An improvement in growth, condition, raw material quality, and resistance of vegetable plants to adverse stress conditions or agricultural pests can be achieved by using foliar-applied biostimulators. Cover cropping is also of great importance since it contributes, among others, to a better use of environmental conditions and fertilization by plants. In the period 2009–2011, a field experiment ...

Stilbene-derived optical brighteners are compounds that absorb ultraviolet (UV) radiation and emit visible blue wavelengths. When mixed with baculoviruses they can enhance the infectivity, rendering the viruses more efficient as control agents of insect pests. Formulations of baculoviruses with optical brighteners are being tested for control of crop and forest lepidopterous insects in North Am...

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a specialized mode of photosynthesis that features nocturnal CO2 uptake, facilitates increased water-use efficiency (WUE), and enables CAM plants to inhabit water-limited environments such as semi-arid deserts or seasonally dry forests. Human population growth and global climate change now present challenges for agricultural production systems to increase f...

The effects of management of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) crops on adjacent field margins were assessed for 59 maize, 66 beet and 67 spring oilseed rape sites. Fields were split into halves, one being sown with a GMHT crop and the other with the equivalent conventional non-GMHT crop. Margin vegetation was recorded in three components of the field margins. Most differences were...

This study aims to explore the potential and advantage of using the red-edge spectral bands of the forthcoming Vegetation and Environmental New micro Spacecraft (VENμS) for assessing Leaf Area Index (LAI) in field crops. Field spectral data were collected from experimental plots of wheat and potato at the northwestern Negev, Israel. These data were resampled to the VENμS bands being used for ca...

Recent developments in visual-inertial and LiDAR sensors and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) enable recording and digital reconstruction of the physical world. In this paper we utilize a hand-held multi-sensor platform for remotely recording and characterizing physical properties of crops on a field. The platform consists of a visual-inertial sensor, color camera and 2D LiDAR. We s...

Genetically engineered (GE) or transgenic biofortified crops with an increased vitamin and/ or mineral content have large potential to improve public health, but their availability for consumers is still hampered. Over the last years, various GM crops with health benefits have been developed in which genes, mostly originating from other organisms, have been added. Notable examples include rice ...

Evolution of resistance by pests is the main threat to long-term insect control by transgenic crops that produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins. Because inheritance of resistance to the Bt toxins in transgenic crops is typically recessive, DNA-based screening for resistance alleles in heterozygotes is potentially much more efficient than detection of resistant homozygotes with bioassays. Su...

Estimation of specific crop and acreage plays a vital role in the field of crop planning, monitoring, crop condition, yield forecasting and acreage estimation. There have been several studies conducted to classify the crops at continental to the regional level, but still, work is needed to map small area covered by different crops using Remote Sensing technology. The main objective of the prese...

Weed management is critical in hazelnut (Corylus avellana) production. Weeds reduce nutrient availability, interfere with tree growth, and reduce handharvesting efficiency. Field experiments were conducted from Fall 2006 to 2010 to test effects of brassica (Brassica sp.) cover crops and hazelnut husk mulch as alternative weed management strategies in hazelnut. The cover crop treatments consiste...