The combination of the trend of Japanese food consumption with the health benefits of black rice is in high demand for rice consumers in Thailand. For this challenge, incorporation of desirable traits from tropical indica black rice, Riceberry and temperate japonica white rice, Akitakomachi was performed by pedigree selection with maker-assisted selection (MAS). The three candidate lines showed highly favourable agronomic characteristics and a high grain yield, with short grains and good cooking quality, similar to japonica rice, in a tropical climate. In addition, these lines showed black coloration of the pericarp, indicating high nutritional value and phytochemical, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities, similar to those of the Riceberry parent. In terms of the sensory testing of unpolished rice, two breeding lines; 69-1-1 and 72-4-3 showed higher scores than their parents. However, only 69-1-1 was identified as japonica type according to its genetic background. Therefore, this breeding programme can create black short grain rice variety adapted to a tropical environment, similar to japonica-type rice.

Reducing nitrogen (N) fertilizer application is a sustainable practice in rice production. The effects of reducing N fertilizer input on grain yield and rice quality of early- and late-season dual-use rice (ELDR) in South China remain uncertain. Therefore, a short-term field trial was conducted with a high-yielding ELDR cultivar (Yuehesimiao, YHSM) and a low-yielding ELDR cultivar (Meixiangzhan 2, MXZ). The rice was cultivated with a 20% reduced N application rate (RN2), a 10% reduced rate (RN1) and the conventional N application rate (CN). In the early season, compared to CN, RN2 reduced the grain yield of YHSM and MXZ by an average of 16.1 and 6.6%, respectively, while RN1 lowered YHSM grain yield by 11.2% on average and had no effect on MXZ yield. In addition, RN2 decreased the milling and eating qualities of the two cultivars in the early season, while RN1 did not alter their milling, appearance or eating qualities. In the late season, neither RN2 nor RN1 affected grain yield or rice quality for both cultivars. Therefore, short-term reductions of 10 and 20% in N application could maintain grain yield and rice quality at current N fertilizer application rates in the late season. However, the early-season results only recommended a 10% reduced N fertilizer application rate for low-yielding ELDR cultivars to sustain grain yield and rice quality. The findings of this study can provide a theoretical basis for N management of ELDR in South China.

In working towards meeting the rapidly rising demand for livestock products in the face of challenges such as climate change, limited forage land availability and inadequacies in water availability and quality, it is imperative to consider sustainability in farm or grazing land management and water resources conservation as well as biodiversity management and conservation, etc. Geophysics, GIS, remote sensing, etc., have been useful tools. Emerging technologies such as biotechnology, advanced sensor technologies, machine learning algorithms, internet of things, artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles, robotics, etc., are also being employed in agriculture and other aspects of human concerns. There are potentials for better utilization of these emerging technologies and more in livestock production and management. However, a limitation is that relevant knowledge and skills are still relatively inadequate, especially in developing countries; hence the need for this review, which is an enhancement of knowledge for research and improved productivity. Efforts should be made to advance in knowledge and skills acquisition so as to optimize this development for improved livestock production and management.

To manage anaerobic digestion residues (digestate) sustainably, it is important to determine their agricultural properties. In the present study, the effects of two digestate fractions (solid and liquid) on processing tomato yield parameters, quality traits, health-related compounds and some fruit physiological disorders were evaluated. The solid and liquid digestate fractions were compared with chemically fertilized and unfertilized control to evaluate the potential of the digestate as a fertilizer. A 2-year experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design, with three replications and using two tomato varieties: cv. ‘Arte F1’ and cv. ‘Zeplin F1’. The results indicated that (1) compared with chemical fertilizer, the solid digestate produced equal or even better results in terms of fruit size, yield parameters (solid digestate treatment increased the total fruit weight per plant by an average of 30.7, 8.2 and 22.4% in 2019 and 25.3, 14.2 and 17.9% in 2022 compared with control, chemical fertilizer and liquid treatments, respectively) and percentage of fruit affected by sunscald and blossom-end rot in both years; (2) use of liquid digestate led to similar or significantly higher fruit size, yield parameters and percentage of fruit affected by sunscald and blossom-end rot than control in both years and (3) use of both solid and liquid digestate fractions significantly maintained or improved fruit quality in terms of colour traits, pericarp thickness, dry matter content, total soluble solid content, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C and antioxidant activity. However, the effects of solid and liquid digestate fractions varied with year and variety.

Nitrogen (N) is the most significant nutrient affecting crop growth and development for all types of crops, except legumes. The goal of this study was to optimize the N level for cotton grown in a semi-arid environment to enhance growth and development, determine N status, and increase seed cotton yield and biomass. Two independent field experiments each three years in duration were conducted, from 2007 to 2009 (Exp.-I) and 2018 to 2020 (Exp.-II). Experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The N treatments in Exp.-I were comprised of 0, 40, 80, 120, 160, 200 and 240 kg N/ha, while treatments in Exp.-II were comprised of 0, 70, 140, 210 and 280 kg N/ha. A wide range of data sets for cotton traits were recorded, including canopy height, leaf area index, the N status of the leaf and stem, seed cotton yield and time-series biomass data. The higher N rates 240 and 280 kg N/ha performed better for all these traits. However, the highest leaf N contents were recorded for 210 kg N/ha. Based on these results, it is suggested that under semi-arid conditions, slightly higher rates than optimum or recommended N rates could be applied as a strategy by cotton growers for a higher seed cotton yield. The findings of this study may also increase profitability in other cotton-growing areas that have similar weather conditions.

This study aimed to investigate vetch genotypes’ responses to moderate and severe drought stress and identify stress tolerance markers in arid conditions. Ten vetch genotypes (Vicia dassycarpa Ten., V. pannonica Crantz., V. michauxii Spereng., V. sativa-Ardebil, V. sativa-Dashtyar, V. sativa-Fereydonshahr, V. sativa-Mashhad, V. sativa-Semirom, V. sativa-Shahrekord and V. villosa Roth.) were cultivated under three water-deficit conditions: control, moderate and severe drought stress. These conditions represented maximum allowable depletion levels of 30, 50 and 85% of soil available water, applied after the six-leaf stage in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 growing seasons. The findings highlight the vetch's response to drought stress is influenced by stress severity and genotype. The result indicated a wide range of genetic diversity in agro-physiological traits among the studied vicia germplasm. Vicia dassycarpa Ten. shows highest straw yield and shorter days to flowering and maturity. Vicia michauxii Spreng. demonstrates high grain yield and advantageous traits like increased water content, photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, chlorophyll b, carotenoids and membrane stability index. It has lower soluble carbohydrate, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and proline content. Additionally, V. michauxii Spreng. exhibits superior agronomic traits such as more seeds per pod, per plant and higher 1000 seeds weight, serving as reliable markers for drought tolerance. The results emphasize V. dassycarpa Ten. for fodder and V. michauxii Spreng. for grain production in water-limited regions. Further research on gene expression related to drought tolerance traits should enhance our understanding of vetch.