• Authors:
    • Homa, U.
    • Erdei, I.
    • Larelle, D.
    • Becker, J.
  • Source: Julius-Kuhn-Archiv
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue: 434
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: POLAR* (GF-2463=Dow 24630 H) contains the active ingredients florasulam and clopyralid both well known substances found in commercial products such as Primus *3 (florasulam), Starane XL* (florasulam, fluroxypyr), Ariane C* (florasulam, fluroxypyr, clopyralid) or Lontrel* (clopyralid). POLAR* has a broad dicotyledonous weed spectrum and controls Galium aparine, Matricaria spp., Centaurea cyanus, Stellaria media, cruciferous weeds ( Brassica spp. and others), Polygonum spp., Solanum nigrum and other weeds when applied post-emergence in spring. Increasingly important weeds in cereal production such as C. cyanus as well as G. aparine and Matricaria spp. at late growth stages can be controlled very efficiently at BBCH 13 to 32 in winter cereals and at BBCH 13 to 30 in spring cereals. POLAR* is formulated as a Suspension Concentrate (SC) with a target dose rate of 200 ml/ha (60 g ai/ha clopyralid+5 g ai/ha florasulam) in winter and spring cereals. It combines two modes of action: Auxin-like (clopyralid) and acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors (florasulam) and can be safely applied in spring (soft and hard) and winter wheat, spring and winter barley, spring oats, winter rye, winter triticale and spelt.
  • Authors:
    • Ostgarden, J.
    • McLean, E.
    • McLean, K.
    • Bilski, J.
    • Lander, M.
  • Source: Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Chemistry
  • Volume: 11
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: This study focuses on the environmentally friendly utilization of coal combustion residue, fly ash (FA) containing significant amounts of heavy metals. Knowledge about the potential use of FA as a component of growth media for plants is fragmentary. Preliminary experiments tested the possibility to grow cereal crops on media composed exclusively of FA. The analysis of seven different FA from lignite and semi-bituminous coal from North Dakota and Montana sources using inductively coupled plasma emission spectrophotometry showed high concentrations of heavy metals in coal (up to, in mg/kg): As:65, Cd:3.9, Co:38, Cr:77, Li:109, Mn:1547, Pb:106, Ni:41, V:306. Seedlings of rye, wheat, oats, barley, triticale, and regreen (hybrid between wheat and ryegrass) were planted in Petri dishes (10 cm in diameter) in growth media containing FA from lignite coal, FA from semi-bituminous coal, bottom ash, and Fargo clay soil as the control. Each treatment was performed in 3 replications, and each experiment was repeated 3 times. Germination rates, plant growth analysis, and dry matter yield were determined 2-3 weeks after planting. Germination rates and dry matter yield of oats, winter wheat and regreen were greater (10-20% above controls) in media composed of coal ash, but rye, barley, and wheat seedlings were affected by FA in media. These results show the potential for the utilization of FA as a growth media for cereal crops. Therefore, these plants might be used as green cover preventing wind erosion over the coal ash piles. However, this issue requires additional in depth investigation, including a thorough chemical analysis of plant material.
  • Authors:
    • Bontenbroich, J.
  • Source: Julius-Kuhn-Archiv
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue: 434
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Trinity is a new herbicide for the control of silky-bent grass, annual meadow grass and annual dicotyledonous weeds in cereals in autumn. The registration covers the use in winter barley, winter wheat, winter rye and winter triticale at a maximum dose rate of 2.0 l/ha Trinity as a post-emergence application (autumn, GS 10-13). Trinity is the first registered three-way mixture of the three established ingredients diflufenican (40 g/l), pendimethalin (300 g/l) and chlortoluron (250 g/l). All ingredients have a different mode of action according to HRAC classification: F1 (diflufenican), K1 (pendimethalin) and C2 (chlortoluron). This unique three-way mixture in Trinity leads to a very high efficacy against Apera spica-venti and Poa annua and against a broad spectrum of dicotyledonous weeds including less sensitive weeds like Papaver rhoeas, Centaurea cyanus und Geranium spp. Due to the optimal balanced amount of ingredients, Trinity has also a very good selectivity in all registered cereals. Furthermore, the advantageous regulatory restrictions of Trinity increase the attractiveness for practical use. Based on the results of multi-annual German field trials, this paper shows the efficacy and the selectivity of Trinity.
  • Authors:
    • Lillo, C.
    • Eggen, T.
  • Source: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
  • Volume: 60
  • Issue: 28
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Residues of pharmaceuticals present in wastewater and sewage sludge are of concern due to their transfer to aquatic and terrestrial food chains and possible adverse effects on nontargeted organisms. In the present work, uptake and translocation of metformin, an antidiabetic II medicine, by edible plant species cultivated in agricultural soil have been investigated in greenhouse experiment. Metformin demonstrated a high uptake and translocation to oily seeds of rape ( Brassica napus cv. Sheik and Brassica rapa cv. Valo); expressed as an average bioconcentration factor (BCF, plant concentration over initial concentration in soil, both in dry weight), BCF values as high as 21.72 were measured. In comparison, BCFs for grains of the cereals wheat, barley, and oat were in the range of 0.29-1.35. Uptake and translocation to fruits and vegetables of tomato (BCFs 0.02-0.06), squash (BCFs 0.12-0.18), and bean (BCF 0.88) were also low compared to rape. BCFs for carrot, potato, and leaf forage B. napus cv. Sola were similar (BCF 1-4). Guanylurea, a known degradation product of metformin by microorganisms in activated sludge, was found in barley grains, bean pods, potato peel, and small potatoes. The mechanisms for transport of metformin and guanidine in plants are still unknown, whereas organic cation transporters (OCTs) in mammals are known to actively transport such compounds and may guide the way for further understanding of mechanisms also in plants.
  • Authors:
    • Voltas, J.
    • Molist, M.
    • Guerrero, E.
    • Buxo, R.
    • Arab, G.
    • Ferrio, J.
    • Araus, J.
  • Source: Journal of Arid Environments
  • Volume: 86
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Modern Syria, and in particular the Middle Euphrates valley, has been occupied and overexploited since the beginnings of agriculture. Thus, the study of the economic and environmental characteristics of ancient settlements may offer new perspectives on the long-term effects of continuous agriculture in a fragile agroecosystem. In this work, we present a methodological framework that uses archaeological information to understand long-term effects of the extensification of agriculture in present-time arid areas. Specifically, we have compared the main economic features of a Neolithic site of the middle Euphrates, Tell Halula (ca. 10th millennium BP), with present-day data from the surrounding region. Population, crop distribution, cereal yields and arable land requirements during the first millennia after the emergence of agriculture were estimated from archaeological data and compared with a compilation of present-time official statistics and data derived from a field survey. We observed a trend towards a cereal-based farming during the Neolithic, associated to a decrease in the diversity of wild florae. This was accompanied by a growth in population during the earliest phases of the settlement (8200-7000 cal BCE), followed by a decline in population in the late phases (7000-5400 cal BCE), probably as a consequence of exceeding the capacity of the agroecosystem. A comparable situation to that found in early phases of Tell Halula was observed in modern communities, showing similar growth rates and a strong focus on cereal crops.
  • Authors:
    • Fetere, V.
  • Source: Zinatniski praktiskas konference, "Zinatne Latvijas Lauksaimniecibas Nakotnei: Partika, Lopbariba, Skiedra un Energija", Jelgava, Latvia, 23-24 February 2012
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: The aim of studies was to define the impact of pre-sown crop winter rye and buckwheat on the plant growth, yield and grain quality of spring cereals. During research there were evaluated the traits characterizing the yield and grain quality of wheat 'Uffo' and barley 'Rasa'. The soil of biological crop rotation within the period of two years on average was processed with 20.1 t ha -1 of buckwheat green manure or 5.4 t ha -1 buckwheat dry matter and 4.2 t ha -1 rye straws or 2.5 t ha -1 dry matter of rye straws. According to the chemical analysis, the buckwheat dry matter contained nitrogen and phosphorus, which was three times higher than dry matter of rye straws, potassium and calcium was two times higher, but magnesium - five times higher than dry matter of rye straws. Spring wheat 'Uffo' (4.36 t ha -1) and spring barley 'Rasa' (3.23 t ha -1) provided significantly (p
  • Authors:
    • Dolezel, J.
    • Krainer, S.
    • Berenyi, M.
    • Platzer, M.
    • Kubalakova, M.
    • Petzold, A.
    • Taudien, S.
    • Simkova, H.
    • Burg, K.
    • Kopecky, D.
    • Fluch, S.
    • Lelley, T.
  • Source: Plos One
  • Volume: 7
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Background: The purpose of the study is to elucidate the sequence composition of the short arm of rye chromosome 1 ( Secale cereale) with special focus on its gene content, because this portion of the rye genome is an integrated part of several hundreds of bread wheat varieties worldwide. Methodology/Principal Findings: Multiple Displacement Amplification of 1RS DNA, obtained from flow sorted 1RS chromosomes, using 1RS ditelosomic wheat-rye addition line, and subsequent Roche 454FLX sequencing of this DNA yielded 195,313,589 bp sequence information. This quantity of sequence information resulted in 0.43* sequence coverage of the 1RS chromosome arm, permitting the identification of genes with estimated probability of 95%. A detailed analysis revealed that more than 5% of the 1RS sequence consisted of gene space, identifying at least 3,121 gene loci representing 1,882 different gene functions. Repetitive elements comprised about 72% of the 1RS sequence, Gypsy/Sabrina (13.3%) being the most abundant. More than four thousand simple sequence repeat (SSR) sites mostly located in gene related sequence reads were identified for possible marker development. The existence of chloroplast insertions in 1RS has been verified by identifying chimeric chloroplast-genomic sequence reads. Synteny analysis of 1RS to the full genomes of Oryza sativa and Brachypodium distachyon revealed that about half of the genes of 1RS correspond to the distal end of the short arm of rice chromosome 5 and the proximal region of the long arm of Brachypodium distachyon chromosome 2. Comparison of the gene content of 1RS to 1HS barley chromosome arm revealed high conservation of genes related to chromosome 5 of rice. Conclusions: The present study revealed the gene content and potential gene functions on this chromosome arm and demonstrated numerous sequence elements like SSRs and gene-related sequences, which can be utilised for future research as well as in breeding of wheat and rye.
  • Authors:
    • Asch, F.
    • Gorim, L.
  • Source: Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Volume: 198
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Cereal production systems are increasingly threatened by suboptimal water supply or intermittent drought spells early in the planting season. Seed coated with hydrophilic materials or hydro-absorbers that increase the amount of water available for germination and seedling development is a promising approach to improving stand establishment under changing conditions. Barley, rye and wheat grains with combinations of hydro-absorber, humic acid and Biplantol in different shares of the total seed mass were germinated in plates at 25°C on moist filter paper. Germination rates, resource partitioning and mobilization efficiency were assessed and compared with those of uncoated seeds. Results show a strong influence of coat thickness and composition on the germination rate and the efficiency of mobilization of carbohydrates stored in the endosperm. In general, coating significantly reduced germination rate and total germination as compared to uncoated seeds in all cereals tested. Differences in coating thickness had a distinct effect on germination rate for most combinations of coatings and species. Germination rates increased with increasing coat size. This effect was most pronounced for coatings containing hydro-absorbers and least pronounced for coatings containing humic acid or Biplantol. Coating generally increased the amount of carbohydrates partitioned to the roots, and thick coating increased the efficiency of grain reserve mobilization compared with the uncoated seeds. Differences between species and the implications for coating-related changes in germination metabolism are discussed.
  • Authors:
    • Bohm, H.
    • Gronle, A.
  • Source: Julius-Kühn-Archiv
  • Volume: 1
  • Issue: 434
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: The reduction of soil tillage depth is of special interest in organic farming. However, shallow ploughing often results in higher weed abundances in comparison to deep ploughing. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether the high weed suppressive ability of spring and winter pea-cereal intercrops can compensate for the higher weed growth in shallow ploughing compared to deep ploughing in organic farming. Peas and cereals were grown as sole crops and intercrops under shallow and deep ploughing in experiments on a sandy loam soil in Northern Germany in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Semi-leafless spring peas-oats, semi-leafless winter peas-triticale and regular-leaf type winter peas-triticale intercrops were examined. At harvest, weed shoot biomass in semi-leafless spring and winter pea sole crops under deep ploughing were slightly higher than those of the corresponding intercrops under shallow ploughing. Whereas weed shoot biomass in semi-leafless winter peas-triticale intercrops under deep ploughing was comparable to shallow ploughing, the cultivation of spring peas-oats intercrops under shallow ploughing led to a significantly higher weed growth than did deep ploughing. The regular-leaf type winter pea grown as a sole crop, or an intercrop with triticale, showed a higher weed suppressive ability than the semi-leafless peas. The tillage system had no significant influence on the weed infestation of sole and intercropped regular-leaf type winter peas. Semi-leafless spring peas-oats and winter peas-triticale intercrops could compensate for weed infestation differences under shallow ploughing compared to the corresponding pea sole crops under deep ploughing. Due to the high weed suppressive ability of regular-leaf type winter peas, shallow ploughing and deep ploughing, as well as sole cropping and intercropping, led to comparable weed infestation.
  • Authors:
    • Naunheim, P.
    • Kerlen, D.
  • Source: Julius-Kuhn-Archiv
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue: 434
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Cadou FORTE (flufenacet; flurtamone; diflufenican) is a new cereal herbicide with efficacy against blackgrass ( Alopecurus myosuroides), loose silky-bentgrass ( Apera spica-venti L.), annual meadow-grass ( Poa annua L.) and a broad spectrum of dicot weeds. Cadou FORTE can be used in winter wheat, winter barley, winter rye, winter triticale and spelt for pre and post emergence application in autumn. This publication focuses on efficacy trials from three years of autumn application with Cadou FORTE.