Assessing Breeding Technologies and Ecosystem Services in Perennial Agriculture and Novel Farming Systems

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Grassland and Pasture Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (17 January 2022) | Viewed by 9825

Special Issue Editors

Department of Earth Sciences, University of South Alabama, 5871 USA Drive North, LSCB Room 342, Mobile, AL 36688, USA
Interests: vegetation dynamics; biosphere–atmosphere interactions; water and carbon cycling; remote sensing/GIS; land use and land cover changes (LULCC); Amazonia
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Interests: earth sciences; hydrology; meteorology; remote sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
The Land Institute, Salina, KS, USA
Interests: perennial agriculture; intercropping; nutrient cycling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
The Land Institute, Salina, KS 67401, USA
Interests: agricultural plant science; molecular biology; evolutionary biology; biotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of new perennial grain cropping systems and novel farming practices is growing into a promising approach to change the fundamental nature of ecosystem processes in agriculture.

Previous studies have shown that perennial agriculture provides a general increase of ecosystem services in comparison to annual agroecosystems. Perennial species do not have to be replanted every year, resulting in many advantages over annual crops due to reduced fertilizer and tillage and irrigation requirements if planted in areas with adequate rainfall. In addition, perennial crops can contribute to increased soil carbon and nitrogen stocks, reduced soil erosion, and a reduction in the nutrients removed by leaching and runoff.

In order for perennial grain cropping systems to become viable, much more work will be required from crop breeders and geneticists, working with agronomists, insect and soil ecologists, and climate change and social scientists to develop crops that the public will want and farmers will plant. Breeding perennial grain crops is inherently a long-term proposition, but the return on investment has the potential to transform agriculture.

We are looking forward to receiving your contributions to this Special Issue on the broad topic of: “Assessing Breeding Technologies and Ecosystem Services in Perennial Agriculture and Novel Farming Systems”.

We welcome original research articles as well as review articles addressing, though not exclusively, the following topics:

  1. Breeding, genetics, genomics, physiology;
  2. Agroecology, ecosystems services, microbiome, roots, evapotranspiration, carbon balance, nutrient leaching;
  3. Agronomic management, nutrients, weeds, pests, diseases, establishment, harvesting, forage value and grazing, and intercropping.

Dr. Gabriel de Oliveira
Dr. Nathaniel A. Brunsell
Dr. Timothy E. Crews
Dr. Lee R. DeHaan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Breeding
  • Genomics
  • Agroecology
  • Ecosystem services
  • Carbon balance
  • Nutrient leaching
  • Agronomic management
  • Pests and diseases
  • Harvesting
  • Intercropping

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 765 KiB  
Article
Species Interactions and Nitrogen Use during Early Intercropping of Intermediate Wheatgrass with a White Clover Service Crop
by Shoujiao Li, Erik Steen Jensen, Nan Liu, Yingjun Zhang and Linda-Maria Dimitrova Mårtensson
Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 388; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11020388 - 22 Feb 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2568
Abstract
Perennial grain crops intercropped with legumes are expected to use nitrogen (N) resources efficiently. A pot experiment using the 15N isotope dilution method demonstrated interspecific competition and use of N from the soil and N2 fixation in intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum [...] Read more.
Perennial grain crops intercropped with legumes are expected to use nitrogen (N) resources efficiently. A pot experiment using the 15N isotope dilution method demonstrated interspecific competition and use of N from the soil and N2 fixation in intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey, IWG) and white clover (Trifolium repens L., WC) intercrops at five species-relative frequencies and four levels of inorganic N fertilizer in a replacement series design. The proportion of N in WC derived from the atmosphere increased from 39.7% in a sole crop to 70.9% when intercropped with IWG, and 10.1% N in IWG transferred from WC. Intermediate wheatgrass showed high fitness with maintained high total dry matter production at low relative frequencies. Decreasing IWG-relative frequency only increased dry matter and N accumulation of WC, resulting in increased amounts of N2 fixed. Increased levels of N fertilization increased the proportion of N acquired from the fertilizer in IWG and WC but decreased the N fixed by WC and N absorbed by IWG from the soil. Our study indicates that WC supply sufficient fixed N2 for IWG intercrop biomass yields under appropriate levels of soil N fertility and species-relative frequencies. Full article
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17 pages, 3203 KiB  
Article
Introducing Perennial Grain in Grain Crops Rotation: The Role of Rooting Pattern in Soil Quality Management
by Olivier Duchene, Florian Celette, Ana Barreiro, Linda-Maria Dimitrova Mårtensson, Grégoire T. Freschet and Christophe David
Agronomy 2020, 10(9), 1254; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10091254 - 26 Aug 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6271
Abstract
The use of the perennial grain intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey) may have the potential to sustain soil health and fertility through the development of an extensive root system. However, references are scarce to demonstrate its potential influence [...] Read more.
The use of the perennial grain intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey) may have the potential to sustain soil health and fertility through the development of an extensive root system. However, references are scarce to demonstrate its potential influence in a context of a limited perennial grain growth phase, integrated into annual grain crops succession. This study aims at determining how early a perennial crop rooting system differs from that of an annual crop through root development and root traits and microbial indicators. Our results indicate that the two-year-old intermediate wheatgrass promotes a denser and deeper rooting system with proportionally more root biomass and length deeper in the soil profile. From the first growing season, the perennial grain demonstrated a suite of root traits typical of a more resource-conservative strategy, and more belowground-oriented resource allocation. Soil fungal biomass indicators were enhanced. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) indicators were notably found to be improved at 1 m depth during the second growing season. This study provides evidence that grain-based agriculture can benefit from the potential of deeper and long-lived root systems of intermediate wheatgrass to manage soils. The periodic use of a short-term perennial phase in the crop rotation has the potential to improve soil functioning in the long term. Full article
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