Soil management practices that maintain crop residue cover and reduce tillage improve soil structure, increase organic matter content in the soil, positively influence water infiltration, evaporation and soil temperature, and play an important role in fixing CO2 in the soil. Consequently, good residue management practices on agricultural land have many positive impacts on soil quality, crop pro...

Efficient irrigation water management requires a good quantification of evapotranspiration. The precise estimation of water requirement of crop is very important factor in the application of irrigation design and scheduling. Water relation model are essential component of all crop model because of critical role of water status has in determining growth, productivity and produce quality. Irrigat...

Despite improvements in the use of soil conservation practices, crop rotation and nutrient management programs, significant concern still exists regarding soil erosion and nutrient losses in runoff from row crop production. In the US, states are required to implement water quality standards based on USEPA guidelines or other scientifically defensible methods (Ice and Binkley, 2003). Agroforestr...

A randomised design involving 66 continental cross beef steers (initial live weight 523 kg) was undertaken to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of maize or whole-crop wheat silages in grass silage-based diets on animal performance, carcass composition, and meat quality of beef cattle. Grass silage was offered either as the sole forage or in addition to either maize or whole-crop wheat silag...

Soil quality (SQ) assessment is a proactive process for evaluating soil and crop management effects on biological, chemical, and physical indicators of soil health. Our objectives were to evaluate several SQ indicators within five Agricultural Research Service (ARS) experimental watersheds (WS) and determine if those indicators were affected by manure, tillage, or crop rotation histories. Ten s...

Cover crop treatments and nitrogen (N) fertilization rates were investigated for their impact on sorghum grain quality attributes. Sorghum was planted in field plots treated with differing cover cropping systems and fertilization rates. The size (weight and diameter) and hardness of the kernels were influenced by both the cover crop and N rates. The protein content increased as the N rate incre...