Crop yield
hideIn agriculture, crop yield (also known as "agricultural output") is not only a measure of the yield of cereal per unit area of land under cultivation, it is also the seed generation of the plant itself, i.e. one grain of wheat produces a stalk yielding three grain, or 1:3. The figure, 1:3 is considered by agronomists as the minimum required to substain human life: one of the three seeds must be set aside for the next planting season, the remaining two either consumed by the grower, or one for human consumption and the other for livestock feed.
Historically speaking, a major increase in crop yield took place in the early eighteenth century with the end of the ancient, wasteful cycle of the three course system of crop rotation whereby a third of the land laid fallow every year -- and hence taken out of human food, and animal feed, production. It was to be replaced by the four-course system of crop rotation, devised in England in 1730 by Viscount Charles Townshend or "Turnip" Townshend during the British Agricultural Revolution as he was called by his early, but quickly converted, detractors. Both simple and obvious in hindsight, the new procedure was nothing short of revolutionary. In the first year wheat or oats were planted; in the second year barley or oats; in the third year clover, rye, rutabaga and/or kale was planted; in the fourth year turnips were planted but not harvested. Instead, sheep were driven on to the turnip fields to eat the crop, trample the leavings under their feet into the soil, and by doing all this, the sheep also fertilized the land with their droppings. In the fifth year (or first year of the new rotation), the cycle began once more with a planting of wheat or oats, in an average, a thirty percent increased yield.
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News tagged with crop yields
Researchers find long awaited key to creating drought resistant crops
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers have determined precisely how the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) works at the molecular level to help plants respond to environmental stresses such as drought and cold. ...
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Cloning plants from seeds
6 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Wageningen geneticists (The Netherlands) are developing a method to replicate the parents of a chosen plant. Known as 'reverse breeding', this will have a big impact for the breeding industry.
New results from a terra-ific decade in orbit
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
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December 18, 2009, marks the tenth year since the launch of Terra, one of NASA's "flagship" Earth observing satellites. But the decade is more than just a mechanical milestone. With each additional day and ...
Antagonistic genes control rice growth
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Scientists at the Carnegie Institution, with colleagues, have found that a plant steroid prompts two genes to battle each other—one suppresses the other to ensure that leaves grow normally in rice and the ...
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Most people need about two days to recover from being sickened by foods contaminated with what's known as staphylococcal enterotoxin A, or "SEA." Produced by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, ...
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are studying how watermelons grow from tiny flowers to plus-size, market-ready produce in only five weeks. Their findings have resulted in the ...
California's troubled waters: Satellite-based findings reveal major groundwater loss in Central Valley (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
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Dec 13, 2009 |
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Biologists have identified plant enzymes that may help to engineer plants that take advantage of elevated carbon dioxide to use water more efficiently. The finding could help to engineer crops that take advantage of rising ...
ARS Scientists Help Fight Damaging Moth in Africa
Dec 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have launched a preemptive strike to combat the false codling moth, a major pest in its native Africa.
Horizontal string trimmer reduces labor costs, increases peach size
Dec 11, 2009 |
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As consumer demand for premium fruit increases, growers are being challenged to bring consistently high-quality fruit to market. And to boost their bottom line, orchard owners are experimenting with new techniques ...
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