Search Results (2,408)

Poplars (Populus L.) are fast-growing, widely distributed trees with high ecological, economic, and climate-mitigation value, making them central to diverse agroforestry systems worldwide. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric and content-based review of global poplar-based agroforestry research, using Scopus and Web of Science databases and a PRISMA-guided screening process to identify 496 peer-reviewed publications, covering publications from 1987 to 2024. Results show a steady rise in scientific output, with a notable acceleration after 2013, dominated by agriculture, forestry, and environmental sciences, with strong international contributions and research themes focused on productivity, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and economic viability. A wide range of Populus species and hybrids is employed globally, supporting functions from crop production and soil enhancement to climate mitigation and ecological restoration. Poplar-based systems offer substantial benefits for soil health, biodiversity, and carbon storage, but also involve trade-offs related to tree–crop interactions, such as competition for light reducing understory crop yields in high-density arrangements, management intensity, and regional conditions. Poplars provide a wide array of provisioning, regulating, and supporting ecosystem services, from supplying food, fodder, timber, and biomass to moderating microclimates, protecting soil and water resources, and restoring habitats, while supporting a broad diversity of agricultural and horticultural crops. However, several critical gaps—including a geographic research imbalance, socio-economic and adoption barriers, limited understanding of tree–crop interactions, and insufficient long-term monitoring—continue to constrain widespread adoption and limit the full realization of the potential of poplar-based agroforestry systems. Full article

Integrated crop grazing systems can improve farm profitability due to enterprise complementarity. Utilizing the supply of N from legumes, livestock manure, and plant residues will result in improving grain yield and quality. A long-term 12-year integrated systems study evaluated continuous spring wheat (HRSW-CTRL) with spring wheat (HRSW-ROT) grown in a five-crop rotation: (1) spring wheat, (2) seven-species cover crop, (3) forage corn, (4) field pea/forage barley mix, and (5) sunflower. Yearling beef cattle steers grazed the field pea/forage barley mix, unharvested corn, and a seven-species cover crop. Spring wheat was marketed as a cash crop. Contrary to expectations, HRSW-ROT did not significantly increase grain yield or improve quality over HRSW-CTRL. Improved soil fertility was observed in the HRSW-ROT plots throughout the study relative to SOM, N, P, and K. However, the rotation with grazing management significantly reduced input costs but resulted in negligible gross and net returns over the 12-year period. Year-to-year weather variability was the cause of the differences between the two production management methods. Full article

Persistent cloud cover during the growing season and mosaic cropping patterns introduce temporal gaps and mixed pixels, undermining the reliability of large-scale crop identification and acreage statistics. To address these issues, we develop a high spatiotemporal-resolution remote-sensing approach tailored to heterogeneous farmlands. First, an improved Spatiotemporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) is used to fuse Landsat, Sentinel-2, and MODIS observations, reconstructing a continuous Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series at 30 m spatial and 8-day temporal resolution. Second, at the field scale, we derive phenological descriptors from the reconstructed series—key phenophase timing, amplitude, temporal trend, and growth rate—and use a Random Forest (RF) classifier for detailed crop discrimination. We further integrate SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) to quantify each feature’s class-discriminative contribution and signed effect, thereby guiding feature-set optimization and threshold refinement. Finally, we generate a 2024 crop distribution map and conduct comparative evaluations. Relative to baselines without fusion or without phenological variables, the fused series mitigates single-sensor limitations under frequent cloud/rain and irregular acquisitions, enhances NDVI continuity and robustness, and reveals inter-crop temporal phase shifts that, when jointly exploited, reduce early-season confusion and improve identification accuracy. Independent validation yields an overall accuracy (OA) of 90.78% and a Cohen’s kappa(κ) coefficient of 0.882. Coupling dense NDVI reconstruction with phenology-aware constraints and SHAP-based interpretability demonstrably improves the accuracy and reliability of cropping-structure extraction in complex agricultural regions and provides a reusable pathway for regional-scale precision agricultural monitoring. Full article

Continuous cropping (CC) poses serious challenges to the sustainable production of Dioscorea opposita Thunb. cv. Tiegun yam. The aim of this study is to illustrate the formation mechanisms of CC obstacles by analyzing rhizosphere soil from yam fields with 0 to 2 years of replanting. Metabolomic and microbiome sequences were used to assess variations in yam yield, underground tuber traits, soil properties, metabolite profiles, and microbial communities. The results show that CC significantly reduced tuber yield, shortened stalk length, and altered tuber morphology, leading to the accumulation of soil available phosphorus and potassium and a notable decrease in pH. A total of 38 differentially expressed metabolites, including organoheterocyclic compounds, lipids, and benzenoids, were identified and linked to pathways such as starch and sucrose metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, and ABC transporters. Microbial alpha diversity increased with CC duration, and both bacterial and fungal community structures were notably reshaped. Metabolite profiles correlated more strongly with fungal than bacterial communities. Partial least squares path modeling revealed that CC years had a negative indirect impact on tuber yield and morphology (the path coefficient was −0.956), primarily through direct effects on soil properties (p < 0.01) and metabolites (p < 0.001), which, in turn, influenced microbial diversity. These findings emphasize the vital role of soil properties in reshaping the rhizosphere environment under CC and provide a theoretical basis for mitigating CC obstacles through rhizosphere regulation. Full article

The relationship between insect diversity and crop production has been of continuous scientific interest. Understanding insect community dynamics using various sampling and monitoring methods at different crop phenology stages is crucial for enhancing pest management and ecosystem service functioning. The present study assessed the influence of four trap types (Blue, Yellow, White, and Malaise) applied at four tomato developmental stages (start of planting, flowering, flowering fruit development and harvest) on insect diversity in northeastern Tunisian open-field conditions. A total of 1771 insect individuals belonging to seven orders and 31 families were trapped, with the order Hymenoptera being the most common in the sampled plots, which was represented by 25 families. Trap type exerted a strong effect on both abundance and alpha diversity parameters. Yellow pan traps showed the highest diversity, with family richness (S) ranging from 1 to 16, Shannon diversity (H) reaching 2.54, Simpson (Is) diversity ranging from 0.72 to 0.90 and Pielou’s evenness (J) ranging from 0.83 to 0.98. Blue and white traps displayed intermediate diversity (Blue: S = 6 and H = 1.7; White: S = 7 and H = 1.6), while Malaise traps captured the least diverse assemblages (S = 4, H = 1.2 and Is = 0.65). These differences were highly significant (p < 0.05). Phenological stage significantly structured Hymenoptera diversity. Richness peaked at the start of planting (S = 1–16 and H up to 2.54) and declined sharply at harvest (S = 1–6). Pollinator families (Apidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae) were the most abundant during flowering, whereas parasitoid families (Braconidae, Eulophidae) dominated during the fruit development stage. Beta diversity analyses (NMDS, stress = 0.25) and PERMANOVA showed that trap type and phenological stage jointly explained 15.5% of the variation in community composition (R² = 0.155, p = 0.014). Although a strong taxonomic overlap among traps was observed, Indicator Value analysis revealed significant trap-specific associations, including the family Andrenidae with Blue traps and the family Scoliidae with White and Yellow traps. Overall, the results of the present study demonstrate that both trap type and crop phenology significantly influence insect population diversity. A multi-trap sampling strategy combining colored pan traps and Malaise traps could be recommended to accurately characterize insect communities and associated ecosystem services in Mediterranean open-field tomato systems. Full article

Continuous monoculture of Panax notoginseng leads to severe replant disease, yet the mechanisms by which root exudates mediate rhizosphere microbiome assembly and pathogen enrichment remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that long-term root exudate accumulation acts as an ecological filter, driving the fungal community toward a phylogenetically impoverished, pathogen-dominated state. Specifically, exudates enriched the soil-borne pathogen Fusarium while reducing the abundance of potentially antagonistic fungi. In contrast, bacterial communities exhibited higher resilience, with exudates selectively enriching oligotrophic taxa such as Terrimonas and MND1, but suppressing nitrifying bacteria (e.g., Nitrospira) and plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Microbial functional profiling revealed a shift in nitrogen cycling, characterized by suppressed nitrification and enhanced nitrate reduction. Crucially, co-occurrence network analysis identified bacterial taxa strongly negatively correlated with Fusarium, providing a synthetic community blueprint for biocontrol strategies. Our study establishes a mechanistic link between root exudate accumulation and negative plant–soil feedback in monoculture systems, highlighting microbiome reprogramming as a key driver of replant disease. These insights offer novel avenues for manipulating rhizosphere microbiomes to sustain crop productivity in intensive agricultural systems. Full article

Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya) serves as both a food crop and a traditional Chinese medicine herb, yet it suffers from severe continuous cropping obstacles, typically requiring a six-year fallow period before replanting. Long-term continuous cropping changes soil properties, including the concentration of N, P, and K, as well as bacterial composition, but the overall impact of short-term continuous cropping on important soil factors such as mineral elements, enzymes, and microbial composition still remains poorly understood. To elucidate how monoculture affects soil health, we collected rhizosphere soils from D. polystachya fields under one-, two-, and three-year continuous cropping in Chenji Town, and analyzed soil properties using general chemical methods, as well as microbial composition by Illuminar high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and ITS1 regions. Furthermore, the correlation between soil properties and microbial communities was examined. The results showed that soil pH, cation exchange capacity, and organic matter content increased significantly in continuous cropping soil, whereas the concentrations of soil mineral elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, S, and Si) decreased significantly, with the concentration of available P, K, Cu, and Zn decreased by 72.8%, 64.1%, 99.3%, and 79.4%, respectively, in 3-year continuously cropped soil. Enzyme activities, including sucrase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase, also showed a decrease of more than 81%. Fungal diversity and abundance were markedly reduced with cropping duration, whereas bacterial communities showed less response. Notably, pathogenic fungi such as Dactylonectria, Neocosmospora, and Ilyonectria, along with bacteria Streptomyces, became enriched. These microbial shifts were primarily associated with soil pH, available potassium, and alkaline phosphatase. Our study demonstrates that the decline in soil fertility coupled with pathogen buildup constitutes a major cause of the continuous cropping obstacle in Chinese yams. The results provide a scientific basis for developing targeted strategies to mitigate continuous cropping obstacles in Chinese yam production. Full article

Oca (Oxalis tuberosa Mol.) is an Andean crop with high nutritional and cultural value; however, its vegetative propagation makes it challenging to ensure a continuous supply of high-quality planting material. In this study, an efficient and reproducible in vitro propagation protocol was established for the oca genotype OT–001 (Amazonas, Peru), integrating shoot multiplication, rooting, and acclimatization. One-centimeter nodal segments were cultured in MS medium supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or kinetin (KIN) at increasing concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 2.0 mg L⁻¹. For rooting, one-centimeter shoots were transferred to MS medium supplemented with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) or 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at increasing concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 2.0 mg L⁻¹. The variables evaluated four weeks after treatment initiation were regeneration percentage, rooting percentage, number of shoots per explant, number of roots per explant, number of nodes, and shoot length. The regeneration rate reached 100% with both BAP and KIN treatments; however, shoot proliferation was highest with 1.0 mg L⁻¹ BAP, producing an average of 7.4 shoots per explant compared to 2.3 shoots in the control. Meanwhile, KIN concentrations of 0.2–0.5 mg L⁻¹ promoted the development of longer shoots (up to 31.4 mm). In rooting, although the control achieved 93.3%, auxin supplementation improved root architecture. IBA at 0.1 mg L⁻¹ achieved 100% rooting with the longest roots (23.9 mm), while 2.0 mg L⁻¹ IBA maximized the number of roots (14.2 roots per explant). With NAA, the root systems were dense but shorter. The in vitro-regenerated plantlets exhibited 100% survival after 15 and 30 days of acclimatization in sterile agricultural soil, demonstrating the high quality of the plant material obtained. The protocol enables the production of homogeneous and vigorous plantlets throughout the year and provides a practical foundation for the ex situ conservation of oca germplasm and its commercial propagation. It also establishes the basis for advanced applications such as genetic transformation and gene editing. Full article

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa (Weston) Rozier) is a high-value crop whose market success depends on fruit quality traits such as sweetness, firmness, and pigmentation. In sustainable agriculture, wood distillates are gaining interest as natural biostimulants. This study evaluated the effects of foliar application of two commercial wood distillates (WD1 and WD2) and one produced in a pilot plant at the Institute for Bioeconomy of the National Research Council of Italy (IBE-CNR) on strawberry physiology, fruit yield, and fruit quality under greenhouse conditions. Non-destructive ecophysiological measurements were integrated using optical sensors for proximal phenotyping, enabling continuous monitoring of plant physiology and fruit ripening. Leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured with a portable photosynthesis system, while vegetation indices and pigment-related parameters were obtained using spectroradiometric sensors and fluorescence devices. To assess the functional relevance of vegetation indices, a linear regression analysis was performed between net photosynthetic rate (A) and the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI), confirming a significant positive correlation and supporting PRI as a proxy for photosynthetic efficiency. All treatments improved photosynthetic efficiency during fruiting, with significant increases in net photosynthetic rate, quantum yield of photosystem II, and electron transport rate compared to control plants. IBE-CNR and WD2 enhanced fruit yield, while all treatments increased fruit soluble solids content. Non-invasive monitoring enabled real-time assessment of physiological responses and pigment accumulation, confirming the potential of wood distillates as biostimulants and the value of advanced sensing technologies for sustainable, data-driven crop management. Full article

Numerous commercial products are used in poultry farms to maintain water quality and prevent pathogen dispersion, but their actual impact on broiler chicks’ performance and gut health remains underreported. This study aimed to investigate the effects of three commercial poultry water disinfectants on broiler chicks’ performance and the physicochemical characteristics of gastrointestinal content when continuously added to drinking water. A total of 144 one-day-old Ross^® 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated into four treatment groups: Group A (negative control), Group B (0.01–0.025% v/v Product A [H₂O₂ + silver complex]), Group C (0.01–0.04% v/v Product B [H₂O₂ + peracetic acid]), and Group D (0.05–0.1% w/v Product C [peroxides]). Body weight (BW) was measured weekly, while average daily weight gain (ADWG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated for different time periods. Additionally, on days 15 and 40, the pH of the crop, gizzard, duodenum, jejunum, and cecum contents was assessed, while the viscosity of jejunal and ileal contents were also measured. Statistical analysis revealed that all water disinfectants significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced BW, ADWG, and ADFI during the early growth phase, followed by either recovery or stabilization in the later stages. Drinking water disinfectants induced significant changes in intestinal physicochemical parameters, including reductions in pH of the content in the jejunum (p ≤ 0.05) during early growth and increased gizzard pH (p ≤ 0.05) and digesta viscosity (p ≤ 0.05) at later ages. These findings suggest that continuous water disinfection can suppress broiler chicks’ performance during the early stages of growth while significantly altering the physicochemical characteristics of gastrointestinal content. Further research is needed to investigate the mechanism that underlaying these results and optimize dosage schemes that balance pathogen control with the health, welfare, and performance of broilers. Full article

Uniform application of fertilizers and pesticides continues to dominate global agriculture despite significant spatial variability in soil and crop conditions. This mismatch results in avoidable yield gaps, excessive chemical waste, and environmental pressures, including nutrient leaching and greenhouse gas emissions. The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Remote Sensing (RS) has emerged as a transformative framework for diagnosing this variability and enabling site-specific, climate-responsive management. This systematic synthesis reviews evidence from 2000–2025 to assess how AI–RS technologies optimize agrochemical efficiency. A comprehensive search across Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar were used. Following rigorous screening and quality assessment, 142 studies were selected for detailed analysis. Data extraction focused on sensor platforms (Landsat-8/9, Sentinel-1/2, UAVs), AI approaches (Random Forests, CNNs, Physics-Informed Neural Networks), and operational outcomes. The synthesized data demonstrate that AI–RS systems can predict critical soil attributes, specifically salinity, moisture, and nutrient levels, with 80–97% accuracy in some cases, depending on spectral resolution and algorithm choice. Operational implementations of Variable-Rate Application (VRA) guided by these predictive maps resulted in fertilizer reductions of 15–30%, pesticide use reductions of 20–40%, and improvements in water-use efficiency of 25–40%. In fields with high soil heterogeneity, these precision strategies delivered yield gains of 8–15%. AI–RS technologies have matured from experimental methods into robust tools capable of shifting agrochemical science from reactive, uniform practices to predictive, precise strategies. However, widespread adoption is currently limited by challenges in data standardization, model transferability, and regulatory alignment. Future progress requires the development of interoperable data infrastructures, digital soil twins, and multi-sensor fusion pipelines to position these technologies as central pillars of sustainable agricultural intensification. Full article

Contemporary nurseries of fruit trees and ornamental plants constitute a key component in the production of high-quality planting material. At present, conventional technology dominates in nurseries in Poland and throughout the European Union. It is based on universal agricultural tractors working with numerous specialized machines—typically underutilized—including sprayers, inter-row cultivation equipment, fertilizer spreaders, and tree lifters. This concept entails several limitations and high investment costs. Because of the considerable size and turning radius of such machinery, a dense network of service roads (every 15–18 m) and wide headlands must be maintained. These areas, which constitute approximately 20% of the total surface, are effectively wasted yet require continuous agronomic maintenance. An alternative concept employs a set of implements mounted on a high-clearance portal tractor (1.6–1.8 m), forming a specialized unit capable of moving above the rows of nursery crops. The study objective of the research was to evaluate the air distribution generated by an air-jet system installed on a crop-spray boom mounted on a portal sprayer, and to assess spray deposition during treatments in nursery trees. Such a configuration enables the mechanization of a broader range of nursery operations than currently possible, while reducing investment costs compared with conventional technology. One still underutilized technology consists of sprayers with an auxiliary airflow (AA) generated by air sleeves. Mean air velocity was measured in three vertical planes, and they showed lower air velocity between 1.0 m and 5.5 m. Spray deposition on apple nursery trees was assessed using a fluorescent tracer. The experimental design consists of a comparative field experiment with and without air flow support, spraying at two standard working rates (200 and 400 L·ha⁻¹) and determining the application of the liquid to plants in the nursery. The results demonstrated a positive effect of the AA system on deposition. At a travel speed of 6.0 km·h⁻¹ and an application rate of 200 L·ha⁻¹, deposition on the upper leaf surface was 68% higher with the fan engaged. For a 400 L·ha⁻¹ rate, deposition increased by 47%, with both differences statistically significant. The study showed that the nursery sprayer mounted on a high-clearance portal tractor and equipped with an AA system achieved an increase of 58% in spray deposition on the upper leaf surface when the fan was operating at 200 L·ha⁻¹ and 28% at 400 L·ha⁻¹. Substantial differences were found between deposition on the upper and lower leaf surfaces, with the former being 20–30 times greater. Given the complexity of nursery production technology, sprayers that ensure the highest possible biological efficacy and high quality of nursery material will play a pivotal role in its development. At the current stage, AA technology fulfils these requirements. Full article

Oats are regaining interest because of their nutritional and agro-environmental benefits. Hence, research into increasing oat productivity through sustainable agronomic practices has become increasingly important, especially as new varieties are developed and weather patterns become more unpredictable. The paper presents the effects of the cropping system (six-field crop rotation, continuous cropping since 1968), variety (two per six-year period), chemical crop protection (control, herbicide, herbicide plus fungicide), and study year, on spring oat grain yields for two six-year crop rotation cycles (2011–2016, 2017–2022) of a long-term experiment in Poland. The cropping system was the most influential factor. Studies confirmed that growing oats in crop rotation ensures higher productivity than continuous cropping and sustains satisfactory yields in Polish conditions despite yearly weather variability. The cultivated varieties differed in yield levels and degree of yield reduction in response to continuous oat cropping. Only during the 2011–2016 cycle was a decreasing trend in yields observed as continuous cropping was prolonged. Oats grown in crop rotation rarely benefited from chemical protection against weeds and pathogens. In continuous cropping, herbicide and fungicide treatments typically did not mitigate oat yield losses associated with the system, exacerbating them in the 2017–2022 cycle. Among the evaluated agronomic practices, the six-field crop rotation system proved the most reliable yield-enhancing strategy, whereas chemical protection rarely improved oat performance. In individual years, contradictory reactions of the two cultivated varieties to cropping systems and crop protection levels were often noted. Full article

Precision agriculture will continue to heavily rely on data-driven models to enable more intensive crop monitoring and data-driven decisions. The available remote sensing techniques, particularly those based on multispectral Sentinel-2 data, still have major shortcomings due to cloud cover, low temporal resolution, and time lags in data availability. To address these shortcomings, this paper proposes a hybrid approach that combines Sentinel-2 satellite data with real-time data generated by low-cost ground-based single-pixel detectors (SPDs), such as the AS7263. This hybrid approach addresses key shortcomings in existing agricultural monitoring systems and offers a cost-effective, scalable solution for real-time monitoring and prediction of end-of-season yield, moisture, and plant height using simple PLRS models implemented directly in SPDs with an energy-efficient algorithm for deployment on the STM32G030 microcontroller. Full article

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik. subsp. culinaris) is a Mediterranean legume crop of high value due to nutritional quality and adaptability; however, its cultivation is increasingly threatened due to climate uncertainty and reduction in genetic diversity in modern cultivars. The present research study evaluated 31 Greek lentil accessions (twenty-two landraces and nine commercial cultivars of both small and large seed types) in a semi-arid environment of Central Greece, over two cropping seasons, focusing on phenological, morphological, yield, and quality traits. The great diversity observed at the morpho-phenological and qualitative levels implies the high genotypic diversity of these genetic resources. Small-seeded landraces performed better in seed and biological yield, harvest index, and protein content, having greater phenological stability and tolerance to the Mediterranean environments. In particular, the highest seed yield was observed in LAX small-seeded landrace (1930 kg ha⁻¹), followed by TSO (1559 kg ha⁻¹), DIG (1449 kg ha⁻¹), and EGL (1437 kg ha⁻¹) small-seeded landraces. As for the regression analysis, seed yield was positively correlated with days to flowering (TF: r = 0.076, p < 0.01), plant height (PH: r = 0.143, p < 0.05), number of pods per plant (NPP: r = 0.941, p < 0.001), number of seeds per pod (NPP: r = 0.432, p < 0.001), number of branches (NPB: r = 0.234, p < 0.01), biological yield (BY: r = 0.683, p < 0.001), and harvest index (HI: r = 0.650, p < 0.001). Principal component analysis (PCA) distinguished small-seeded landraces associated with adaptive and yield traits from large-seeded cultivars associated with seed size. Greek lentil landraces, especially the small-seeded genotypes (e.g., LAX and DIG), have great potential for use in the development of climate-tolerant and high-yielding lentil varieties adapted for sustainable Mediterranean production. Breeding programs can target the crossing of landraces with large-seeded cultivars (e.g., IKAm and THEm) to develop varieties that combine stress tolerance, adaptation, and high productivity with adaptation to different seed sizes. Subsequent studies on drought tolerance and heat resistance are still important for continued improvement in lentil productivity in a changing climate. Full article