Feature
Items eligible for the "Features" section on the front page.
Changes in temperature, CO2, and precipitation under the scenarios of climate change for the next 30 yr present a challenge to crop production. This comprehensive review, published in Agronomy Journal, focuses on the impact of temperature, CO2, and ozone on agronomic crops and the implications for crop production.
Understanding how and why hillsides can deform and slide and predicting when they might do so are becoming more important as there is a increase in slope movement and failure caused by heavy rainfall events.
Increased consumption of whole grain cereal products has many health benefits. Using an experimental whole grain flour-milling system, these researchers with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and The Ohio State Univ. evaluated soft-wheat winter wheat genotypes in whole-grain flour for use in cookies.
Corn stover, left in fields after corn grain harvest, has been identified as a potential feedstock to help supply biofuel. However, harvesting excessive corn stover could reduce crops yields directly or indirectly by diminishing total total organic carbon levels until soil’s production capacity is threatened. This large-scale study is measuring the effects of harvesting corn stover across the eastern half of the United States.
The implementation of stricter drinking-water quality regulations for disinfection by-products has highlighted the need to understand sources of organic matter to drinking-water intakes. 
The causal agent of wheat stem rust, produced large epidemics in North America and other parts of the world in the early 1950s. These epidemics were controlled by the deployment of stem rust resistance genes that have provided adequate resistance for the last several decades. Unfortunately, these genes are no longer effective against a new race of stem rust, Ug99, which was identified in Uganda in 1999.
Using oyster aquaculture as a nutrient capture and removal system may be a viable auxiliary approach to bridge the gap when agricultural best management practices, such as conservation tillage, fails to meet targeted nutrient source reduction milestones. In some basins, substantial production of cultivated oysters could offset approximately 10 to 15% of the excess total nitrogen load.
China is currently the largest developing country in the world and its economy has been developing rapidly. However, air pollution has become increasingly serious and is a major environmental concern in China, especially in large cities. In August 2008, the Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing. To fulfill the requirements for air quality during the Games, several measures were enforced to reduce ambient air pollutant concentrations.
Rice production faces the threat of a growing worldwide water scarcity. Approximately, 75% of the world’s rice is grown in flooded, lowland conditions. Lowland rice crops either rely on irrigation or rain water to provide adequate growing conditions. The food security of millions of people depends on the availability of water.
Soil is a major component in the ecosystem carbon balance. The availability of small, solid-state sensors has allowed for the continuous measurement of soil CO2 in field settings.
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