Yields of crops

In spite of the fact that contamination of cereals and grains and related products with mycotoxins causes food and feed-bome intoxications in man and livestock, zearalenone in low concentrations can be treated as a plant hormone which influences the development and yield of crop plants (Biesaga-Koscielniak 2001). This review focuses on the effect of low doses of zearalenone on the stimulation of selected physiological processes in plants important for agriculture production. 

King FH. Investigations in Soil Management Being Three of Six Papers Influence of Soil Management upon the Water-Soluble Salts in Soil and the Yield of Crops. Madison, WI Author 1904. 

Teramura AH (1983) Effects of ultraviolet-B radiation on the growth and yield of crop plants. Physiol Plant 58 415-427... 

The early statement that corruption is the mother of vegetation doubtless arose from the observation that manures, composts, dead animal bodies, and parts thereof such as blood, hair, hoofs, and so on, increased plant growth. John Woodward (cited by Russell, 1973), in a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Vol. 21, p. 382), observed that the falloff in yields of crops grown in successive years on unmanured land could be rectified when supplied with a new fund of matter, of like sort with that it first contained which supply is made in several ways, either by the ground s being fallow some time, until the rain has poured down a fresh stock upon it or by tiller s care in manuring it. He considered that the best... 

No method is available for predicting the economic loss to vegetation in the United States from air pollutants. Surveys to date have not found a way to incorporate the impact of pollutants on the growth and yield of crops where visible injury is not found or, if present, is not recognized. If these factors were included with the additional pollutant impact on ornamentals and on natural ecosystems, it would be reasonable to expect... 

With reduced ozone levels, more ultraviolet radiation from the Sun reaches Earth. Among humans, UV-induced skin cancer and eye damage are becoming a serious threat. The increased levels of radiation also damage phytoplankton in fresh and marine ecosystems. Since phytoplankton are the base of the aquatic food chain, this damage affects all other water species. As you learned earlier, the presence of ozone close to Earth damages crops and forests. A lack of ozone in the atmosphere, however, also reduces the yield of crops, such as barley and canola, and harms forests. 

The term agrochemical is broader and includes chemicals which will enhance the growth and yield of crops, but excludes large-scale inorganic fertilizers. 

Fertilizers containing nitrates, phosphates, and heavy metals are applied to soil to increase yields of crops. Insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides are applied to food crops to reduce losses to pest species. As discussed in Chapter 9, these chemicals may be absorbed into the roots of plants and passed up the food chain to humans by animals that consume such plants. These chemicals may also be directly consumed by humans who eat the treated plants. 

Many products used by the agricultural industry are based on chemicals derived from hydrocarbons. DDT and chlordane are examples of pesticides produced from hydrocarbon chemicals in the past. During the height of their use, they made enormous increases in the yield of crops by reducing insect damage. Their use was discontinued because of their damage to other parts of the environment. 

Although famine in the world nowadays is originated by complex problems and not only by an insufflcient production of food, there is no doubt that the gains in food production provided by the Green Revolution have reached their ceiling, while the world population continues to rise. Therefore, increasing the yield of crop plants in normal soils and in less-productive lands - includ-... 

Table 10.2. Yield of crops grown in corn, small grain, legume, or timothy rotation at different soil pH values ...

The deficient, sufficient, and toxic concentrations of Mo for specific crops, as reported by various researchers, are given in Table 9.1. The deficient plant Mo concentrations as reported were associated with plant disorders and/or reductions in the yields of crops. For some crops, the deficient and optimum Mo concentrations seem to differ markedly. Differences in the techniques used in various laboratories cannot be ruled out. 

Murphy (1954) states that without the benefits of the past 100 years of research in entomology and insect control and the application by the American public of the knowledge gained therefrom our annual per acre yields of crops and livestock probably would be half or less of those of today. In addition, hundreds of thousands would be ill from the diseases insects carry. ... 

The World population of more than 7 billion must be supplied with water and food. Current estimates are that around 800 million people are imdernourished. In the past, through massive use of pesticides and fertdisers in agriculture, it became possible to treble the yield of crops per hectare however, it is rather unlikely that this will happen again. [3]... 

Pesticides, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and rodenticides, are used to protect crops from pests, significantly reducing the losses to pests and improving the yields of crops such as corn, maize, vegetables, potatoes and cotton. An indisputable fact is that there has been a continuous increase in pesticide usage, both in number of chemicals and quantities, since the invention of pesticides. It was reported that pesticide consumption worldwide has increased from 850 million in 1960 to about 31 billion in 2005. ... 

Roe, H.B. (1936). A study of influence of depth of groundwater level on yields of crops on peat lands. Bulletin 330, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station St. Paul MN. 

When petroleum pollutant leaked into the soil environment, it would damage the plant ecosystem structure and function of the microbial, soil, the plant growth, seed and fruit quality, etc P . The higher the petroleum concentration became the more rapidly the germination, growth and yield of crops declinedli l. 

Chitin, Chitosan, and Their Derivatives Enhance the Growth and Yield of Crops.624... 

CHITIN, CHITOSAN, AND THEIR DERIVATIVES ENHANCE THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF CROPS... 

The composite materials reinforced with natural fibers will stimulate agriculture by the production of nonfood raw materials for the industry (Bledzki 1997) and by achieving high yields of raw materials derived from fibrous plants, thus leading to improvement in total yields of crops. 

To feed the growing population of the world, modem agriculture has relied heavily on pesticides to produce a high yield of crops. Although die use of pesticides has increased crop production by many-fold, the use of pesticides is not without its consequences. Ilie efficacy of pesticides is due to their ability to act as a neurotoxin to the pests they control. Unfortunately pesticides are not only harmfiil to their intended targets, but to all animals, including humans. 

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