to affect overall growth and yield ( White and Reynolds, 2003 ). It is important to measure temperature in a physiologically meaningful manner when studying plant development. In wheat, air temperature is a primary factor determining the phyllochron
China, Malaysia, India, and Ireland are leading in global mushroom production ( Hanafi et al., 2018 ). Agaricus genus is the most popular edible mushroom in the world, which is cultivated on the agricultural waste, including straw, wheat, and hay
The objectives of this research were to mimic the gradient irradiances to which wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. SuperDwarf) plants were exposed aboard the Russian space station Mir, and to determine whether these irradiances inhibit growth and floral development. SuperDwarf wheat plants were exposed to irradiances of 20–40, 60–80, 100–120, and 140–180 (PPF = μmol·cm–2·s–1) and grown to maturity. Twenty plants were randomly selected from each irradiance level and chlorophyll, total leaf area, shoot biomass, and total soluble leaf and plasma membrane (PM) proteins were recorded. Irradiance at increasing levels of intensity increased the fresh biomass, leaf area, chlorophyll content, and the total soluble PM and leaf proteins of wheat tissue. There were significant differences between the abaxial and adaxial sides of the wheat leaves in stomatal density, stomatal index, stomatal length and width, and number of stomata along 1-mm length of leaf. These data may be uniquely valuable for further studies of relationships between chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, and productivity of wheat grown aboard the Russian space station Mir, space missions of long duration, or future manned space stations to generate oxygen, purify water, remove carbon dioxide, produce food and recycle waste materials. (Supported by NASA Grant NCC 2-831 and the Utah Agr. Expt. Station.)
Garlic (Allium sativum L.) has been cultivated in much of the world for millennia. Little scientific research, however, has focused on improving cultural conditions for production in the temperate regions of the northeastern United States, where garlic is gaining importance as a horticultural crop. To study the effectiveness of wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) mulch on garlic, experiments were conducted at the Cornell Univ. research facilities in East Ithaca, N.Y., during the 1993–94 (year 1) and 1994–95 (year 2) growing seasons and at the Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research Farm, Freeville, N.Y., during the 1994–95 growing season. Two clones, one bolting and one nonbolting, were studied in year 1, and four varieties, three bolting and one non bolting, in year 2. All were fall-planted (mid-October), and mulch treatments were covered with wheat straw early in the following December. Control plots were not covered. The mulch either remained on the crop throughout the growing season or was removed early in the spring to expedite soil warming. This is the common practice among growers who use mulch only for winter protection. The presence of mulch during the winter increased the survival rate. Soil temperatures under the wheat straw were significantly lower during the summer than soil temperatures in unmulched plots, which could have contributed to the increase found in the yield and average bulb size of several of the cultivars. Maintaining the mulch through the entire growing season reduced weed pressure >30%. We found no significant increase in the amount of basal fungal infection. The results indicate that using straw mulch can improve garlic produced in the northeastern United States.
; Wheeler et al., 1991 ), wheat ( Barnes and Bugbee, 1992 ; Dougher and Bugbee, 2001a ; Goins et al., 1997 ), lettuce ( Dougher and Bugbee, 2001a ; Hoenecke et al., 1992 ; Yorio et al., 2001 ), pepper ( Brown et al., 1995 ), spinach, and radish ( Yorio
, 2009). OxO was first isolated and characterized from wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) ( Lane et al., 1993 ). It catalyzes the oxidation of oxalic acid by molecular oxygen to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Researchers have found that
with a winter cover crop ( Pacific Northwest Extension, 2007 ). The winter cover crop most commonly used by red raspberry growers is winter wheat, which is grown in between late summer/early fall fumigation and spring planting the following year. A
This study compared shredded newspaper, wheat straw (Triticum aestivum L.) mulch, and bare soil as surface treatments under sweet corn [Zea mays L., var. Saccharata (Surt.)], field corn (Z. mays L.), soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], and processing tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). In a replicated study with limited mechanical weed control and no chemical weed control in 1990, and no weed control except for the mulch in 1991, the mulches provided a cooler, moister soil environment and effective suppression of most annual and some perennial weeds. The rank order of yields was the same for all three crops in 1990: newspaper mulch > wheat straw mulch > bare soil cover. In 1991 the rank order for yield was: soybeans/newspaper mulch > wheat straw > bare soil (P < 0.01); field corn/newspaper mulch > bare soil > wheat straw (P > 0.10). The straw and newspaper mulches had similar effects on yield, weed control, soil moisture, and soil temperature. They were significantly different from bare soil in many crop and mulch combinations studied. A brief evaluation of high rates of newspaper mulch showed no apparent growth problems for corn and soybeans and no heavy metal accumulation in the soil. Since shredded newspaper from community recycling programs in available at low cost ($40-50/ton vs. $90-100/ton for straw), this material is an attractive soil-management alternative in horticultural and agronomic production systems.
Two field comparisons of conservation tillage tomato production alternatives following wheat were conducted in California's Central Valley. Both studies compared: 1) standard tillage; 2) bed disk or permanent bed minimum tillage; and 3) strip-tillage following winter wheat crops that were harvested the previous June. Processing tomatoes were produced at the site in Davis, Calif., and fresh market tomatoes were grown in Parlier, Calif. At both sites, establishing tomatoes using a commercial transplanter or a modified conservation tillage transplanter achieved adequate stands even in the minimally-tilled strip-till system. Timing of the strip till operation, however, is critical so that large chuncks of dry soil are not brought up and so that these do not create very rough bed surfaces that may cause harvest problems, particularly for processing tomatoes. Machine harvesting the crop at the Davis site did not seem to create any mechanical difficulties or generate additional trash going into the harvest trailer. This may have been due to the fact that by harvest time, the majority of the surface residue from the previous wheat crop had already been broken down or at least sufficiently worked into the soil to pose minimal mechanical harvester impedance or contamination. Tomato yields for the reduced till systems equalled yields of the standard till systems at both sites.
Our objectives were to ascertain whether wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. SuperDwarf) plants, grown aboard the Russian space station Mir in the microgravity of space, exhibited any plant structure and histochemical changes compared with those ground-based plants grown in Moscow, Russia, and Logan, Utah. Plants were harvested at stages of ontogeny corresponding to day 6, 14, 25, 35, and 55 post-emergence and placed in 4% formaldehyde: 1% glutaraldehyde (4F: 1G) fixative, adjusted to pH 7.2, and stored in Aclam plastic bags. Upon return to earth, samples were dehydrated and embedded in Spurr's resin. Use of differential chromophores on semi-thin sections (1 μm) suggests no major artifacts in cellular structure. Enzyme localizations for lignin, carbohydrate, starch, alkaline and acid phosphatase indicate that plants grown aboard Mir appeared to have less lignin than ground control plants. (Supported by NASA Grant NCC 2-831 and the Utah Agr. Expt. Station.)