Grafting watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) onto resistant rootstocks is an effective technique in the management of biotic and abiotic stresses. Since the first reported grafting of watermelon for disease resistance in 1927, adoption of the practice has been steadily increasing up to 95% in Japan, Korea, Greece, Israel and Turkey. However, for grafting to be further adopted in the United States and other regions of the world with high labor costs and high plant volume demands, the watermelon grafting method must be more time and labor efficient as well as suitable for automation. To accomplish these goals, recent advances have been achieved in splice grafting of watermelon, where both cotyledons are removed from the rootstock. This review provides a summary of the new discoveries regarding watermelon grafting and an overview of the anatomy of cucurbit stems and the physiological processes that occur at the time of grafting and during the healing process in order to enhance the understanding of the complex nature of the cucurbit vascular system, which limits grafting success. This review article further provides insights to guide future research and technology development that will support the expansion of watermelon grafting.
The global increases in the surface and groundwater nitrate (NO 3 − ) concentrations due to synthetic fertilizer input have emerged as major sustainability threats to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Cover crops can reportedly reduce nitrate leaching from croplands. However, the underlying mechanisms and the effectiveness of cover crops in reducing nitrate leaching across species, soil types, agronomic management, and climates remain elusive. We conducted a global meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of cover crops on nitrate leaching and water drainage. A random-effects analysis was established to investigate seven moderating variables in 41 articles. Results showed that globally, cover crops reduced nitrate leaching by 69% compared with fallow while demonstrating no effect on water drainage. Overall, cover crops from Brassicaceae and Poaceae families showed the greatest effect with 75% and 52% reduction in nitrate leaching, respectively. Cover cropping on Ultisols, Histosols, and Inceptisols resulted in the greatest reduction in nitrate leaching (77%, 78%, and 77%, respectively). Greater efficacy of cover crops at reducing nitrate leaching was evident with increasing soil sand content.In general, cover crops appeared to perform better to reduce nitrate leaching in vegetable systems compared to field crops. Cover cropping on conventional tillage resulted in a 63% reduction in nitrate leaching compared with no-tillage (50%) and reduced tillage (38%) systems. The impact of cover crops on water drainage was nonsignificant which implies that nitrate leaching control by cover crops is unlikely exerted through reducing water drainage. This study brings further insight into the intrinsic factors affecting cover crop efficacy and management practices that enhance cover crop potential in reducing nitrate leaching from agricultural systems.
Lodging in cereal crops can result in yield loss and harvesting difficulties for growers. Application of plant growth regulator (PGR) has been an indispensable management practice to reduce lodging problems that are often exacerbated during high wind growing conditions and/or high nitrogen (N)/water environments, but the data is limited in the Columbia Basin of Oregon. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of two PGR products (chlormequat chloride-CC, trinexapac-ethyl-TE) at different rates and application timings on two soft white winter wheat varieties (ORCH-102 and SY Ovation). Crop growth (stem height and thickness), yield-related (spike density as ears m−2, seeds per spike, grain weight) and quality parameters (test weight, protein) were measured for two cropping seasons from October 2017 to July 2019 following the application of the two PGR products at tillering (GS21-26), stem elongation (GS30-32), and/or flag leaf (GS37-39) stages under a high-N fertilizer scenario. In both growing seasons, no lodging problems were recorded for any treatments. The plant height was reduced after PGR application, but the impact on stem thickness was limited. PGR application slightly affected wheat yield, yield components, testing weight, and protein level in both growing seasons. Our results suggested that the effect of PGR application is relatively limited if no lodging problem occurred.
Questions: Grassland degradation due to agriculture, changing fire regimes, and invasive species negatively affects forb communities. Conserving forbs and the services they provide requires a better understanding of their responses to interacting disturbances. Although fire and livestock grazing are important disturbances, their effect on forb communities in the Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Prairies is not fully understood. Our objectives were to: (a) determine how prescribed fire and livestock grazing influence forb community composition, cover, species richness, and diversity over a 10-year span; (b) identify indicator species for each treatment; and (c) quantify forb responses to increasing cover of the invasive grass Ventenata dubia.
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