Agricultural diversification promotes sustainable and resilient global rice production.

Rice is a staple food for half of the human population, but the effects of diversification on yields, economy, biodiversity and ecosystem services have not been synthesized. Here we quantify diversification effects on environmental and socio-economic aspects of global rice production. We performed a second-order meta-analysis based on 25 first-order meta-analyses covering four decades of research, showing that diversification can maintain soil fertility, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration and yield. We used three individual first-order meta-analyses based on 39 articles to close major research gaps on the effects of diversification on economy, biodiversity and pest control, showing that agricultural diversification can increase biodiversity by 40%, improve economy by 26% and reduce crop damage by 31%. Trade-off analysis showed that agricultural diversification in rice production promotes win-win scenarios between yield and other ecosystem services in 81% of all cases. Knowledge gaps remain in understanding the spatial and temporal effects of specific diversification practices and trade-offs.

Role of nuclear receptors NlHR3 and NlFTZ-F1 in regulating molting and reproduction in Nilaparvata lugens (stål).

The nuclear receptors HR3 and FTZ-F1 are highly conserved and function to regulate molting and reproduction in both hemimetabolous and holometabolous insects. However, their roles in Nilaparvata lugens are largely unknown. In the present study, we discover that NlHR3 and NlFTZ-F1 are activated in the nymph stages by ecdysone signaling. Transcription disruption of NlHR3 and NlFTZ-F1 expression prevents nymph ecdysis and metamorphosis, which leads to abnormal appearance, malformed ovaries, and lethal phenotypes. In addition, we demonstrate that NlHR3 and NlFTZ-F1 regulate molting and reproduction by interacting with the intrinsic 20E and JH signaling pathways. Our work offers a deep insight into the action mechanisms of HR3 and FTZ-F1 in insects. Moreover, NlHR3 and NlFTZ-F1 could properly be exploited as potential target genes for developing RNAi-based pesticides to control N. lugens.

Migration Analysis of Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) in the Northeastern Hunan Province in June.

The Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) is a notorious and destructive insect pest, targeting >4 million hectares of rice cultivated in the Hunan Province. To understand the immigration dynamics, we collected S. furcifera light trap catches from 2006 to 2012 at Niangxiang, Linxiang, and Hanshou. We conducted a migration analysis to estimate the immigration source for the northeastern Hunan Province in June. Moreover, we dissected the ovaries of S. furcifera to classify population characteristics. We found that the first appearance of S. furcifera occurred from late April to early May, with June as the primary time for migrations into the northeastern Hunan Province. The majority of June ovaries caught in light traps were Grade I and Grade II, whereas those collected in paddy fields were Grade III and Grade IV, suggesting that the majority of S. furcifera immigrated into the northeastern Hunan Province. Our analysis points toward the northern and central Indo China Peninsula, the southern Hunan Province, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Province, the Guangdong Province, and the Hainan Province as possible immigration sources of S. furcifera in June for the northeastern Hunan Province. We propose terrain, loss of forward flow, and wind shear as causes for the difference observed in light trap catches between Ningxiang, Linxiang, and Hanshou monitoring stations in the June of 2009. Thus, our results suggest that monitoring and forecasting of S. furcifera should be done with particular emphasis in June.

Population Seasonality: Will They Stay or Will They Go? A Case Study of the Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

The whitebacked planthopper Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) is one of the most destructive pests of rice in East and Southeast Asia. It is also a long-distance migratory insect and population size fluctuates frequently in these rice regions along the middle and lower Yangtze River. We analyzed the population seasonality of S. furcifera based on field surveys, light trap catching, and meteorological factors. We found that many S. furcifera were retained in local late rice in 2012, due to continuous rain and slightly windy weather conditions during the migration period. These results suggest that a new pattern of population fluctuation may occur where resident S. furcifera are dispersed into a single medium rice during harvest period, then rebound and thrive in late rice when there are suitable temperatures in September. Although the residency of S. furcifera in late rice fields in 2012 seems to be a special case, our findings suggest that S. furcifera exhibit a type of facultative migration. Our research also illuminates studies of the migration events of S. furcifera and benefits our understanding of the dynamics of S. furcifera in Hunan Province.

[Comprehensive assessment on control measures of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L].

Three control measures of Ambrosia artemisiifolia, including biological control, chemical control, and CK without any treatment, were evaluated by analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Corresponding contributions of the three control measures to comprehensive profit (CP) and comprehensive cost (CC) were calculated and ranked, which were regarded as the assessment criteria of the control measures. The results showed that among the three control measures, biological control had the highest CP and the lowest CC, CK was in adverse; and chemical control was in intervenient. Biological control had the highest ratio of profit to cost, and suggesting that this control measure is an optimal and recommendable measure in controlling A. artemisiifolia.