scholarly journals Risk Assessment of Sunflower Production Using In-Field Rainwater Harvesting on Semi-Arid Ecotope in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jestinos Mzezewa ◽  
Leon Daniel van Rensburg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Sunflower Production

scholarly journals Optimal Ridge–Furrow Ratio for Maximum Drought Resilience of Sunflower in Semi-Arid Region of China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4047
Author(s):  
Yuying Pan ◽  
Xuebiao Pan ◽  
Tan Zi ◽  
Qi Hu ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Drought Risk ◽  
Drought Resilience ◽  
Film Mulching ◽  
Effects Of Drought ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Sunflower Production

Ridge–furrow planting is often applied in semi-arid regions to reduce the drought risk on crop yield under rain-fed conditions. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is widely planted in northern China and how to reduce the drought risk on sunflower production remains a significant issue. A three-year field experiment with seven treatments (a flat plot without mulching, three plastic film-mulching treatments and three non-film-mulching treatments with different ridge–furrow ratios (1.0 m:1.0 m, 1.0 m:0.5 m and 0.5 m:1.0 m)) was conducted to study the effects of the ridge–furrow rainwater harvesting system on the rain-fed sunflower. The results showed that the sunflowers in the film-mulched treatment with the larger ridge–furrow ratio (1.0 m:0.5 m) (M1R2) had greater growth advantage under drought conditions. In the dry year, M1R2 improved the yield and water use efficiency by 11.9%–107.5% and 13.8%–120.6%, respectively, and reduced the blight grain rate by 21.5%–32.5% with less evapotranspiration (ET) compared to other treatments. Based on the historical climatological data, the guarantee rate of sunflower water requirement for M1R2 was about 75%, while the guarantee rates for the other two film-mulched treatments were only about 40% and 50%. Based on the effects of drought resilience and the characteristics of precipitation, M1R2 is recommended to be the relatively optimal treatment for sunflower production in regions with similar climatic conditions to Wuchuan County in northern China.

scholarly journals Contaminant organisms recorded on plant product imports to South Africa 1994–2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Davina L. Saccaggi ◽  
Melanie Arendse ◽  
John R. U. Wilson ◽  
John S. Terblanche
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
International Trade ◽  
South African ◽  
Plant Products ◽  
Important Resource ◽  
Plant Product ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Multiple Contaminants ◽  
Propagation Material

AbstractBiosecurity interception records are crucial data underlying efforts to predict and manage pest and pathogen introductions. Here we present a dataset containing information on imported plant products inspected by the South African Department of Agriculture’s laboratories between 1994 and 2019 and the contaminant organisms found on them. Samples were received from border inspectors as either propagation material (e.g. plants) or material for immediate use (e.g. fruit). Material for immediate use was further divided into two sample categories, depending on if contaminants were seen/suspected by the border official or not: intervention or audit samples. The final dataset consists of 25,279 records, of which 30% tested positive (i.e. had at least one contaminant) and 13% had multiple contaminants. Of the 13,731 recorded contaminants, fungi (41%), mites (37%) and insects (19%) were most common. This dataset provides insight into the suite of taxa transported along the plant import pathway and provides an important resource for analyses of contaminant organisms in international trade, which can inform strategies for risk assessment, pathway management and biosecurity protocols.

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