Search

Researchers are depending more than ever on remote sensing techniques to monitor and assess the agricultural water status, as well as to estimate crop water usage or crop actual evapotranspiration. In the current work, normal and stressed baselines for irrigated wheat genotypes were developed in an arid part of the Sohag governorate, Egypt, using infrared thermometry in conjunction with weather parameters. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design in the normal and drought stress conditions based on three replicates using ten bread wheat genotypes (G1–G10), including five accessions, under drought stress. A standard Class-A-Pan in the experimental field provided the daily evaporation measurements (mm/day), which was multiplied by a pan factor of 0.8 and 0.4 for normal and stressed conditions, respectively. The relationship between the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and canopy-air temperature differences (Tc − Ta) was plotted under upper (fully stressed) and lower baseline (normal) equations. Accordingly, the crop water stress indexes (CWSIs) for the stressed and normal baselines for wheat genotypes were developed. Additionally, the intercept (b) and the slope (a) of the lower baseline equation were computed for different genotypes. The results indicate that, before applying irrigation water, the CWSI values were high in both growing seasons and under all irrigation regimes. After that, the CWSI values declined. G10 underwent stress treatment, which produced the greatest CWSI (0.975). Conversely, the G6 condition that received well-watered irrigation yielded the lowest result (−0.007). When compared to a well-watered one, the CWSI values indicated a trend toward rising stress. There existed an inverse link between the CWSI and grain yield (GY); that is, a lower CWSI resulted in better plant water conditions and a higher GY. Under standard conditions, the wheat's highest GY was recorded in G2, 8.36 Ton/ha and a WCSI of 0.481. In contrast, the CWSI result for the stress treatment was 0.883, indicating a minimum GY of 5.25 Ton/ha. The Water Use Efficiency (WUE) results demonstrated that the stress irrigation regime produced a greater WUE value than the usual one. This study makes a significant contribution by investigating the techniques that would allow CWSI to be used to estimate irrigation requirements, in addition to determining the irrigation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the impact of residual soil nanomaterials is a promising challenge for sustainable agricultural development to improve soil health and crop productivity. The objective of this study is to assess the long-term impacts of 50, 100, and 250 mg kg−1 soil of nanobiochar (nB) and nano-water treatment residues (nWTR) on the fertility, biological activity, and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) growing in heavy metal-contaminated soils. The results showed that when nB and nWTR were added in larger quantities, the concentrations of lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), and cobalt (Co) extracted with DTPA decreased. With the addition of nB or nWTR, it also showed a significant increase in exchangeable cations, cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil fertility, soil organic matter (OM), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and a decrease in soil salinity and sodicity. Catalase and dehydrogenase activities rose as nB addition increased, while they decreased when nWTR addition increased. In comparison to the control, the addition of nB and nWTR greatly boosted maize yield by 54.5–61.4% and 61.9–71.4%, respectively. These findings suggest that the researched nanomaterials' residual effect provides an eco-friendly farming method to enhance the qualities of damaged soils and boost maize production. Our research suggested that adding recycling waste in the form of nanoparticles could immobilize heavy metals, improve soil characteristics, and increase the soil's capacity for productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat is considered to be a strategic crop for achieving food security. Wherefore, one of the current objectives of today's agriculture is to ensure a consistent and sustainable yield of this particular crop while mitigating its environmental footprint. However, along with the genetic potential of varieties, agricultural practices play a key role in ensuring a high and stable yield of wheat. Under changing climatic conditions, new eco-friendly practices were adopted in the wheat farming system in recent decades. In this review, a large number of peer-reviewed articles have been screened during the last 15 years to evaluate the potential of some environmentally friendly agricultural practices such as tillage system, biological crop protection, crop rotation, intercropping systems, and the integration of resistant varieties in achieving a high and stable wheat yield. The present investigation unveiled that embracing eco-friendly agricultural methods in the wheat farming system holds the potential to engender high and sustainable wheat yields, contingent upon a normative strategy that comprehensively addresses multiple factors. These include the intrinsic attributes of the grown wheat cultivars, plant nutritional parameters, soil agrochemical characteristics, and specific climatic conditions. Further in-depth investigations under field conditions are necessary to help in the discernment of appropriate environmentally agricultural techniques that can efficaciously optimize the yield potential of the different cultivated varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]