Crop Diversity for Yield Increase

Traditional farming practices suggest that cultivation of a mixture of crop species in the same field through temporal and spatial management may be advantageous in boosting yields and preventing disease, but evidence from large-scale field testing is limited. Increasing crop diversity through intercropping addresses the problem of increasing land utilization and crop productivity. In collaboration with farmers and extension personnel, we tested intercropping of tobacco, maize, sugarcane, potato, wheat and broad bean – either by relay cropping or by mixing crop species based on differences in their heights, and practiced these patterns on 15,302 hectares in ten counties in Yunnan Province, China. The results of observation plots within these areas showed that some combinations increased crop yields for the same season between 33.2 and 84.7% and reached a land equivalent ratio (LER) of between 1.31 and 1.84. This approach can be easily applied in developing countries, which is crucial in face of dwindling arable land and increasing food demand

Application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome induced by avian influenza A (H7N9) viral pneumonia: national data from the Chinese multicentre collaboration

Abstract Background Evidence concerning the efficacy and safety of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with influenza A (H7N9) has been was limited to case reports. Our study is aimed to investigate the current application, efficacy and safety of ECMO in for severe H7N9 pneumonia-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the Chinese population. Methods A multicentre retrospective cohort study was conducted at 20 hospitals that admitted patients with avian influenza A (H7N9) viral pneumonia patients’ admission from 9 provinces in China between October 1, 2016, and March 1, 2017. Data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, including general conditions, outcomes and ECMO management, were analysed. Then, successfully weaned and unsuccessfully weaned groups were compared. Results A total of 35 patients, aged 57 ± 1 years, were analysed; 65.7% of patients were male with 63% mortality. All patients underwent invasive positive pressure ventilation (IPPV), and rescue ventilation strategies were implemented for 23 cases (65.7%) with an average IPPV duration of 5 ± 1 d, PaO2/FiO2 of 78 ± 23 mmHg, tidal volume (VT) of 439 ± 61 ml and plateau pressure (Pplat) of 29 ± 8 cmH2O pre-ECMO. After 48 h on ECMO, PaO2 improved from 56 ± 21 mmHg to 90 ± 24 mmHg and PaCO2 declined from 52 ± 24 mmHg to 38 ± 24 mmHg. Haemorrhage, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and barotrauma occurred in 45.7%, 60% and 8.6% of patients, respectively. Compared with successfully weaned patients (n = 14), the 21 unsuccessfully weaned patients had a longer duration of IPPV pre-ECMO (6 ± 4 d vs. 2 ± 1 d, P < 0.01) as well as a higher Pplat (25 ± 5 cmH2O vs. 21 ± 3 cmH2O, P < 0.05) and VT (343 ± 96 ml vs. 246 ± 93 ml, P < 0.05) after 48 h on ECMO support. Furthermore, the unsuccessfully weaned group had a higher mortality (100% vs. 7.1%, P < 0.01) with more haemorrhage (77.3% vs. 28.6%, P < 0.01). Conclusions ECMO is effective at improving oxygenation and ventilation of patients with avian influenza A (H7N9) induced severe ARDS. Early initiation of ECMO with appropriate IPPV settings and anticoagulation strategies are necessary to reduce complications

Additional file 2: of Application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome induced by avian influenza A (H7N9) viral pneumonia: national data from the Chinese multicentre collaboration

Blood flow during ECMO between the two groups. In the successfully weaned group vs. the unsuccessfully weaned group, a significant decrease in ECMO blood flow correlated with an increase in the duration of support, which was 3.65 ± 0.70 L/min vs. 4.57 ± 1.02 L/min, respectively, at 72 h (P < 0.05) and 3.65 ± 0.86 L/min vs. 4.62 ± 0.90 L/min, respectively, at 96 h (P < 0.01). (TIFF 185 kb

Yield and monetary value for different crops.

<p>Crop yield determined by grain weight for rice, wheat and broad bean, dry leaf weight for tobacco, fresh stem and tuber weight for sugarcane and potato. Crop values based on market prices of 2067.02 US$per ton for tobacco, 284.15 US$ per ton for maize, 23.89 US$per ton for sugarcane, 64.59 US$ per ton for potato, 296.98 US$per ton for wheat, 483.97 US$ per ton for broad bean. Crop yield and value were for individual species within intercropping. Yields of tobacco-maize, sugarcane-maize and wheat-broad bean patterns were additional production compared with monocrops. Yields of potato intercropped with maize and maize intercropped with potato, compared with equal areas of monocrops are shown in <b>(bold)</b>. Statistical analyses: each survey plot was considered to be an experimental unit, and analyses were based on actual mean plot yields. Statistical analyses were conducted by software SPSS 13.0. One-tailed t-tests were used to determine if the yield differed significantly (p≤0.05).</p

Severity of main diseases of the crops in monocropping and intercropping systems.

<p>T = Tobacco brown leaf spot (<i>Alternaria alternate</i> Keissler); M = Maize northern leaf blight (<i>Setosphaeria turcica</i> Leonard); S = Sugarcane eye spot (<i>Bipolaris sacchari</i> (Butl) Shoemaker); P = Potato late blight (<i>Phytophthora infestans</i> (Mont.) de Bary); W = Wheat Stripe Rust (<i>Puccinia striiformis</i> West); B = Broad bean <i>chocolate</i> spot (<i>Botrytis fabae</i> Sard). m = disease severity for crop species grown in monoculture control plots; i = disease severity for the same crop species grown in intercropping plots in the same fields. Error bars are one s. e. m; n = 3. Statistical analyses were conducted by software SPSS 13.0. All differences between pairs are significant at P≤0.05 based on one-tailed t-test.</p

Land equivalent ratios for crop yields produced by intercropping.

<p>Land equivalent ratios (LERs) were calculated as (yield ha⁻¹ of crop A in intercropping/yield ha⁻¹ of crop A in monoculture)+(yield ha⁻¹ of crop B in intercropping/yield ha⁻¹ of crop B in monoculture).</p