Search Results (16,204)

Seed varietal purity and physiological viability are critical determinants of crop yield and quality. However, non-destructive assessment faces significant challenges in fine-grained variety discrimination and the perception of internal defects. This study proposes S3-Net, an AI-driven multimodal sensing framework that integrates vision–language alignment with dual-spectral sensor fusion for autonomous seed quality evaluation. We introduce a Knowledge–Vision Alignment (KVA) module that incorporates encyclopedic morphological descriptions to guide feature learning, significantly enhancing few-shot generalization. Complementarily, a Dual-Spectral Fusion (DSF) module combines high-resolution RGB textures with penetrative Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensing to jointly characterize external and internal traits. Experimental results on a custom multimodal dataset of 6000 samples across 12 crop categories demonstrate that S3-Net achieves 96.9% accuracy for species identification and 95.8% for viability detection. Notably, S3-Net outperforms ResNet-50 by 40.3% in extreme 1-shot scenarios. With a stable inference throughput of 95 fps, the system meets the high-throughput demands of industrial-scale applications, providing a robust and efficient solution for intelligent agricultural phenotyping. Full article

The intensive use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers has raised environmental concerns. Sustainable alternatives, such as plant biostimulants and plant resistance inducers, offer promising solutions by enhancing growth, yield, and stress tolerance or by activating defense responses against pathogens. However, the physiological impacts and combined effects of these products remain poorly understood, limiting evidence-based application strategies. Here, we evaluated the effects of a biostimulant and a plant defense inducer on durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum), a key cereal crop in the Mediterranean Basin. Using controlled experiments, we assessed plant growth, chlorophyll content, defense gene expression and resistance to Zymoseptoria tritici, while considering potential trade-offs between growth promotion and defense activation. As expected, our results indicate that the biostimulant improved photosynthetic performance (19 to 45%), whereas the plant resistance inducer enhanced protection against Z. tritici (25% reduction in pycnidia). However, the combination of these two treatments can induce moderated interaction effects influenced by the varietal genetic background. This study provides novel insights into the interactions between plant growth promotion and defense induction in durum wheat. Understanding these multifactorial effects (in particular genotype effect) enables the identification of optimal treatment strategies, supporting the development of sustainable crop management practices that reduce chemical inputs while maintaining productivity and resilience under biotic stress. Full article

White mold caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary continues to threaten yield and quality and remains a stubborn, sometimes unpredictable constraint in many cropping systems. The pathogen’s broad host range and its capacity to persist for years as sclerotia mean that fields can carry risk long after visible symptoms fade. Disease development is often driven by short windows of favorable temperature and moisture that promote germination and ascospore release and dispersal, while myceliogenic infection from soil-borne sclerotia can also initiate disease directly. Yet dependable control is still undermined by durable inoculum, limited stable host resistance, variable biocontrol performance, and shrinking chemical options together with fungicide resistance risk. Here we consolidate current understanding and ongoing uncertainties around sclerotial formation and germination cues, the environmental drivers that shape epidemic onset, and the processes governing host colonization, including the roles of cell wall-degrading enzymes, oxalic acid, and redox regulation, as well as the continuing debate over necrotrophic versus hemibiotrophic phases. Management is considered from a practical perspective, covering cultural risk reduction, forecasting-guided fungicide programmes supported by resistance-management principles, and biological control strategies targeting sclerotia. Across systems, the evidence points to the same lesson: single tactics rarely remain reliable under field variability, whereas integrated packages that reduce soil inoculum and align interventions with risk are more durable. Future priorities include resolving early infection events, improving prediction of carpogenic germination under changing climates, increasing the consistency of biocontrol, and accelerating resistance breeding supported by genomic resources. Full article

Accurate and timely cotton-field mapping is essential for irrigation management, water resource allocation, and regional yield assessment in arid irrigated agroecosystems. However, existing deep-learning-based crop mapping approaches generally lack interpretability and often exhibit performance variability across phenological stages, thereby limiting their reliability for operational deployment. To address these limitations, we developed an interpretable semantic segmentation framework for cotton mapping in the Wei-Ku Oasis, Xinjiang, China, under multi-source remote sensing conditions. The proposed model integrates Sentinel-2 surface reflectance, Sentinel-1 VV/VH backscatter, DEM, vegetation indices, and GLCM texture features. By incorporating a receptive-field enhancement mechanism together with an embedded feature-attribution module, the framework enables importance estimation of multi-source predictors within the network architecture, thereby providing intrinsic model interpretability. Under a unified training and evaluation protocol, the proposed model achieved an mIoU of 85.62% and an F1-score of 92.96% on the test set, outperforming U-Net, DeepLabV3+, and SegFormer baselines. Monthly classification results indicated that August provided the most discriminative acquisition window (mIoU = 85.54%, F1 = 92.83%), while June–July also maintained high recognition accuracy. Feature attribution results indicate that the importance of different predictors varies across phenological stages: Sentinel-2 red-edge bands remained highly influential throughout the growing season, NDVI/EVI exhibited increased contributions during June–August, SAR VH showed relatively higher importance during peak canopy development, and DEM maintained stable information contribution across all stages. Cross-year and cross-region experiments further demonstrated the model’s generalization capability, achieving an mIoU of 82.81% in same-region cross-year evaluation and 74.56% under cross-region transfer. Overall, the proposed segmentation framework improves classification accuracy while explicitly modeling and quantifying feature importance, providing a methodological reference for cotton-field mapping and acquisition timing selection in arid irrigated regions. Full article

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most devastating diseases of cereal crops worldwide, causing yield losses and mycotoxin contamination. Traditionally associated with warm and humid climates, FHB has increasingly affected cooler and drier regions, including the Volga region of Russia—a major grain-producing area once considered low-risk. In this three-year field study, we evaluated FHB resistance in 50 winter rye accessions under natural infection and artificially enriched infectious backgrounds using high-virulence Fusarium strains from the Volga region. Post-invasive resistance to FHB was generally weak across the tested germplasm. Nevertheless, considerable variability in FHB damage was observed among accessions. Accessions showing the lowest overall FHB severity were identified as promising donors for breeding programs. Specific resistance sources to individual Fusarium species were identified, notably Fusarium sporotrichioides—previously regarded as a weak pathogen but demonstrated here as a serious food safety threat. No significant positive correlation was found between FHB severity and mycotoxin levels, confirming these as partially independent traits; several accessions maintained low mycotoxin content despite severe symptoms. Our study highlights the necessity of multi-environment screening with local pathogen strains and endorses pyramiding approaches for durable FHB resistance in winter rye breeding. Full article

Botswana’s semi-arid climate makes it vulnerable to climate change, particularly drought, which threatens agricultural productivity. This study assesses drought impact on Botswana’s agricultural sector using Climate Hazards Center Infrared Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) rainfall data and Climate Hazards Center Infrared Temperature with Station (CHIRTS) temperature data (25 km) to compute the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Temperature Condition Index (STCI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) at seasonal/annual time scales (1, 3, 6 and 12 months). The indices are used to assess their ability to predict crop yields using national data during Botswana’s rainy season, while employing univariate and multivariate statistical models. Statistical models also linked historical drought patterns to yield variability with the Percentage Area Affected (PAA) by drought, identifying key predictors. A majority of the crops (sunflower, maize, sorghum and pulses) showed variability which was best explained by SPEI 6 more particularly under the PAA multivariate models, with the highest and moderate explanatory power (R²) found in sunflower (0.48) and maize (0.43). However, variability in millet was best explained by SPI-3, although the R² was low (0.26). Other crops displayed positive coefficients within the models, which may be attributed to the varieties grown being drought tolerant. Nevertheless, the impacts from drought, which resulted in low yields, were shown by the negative coefficients across most crops. For a more holistic approach, the study also employed questionnaire data to capture first-hand local knowledge. The results showed drought to be among the indicators of climate change that were mostly perceived as well as its effects, in which yield decline, crop damage and crop pests and diseases were among the most perceived effects. Overall, this highlighted the sector’s vulnerability to the changes in climate. The study therefore underscores the need for integrated drought early warning systems, adaptive agricultural/water management and insights for policymakers to enhance drought resilience in Botswana, aligning with global sustainability goals. Full article

The increased demand for food worldwide has led to the widespread use of synthetic chemical fertilizers. Since the Green Revolution, the use of such chemical fertilizers has been in high demand as a nutrient input in agriculture. The increased application of fertilizer to upsurge crop yields is not suitable for the long term and leads to nutrient loss, as well as severe environmental and ecological consequences. In contrast to conventional fertilizers, nano fertilizers, which are designed at the 1–100 nm size, provide focused nutrient delivery, decreased leaching, and improved plant absorption. They accomplish this by greatly increasing crop yields, enhancing fertilizer usage efficiency, and facilitating sustainable farming in the face of obstacles, including resource scarcity, climate change, and a projected population size of 10 billion by 2050. In comparison to typical NPK fertilizers at equal nutrient rates, nano fertilizers enhanced crop yields by an average of 20–23% across cereals, legumes, and horticulture crops according to studies conducted between 2015 and 2024. In particular, using nano urea with rice increased grain yields by 28.6% with 44% less nitrogen input, and applying nano zinc to wheat increased yields by 31.2% and improved the grain’s Zn content by 41%. Through targeted foliar or soil application, nano fertilizers frequently increase nutrient use efficiency (NUE) by more than 50% as opposed to 30–50% for conventional fertilizers. Nano fertilizer is prepared based on the encapsulation of plant essential minerals and nutrients with a suitable polymer matrix as a carrier and then delivered as nano-sized particles or emulsions to the plants. Natural plant openings like stomata and lenticels in plant parts facilitate the uptake and diffusion, leading to higher NUE. This review provides an overview of current knowledge on the development of advanced nano-based and smart agriculture using nano fertilizer to improve nutritional management. Furthermore, nanoscale fertilizers and their formulation, nano-based approaches to increase crop production, the different types of fertilizers that are currently available, and the mechanism of action of the nano fertilizers are discussed. Thus, it is expected that a properly designed nano fertilizer could synchronize the release of nutrients in crop plants as and when needed. Full article

Salt stress is one of the major environmental constraints in agriculture, significantly limiting crop yield and causing substantial economic loss worldwide. Silicon (Si) and selenium (Se) are widely recognized as beneficial elements for plants, and the application of Si- and Se-based fertilizers is considered a promising strategy for promoting crop growth and sustainable agricultural production under expanding salinization of arable land. In this study, aiming for the targeted application of Si and Se in agricultural production, the individual and synergistic effects of Si and Se on salt stress resistance in tomato when applied via root application or foliar spray were comprehensively investigated. Plant growth parameters, photosynthesis performance, oxidative damage, the activity of the antioxidant system, sodium/potassium (Na/K) content, and the expression of genes related to Na/K homeostasis were determined and further compared using principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that salt stress markedly inhibited plant growth and photosynthetic performance, while inducing oxidative damage and disrupting Na/K homeostasis in tomato seedlings. In contrast, the application of both Si and Se significantly promoted tomato growth and ameliorated the detrimental effects of salt stress. Moreover, Si and Se exhibited a synergistic effect in promoting salt stress resistance under both root and foliar application. Root application of Si and Se is more effective in enhancing ionic homeostasis, while foliar spray of Si and Se is more effective in promoting photosynthesis performance under salt stress. Overall, considering the convenience and use-cost efficiency of Si and Se application in agricultural practices, the results of this study showed that the synergy application of Si and Se via foliar spray is most effective in promoting salt stress resistance in tomato through modulating photosynthesis performance, antioxidant capacity, and ionic homeostasis. Full article

Seed coating technology is regarded as one of the optimal strategies to promote sustainable agricultural development. It can effectively optimize the physical and physiological characteristics of seeds, improve germplasm quality, and enhance crop resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Saline–alkali soils, characterized by high salinity and alkalinity, severely restrict plant growth and development. However, alfalfa, a high-quality leguminous forage, faces substantial challenges in large-scale popularization and cultivation in saline–alkali regions. At present, research on the application of microbial seed coating technology in alfalfa production under saline–alkali conditions remains insufficient, and relevant techniques and formulations still require optimization. Under field conditions, this study used a randomized complete block design with alfalfa as the research material. Different coating treatments combining plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), rhizobia, and extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) were established to systematically investigate the effects of various coating formulations on alfalfa yield, nutritional quality, root system architecture, and rhizosphere soil properties. Meanwhile, high-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze shifts in rhizosphere soil microbial community structure. The results demonstrated that all microbial coating treatments exerted significant growth-promoting effects on alfalfa grown in saline–alkali soils, among which the T8 treatment (combined coating of rhizobia + PGPR + EPS) performed the best. This treatment not only significantly improved alfalfa yield and nutritional quality but also modified root system architecture and enhanced soil enzyme activities, soil nutrient contents, and soil physical structure, thereby creating a favorable growth environment for plants. Among the single microbial coating treatments, the combined coating of rhizobia and EPS outperformed other single treatments and exhibited favorable application potential. Sequencing results revealed that microbial seed coating treatments significantly increased the relative abundance of beneficial soil bacteria, decreased the abundance of harmful fungi, regulated rhizosphere microbial community structure, and consequently promoted improvements in alfalfa yield and quality by optimizing the plant growth microenvironment. The findings of this study provide important theoretical support for the popularization and application of microbial seed coating technology in crop cultivation in saline–alkali soils, offer a key reference for optimizing alfalfa-specific seed coating formulations for saline–alkali conditions, and are of great significance for promoting the efficient utilization of saline–alkali land resources and the development of ecological agriculture. Full article

Quinoa attracts growing interest thanks to its nutritional value, biomass potential, and tolerance to cold, salinity, and drought, making it suitable for Mediterranean environments. Harvesting can be carried out with conventional wheat combine harvesters, although specific adjustments are required to ensure efficient seed–biomass separation and minimize losses. This study examined technical and environmental aspects of mechanized quinoa harvesting in southern Italy to identify the most effective threshing drum (TD) speed that limits losses while ensuring adequate seed separation. Field trials conducted in Puglia in 2022 and 2024, using modified combine harvesters and TD speeds between 600 and 900 rpm, showed wide variability in seed losses across settings. The 700-rpm setting yielded minimal losses in 2022 (Threshing Index, TI 6%), but proved inadequate in 2024 (TI 93%), as uneven ripening and lower yields compromised threshing efficiency. Conversely, 900 rpm produced the highest losses in 2022 (TI 67%) and the lowest cleaning efficiency with the highest residue percentage in 2024, confirming excessive mechanical aggressiveness. In 2024, 650 rpm showed relatively low losses (53%), but these were affected by reduced yield and incomplete detachment (TI 50%). In both years, 750 rpm provided the most stable performance, offering a balanced compromise between efficient seed detachment (TI 23% in 2022; 55% in 2024) and moderate seed losses (25% and 63%, respectively). Adaptive harvesting strategies, focused on appropriate machinery calibration and optimized agronomic practices, could promote the sustainable integration of quinoa into Mediterranean crop diversification systems. Full article

Flowers, the reproductive frontline of plants, are highly sensitive to environmental stresses. Yet, despite their ecological and agricultural importance, the molecular regulation of stress responses in flowers remains comparatively limited. In this context, this review emphasizes how integrative, flower-centered research combining molecular, physiological, and ecological perspectives is essential to safeguard fertility, crop yields, and biodiversity under increasingly variable climates. Advances in single-cell and spatial omics, high-resolution phenotyping, and genome and epigenome editing have the power to unprecedentedly reveal how flowers detect, decode, and respond to environmental stress. By reframing flowers as dynamic molecular decision points rather than passive stress factors, this review outlines a roadmap for flower-centered climate resilience research. Full article

Plastic film mulching (PFM) is widely used in arid, semiarid, and seasonally arid regions, where it plays a key role in regulating agricultural productivity and CO₂ emissions. Our study aims to clarify the effects of PFM on crop yield, CO₂ emissions, and the associated tradeoffs, providing a theoretical basis for the sustainable use of PFM in agriculture. We conducted a meta-analysis to compare differences in crop yield, CO₂ emissions, and yield-scaled CO₂ emissions (YSC) between mulching and no mulching treatments while identifying factors influencing these outcomes. Our findings demonstrated that PFM enhanced crop yields of maize, wheat, and cotton by 33.2% (p < 0.001), 21.8% (p < 0.05), and 26.3% (p < 0.05), respectively. PFM stimulated CO₂ emissions in maize fields by 36.8% (p < 0.001), while decreasing them in wheat and cotton fields by 11.8% (p < 0.05) and 8.1% (p > 0.05), respectively. Consequently, PFM significantly lowered YSC for maize by 39.3% (p < 0.05) and reduced it for cotton by 27.4% (p > 0.05), but led to a 38.3% increase in YSC for wheat (p > 0.05). For maize and cotton, when crop yields exceeded 6 t/ha, the YSC under plastic film mulching was higher than that under non-mulching. In contrast, for wheat, within the conventional yield range (below 10 t/ha), the YSC under plastic film mulching was lower than that under non-mulching. For cotton, the lowest YSC under PFM was achieved under the combined conditions of water inputs > 500 mm, air temperature > 8 °C, soil pH > 8, and N inputs < 200 kg N ha⁻¹. For wheat, the lowest YSC under PFM was obtained under water inputs < 350 mm, air temperature < 8 °C, light-texture soils, and N inputs < 200 kg N ha⁻¹. For maize, the lowest YSC under PFM was achieved under water inputs < 350 mm, air temperature < 8 °C, heavy-texture soils, soil pH < 8, and N inputs < 200 kg N ha⁻¹. These insights offer guidance for the optimal use of PFM to enhance carbon efficiency and crop yield in agricultural systems. Full article

Growth-Regulating Factors (GRFs) are plant-specific transcription factors that, together with GRF-Interacting Factors (GIFs) and under post-transcriptional control by miR396, coordinate cell proliferation and expansion to define organ size. This GRF–GIF–miR396 regulatory module holds major agronomic importance, shaping leaf architecture, source–sink relationships, nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE), and stress resilience in crops. Upregulation of specific GRF genes has been shown to enhance leaf width, yield potential, and other important agronomic traits. Synthetic GRF–GIF chimeras have revolutionized regeneration and genome editing in multiple crop species, revealing both successes and species-specific limitations. Expanding GRF/GIF gene families and functional analyses across various crops highlight conserved developmental functions with variable outcomes, including improved drought and salinity tolerance through sustained canopy growth. This review, focused on crop systems, integrates current advances in GRF-regulated leaf development, their contributions to abiotic and biotic stress adaptation, and the emerging utility of GRF–GIF chimeras. Finally, it outlines key challenges and future opportunities for leveraging GRFs in designing climate-resilient, high-efficiency crop ideotypes. Full article

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a major fruit crop in tropical and subtropical regions, but changing climatic conditions—especially rising temperatures and intense solar radiation—are increasing physiological disorders. Sunburn, a key heat- and light-induced disorder, causes peel discoloration and tissue damage. This results in significant yield loss and reduced fruit quality. The objective of this study was to characterize sunburn-induced anatomical changes in the widely grown, highly sensitive Hicaznar cultivar in Türkiye, and to identify the optimal phenological stage for the application of sunburn-preventive practices. For this purpose, pomegranate fruit peels were fixed in FAA (Formalin–Acetic Acid–Alcohol) solution, embedded in paraffin blocks, and sectioned at a thickness of 5–7 µm. The sections were stained using the hematoxylin–eosin method and examined under a light microscope. The images captured with a digital camera wereanalyzed and revealed that sunburn damage in the pomegranate peel first appears in the cuticle layer, followed by disruption and fragmentation of the cutaneous and epidermal layers beneath it, and ultimately leads to damage of the parenchyma cells. Furthermore, Light microscopy showed that before visible discoloration, cells near the epidermis undergo phenolic accumulation, cell-wall thickening, and lignification, which are early indicators of sunburn. These microscopic changes provide early diagnostic features for detecting sunburn damage before external symptoms manifest. The study concluded that anatomical changes begin before the visible symptoms of sunburn appear on the fruit, and the most appropriate timing for applying preventive measures against sunburn has been identified. Light microscopy showed that before visible discoloration, cells near the epidermis undergo phenolic accumulation, cell-wall thickening, and lignification, which are early indicators of sunburn. Full article

Precision greenhouse agriculture enhances plant health and crop yields by continuously monitoring key plant parameters. Stem diameter is such a parameter and is monitored to support decisions on plant care. However, traditional contact-based methods induce thigmomorphogenic effects that impact plant growth. Here, we introduce the Optical Caliper (OC), a novel contactless device for precise, non-invasive stem diameter measurement. The OC operates by projecting a collimated light beam to cast a shadow of the stem onto a high-resolution image sensor. The shadow size is a measure for the stem diameter. Controlled laboratory tests show the OC offers an accuracy comparable to that of a Digital Caliper (DC). Field trials on irregular tomato and cucumber stems demonstrate a repeatability of 0.1–0.2 mm. The OC’s non-invasive design and high repeatability exceed the performance of a DC, making it particularly suited for accurately monitoring soft, variable plant structures. Bringing the advantage of avoiding thigmomophogenic effects and thus optimizing crop yield, the OC is a promising tool for high-throughput plant phenotyping and precision agriculture applications. Full article