This paper presents the results of a study conducted in 2016–2018 in the temperate conditions to evaluate the content and uptake of P, K, Ca and Mg in mixtures of narrowleaf lupin with spring triticale grown for green fodder. Two factors were analysed in the experiment: A – the proportion of components in the mixture: narrowleaf lupine 100%, narrowleaf lupine + spring triticale 75 + 25%, 50 + 50%, 25 + 75%, and spring triticale 100%; B – the harvest stage the flowering stage of narrowleaf lupine, the stage of flat green pod of narrowleaf lupine. Increasing the proportion of spring triticale in the sown mixtures in relation to narrowleaf lupine resulted in a decrease in the content of the analysed macroelements by 8.9%–28.7% on a g/kg DM basis. The greatest uptake on a kg/ha basis of macroelements was found in the mixture with an equal share of both components. Harvesting mixtures at a later stage of development increased the uptake of P, K, Ca and Mg by 98.7%–111.8% because of greater DM yield, but reduced the content of these macroelements by 12.6%–20.8% in the more mature fodder. Mixtures of narrowleaf lupine with spring triticale can provide valuable mineral nutrients for livestock.

It is often stated that organic rice has a higher content of healthy phytochemicals than ordinary rice, and the facts on this claim obtained experimentally are rare. Riceberry is a new rice variety in Thailand. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of organic practice and conventional practice on the content of chemical composition and bioactive compounds in Riceberry rice. The results showed that agricultural practices were not significantly different for grain yield in the first year, but they were different in the second year. Rice produced by organic practice had a higher content of iron, gamma-aminobutyric acid, total phenolic and anthocyanin (4.15, 1.67, 41.3 and 20.1 mg/100 g dry weight in the first year, and 4.06, 3.37, 89.7 and 14.7 mg/100 g dry weight in the second year) than that produced by conventional practice (2.25, 1.11, 38.8 and 6.89 mg/100 g dry in the first year, and 1.96, 2.77, 54.1 and 5.71 mg/100 g dry in the second year). Rice produced by organic practice also had lower sugar content (2.92 g/100 g dry weight in the first year, and 1.99 g/100 g dry weight in the second year) than that produced by conventional practice (3.46 g/100 g dry weight in the first year, and 2.81 g/100 g dry weight in the second year). Gamma oryzanol and antioxidant capacity were also lower in organic rice compared to conventional rice. This study indicated that organic Riceberry rice had a higher quality compared to non-organic rice.

This study examines the effect of cereal and livestock production-induced greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) across high-, middle- and low-income countries from 2002 to 2016. A structural equation formulated within an environmental modeling framework is tested using the balanced panel-corrected standard errors estimation procedure. The findings showed that total food production is strongly correlated with methane and nitrous oxide in high-income countries and nitrous oxide emissions in middle-income countries. After disaggregating total food production into cereal and livestock production, the findings revealed that cereal production is positively and statistically significantly correlated with nitrous oxide emissions in high- and middle-income countries. The findings also confirmed that livestock production is positively and statistically significantly correlated with methane and nitrous oxide emissions in high-income countries. Incomes, industrial expansion, forest cover and education are other strong common determinants of GHGs in all three income categories of countries. The prime policy implication of this finding is the need for the food producers to transit toward environmentally cleaner and sustainable food production systems that mitigate GHGs and improve environmental performance and comply with the broader objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13 and 15 (United Nations, 2015a, p. 3) relating to sustainable production, climate action and life on land, respectively.

A survey of the prevalence of rigid ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) resistant to ACCase and ALS herbicides was conducted in major-cereal growing regions in the north of Tunisia. Randomly collected ryegrass populations were assessed, using the Syngenta RISQ® test, for resistance to clodinafop-propargyl, iodosulphuron + mesosulphuron and pinoxaden. Of the 177 tested populations, 58% exhibited resistance to clodinafop-propargyl and 52% to iodosulphuron + mesosulphuron, with 40% exhibiting resistance to both herbicides. Significant variations in the frequencies of rigid ryegrass resistant to clodinafop-propargyl and/or iodosulphuron + mesosulphuron were observed between surveyed regions which may be the result of differences in the history of herbicide use. Over 50% of resistant populations contained 60% of resistant plants or more, indicating the extent of resistance evolution in these regions. Our study demonstrates that the extent of resistance to ACCase and ALS-inhibiting herbicides in rigid ryegrass is widespread in major cereal-growing regions of Tunisia. Therefore, weed management must be focused on reducing the frequency of herbicide application, using multiple herbicide mechanisms of action, rotating different modes of action and integrating alternative control options.

The long-term success of weed management programs requires that all crops in a rotation receive satisfactory weed control. Band sowing with inter-band hoeing has been proposed as an innovative weed management strategy for grain crops. In the band-sowing system, crops are sown in a broadcast pattern within a band of some chosen width (here we selected 12.7 cm); weeds between bands are controlled with inter-band hoeing, with or without so-called “blind cultivation,” for example, tine harrowing. Alteration of the crop spatial arrangement from typical single-line rows to a more evenly distributed pattern aims to enhance interspecific competition while reducing intraspecific competition. Field experiments, conducted in Maine in 2016 and 2017, compared band sowing with inter-band hoeing to the region’s standard practice of planting in 16.5-cm rows and tine harrowing in four test crops: spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ‘Glenn’), oat (Avena sativa L. ‘Colt’), field pea (Pisum sativum L. ‘Jetset’), and flax (Linum usitatissimum L. ‘Prairie Thunder’). Band sowing improved weed control relative to the standard practice, especially in crops with greater competitive ability (wheat and oat). Despite improved weed control, in most cases, yields were unaffected by treatment. While band sowing with hoeing provided improved weed control in multiple crops, further study is warranted to optimize seeding rate, band width, and inter-band width to improve crop yields.

Weeds remain the foremost production challenge for organic small grain farmers in the northeastern United States. Instead of crops sown in narrow, single-line rows, band sowing offers a more uniform spatial arrangement of the crop, maximizing interspecific while reducing intraspecific competition. Weeds in the inter-band zone are controlled by cultivating with aggressive sweeps; tine harrowing can target weeds in both intra- and inter-band zones. Field experiments in Maine and Vermont in 2016 and 2017 evaluated band sowing for improved weed control, crop yield, and grain quality in organic spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L. ‘Newdale’). Specifically, we compared: (1) the standard practice of sowing 16.5-cm rows at a target crop density of 325 plants m−2, (2) narrow-row sowing with increased crop density, (3) wide-row sowing with interrow hoeing, and (4) band sowing both with and (5) without inter-band hoeing. Mustard (Sinapis alba L. ‘Ida Gold’) was planted throughout the experiment as a surrogate weed. Compared with the standard practice, band sowing with hoeing reduced surrogate weed density on average by 45% across site-years. However, effects on weed biomass and yield were inconsistent, perhaps due to suboptimal timing of hoeing and adverse weather conditions. In 1 out of 4 site-years, band sowing with hoeing reduced surrogate weed biomass by 67% and increased crop yield compared with the standard treatment. Results also indicate that band sowing with hoeing may improve 1,000-kernel weight and plump kernel grain-quality parameters.

Preservation of moist grain anaerobically by so-called crimping has many advantages. Generally, preservation has been successfully performed when grain is harvested at 30–40% moisture content (MC). However, there is a trend towards using drier than the optimal MC of the raw material. This leads to an increasing need to control aerobic spoilage of the material and also to experimental challenges in assessing the quality and stability of low-MC crimped grain. The objective of the current work was to evaluate fermentation quality, microbial composition and aerobic stability (AS) of drier than the optimal crimped grain ensiled with different additives and to use these materials to compare three different AS evaluation methods. Crimped wheat grain with 28% MC was ensiled using eight additive treatments based mainly on formic and propionic acids including a control without any additive. The low MC resulted in no lactic acid fermentation, but significant ethanol formation occurred in the control. The treatments used resulted in clear differences in microbial quality and AS of the feeds, and use of formic and propionic acid-based additives provided a clear benefit in improving the AS of crimped wheat grain. The correlation between increasing temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) production under aerobic conditions was very close, indicating that CO2 produced by aerobic bacteria can be used as a method of evaluating AS. Visual inspection of mould growth resulted in somewhat different ranking of the treatments.

The early Middle Ages saw a major expansion of cereal cultivation across large parts of Europe thanks to the spread of open-field farming. A major project to trace this expansion in England by deploying a range of scientific methods is generating direct evidence for this so-called ‘Medieval Agricultural Revolution’.

An experiment was carried out to examine the effects of offering beef steers grass silage (GS) as the sole forage, lupins/triticale silage (LTS) as the sole forage, a mixture of LTS and GS at a ratio of 70:30 on a dry matter (DM) basis, vetch/barley silage (VBS) as the sole forage, a mixture of VBS and GS at a ratio of 70:30 on a DM basis, giving a total of five silage diets. Each of the five silage diets was supplemented with 2 and 5 kg of concentrates/head/day in a 5 × 2 factorial design to evaluate the five silages at two levels of concentrate intake and to examine possible interactions between silage type and concentrate intake. A total of 80 beef steers were used in the 122-day experiment. The GS was well preserved while the whole crop cereal/legume silages had high ammonia-nitrogen (N) concentrations, low lactic acid concentrations and low butyric acid concentrations For GS, LTS, LTS/GS, VBS and VBS/GS, respectively, silage DM intakes were 6.5, 7.0, 7.2, 6.1 and 6.6 (s.e.d. 0.55) kg/day and live weight gains were 0.94, 0.72, 0.63, 0.65 and 0.73 (s.e.d. 0.076) kg/day. Silage type did not affect carcass fatness, the colour or tenderness of meat or the fatty acid composition of the intramuscular fat in the longissimus dorsi muscle.

An experiment was carried out to examine the effects of offering beef cattle five silage diets. These were perennial ryegrass silage (PRGS) as the sole forage, tall fescue/perennial ryegrass silage (FGS) as the sole forage, PRGS in a 50:50 ratio on a dry matter (DM) basis with lupin/triticale silage (LTS), lupin/wheat silage (LWS) and pea/oat silage (POS). Each of the five silage diets was supplemented with 4 and 7 kg of concentrates/head/day in a five silages × two concentrate intakes factorial design. A total of 90 cattle were used in the 121-day experiment. The grass silages were of medium digestibility and were well preserved. The legume/cereal silages had high ammonia N, high acetic acid, low lactic acid, low butyric acid and low digestible organic matter concentrations (542, 562 and 502 g/kg DM for LTS, LWS and POS, respectively). Silage treatment did not significantly affect liveweight gain, carcass gain, carcass characteristics, the instrumental assessment of meat quality or fatty acid composition of the M. longissimus dorsi muscle. In view of the low yields of the legume/cereal crops, it is concluded that the inclusion of spring-sown legume/cereal silages in the diets of beef cattle is unlikely to be advantageous.

With the recent confirmation of protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO)-resistant Palmer amaranth in the US South, concern is increasing about the sustainability of weed management in cotton production systems. Cover crops can help to alleviate this problem, as they can suppress weed emergence via allelochemicals and/or a physical residue barrier. Field experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center to evaluate various cover crops for suppressing weed emergence and protecting cotton yield. In both years, cereal rye and wheat had the highest biomass production, whereas the amount of biomass present in spring did not differ among the remaining cover crops. All cover crops initially diminished Palmer amaranth emergence. However, cereal rye provided the greatest suppression, with 83% less emergence than in no cover crop plots. Physical suppression of Palmer amaranth and other weeds with cereal residues is probably the greatest contributor to reducing weed emergence. Seed cotton yield in the legume and rapeseed cover crop plots were similar when compared with the no cover crop treatment. The seed cotton yield collected from cereal cover crop plots was lower than from other treatments due to decreased cotton stand.

Root and foliar absorption and translocation of 14C-metribuzin [4-amino-6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-3-(methylthio)-1,2,4-triazin-5(4H)-one] were determined in tolerant (‘Steptoe’) and susceptible (‘Morex’) barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars grown in nutrient solution culture under greenhouse conditions. Root-applied metribuzin toxicity to the two barley cultivars was also examined. A 50% reduction in growth occurred at 0.22 and 0.72 μM metribuzin for Morex and Steptoe, respectively. Root absorption was similar for both cultivars at 1 day, but Steptoe absorbed about two times more metribuzin 4 and 8 days after application than did Morex. Steptoe absorbed 19% of the total applied metribuzin by 8 days. Root absorption was positively correlated with water uptake (r≥ 0.87). Leaf absorption was three times greater for Morex than for Steptoe after 4 days. Transport to leaves from root application was rapid, and, by 1 and 8 days, leaves of Steptoe contained 71 and 82% and leaves of Morex 78 and 84% of the total absorbed 14C, respectively. Translocation was apoplastic following both root and leaf absorption and was similar for both cultivars. Differential tolerance could partially be accounted for by differences in foliar absorption but not by differences in root absorption.

Winter annual weeds can interfere directly with crops and serve as alternative hosts for important pests, particularly in reduced tillage systems. Field experiments were conducted on loamy sand soils at two sites in Holt, MI, between 2008 and 2011 to evaluate the relative effects of cereal rye, hairy vetch, and rye–vetch mixture cover crops on the biomass and density of winter annual weed communities. All cover crop treatments significantly reduced total weed biomass compared with a no-cover-crop control, with suppression ranging from 71 to 91% for vetch to 95 to 98% for rye. In all trials, the density of nonmustard family broadleaf weeds was either not suppressed or suppressed equally by all cover crop treatments. In contrast, the density of mustard family weed species was suppressed more by rye and rye–vetch mixtures than by vetch. Cover crops were more consistently suppressive of weed dry weight per plant than of weed density, with rye-containing cover crops generally more suppressive than vetch. Overall, rye was most effective at suppressing winter annual weeds; however, rye–vetch mixtures can match the level of control achieved by rye, in addition to providing a potential source of fixed nitrogen for subsequent cash crops.

Twenty-day cohorts of corn poppy were grown in the presence or absence of barley, and seedling survival, biomass accumulation and allocation, plant reproduction, and seed dormancy were measured. Seedling survivorship and biomass accumulation differed strongly among cohorts and were influenced by crop competition. In the absence of crop competition, plants from the first three cohorts (emerging October to January) had 900% higher biomass and 160% more seeds per plant than later cohorts (emerging January to April). Crop competition reduced cohort fitness; for example, in 2003 to 2004, corn poppy biomass was reduced 57 to 96%, and seed production 77 to 97%. Seeds collected from plants that had emerged in spring were less dormant, and thus, germination and emergence of these seeds were higher (25% higher and 200 to 600% higher, respectively) than those for seeds collected from other cohorts. Environmental factors at the time of seed formation may be responsible for the observed differences in dormancy. Cohort-dependent emergence, growth, reproduction, and dormancy have relevant implications for corn poppy management and demography in agricultural systems in northeastern Spain. The dormant seeds produced by autumn to winter cohorts will be the main contributors to the seed bank and weed population shift in subsequent generations. For efficient corn poppy management, the control of cohorts emerging before or with the crop in a cereal field is essential.

Archeological records attest the early association of Sitophilus with stored cereals from the beginning of agriculture on Asia. The maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) became particularly damaging to maize, a cereal crop domesticated on Mesoamerica. We investigated the late evolutionary history of the maize weevil to gain insights on its origin, timing of association with maize, and genealogical relationship to the almost morphologically indistinguishable rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae). Two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase subunit I and cytochrome oxidase subunit II) and the nuclear ribosomal gene region were partially sequenced. Analyses showed that the maize weevil shared no haplotypes with the rice weevil; instead, each species exhibited distinct mitogroups and ribogroups. The two weevil species likely split about 8.7 million years ago (95% highest posterior density: 4.0–15.0). Microsatellite data analyses sorted the 309 specimens from 15 populations of the maize weevil into three genotypic groups, which displayed low genetic differentiation and widespread occurrence worldwide. The maize weevil and the rice weevil are each a distinct species; both of which emerged prior to the onset of agriculture. The maize–maize weevil association took place after maize became widespread as a global crop. The maize weevil populations lack spatial genetic structure at the regional, continental, and intercontinental scales.

Consumer product manufacturers often compete in dynamic, multi-firm oligopolies using multiple strategic tools. While existing empirical models of strategic interaction typically consider only parts of the more general problem, this paper presents a more comprehensive alternative. Marketing decisions are dynamically optimal, consistent with optimal consumer choice, and responsive to rival decisions. Using a single-market case study that consists of five years of four-weekly data on ready-to-eat cereal sales, prices, and new brand introductions, we test several hypotheses regarding the nature of strategic interaction among several rival manufacturers. We find that cereal manufacturers price and introduce new brands cooperatively in the same period, but behave more competitively when dynamic reactions are included.

Wheat bulb fly (WBF, Delia coarctata, Fallén, Diptera: Anthomyiidae) is a pest of commercial importance in wheat, barley and rye, with attacked crops failing to produce full potential yields. Females do not oviposit in association with a host-plant; therefore, prompt location of a suitable host is critical to the survival of the newly hatched larvae. The objective of this study was to conduct choice test bioassays to assess the attraction of WBF larvae to specific chemical constituents of WBF host-plant root exudates, the hydroxamic acids DIMBOA (2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one) and MBOA (6-methoxy-benzoxazolin-2-one). The larval response to four concentrations of each test compound was assessed in arena bioassays. Analysis using a Rayleigh test of uniformity of the final resting positions of larvae in response to these chemicals indicated attraction. These results go some way to explaining the mechanisms by which WBF larvae locate host plants, giving the potential to develop semiochemical based control strategies.

We review the evidence for the earliest agriculture in Finland. The claims are all based on pollen analysis. Some claims go back to the Neolithic period. We contest these claims critically and argue that the ‘early cereal-type’ pollen grains may in fact come from large-grained wild grasses, and cannot be taken as clear evidence for cultivation in the absence of other lines of evidence. Cultivation of cereals in Finland may have started as late as the start of the Iron Age in c. 500 BC.

Thioredoxins (Trxs) are widely distributed, small proteins that function in redox regulation in a broad spectrum of cellular reactions. Experimental work with barley, wheat and a legume (Medicago truncatula) has established thioredoxin h (Trx h) as a central regulatory protein in seeds, reducing disulphide (S–S) groups of diverse seed proteins, including storage proteins, enzymes and enzyme inhibitors. Trxs appear to be particularly important in plants, as a large number of genes are present compared to mammalian organisms. In Arabidopsis thaliana there are approximately 20 different genes for classical Trxs, and large Trx gene families have also been found in cereals, such as rice, barley, wheat and sorghum. Extensive evidence indicates that adding Trx, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and NADP-thioredoxin reductase (NTR) to cereal flour or seed preparations reduces disulphide (S–S) linkages of storage proteins. The early in vitro studies have been complemented with transgenic barley seed, overexpressing Trx h in protein bodies of the barley endosperm, which showed accelerated germination and early or enhanced expression of associated enzymes, i.e., α-amylase and pullulanase. Overexpression of Trx h levels in wheat was subsequently shown to (1) enhance protein solubility and digestibility, (2) reduce allergenicity of wheat gliadins, and (3) improve dough quality from poor-quality wheat flour. Most recently, we have demonstrated that down-regulation in wheat of Trx h9, a unique thioredoxin, leads to a reduction in the incidence of pre-harvest sprouting, demonstrated in several varieties over multiple generations with field-grown material. Yield and starch content were increased while baking quality in the high-gluten variety remained unchanged. These observations led to the intriguing question of how changes in the endosperm are communicated to the embryo. Studies of Trx h9, a membrane-associated Trx h that can move from cell to cell, provide suggestive evidence for a role of Trx h9 in intercellular communication of redox state.