Agricultural Research最新文献

The mint crop has been widely used in tea, as a national beverage, and as a medicinal plant for decades. However, there is a lack of data in the literature on several aspects of constraint management in this crop. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted cross-sectional surveys with 264 mint growers, in the Fes-Meknes and Casablanca-Settat region, leaders of mint production to (i) track the status of pesticide and biopesticide use; (ii) gather information on technical management of mint crop; (iii) know the main phytosanitary problems; (iv) control methods of diseases, pests, and weeds, including agroecological practices. Our results indicate that there is a significant difference between the different provinces of the two regions in several aspects such as the diseases and pests encountered and consequently in the phytosanitary products and control methods, due to the pedoclimatic differences between the two regions. The biological control of insects is carried out by using black soap, neem oil, Melia azedarach (L.) extract, and Bacillus thuringiensis. Rotation with legumes (87.1%), and intercropping mint with aromatic and medicinal plants (22.8%), are the agroecological practices most frequently used by farmers. The relationship between farmers’ practices and parameters related to mint yielding, pathogens involved, and pesticide usage was revealed to be strong and complementary. In summary, our work stands out for its focus on specific regions, its innovative agroecological approach, its in-depth analysis of the chemicals used, and its commitment to close collaboration with the farming community. These combined elements make our research an original and significant contribution to the field of sustainable agriculture, both nationally and globally.

The ecological and environmental challenges in rural areas of China are increasingly severe, and farmers' continued participation in environmental governance has emerged as a renewed focal point. However, the participation behaviors in environmental governance represent an ongoing life cycle. Therefore, the study of farmers' sustained engagement in environmental participation is crucial for promoting green and low-carbon development and addressing ecological and environmental problems in China. Drawing on data from the China General Social Survey released in 2017, this paper constructs a theoretical analysis framework of “social network—social fairness perceptions—farmers' continued participation in environmental governance.” Additionally, we employ a structural equation model with bootstrap autonomous sampling method to examine the mediating role of social fairness perceptions. The findings demonstrate that social network, procedural fairness perception, and outcome fairness perception all significantly influence farmers' continued participation in environmental governance. Moreover, social fairness perceptions partially mediate the relationship between social network and farmers' continued participation in environmental governance. Furthermore, higher levels of procedural fairness perception and outcome fairness perception correspond to greater degrees of Chinese farmers' continued participation in environmental governance; conversely, stronger social networks are associated with lower levels of Chinese farmers' continued participation in such activities. This paper aims to elucidate the specific role played by social fairness perceptions within Chinese farmers' continued participation in environmental governance and to actively explore the policy implications.

The common bean cropping system has a high cost, mainly due to using nitrogen fertilisers. An alternative for a replacement to reduce production costs is the co-inoculation technique of Rhizobium tropici and Azospirillum brasilense. This study aimed to evaluate the economic viability of co-inoculation of common beans via sowing furrow. Data from five field experiments conducted in three locations in three seasons were used. The treatments consisted of absolute control (without inoculation and fertilisation), nitrogen fertilisation, simple inoculation with R. tropici and co-inoculation with R. tropici and different doses of A. brasilense applied in the sowing furrow. The economic analysis was carried out based on market prices and indexes, depending on the grain production of the different treatments. Treatment with nitrogen fertiliser (80 kg ha⁻¹ of N) resulted in higher production costs, with an average value of USD 1,889 ha⁻¹. Co-inoculation with two doses of R. tropici and four doses of A. brasilense provided the highest mean gross revenue values, net income and benefit-cost-ratio. Co-inoculation with two doses of R. tropici and four doses of A. brasilense resulted in a benefit-cost-ratio of 8 to 11% greater than simple inoculation with Rhizobium tropici, nitrogen treatment and commercial inoculant. Co-inoculation with R. tropici and A. brasilense, in addition to providing high yields, also provides high profitability, proving to be a technology that can contribute to the reduction/replacement of the use of nitrogen fertilisers and reduction of environmental impacts without compromising yield and profitability of common beans.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown policy significantly impacted all sectors of the economy, including agriculture. It disrupted the market’s normal functions in multiple ways; hence, this study was conducted using extended time series data to estimate the impact of the nationwide lockdown on market arrivals, price margin, and wholesale and retail prices of major food commodities. The study employed the multiple policy interventions interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) model to estimate pre-and post-intervention price trends change following lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. The results indicated that most agricultural commodities witnessed a substantial decrease in market arrivals, and there were heterogeneous effects on price margins across commodities and lockdown periods. ITSA results reveal that wholesale and retail prices for wheat and rice decreased significantly due to record crop harvests in 2019–20 and free distribution through Government welfare programs (PMGKAY). In contrast, the wholesale and retail price of pulses dal and mustard oil increased significantly during the lockdown period of 2020 and 2021. Overall, the Government managed the lockdown in 2021 better than in 2020, enabling access to essential goods and services, transportation and other conveniences. Furthermore, the study suggests policies to enhance the supply chain’s responsiveness and resilience to future pandemics and natural disasters, given the lessons learned from the COVID-19 lockdown.

Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is very sensitive to low temperature during postharvest storage. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a volatile hormone ubiquitous in many kinds of plants and plays important role in regulating plant physiological functions. The alleviating effect of MeJA treatment on chilling injury (CI) in postharvest snap bean was studied. We found MeJA treatment markedly decreased the index of chilling injury, electrolyte leakage and content of malondialdehyde. MeJA-treated snap bean exhibited higher levels of total soluble solids and titratable acidity. Similarly, MeJA could prevent the degradation of chlorophyll and ascorbic acid. Not only total antioxidant capacity but also metal chelating ability of MeJA-treated snap bean was stronger than untreated control. MeJA-treated snap bean showed higher scavenging activities on superoxide radical (O₂^.-), hydroxyl radical (·OH) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-trinitrophenylhydrazine radical either. MeJA application stimulated the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in snap bean. In conclusion, this study reveals MeJA can be used to relieve chilling injury and maintain the quality of snap bean during low-temperature storage. 8 µM MeJA is the optimal concentration to alleviate chilling injury of snap bean.

Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) is a monocotyledonous plant-infecting virus that causes economical loss to cereal cultivations annually. The objective of this study was to use Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter in combination with WDV large intergenic region (LIR) in rice (Oryza sativa L.) plant. Herein, a partial sequence from the genome of an Iranian isolate of WDV was used to synthesize a promoter for improvement of transgene expression in rice cultivars including Champa, Hashemi and Najafi. The promoter was cloned into pCAMBIA1304 and transferred into rice cells using in planta method. PCR, hygromycin resistance and in vivo expression of green fluorescent protein (mGFP5) were used for evaluating the efficiency of the synthesized promoter. The results showed that the WDV LIR can act as an efficient promoter for transgene expression in rice plant. Moreover, a significant difference was found between transformation rates in different rice cultivars; thus, Champa and Najafi cultivars showed the highest and lowest rate of transformation, respectively. WDV LIR was used to design a novel promoter for gene expression in rice cells. PCR assay, phenotypic experiment (antibiotic selection and GFP expression) and nucleotide sequencing showed that LIR is a promising source for the improvement of transgene expression within cells of monocotyledonous plants.