidance offers the opportunity to temporally separate critical crop stages from heat and drought events. However, it might require sowing cold-sensitive summer crops earlier into colder than recommended

Nitrogen (N) deficiency is the single biggest cause of the yield gap in Australian wheat production. Nitrogen fertiliser is a costly input and prediction of crop seasonal demand for N in Australia’s variable climate is difficult, so farmers are conservative with investment in N fertiliser, leading to under-fertilisation and over reliance on soil organic N.

Mulching with polyethylene film is a common technique in rain-fed regions used to address insufficient precipitation and heat, and thus promote crop growth, but it can lead to soil pollution from plastic residues. Biodegradable film mulch (BDM) is assumed to be a viable solution to address this concern. To evaluate the effects of polyethylene and biodegradable film mulching on socio-economic and environmental