Application of bait spray to crop borders is a standard approach for suppression of melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae) populations and may also be of value for suppression of oriental fruit fly, B. dorsalis (Hendel) populations. Establishment of preferred roosting hosts as crop borders may help to improve suppression of both fruit fly species by providing sites...

Crop condition assessment in the early growing stage is essential for crop monitoring and crop yield prediction. A normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)-based method is employed to evaluate crop condition by inter-annual comparisons of both spatial variability (using NDVI images) and seasonal dynamics (based on crop condition profiles). Since this type of method will generate false info...

Salinity is an ever-present threat to crop yields, especially in countries where irrigation is an essential aid to agriculture. Although the tolerance of saline conditions by plants is variable, crop species are generally intolerant of one-third of the concentration of salts found in seawater. Attempts to improve the salt tolerance of crops through conventional breeding programmes have met with...

The procedure required to move forward with regard to get-ting genetically improved cotton accepted and commerciallyavailable is discussed. Three steps generally need to be taken,namely getting biosafety guidelines or regulations in place,secondly testing the technology for efficacy and suitability,and then thirdly, moving forward with commercializationthereby making the...

年次的な収量変動に関するリスクマネジメントの手法の一つとして，複数作物の栽培や気候条件の異なる土地での栽培によるリスクの分散がある．しかしながら，作物や地域の網羅的な収量変動リスクの解析事例は報告がない．本研究では，農林水産省による作物統計の長期的な収量データを解析し，47都道府県における160作物の収量変動リスクをそれぞれ定量化した．各年の平年収量と実際の収量の差（平年を100とした場合の作況指数として示す）は，ある確率分布の下でランダムに発生すると仮定し，その分布の平均値と変動の大きさ（標準偏差）をリスク指標とした．また，作況指数の変動パターンとして，気温などの気象要因との関係や，都道府県別の水平分布，水稲の年次変動パターンとの類似性，ハイリスク・ハイリターン度合いなどの観点から整理した．さらに，収量の年次変動パターンに差がある作物や地域を複数組み合わせて栽培することによるリスク...

Nature Biotechnology organized a conference in London on Agobiotech 99: Biotechnology and World Agriculture (November 14-16, 1999). The conference focused entirely on crop biotechnology and covered both societal and scientific aspects. Below is an account of the more important issues raised by the speakers and the audience.

1. Introduction Systems approach has been used by engineers since the 1950's for the study of complex and dynamic processes but their use by scientists working in biological fields is relatively recent. A system is defined as any well delineated part of reality which may contain a number of interrelated elements forming the systems structure. These functioning components interact in various way...

All agricultural producers face recurring risks, significant among them being production risk. Many factors contribute to production risk, including adverse weather conditions such as drought or floods, fires, insects or pests, and disease. These events can devastate a crop, significantly reducing yield and farmer revenue. Since the only way to completely avoid all production risks is to stop p...