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Flax is an established crop in many parts of the world due to its positive health effects and numerous industrial uses. Due to increasing interest in biofuels, flax has been evaluated throughout the U.S.A. as a potential biodiesel crop. The main purpose of this research was to evaluate current and historical genotypes of flax in different regions of south-east Texas. Twenty genotypes of flax were evaluated under dryland conditions for their agronomic and yield potential in College Station and McGregor, TX starting in 2008 thru 2011. The results suggest that all genotypes developed in Texas showed acceptable cold tolerance compared with genotypes developed in other locations. There were significant genotype-environment interactions (P < 0.001). A cross between Caldwell/Dillman (Texas genotype) was highly adapted to the environments of south-east Texas. Nekoma and York (genotypes developed in North Dakota) yielded well in non-cold years (>28 °F) at College Station. Utilization of cold tolerance trait identified in Texas genotypes coupled with high yield potential of modern genotypes would have a significant impact on yield improvement of flax in south-east Texas. Overall, flax is well adapted to growth in the area surrounding College Station, TX and has potential as an oilseed crop for production in south-east Texas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to measure maize (Zea mays) plant nutrient content and nutrient removal in grain, and to evaluate the residual soil nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as impacted by planting date and density. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate six plant densities and seven planting dates using a split-split plot design with three replications. Besides the crop growth and yield parameters, six plants were collected at the maturity and soil was sampled from each plot for nutrient analysis. Plant N, P, and K concentrations varied with planting date and density and within the ranges of 0.6-1.024%, 0.054-0.127%, and 0.75-1.71%, respectively. Grain N, P, and K concentrations decreased with plant density and varied from 1.059 to 1.558%, 0.20 to 0.319%, and 0.29 to 0.43%, respectively. Soil residual nutrient varied with depth, planting density and date. Residual N concentration in the topsoil varied from 0.6 to 37.2 mg kg-1 in 2019 and from 1.5 to 11.2 mg kg-1 in 2020 and was high under the last two planting dates. Soil residual N concentration was higher in the second layer than in the topsoil. The N concentration in the third layer varied from 0.1 to 33.2 mg kg-1 and was impacted by plant density. Topsoil P did not vary among planting dates and densities. The second and third soil layers P concentration was not affected. There was 83% increase in topsoil K in 2020 compared to 2019, and a decrease of 65 and 23% in soil K was observed in the second and third soil layers, respectively. For maize production system sustainability, future research should use a holistic approach investigating the impact of planting date, plant density on crop growth, yield, nutrient uptake and remobilization, and soil properties under different fertilizer rates to develop the fertilizer recommendation for maize while reducing the environmental impact of the production system., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.)