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Agriculture
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Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops
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Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2023) | Viewed by 10279

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yuan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: crop diseases; weed control; molecular approaches; identification and quantification; soil disinfestation; biocontrol agents; application equipment; crop growth and yield

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

At present, crop diseases are the main problem in agricultural production, and the rapid diagnosis and identification of crop diseases are particularly important. Molecular biological diagnosis, identification and quantitative methods are widely used, which can identify pathogens at the early stage of crop disease occurrence, and facilitate timely prevention and control measures. Soil disinfection is one of the effective measures used to solve soil-borne diseases in protected areas. Different soil disinfection technologies, products and equipment have been gradually updated and applied to tomato, cucumber, pepper and other vegetable crops and field crops. In addition, a combination of these biological control measures can be used to prevent the infection of pathogens, reducing the occurrence of diseases and economic losses. Another important issue that affects crop growth and yield in agricultural production is weed control. Effective control measures or application equipment and methods to improve crop growth and yield are the focus of researchers. This Special Issue will include interdisciplinary studies that embrace agriculture in the disciplines of biology, chemistry and engineering. Research articles will cover a broad range of crops, including vegetable crops, ornamental and medical plants, as well as field crops. All types of articles, such as original research, opinions, and reviews, are welcome.

Dr. Yuan Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • crop diseases
  • weed control
  • molecular approaches
  • identification and quantification
  • soil disinfestation
  • biocontrol agents
  • application equipment
  • crop growth and yield

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 4898 KiB  
Article
Grading and Detection Method of Asparagus Stem Blight Based on Hyperspectral Imaging of Asparagus Crowns
by Cuiling Li, Xiu Wang, Liping Chen, Xueguan Zhao, Yang Li, Mingzhou Chen, Haowei Liu and Changyuan Zhai
Agriculture 2023, 13(9), 1673; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091673 - 24 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 802
Abstract
This study adopted hyperspectral imaging technology combined with machine learning to detect the disease severity of stem blight through the canopy of asparagus mother stem. Several regions of interest were selected from each hyperspectral image, and the reflection spectra of the regions of [...] Read more.
This study adopted hyperspectral imaging technology combined with machine learning to detect the disease severity of stem blight through the canopy of asparagus mother stem. Several regions of interest were selected from each hyperspectral image, and the reflection spectra of the regions of interest were extracted. There were 503 sets of hyperspectral data in the training set and 167 sets of hyperspectral data in the test set. The data were preprocessed using various methods and the dimension was reduced using PCA. K−nearest neighbours (KNN), decision tree (DT), BP neural network (BPNN), and extreme learning machine (ELM) were used to establish a classification model of asparagus stem blight. The optimal model depended on the preprocessing methods used. When modeling was based on the ELM method, the disease grade discrimination effect of the FD−MSC−ELM model was the best with an accuracy (ACC) of 1.000, a precision (PREC) of 1.000, a recall (REC) of 1.000, an F1-score (F1S) of 1.000, and a norm of the absolute error (NAE) of 0.000, respectively; when the modeling was based on the BPNN method, the discrimination effect of the FD−SNV−BPNN model was the best with an ACC of 0.976, a PREC of 0.975, a REC of 0.978, a F1S of 0.976, and a mean square error (MSE) of 0.072, respectively. The results showed that hyperspectral imaging of the asparagus mother stem canopy combined with machine learning methods could be used to grade and detect stem blight in asparagus mother stems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops)
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13 pages, 2451 KiB  
Article
Measuring Pathogenic Soil Fungi That Cause Sclerotinia Rot of Panax ginseng Using Real-Time Fluorescence Quantitative PCR
by Shi Feng, Cong Zhang, Xue Wang, Changqing Chen, Baohui Lu and Jie Gao
Agriculture 2023, 13(7), 1452; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13071452 - 23 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1040
Abstract
Sclerotinia ginseng is the primary pathogenic fungus responsible for Sclerotinia rot of ginseng, which significantly reduces plant yield and quality. The density of sclerotia in the soil is closely associated with rot incidence and severity. Whole genome sequencing was conducted to obtain fungal [...] Read more.
Sclerotinia ginseng is the primary pathogenic fungus responsible for Sclerotinia rot of ginseng, which significantly reduces plant yield and quality. The density of sclerotia in the soil is closely associated with rot incidence and severity. Whole genome sequencing was conducted to obtain fungal frame maps. The specific primers, q2001F/q2001R, were screened out by pan-genomic analysis using the NCBI database. Recombinant plasmids containing amplicons obtained with this primer set were used as standard plasmids to construct a real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR system. The relationships between the cycle threshold (Ct) values and the soil sclerotium densities were determined by real-time PCR. Real-time PCR had a detection limit of 1.5 × 10−2 g·kg−1 soil for Sclerotinia rot causing fungal mycelium, and the relationship between the density of S. ginseng mycelium n (g·g−1 soil) and the Ct value was n = 10(40.048 − Ct)/6.9541. The detection limit of real-time PCR for measuring soil sclerotia was 3.8 × 10−5 g·g−1 soil, suggesting a sensitivity 100 times that of conventional PCR. The relationship between the sclerotium density n (g·g−1 soil) and the Ct value was n = 10(18.351 − Ct)/7.0914. Compared with the conventional PCR method, the fluorescent quantitative PCR method could detect the population of Sclerotinia spp. in soil more efficiently, accurately, and sensitively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops)
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13 pages, 3307 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Optical Properties and Activity of Wheat Stripe Rust Urediospores
by Xu Chen, Zhifeng Yao and Dongjian He
Agriculture 2023, 13(7), 1316; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13071316 - 28 Jun 2023
Viewed by 821
Abstract
Stripe rust is one of the most common diseases challenging the safe production of wheat. Rapid identification and analysis of urediospores, responsible for disease transmission, are the key to preventing and controlling stripe rust. The current spore detection is time-consuming and requires auxiliary [...] Read more.
Stripe rust is one of the most common diseases challenging the safe production of wheat. Rapid identification and analysis of urediospores, responsible for disease transmission, are the key to preventing and controlling stripe rust. The current spore detection is time-consuming and requires auxiliary equipment, but many optical detection methods and sensors with high efficiency, sensitivity, and detection ability have been developed and widely used. Thus, the investigation of optical parameters is the prerequisite for optical sensitive detection and is detailed in this study. Firstly, the microscopic images and surface elements of wheat stripe rust urediospores were obtained using a high-resolution electron microscope and an energy spectrum analyzer. The reflectivity and absorptivity spectra in the near-infrared band of active/inactivate urediospores were measured. Further, the optical parameters, such as reflection phase shift, complex refractive index, and dielectric constant, of the urediospores were analyzed based on electromagnetic theory and Kramers–Kronig relation. The results revealed that the urediospores have a strong tolerance to near-infrared light, and the real part of the complex refractive index n was between 1.0 and 1.4. These observations indicate that whether the spores are active or not has little effect on the real part and dielectric constant of the complex refractive index but has a significant impact on the imaginary part and extinction coefficient of the complex refractive index, and the corresponding relationship between the optical properties of urediospores and biological components was established. These findings were verified with HPLC-MS and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Analysis Technology and lay a theoretical foundation for detecting urediospores of wheat stripe rust by using optical sensors. The study provides a reference for the analysis of optical characteristics of other biological samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops)
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20 pages, 2399 KiB  
Article
Biostimulants as a Response to the Negative Impact of Agricultural Chemicals on Vegetation Indices and Yield of Common Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench)
by Mateusz Krupa and Robert Witkowicz
Agriculture 2023, 13(4), 825; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040825 - 04 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1458
Abstract
Weed control during common buckwheat cultivation is hindered by the crop’s high sensitivity to agrochemicals. This study evaluates whether biostimulants (Asahi SL, Kelpak SL, B-Nine) could reduce the adverse effect of abiotic stress caused by these substances on buckwheat’s vegetation indices and yield. [...] Read more.
Weed control during common buckwheat cultivation is hindered by the crop’s high sensitivity to agrochemicals. This study evaluates whether biostimulants (Asahi SL, Kelpak SL, B-Nine) could reduce the adverse effect of abiotic stress caused by these substances on buckwheat’s vegetation indices and yield. To this end, a four-factor field experiment was performed according to the 3 4−1 Box–Behnken design on chernozem soil with silt texture at the Experimental Station of the Agricultural University of Krakow (Poland, 50°07′ N, 20°04′ E). The results showed that calcium cyanamide fertilization was effective in reducing the abundance of dicotyledonous weeds by 39% and the dry weight of weeds per unit area by 20% relative to ammonium nitrate-fertilized sites. However, the most effective method of weed control was the application of metazachlor together with clomazone. The mixture of these active substances reduced the abundance of monocotyledonous weeds, dicotyledonous weeds, and dry weight of weeds by 83%, 40.5%, and 36.4%, respectively. The use of herbicides adversely affected the leaf area index (LAI). Nitrophenol treatment of buckwheat grown on soil fertilized with calcium cyanamide resulted in increased achene yield and number of seeds per plant compared to ammonium nitrate fertilization. The application of daminozide on chemically protected plants resulted in improved vegetation indices such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and soil plant analysis development (SPAD) compared to sites not exposed to herbicides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops)
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17 pages, 3146 KiB  
Article
Niche and Interspecific Association of the Dominant Species during the Invasion of Alternanthera philoxeroides in the Yangtze River Basin, China
by Qianru Nan, Qing Zhang, Xinghao Li, Danni Zheng, Zhaohua Li and Liya Zhao
Agriculture 2023, 13(3), 621; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030621 - 04 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1371
Abstract
The effects of invasive species on the local community (e.g., structure and stability) are highly environmentally dependent. Invasions of amphibious species usually take place in both xeric and humid environments, yet they are relatively poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the communities [...] Read more.
The effects of invasive species on the local community (e.g., structure and stability) are highly environmentally dependent. Invasions of amphibious species usually take place in both xeric and humid environments, yet they are relatively poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the communities that were dominated by Alternanthera philoxeroides using ecological niche and interspecific association. A total of 66 species and 67 species were recorded in the xeric environment and humid environment, respectively. In both environments, species in family Gramineae, such as Echinochloa crusgalli and Cynodon dactylon, exhibited a higher level of importance values and greater ecological niche widths. The interspecific association and stability of the dominant species were weak and the dominant species were relatively independent of each other. In the xeric environment, A. philoxeroides was more compatible with E. crusgalli and C. dactylon in terms of ecological niche requirements and habitat suitability. In humid habitats, A. philoxeroides had a greater correlation with E. crusgalli, C. dactylon, and Persicaria lapathifolia, suggesting a higher possibility of concomitant occurrence. Overall, we suggested that during the revegetation after A. philoxeroides invasion, E. crusgalli and C. dactylon can be the alternative plants. Meanwhile, alternative control measures for A. philoxeroides invasion in agricultural fields should give more consideration to the use of plants with economic or ecological value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops)
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20 pages, 5958 KiB  
Article
Colletotrichum Species on Cultivated Solanaceae Crops in Russia
by Maria Yarmeeva, Irina Kutuzova, Michael Kurchaev, Elena Chudinova, Ludmila Kokaeva, Arseniy Belosokhov, Grigory Belov, Alexander Elansky, Marina Pobedinskaya, Archil Tsindeliani, Yulia Tsvetkova and Sergey Elansky
Agriculture 2023, 13(3), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13030511 - 21 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1604
Abstract
Colletotrichum species are the causal agents of potato and tomato diseases, such as black dot and anthracnose. Several new species and species complexes were recently established. Thereby, a reassessment of the genus diversity is required. The study revealed two species, Colletotrichum coccodes and [...] Read more.
Colletotrichum species are the causal agents of potato and tomato diseases, such as black dot and anthracnose. Several new species and species complexes were recently established. Thereby, a reassessment of the genus diversity is required. The study revealed two species, Colletotrichum coccodes and Colletotrichum nigrum, as Russia’s main disease agents of cultivated Solanaceae plants. Black dot and anthracnose in potato were caused exclusively by C. coccodes, whereas the same diseases in tomato, eggplant, and pepper were predominately caused by C. nigrum. However, one isolate of C. coccodes was also identified as an agent of the tomato disease. Five potentially hybrid isolates were discovered. Morphological examination and pathogenicity assessment revealed no significant differences between the two Colletotrichum species. All isolates were sensitive to the fungicides azoxystrobin, difenoconazole, and thiabendazole, which are currently used in agriculture. This is the first report of the occurrence of C. nigrum in Russia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops)
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13 pages, 1011 KiB  
Review
Detection and Identification Methods and Control Techniques for Crop Seed Diseases
by Min Zhang, Zhaoai Shi, Guangming Chen, Aocheng Cao, Qiuxia Wang, Dongdong Yan, Wensheng Fang and Yuan Li
Agriculture 2023, 13(9), 1786; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13091786 - 09 Sep 2023
Viewed by 2389
Abstract
Seeds comprise an important way in which plant pathogens are introduced into new areas, and serve as carriers for their survival from one planting season to another. Seed health is a recognized factor in modern agricultural science, and affects ideal plant populations and [...] Read more.
Seeds comprise an important way in which plant pathogens are introduced into new areas, and serve as carriers for their survival from one planting season to another. Seed health is a recognized factor in modern agricultural science, and affects ideal plant populations and good harvests. Seed disease is one of the most important biological constraints in seed production worldwide. Effective and rapid detection and identification methods for seed disease comprise an important step in crop management, and a measure to protect seeds from pathogens. The detection of seed diseases is usually divided into three categories: traditional detection, immunological detection, and bioinformatics-based detection. The detection methods used for different types of pathogens also vary. For the prevention and control of seed diseases, appropriate methods should also be adopted, such as physical methods, chemical methods, and biological methods. They can be used alone or in combination to achieve the purpose of disease prevention and control. Therefore, this article reviews some important crop seed diseases, their detection and identification methods, and control techniques, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the comprehensive prevention and effective control of seed diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diseases Diagnosis, Prevention and Weeds Control in Crops)
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