BACKGROUND Although the system for producing yellow corn grain is well established in the US, its role among other biofeedstock alternatives to petroleum-based energy sources has to be balanced with its predominant purpose for food and feed as well as economics, land use, and environmental stewardship. We model land usage attributed to corn ethanol production in the US to evaluate the effects o...

The Great Leap Forward disaster, characterized by a collapse in grain production and a widespread famine in China between 1959 and 1961, is found attributable to a systemic failure in central planning. Wishfully expecting a great leap in agricultural productivity from collectivization, the Chinese government accelerated its aggressive industrialization timetable. Grain output fell sharply as th...

In the frame of a long-term experiment carried out in Central Italy, conventional and organic winter wheat cropping systems were compared in 2004 and 2005 to evaluate the effect of system management on wheat grain yield and quality. The organic system showed grain and straw yield about 50% lower than the conventional system. Organic grain samples resulted 20% lower in protein content and exhibi...

The North China Plain (NCP) is a major grain production zone that plays a critical role in ensuring China's food supply. Irrigation is commonly used during grain production; however, the high annual water deficit [precipitation (P) minus evapotranspiration (ET)] in typical irrigated cropland does not support double cropping systems (such as maize and wheat) and this has resulted in the steep de...

The unpredictability and large fluctuation of the climatic conditions in rainfed regions do affect spring wheat yield and grain quality. These variations offer the opportunity for the production of better quality wheat. The effect of variable years, locations and sowing managements on wheat grain yield and quality was studied through field experiments using three genotypes, three locations for ...

(eds M.C.S. Wopereis et al.) 311 than white rice in Kumasi (the second largest city in Ghana), but this is not true for other markets in the country (Sakurai et al., 2006). Nigerians generally prefer cooked rice of a ‘harder’ texture than consumers in neighbouring countries. Watanabe et al. (2002a,b, 2006) showed that many grain quality characteristics such as grain breakage, grain whiteness af...

Grain legumes are a cost-effective alternative for the animal protein in improving the diets of the poor in South-East Asia and Africa. Legumes, through symbiotic nitrogen fixation, meet a major part of their own N demand and partially benefit the following crops of the system by enriching soil. In realization of this sustainability advantage and to promote pulse production, United Nations had ...

IntroductIon Solidification structure and macrosegregation have great influence on the quality of high carbon steels. Center segregation in high carbon steel results in a high concentrations of chemical components especially carbon element and has a great influence on the quality of wire rod [1-3]. Wire rod with center cementite network resulting from severe segregation not only shows low ducti...