Abbreviation (ISO4): Journal of Agriculture
Editor in chief: Shiyan QIAO
In response to the challenges in China’s agricultural cold chain logistics infrastructure, including substantial cold storage capacity shortages, insufficient supporting facilities, uneven regional distribution, and relatively low technological integration, this study systematically examines the resources of agricultural products requiring cold storage, and the current status of facility construction through field investigations, literature review, and statistical analysis. Targeted development strategies are proposed to promote facility construction, extend the storage life of agricultural products, ensure product quality, and expand market access. The results indicate that the annual output of agricultural products requiring low-temperature storage in China reaches 1,463.832 million tons, corresponding to a required cold storage capacity of 124.588 million tons. However, the existing cold storage capacity is only 75 million tons, leaving a shortfall of 49.588 million tons and a deficit rate of approximately 40%. This level is significantly lower than the approximately 90% storage rate observed in developed countries. Moreover, a well-coordinated three-tier supporting network, comprising production-area storage and preservation facilities, production-area cold chain collection and distribution centers, and backbone cold chain logistics bases, has not yet been fully established. In addition, there is a considerable shortage of supporting equipment. The system requires approximately 498000 refrigerated trucks and 623000 forklifts, whereas only about 380000 refrigerated trucks are currently in operation, and existing forklift and related handling facilities can meet only around 50% of the demand. Significant regional disparities are also evident: more than 50% of cold chain logistics facilities are concentrated in Eastern China, while central and western regions, as well as remote mountainous areas, face pronounced shortages. To establish a fully functional three-tier supporting network and achieve comprehensive storage coverage and high-quality operation of the agricultural cold chain logistics system, a total investment of approximately RMB 273.62 billion would be required. Upon completion, the project is expected to generate an additional annual output value of RMB 124.59 billion and create approximately 249000 new positions. This study provides a scientific basis for the high-quality development of agricultural cold chain logistics infrastructure in China. Future efforts should further strengthen the integration of intelligent technologies, promote the application of green and low-carbon technologies, and optimize coordinated regional deployment, thereby supporting rural revitalization and enhancing the quality and efficiency of the agricultural sector.
To investigate the inhibitory effect of citral on wheat soil-borne fungal diseases and its potential for reduced pesticide use and enhance efficacy when mixed with tebuconazole, this study used Rhizoctonia cerealis, Fusarium graminearum, and F. pseudograminearum as test strains. By preparing citral microcapsules and using the mycelial growth rate method, the inhibitory activity of citral, its effect on sporulation of the pathogens, and the control efficacy of the mixed formulation against soil-borne diseases were determined. The results showed that the EC50 values of citral against R. cerealis, F. graminearum, and F. pseudograminearum were 31.66, 80.81, and 129.36 mg/L, respectively, indicating strong antifungal activity. Citral at 0.15 mL/L completely inhibited the sporulation of both F. graminearum and F. pseudograminearum. When the dosage of tebuconazole was reduced by half and mixed with citral, the inhibitory effect was superior to that of tebuconazole alone. Compared with the control group, treatment with half-dose tebuconazole (0.2 mL/L) mixed with citral microcapsules reduced the incidence of soil-borne diseases caused by R. cerealis, F. graminearum, and F. pseudograminearum by 34.25%, 41.66%, and 30.56%, respectively. These results indicate that citral has good inhibitory effects on wheat soil-borne diseases, and its mixture with tebuconazole can effectively control the disease occurrence while reducing chemical pesticide usage. This study provides an important reference for developing new natural fungicides for the management of wheat soil-borne diseases.
In order to solve the problem of overgrowth and quality decline of licorice caused by unreasonable fertilization, this study systematically explored the effects of fertilization on the growth and quality of licorice by bibliometrics combining with network Meta-analysis, and analyzed the mechanism of action from the perspective of multi-omics and microorganisms. The literature regarding randomized controlled trials on the effects of different fertilization methods on the yield and quality of licorice were systematically searched in CNKI, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, Web of Science and PubMed database until September 2024. Through the screening of research types, research objects, interventions, outcome indicators and other research contents, 10 literatures that met the criteria were finally included. Web Plot Digitizer, RevMan 5.3, Stata 14.0 and other software were used to extract the data and perform network Meta-analysis. The effects of different fertilization types, ratios and time on the yield, glycyrrhizic acid, liquiritin content and plant height of licorice were evaluated. By analyzing the literature, it was found that N-P compound fertilizer had the best effect on increasing the yield of licorice. The N-P-K compound fertilizer had the best performance in increasing the content of glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin and promoting the growth of plant height, and the best ratio was 1:0.99:0.64; fertilization in June had the most significant effect on plant height. In summary, fertilization affected the yield and quality of licorice by regulating the activities of key enzymes such as reductase (HMGR) and farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase ( FPS ), triterpenoid and flavonoid synthesis pathways, and rhizosphere microbial community structure. This study clarified the optimal fertilization scheme for high quality and high yield production of licorice, and provided scientific basis and technical support for standardized cultivation of licorice.
To explore the differences in agronomic traits and photosynthesis-related parameters among different celery varieties and to breed celery varieties with higher yields, this experiment used seven local celery varieties such as ‘SQ-1’ as materials and conducted uniform planting management under facility cultivation. The results showed that in terms of agronomic traits, ‘SQ-4’ had the most small leaves, and its single plant weight and root length were also superior to other tested varieties, reaching 78.23 g and 14.08 cm respectively; ‘SQ-5’ had the largest leaf stalk width and thickness among the tested varieties, which were 7.92 and 7.32 mm respectively, while ‘SQ-4’ had the second largest leaf stalk width and thickness among the seven tested varieties; the average plant height of ‘SQ-5’ was 47.07 cm, significantly higher than the other six varieties, and the average plant height of ‘SQ-4’ was 43.22 cm, ranking third among the seven tested varieties. In terms of photosynthesis-related parameters, ‘SQ-1’ had the highest net photosynthetic rate of 4.80 μmol/(m2·s), and ‘SQ-3’ had a significantly higher transpiration rate than the other varieties, reaching 1.81 mmol/(m2·s). Meanwhile, the net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate of ‘SQ-4’ were 4.78 μmol/(m2·s) and 1.75 mmol/(m2·s) respectively, slightly lower than the maximum values among the tested varieties but still highly significant. ‘SQ-7’ had the highest relative chlorophyll content (SPAD) of 42.93 and nitrogen content of 13.40 mg/g among the tested varieties, while ‘SQ-4’ had the second highest SPAD and nitrogen content after ‘SQ-7’. In conclusion, ‘SQ-4’ has a relatively prominent comprehensive advantage in key agronomic traits such as single plant weight, number of small leaves, and plant root weight, as well as photosynthesis-related parameters.
Using the eggplant variety ‘Lushuai’ as the test material, CK (no fertilization at all), and treatments of T1 (single application of bio-organic fertilizer, 3000 kg/hm2), T2 (single application of chemical fertilizer), T3 (10% reduction of nitrogen by chemical fertilizer+ 1800 kg/hm2 of bio-organic fertilizer) and T4 (20% nitrogen reduction by fertilizer+ 2400 kg/hm2 of bio-organic fertilizer) were set, to explore the effects of nitrogen reduction combined with bio-organic fertilizer on the growth, photosynthetic characteristics and nutrient absorption of eggplants in the rounded greenhouse, with a view to screening the appropriate bio-organic fertilizer combined application scheme. The results showed that at different growth stages, the T3 treatment had higher plant height, stem diameter and root activity, and the root volume was significantly increased by 31.52% compared with the T2 treatment. The content of photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetic gas parameters and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were better in the T3 treatment. Its transpiration rate was significantly increased by 81.56% compared with CK, and the actual photochemical efficiency (ΦPSII) was significantly increased by 4.76% to 10.00% compared with other treatments. In addition, in different organs of eggplants, the nutrient content in the T3 treatment was increased to varying degrees compared with other treatments. Based on the growth, photosynthetic characteristics and nutrient content of eggplants, the T3 treatment was the best fertilization scheme.
In order to reveal the research progress and trends in the field of soil nematodes, this study employed the CiteSpace bibliometric method to conduct a visual analysis of soil nematode research literature from 2002 to 2021 in the CNKI core database (459 articles) and the Web of Science core collection (5822 articles). The results showed that: (1) research output had shown sustained growth. International research entered a period of rapid expansion from 2009 to 2012, with an average annual increase of 153 publications. From 2013 to 2020, it transitioned into a phase of stable growth, averaging 513.13 publications per year. The top three high-output international institutions were the University of Florida (Univ Florida), Ghent University (Univ Ghent), and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The top three high-output domestic institutions were the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, and China Agricultural University. (2) Research hotspots focused on core areas such as the structural characteristics of soil nematode communities, the dynamics of trophic functional groups, the diversity of ecosystem functions, biological control techniques, the response mechanism of maturity index (MI), the effects of organic fertilizer application, and the interaction between microorganisms and genes. (3) International leading research teams were represented by CAMPOS-HERRERA R and VAN DER PUTTEN W H, while domestic key research clusters were represented by the Li Huixin-Hu Feng-Liu Manqiang team and the Liu Qizhi-Li Heqin-Wang Xuexia team. The study indicates that soil nematode research has formed a multi-dimensional research system, but it is necessary to strengthen collaborative innovation among domestic and international research teams, especially in emerging cross-disciplinary fields such as functional genomics and ecological network analysis.
Regional balance between planting and breeding is an important goal of green agricultural development. Pollution to the atmosphere and water environment caused by breeding is one of the factors restricting the green and efficient development of animal breeding industry. This paper conducted modeling work of the environmental bearing capacity of animal farming, evaluated the appropriate breeding volume in the region, and provided a reference for regional balance between planting and breeding and environmental protection. The animal breeding production system in the North China Plain was taken as the research object. The results of the second national pollution source census were used to calculate the carbon footprint and grey water footprint of the animal breeding industry in 2017. According to the regional water environment, atmospheric environment, farmland nutrients and policy-oriented constraints, the linear programming and scenario analysis methods were used to model and simulate the environmental bearing capacity of animal farming in the North China Plain. The results showed that based on the evaluation and optimization of carbon footprint and grey water footprint, the environmental bearing capacity of animal farming in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province, Shandong Province and Henan Province was 10 million, 20 million, 290 million, 580 million and 1.03 billion heads respectively, which far exceeded the current breeding volume and were not overloaded. When the water environment pressure increased, the environmental bearing capacity of animal farming showed a downward trend. When the ammonia nitrogen emissions from water pollutants of animal breeding industry were reduced by 50%, the environmental bearing capacity of animal farming in the North China Plain increased to 2.04 billion heads, an increase of 66.7%; once the surface water resources began to decrease, the animal bearing capacity was constrained because it was lower than the policy-guided value. It could be seen that reducing the discharge of water pollutants alleviated the pressure of water shortage in the North China Plain on the development of animal breeding industry. It was recommended that animal farms should strengthen anaerobic fermentation engineering facilities, reduced the emission of water pollutants such as ammonia nitrogen; the government should increase subsidies for the purchase and production of agricultural machinery for returning manure to the fields, to achieve efficient return of manure to the fields; green accounts should be established for farms, and fiscal means should be used to guide the green transformation of the industry.
The study aims to explore the land use/cover changes and ecological effects in Sichuan Province, and provide a scientific basis for the spatial planning of land and ecological environment construction in Sichuan Province. This paper used land use data from 2000 to 2020 to analyze the characteristics of land use changes and their ecological effects in Sichuan Province based on the land use dynamics, transfer matrix and degree index, as well as the ecological environment quality index and ecological contribution rate. The results showed that the area of cultivated land and grassland continued to decrease, and the area of construction land, forest land, water area and unused land increased. The decrease of cultivated land was mainly converted to forest land and construction land, and the increase of forest land was mainly from cultivated land and grassland. The comprehensive index of land use degree in the whole province showed a downward trend, from 224.86 to 223.75; the ecological environment quality index of the whole province showed an upward trend, from 0.6095 to 0.6146. The increase of forest and grassland was the main reason for the improvement of ecological environment, and the contribution rate of cultivated land to forest land conversion was 79.99%. Land use/cover change had a profound impact on regional ecological environment quality and ecosystem pattern. The overall land use degree of Sichuan Province was reduced, and the ecological environment quality of Sichuan Basin and other regions was low. It was necessary to strengthen the management of land space and the protection of ecological environment in order to achieve sustainability.
To address the research gap wherein potato quality in cool and cold regions is markedly affected by climatic conditions, with limited existing research on climate quality certification technologies, this study aims to scientifically quantify the comprehensive impacts of climatic factors and enterprise management practices on potato quality, while fully leveraging the advantages of agricultural climatic resources. Focusing on the major potato-producing region of Chayouhou Banner, the research employed meteorological observation data from national basic meteorological stations and the Wulan Hada Sumu automatic meteorological station covering the period 2016-2023, as well as potato quality testing and production management data from 2023, to clarify the suitable meteorological indicators for key potato growth stages (i.e., sowing-emergence, emergence-branching). By adopting the comparative method and index discrimination method, a comprehensive evaluation model was constructed, encompassing climate suitability zoning (weight = 0.3), current-year climatic conditions (weight = 0.5), and enterprise planting management level (weight = 0.2). The results revealed that the certified region is a climatically suitable area for potato planting (X1 = 100 points). In 2023, light and temperature resources during the growth period were sufficient (≥10℃ accumulated temperature: 2672℃; sunshine duration: 1527.2 h), precipitation was consistent with the multi-year average (211.6 mm), and periodic drought was effectively alleviated through irrigation measures. The climate resource score was 92 points, with an 6-point deduction due to meteorological disasters (X2 = 86 points). Enterprise production management level was excellent (X3 = 95 points), yielding a comprehensive score of 92 points. Thus, the 2023 potato climate quality was graded as "Special Superior", with both appearance quality (tuber uniformity: Grade 1; size: Grade 3) and internal quality (relative starch content: 1.2%) meeting the required standards. This study provides technical support for the climate quality certification of potatoes.
This paper aims to summarize and analyze the latest technical methods in refined agricultural climate zoning, along with their applications in optimizing agricultural layout, exploiting climate resources, and responding to climate change. It systematically reviews the development and current status of agricultural climate zoning technology, focusing on advances in the application of GIS, remote sensing, dynamic zoning models, and the integration of multi-source data. The analysis examines the performance and typical case studies of current technologies in climate suitability evaluation, crop layout optimization, and climate change adaptation. The findings indicate that modern agricultural climate zoning is evolving towards high-resolution, intelligent, and dynamically adaptive approaches, establishing itself as a vital field within agricultural meteorological research. However, challenges remain regarding data acquisition accuracy, multi-dimensional model integration, and socio-economic applicability. As climate change increasingly influences agricultural production, the limitations of traditional static zoning methods, particularly concerning dynamic adaptability, refinement, and multi-factor analysis, have become apparent. Future efforts should prioritize strengthening multi-source data integration, developing dynamic models, and enhancing comprehensive multi-factor analysis and model integration to provide robust technical support for the precision and intelligence of agricultural climate zoning.
In view of the unclear influence mechanism of meteorological factors on tobacco yield in Zibo and the lack of accurate meteorological basis for cultivation and management, in order to improve tobacco yield and quality and clarify the influence and law of key meteorological factors on tobacco yield, this study was conducted based on the tobacco yield data of Zibo from 2019 to 2022 and the meteorological data of average temperature, precipitation, sunshine hours, maximum wind speed and extreme wind speed of three national basic meteorological stations ( Boshan, Zichuan and Yiyuan). The Z-score standardization and grey correlation analysis method were used. The effects of these main meteorological factors on the growth stages of tobacco (root extension stage, vigorous growth stage and mature stage) and monthly growth stage (May-September) were analyzed respectively. The results show that precipitation, average temperature and sunshine hours has the greatest correlation with tobacco yield, while the influence of maximum wind speed and extreme wind speed is relatively small. In the root extension stage and the vigorous growth stage, the grey correlation degree between precipitation and tobacco yield is the largest, and the average temperature and sunshine hours has the greatest influence on the growth of tobacco in the mature stage. Based on a monthly analysis of tobacco growth stages, the results indicate that the average temperature in August, precipitation in July, sunshine hours in September, precipitation in June, extreme wind speed in September, and sunshine hours in June exhibit the strongest correlation with tobacco yield, with all correlation coefficients exceeding 0.85. This study demonstrates that tobacco yield is synergistically influenced by multiple meteorological factors, and the intensity of these major factors dynamically varies across different growth stages. Precipitation, average temperature, and sunshine duration are key influencing factors throughout the entire growth stage of tobacco. In contrast, the impact of wind speed on tobacco growth increases with the rise in leaf number and expansion of leaf area, reaching its peak during the maturity stage. Finally, based on the analysis of the results, we give a series of feasible measures for tobacco planting, which not only provides an important scientific theoretical basis for agricultural meteorological services and tobacco planting management, but also lays the foundation for improving tobacco yield.
Water, land, food and energy constitute the foundational pillars of agricultural system. The research of coupling coordination within the water-land-food-energy (WLFE) nexus system plays a pivotal role in promoting regional sustainability. Taking the western region of Jilin Province as an example, this study constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system for agricultural WLFE nexus. Using the entropy method, coupling coordination degree model, and obstacle degree model, with counties as the basic evaluation units, it assessed the coupling coordination of the regional agricultural WLFE nexus in 2011, 2015 and 2020, while identifying key obstacle factors. The results showed that the comprehensive development index of western Jilin’s agricultural WLFE nexus exhibited an upward trajectory during the study period, though subsystem trends diverged significantly. While the energy subsystem remained relatively stable, the other subsystems showed overall growth. The coupling degree of the WLFE nexus increased from 0.9815 to 0.9962, and the coupling coordination degree rose from 0.7129 to 0.7513, demonstrating a steady upward trend and maintaining a moderate coordination level throughout. The cumulative obstacle degrees of subsystem factors followed the order: 2011 (4.5255)>2015 (4.4879)>2020 (4.000), indicating a gradual reduction in restrictive pressures. This research developed a localized evaluation framework for agricultural WLFE nexus systems, effectively capturing the unique characteristics of western Jilin and enriching regional-level case studies. The findings and corresponding policy recommendations offer valuable insights for advancing sustainable agricultural development in the region.
Under the background of rapid urbanization and the implementation of the “large-scale requisition and compensation balance” policy, the spatial conflict between arable land protection and homestead utilization has become increasingly prominent. Most existing studies focus on the relationship between existing arable land and homesteads, lacking systematic coupling analysis that incorporates the reserve arable land dimension, which makes it difficult to support the implementation of arable land occupation-compensation balance. To reveal the spatial coupling mechanism between arable land and homesteads in Fujian Province, optimize rural land resource allocation, and ensure regional food security, this study constructs an arable land-homestead spatial analysis framework from the dual perspectives of “existing and reserve” land. Methods including kernel density estimation, standard deviational ellipse, landscape spatial association index, coupling coordination degree model, and local spatial autocorrelation are employed to systematically analyze their spatial distribution characteristics and coupling coordination patterns. Furthermore, the risk matrix method is introduced to carry out control zoning and optimization path research. The results show that: existing arable land, reserve arable land, and homesteads in Fujian Province are all concentrated in coastal areas, exhibiting an overall northeast-southwest spatial distribution trend. The landscape spatial association indices and coupling coordination degrees for existing arable land-homestead and reserve arable land-homestead are 0.27 and 0.44, and 0.24 and 0.42, respectively, indicating that arable land and homesteads in Fujian Province are spatially associated, but the overall spatial coordination is not high. Generally, a “high-high” coordination agglomeration area has formed in southern Fujian, and a “low-low” coordination agglomeration area has formed in the mountainous areas of northwestern Fujian. These patterns are mainly attributed to differences in natural geographical conditions and socioeconomic development levels across regions. Based on a cross analysis of coordination levels, the province is divided into four types of consolidation zones: key consolidation zone (32.14%), risk early-warning zone (13.10%), coordinated development zone (45.24%), and reserve potential zone (9.52%). Differences in natural geographical conditions and socioeconomic development levels are the core driving factors of spatial differentiation. The study shows that the dual-dimensional coupling analysis can more accurately reflect the dynamic balance potential of arable land resources, and differentiated control strategies can effectively improve rural land use efficiency. For the principle of “continuously optimizing advantageous functions and focusing on improving deficient functions”, future research can be further refined to the township scale. Combined with labor mobility and policy implementation scenarios, in-depth research on the synergistic utilization mechanism of arable land and homesteads can provide more detailed scientific support for the precise implementation of the “large-scale requisition and compensation balance” policy.
ISSN 2095-4050 (Print)
Started from 2011
Published by: China Association of Agricultural Science Societies
