A 2-year field study was conducted in central Greece (Larissa) and was repeated simultaneously in northern Greece (Thessaloniki) to determine the productivity and the competitive ability against corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas L.) of six faba bean (Vicia faba L.)-barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) intercrops grown at three seeding ratios (75:25, 50:50 or 25:75% of the recommended seeding rates) and two crop arrangements (alternate or mixed rows). Faba bean and barley sole crops were also included. Corn poppy dry weights in barley sole crop or faba bean-barley intercrops were 83 to 85% or 50 to 99%, respectively, lower than that in faba bean sole crop. Total dry matter (DM) and total crude protein (CP) yields of faba bean-barley intercrops were, in most cases, not significantly affected by corn poppy competition. The results obtained in both locations indicated that intercropping faba bean with barley could be an alternative practice to that of faba bean sole crop in sustainable production systems, because of its greater productivity, balanced nutritive value and competitiveness against aggressive weeds such as corn poppy.

The effects of sole and intercropping of rainfed maize (Zea mays L.) were evaluated with soybean (Glycine max L.) and groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) on crop yield, weed smothering efficiency (WSE) and nutrient (NPK) balance at Eastern Himalayan Region (EHR), India. Grain yield of maize was highest (3886 to 4110 kg ha−1) in the solitary system followed by maize-soybean intercrops at 1:2 rows. However, system productivity as well as production efficiency was higher by 47.3-63.3% and 39.5-58.4%, respectively in intercropping with groundnut at 1:5 rows compared to solitary maize. WSE was relatively higher to solitary soybean and was comparable to maize-groundnut intercropping at 1:5 row proportions. Similarly, NPK uptake was higher in intercropping of maize-soybean systems at 1:5 row proportions. Inclusion of legumes as intercrops in predominantly solitary rainfed maize may improve the system productivity while sustaining the nutrient availability in the vast uplands of the EHR and other similar rainfed hilly ecosystems.

This paper evaluates 30-year (2013–2042) projections of the selected climatic parameters in cotton/wheat agro-climatic zone of Pakistan. A statistical bias correction procedure was adopted to eliminate the systematic errors in output of three selected general circulation models (GCM) under A2 emission scenario. A transfer function was developed between the GCM outputs and the observed time series of the climatic parameters (base period: 1980–2004) and applied to GCM future projections. The predictions detected seasonal shifts in rainfall and increasing temperature trend which in combination can affect the crop water requirements (CWR) at different phonological stages of the two major crops (i.e. wheat and cotton). CROPWAT model is used to optimize the shifts in sowing dates as a climate change adaptation option. The results depict that with reference to the existing sowing patterns, early sowing of wheat and late sowing of cotton will favour decreased CWR of these crops.

The objectives were to assess the following: (1) the relationship between sward height and chemical composition of four pasture types in association with grazing behaviour and body condition score (BCS) of dairy cows, and (2) the possibility of developing predictive equations of the nutrient intake and grazing behaviour within a continued grazing system. Pasture type had a significant (p < 0.01) effect on nutrient supply from January to June for all pastures investigated. Ryegrass–white clover pasture (RW) had the highest metabolizable protein and metabolizable energy, followed by kikuyu pasture (KP), which was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than native pastures 1 and 2 (NP1 and NP2). The highest values for effective grazing time, bite rate and BCS were found when dairy cows grazed RW followed by KP, NP2 and NP1. The results suggested that pasture type and sward height influenced grazing behaviour and BCS of dairy cows during the dry season. In the same vein, RW showed higher effective grazing time, bite rate, nutrient intake and BCS than the other three pastures suggesting that RW pastures that appear to be more expensive than native pastures could result in superior cow performance.

In marginal lands Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) could be used as an alternative fruit and forage crop. The plant vigour and the biomass production were evaluated in Portuguese germplasm (15 individuals from 16 ecotypes) by non-destructive methods, 2 years following planting in a marginal soil and dryland conditions. Two Italian cultivars (Gialla and Bianca) were included in the study for comparison purposes. The biomass production and the plant vigour were estimated by measuring the cladodes number and area, and the fresh (FW) and dry weight (DW) per plant. We selected linear models by using the biometric data from 60 cladodes to predict the cladode area, the FW and the DW per plant. Among ecotypes, significant differences were found in the studied biomass-related parameters and several homogeneous groups were established. Four Portuguese ecotypes had higher biomass production than the others, 3.20 Mg ha−1 on average, a value not significantly different to the improved ‘Gialla’ cultivar, which averaged 3.87 Mg ha−1. Those ecotypes could be used to start a breeding program and to deploy material for animal feeding and fruit production.

The objective of this study was to evaluate morphogenetic and structural characteristics of Guinea grass pastures subjected to two grazing frequencies (90 and 95% light interception) and two post-grazing heights (30 and 50 cm), during the rainy season and dry year. The leaf appearance rate varied only in the summer, the grazing pastures managed at 90/50 (light interception/post-grazing height) presented higher values in the leaf appearance rate (0.440 leaf/tiller.day), compared with those managed at 90/30 (0.275 leaf/tiller.day) and 95/50 (0.228 leaf/tiller.day), respectively. In the winter/beginning of the spring, pastures managed at 90/30 (0.03 cm/tiller.day) presented lower stem elongation rate in comparison with those managed at 90/50 (0.19 cm/tiller.day) and 95/30 (0.16 cm/tiller.day). Management strategies do not compromise the tissue flow in tillers and, consequently, can be utilized for the management of Guinea grass.

Selecting high-yielding cultivars under drought is an important practice to improve crop production. Canopy temperature (T) shows a relative reliable association with grain yield. In this study, we compared the suitability of canopy T and other agronomic as well as physiological traits associated with grain yield under different water regimes. Field experiments over two seasons (2011–2012 and 2012–2013) were carried out under three water regimes, represented about 64, 76 and 89% of potential evapotranspiration, with 16 local winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars in each season. Results showed that cultivars with higher yield usually performed consistently lower canopy T under three water regimes, while the relationships of grain yield with other agronomic or physiological traits were more influenced by soil moisture. In addition, the relationship between canopy T and grain yield varied with different growth stages: From the time of heading to early grain filling stages, a more significant negative linear relationship (p < 0.001) existed under the three irrigation levels.

Poor access to improved seeds in West and Central Africa has compromised crop yields and productivity as most farmers source the bulk of their seeds from informal channels. The use of farmer produced seeds has mostly resulted in high seedling mortality thereby presenting challenges to cocoa rehabilitation programmes across the sub region. With the aid of a mobile data collection system (MDCS), the first of its kind to enhance accuracy of survey results in an improved seed supply system through brokerage and linkages among diverse actors, this study assesses Ghanaian farmers’ access to improved hybrid cocoa seeds and provides evidence on the socio-cultural factors that affect field performance of such planting materials. Results show that farmers value a seed brokerage system (SBS), which is facilitated through group bulk purchase, timely acquisition and delivery of seeds. The study also revealed that farm size, land use type and gender have significant effect on survival rate of transplanted hybrid cocoa seedlings over two dry seasons. Regardless of the rehabilitation process, mean survival rate was high (79%) although an 11% (p < 0.000) difference occurred between gender with men recording a higher rate. The majority of farmers prefer cultivating cocoa on forest and fallow lands, implying continues degradation of forest areas. There is therefore an urgent need for a change of mind set, to advocate for land recycling to spare forest areas to thrive.

Fruit and vegetable farming generally involves high levels of chemical inputs despite the fact that consumers are increasingly concerned about the sanitary and organoleptic aspects of fruit quality. Pineapple is largely subject to these issues since it is dominated by conventional monocropping with high levels of agrochemical inputs due to nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) fertilisation, weed management, crop protection and flowering induction. However, low-input pineapple cropping systems are both rare and little documented. Our study aimed at replacing all or part of the chemical fertilisers used with local organic fertilisers. It was conducted on the cultivar ‘Queen Victoria’, without pesticides or herbicides, in Reunion Island. We compared the impacts of three fertilisation treatments on pineapple growth and yield, fruit quality traits, symptoms of two major fungal diseases in fruit and production costs and labour times: (i) conventional: NPK fertiliser at recommended doses (265.5 kg ha−1 N–10.53 kg ha−1 P–445.71 kg ha−1 K); (ii) integrated: Mucuna pruriens green manure (240.03 kg ha−1 N, 18.62 kg ha−1 P, 136.11 kg ha−1 K) incorporated into the soil and a half-dose of NPK fertiliser and (iii) organic: M. pruriens green manure incorporated into the soil and foliar applications of sugarcane vinasse from a local distillery, rich in K (14.44 g L−1). Our results showed that NPK fertilisation could be replaced by organic fertilisers as well as by integrated fertilisation. ‘D’-leaf analysis showed that vinasse supplies a largely sufficient K level for growing pineapples. With organic fertilisation, pineapple growth was slower, 199 days after planting vs. 149 days for integrated or conventional fertilisations, and fruit yield was lower, 47.25 t ha−1 vs. 52.51 and 61.24 t ha−1, probably because M. pruriens green manure provided an early increase in soil mineral N, whereas N requirements are much higher four months after planting. However, the fruit weight (709.94 ± 123.53 g) was still within the size range required for the export market (600–900 g). Interestingly, organic fertilisation significantly reduced Leathery Pocket disease and produced the best quality fruit with the highest total soluble solids contents (TSS) and the lowest titratable acidity (TTA). Fruit quality was also significantly improved with integrated fertilisation, with fruit weight similar to that of conventional fertilisation. To conclude, these findings have implications for the sustainability of pineapple production and could lead to low-input innovative cropping systems that reduce production costs and develop local organic inputs.

We aimed to characterize the weed community in sprinkler irrigated rice, previously applied with residual herbicides for two years, as well as to infer about sustainability of the management applied to the fields based on an ecological approach. The experiment was conducted during the cropping seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15, under sprinkler irrigation. Rice was planted in the second-half of October, using the cultivar PUITA INTA CL. Herbicides were applied in pre- and post-emergence (sequential application) of crop and weeds. Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) was planted in winter. In May 2015, soil samples were collected for the soil seed bank study. Phytosociological characterization of weeds emerged from the seed bank was conducted from May 2015 to January 2016, until soil seed bank depletion. Echinochloa crusgalli, Fimbristyllis sp., Cyperus esculentus and Killinga brevifolia were the weeds to which most concern should be directed when growing rice under sprinkler irrigation in lowland areas of Southern Brazil. Their competition strategies are based on density. Herbicides used should be efficient in controlling at least these four weed species. A selecting action of herbicides on weed species was botanically characterized, as the weed species reported after two cropping seasons depended on the herbicide treatment applied.

Larvae of bollworms (Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner), Earias sp., Diparopsis watersii (Rothschild) and Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders)) feed on cotton flower buds (squares) and developing bolls causing severe yield losses. While endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide was the most effective and widely used insecticide for bollworm control in Ghana, it has been banned due to abuse and hazard to the environment. Field experiments were conducted during the rainy seasons of 2012 and 2013 to determine the efficacy of foliar insecticides tihan (spirotetramat + flubendiamide), thunder (imidacloprid + betacyfluthrin), belt expert (flubendiamide +thiaclopride), dursban 4EC (chlorpyrifos-ethyl), lambda super 2.5EC (lambda cyhalothrin) and polytrin C (profenophos + cypermethrin) for control of bollworms and their impact on non-target beneficial organisms in Ghana. All the insecticides tested lowered bollworm densities and boll damage but applications of tihan or belt expert alternated with thunder resulted in the highest seed cotton yield. The treatments generally did not lower populations of predators such as ladybird beetles and lacewings and could be included in an integrated pest management programme for bollworms in cotton. These results suggest that alternate applications of tihan or belt expert with thunder can be recommended as a replacement for endosulfan for control of cotton bollworms and improvement of cotton yield in Ghana.