The development of resilient cropping systems with high yield stability is becoming increasingly important due to future climatic and agronomic challenges. Consequently, it is essential to compare the effects of different agronomic management practices, such as cropping sequences and nutrient supply, on the stability of crop yields. Long-term experiments are a valuable resource for investigating these effects, as they provide enough time to accurately estimate stability parameters. The objective of the current study was to compare the effects of different cropping sequencing (#1: continuous v. rotational), fertilization (#2: mineral v. organic) and straw management techniques (in the case of continuous wheat; #3: removal v. incorporation) on the yield stability of winter wheat; yield risk (the probability of yield falling below a threshold yield level) and inter-annual yield variability were used as stability indicators of the effects. Long-term yield data from the Broadbalk Wheat Experiment (Rothamsted, UK) were analysed using a mixed model. Overall, the results showed that rotational cropping combined with sufficient mineral N fertilizer, with or without organic manure, ensured stable wheat yields while reducing yield risk. In contrast, higher yield risks and inter-annual yield variabilities were found in continuous wheat sections with less mineral N fertilizer or with organic manure only.

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.) is an important crop for rainfed production systems and can play a significant role as a feed source for ruminants owing to its high yield and drought tolerance. It is well-established that the maturity stage can influence the chemical composition as well as the nutritional value of crops traditionally used for silage production, although quantitative evidence that this occurs with pearl millet under rainfed conditions is lacking. The current research assessed the agronomic characteristics, ensilability, intake and digestibility of a Brazilian pearl millet cultivar (IPA BULK1-BF) harvested at four different growth stages. Forage was harvested at 35, 50, 65 and 80 days after sowing and ensiled under laboratory and farm conditions. Apparent digestibility of the silages was determined using 24 male lambs. The results showed that dry matter (DM) and panicle and stem proportions increased with the advancement maturity. The silage evaluations showed that DM, total and non-fibrous carbohydrates and lignin concentrations increased, while crude protein, ADF and in vitro DM digestibility decreased with the increase in plant maturity. Additionally, the fermentation characteristics were improved with the increasing maturity. The digestion study showed that intake of DM and N as well as digestibility of DM and fibre fractions decreased, while lignin intake increased. The results obtained for the production of dry and digestible DM, the ratio of plant fractions and fermentation parameters indicate the possibility of harvesting pearl millet forage after 50 days after sowing for silage production in the Brazilian semi-arid region.

The plant availability of manure nitrogen (N) is influenced by manure composition in the year of application whereas some studies indicate that the legacy effect in following years is independent of the composition. The plant availability of N in pig and cattle slurries with variable contents of particulate matter was determined in a 3-year field study. We separated cattle and a pig slurry into liquid and solid fractions by centrifugation. Slurry mixtures with varying proportions of solid and liquid fraction were applied to a loamy sand soil at similar NH4+-N rates in the first year. Yields and N offtake of spring barley and undersown perennial ryegrass were compared to plots receiving mineral N fertilizer. The first year N fertilizer replacement value (NFRV) of total N in slurry mixtures decreased with increasing proportion of solid fraction. The second and third season NFRV averaged 6.5% and 3.8% of total N, respectively, for cattle slurries, and 18% and 7.5% for pig slurries and was not related to the proportion of solid fraction. The estimated net N mineralization of residual organic N increased nearly linearly with growing degree days (GDD) with a rate of 0.0058%/GDD for cattle and 0.0116%/GDD for pig slurries at 2000–5000 GDD after application. In conclusion NFRV of slurry decreased with increasing proportion of solid fraction in the first year. In the second year, NFRV of pig slurry N was significantly higher than that of cattle slurry N and unaffected by proportion between solid and liquid fraction.

This study aimed to examine the effects of re-ensiling time and Lactobacillus buchneri on the fermentation profile, chemical composition and aerobic stability of sugarcane silages. The experiment was set up as a repeated measure design consisting of four air-exposure periods (EP)(0, 6, 12, and 24 h) microbial additive (A) (L. buchneri; or lack of there), with five replicates. Sugarcane was ground through a stationary forage chopper and ensiled in four plastic drums of 200-L capacity. After 210 days of storage, the drums were opened and half of the silage mass was treated with L. buchneri at the concentration of 105 cfu/g of forage. Subsequently, the silages were divided into stacks. The re-ensiling process was started immediately, at 0, 6, 12 and 24-hour intervals, by transferring the material to PVC mini-silos. Silos were opened after 120 days of re-ensiling. The use of L. buchneri reduced butyrate concentration but did not change ethanol or acetic acid concentrations and aerobic stability. An interaction effect between L. buchneri and re-ensiling time was observed for dry matter (DM) losses and composition. Lactobacillus buchneri is not effective in improving aerobic stability in re-ensiled sugarcane silages. However, less DM is lost in silages treated with L. buchneri and exposed to air for 24 h. Re-ensiling sugar cane in up to 24 h of exposure to air does not change final product quality.

Increasing herd size and fragmented or non-uniform land challenge pasture-based milk production systems. Therefore, part-time grazing combined with indoor feeding of fresh herbage (‘cut-and-carry’) allows to maintain the advantages of fresh-herbage-based diets. However, consequences for environmental nitrogen losses, animal behaviour and ruminal metabolism are decisive for its implementation. Animal performance, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), reticulo-ruminal pH and feeding/locomotive behaviour were compared in six cows subjected either to full-time grazing (system F) or to part-time grazing system with indoor feeding of fresh herbage and concentrate (system P). Biweekly samplings were performed on six lactating cows per treatment in spring, summer and autumn. Nitrogen (N) balance was calculated from estimated N intake and N output via faeces, urine and milk. Reticulo-ruminal pH was recorded using a wireless data recorder. Eating and locomotive behaviour were measured with noseband sensors and pedometers. In spring, but not later, herbage intake per unit of body weight was higher for system F compared to system P cows. Eating time was shorter by 15% in P compared to F cows. Across systems, NUE declined from spring to summer/autumn from about 300 to 200 g milk protein N/kg N intake. Reticulo-ruminal pH was more variable under part-time grazing conditions, with a pronounced decrease subsequent to offering the herbage indoors. The part-time grazing system resulted in similar or higher NUE than full-time grazing. Additional studies with larger numbers of experimental units are required to be able to develop comprehensive recommendations for the improvement of the two grazing systems.

The aim of the study was to analyse the influence on tail-biting in undocked pigs during the rearing period of crude fibre in piglets' rations. All pigs were fed the same pre-starter until weaning. The study comprised two trials with four experimental groups each. The first trial contained: a control group (CG1) with conventional feed (up to 40 g/kg crude fibre), two groups with an increased crude fibre content of up to 50 g/kg (G5) and 60 g/kg (G6), respectively, and one group with conventional feed and crude fibre provision ad libitum (AL). The second trial consisted of a control group (CG2) which received the same conventional feed as CG1 and three treatment groups with either soya hulls (SS), dried sugar beet pulp (DP) or oat fibre (OF) admixed to their ration, to achieve a crude fibre content of 60 g/kg in all three groups. The rearing week, the batch, the treatment group (only in trial one) and the interaction between batch and treatment group had a significant influence on tail-lesions (P < 0.05). The tail-biting process started in rearing week 3 (trial one) and 5 (trial two), respectively. Due to the low frequency of tail-biting during the present study, crude fibre seems to have no major influence on tail-biting during the rearing period. This unexpected result may be caused by the optimized conditions in which the piglets were kept and the intensive animal observation carried out by the employees. However, the batch effect was most influential.

Plant cyclophilin (CYP) is related to chloroplast photoprotection, redox and other growth and developmental regulatory processes and responds to stress and improves tolerance to saline–alkali stress. Besides, it exerts peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity to participate in protein synthesis and folding. In this study, Northern blot was used to analyse the CsCYP1A gene (a CYP gene isolated from a Chlorella species) (accession number: KY207381) of tolerant Chlorella vulgaris in soda saline–alkali soil. The result showed that the expression of the CsCYP1A gene was induced by NaHCO3, NaCl and sorbitol. Additionally, Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used to infect the callus of rice (Oryza sativa var. Longjing11) for genetic transformation. Molecular detection confirmed that transgenic seedlings overexpressing CsCYP1A were obtained by hygromycin selection. Treatment with NaCl and NaHCO3 at the five-leaf stage was performed in the seedlings, and the results showed that there were significant differences between the CsCYP1A overexpressed rice lines and non-transgenic (NT) Longjing11 in terms of plant height, fresh weight, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde content and ascorbate peroxidase activity. The CsCYP1A overexpression rice lines had higher tolerance to NaCl and NaHCO3 than NT. The current findings indicate that CsCYP1A can enhance the tolerance of rice to saline–alkali stress possibly through its involvement in reactive oxygen scavenging pathways.

The supplementation of ruminant diets with exogenous cellulolytic enzymes can improve their digestibility and feeding value. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of supplementing roughage (rice straw) and concentrate with inoculants containing four fungal strains (Pleurotus ostreatus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Trichoderma reesei and Trichoderma viride) and four bacterial strains (Paenibacillus polymyxa, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus circulans and Bacillus subtilis), given separately or as a mixture, as a source of exogenous cellulolytic enzymes, on basic rumen parameters in vitro, including digestibility and methane production. A batch culture trial was used to select the best supplements, and a long-term rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC) was used to evaluate the effects of P. chrysosporium, B. subtilis, and a 1 : 1 mixture of these two on dietary component digestibility and fermentation parameters. In the batch culture evaluation, there were significant increases in the organic matter (OM) digestibility, the total gas production expressed as ml/g of dry matter, the OM, the neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and the acid detergent fibre (ADF) of the supplemented rations, as compared to the control, excluding the rations supplemented with T. viride and B. circulans. In the RUSITEC, the ration supplemented with mixed inoculants showed significantly higher digestibility of crude protein, ether extract, NDF and ADF than did the ration supplemented with the P. chrysosporium and B. subtilis inoculants. It can be concluded that the simultaneous use of fungal and bacterial exogenous cellulases on rice straw roughage improves its digestibility, without negative effects on other rumen parameters.

The Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA) is an international project that addresses global food production capacity in the form of yield gaps (Yg). The GYGA project is unique in employing its original Climate Zonation Scheme (CZS) composed of three indexed factors, i.e. Growing Degree Days (GDD) related to temperature, Aridity Index (AI) related to available water and Temperature Seasonality (TS) related to annual temperature range, creating 300 Climate Zones (CZs) theoretically across the globe. In the present study, the GYGA CZs were identified for Japan on a municipality basis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on irrigated rice yield data sets, equating to actual yields (Ya) in the GYGA context, from long-term government statistics. The ANOVA was conducted for the data sets over two decades between 1994 and 2016 by assigning the GDD score of 6 levels and the TS score of 2 levels as fixed factors. Significant interactions with respect to Ya were observed between GDD score and TS score for 13 years out of 21 years implying the existence of favourable combinations of the GDD score and the TS score for rice cultivation. The implication was also supported by the observation with Yg. The lower values of coefficient of variance obtained from the CZs characterized by medium GDD scores indicated the stability over time of rice yields in these areas. These findings suggest a possibility that the GYGA-CZS can be recognized as a tool suitable to identify favourable CZs for growing crops.

Soil organic matter (SOM) and its fractions play an important role in maintaining or improving soil quality and soil fertility. Therefore, the effects of a 34-year long-term fertilizer regime on six functional SOM fractions under a double-cropping rice paddy field of southern China were studied in the current paper. The field experiment included four different fertilizer treatments: chemical fertilizer alone (MF), rice straw residue and chemical fertilizer (RF), 30% organic manure and 70% chemical fertilizer (OM) and without fertilizer input as control (CK). The results showed that coarse unprotected particulate organic matter (cPOM), biochemically, physically–biochemically and chemically protected silt-sized fractions (NH-dSilt, NH-μSilt and H-dSilt) were the main carbon (C) storage fractions under long-term fertilization conditions, accounting for 16.7–26.5, 31.1–35.6, 16.2–17.3 and 7.5–8.2% of the total soil organic carbon (SOC) content in paddy soil, respectively. Compared with control, OM treatment increased the SOC content in the cPOM, fine unprotected POM fraction, pure physically protected fraction and physico-chemically protected fractions by 58.9, 106.7, 117.6 and 28.3%, respectively. The largest proportion of SOC to total SOC in the different fractions was biochemically protected, followed by chemically and unprotected, and physically protected were the smallest. These results suggested that a physical protection mechanism plays an important role in stabilizing C of paddy soil. In summary, the results showed that higher functional SOM fractions and physical protection mechanism play an important role in SOM cycling in terms of C sequestration under the double-cropping rice paddy field.

The objective was to elucidate the effects of dietary supplementation with guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) on performance, egg quality and the liver antioxidant activity of laying hens. A total of 128, 72-week-old ISA Brown laying hens were randomly divided into four equal groups (32 birds), and each subgroup had eight replicates (four birds/cage). The control group (GAA0) fed the basal diet with no supplements, while the other experimental groups fed the basal diets supplemented with 0.5 (GAA1), 1.0 (GAA2) and 1.5 (GAA3) g of GAA/kg diet. The experiment lasted for 6 weeks. The addition of GAA at a rate of 1.5 g kg−1 significantly increased the hen-day egg production and egg mass as compared to the control group (P = 0.016 and 0.003, respectively). Although the egg weight was not affected (P = 0.521) by the dietary supplements, the shell ratio, shell thickness, yolk index and Haugh units increased linearly with the increase in the dietary supplements of the GAA (P = 0.036, 0.001, 0.012 and 0.004, respectively). The liver MDA levels decreased linearly with the increment in the dietary levels of the GAA (P = 0.012). Birds in the GAA2 and GAA3 showed a significantly higher liver nitric oxide level (52.50 and 54.21 mg/g, respectively) when compared with GAA0 and GAA1 groups (P = 0.029). Compared to the GAA0 group, all GAA-supplemented groups showed significantly higher liver ATP levels (P = 0.047). In conclusion, the dietary GA supplements at doses of 1.0 or 1.5 g kg−1 may improve the laying performance, antioxidant activity and the status of cellular energy metabolism in laying hens.

Pomegranate peels (PP) and mango leaves (ML) were analysed for nutrients and tannin contents. In an in vitro test, ten diets were prepared; six contained 2, 4 and 6% of PP or ML, three diets supplemented with mixed levels of PP and ML (1 + 1%, 2 + 2% and 3 + 3%) and control diet free of them. Gas was measured after 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h of incubation. Methane and rumen parameters were estimated. In an in vivo experiment, 40 Ossimi lambs were divided into four groups; the first was control, other groups (T1, T2 and T3) fed diets containing 6% PP, 6% ML or mix levels (3% PP + 3%ML), respectively, for 2 months. Results showed that PP and ML were rich in tannins. In the in vitro test, a maximum reduction in gas, methane and NH3-N was in 6% PP, 6% ML and mixed levels (3% PP + 3% ML). In the in vivo experiment, there were no differences in growth and digestibility of DM and nutrients between treatment groups. Only a lowered DM intake and protein digestibility in lambs fed 6% PP. Gas and methane emission was decreased significantly in lambs fed 6% PP, compared to other groups. TVFAs and NH3-N were decreased for treatment groups. Also, all treatments did not show any pathological changes in liver function or on oxidative stress markers. In conclusion, PP and ML can be used in sheep diets at inclusion levels of 6% and mixture without detrimental effects on general health of Ossimi lambs.

In the present study, a new method for a decision-support system for fungicide administration against the pathogen Botrytis cinerea in vineyards was developed based on Integrated Pest Management principles which identified an infection risk before the appearance of disease symptoms. The proposed method is based on the combination of (i) the phenological observations of the main susceptible stages to infection, (ii) the airborne spores monitoring, (iii) the forecasting of the suitable meteorological conditions for B. cinerea spore germination during the subsequent 4–6 days after the spore detection. Aerobiological, phenological and meteorological analyses were carried out using data from 2008 to 2015 in a vineyard of Northwestern Spain. Aerobiological spore data were obtained using a Lanzoni VPPS-2000 pollen-spore trap. Phenological observations were conducted on 22 plants of Treixadura cultivar following the BBCH (Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land und Forstwirtschaft, Bundessortenamt und CHemische Industrie) scale. The Magarey generic fungal model was applied for the identification of the main meteorological suitable periods for infection within the susceptible phenological stages of flowering and ripening of berries. Our results showed that climatic conditions favoured fungal development during flowering, although a higher incidence of B. cinerea infection risk-periods occurred during the prior-to-harvest stage of ripening of berries, the most susceptible phenological stage to B. cinerea infection obtained by the proposed methodology. This approach enables more precise targeting in pesticide spraying and reduction in pesticide application from 4–5 to 2–3 times per year at our commercial study. It also illustrates the real-world benefits of integrated disease risk modelling.