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The development of introduced pulse varieties has made valuable contributions to the development of the global agricultural industry, and China is one of the largest pulse producers in the international market. A special type of pulse, the red kidney bean, has made a major contribution to improving the rural economy. Taking Kelan County, Shanxi Province, as an example, this paper expounds on the formation of the kidney bean industry and its impact on local development. The existing research used a qualitative case study (QCS) method to examine the driver and impact of kidney beans in the agricultural industry. This study found that (1) the development of the kidney bean industry has benefited from its adherence to a market demand-oriented strategy, focusing on breeding and retaining excellent varieties, and vigorously supporting the construction of technical systems and the cultivation of the main body of the industrial chain. Developing new varieties, creating brands, and industrial integration are the key driving forces for development. (2) The kidney bean industry promotes local development by increasing farmers' income, forming a more complete kidney bean supply chain, highlighting the brand effect, and promoting sustainable rural development. This study suggests that disease-resistant and mechanized-adapted varieties need to be developed in the future. Market and demand trends should be constantly monitored when determining reproductive paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the contents of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in tea plantation soils and their ecological stoichiometric characteristics, as well as their response to environmental factors in high-latitude regions of China, soil samples from 0 to 20 cm depth were collected from tea plantations at different altitudes and cultivation years in the main tea-producing areas of Shaanxi Province. These samples were used to determine the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents and to calculate their stoichiometric ratios. The findings revealed the following: the average soil SOC and TN content in tea gardens were 13.15 and 1.30 g·kg−1, respectively, exceeding the national soil average. These values met the Class I tea garden fertility standards. However, the average soil TP content, at 0.45 g·kg−1, fell below the national soil average, meeting the Class II tea garden fertility standards. In tea gardens, the average ratios of carbon to nitrogen (C:N), carbon to phosphorus (C:P), and nitrogen to phosphorus (N:P) in the soil were 10.42, 30.98, and 3.32, respectively. These ratios were all lower than the national soil average, indicating relatively high phosphorus availability but nitrogen deficiency in tea garden soils. As altitude increased, there was a decline in soil SOC content, C N, and C P ratios, followed by a subsequent increase. No significant changes were seen in TN, TP, and N P ratio in the soil, but there was an increase in SOC content, TN content, and C P ratio during cultivation. The N-to-P ratio initially increased before decreasing, while the C-to-N ratio decreased before increasing. Soil TP content did not change significantly. The study recommends careful nitrogen fertilizer application in tea garden management to balance nitrogen and phosphorus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics of the combined application of organic fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer using different tillage methods to delay the senescence of maize leaves. The yield and activities of GDH, CAT, APX, GR, and GSH enzymes in maize leaves were measured at different growth stages by using two tillage methods, three organic and inorganic combined applications (P1, P2, and P3), and four control treatments. (1) During the growth period, the R + S and R treatments were P1 treatments, with the highest enzyme activities noted for GDH, CAT, APX, GR, and GSH, which were 36.79–103.22% higher than those of CK. (2) The average yield of all R + S treatments was higher than that of R treatments, and the average yield of P1 treatment was the highest under R + S, which was 13,663.79 kg hm−2, which was 6.39%, 7.90%, and 14.67% higher than that of P2, P3, and CK, respectively, which was lower than that of R. The yield of P1 treatment was 2.53% higher. (3) There was a significant positive correlation between APX activity, CAT activity, GR activity, GDH activity, GSH activity, grain number per ear, ear length, and 100-grain weight of maize leaves at the grain filling stage, and a significant negative correlation between bald tip length and yield. The treatment details had the strongest enzyme activity and the highest yield when using the rotary tillage + subsoiling (R + S) P1 method, which was the most suitable tillage method and the best fertilizer ratio combination, which could be demonstrated and popularized in a large area in the dry farming area of spring maize in Shanxi Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) is an important crop grown worldwide as a food and fodder crop owing to its potential nutritional and feed values. High-efficiency herbicide varieties is crucial to achieving efficient weeding and ensuring successful foxtail millet production. Herbicides affect several morphological and physiological indicators of foxtail millet. In this study we aimed to evaluate the damage caused by herbicides, improve their effectiveness, and select indicators that accurately reflect herbicide resistance in foxtail millet. Jingu 21, which has the largest planting area in Shanxi province and even the whole of China, is selected as the experimental material to be sown in the field in 2022. A total of 31 herbicides were applied, and 21 traits, including morphological, physiological, and yield-component traits, were measured to assess millet resistance. Principal component analysis was employed to transform these 21 conventional traits into seven independent and comprehensive indexes. These indexes were screened using regression analysis, resulting in the selection of the following indicators: the surface area of the second leaf from the top, peroxidase activity, catalase activity, malondialdehyde content, chlorophyll (a + b), grain weight per ear, and yield. Through membership function and cluster analyses, the resistance of Jingu 21 to 31 herbicides was divided into five categories: extremely weakly resistant, weakly resistant, moderately resistant, strongly resistant, and extremely strongly resistant. Jingu 21 exhibited extremely strong resistance to lactofen, butachlor, and anilofos. After an investigation into the effectiveness of herbicides, it was found that eight herbicides had good effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production plays an extremely important role in the southeast of the Loess Plateau. Planting patterns have great influence on improving soil water storage and yield, and should be matched with different seeding rates. In order to assess the effect of different sowing methods on the drought resistance and stable yield of dryland wheat, a field experiment was conducted in Wenxi County Dryland Wheat Experimental Base in Shanxi Province, China. In the current study, the effects of three planting techniques (drilling sowing, furrow sowing, and film-mulched sowing) and four seeding rates (150, 225, 300, and 375 kg ha−1) were examined on water storage, dry matter formation, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE). The results showed that furrow sowing (FS) and film-mulched sowing (FM) treatments increased soil water storage in the 0–300 cm soil layer at overwintering and jointing stages. In addition, FS and FM increased soil water consumption in the 0–300 cm soil layer from overwintering to maturity of wheat. Furthermore, FS and FM significantly increased the dry matter accumulation from the overwintering to the mature stage, promoted its accumulation in vegetative organs and translocation to grains after anthesis, viz., increased yield by 6.2% and 7.9%, and WUE by 4.6% and 5.3%, respectively, as compared with those of the drilling sowing (DS) treatments. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that grain yield had a significantly positive correlation with soil water storage at overwintering and jointing. Moreover, grain yield was significantly positively correlated with soil water consumption in the 0–300 cm soil layer from jointing to maturity. Additionally, the seeding rate of 150 kg ha−1 with FS could obtain higher WUE and grain yield. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the seeding rate of 150 kg ha−1 is used with FS to improve the grain yield and WUE of dryland agricultural systems in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sudden flood disasters cause serious damage to agricultural production. Rapidly extracting information such as the flooding extent of agricultural land and capturing the influence of flooding on crops provides important guidelines for estimating the flood-affected area, promoting post-disaster farmland restoration, and providing an auxiliary decision-making basis for flood prevention and disaster relief departments. Taking the flood event in Henan and Shanxi Provinces as example, based on the characteristics of the variations in radar data and optical data before and after the disaster, we propose an extent information extraction method for the flood inundation area and the flood-affected area of agricultural land. This method consists of change detection, threshold extraction, and superposition analysis, which weakens the negative impact of the radar data speckle noise and cloud contamination of the optical data on the extraction of the agricultural land flooding to a certain extent. The method was developed based on a flood event in Henan Province and validated in Shanxi Province. The results show that the production of this method have a clear boundary and accurate extent, and the overall precisions of the flood inundation area and flood-affected area extraction are 0.87 and 0.92, respectively. The proposed method combines the advantages of both radar and optical remote sensing data in extracting the specific extents of the flood inundation area and the flood-affected area in large spatial scale. Finally, the impact of time window size to the performance of the method is further analyzed. In the application of the proposed method, the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform provides a low-cost, fast, and convenient way to extract flood information from remote sensing data. The proposed scheme provides a scientific data basis for restoring production of agricultural land after a flood disaster, as well as for national post-disaster damage assessment and disaster relief decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]