European Journal of Agronomy最新文献

{"title":"Multi-trait analysis to identify key factors influencing wheat lodging resistance and validation of an integrative lodging index","authors":"Hao Ren ,&nbsp;Qingfeng Dong ,&nbsp;Siting Li ,&nbsp;Dezheng Liu ,&nbsp;Xubin Zhang ,&nbsp;Xue Wang ,&nbsp;Liang Chen ,&nbsp;Yin-Gang Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127951","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127951","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Lodging is a complex trait that limits wheat (<em>Triticum aestivum</em> L<em>.</em>) yield potential, and no single trait can fully capture lodging resistance. Identifying key traits and developing reliable, field-applicable indicators are crucial for breeding lodging-resistant cultivars. In this study, lodging resistance was systematically assessed in 274 wheat varieties across three consecutive growing seasons (2022–2024). Genotype, growing season, growth stage, and their interactions significantly affected lodging-associated traits, with a clear temporal alignment between meteorological conditions and lodging events. Comparative analysis between lodged and non-lodged plants revealed that lodging negatively influenced spike and kernel traits. Multivariate analyses indicated that height-related traits accounted for nearly 50 % of the phenotypic variance related to lodging resistance and showed negative correlations, while traits related to stem weight and fullness explained 24 % and 8 %, respectively. Among these, stem wall thickness (SWT), second basal internode fullness (SBF), single stem elasticity (SSE), and stem strength (SS) emerged as key positive contributors, whereas plant height (PH), center of gravity height (CGH), and basal internode lengths were negatively associated. Stepwise regression and path analyses further identified SWT and SBF as primary determinants of SS, while CGH was the key factor influencing SSE. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that height-related traits exerted significant negative effects on stem anatomical structure, mechanical traits, and lodging index. Furthermore, a novel lodging index, defined as the SSE-to-CGH ratio, was proposed. It exhibited a strong correlation with the comprehensive lodging score (D value) and high consistency with clustering results, providing a practical assessment tool. These findings provide valuable insights for assessing lodging resistance and guiding strong-stem breeding strategies in wheat.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127951"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145731128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving winter wheat yield and water use efficiency using soil moisture sensor-driven precision furrow irrigation","authors":"Liguang Cheng ,&nbsp;Younggu Her ,&nbsp;Chul Soo Park ,&nbsp;Dong-Hyeon Kim ,&nbsp;Taeil Jang","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127958","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127958","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Effective water management is critical for enhancing winter wheat yield, grain quality, and resilience in rice-wheat double-cropping systems of South and East Asia. However, production in paddy soils remains constrained by spring droughts, post-anthesis waterlogging, and the absence of region-specific irrigation guidelines. This study evaluated precision irrigation strategies integrating real-time soil moisture monitoring to improve water use efficiency (WUE) and crop performance under variable climates. Field experiments conducted over three seasons (2021–2024) in South Korea compared three treatments: conventional rainfed (CRF), soil moisture-based irrigation at 55 % available soil water (SIA), and at 55 % saturation water content (SIS). SIA consistently outperformed CRF and SIS, increasing grain yield by 20–27 %, WUE by 10–22 %, and leaf area index by up to 16 %. Maintaining soil moisture within the 0–40 cm available water range between jointing and grain filling optimized growth and resource use, whereas SIS induced oversaturation and CRF suffered from moisture deficits. This study offers an integrated framework linking agronomic performance to sensor-trigger logic and on-farm constraints. By converting real-time soil-moisture readings into stage-specific irrigation rules, this work shows that the available soil water-based threshold (SIA) increases yield and WUE over rainfed and saturation-based approaches while revealing how soils and seasonal climate shape outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127958"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pre-rainfall vapor pressure deficit stress and sunshine reduction govern sub-seasonal rainfall effects on China’s rice yield","authors":"Feng Zhou ,&nbsp;Guanghan Tang ,&nbsp;Chengjie Wang ,&nbsp;Yue Qin ,&nbsp;Bo Fu ,&nbsp;Jin Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127954","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127954","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of rainfall on crop yields is highly heterogeneous, depending on its timing, intensity, and duration. However, existing studies have primarily focused on seasonal total rainfall, providing limited evidences on sub-seasonal (event-based) rainfall impacts on crop yields. This study combines nationwide site-level datasets (1999–2012) to assess rice yields response to sub-seasonal rainfall across China. The results reveal that the regional variation in rice yield sensitivity to rainfall (43 %) is primarily driven by the changes in the number of effective panicles per plant (<em>PN</em>, 28 %) and the total number of grains (<em>TG</em>, 12 %). These regional differences are linked to sub-seasonal rainfall impacts: reduced sunshine duration during the vegetative period affects <em>PN</em>, and pre-rainfall vapor pressure deficit during the reproductive period affects <em>TG</em>. Under a medium-range emission scenario (SSP2–4.5), projected rainfall changes are likely to cause an additional 7.3 ± 0.4 % decrease in national rice yields by the end of the century (2086–2100), compared to the historical baseline (1999–2012). This impact is particularly pronounced in southern China, where single and late rice yields are expected to decline by 9.3 % and 14.6 %, respectively. This contrasts with the previous projections (+1.3 ± 0.1 %) involving rainfall changes as the seasonal total. These findings underscore the necessity of incorporating sub-seasonal rainfall changes into site-specific rice production adaptation strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127954"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determination of nitrogen dilution curves and nitrogen diagnosis for oilseed flax under different nitrogen and plant density","authors":"Bin Yan ,&nbsp;Zhengjun Cui ,&nbsp;Ming Wen ,&nbsp;Bing Wu ,&nbsp;Haidi Wang ,&nbsp;Yifan Wang ,&nbsp;Yuhong Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127949","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127949","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Accurate assessment of nitrogen status in oilseed flax is crucial for optimizing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. The nitrogen nutrition index (NNI) serves as a key diagnostic tool; however, its response to the interaction between nitrogen fertilization and planting density remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, a field experiment was conducted using three nitrogen application rates (0 (N&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;), 75 (N&lt;sub&gt;75&lt;/sub&gt;), and 150 (N&lt;sub&gt;1050&lt;/sub&gt;) kg ha⁻¹) and three planting densities (4.5 (N&lt;sub&gt;450&lt;/sub&gt;), 7.5 (N&lt;sub&gt;750&lt;/sub&gt;), and 10.5 (N&lt;sub&gt;1050&lt;/sub&gt;) × 10⁶ plants ha⁻¹) to reveal the effects of nitrogen and planting density on dry matter and nitrogen accumulation, leaf area index (LAI), critical nitrogen dilution curve parameters, and ecaluating subsequent impacts on nitrogen nutition status and yield. Results showed that the high-density treatment (D&lt;sub&gt;1050&lt;/sub&gt;) and high-nitrogen treatment (N&lt;sub&gt;150&lt;/sub&gt;) significantly enhanced dry matter (DM) accumulation during the later growth stages of flax. The effect of high nitrogen on DM shifted from inhibitory during vegetative growth to promotive during reproductive growth. Planting density had a significant positive effect on DM of oilseed flax. The combination of high nitrogen and high density (N&lt;sub&gt;150&lt;/sub&gt;D&lt;sub&gt;1050&lt;/sub&gt;) substantially promoted DM accumulation at Kernel and Maturity stages. Both nitrogen application and planting density exerted significant effects on leaf area index (LAI), with the highest LAI values consistently observed under the combined high nitrogen and high density treatment. High nitrogen application suppressed nitrogen accumulation under low planting density but significantly enhanced it under high density. A significant nitrogen × density interaction was evident for the critical nitrogen dilution curve parameter A1 and A2. A1 was estimated with high precision and exhibited a nonlinear response to nitrogen, peaking at moderate application rates (N&lt;sub&gt;75&lt;/sub&gt;) under medium planting density (D&lt;sub&gt;750&lt;/sub&gt;). In contrast, parameter A2 showed greater estimation uncertainty but pronounced sensitivity to treatments, with its value sharply declining under high nitrogen, particularly at medium density (N&lt;sub&gt;150&lt;/sub&gt;D&lt;sub&gt;750&lt;/sub&gt;). Higher planting densities generally reduced A2 across all nitrogen levels. A major contribution of vegetative-stage DM and LAI to parameter A1; in contrast, parameter A2 was overwhelmingly contributed by seedling DM. All nitrogen treatments resulted in nitrogen deficiency (NNI &lt; 1) at maturity. The effectiveness of nitrogen application on NNI was highly dependent on planting density. Under low density, high nitrogen maintained superior nitrogen nutrition status through maturity. At medium density, only moderate nitrogen ensured adequate nitrogen supply at the grain-filling stage, while high nitrogen led to late-stage deficiency. Under high density, high","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127949"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From climate knowledge to adaptive action: Crop water requirement and agricultural water risk in the Yellow River Basin","authors":"Lei Sun ,&nbsp;Quanzhong Huang ,&nbsp;Dongyang Ren ,&nbsp;Min Li ,&nbsp;Xu Xu ,&nbsp;Yunwu Xiong ,&nbsp;Guanhua Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127950","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127950","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural water demand in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is increasingly shaped by climate change and human activities, posing challenges to sustainable water management. This study analyzed the temporal evolution and driving factors of crop water requirement (CWR) for four major crops—spring wheat, winter wheat, spring maize, and summer maize—using a dynamic crop coefficient model based on MODIS NDVI (2000–2020), combined with the FAO Penman–Monteith method. Pearson correlation and random forest model were employed to identify dominant climatic and anthropogenic influences. Future CWR trends (2021–2100) were projected under nine combined scenarios, integrating three CMIP6 climate pathways (SSP1–2.6, SSP2–4.5, SSP5–8.5) with three cropping area strategies (baseline, +15 %, –15 %). Finally, an assessment framework was established to evaluate agricultural water stress under future scenarios. Results show that the NDVI-based model effectively captures intra-seasonal crop variation and improves CWR estimation accuracy. From 2000–2020, per-unit CWR showed a significant increase for spring wheat and spring maize, whereas a decreasing trend was observed for summer maize. Human activities, especially the irrigated area, were the main driver of CWR change, surpassing climatic factors. Future projections indicate a significant upward trend in per-unit CWR (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.001), with wheat being more sensitive to emission scenarios. Spatially, high-CWR zones are expected to shift from the arid northwest to the central and lower plains. Scenario combined high emission with planting expansion exhibit an approximately 16 % increase in mean annual CWR and result in the highest projected water stress. These findings provide a scientific basis for adaptive water governance and climate-resilient agricultural planning in large river basins.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127950"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145697313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agronomic and physiological responses of mature ‘Rojo Brillante’ persimmon grafted onto Diospyros lotus and Diospyros virginiana under spring-regulated deficit irrigation in Mediterranean conditions","authors":"Armand Román ,&nbsp;Pablo González-Altozano ,&nbsp;Pau Martí ,&nbsp;Luis Bonet ,&nbsp;María Amparo Martínez-Gimeno ,&nbsp;Eduardo Badal","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127947","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127947","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study assessed the effects of spring-regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategies on the physiological and agronomic performance of a ‘Rojo Brillante’ persimmon (<em>Diospyros kaki</em>) orchard grafted onto <em>Diospyros lotus</em> and <em>D. virginiana</em> rootstocks. The trial was conducted from 2016 to 2019 in a commercial orchard located in Llíria (Valencia, Spain), under Mediterranean climate conditions. RDI was applied during late spring at increasing water restriction levels, while control treatments received non-limited irrigation. Results showed that RDI did not reduce yield per tree, even under severe water deficits, and consistently improved irrigation water productivity by up to 21 % in <em>D. lotus</em> and 31 % in <em>D. virginiana</em> compared to fully irrigated controls. The reduction in fruit drop observed in RDI treatments led to a 30 % increase in harvested fruits in <em>D. lotus</em> and 42 % in <em>D. virginiana</em>. On average, fruit drop-to-flowering ratios were lower under RDI (36.5 % in <em>D. lotus</em>, 68.6 % in <em>D. virginiana</em>) than in fully irrigated controls (49.9 % and 81.6 %, respectively). <em>D. lotus</em> trees showed more stable yields and a favourable vegetative-reproductive balance, while <em>D. virginiana</em> exhibited a different water stress response pattern in the seasonal dynamics of stem water potential, which is used to characterise differences in plant water status rather than intrinsic drought tolerance. Still, <em>D. virginiana</em> trees produced lower and more variable yields under both irrigation regimes, likely due to higher fruit drop and a potential biennial bearing pattern. Overall, the findings support spring RDI as a viable strategy to enhance irrigation water productivity in persimmon orchards.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127947"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145689963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Boosting crop resilience to waterlogging through hormone-regulated root traits","authors":"Onusha Sharmita ,&nbsp;Abu Bakar Siddique ,&nbsp;Ke Liu ,&nbsp;Sergey Shabala ,&nbsp;Matthew Tom Harrison ,&nbsp;Meixue Zhou ,&nbsp;Chenchen Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127948","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127948","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil waterlogging can result from excessive rainfall, poor soil drainage, high groundwater tables and inadequate drainage, leading to hypoxic or anoxic environments in crop rhizophores. Oxygen-deprived conditions negatively impact root growth and, in severe cases, lead to root senescence due to detrimental soil physiochemical properties, such as lack of nutrient availability and accumulation of toxic elements (elemental toxicity). As the primary plant tissue affected by waterlogging, plant roots have evolved several adaptive strategies to restore oxygen supply, optimize nutrient acquisition, and mitigate elemental toxicity. Previous research has been primarily focussed on ‘oxygen-to-roots’ traits, such as development of adventitious and lateral roots, formation of aerenchyma (air-filled cavities) and the radial oxygen loss barriers. However, underlying phytohormones regulatory networks in response to waterlogging have often been overlooked. This review synthesizes contemporary research on hormonal regulation of root adaptations under waterlogging, aiming to fill key knowledge gaps by linking hormone signalling to root-based waterlogging and soil toxicity tolerance. We highlight roles of ethylene, ABA, and auxin in regulating aerenchyma formation and development of barrier to reduce radial oxygen loss and show that auxin and cytokinin are vital for lateral and adventitious root development and regulating cellular anatomical adaptations. We propose that ethylene, gibberellins (GAs), and brassinosteroids (BRs) are all crucial hormones that play roles in nodule development for nitrogen supply under waterlogging. Importantly, for the first time, we reviewed crucial roles of phytohormones on regulating elemental toxicity underlying waterlogging tolerance. This review also highlights the mitigating roles of emerging hormones, such as melatonin and strigolactones, in enhancing root-associated adaptation. Our review comprehensively elucidates phytohormones derived waterlogging tolerance mechanisms including linking phytohormones signalling to root-associated traits and provides valuable insights for oriented breeding strategies, aiming to improve crop resilience and ensure sustainable crop production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127948"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145657299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cereal-legume intercropping stabilizes yield and economic advantages under variable rainfall in semiarid rainfed environment","authors":"Wei Wang ,&nbsp;Bao-Zhong Wang ,&nbsp;Wei Zhang ,&nbsp;Meng-Ying Li ,&nbsp;Jian-Ming Li ,&nbsp;Sheng-Jun Ji ,&nbsp;Muhammad Abrar ,&nbsp;Muhammad Maqsood Ur Rehman ,&nbsp;Wasim Khan ,&nbsp;Hong-Yan Tao ,&nbsp;Mohamed S. Sheteiwy ,&nbsp;Wen-Ying Wang ,&nbsp;You-Cai Xiong","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127942","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127942","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cereal-legume intercropping is widely recognized for enhancing crop productivity in semiarid rainfed systems. However, the mechanisms underlying its yield advantages and stability under variable rainfall conditions remain unclear, limiting its adoption as a climate-resilient strategy. This study evaluated the stability of crop yield and economic benefits across inter-annual rainfall fluctuations (418 mm in 2019, 362 mm in 2020, and 253 mm in 2021) in a three-year field experiment. We assessed yield–economic performance of maize-soybean and wheat-soybean intercropping systems and their impacts on key soil functional parameters to elucidate the mechanisms underlying climate resilience. Both maize-soybean and wheat-soybean intercropping were observed to harvest 17–26 % higher yields (per plant) and 1.04–1.26 land equivalent ratios, therefore enhancing land-use efficiency. Economically, maize-based systems were the most profitable, while wheat-soybean intercropping turned to improve net returns by 1654 USD ha⁻¹ . Climate-resilience analysis showed that intercropping reduced yield volatility by 10–61 % when precipitation declined (418–253 mm), highlighting its role in stabilizing agroecosystem productivity and economic benefits. Also, intercropping systems were found to significantly improve total nitrogen (13.7 %–20.6 %) and phosphorus (16.3 %–19.8 %). Mechanistically, the above indicators were resulted from improving soil microbial biomass (20.8 %–23.0 %), enhancing extracellular enzyme activities (9.3 %–15.8 % for C- and P-hydrolases) and promoting soil moisture retention (11.0 %–12.9 %). The data confirmed that intercropping can greatly enhance soil multifunctionality and thus contribute to yield and economic stability. Therefore, cereal-legume intercropping can act as a scalable strategy to enhance productivity, soil quality, and climate resilience in semiarid rainfed environment. The findings offer policymakers and smallholders a sustainable solution to balance land-use efficiency and climate adaptation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127942"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145650848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing UAV-based herbicide applications for sustainable wheat weed management by a novel multi-parameter field evaluation under variable environmental conditions","authors":"Biljana Boskovic ,&nbsp;Dragana Bozic ,&nbsp;Milan Drazic ,&nbsp;Kosta Gligorevic ,&nbsp;Velibor Spalevic ,&nbsp;Shuraik Kader ,&nbsp;Milos Pajic","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127945","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127945","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer potential for precise, sustainable herbicide application in wheat, but their efficacy under variable field conditions requires robust evaluation. This study aims to rectify these research gaps and introduces a novel multi-parameter field evaluation of UAV-based herbicide applications for sustainable wheat weed management, explicitly evaluating the critical impact of real-time meteorological variability and application parameters. Field experiments over two growing seasons (2021/2022 and 2022/2023) compared UAV applications (30 L ha⁻¹, fine-to-medium droplets) at 1.5 m and 2.5 m altitudes with conventional spraying (200 L ha⁻¹, medium-coarse droplets), using constant doses of two commercial herbicide formulations (1. <em>tritosulfuron</em> + <em>florasulam</em>; 2. <em>iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium</em> + <em>amidosulfuron</em> + <em>mefenpyr-diethyl</em>). Efficacy was measured via species-specific weed density and fresh mass reduction. UAV treatments achieved significantly higher or equivalent suppression of <em>Capsella bursa-pastoris</em>, <em>Lactuca serriola</em>, <em>Sinapis arvensis</em>, and <em>Veronica persica</em> compared to conventional spraying. Despite more challenging conditions (high temperature, lower humidity, stronger wind) in the second season, overall efficacy increased, attributed to using a more effective herbicide formulation, underscoring the critical role of herbicide selection for UAV systems. <em>Lamium purpureum</em> exhibited significant weather sensitivity, with lower flight altitude enhancing fresh mass reduction. Correlation analysis suggested temperature positively (r = 0.586, p = 0.045) and wind velocity negatively (r = ̵ 0.588, p = 0.045) influenced treatment efficacy. UAV applications achieved up to 90 % efficacy in the second year by 31 DAHA (i.e., herbicide application) while using 85 % less water. This research provides the first multi-parameter field validation of UAV herbicide application under variable environmental conditions, demonstrating its viability and significant water-saving potential. The findings offer crucial, actionable inferences for optimizing UAV parameters (altitude, droplet size) with herbicide selection and real-time weather data, benefiting global precision agriculture efforts towards resource-efficient and environmentally responsible weed management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127945"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145619438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating canopy structure into remote sensing inversion strategies: Optimizing plant functional trait retrieval","authors":"Zixi Shi ,&nbsp;Shuo Shi ,&nbsp;Jia Sun ,&nbsp;Wei Gong ,&nbsp;Lu Xu ,&nbsp;Binhui Wang ,&nbsp;Chenxi Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127931","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127931","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate retrieval of plant functional traits is critical for monitoring crop growth and improving agronomic management. Canopy structural parameters, such as leaf area index (LAI) and leaf inclination distribution function (LIDFa), strongly influence inversion accuracy. Quantifying canopy structural uncertainties and developing strategies to improve retrieval accuracy are crucial. In this study, we developed an inversion framework based on the Soil Canopy Observation of Photosynthesis and Energy fluxes (SCOPE) model, integrating reflectance and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) data. Using both simulation modelling and field measurements in NEON STER crop field, we introduced multi-level prior noise and evaluated how uncertainties in LAI and LIDFa propagate into the retrieval of chlorophyll content (Cab), maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax), and fluorescence quantum efficiency (fqe). To assess the influence of canopy structure and improve retrieval accuracy, three inversion strategies—Prior-Matched (PM), Regularized (RI), and No-Prior (NP)—were designed and tested for their accuracy and robustness. The results showed that second-order Sobol’ indices (S2) captured interactions among canopy structural parameters and functional traits, particularly between Cab-LAI, Cab-LIDFa and fqe-LAI, with sensitive spectral ranges at 680–740 nm (fluorescence) and 600–720 nm (reflectance). Error amplification analysis under six noise levels showed that structural uncertainties significant amplified reflectance and fluorescence variations, with red-edge shifts (<span><math><mrow><mi>Δ</mi><mi>RE</mi></mrow></math></span>) and 740 nm fluorescence changes (<span><math><mrow><mi>Δ</mi><msub><mrow><mi>F</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>740</mn></mrow></msub></mrow></math></span>) being most sensitive. Incorporating prior canopy structure information improved inversion accuracy by up to 7.93 % in R² and reduced RMSE by 21.25 %, although this advantage diminished under high noise levels. LAI uncertainty had a greater impact than LIDFa, and additive noise introduced more uncertainty than multiplicative noise. Comparison of the inversion strategies revealed that the RI strategy achieved higher accuracy (simulated data: R²=0.954; measured data: R²=0.799) and greater robustness to noise than the PM strategy. These findings demonstrate the value of integrating canopy structure into computational inversion models to enhance the reliability of remote sensing trait retrieval, supporting precision agriculture and sustainable crop production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"174 ","pages":"Article 127931"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145614019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}