Availability of fresh surface water for irrigation is declining in southern New Mexico, and saline groundwater is increasingly used for irrigation. This study evaluates the effects of irrigation using saline water on the chile pepper plants. The chile pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars selected include, AZ 1904, NuMex Joe E. Parker, NuMex Sandia Select, LB 25, and 3441. Salt tolerance of these five cultivars was studied at various growth stages including germination, emergence, vegetative growth, flowering and fruiting stages in a greenhouse set up. The five saline treatments included for germination were tap water of EC 0.6 (control), well water of EC 3 and 6, and RO concentrate of EC 8 and 10 dS/m. During plant emergence and growth, natural water ECs for irrigation were 0.6 (control), 3, 5 and 8 dS/m. Increasing irrigation water salinity increased mean germination time but did not affect the final germination percentage. Increasing irrigation water salinity increased mean emergence time but the final percentage emergence was affected significantly only after EC ≥3 dS/m. Plant growth was significantly affected after several weeks of continuous exposure to saline water application (EC≥ 3 dS/m). Increasing salinity decreased days to flowering, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, relative fresh shoot and fruit weights, and water use efficiency. Results show that the selected chile pepper cultivars can be irrigated up to an irrigation water salinity level of ≤ 3 ds/m. Among all the cultivars, 3441 was found to be the most tolerant to salinity. Environmentally sound reuse of RO concentrate will encourage desalination in water scarce areas and greenhouse chile cultivation.
Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and perennial warm-season grasses are the primary forage resources for grazing yearling stocker cattle (Bos taurus) in the US Southern Great Plains (SGP). However, low nutritive value of perennial grasses during mid to late summer limits high rates of growth by stocker cattle. In response, there has been a continued search for plant materials with the potential to provide forage high in crude protein (CP) and digestibility during August through September. A broad range of under-utilized legume species that are grown as grain crops in Africa, India, and South and Central America may have some capacity to serve as high quality pasture or harvested forage in the SGP. However, any crop selection must account for limitations related to unpredictable summer rainfall amounts and patterns, and the frequent occurrence of prolonged drought. Further, any selection should not create water deficits for following winter wheat, the primary forage and grain crop in the region. This article summarizes a small subset of the broad range of underutilized grain legumes (pulses) which exist worldwide and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] that may have capacity to serve as high quality forage for late-summer grazing. Bringing these crops into forage-stocker production systems could improve the overall system effectiveness, in addition to providing other ecosystem services (e.g., ground cover, grain crops).
Warm-season legumes have been receiving increased attention as forage resources in the southern United States and other countries. However, the near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique has not been widely explored for predicting the forage quality of many of these legumes. The objective of this research was to assess the performance of NIRS in predicting the forage quality parameters of five warm-season legumes—guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba), tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), soybean (Glycine max), and mothbean (Vigna aconitifolia)—using three machine learning techniques: partial least square (PLS), support vector machine (SVM), and Gaussian processes (GP). Additionally, the efficacy of global models in predicting forage quality was investigated. A set of 70 forage samples was used to develop species-based models for concentrations of crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) of guar and tepary bean forages, and CP and IVTD in pigeon pea and soybean. All species-based models were tested through 10-fold cross-validations, followed by external validations using 20 samples of each species. The global models for CP and IVTD of warm-season legumes were developed using a set of 150 random samples, including 30 samples for each of the five species. The global models were tested through 10-fold cross-validation, and external validation using five individual sets of 20 samples each for different legume species. Among techniques, PLS consistently performed best at calibrating (R2c = 0.94–0.98) all forage quality parameters in both species-based and global models. The SVM provided the most accurate predictions for guar and soybean crops, and global models, and both SVM and PLS performed better for tepary bean and pigeon pea forages. The global modeling approach that developed a single model for all five crops yielded sufficient accuracy (R2cv/R2v = 0.92–0.99) in predicting CP of the different legumes. However, the accuracy of predictions of in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) for the different legumes was variable (R2cv/R2v = 0.42–0.98). Machine learning algorithms like SVM could help develop robust NIRS-based models for predicting forage quality with a relatively small number of samples, and thus needs further attention in different NIRS based applications.
novel drought-tolerant grain legumes like mothbean (Vigna acontifolia), tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius), and guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) may also serve as summer forages, and add resilience to agricultural systems in the Southern Great plains (SGp). However, limited information on the comparative response of these species to different water regimes prevents identification of the most reliable option. this study was conducted to compare mothbean, tepary bean and guar for their vegetative growth and physiological responses to four different water regimes: 100% (control), and 75%, 50% and 25% of control, applied from 27 to 77 days after planting (DAP). Tepary bean showed the lowest stomatal conductance (g s) and photosynthetic rate (A), but also maintained the highest instantaneous water use efficiency (WUE i) among species at 0.06 and 0.042 m 3 m −3 soil moisture levels. Despite maintaining higher A, rates of vegetative growth by guar and mothbean were lower than tepary bean due to their limited leaf sink activity. At final harvest (77 DAP), biomass yield of tepary bean was 38-60% and 41-56% greater than guar and mothbean, respectively, across water deficits. tepary bean was the most drought-tolerant legume under greenhouse conditions, and hence future research should focus on evaluating this species in extensive production settings. Legume crops are an integral component of many cropping systems, and provide multiple ecosystem services essential for agricultural sustainability. Besides delivering pulses (grains) for humans and forage for livestock, legumes add organic nitrogen to the soil, provide cover to reduce runoff and soil erosion, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and increase carbon sequestration 1,2. The continuous rise in prices for inorganic nitrogen fertilizers has stimulated growers in many countries, including the United States (US), to incorporate legumes as grain, forage, or green cover into different cropping systems 3,4. Although legumes utilized as either forage or green cover result in lower biomass yields than cereals, they provide livestock with herbage of greater N concentrations and digestibility, which are important for growing animals 5. Forage-livestock production systems used in the US Southern Great Plains (SGP) largely depend on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) during fall through spring, and on perennial grasses such as old world bluestems (Bothriochloa spp.), bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.], or native prairie during summer for grazing stocker cattle 6,7. However, available forage provided by these perennial grasses often show declines in their yield rates and nutritive values by midsummer , which can limit the rate of weight gain in stockers if not provided expensive protein diets supplements 8,9. Therefore, the potential of less common, novel grain legumes in providing ample amounts of high-quality forage while also increasing nitrogen levels in soils need to be investigated to improve the sustainability of forage-stocker production systems. Research conducted...
Low forage quality of available perennial warm-season grasses during mid-summer through late summer affects the production of stocker cattle in the U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP). Finger millet (Eleusine coracana Gaertn L.), which is a drought tolerant annual grass, could be a promising forage for the SGP. This field study assessed the adaptability and forage characteristics of 11 finger millet accessions originally sourced (1964–1981) from different parts of the world. Results of this study suggested that finger millet can generate forage yields ranging from 5.0 to 12.3 Mg ha−1 165 days after planting. Finger millet forage contained 105 to 156 g kg−1 crude protein, 598 to 734 g kg−1 neutral detergent fiber, 268 to 382 g kg−1 acid detergent fiber, 597 to 730 g kg−1 in vitro true digestibility, and 387 to 552 g kg−1 neutral detergent fiber digestibility. Ten of the 11 accessions flowered and produced grains with yields varying from 60 to 1636 kg ha−1. Overall, finger millet has the potential to serve as an alternative crop for the production of forage and possibly grain in the SGP. Further research needs to be focused on developing strategies for agronomic management and evaluating the capacity of finger millet under different grazing and hay production settings in the SGP.
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