Lower moisture limit for three crop species grown on a medium textured soil in southwestern Saskatchewan

Non-Peer Reviewe

Managing an annual legume green manure crop for fallow replacement in southwestern Saskatchewan

Non-Peer ReviewedSome scientists have suggested that in the Brown soil zone an annual legume green manure crop (GM) could be used as a partial-fallow replacement to protect the soil against erosion and increase its N fertility, particularly when combined with a snow trapping technique to replenish soil water used by the legume. We assessed this possibility by comparing yields, N economy, water use efficiency, and economic returns of hard red spring wheat (W) grown in rotation with Indianhead black lentil (i.e., GM-W-W) vs. that obtained in a F-W-W system. Further, we assessed whether a change in management of the GM crop (i.e., moving to earlier seeding and earlier turn-down) was advantageous to the overall performance of this practice. The study was conducted over 12 years (1988-99) on a loam soil at Swift Current, SK. (wheat stubble was left tall to trap snow, tillage was kept to a minimum, and the wheat was fertilized based on soil tests). When examined after 6 years, the results suggested that by waiting for full bloom of the legume (usually late July or early August) to maximize N2 fixation, soil water was being depleted to the detriment of yields of the following wheat crop. However, the change in management of the GM crop since 1994 has resulted in wheat yields following GM equalling those after fallow. It also produced a significant increase (after one rotation cycle) in grain protein and N yields of aboveground parts of wheat in the GM-W-W compared to the F-W-W system, and lead to a gradual decrease in fertilizer N requirements of wheat in the GM system in the last 6 years. These savings in N fertilizer, together with savings in tillage and herbicide costs for weed control on partial-fallow vs conventional-fallow areas, and higher revenues from the enhanced grain protein, more than offset the added costs for seed and management of the GM crop. Thus, our results imply that, with proper management and given sufficient time, an annual legume GMcereal rotation is a viable option for area producers

Quantitative changes in soil C over 17 years under minimum tillage, well fertilized crop rotations in the Brown Soil Zone

Non-Peer Reviewe

Effect of cropping frequency, wheat classes, and flexible rotations on yield, production, and nitrogen economy in a Brown Chernozem

Non-Peer ReviewedProducers in the semiarid Canadian prairies frequently summerfallow (F) to conserve water, control weeds, and to maximize soil N reserves; however, this practice often results in soil degradation. A crop rotation experiment was initiated in 1987 on a medium textured, Orthic Brown Chernozem at Swift Current, to determine the most ideal cropping frequency for this region and whether a fixed rotation such as fallow-wheat-wheat (F-W-W) would be more effective than flexible rotations in which fallowing is decided each spring based on criteria such as available soil water (if water), or the need to control perennial weed infestations (if weeds). The study also compares the production of traditional Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat class with the newer higher yielding (Hy), Canada Prairie Spring (CPS) wheat class. The rotations included F-W-W, F-W-W-W, F-Hy-Hy, Continuous wheat (Cont W), Cont W (if weeds), and Cont W (if water). Over the study period (1987-1998), weather conditions were generally favourable and yields were above average for this region. Canada Prairie Spring wheat out-yielded CWRS by 35% when grown on fallow and by 15% when grown on stubble; however, straw yields of the two wheat classes were similar on fallow and CPS was 7% less than CWRS on stubble. Harvest index (HI) averaged 45% for CPS and 40% for CWRS wheat. Grain N concentration averaged 25.5 g kg-1 for CWRS and 22.5 g kg-1 for CPS; straw N concentration averaged 4.0 g kg-1 for CWRS and 4.6 g kg-1 for CPS. Nitrogen yield for grain from CPS was 13% greater than from CWRS when grown on fallow, but class had no effect when wheat was grown on stubble. Nitrogen yield of straw was generally not affected by wheat class. Nitrogen yield of the above-ground plant parts generally mimicked grain N yield responses. Nitrogen harvest index (NHI) averaged 80% for both wheat classes, whether grown on fallow or stubble. On a rotation basis, F-W-W-W and Cont W (if weeds) produced 9% more grain than F-W-W, while Cont W (if water) produced 24% more grain, and Cont W and F-Hy-Hy produced 29% more grain than FW-W. Nitrogen production in the grain, straw and above-ground plant material was lowest in F-W-W, highest in Cont W, and intermediate for other rotations

Long-term productivity and economic performance of spring wheat production systems in southwestern Saskatchewan

Non-Peer Reviewe

Carbon partitioning and export in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana with altered capacity for sucrose synthesis grown at low temperature: a role for metabolite transporters

We investigated the role of metabolite transporters in cold acclimation by comparing the responses of wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis thaliana (Heynh.) with that of transgenic plants over-expressing sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPSox) or with that of antisense repression of cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPas). Plants were grown at 23 degrees C and then shifted to 5 degrees C. We compared the leaves shifted to 5 degrees C for 3 and 10 d with new leaves that developed at 5 degrees C with control leaves on plants at 23 degrees C. At 23 degrees C, ectopic expression of SPS resulted in 30% more carbon being fixed per day and an increase in sucrose export from source leaves. This increase in fixation and export was supported by increased expression of the plastidic triose-phosphate transporter AtTPT and, to a lesser extent, the high-affinity Suc transporter AtSUC1. The improved photosynthetic performance of the SPSox plants was maintained after they were shifted to 5 degrees C and this was associated with further increases in AtSUC1 expression but with a strong repression of AtTPT mRNA abundance. Similar responses were shown by WT plants during acclimation to low temperature and this response was attenuated in the low sucrose producing FBPas plants. These data suggest that a key element in recovering flux through carbohydrate metabolism in the cold is to control the partitioning of metabolites between the chloroplast and the cytosol, and Arabidopsis modulates the expression of AtTPT to maintain balanced carbon flow. Arabidopsis also up-regulates the expression of AtSUC1, and to lesser extent AtSUC2, as down-stream components facilitate sucrose transport in leaves that develop at low temperatures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dynamical control of correlated states in a square quantum dot

In the limit of low particle density, electrons confined to a quantum dot form strongly correlated states termed Wigner molecules, in which the Coulomb interaction causes the electrons to become highly localized in space. By using an effective model of Hubbard-type to describe these states, we investigate how an oscillatory electric field can drive the dynamics of a two-electron Wigner molecule held in a square quantum dot. We find that, for certain combinations of frequency and strength of the applied field, the tunneling between various charge configurations can be strongly quenched, and we relate this phenomenon to the presence of anti-crossings in the Floquet quasi-energy spectrum. We further obtain simple analytic expressions for the location of these anti-crossings, which allows the effective parameters for a given quantum dot to be directly measured in experiment, and suggests the exciting possibility of using ac-fields to control the time evolution of entangled states in mesoscopic devices.Comment: Replaced with version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Spin-dependent thermoelectric transport coefficients in near-perfect quantum wires

Thermoelectric transport coefficients are determined for semiconductor quantum wires with weak thickness fluctuations. Such systems exhibit anomalies in conductance near 1/4 and 3/4 of 2e^2/h on the rising edge to the first conductance plateau, explained by singlet and triplet resonances of conducting electrons with a single weakly bound electron in the wire [T. Rejec, A. Ramsak, and J.H. Jefferson, Phys. Rev. B 62, 12985 (2000)]. We extend this work to study the Seebeck thermopower coefficient and linear thermal conductance within the framework of the Landauer-Buettiker formalism, which also exhibit anomalous structures. These features are generic and robust, surviving to temperatures of a few degrees. It is shown quantitatively how at elevated temperatures thermal conductance progressively deviates from the Wiedemann-Franz law.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. B 2002; 3 figure