Pub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092124
Shumin Wang, Na Li, Shibo Han, Shuyue Fu, Ke Chen, Wenjing Cheng, Kang Lei
To develop aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides with novel structure and improved activity, a total of twenty-eight novel quinazolinone–phenoxypropionate derivatives containing a diester moiety were designed and synthesized. The herbicidal bioassay results in the greenhouse showed that QPEP-I-4 exhibited excellent herbicidal activity against E. crusgalli, D. sanguinalis, S. alterniflora, E. indica, and P. alopecuroides with inhibition rates >80% at a dosage of 150 g ha−1 and displayed higher crop safety to G. hirsutum, G. max, and A. hypogaea than the commercial herbicide quizalofop-p-ethyl. Studying the herbicidal mechanism by phenotypic observation, membrane permeability evaluation, and transcriptomic analysis revealed that a growth inhibition of plants by QPPE-I-4 was the result from damage of the plants’ biomembrane. The evaluation of ACCase activity in vivo indicated that QPPE-I-4 could inhibit ACCase and may be a new type of ACCase inhibitor. The present work indicated that QPPE-I-4 could represent a lead compound for further developing novel AOPP herbicides.
为了开发结构新颖、活性更强的芳氧基苯氧基丙酸酯类除草剂,我们设计并合成了 28 种含有二酯分子的新型喹唑啉酮苯氧基丙酸酯类衍生物。在温室中进行的除草生物测定结果表明,QPEP-I-4 对 E. crusgalli、D. sanguinalis、S. alterniflora、E. indica 和 P. alopecuroides 具有优异的除草活性,在 150 g ha-1 的用量下抑制率大于 80%;与商品除草剂 quizalofop-p-ethyl 相比,QPEP-I-4 对 G. hirsutum、G. max 和 A. hypogaea 具有更高的作物安全性。通过表型观察、膜渗透性评估和转录组分析研究其除草机制,发现 QPPE-I-4 对植物生长的抑制是由植物生物膜的破坏造成的。体内 ACC 酶活性评价表明,QPPE-I-4 可抑制 ACC 酶,可能是一种新型的 ACC 酶抑制剂。本研究结果表明,QPPE-I-4 可能是进一步开发新型 AOPP 除草剂的先导化合物。
{"title":"Synthesis, Herbicidal Activity, and Molecular Mode of Action Evaluation of Novel Quinazolinone—Phenoxypropionate Hybrids Containing a Diester Moiety","authors":"Shumin Wang, Na Li, Shibo Han, Shuyue Fu, Ke Chen, Wenjing Cheng, Kang Lei","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092124","url":null,"abstract":"To develop aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides with novel structure and improved activity, a total of twenty-eight novel quinazolinone–phenoxypropionate derivatives containing a diester moiety were designed and synthesized. The herbicidal bioassay results in the greenhouse showed that QPEP-I-4 exhibited excellent herbicidal activity against E. crusgalli, D. sanguinalis, S. alterniflora, E. indica, and P. alopecuroides with inhibition rates >80% at a dosage of 150 g ha−1 and displayed higher crop safety to G. hirsutum, G. max, and A. hypogaea than the commercial herbicide quizalofop-p-ethyl. Studying the herbicidal mechanism by phenotypic observation, membrane permeability evaluation, and transcriptomic analysis revealed that a growth inhibition of plants by QPPE-I-4 was the result from damage of the plants’ biomembrane. The evaluation of ACCase activity in vivo indicated that QPPE-I-4 could inhibit ACCase and may be a new type of ACCase inhibitor. The present work indicated that QPPE-I-4 could represent a lead compound for further developing novel AOPP herbicides.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092122
Karoline Leonard Sichalwe, Siraj Ismail Kayondo, Richard Edema, Mikidadi Abubakar Omari, Heneriko Kulembeka, Patrick Rubaihayo, Edward Kanju
Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) threatens cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa despite the availability of resistant varieties. Extreme environmental factors weaken plant defenses, reducing CBSD resistance. This study examined CBSD inheritance in cassava populations, assessed genetic variability, and identified superior sources of resistance using F1, S1, and half-sib offspring populations derived from resistant sources. The offspring underwent field evaluation at two distinct sites from 2019 to 2021, and the symptom-free genotypes were analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Resistance to CBSD was categorized as most resistant, resistant, most tolerant, or tolerant based on symptoms and virus titers. The findings indicated that the resistance to CBSD is highly influenced by genotypes, F1/S1 types, and environmental conditions. An analysis of combining abilities revealed significant general combining abilities (GCAs) for CBSD, cassava mosaic disease (CMD), and traits associated with yield. The heritability estimates for resistance to CBSD varied between 43.4% and 63.2% for foliar symptoms and 14.6% and 57.9% for root necrosis across locations. The inheritance pattern involved a combination of additive and recessive genes with selfed (S1) populations displaying stronger and more effective resistance to the disease. The cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) was highly prevalent, and the Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) was not prevalent. Four genotypes were highly resistant to CBSD and could be key sources of resistance to this disease.
{"title":"Unlocking Cassava Brown Streak Disease Resistance in Cassava: Insights from Genetic Variability and Combining Ability","authors":"Karoline Leonard Sichalwe, Siraj Ismail Kayondo, Richard Edema, Mikidadi Abubakar Omari, Heneriko Kulembeka, Patrick Rubaihayo, Edward Kanju","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092122","url":null,"abstract":"Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) threatens cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa despite the availability of resistant varieties. Extreme environmental factors weaken plant defenses, reducing CBSD resistance. This study examined CBSD inheritance in cassava populations, assessed genetic variability, and identified superior sources of resistance using F1, S1, and half-sib offspring populations derived from resistant sources. The offspring underwent field evaluation at two distinct sites from 2019 to 2021, and the symptom-free genotypes were analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Resistance to CBSD was categorized as most resistant, resistant, most tolerant, or tolerant based on symptoms and virus titers. The findings indicated that the resistance to CBSD is highly influenced by genotypes, F1/S1 types, and environmental conditions. An analysis of combining abilities revealed significant general combining abilities (GCAs) for CBSD, cassava mosaic disease (CMD), and traits associated with yield. The heritability estimates for resistance to CBSD varied between 43.4% and 63.2% for foliar symptoms and 14.6% and 57.9% for root necrosis across locations. The inheritance pattern involved a combination of additive and recessive genes with selfed (S1) populations displaying stronger and more effective resistance to the disease. The cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) was highly prevalent, and the Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) was not prevalent. Four genotypes were highly resistant to CBSD and could be key sources of resistance to this disease.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"194 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laser technology can be used to control weeds by irradiating the apical meristematic tissue (AMT) of weeds when they are still seedlings. Two factors are necessary for the successful large-scale implementation of this technique: the ability to accurately identify the apical meristematic tissue and the effectiveness of the localization algorithm used in the process. Based on this, this study proposes a lightweight weed AMT localization algorithm based on YOLO (look only once) instance segmentation. The YOLOv8n-seg network undergoes a lightweight design enhancement by integrating the FasterNet lightweight network as its backbone, resulting in the F-YOLOv8n-seg model. This modification effectively reduces the number of parameters and computational demands during the convolution process, thereby achieving a more efficient model. Subsequently, F-YOLOv8n-seg is combined with the connected domain analysis algorithm (CDA), yielding the F-YOLOv8n-seg-CDA model. This integration enables the precise localization of the AMT of weeds by calculating the center-of-mass coordinates of the connected domains. The experimental results indicate that the optimized model significantly outperforms the original model; the optimized model reduces floating-point computations by 26.7% and the model size by 38.2%. In particular, the floating-point calculation is decreased to 8.9 GFLOPs, and the model size is lowered to 4.2 MB. Comparing this improved model against YOLOv5s-seg and YOLOv10n-seg, it is lighter. Furthermore, it exhibits exceptional segmentation accuracy, with a 97.2% accuracy rate. Experimental tests conducted on five different weed species demonstrated that F-YOLOv8n-seg-CDA exhibits strong generalization capabilities. The combined accuracy of the algorithm for detecting these weeds was 81%. Notably, dicotyledonous weeds were detected with up to 94%. Additionally, the algorithm achieved an average inference speed of 82.9 frames per second. These results indicate that the algorithm is suitable for the real-time detection of apical meristematic tissues across multiple weed species. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrated the impact of distinctive variations in weed morphology on identifying the location of the AMT of weeds. It was discovered that dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous weeds differed significantly in terms of the detection effect, with dicotyledonous weeds having significantly higher detection accuracy than monocotyledonous weeds. This discovery can offer novel insights and avenues for future investigation into the identification and location of the AMT of weeds.
{"title":"Algorithm for Locating Apical Meristematic Tissue of Weeds Based on YOLO Instance Segmentation","authors":"Daode Zhang, Rui Lu, Zhe Guo, Zhiyong Yang, Siqi Wang, Xinyu Hu","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092121","url":null,"abstract":"Laser technology can be used to control weeds by irradiating the apical meristematic tissue (AMT) of weeds when they are still seedlings. Two factors are necessary for the successful large-scale implementation of this technique: the ability to accurately identify the apical meristematic tissue and the effectiveness of the localization algorithm used in the process. Based on this, this study proposes a lightweight weed AMT localization algorithm based on YOLO (look only once) instance segmentation. The YOLOv8n-seg network undergoes a lightweight design enhancement by integrating the FasterNet lightweight network as its backbone, resulting in the F-YOLOv8n-seg model. This modification effectively reduces the number of parameters and computational demands during the convolution process, thereby achieving a more efficient model. Subsequently, F-YOLOv8n-seg is combined with the connected domain analysis algorithm (CDA), yielding the F-YOLOv8n-seg-CDA model. This integration enables the precise localization of the AMT of weeds by calculating the center-of-mass coordinates of the connected domains. The experimental results indicate that the optimized model significantly outperforms the original model; the optimized model reduces floating-point computations by 26.7% and the model size by 38.2%. In particular, the floating-point calculation is decreased to 8.9 GFLOPs, and the model size is lowered to 4.2 MB. Comparing this improved model against YOLOv5s-seg and YOLOv10n-seg, it is lighter. Furthermore, it exhibits exceptional segmentation accuracy, with a 97.2% accuracy rate. Experimental tests conducted on five different weed species demonstrated that F-YOLOv8n-seg-CDA exhibits strong generalization capabilities. The combined accuracy of the algorithm for detecting these weeds was 81%. Notably, dicotyledonous weeds were detected with up to 94%. Additionally, the algorithm achieved an average inference speed of 82.9 frames per second. These results indicate that the algorithm is suitable for the real-time detection of apical meristematic tissues across multiple weed species. Furthermore, the experimental results demonstrated the impact of distinctive variations in weed morphology on identifying the location of the AMT of weeds. It was discovered that dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous weeds differed significantly in terms of the detection effect, with dicotyledonous weeds having significantly higher detection accuracy than monocotyledonous weeds. This discovery can offer novel insights and avenues for future investigation into the identification and location of the AMT of weeds.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092123
Juan Manuel Vargas-Canales
This analysis aims to explore the urgent need to drive a major transformation of the agri-food sector. With this, it is intended to contribute to defining strategies for the future of agri-food systems. In this sense, the dynamics and importance of the agri-food sector are examined. Scientific and technological developments in the sector are described below. Subsequently, the implications of the link between health and agri-food systems are discussed. Next, alternatives are proposed to recover, heal and improve agri-food systems and the planet. Finally, some strategies are formulated to begin the great transformation of the agri-food sector, a transformation for the life and well-being of all. With appropriate planning and management, the great transformation of the agri-food sector can be achieved and the demand for healthy, nutritious and safe foods can be met.
{"title":"The Great Transformation of the Agri-Food Sector: A Transformation for Life and Well-Being","authors":"Juan Manuel Vargas-Canales","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092123","url":null,"abstract":"This analysis aims to explore the urgent need to drive a major transformation of the agri-food sector. With this, it is intended to contribute to defining strategies for the future of agri-food systems. In this sense, the dynamics and importance of the agri-food sector are examined. Scientific and technological developments in the sector are described below. Subsequently, the implications of the link between health and agri-food systems are discussed. Next, alternatives are proposed to recover, heal and improve agri-food systems and the planet. Finally, some strategies are formulated to begin the great transformation of the agri-food sector, a transformation for the life and well-being of all. With appropriate planning and management, the great transformation of the agri-food sector can be achieved and the demand for healthy, nutritious and safe foods can be met.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142269409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092120
Zsuzsa Domokos, Alina Șimon, Felicia Chețan, Ovidiu Adrian Ceclan, Emanuela Filip, Roxana Elena Călugăr, Sorin Daniel Vâtcă, Marcel Matei Duda
The sowing date of maize significantly impacts its main yield elements. The experiment, conducted at the Research and Development Station for Cattle Breeding (R.D.S.C.B.) Târgu Mureș, Sângeorgiu de Mureș, România, from 2018 to 2021, involved nine maize hybrids from different maturity groups, sown on three dates: early sowing (ES) at 6 °C soil temperature, optimal sowing (OS) at 10 °C soil temperature, and late sowing (LS) two weeks after the optimal date. The experiment was placed in a poly-factorial experience of type: A × B × C × C − R: 3 × 9 × 4 − 3, organized according to the subdivided plots method. The study examined the influence of sowing date on grain yield (GY), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), test weight (TW), percentage of grains per cob (% G/C), and grain humidity at harvest (GHH). The results indicated that yield was not negatively impacted by early or late sowing compared to the optimal date, with differences of 52 kg ha−1 between ES and OS, 147 kg ha−1 between ES and LS, and 95 kg ha−1 between OS and LS. ES increased TW (723.4 kg hl−1) and % G/C (86.7%), but reduced GY (13,377 kg ha−1), TKW (335.3 g), and GHH (19.5%). Conversely, LS positively influenced GY (13,524 kg ha−1), TKW (356.7 g), and GHH (23.9%), but negatively affected TW (692.8 kg hl−1) and % G/C (84.9%). Yield data obtained by P9900 and Kapitolis hybrids suggest that they are suitable for early sowing.
玉米的播种日期对其主要产量要素有显著影响。该实验于 2018 年至 2021 年在罗马尼亚 Sângeorgiu de Mureș 塔尔古穆雷牛育种研发站(R.D.S.C.B. Târgu Mureș, Sângeorgiu de Mureș, România)进行,涉及不同成熟度组别的九个玉米杂交种,在三个日期播种:土壤温度为 6 °C 的早播(ES)、土壤温度为 10 °C 的最佳播种(OS)和最佳播种日期两周后的晚播(LS)。实验采用多因子经验法:A × B × C × C - R:3 × 9 × 4 - 3,按照细分地块法组织。研究考察了播种期对谷物产量(GY)、千粒重(TKW)、测试重量(TW)、每穗粒重百分比(% G/C)和收获时谷物湿度(GHH)的影响。结果表明,与最佳播种期相比,早播或晚播对产量没有负面影响,ES 和 OS 之间的差异为 52 千克/公顷,ES 和 LS 之间的差异为 147 千克/公顷,OS 和 LS 之间的差异为 95 千克/公顷。ES 增加了 TW(723.4 kg hl-1)和 G/C %(86.7%),但减少了 GY(13,377 kg ha-1)、TKW(335.3 g)和 GHH(19.5%)。相反,LS 对 GY(13,524 kg ha-1)、TKW(356.7 g)和 GHH(23.9%)有积极影响,但对 TW(692.8 kg hl-1)和 G/C %(84.9%)有消极影响。P9900 和 Kapitolis 杂交种的产量数据表明,它们适合早播。
{"title":"The Influence of Sowing Date on the Primary Yield Components of Maize","authors":"Zsuzsa Domokos, Alina Șimon, Felicia Chețan, Ovidiu Adrian Ceclan, Emanuela Filip, Roxana Elena Călugăr, Sorin Daniel Vâtcă, Marcel Matei Duda","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092120","url":null,"abstract":"The sowing date of maize significantly impacts its main yield elements. The experiment, conducted at the Research and Development Station for Cattle Breeding (R.D.S.C.B.) Târgu Mureș, Sângeorgiu de Mureș, România, from 2018 to 2021, involved nine maize hybrids from different maturity groups, sown on three dates: early sowing (ES) at 6 °C soil temperature, optimal sowing (OS) at 10 °C soil temperature, and late sowing (LS) two weeks after the optimal date. The experiment was placed in a poly-factorial experience of type: A × B × C × C − R: 3 × 9 × 4 − 3, organized according to the subdivided plots method. The study examined the influence of sowing date on grain yield (GY), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), test weight (TW), percentage of grains per cob (% G/C), and grain humidity at harvest (GHH). The results indicated that yield was not negatively impacted by early or late sowing compared to the optimal date, with differences of 52 kg ha−1 between ES and OS, 147 kg ha−1 between ES and LS, and 95 kg ha−1 between OS and LS. ES increased TW (723.4 kg hl−1) and % G/C (86.7%), but reduced GY (13,377 kg ha−1), TKW (335.3 g), and GHH (19.5%). Conversely, LS positively influenced GY (13,524 kg ha−1), TKW (356.7 g), and GHH (23.9%), but negatively affected TW (692.8 kg hl−1) and % G/C (84.9%). Yield data obtained by P9900 and Kapitolis hybrids suggest that they are suitable for early sowing.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092125
Xiaonan Wang, Yanping Liu, Shilin Wang, Siwei Wang
In the last decade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for plant protection have rapidly developed worldwide as a new method for pesticide application, especially in China and other Asian countries. To improve the deposition quality in UAV applications, adding appropriate types of spray adjuvants into pesticide solutions is one of the most effective ways to facilitate droplet deposition and control efficacy. At present, research on spray adjuvants for UAVs are mainly based on droplet drift and laboratory tests. Few studies have been conducted on the physicochemical properties of spray adjuvants and the effects of droplet deposition characteristics. To explore the properties of four different kinds of spray adjuvants (Mai Fei, Bei Datong, G-2801, and Agrospred 910) and the deposition characteristics of spray adjuvants on litchi leaves, an automatic surface tension meter, a contact angle measuring device, an ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer, and a DJI AGRAS T30 plant protection UAV was used to measure the surface tension, contact angle, and droplet deposition characteristics on litchi under UAV spraying operations. The results showed that the addition of spray adjuvants could significantly reduce the surface tension of the solution. The surface tension value of the solution after adding the spray additives was reduced by 53.1–68.9% compared with the control solution. Among them, the Agrospred 910 spray adjuvant had the best effect on reducing the surface tension of the solution. The contact angle of the control solution on the litchi leaves varied from 80.15° to 72.76°. With the increase in time, the contact angle of the spray adjuvant solution gradually decreased, the Agrospred 910 spray adjuvant had the best effect, and the contact angle decreased from 40.44° to 20.23° after the droplets fell on the litchi leaves for 60 s. The adjuvant solutions increased the droplet size, but the uniformity of the droplet size decreased. The Dv0.5 of different spray solutions ranged from 97.3 to 117.8 μm, which belonged to the fine or very fine droplets, and the Dv0.5 of adjuvants solutions were significantly greater than that of the control solution. The RSs of adjuvant solutions were very similar and ranged from 0.92 to 0.96, all of which were significantly greater than the result of the control solution (0.57). Compared with the deposition of the control solution, the Mai Fei, Bei Datong, and G-2801 solutions clearly increased spray deposition, with total depositions of 0.776, 0.705, and 0.721 μL/cm2, which are all greater than the total deposition of the control solution of 0.645 μL/cm2. The addition of tank-mixed adjuvants could effectively increase the uniformity of the spray deposition, and all the average CVs of adjuvant solutions were lower than 96.86%. On the whole, Mai Fei performed best in increasing the spray deposition and promoting penetration, followed by Bei Datong and G-2801. Meanwhile, the test can also provide a reference for improving the
{"title":"Effects of Spray Adjuvants on Droplet Deposition Characteristics in Litchi Trees under UAV Spraying Operations","authors":"Xiaonan Wang, Yanping Liu, Shilin Wang, Siwei Wang","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092125","url":null,"abstract":"In the last decade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for plant protection have rapidly developed worldwide as a new method for pesticide application, especially in China and other Asian countries. To improve the deposition quality in UAV applications, adding appropriate types of spray adjuvants into pesticide solutions is one of the most effective ways to facilitate droplet deposition and control efficacy. At present, research on spray adjuvants for UAVs are mainly based on droplet drift and laboratory tests. Few studies have been conducted on the physicochemical properties of spray adjuvants and the effects of droplet deposition characteristics. To explore the properties of four different kinds of spray adjuvants (Mai Fei, Bei Datong, G-2801, and Agrospred 910) and the deposition characteristics of spray adjuvants on litchi leaves, an automatic surface tension meter, a contact angle measuring device, an ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer, and a DJI AGRAS T30 plant protection UAV was used to measure the surface tension, contact angle, and droplet deposition characteristics on litchi under UAV spraying operations. The results showed that the addition of spray adjuvants could significantly reduce the surface tension of the solution. The surface tension value of the solution after adding the spray additives was reduced by 53.1–68.9% compared with the control solution. Among them, the Agrospred 910 spray adjuvant had the best effect on reducing the surface tension of the solution. The contact angle of the control solution on the litchi leaves varied from 80.15° to 72.76°. With the increase in time, the contact angle of the spray adjuvant solution gradually decreased, the Agrospred 910 spray adjuvant had the best effect, and the contact angle decreased from 40.44° to 20.23° after the droplets fell on the litchi leaves for 60 s. The adjuvant solutions increased the droplet size, but the uniformity of the droplet size decreased. The Dv0.5 of different spray solutions ranged from 97.3 to 117.8 μm, which belonged to the fine or very fine droplets, and the Dv0.5 of adjuvants solutions were significantly greater than that of the control solution. The RSs of adjuvant solutions were very similar and ranged from 0.92 to 0.96, all of which were significantly greater than the result of the control solution (0.57). Compared with the deposition of the control solution, the Mai Fei, Bei Datong, and G-2801 solutions clearly increased spray deposition, with total depositions of 0.776, 0.705, and 0.721 μL/cm2, which are all greater than the total deposition of the control solution of 0.645 μL/cm2. The addition of tank-mixed adjuvants could effectively increase the uniformity of the spray deposition, and all the average CVs of adjuvant solutions were lower than 96.86%. On the whole, Mai Fei performed best in increasing the spray deposition and promoting penetration, followed by Bei Datong and G-2801. Meanwhile, the test can also provide a reference for improving the ","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-18DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092126
Juozas Labokas, Mantas Lisajevičius, Domas Uogintas, Birutė Karpavičienė
The crop and crop wild relative (CWR) checklist of Lithuania was created containing 2630 taxa. The checklist comprises 1384 native taxa including archaeophytes and 1246 neophytes. In total, 699 taxa (26.6%) are defined for food and forage use. A list of 144 CWR priority species with 135 native species and archaeophytes and 9 naturalized species was generated. In total, 53 genera of food and forage species belonging to 15 families are represented by the priority CWR. Two approaches for CWR genetic reserve selection have been employed in this study: (1) CWR-targeted evaluation of preselected sites, including Natura 2000 sites, national protected areas, and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), such as ancient hillfort sites and ecological protection zones of water bodies; (2) analysis of large georeferenced plant databases. Forty-five potential genetic reserve sites have been selected by the first approach covering 83 species or 57.6% of the national CWR priority list. With the second approach, the in situ CWR National Inventory database has been created by combining data from the Database of EU habitat mapping in Lithuania (BIGIS), Herbarium Database of the Nature Research Centre (BILAS), Lithuanian Vegetation Database (EU-LT-001), and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Hotspot analysis of CWR species richness and number of observations suggested that higher CWR diversity is more likely to be found in protected areas. However, Shannon diversity and Shannon equitability indices showed that the areas outside of the protected areas are also suitable for CWR genetic reserve establishment.
{"title":"Enhancing In Situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives for Food and Agriculture in Lithuania","authors":"Juozas Labokas, Mantas Lisajevičius, Domas Uogintas, Birutė Karpavičienė","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092126","url":null,"abstract":"The crop and crop wild relative (CWR) checklist of Lithuania was created containing 2630 taxa. The checklist comprises 1384 native taxa including archaeophytes and 1246 neophytes. In total, 699 taxa (26.6%) are defined for food and forage use. A list of 144 CWR priority species with 135 native species and archaeophytes and 9 naturalized species was generated. In total, 53 genera of food and forage species belonging to 15 families are represented by the priority CWR. Two approaches for CWR genetic reserve selection have been employed in this study: (1) CWR-targeted evaluation of preselected sites, including Natura 2000 sites, national protected areas, and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), such as ancient hillfort sites and ecological protection zones of water bodies; (2) analysis of large georeferenced plant databases. Forty-five potential genetic reserve sites have been selected by the first approach covering 83 species or 57.6% of the national CWR priority list. With the second approach, the in situ CWR National Inventory database has been created by combining data from the Database of EU habitat mapping in Lithuania (BIGIS), Herbarium Database of the Nature Research Centre (BILAS), Lithuanian Vegetation Database (EU-LT-001), and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Hotspot analysis of CWR species richness and number of observations suggested that higher CWR diversity is more likely to be found in protected areas. However, Shannon diversity and Shannon equitability indices showed that the areas outside of the protected areas are also suitable for CWR genetic reserve establishment.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142269410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hippeastrum papilio (Ravena) van Sheepen is a bulbous evergreen species and considered a potential new source of galanthamine. This natural compound approved by the FDA is used for the cognitive treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. To optimize the galanthamine yield from this species, it is necessary to study the effects of plant age and fertilization on the alkaloid content, as well as alkaloid and biomass accumulation dynamics in plant organs. H. papilio plants of different ages, which were ex vitro acclimatized (age 0) and previously grown for one (age 1) and two (age 2) vegetation seasons, were cultivated in a flood and drain hydroponic system with different fertilizer solutions for six months. Samples from the roots, bulbs, and leaves were gathered at the end of the vegetation, and the fresh and dry biomasses were measured and then analyzed by GC–MS to establish their alkaloid content. Depending on the age and fertilizer, the galanthamine content varied from 4.5 ± 1.8 to 11.2 ± 2.8 mg/g DW in the roots, from 3.4 ± 0.5 to 5.8 ± 1.3 mg/g DW in the bulbs, and from 3.2 ± 0.3 to 5.7 ± 0.6 mg/g DW in the leaves. The main part (53–61%) of galanthamine was accumulated in the bulbs, while the leaves and roots stored 25–30% and 13–19%, respectively. Higher amounts of N, K, and Ca in the fertilizer did not positively influence the alkaloid yield in plants of ages 1 and 2. Despite the lower biomass accumulation per individual, the plants grown for two seasons (age 1) showed a comparable galanthamine yield (per square meter) at the end of vegetation to those grown for three seasons (age 2) due to their higher density of cultivation. The dynamics of alkaloid and biomass accumulation, studied in plants from age 1 during the vegetation season, showed that the highest galanthamine content in the plant organs is at the beginning of vegetation. Still, the end of vegetation is the best time to harvest the plant biomass for galanthamine extraction. Hydroponic cultivation of H. papilio is an interesting alternative for the production of galanthamine.
{"title":"Dynamics of Growth and Galanthamine Biosynthesis in Hippeastrum papilio (Ravena) Van Sheepen Hydroponic Culture","authors":"Gabriela Haist, Borjana Sidjimova, Rumen Denev, Jaume Bastida, Strahil Berkov","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092115","url":null,"abstract":"Hippeastrum papilio (Ravena) van Sheepen is a bulbous evergreen species and considered a potential new source of galanthamine. This natural compound approved by the FDA is used for the cognitive treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. To optimize the galanthamine yield from this species, it is necessary to study the effects of plant age and fertilization on the alkaloid content, as well as alkaloid and biomass accumulation dynamics in plant organs. H. papilio plants of different ages, which were ex vitro acclimatized (age 0) and previously grown for one (age 1) and two (age 2) vegetation seasons, were cultivated in a flood and drain hydroponic system with different fertilizer solutions for six months. Samples from the roots, bulbs, and leaves were gathered at the end of the vegetation, and the fresh and dry biomasses were measured and then analyzed by GC–MS to establish their alkaloid content. Depending on the age and fertilizer, the galanthamine content varied from 4.5 ± 1.8 to 11.2 ± 2.8 mg/g DW in the roots, from 3.4 ± 0.5 to 5.8 ± 1.3 mg/g DW in the bulbs, and from 3.2 ± 0.3 to 5.7 ± 0.6 mg/g DW in the leaves. The main part (53–61%) of galanthamine was accumulated in the bulbs, while the leaves and roots stored 25–30% and 13–19%, respectively. Higher amounts of N, K, and Ca in the fertilizer did not positively influence the alkaloid yield in plants of ages 1 and 2. Despite the lower biomass accumulation per individual, the plants grown for two seasons (age 1) showed a comparable galanthamine yield (per square meter) at the end of vegetation to those grown for three seasons (age 2) due to their higher density of cultivation. The dynamics of alkaloid and biomass accumulation, studied in plants from age 1 during the vegetation season, showed that the highest galanthamine content in the plant organs is at the beginning of vegetation. Still, the end of vegetation is the best time to harvest the plant biomass for galanthamine extraction. Hydroponic cultivation of H. papilio is an interesting alternative for the production of galanthamine.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-17DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092119
Giovanni Luigi Bruno
Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS) associated with Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca is one of the most destructive diseases of olive trees in the Salento Peninsula (Southern Italy), particularly on the cultivars Cellina di Nardò and Ogliarola Salentina. This study proposes the NuovOlivo protocol as a management strategy to permit coexistence between X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca and olive drupes and extra-virgin oil production. Thirty-two private olive orchards affected by OQDS and cultivated following the standard agronomic techniques in use in the area were surveyed during the 2019–2023 olive-growing seasons. Tested cultivars included Cellina di Nardò, Ogliarola Salentina, Coratina, Ascolana Tenera, Nociara, Leccino, and Bella di Cerignola. At the beginning of the protocol application, the susceptible plants showed OQDS symptom severity of 40–80% and did not produce olives or oil, while the resistant(?)/tolerant cultivars exhibited a 2–8% leaf scorch and a drupe production less than 1–2 kg/plant. After the removal of dry branches in January–February, plants were sprayed two times per year (preferably in March and October) with NuovOlivo®, a mixture of aqueous botanical extracts esterified in the presence of sodium hydroxide with vegetable oils and activated at the time of use with sodium bicarbonate. In all the orchards, a slow-release fertilizer was distributed, and weeds were controlled by mowing or chopping. Upon eventual appearance, the dry twigs were removed. Treated olive trees produced new vegetation, rebuilt their foliage, reduced OQDS symptoms, and turned out cluster inflorescence and drupes. The drupes yield was 6.67–51.36 kg per plant, with an average of 13.19% in extra-virgin olive oil (free acidity 0.01–0.2%). Plants used as controls showed OQDS symptoms and were unproductive, and newly formed shoots were desiccated. The proposed protocol promotes, supports, and restores new vegetation, flowers, fruits, and oil production of the treated olive plants affected by OQDS without losing susceptible olive plants. The Apulian landscape and economy, based on olive presence and production, could be also safeguarded.
{"title":"Coexistence between Xylella fastidiosa Subsp. pauca and Susceptible Olive Plants in the Salento Peninsula (Southern Italy)","authors":"Giovanni Luigi Bruno","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092119","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092119","url":null,"abstract":"Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS) associated with Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca is one of the most destructive diseases of olive trees in the Salento Peninsula (Southern Italy), particularly on the cultivars Cellina di Nardò and Ogliarola Salentina. This study proposes the NuovOlivo protocol as a management strategy to permit coexistence between X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca and olive drupes and extra-virgin oil production. Thirty-two private olive orchards affected by OQDS and cultivated following the standard agronomic techniques in use in the area were surveyed during the 2019–2023 olive-growing seasons. Tested cultivars included Cellina di Nardò, Ogliarola Salentina, Coratina, Ascolana Tenera, Nociara, Leccino, and Bella di Cerignola. At the beginning of the protocol application, the susceptible plants showed OQDS symptom severity of 40–80% and did not produce olives or oil, while the resistant(?)/tolerant cultivars exhibited a 2–8% leaf scorch and a drupe production less than 1–2 kg/plant. After the removal of dry branches in January–February, plants were sprayed two times per year (preferably in March and October) with NuovOlivo®, a mixture of aqueous botanical extracts esterified in the presence of sodium hydroxide with vegetable oils and activated at the time of use with sodium bicarbonate. In all the orchards, a slow-release fertilizer was distributed, and weeds were controlled by mowing or chopping. Upon eventual appearance, the dry twigs were removed. Treated olive trees produced new vegetation, rebuilt their foliage, reduced OQDS symptoms, and turned out cluster inflorescence and drupes. The drupes yield was 6.67–51.36 kg per plant, with an average of 13.19% in extra-virgin olive oil (free acidity 0.01–0.2%). Plants used as controls showed OQDS symptoms and were unproductive, and newly formed shoots were desiccated. The proposed protocol promotes, supports, and restores new vegetation, flowers, fruits, and oil production of the treated olive plants affected by OQDS without losing susceptible olive plants. The Apulian landscape and economy, based on olive presence and production, could be also safeguarded.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-09-17DOI: 10.3390/agronomy14092114
Zonghai Chen, Quan Wan, Pengyu Zhou, Haochen Li, Yige Liu, Ying Lu, Bo Li
Microplastics (MPs) pollution has become a global pollution problem, potentially affecting soil carbon cycling and structure stability in agricultural systems. However, the effects of MPs pollution on soil organic carbon fractions/transformation and soil aggregate stability remain unknown. Thus, a combination of one-year pot and short-term mineralized incubation experiments that involved a reference (CK, with no MPs), different concentrations (0.1, 1, and 2 w/w % polyethylene (PE)), and types (0.1 w/w % PE, polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)) of MPs were carried out to investigate the effects on the soil aggregate stability and organic carbon mineralization after one year of adding MPs. The results showed that the size distribution of the soil partial aggregates varied significantly as affected by the MP concentration and type (p ˂ 0.05). Compared with 0.1% PE, significant increases in the MWD (mean weight diameter) and GMD (geometric mean diameter) of 2% PE of 27.22% and 32.73%, respectively, were detected. In addition, high concentrations (>1%) of PE significantly decreased the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (p ˂ 0.05), whereas they significantly increased the stable carbon fractions including the particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-bound organic carbon (MOC) (p ˂ 0.01). Meanwhile, compared with the CK, both MP types and doses significantly decreased the soil organic carbon mineralization rate (SOCMR) and cumulative mineralization amount (CM) (p ˂ 0.001). Moreover, the MPs significantly increased the total PLFA (phospholipid fatty acid) by 261.9–438.8% (p ˂ 0.01), and the soil pH and total PLFA were the dominant factors that affected the SOCMR as affected by MPs. Thus, a high concentration (>1%) of PE significantly decreased the SOCMR by influencing the soil pH, TN, and macroaggregate (R>0.25) content and microbial community composition. This study provided evidence of the feedback of MPs pollution on soil C dynamic and aggregates in cultivated soil in South China.
{"title":"Microplastics Can Inhibit Organic Carbon Mineralization by Influencing Soil Aggregate Distribution and Microbial Community Structure in Cultivated Soil: Evidence from a One-Year Pot Experiment","authors":"Zonghai Chen, Quan Wan, Pengyu Zhou, Haochen Li, Yige Liu, Ying Lu, Bo Li","doi":"10.3390/agronomy14092114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092114","url":null,"abstract":"Microplastics (MPs) pollution has become a global pollution problem, potentially affecting soil carbon cycling and structure stability in agricultural systems. However, the effects of MPs pollution on soil organic carbon fractions/transformation and soil aggregate stability remain unknown. Thus, a combination of one-year pot and short-term mineralized incubation experiments that involved a reference (CK, with no MPs), different concentrations (0.1, 1, and 2 w/w % polyethylene (PE)), and types (0.1 w/w % PE, polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)) of MPs were carried out to investigate the effects on the soil aggregate stability and organic carbon mineralization after one year of adding MPs. The results showed that the size distribution of the soil partial aggregates varied significantly as affected by the MP concentration and type (p ˂ 0.05). Compared with 0.1% PE, significant increases in the MWD (mean weight diameter) and GMD (geometric mean diameter) of 2% PE of 27.22% and 32.73%, respectively, were detected. In addition, high concentrations (>1%) of PE significantly decreased the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (p ˂ 0.05), whereas they significantly increased the stable carbon fractions including the particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-bound organic carbon (MOC) (p ˂ 0.01). Meanwhile, compared with the CK, both MP types and doses significantly decreased the soil organic carbon mineralization rate (SOCMR) and cumulative mineralization amount (CM) (p ˂ 0.001). Moreover, the MPs significantly increased the total PLFA (phospholipid fatty acid) by 261.9–438.8% (p ˂ 0.01), and the soil pH and total PLFA were the dominant factors that affected the SOCMR as affected by MPs. Thus, a high concentration (>1%) of PE significantly decreased the SOCMR by influencing the soil pH, TN, and macroaggregate (R>0.25) content and microbial community composition. This study provided evidence of the feedback of MPs pollution on soil C dynamic and aggregates in cultivated soil in South China.","PeriodicalId":7601,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142263682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}