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Liu, X., Lehtonen, H., Purola, T., Pavlova, Y., & Rötter, R. P., T. (2014). Dynamic economic modelling of crop rotation with adaptation practices..
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Liu, X., Lehtonen, H., Purola, T., Pavlova, Y., Rötter, R., & Palosuo, T. (2016). Dynamic economic modelling of crop rotations with farm management practices under future pest pressure. Agricultural Systems, 144, 65–76.
Abstract: Agricultural practice is facing multiple challenges under volatile commodity markets, inevitable climate change, mounting pest pressure and various other environment-related constraints. The objective of this research is to present a dynamic optimization model of crop rotations and farm management and show its suitability for economic analysis over a 30 year time period. In this model, we include management practices such as fertilization, fungicide treatment and liming, and apply it in a region in Southwestern Finland. Results show that (i) growing pest pressure favours the cultivation of wheat-oats and wheat-oilseeds combinations, while (ii) market prices largely determine the crops in the rotation plan and the specific management practices adopted. The flexibility of our model can also be utilized in evaluating the value of other management options such as new cultivars under different projections of future climate and market conditions.
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Bojar, W., Sinabell, F., & Verburg, R. (2013). Economic and Trade Models to Analyze Climate Change Risk and Food Security for European Agriculture – A Survey..
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Ghaley, B. B., & Porter, J. R. (2014). Ecosystem function and service quantification and valuation in a conventional winter wheat production system with the DAISY model in Denmark. Ecosystem Services, 10, 79–83.
Abstract: With inevitable link between ecosystem function (EF), ecosystem services (ES) and agricultural productivity, there is a need for quantification and valuation of EF and ES in agro-ecosystems. Management practices have significant effects on soil organic matter (SOM), affecting productivity, EF and ES provision. The objective was to quantify two EF: soil water storage and nitrogen mineralization and three ES: food and fodder production and carbon sequestration, in a conventional winter wheat production system at 2.6% SOM compared to 50% lower (1.3%) and 50% higher (3.9%) SOM in Denmark by DAISY model. At 2.6% SOM, the food and fodder production was 649 and 6.86 t ha(-1) year(-1) respectively whereas carbon sequestration and soil water storage was 9.73 t ha(-1) year and 684 mm ha(-1) year(-1) respectively and nitrogen mineralisation was 83.58 kg ha(-1) year(-1), AL 2.6% SOM, the two EF and three ES values were US$ 177 and US$ 2542 ha(-1) year respectively equivalent to US$ 96 and US$1370 million year(-1) respectively in Denmark. The EF and ES quantities and values were positively correlated with SOM content. Hence, the quantification and valuation of EF and ES provides an empirical tool for optimising the Er. and ES provision for agricultural productivity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
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Quain, M. D., Makgopa, M. E., Marquez-Garcia, B., Comadira, G., Fernandez-Garcia, N., Olmos, E., et al. (2014). Ectopic phytocystatin expression leads to enhanced drought stress tolerance in soybean (Glycine max) and Arabidopsis thaliana through effects on strigolactone pathways and can also result in improved seed traits. Plant Biotechnol. J., 12(7), 903–913.
Abstract: Ectopic cystatin expression has long been used in plant pest management, but the cysteine protease, targets of these inhibitors, might also have important functions in the control of plant lifespan and stress tolerance that remain poorly characterized. We therefore characterized the effects of expression of the rice cystatin, oryzacystatin-I (OCI), on the growth, development and stress tolerance of crop (soybean) and model (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants. Ectopic OCI expression in soybean enhanced shoot branching and leaf chlorophyll accumulation at later stages of vegetative development and enhanced seed protein contents and decreased the abundance of mRNAs encoding strigolactone synthesis enzymes. The OCI-expressing A. thaliana showed a slow-growth phenotype, with increased leaf numbers and enhanced shoot branching at flowering. The OCI-dependent inhibition of cysteine proteases enhanced drought tolerance in soybean and A. thaliana, photosynthetic CO2 assimilation being much less sensitive to drought-induced inhibition in the OCI-expressing soybean lines. Ectopic OCI expression or treatment with the cysteine protease inhibitor E64 increased lateral root densities in A. thaliana. E64 treatment also increased lateral root densities in the max2-1 mutants that are defective in strigolactone signalling, but not in the max3-9 mutants that are defective in strigolactone synthesis. Taken together, these data provide evidence that OCI-inhibited cysteine proteases participate in the control of growth and stress tolerance through effects on strigolactones. We conclude that cysteine proteases are important targets for manipulation of plant growth, development and stress tolerance, and also seed quality traits.
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