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Maize is a bulk commodity in international agricultural product trading, and unified and standardized quality inspection standards are the basis of purchase and sales and other trading behaviors. China and the United States are the largest maize producers and consumers in the world, jointly accounting for more than 60% of the world's total production. In this research, the used data were from annual maize harvest quality reports released by the U.S. Grains Council in 2011-2019 and 2987 groups of mechanical grain harvest sample data collected by the Crop Cultivation and Physiology Innovation Team of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 2012-2019, this study compares the quality standards of commercial maize grain in China and the United States, the mechanical harvest quality (which affects the quality of the maize grain commodity), and the status quo of harvesting and storage processes in the two countries. Additionally, this study analyzes the differences in the formulation of mechanical harvest quality standards between China and the United States, as well as the reasons behind these differences, and recommends requirements for the formulation of quality standards for maize production technology and commodities that are in line with the economic conditions and maize-production conditions in China and in line with international standards in order to provide support for the industrialization of modern maize production in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liriomyza sativae and L. trifolii are highly invasive leafminer pests of vegetable crops that have invaded southern China in recent years. Liriomyza sativae was the first of these species to invade China, but it is now being displaced by L. trifolii. The rate and extent of this displacement vary across southern China. In Hainan, monocultures of highly valuable cowpea are planted and treated extensively with insecticides in attempts to control leafminer damage. In Guangdong, cowpea fields are interspersed with other less valuable crops, such as towel gourd (Luffa cylindrica), which receive significantly fewer insecticide applications than cowpea. To determine how differences in cropping systems influence the Liriomyza species composition, we conducted field trials in 2011 and 2012 in Guangdong where both species were present. We replicated conditions in Hainan by planting cowpea monocultures that were isolated from other agricultural fields, and we replicated conditions in Guangdong by planting cowpea in a mixed crop environment with towel gourd planted in neighboring plots. We then compared leafminer populations in cowpea treated with the insecticide avermectin and untreated cowpea. We also monitored leafminer populations in the untreated towel gourd. Untreated cowpea and towel gourd had comparatively low proportions of L. trifolii, which remained relatively stable over the course of each season. Avermectin applications led to increases in the proportions of L. trifolii, and after three weekly applications populations were >95% L. trifolii in both crop systems. However, the rate of change and persistence of L. trifolii in the mixed crop system were less than in the monocrop. These results indicate that L. trifolii is much less susceptible to avermectin than is L. sativae. Further, L. sativae was able to persist in the untreated towel gourd, which probably enabled it to recolonize treated cowpea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In 1996, China launched a program to breed super rice or super hybrid rice by combining intersubspecific heterosis with ideal plant types. Today, approximately 80 super rice varieties have been released and some of them show high grain yields of 12–21 t/hm2 in field experiments. The main reasons for the high yields of super rice varieties, compared with those of conventional varieties, can be summarized as follows: more spikelets per panicle and larger sink size (number of spikelets per square meter); larger leaf area index, longer duration of green leaf, greater photosynthetic rate, higher lodging resistance, greater dry matter accumulation before the heading stage, greater remobilization of pre-stored carbohydrates from stems and leaves to grains during the grain-filling period; and larger root system and greater root activity. However, there are two main problems in super rice production: poor grain-filling of the later-flowering inferior spikelets (in contrast to earlier-flowering superior spikelets), and low and unstable seed-setting rate. Here, we review recent research advances in the crop physiology of super rice, focusing on biological features, formation of yield components, and population quality. Finally, we suggest further research on crop physiology of super rice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Global warming and altered precipitation patterns pose a serious threat to crop production in the North China Plain (NCP). Quantifying the frequency of adverse climate events (e.g., frost, heat and drought) under future climates and assessing how those climatic extreme events would affect yield are important to effectively inform and make science-based adaptation options for agriculture in a changing climate. In this study, we evaluated the effects of heat and frost stress during sensitive phenological stages at four representative sites in the NCP using the APSIM-wheat model. climate data included historical and future climates, the latter being informed by projections from 22 Global Climate Models (GCMs) in the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) for the period 2031–2060 (2050s). Our results show that current projections of future wheat yield potential in the North China Plain may be overestimated; after more accurately accounting for the effects of frost and heat stress in the model, yield projections for 2031-60 decreased from 31% to 9%. Clustering of common drought-stress seasonal patterns into key groups revealed that moderate drought stress environments are likely to be alleviated in the future, although the frequency of severe drought-stress environments would remain similar (25%) to that occurring under the current climate. We highlight the importance of mechanistically accounting for temperature stress on crop physiology, enabling more robust projections of crop yields under future the burgeoning climate crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soilborne pathogen cereal cyst nematode (CCN) Heterodera avenae is one of the biotic stress factors that directly affects the crop physiology from seed germination to crop maturity and limits the cereal production in different agro-ecologies of the world. In China, this pathogen is widespread in more than 20 provinces and infects the major cereal varieties and germplasm being adopted for cereal crop production annually. We tested number of cereal accessions to see the host pathogen interaction; among 15 wheat lines from Zhonnguyuan Sun (CAAS) CIMMYT Beijing and 10 lines of oats from Jilin Province were screened against H. avenae. The results showed that 5 wheat and 7 oat lines ranked as resistant genotypes while 9 wheat and 3 oat lines were ranked as moderately resistant and 1 wheat line and the local check were highly susceptible to H. avenae. These genotypes need to be exploited in breeding program to introduce the resistance gene pool in local cereal cultivars for resistance to H. avenae in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]