European Journal of Agronomy最新文献

{"title":"Soil moisture and nutrient mobility influence nitrogen partitioning and translocation in maize (Zea mays L.) under various water-nitrogen regimes","authors":"Yuxin Chi,&nbsp;Shahid Ali,&nbsp;Jiahui Lin,&nbsp;Li Yang,&nbsp;Xunbo Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127914","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127914","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Optimizing water and nitrogen (N) management is crucial for improving crop yields, yet the soil water dynamics and nutrient mobility on N partitioning and yield information remain insufficiently understood. To address this gap, field experiments were conducted from 2020 to 2022 in the western Songnen plain (SARs), a cold semi-arid region of northern China. The study examined three soil moisture levels (40 %, 60 %, and 80 % of field capacity) and four N fertilization rates (0, 100, 200, and 300 kg N ha⁻¹) to evaluate their impacts on soil nutrient dynamics (SNs), soil water utilization (SWU), soil enzyme activities (SEAs), N accumulation (NA), N translocation (NT), N utilization (NU), biomass accumulation (BA), and maize yield. Results showed that maintaining soil moisture at 80 % field capacity (W3) significantly enhanced SWU and partitioning, particularly under the N200 treatment. Specifically, W3-N200 increased SWU by 4.15–26.13 %, SNs by 5.06–35.49 %, and SEAs by 6.57–38.78 % compared with W1 (40 %) and W2 (60 %). Regression analysis indicated that W3 advanced the time to peak BA rate by 11.76–17.85 days and increased maximum biomass (by 2.93–4.16 MG ha⁻¹), peak BA rate (by 0.09–0.18 MG ha⁻¹ d⁻¹), and average BA rate (by 0.04–0.06 MG ha⁻¹ d⁻¹). Under N200, structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed increases in NA (13.95–34.65 %), NT and NU (3.14–27.49 %), resulting in a 4.99–28.81 % higher BA and 4.44–10.73 % greater yield. The W3-N200 treatment achieved the highest grain yield (10437 kg ha⁻¹), with superior water use efficiency (38.09 %) and N use efficiency (NUE; 40.38 %). Optimal water and N management regulated SNs and SEAs, which in turn improved N transformation and BA, ultimately increased maize yield. These findings provide valuable guidance for sustainable water and nutrient management in SARs agricultural regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127914"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145492097","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":"Influence of fertilization, tillage, and residue management on soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and soil pH in black soils of Northeast China","authors":"N’Dri Yves Bohoussou ,&nbsp;Guoxiang Zheng ,&nbsp;Shanbo Zhang ,&nbsp;Wenbo Wu ,&nbsp;Fengtao Ju ,&nbsp;Olouwatogni Michael Ayenikafo ,&nbsp;Stopira Yannick Benz Boboua ,&nbsp;Yash Pal Dang","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127911","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127911","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Black soils in Northeast China are among the most fertile soils and play a vital role in national food security. However, despite numerous field studies, there remains a lack of comprehensive synthesis on how agronomic practices, such as tillage, fertilization, and residue management, affect black soil. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of 802 comparisons from 80 peer-reviewed articles to determine how agronomic practices influence SOC, TN, and soil pH dynamics at 0–30 cm soil depth and their impact on crop yields. The analysis revealed that organic fertilizers significantly improved SOC and TN stock by 32.89 % and 29.74 %, respectively, while mixed fertilizers enhanced SOC (17.98 %) and TN (22.93 %) compared to unfertilized soils. Residue retention increased SOC and TN by 10.91 % and 11.13 %, respectively, compared to residue removal, while no-tillage increased TN by 10.88 % relative to conventional tillage. Soil pH declined significantly under chemical, mixed fertilizers, residue retention, and tillage. In contrast, organic fertilizer increased soil pH by 3.04 %, indicating its potential to buffer against soil acidification. Mixed fertilizers achieved the highest grain yield increase (77.17 %). Grain yield exhibited a negative relationship with soil pH, indicating the need to manage long-term acidification. Our findings highlight the importance of balanced agronomic practices, particularly organic fertilizer application, in improving TN, SOC stock, and crop yield while mitigating soil acidification risks. Implementing these practices is crucial for maintaining soil fertility and crop productivity of black soils in Northeast China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127911"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145473186","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 legume rotation and optimal nitrogen management enhances cotton yield and mitigates greenhouse gas emissions in a jujube-cotton intercropping system","authors":"Tiantian Li ,&nbsp;Lu Feng ,&nbsp;Jinbin Wang ,&nbsp;Zhengjun Cui ,&nbsp;Hang Qiao ,&nbsp;Qiang Hu ,&nbsp;Nan Cao ,&nbsp;Ling Li ,&nbsp;Wei Zhang ,&nbsp;Mingwei Du ,&nbsp;Yaru Zhao ,&nbsp;Gulinigaer Taxi ,&nbsp;Sumei Wan ,&nbsp;Guodong Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127912","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127912","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Enhancing crop productivity while minimizing environmental impacts remains a central goal of sustainable agriculture. While legume rotation and nitrogen management have shown efficacy in curbing synthetic fertilizer dependency, most previous studies have focused on monoculture systems or individual management practices, with little attention to their combined effects in jujube-cotton intercropping. We hypothesized that integrating legume rotation with optimal nitrogen fertilization can synergistically increase cotton yields and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A field experiment was conducted using a split-plot design to compare continuous cotton cultivation (M) with a cotton-alfalfa rotation (R) under four nitrogen application rates (0, 140, 280, 420 kg N ha⁻¹). Cotton yield, greenhouse gas emissions, soil health, and net ecosystem economic benefits were evaluated. Compared to continuous cropping, rotation reduced the average annual CO₂ and N₂O emissions by 13.80 % and 21.09 %, respectively, over the two-year period, while decreasing the average annual greenhouse gas emission intensity by 29.74 %. Rotation also improved the soil quality index by 41.35 % and increased cotton yield by 23.80 %. At 280 kg N ha⁻¹, greenhouse gas emission intensity declined by 16.82 % on average compared with other nitrogen rates. Optimized nitrogen application yielded a 15.60 % increase in yield relative to other rates. The rotation and the 280 kg N ha⁻¹ treatment significantly improved yield stability and sustainability, leading to the highest net ecosystem economic benefits. Our findings highlight the pivotal role of integrating legume rotation with optimal nitrogen management in improving productivity and environmental sustainability in jujube-cotton intercropping systems, offering a promising pathway to sustainable production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127912"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145473185","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 fertilizer and planting density to stabilize yields and improve water use efficiency in rain-fed wheat–maize rotations","authors":"Xueni Yang ,&nbsp;Shujie Sun ,&nbsp;Haocong Li ,&nbsp;Ziyan Guo ,&nbsp;Chi Ma ,&nbsp;Bo Liu ,&nbsp;Wei Zhang ,&nbsp;Ruixia Ding ,&nbsp;Peng Zhang ,&nbsp;Tiening Liu ,&nbsp;Xudong Zhang ,&nbsp;Qingfang Han","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127916","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127916","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system, spatiotemporal rainfall variability often leads to instability in yields and water use efficiency (WUE), highlighting improved management strategies to enhance system resilience. We conducted a five-year split-plot field experiment in the Guanzhong Plain to investigate the synergistic effect of crop population and nutrient management on WUE and yield stability. The main plots received either conventional fertilization (N₂₁₀P₁₃₅K₁₀₅, wheat season, F1_W; N₂₂₅P₁₅₀K₁₅₀, maize season, F1_M) or a 25 % reduction (N₁₈₀P₁₁₅K₉₀, F2_W; N₁₅₀P₁₀₀K₁₀₀, F2_M). Subplots varied in planting density: low (135 kg/ha seeding rate, D1_W; 67,500 plants/ha, D1_M), medium (180 kg/ha, D2_W; 82,500 plants/ha, D2_M), and high (225 kg/ha, D3_W; 97,500 plants/ha, D3_M). Compared with the conventional practice (D1F1), reduced fertilization and increased planting density significantly increased annual yield (wheat season: not significant; maize season: 4.6–47.4 %) and WUE (wheat season: 2.7–15.1 %; maize season: 1.0–25.8 %) by enhancing canopy light interception. This strategy stabilized annual yields by reducing soil moisture and nutrient fluctuations and reshaping rainfall utilization strategies. Under the D2F2_W treatment, the coefficient of variation for wheat yield decreased by 4.1 %, while that for maize was lowest under the D3F2_M treatment. Moreover, this strategy reduced yield sensitivity to erratic rainfall during 40–140 and 210–230 days after sowing (DAS) in wheat and during 20–40 DAS in maize. In summary, the synergistic combination of reduced fertilization and increased planting density significantly improved both annual yield stability and WUE. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for achieving stable yields with less fertilizer in this region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127916"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145468035","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 the sowing window of winter rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) for maximum seed yield and lodging resistance","authors":"Zhaojie Li ,&nbsp;Farooq Shah ,&nbsp;Li Xiong ,&nbsp;Wei Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127910","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127910","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Delayed sowing of winter rapeseed, caused by late harvest of the preceding crop or extreme weather events, is a major challenge that threatens both yield and lodging resistance. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the variations in seed yield and stem and root lodging resistance under delayed sowing of winter rapeseed, and determine the optimum sowing window without compromising the yield and lodging when a delayed sowing is unavoidable. Across four site-year field trials, two rapeseed varieties (Ganza 1 and Qinyou 33) were sown at three dates: normal sowing; medium delay in sowing (2 weeks), and extreme delay in sowing (4 weeks). Extremely delayed sowing significantly decreased seed yield by 14 %–30 %, compared to normal sowing date for both varieties. These yield penalties under delayed sowing are mainly due to a reduction in the pod and seed number m^–2 and aboveground biomass. Meanwhile, the reduced stem lodging resistance by 21.1 % in term of safety factor under extremely delayed sowing compared to normal sowing date, which could be ascribed to the lower bending strength (–49.2 %), diameter (–17.3 %) and mass density of stem (–38.3 %). Root lodging was not affected by extremely delayed sowing, compared to normal sowing date. In contrast, medium delayed sowing was not as damaging to both seed yield and crop lodging and their related parameters including pod and seed number m^–2, aboveground biomass, stem bending strength and root anchorage strength. A delay of approximately two weeks in rapeseed sowing did not compromise its yield or root lodging resistance. Such flexibility will not only facilitate farmers in adjusting their cropping calendar but also support management decisions aimed at sustaining rapeseed production under increasingly variable climate conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127910"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145461965","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":"Future climate change increases the risk of wheat yield loss due to agricultural drought in southeastern Australia","authors":"Keyu Xiang ,&nbsp;Bin Wang ,&nbsp;De Li Liu ,&nbsp;Chao Chen ,&nbsp;Fei Ji ,&nbsp;Shijin Yao ,&nbsp;Siyi Li ,&nbsp;Alfredo Huete ,&nbsp;Yi Li ,&nbsp;Qiang Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127909","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127909","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural drought poses a significant threat to food security and human sustainability by reducing crop yields, and it is projected to intensify in the future due to ongoing global warming and increasing rainfall variability. As a key contributor to the worldwide food supply, the New South Wales (NSW) wheat belt in southeastern Australia is highly exposed to drought-related risks due to its prevailing dry climate and reliance on the rain-fed cropping system. Yet the future impacts of agricultural drought on regional wheat yields remain poorly quantified under climate change. This study aims to evaluate the risk of wheat yield losses induced by agricultural drought under different climate scenarios, focusing on its spatial distribution and temporal evolution across the NSW wheat belt. We integrated a process-based crop simulation model with a probabilistic approach to assess wheat yield loss risk under future climate scenarios. Agricultural Production System sIMulator (APSIM) model was forced with climate data from multiple Global Climate Models (GCMs), enabling the simulation of long-term wheat yield and plant available water (PAW). The simulated PAW values were standardized to derive SPAWI (Standardized Plant Available Water Index), which was used to characterize drought conditions. Copula functions were then utilized to construct the joint probability distribution between wheat yield and SPAWI, allowing the calculation of yield loss probabilities and the identification of drought trigger thresholds. There was a rising trend in agricultural drought frequency across the wheat belt, especially under the Hot/Dry scenarios. Regional results showed elevated wheat yield loss probabilities in the future, approaching 10 % in the drier and warmer areas. Moreover, the drought index thresholds for triggering wheat yield loss were higher over dry areas but lower in the wet region. Uncertainty attribution analysis identified GCM selection as the primary source of yield loss probability change in arid regions, while in wet regions, the choice of copula function played a more critical role. Our findings show a rising risk of wheat yield loss in the NSW wheat belt under future climate scenarios and reveal substantial spatiotemporal heterogeneity in yield impacts. The results offer critical geographic insights for supporting localized adaptation strategies and evidence-based agricultural planning under drought conditions in the future.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127909"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145462334","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":"Detection study of early-stage classification of rice diseases using a hyperspectral multi-feature fusion model (PMA-VRNet) driven by the vegetation index RBDI","authors":"Tan Liu ,&nbsp;Songlin Guo ,&nbsp;Peiyan Wu ,&nbsp;Yuan Qi ,&nbsp;Jun Ma ,&nbsp;Qingyun Yuan ,&nbsp;Tongyu Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127908","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127908","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rice Blast (RB) is a highly destructive fungal disease that causes millions of tons of rice yield loss worldwide every year. Therefore, using precise indicators to quantify diseases and achieve early detection is crucial for establishing a preventive plant protection system. However, there is currently a technological gap in quantitative research on early grading and detection of RB. This study employs Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) hyperspectral remote sensing technology to acquire hyperspectral images of rice canopies, and then preprocesses them to extract spectral, textural, and structural features. To address the limitation of traditional vegetation indices (VI) in reflecting the spatial structural characteristics of vegetation, the rice blast indices RBDI1 and RBDI2 are constructed based on vegetation cover (FVC), effectively quantifying rice disease indices (DI) and improving the accuracy and spatial resolution of disease identification. Furthermore, the Parallel Multi-Head Attention VGG-ResNet (PMA-VRNet) model was proposed, which integrates multiple feature data such as RBDI, Texture Features (TF), and Canopy Coverage (CC) through a parallel Multi-Head Attention mechanism. This model deeply integrates the high semantic feature extraction capabilities of VGG with the deep residual learning advantages of ResNet, achieving high-precision grading detection of rice diseases in the early stage. The study has shown that the PMA-VRNet model demonstrates excellent feature learning capabilities in data fusion, particularly on the sensitive wavelength dataset selected by the BS-CARS algorithm, achieving a detection accuracy of OA = 93.5 % and Kappa = 91.86 %. Compared with the comparative model, OA improved by 1.17 %-3.00 % and Kappa improved by 0.62 %-3.76 %. Additionally, SMOTE data augmentation is better than the original data, and the performance of combined feature modeling is better than single-feature modeling. Among them, the model combining VI_BS-CARS, TF, and CC achieves the highest accuracy (OA = 94.5 %, Kappa = 93.12 %). This study provides an efficient and feasible technical solution for accurately monitoring of RB using UAV hyperspectral images.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127908"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145461967","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":"The impact of HvAACT1 gene conferring aluminium toxicity tolerance on barley yield in acid soils","authors":"Ce Guo ,&nbsp;Sergey Shabala ,&nbsp;Ke Liu ,&nbsp;Meixue Zhou ,&nbsp;Chenchen Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127907","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127907","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aluminium toxicity in acid soils is a major constraint to global crop production, particularly for cereal crops like barley, which are vital to food security. Although the <em>HvAACT1</em> gene within the <em>Alp</em> QTL has been recognized as a key factor in aluminium tolerance through citrate secretion, its direct impact on barley yield under dynamic, real-world acidic conditions remains poorly understood. Most existing studies have focused on fixed pH levels, limiting insights into crop performance across the broader pH spectrum typical of acidic field conditions. In this study, we evaluated barley yield and agronomic traits across eight soil pH levels (4.0–4.8), using two near-isogenic lines (NILs): RGT Planet (acid soil susceptible) and P33–1 (acid soil tolerant, introgressed with <em>Alp</em>). Our results demonstrate that P33–1 consistently outperformed RGT Planet, maintaining higher yield and better agronomic traits. Notably, yield reductions under acidic conditions were primarily driven by decreases in fertile tiller number and kernels per spike (P &lt; 0.01), rather than changes in grain size or 1000-kernel weight, providing new insights into the physiological basis underpinning yield loss. By quantifying the complex relationship between soil pH and agronomic trait losses, our study delivers essential data that will inform crop modeling and advance breeding efforts for acid soil-tolerant varieties, contributing to more resilient and sustainable crop production in marginal soils worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127907"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145441745","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":"Beyond NUE: A focus on true nitrogen gains in cereals","authors":"Javier A. Fernandez ,&nbsp;Ignacio A. Ciampitti","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127896","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127896","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Gains in nitrogen (N) fertilization improvement for cereal crops have been widely documented around the globe, mainly presented via the N use efficiency (NUE, yield to fertilizer N ratio). However, this concept is highly influenced by yield progress and difficult to untangle from a direct advance on the capacity of the crop to use N more effectively in our agricultural systems. As such, this brief report presents a novel analysis of long-term crop improvement data (using maize, sorghum, and barley as case studies) focused on discussing the traditional NUE approach versus a new framework for considering changes in plant N conditions, using the N nutrition index (NNI) as a key element. Changes in NUE over time followed yield improvement with modifications in harvest index, recovery, and conversion of N but to a lesser extent under limiting N conditions. Those changes in N efficiency differed with the level of crop improvement and research investment, with maize documenting more changes in NNI under non-limiting N conditions, followed by barley, and to a lesser extent by sorghum. When the analysis focused on NNI, yield improvement was possible by maintaining plant N status and reducing NNI under low N conditions, most visible for maize and barley crops. These findings reveal unintended effects of N gain under N deficiency but an overall lack of progress on reducing the dependency of these cereal crops to N fertilization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127896"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424015","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":"Legacy effects of cover crops on weed biomass and yield of the subsequent corn crop","authors":"Barbara Baraibar ,&nbsp;Brosi A. Bradley ,&nbsp;Mitchell C. Hunter ,&nbsp;Charles M. White ,&nbsp;Denise M. Finney ,&nbsp;Jason P. Kaye ,&nbsp;Megan E. Schipanski ,&nbsp;David A. Mortensen","doi":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127898","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eja.2025.127898","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cover crops (CC) can exert legacy effects on subsequent crops and weeds by modulating nutrient dynamics and weed pressure. These effects can influence crop performance and weed–crop competition, yet their combined impacts remain poorly understood. We investigated CC legacy effects over six seasons in Pennsylvania (USA), where silage (2012–2015) and grain (2015–2018) corn (<em>Zea mays</em>) followed either no CC or 11 CC treatments, including legumes, grasses, brassicas, and mixtures. Each year, CC biomass, C:N ratio, weed biomass and community composition, peak soil N, and corn yield were measured. Path analysis revealed that weed biomass in the preceding CC increased weed biomass in corn and reduced yield. High soil N and C:N ratio also promoted weed biomass in grain corn, while high CC C:N ratio reduced yields in both periods. Legacy effects varied among CC functional groups: in the silage corn period, yields after legumes were 43 % higher than after grasses, while weed biomass was twice as high after legumes compared to grasses. Mixtures containing multiple functional groups achieved both effective weed suppression and high yields. These findings highlight the role of CC functional group selection in shaping cascading effects from cover crops to weeds and crop yield, offering opportunities to improve weed management while maintaining productivity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51045,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Agronomy","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 127898"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145412064","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}