Grain production potential (GrPP) is the maximum production in 1 year that can be achieved by land use under the limitations of climate conditions and in the absence of pests and diseases and other factors. Regional GrPP can change over time and there is an urgent need to identify the main factors affecting regional differences in such changes. Therefore, changes in GrPP were studied for six geographical units in Shaanxi Province, with summer maize and winter wheat as the main grain crops. Changes of GrPP during 2000–2015 were simulated by the global aro-ecological zone model. Analysis of modelled GrPP driven by observed changes in climate and land use suggest that over this period GrPP increased to the north but declined to the south of the Qinling Mountains. This is driven mainly by past changes in climate, with modelled GrPP more sensitive to changes in precipitation than temperature in all geographical units except one. Climate change was the main factor affecting GrPP in all geographical units except one; however, model prediction suggests that land use changes had a clear yield-reducing effect in three of the units. It is the conversion from cultivated land to construction land, grassland and woodland that led to the greatest declines in GrPP in these three geographical units. In order to ensure the stable development of regional agriculture and food security, Shaanxi Province should focus on tapping GrPP north of the Qinling Mountains and increasing the conversion rate of GrPP to actual production.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of long-term (56 years) liming on changes in soil pH and aluminium (Al) forms in the soil profile compared with an unlimed soil in a sandy moraine loam of a Dystric Glossic Retisol. Long-term liming had a significant influence on soil acidity of the whole profile, causing increased pH values in the following horizons to 120 cm depth: the ploughing horizon (Ahp), where humus accumulates; the eluvial horizon (E), from which clay particles are leached; a horizon having retic properties and predominantly coarser-textured albic material (E/B); and a horizon with retic properties and predominantly finer-textured argic material (B/E). In the solid phase, non-crystalline Al in limed soil decreased in the Ahp horizon; meanwhile a decrease in total organically bound Al (Alp) and organo–Al complexes of low to medium stability was detected in the deeper El and ElBt horizons. High-stability Al complexes with organic matter were the predominant form of Alp in the unlimed and limed whole soil profile. The concentration of total water-soluble Al ranged from 0.61 to 0.80 mg/l in the limed soil profile but 0.62–1.15 mg/l in the unlimed soil. The highest concentration of exchangeable Al was determined in the upper horizons of the unlimed soil profile and the concentration decreased significantly in the same horizons of the limed soil profile. Long-term liming promoted changes in Al compounds throughout the soil profile.

Heading date (HD) and flowering date (FD) are critical for yield potential and stability, so understanding their genetic foundation is of great significance in wheat breeding. Three related recombinant inbred line populations with a common female parent were developed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for HD and FD in four environments. In total, 25 putative additive QTL and 20 pairwise epistatic effect QTL were detected in four environments. The additive QTL were distributed across 17 wheat chromosomes. Of these, QHd-1A, QHd-1D, QHd-2B, QHd-3B, QHd-4A, QHd-4B and QHd-6D were major and stable QTL for HD. QFd-1A, QFd-2B, QFd-4A and QFd-4B were major and stable QTL for FD. In addition, an epistatic interaction test showed that epistasis played important roles in controlling wheat HD and FD. Genetic relationships between HD/FD and five yield-related traits (YRTs) were characterized and ten QTL clusters (C1–C10) simultaneously controlling YRTs and HD/FD were identified. The present work laid a genetic foundation for improving yield potential in wheat molecular breeding programmes.

Despite the global importance of Capsicum species, there is limited information on the indigenous endomycorrhizal fungal association in this crop. Therefore, the diversity and colonization patterns of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in roots of Naga King chilli (Capsicum chinense) were assessed during pre-flowering, flowering and fruit ripening growth stages under a sub-tropical shifting cultivation system of North Eastern India. All the roots examined had AMF colonization and the presence of Paris-type arbuscular mycorrhizal morphology is reported for the first time in C. chinense. A total of 11 AMF spore morphotypes were isolated from both field and trap culture soils. Maximum AMF spore density and root colonization were recorded during the pre-flowering and flowering stages, respectively. The influence of Funneliformis geosporum, individually or in combination with Pseudomonas fluorescens and Azotobacter chroococcum, on growth and yield of C. chinense, was evaluated in a pot experiment using sterilized and non-sterilized soils. The application of AMF and P. fluorescens to sterilized soil significantly increased the growth, flower and fruit production, and nutrient content of C. chinense. The highest growth rates and yields of C. chinense in non-sterilized soils were achieved when AMF was combined with both P. fluorescens and A. chroococcum. The results of the current study indicate the value of applying microorganisms to improve plant growth and performance in chillies. One of the mechanisms for this could be the facilitated assimilation of nutrients promoted by AMF and bacterial bioinoculants.

Amendment of recalcitrant organic materials with high carbon/nitrogen (C/N)-ratio may improve and maintain soil labile C for a longer period, thus enhancing the productivity of soils with low fertility; however, immobilization of N may affect the plant growth negatively. To reduce the negative impacts, recalcitrant organic materials can be pre-incubated with N-rich sources or applied in combination with fertilizers. The current study evaluated sawdust biochar (BC) and pre-incubated cattle manure–sawdust mixture (CS) amendments with synthetic fertilizers in improving soil carbon pool, soil fertility and maize (Zea mays L.) yield on a tropical Alfisol. Four treatments: control, site-specific fertilizer (SSF), site-specific fertilizer with sawdust biochar (BC + SSF) or pre-incubated cattle manure-sawdust mixture (CS + SSF), were evaluated for two seasons with maize. The residual effect was evaluated in the third season. During the year of active C application, lability index, C management index and potentially mineralizable N were significantly greater in CS + SSF than BC + SSF treatment. However, the same indices measured in the third season with no further application of amendments were significantly greater in BC + SSF than in CS + SSF treatment, indicating an increase in more recalcitrant C pool with BC amendment. Application of organic amendments improved soil fertility parameters compared with the application of fertilizer alone. Maize yield was significantly increased by fertilizer, with or without organic amendments; with significantly greater yield in BC + SSF than other treatments. Results suggest that soil amendment with BC had greater potential to improve the soil carbon pool and maintain labile carbon for a longer period than a pre-incubated CS.

The current work studied the effects of butyric acid (BA) supplementation on the growth performance, carcase characteristics, immunity, gut histology and serum biochemistry of broiler chicken. Four experimental diets were formulated: control, 20 mg bacitracin methylene di-salicylate/kg diet (BMD-supplemented), 3 g BA/kg diet and 4 g BA/kg diet. The results revealed higher body weight gain (BWG) in BA and BMD-supplemented groups. Only BMD supplementation increased the feed intake (FI) of birds, whereas BA supplementation improved feed efficiency. Expression of glucose transporter (GLUT5), sodium-dependent glucose transporter (SGLT1) and peptide transporter (PepT1) were up-regulated due to BMD and BA supplementation. However, at 21 days post-hatching SGLT1 expression in the BMD-supplemented group was down-regulated with respect to the BA-supplemented groups. The 4 g BA/kg diet yielded better humoral and cell-mediated immune responses than the other groups. No dietary effects were observed on carcase characteristics and histomorphometry of jejunum at 7 days post-hatching. However, at 42 days old, the 4 g BA/kg diet increased villus length and width significantly. There was a significant increase in serum protein, albumin, creatinine, aspartate aminotransaminase (AST), phosphorus and calcium due to BA supplementation. However, the reverse trend was observed in serum uric acid and cholesterol, where BA supplementation decreased both and BMD supplementation decreased uric acid levels only. Based on the results it was concluded that 4 g BA/kg diet supplementation in feed is optimal for desirable broiler production.

The effects of growing pinto peanut mixed with elephant grass-based pastures are still little known. The aim of the current research was to evaluate the performance of herbage yield, nutritive value of forage and animal responses to levels of pinto peanut forage mass mixed with elephant grass in low-input systems. Three grazing systems were evaluated: (i) elephant grass-based (control); (ii) pinto peanut, low-density forage yield (63 g/kg of dry matter – DM) + elephant grass; and (iii) pinto peanut, high-density dry matter forage yield (206 g/kg DM) + elephant grass. The experimental design was completely randomized with the three treatments (grazing systems) and three replicates (paddocks) in split-plot grazing cycles. Forage samples were collected to evaluate the pasture and animal responses. Leaf blades of elephant grass and the other companion grasses of pinto peanut were collected to analyse the crude protein, in vitro digestible organic matter and total digestible nutrients. The pinto peanut, high-density dry matter forage yield + elephant grass treatment was found to give the best results in terms of herbage yield, forage intake and stocking rate, as well as having higher crude protein contents for both elephant grass and the other grasses, followed by pinto peanut with low-density forage yield + elephant grass and finally elephant grass alone. Better results were found with the grass–legume system for pasture and animal responses.

A feeding trial involving growing piglets was undertaken to establish whether feed supplemented with whey protein concentrate (WPC), exhibiting antioxidant properties, had any effects on welfare and meat quality. For that purpose, 48 weaned piglets (20-days-old) were assigned to two experimental groups receiving standard or experimental diet for 30 days. Blood and tissue collection were performed at various time-points. The following oxidative stress markers were assessed: reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase activity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyls (CARB) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) decomposition activity. The effects on bacterial growth and the fatty acid profile of meat were also assessed. Results showed that piglets fed with the WPC-supplemented diet had significantly increased antioxidant mechanisms in almost all tissues tested, as indicated by increases in GSH, H2O2 decomposition activity and TAC compared with the control group. Piglets fed with the experimental diet exhibited decreased oxidative stress-induced damage to lipids and proteins, as shown by decreases in TBARS and CARB in the WPC group compared with the control group. In addition, the experimental diet enhanced growth of facultative probiotic bacteria and lactic acid bacteria and inhibited growth of pathogen populations. In addition, WPC inclusion in piglets' diet increased n-3 fatty acids significantly and decreased n-6/n-3 ratio significantly compared with the control group. The current study showed that WPC inclusion in the diet had a significant effect on welfare and meat quality of growing piglets.

The prenatal development of cattle has influence on productive performance throughout postnatal life. The number of muscle and fat cells that the animal will have throughout its life is determined in the foetal stage and is influenced by nutrition of the pregnant cow. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of different energy levels (total digestible nutrient, TDN) and crude protein (CP) supplied to pregnant cows on foetal weight at 4 (FW4) and 8 months (FW8) and calf birth weight (CBW). Four studies and six trials involving 170 animals were assessed for FW4; four studies, four trials and 156 animals for FW8 and 48 studies, 125 trials and 9053 animals for CBW. High heterogeneity across studies was presented in FW4 (I2 = 94.4%), FW8 (I2 = 91.08%) and CBW (I2 = 96.9%). Dietary TDN and CP levels did not influence FW4. The FW8 was reduced by 2.24 kg when cows were fed 100% of their CP and TDN requirements (I2 = 0%), relative to those fed 70% of their requirements during the first and second trimesters. The CBW was reduced by 0.45 kg (I2 = 96.9%) when cows were fed 130% of their CP requirements relative to other dietary CP levels. When cows were fed 140% of their TDN requirements, CBW decreased by 2.71 kg (I2 = 98.3%) relative to other TDN levels. Dietary energy or CP levels fed above the requirements to pregnant cows restrict foetal development and CBW.