Distinct soil microbial diversity under long-term organic and conventional farming

AbstractLow-input agricultural systems aim at reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in order to improve sustainable production and ecosy

Frontiers | The statistical analysis of multi-environment data: modeling genotype-by-environment interaction and its genetic basis

Genotype by environment interaction (GEI) is an important phenomenon in plant breeding. This paper presents a series of models for describing, exploring, und...

Frontiers | Modeling Illustrates That Genomic Selection Provides New Opportunities for Intercrop Breeding

Intercrop breeding programs using genomic selection can produce faster genetic gain than intercrop breeding programs using phenotypic selection. Intercroppin...

Cultivar mixtures increase crop yields and temporal yield stability globally. A meta-analysis - Agronomy for Sustainable Development

Cultivar mixtures have been proposed as a way to increase diversity and thereby improve plant production, but our understanding of the effects of mixing cultivars on crop diseases and resource-use efficiency remains fragmentary. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the effects of cultivar mixtures on crop yield, yield stability, resource-use efficiency, and disease severity compared with monocultures of twelve major crops. We found that, overall, mixing of cultivars increased crop yield by 3.82%. Yield gains from mixing cultivars were highest in rice (+16.1%), followed by maize (+8.5%), and were lowest in barley (+0.9%) and sorghum (no increase). Temporal yield stability increased with the number of cultivars in the mixtures. Overall, mixing cultivars increased crop biomass, leaf area index, photosynthetic rate, and Water-use efficiency by 5.1, 7.2, 8.5 and 4.3%, respectively, and decreased disease incidence by 24.1%. Cultivar mixtures were more effective in mitigating diseases and increasing yields in studies performed at lower latitudes, higher mean annual temperatures, and higher mean annual precipitation. Our study complements and adds to previous research, indicating that cultivar mixtures reduce crop losses to disease and enhance resource-use efficiency compared with monocultures globally. We conclude that the targeted use of cultivar mixtures with appropriate management practices can reduce resource and pesticide inputs while maintaining high yields, thereby promoting sustainable and productive agriculture. Graphical abstract

Harnessing historical genebank data to accelerate pea breeding - Theoretical and Applied Genetics

The German Federal Ex Situ Genebank for Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (IPK) harbours over 3000 pea plant genetic resources (PGRs), backed up by corresponding information across 16 key agronomic and economical traits. The unbalanced structure and inconsistent format of this historical data has precluded effective leverage of genebank accessions, despite the opportunities contained in its genetic diversity. Therefore, a three-step statistical approach founded in linear mixed models was implemented to enable a rigorous and targeted data curation. Spring accessions revealed considerable breeding potential, with protein content exceeding market standards by almost one-fifth and with hundred grain weight that could match the upper limits reported for European elite varieties. This variation is embedded within structured populations, comprising five convarieties including sugar snaps and field pea, adding value for breeding across diverse morphotypes and market segments. Winter accessions demonstrated cold resilience, with post-winter survival rate up to 79.27% under minimum temperatures as low as − 17.1 °C. This variation is of particular relevance given the limited availability of winter-hardy cultivars able to evade summer drought and heat stresses. Transformation of the IPK Genebank into a bio-digital resource redirects formerly static material into central leverage for plant breeding in view of contemporary challenges. As such, this investigation activated the IPK pea population for use in among others breeding for a wide variety of ideotypes, research into adaptation, and future combination with omics studies.

Contrasting performances of modern and landrace cultivars in wheat mixtures and wheat-legume intercrops in organic and low input conditions - Euphytica

The context of global ecological crisis has led to the rediscovery and reuse of landrace crop cultivars. Many recent studies testify the high-quality value of landraces, as well as their agronomic interest in terms of adaptability to pedoclimatic environments. The aim of this study was to highlight the differences between modern varieties and landraces for their mixing and intercropping capabilities. An on-farm experiment, in low input conditions, took place in five different sites in Western France (3 repetitions per site) during three seasons (from seedling 2014 to harvest 2017). Three landraces and three modern varieties were compared in three mixing modalities: monoculture, cultivar mixture and legume intercropping. This on-farm experiment with no chemical input has offered new insights on the differences between modern varieties and landraces: (1) Landraces yielded around 2.8 t ha−1 while modern varieties yielded around 3.0 t ha−1, a difference that was not significant. (2) Landraces’ yields were more stable over sites. (3) Wheat straw dry matter yields were 1.5 t ha−1 higher for landraces than for the modern ones. (4) The grain nitrogen content for landraces was 13.5% while it is 12.3% for modern varieties. (5) Landraces were healthier than modern varieties; (6) Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi wheat root colonisation was 5% higher in landraces (35.2%) than modern varieties (29.4%) in these conditions unfavourable to mycorrhiza due to ploughing. (7) Wheat lodging was 38.5% for landraces while it was around 1% for modern varieties. Intercropping wheat with legumes decreased wheat grain yield by around 25%, but increased wheat grain nitrogen content from 12.7 to 13.8%, independently between landraces and modern varieties. This study provides novel evidence of the interests of diversifying crops, either through intra-varietal genetic diversity (the use of landraces) and inter-specific diversity (intercropping of wheat and legumes), for both wheat performance and stability.

De potentie voor koolstofvastlegging in de Nederlandse landbouw