Dataset Information

Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Yield-phenology relation is a critical issue affecting rainfed maize field productivity in semiarid east African Plateau (EAP). We first introduced Chinese ridge-furrow mulching (RFM) system to EAP, using three maize cultivars with early-, mid- and late-maturing traits as test materials. A two-year field experiment was conducted in a semiarid farm of Kenya from 2012 to 2013. Three treatments were designed: alternative ridge and furrow with transparent plastic mulching (FT), with black plastic mulching (FB) and without mulching (CK). We found that FT and FB significantly increased soil moisture and accelerated crop maturity across two growing seasons. Leaf area and shoot biomass were increased by 30.2% and 67.5% in FT, 35.2% and 73.5% in FB, respectively, compared with CK. Grain yield, water use efficiency and economic output were increased by 55.6%, 57.5% and 26.7% in FT, and 50.8%, 53.3% and 19.8% in FB, respectively. Optimal yield and economic benefit were observed in late-maturing cultivar due to increased topsoil temperature in FT in 2012 (cool), and in early-maturing cultivar owing to cooling effect in FB in 2013 (warm). Our study suggested RFM system, combined with crop phenology selection, be a promising strategy to boost maize productivity and profitability in semiarid EAP.

SUBMITTER: Mo F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5468227 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

Mo Fei F Wang Jian-Yong JY Li Feng-Min FM Nguluu Simon N SN Ren Hong-Xu HX Zhou Hong H Zhang Jian J Kariuki Charles W CW Gicheru Patrick P Kavagi Levis L Cheruiyot Wesly K WK Xiong You-Cai YC

Scientific reports 20170612 1

Yield-phenology relation is a critical issue affecting rainfed maize field productivity in semiarid east African Plateau (EAP). We first introduced Chinese ridge-furrow mulching (RFM) system to EAP, using three maize cultivars with early-, mid- and late-maturing traits as test materials. A two-year field experiment was conducted in a semiarid farm of Kenya from 2012 to 2013. Three treatments were designed: alternative ridge and furrow with transparent plastic mulching (FT), with black plastic mu ...[more]

PMID: 28607420

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Project description:BackgroundIn semiarid areas, low productivity of crops has been attributed to lack of appropriate soil moisture conservation practices since droughts and soil erosion are rampant in most areas of this region. Consequently, ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting is widely used in these regions across the globe. Despite ridge-furrow being widely practiced, tied-ridge-furrow has not been extensively adopted by small-scale farmers in semi-arid regions. Consequently, the effectiveness of tied-ridge-furrow as a viable method of increasing crop yield has received less attention.MethodologyFor large-scale implementation, a detailed assessment of how ridge furrow, tied-ridge-furrow with fertilizer, tied-ridge-furrow with mulching and tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer influence crop yield in different agro-environments under varying climatic conditions is needed. This study used the PRISMA guidelines to determine the impact of tied-ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting technique with mulching or fertilizer on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) grain yields.ResultsSorghum grain yield increased by 17% greater in tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer in comparison to flat planting. This may be due to increase in soil organic carbon in the region (9 g kg-1). Grain yield of millet significantly increased by 20-40% in Africa from 18 study observations in tied-ridge-furrow with fertilizer application as compared to tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer treatments. This might be due to the significant increase in total nitrogen by 13-42% in the soil at <50 mg kg-1 quantity which had an effect size of 469.14 [65.60, 872.67]. In terms of soil texture, grain yield of millet and sorghum significantly increased in heavy textured soils (clay loam, silt clay, and clay soils) with an effect size of 469.14 [65.60, 872.67] compared to light and medium-textured soils of zero effect sizes. Millet and sorghum grain yields in tied-ridge-furrow with mulching, on the other hand, were not significantly different from those in flat planting. This may be due to the mulching materials used in those tests.ConclusionIn view of yields of sorghum and millet increased significantly by 32% and 17% in tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer treatment compared to flat planting and tied-ridge-furrow with fertilizer treatment compared with tied-ridge-furrow without mulching or fertilizer treatment, respectively, this study recommend the use of fertilizers in a tied-ridge-furrow system to increase grain yield in semiarid areas compared to flat planting. Again, the study recommends more research on tied-ridge-furrow systems with other organic mulches and fertilizers in semiarid areas.

Project description:Image analysis methods for measuring crop phenotypes may replace traditional measurements if they more efficiently and reliably capture similar or superior information. This study used a recreational-grade unmanned aerial vehicle carrying a spectrally-modified consumer-grade camera to collect images in which each pixel value is a vegetation index based on the normalized difference between the blue and near infrared wavelength bands (BNDVI). The subjects of the study were Zea mays hybrids with good yield potential grown in 4-row plots. Flights were conducted at least once per week during three successive growing seasons in south-central Wisconsin. Average BNDVI for each plot (genotype) rose steadily through June, peaked in July, and then declined as plants matured. BNDVI histograms changed shape over the season as the canopy concealed soil, became more uniformly green, then senesced. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) captured the change in histogram shape. PC1 represented canopy closure. PC2 represented the mean of the BNDVI distribution. PC3 represented the spread of the distribution. Correlation analysis showed that flowering time correlated with PC2 and PC3 best (r ? 0.5) a few days before the event (day in which 50% of the plants exhibited tassels). Three ears were picked from each plot to quantify kernel dimensions by image analysis before each plot was mechanically harvested to determine grain weight per plot. Correlations between this measurement of yield and PC2 were low in June but exceeded 0.4 within 10 days after flowering. Kernel length correlated similarly with PC2. The correlation between PC2 and kernel thickness displayed a similar but inverted time course. These results indicate that greater mid-season BNDVI values correlate positively with yield comprised of tall, thin kernels. Partial least squares regression performed on the BNDVI time courses predicted flowering time (r = 0.54-0.79) and yield (r = 0.4-0.69). This three-year experiment demonstrated that readily available hardware and software can create a phenotyping platform capable of predicting maize flowering time, yield, and kernel dimensions to a useful degree.

Project description:Mulching and nitrogen are critical drivers of crop production for smallholders of the Loess Plateau in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mulching and nitrogen fertilizer on the soil water content, soil nitrate-N content and vertical distribution in maize root-zone. The experiment was conducted over two consecutive years and used randomly assigned field plots with three replicates. The six treatments consisted of no fertilizer without plastic film (CK), plastic film mulching with no basal fertilizer and no top dressing (MN0), basal fertilizer with no top dressing and no mulching (BN1), plastic film mulching and basal fertilizer with no top dressing (MN1), basal fertilizer and top dressing with no mulching (BN2) and plastic film mulching with basal fertilizer and top dressing (MN2). In the top soil layers, the soil water content was a little high in the plastic film mulching than that without mulching. The mean soil water content from 0 to 40 cm without mulching were 3.35% lower than those measured in the corresponding mulching treatments in 31 days after sowing in 2012. The mulching treatment increased the soil nitrate-N content was observed in the 0-40-cm soil layers. The results indicate that high contents of soil nitrate-N were mainly distributed at 0-20-cm at 31 days after sowing in 2012, and the soil nitrate-N concentration in the MN2 treatment was 1.58 times higher than that did not receive fertilizer. The MN2 treatment greatly increased the soil nitrate-N content in the upper layer of soil (0-40-cm), and the mean soil nitrate-N content was increased nearly 50 mg kg-1 at 105 days after sowing compared with CK treatment in 2012. The soil nitrate-N leaching amount in MN1 treatment was 28.61% and 39.14% lower than BN1 treatment, and the mulch effect attained to 42.55% and 65.27% in MN2 lower than BN2 in both years. The yield increased with an increase in the basal fertilizer, top dressing and plastic film mulching, and the grain yield increase ranged from 31.41% to 83.61% in two consecutive years. The MN1 and MN2 treatment is recommended because it increased the grain yield and improved the fertilizer use efficiency, compared with the no-mulching treatment.

Project description:Association mapping is a powerful approach to detect associations between traits of interest and genetic markers based on linkage disequilibrium in molecular plant breeding. The aim of this study was the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and SilicoDArT markers associated with yield traits and morphological features in maize. Plant material constituted inbred lines. The field experiment with inbred lines was established on 10 m2 plots in a set of complete random blocks in three replicates. We observed 22 quantitative traits. Association mapping was performed in this study using a method based on the mixed linear model with the population structure estimated by eigenanalysis (principal component analysis applied to all markers) and modeled by random effects. As a result of mapping, 969 markers (346 SNPs and 623 SilocoDArT) were selected from 49,911 identified polymorphic molecular markers, which were significantly associated with the analyzed morphological features and yield structure traits. Markers associated with five or six traits were selected during further analyses, including SilicoDArT 4591115 (anthocyanin coloration of anthers, length of main axis above the highest lateral branch, cob length, number of grains per cob, weight of fresh grains per cob and weight of fresh grains per cob at 15% moisture), SilicoDArT 7059939 (anthocyanin coloration of glumes of cob, time of anthesis-50% of flowering plants, time of silk emergence-50% of flowering plants, anthocyanin coloration of anthers and cob diameter), SilicoDArT 5587991 (anthocyanin coloration of glumes of cob, time of anthesis-50% of flowering plants, anthocyanin coloration of anthers, curvature of lateral branches and number of rows of grain). The two genetic similarity dendrograms between the inbred lines were constructed based on all significant SNPs and SilicoDArT markers. On both dendrograms lines clustered according to the kernel structure (flint, dent) and origin. The selected markers may be useful in predicting hybrid formulas in a heterosis culture. The present study demonstrated that molecular SNP and Silico DArT markers could be used in this species to group lines in terms of origin and lines with incomplete origin data. They can also be useful in maize in predicting the hybrid formula and can find applications in the selection of parental components for heterosis crossings.

Dataset Information

Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

Publications

Yield-phenology relations and water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) in ridge-furrow mulching system in semiarid east African Plateau.

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