Drought and sorghum: a bibliometric analysis using VOS viewer.

Drought has emerged as a significant global concern in recent years, leading to a proliferation of research on sorghum, an important drought resistant crop. Consequently, conducting a bibliometric analysis of said publications has the potential to yield insights into current areas of interest and potential avenues for future research. The present study utilized the Web of Science database to gather literature published between the years 2000 and 2022. The search terms 'drought' AND 'sorghum' was employed to identify relevant publications and as a result, 1731 publications were obtained. The bibliometric analysis of the obtained articles was conducted using VOSviewer software (1.6.19). The keyword 'sorghum' was found to have the highest frequency, with a total link strength of 4238. This keyword exhibited a strong association with the terms 'drought' and 'drought tolerance'. The average number of citations for the 100 most-cited articles was 509.2. The journal Crop Science attained the top position with 60 published articles and secured the highest number of citations with a count of 2795. The academic works of Graeme L. Hammer, comprising 40 articles affiliated with the University of Queensland (UQ), have garnered a total of 3612 citations. Similarly, the same university has produced 112 articles that have been cited 5551 times, thereby establishing it as the most frequently cited organization, with Hammer receiving the highest citation count. UQ had a total of 41 collaborators, with a cumulative link strength of 115. The USA has the highest number of articles pertaining to drought and sorghum. The published literature has focused on abiotic stress tolerance, genetic analysis, and physiological traits, among others. It is anticipated that there will be a substantial rise in the quantity of worldwide publications pertaining to drought and sorghum. The USA offered a significant contribution to this emerging field.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Ultraviolet-B radiation in relation to agriculture in the context of climate change: a review.

Over the past few decades, the amount of ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) reaching the earth's surface has been altered due to climate change and stratospheric ozone dynamics. This narrow but highly biologically active spectrum of light (280-320 nm) can affect plant growth and development. Depletion of ozone and climate change are interlinked in a very complicated manner, i.e., significantly contributing to each other. The interaction of climate change, ozone depletion, and changes in UV-B radiation negatively affects the growth, development, and yield of plants. Furthermore, this interaction will become more complex in the coming years. The ozone layer reduction is paving a path for UV-B radiation to impact the surface of the earth and interfere with the plant's normal life by negatively affecting the plant's morphology and physiology. The nature and degree of the future response of the agricultural ecosystem to the decreasing or increasing UV-B radiation in the background of climate change and ozone dynamics are still unclear. In this regard, this review aims to elucidate the effects of enhanced UV-B radiation reaching the earth's surface due to the depletion of the ozone layer on plants' physiology and the performance of major cereals.

Recent advancements in the breeding of sorghum crop: current status and future strategies for marker-assisted breeding.

Sorghum is emerging as a model crop for functional genetics and genomics of tropical grasses with abundant uses, including food, feed, and fuel, among others. It is currently the fifth most significant primary cereal crop. Crops are subjected to various biotic and abiotic stresses, which negatively impact on agricultural production. Developing high-yielding, disease-resistant, and climate-resilient cultivars can be achieved through marker-assisted breeding. Such selection has considerably reduced the time to market new crop varieties adapted to challenging conditions. In the recent years, extensive knowledge was gained about genetic markers. We are providing an overview of current advances in sorghum breeding initiatives, with a special focus on early breeders who may not be familiar with DNA markers. Advancements in molecular plant breeding, genetics, genomics selection, and genome editing have contributed to a thorough understanding of DNA markers, provided various proofs of the genetic variety accessible in crop plants, and have substantially enhanced plant breeding technologies. Marker-assisted selection has accelerated and precised the plant breeding process, empowering plant breeders all around the world.

Mitigation effects of selenium on accumulation of cadmium and morpho-physiological properties in rice varieties.

Selenium (Se) is a beneficial element, but only when present within its permissible range. Its hyper-accumulation in edible plant parts can cause Se toxicity. This study aimed to develop an agronomic plan for biofortification of rice with Se and reclamation of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil, utilizing sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) and cadmium chloride (CdCl2) as soil treatments. Biofortification was performed on two target rice varieties: genotypes 5097A/R2035 and GangYou725, in field trials by applying Cd at a concentration of 0-8 mg kg soil-1 and Se at 0-1 mg kg soil-1. Since these rice varieties have different metabolic specificity, the degree of elemental accumulation, deviations in chlorophyll concentration, activity of photosynthetic apparatus and grain yield were assessed. It was found that application of 1 mg kg-1 Se2O3 decrease Cd content and increased chlorophyll content and photosynthetic activity while grain yield was unaffected by application of the metallic trace-elements. Comparing effects at different stages, we found that the 50% heading stage was most sensitive to metal application. In sum, Se mitigates Cd toxicity, but hyperaccumulation of Se (4 mg kg-1) in polished rice was observed with Cd at 4 and 8 mg kg-1. The elevated level of Cd stress in pot experiments resulted in over-accumulation of Se in the germ and endosperm that poses serious health concerns.

Irrigation Rationalization Boosts Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Yield and Reduces Rust Incidence under Arid Conditions.

Under changing climate, water scarcity and frequent incidence of diseases like stripe rust pose the biggest threat to sustainable crop production which jeopardizes nutritional security. A study was executed to rationalize crop water requirement and evaluate wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Bohoth 3) yield losses by stripe rust infection under irrigated conditions. Seven water treatments included three irrigations in three stages/season (S 3), four irrigations (S 4), and five irrigations (S 5) at the different sensitive growth stages, full (F), and two deficit irrigation levels including D 1 = 80% of field capacity (FC) and D 2 = 70% (FC) along with farmers' practice of irrigation as control (C). Results revealed that F and D 1 boosted grain yield by 31 and 14%. Overall, F irrigation regime resulted in the highest grain production (2.93 ton/ha) as well as biomass yield (13.2 ton/ha). However, D 2 had the highest value of grain protein (15.9%) and achieved the highest application efficiency (AE) at midseason (54.6%) and end season (59.6%), and the lowest AE was under S 3. Also, halting irrigation at the milky stage (S 5) led to a significant decrease in irrigation water use efficiency as compared to D 1. However, cutting irrigation at the end of seedling, heading, and milky stages (S 3) caused a significant reduction in E a, crop water use (ETa), and 1000 grain weight in comparison with all other treatments. Regarding yellow rust, S 3 irrigation regime resulted in the lowest incidence of yellow rust infection. The highest irrigation and water use efficiency values were recorded under D 1 (0.79 and 0.59 kg/m3), and the lowest values were obtained for control. Hence, the deficit irrigation treatment D 1 could be recommended as the best appropriate strategy to save more water and to improve the water productivity under Yemeni agroclimatic conditions.

Soybean herbage yield, nutritional value and profitability under integrated manures management.

Organic manures are more preferred and environmentally friendly than chemical fertilizers for minimally contaminating soil, water and environmental resources, but the determination of right source of organic manures continues to remain an unexplored aspect. Considering the important issue, a multi-year field trial was carried out to determine the response of forage soybean to four sources of nutrients such as chemical fertilizers (IF), poultry litter (PL), bovine's farm yard slurry (BFYS) and sewage sludge (SS) and their seven binary combinations (PL+BFYS, PL+SS, PL+IF, BFYS+SS, BFYS+IF, SS+IF and PL+BFYS+SS). Supplementation of organic manures with mineral fertilizers remained superior to their sole application, particularly BFYS + IF was found significantly (p≤0.05) superior for yielding the highest fresh biomass (23.9, 26.4 and 25.7 t ha-1) with improved nutritional quality. The same combination of integrated fertilizer management also recorded higher sustainability as per sustainable forage yield index along with the highest net income and the benefit-cost ratio. PL and SS applied in conjunction with IF performed better than sole or binary application of organic manures. Therefore, BFYS + IF may be recommended for adoption to produce comparable forage yield and nutritional quality of soybean along with reducing dependency on chemical fertilizers.

Nutrients Supplementation through Organic Manures Influence the Growth of Weeds and Maize Productivity.

Declining rate of productivity and environmental sustainability is forcing growers to use organic manures as a source of nutrient supplement in maize farming. However, weed is a major constraint to maize production. A field study was carried out over two seasons to evaluate various integrated nutrient and weed management practices in hybrid maize. The treatment combinations comprised of supplementation of inorganic fertilizer (25% nitrogen) through bulky (Farmyard manure and vermicompost) and concentrated (Brassicaceous seed meal (BSM) and neem cake (NC)) organic manures and different mode of weed management practices like chemical (atrazine 1000 g ha-1) and integrated approach (atrazine 1000 g ha-1 followed by mechanical weeding). Repeated supplementation of nitrogen through concentrated organic manures reduced the density and biomass accumulation of most dominant weed species, Anagalis arvensis by releasing allelochemicals into the soil. But organic manures had no significant impact on restricting the growth of bold seeded weeds like Vicia hirsuta and weed propagated through tubers i.e., Cyperus rotundus in maize. By restricting the weed growth and nutrient removal by most dominating weeds, application of BSM enhanced the growth and yield of maize crop. Repeated addition of organic manures (BSM) enhanced the maize grain yield by 19% over sole chemical fertilizer in the second year of study. Application of atrazine as pre-emergence (PRE) herbicide significantly reduced the density of A. arvensis, whereas integration of mechanical weeding following herbicide controlled those weeds which were not usually controlled with the application of atrazine. As a result, atrazine at PRE followed by mechanical weeding produced the highest maize grain yield 6.81 and 7.10 t/ha in the first year and second year of study, respectively.