Diversification of agricultural systems is a standard suggestion for increasing the resilience of rain-fed subsistence farming to drought. However, grain crops share many physiological characteristics, potentially forming a plant functional type (PFT), a term ecologists apply to groups of species that respond in functionally similar ways to environmental variation. Here we test whether grain cr...

Imidazolinone herbicides, which include imazapyr, imazapic, imazethapyr, imazamox, imazamethabenz and imazaquin, control weeds by inhibiting the enzyme acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS), also called acetolactate synthase (ALS). AHAS is a critical enzyme for the biosynthesis of branched-chain amino acids in plants. Several variant AHAS genes conferring imidazolinone tolerance were discovered in p...

The objective of this research was to study the root and nodule responses to drought of mycorrhizal or nitrogen-fixing alfalfa plants in relation to root cytokinin levels. Double symbiotic plants showed significantly higher root and nodule activities during drought that may be related to smaller decreases in cytokinin content of mycorrhizal plants.

Plants provide an important source of minerals for human and animal consumption. There is a general worldwide deficiency of human intake of several essential minerals, including iron, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium, selenium, and iodine (White & Broadley, 2009). This deficiency exists not only in developing countries, but also in the developed world. On the other hand, excessive amounts of he...

1 Ginseng & Medicinal Crops Division, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-100, Republic of Korea; 2 Kohwang Medical Research Institute, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; 3 Department of Psychiatry, East-West Neo Medical Center, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 134-727...

Substantial equivalence has become established as a foundation concept in the safety evaluation of transgenic crops. In the case of a food and feed crop, no single variety is considered the standard for safety or nutrition, so the substantial equivalence of transgenic crops is investigated relative to the array of commercial crop varieties with a history of safe consumption. Although used exten...

Lepidopteran stemborers and parasitic weeds in the genus Striga are major constraints to efficient production of cereals, the most important staple food crops in Africa. Smallholder farmers are resource constrained and unable to afford expensive chemicals for crop protection. Development of a push-pull approach for integrated pest and weed management is reviewed here. Appropriate plants were di...

Coexistence between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM plants is a field of rapid development and considerable controversy. In crops, it is increasingly important to understand and predict the GM volunteer emergence in subsequent non-GM crops. Theoretical models suggest recruitment from the seedbank over extended periods, but empirical evidence matching these predictions has been scarce. Here...

Controlled alternate partial root-zone irrigation (CAPRI), also called partial root-zone drying (PRD) in other literature, is a new irrigation technique and may improve the water use efficiency of crop production without significant yield reduction. It involves part of the root system being exposed to drying soil while the remaining part is irrigated normally. The wetted and dried sides of the ...

The environmental, social and economic consequences of the use of fossil fuels has led to the search for new energy resources, such as energy crops which are expected to contribute in alleviating energy problem while they can lead to the diversification of the agricultural production. This research work investigates the acceptance of energy crops in the Larissa regional unit using questionnaire...