Climate change poses a threat to sorghum production systems by shifting the onset of the rainy season to a later date, increasing the risk of crop failure during crop establishment. The effects of drought on sorghum during seedling establishment have not been determined. Coating seeds with a water absorbing substance offers a way to buffer the seed against insufficient moisture in the surroundi...

The effects of a yard waste compost amendment and crop establishment on nematode populations and yields of suscep­ tible vegetable crops were determined in two tests in Florida in sites infested with the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita. Main plot treatments consisted of 269 mt/ha of a yard waste com­ post applied as a mulch, 269 mt/ha of the compost incorporated into the soil, and an ...

Previous work has investigated the use of data clustering of regional species assemblages to estimate the relative risk of establishment of insect crop pest species. This paper describes the use of these techniques to estimate the risk posed by bacterial crop plant diseases. Two widely-used clustering algorithms, the Kohonen Self-Organising Map and the k-means clustering algorithm, were investi...

Journal of Plant Registrations, Vol. 3, No. 1, January 2009 99 Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a warm-season, perennial bunchgrass that is native to North America. Historically, it has been used as a forage and conservation grass, but more recently, the grass has received considerable attention as a bioenergy crop for the production of cellulosic ethanol (Vogel, 2004). Because of its poten...

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...

Smallholders in Asia and Africa require low-cost seed drills for minimal soil disturbance while establishing various crops. A seed drill that can be drawn by the widely-available two-wheel tractor (2WT) is an attractive option for mechanization of no-till in small-sized fields. The Versatile Strip Seed Drill (VSSD) was designed with the capacity to make up to 40 mm wide and 60 mm deep strips in...

Several reduced, or conservation tillage (CT) approaches are currently being evaluated in Central Valley forage production systems. In theory, these practices reduce costs and minimize the time needed to go from one crop to the next. Recent single-year trials with dairy forage producers in Stanislaus and Tulare Counties have evaluated the potential of several CT systems and have identified a nu...

Plant diseases cause significant crop loss throughout the world. Impact on yield depends on the disease involved, the crop species grown, the management practices followed, and various environmental factors. Integrate plant disease management advocates the use of multiple control measures, including, if possible, a rational system for predicting the risk of disease outbreaks. Presently, web-bas...

The Maumee River watershed is the largest drainage basin that discharges into the Great Lakes. Although the watershed is largely a rural landscape, several major urban-industrial cities, including Fort Wayne and Toledo are located along the river. Many water quality concerns are present, especially nonpoint rural runoff that contributes significant amounts of sediment into the Maumee River. The...

Physical, chemical, and biological factors of soil may reduce damage caused by plant-parasitic nematodes. Suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes is particularly challenging in soils in which there are short crop sequences, sequential susceptible host crops, or infestations of multiple nematode species. In southern Indiana, a watermelon production system involving rotations with soybean and co...