控释尿素与普通尿素(CRUNU)混合可作为一种高效氮肥类型，但其对小麦茎秆抗倒伏、产量及产量稳定性的影响尚不清楚。在2017-2021年4年的田间试验中，研究了氮肥类型(CRUNU和普通尿素(NU))和施氮量(低水平(L): 135 kg hm ^-1、中水平(M): 180 kg hm ^-1、高水平(H): 225 kg hm ^-1)对小麦群体抗倒伏性、基部节间强度、木质素含量及其合成酶活性、茎秆抗倒伏力、籽粒产量及其稳定性的影响。结果表明，两种氮肥类型在高施氮水平下小麦倒伏率均最高，其中CRUNU结合中等氮施用水平倒伏率最低。与NU相比，CRUNU在3种施氮水平下均提高了小麦群体的抗倒伏能力，这主要与小麦群体特性和第二基节间断裂强度改善有关。相关分析进一步表明，基部第二节间断裂强度与节间的物理特性、化学成分和微观结构有关。低、中和高施氮水平下，CRUNU分别使小麦籽粒产量提高4.47、14.62和3.12%。此外，在中和高施氮水平下，CRUNU的产量差异不显著，但同时中施氮水平下产量稳定性最高。综上所述，CRUNU与中氮施用量相结合可作为一种适宜小麦生产的农艺管理策略。

    The tea geometrid Ectropis obliqua is one of the most serious leaf-feeding insect pests in tea (Camellia sinensis) in East Asia. Although several volatile chemicals emitted from tea plants have been reported to be attractive to E. obliqua moths, no synthetic attractants for E. obliqua moths have been developed. By measuring the behavioral responses of the moth to a series of chemicals in the lab, we found that a blend containing a ternary mixture containing (Z)-3-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexenyl hexanoate and benzyl alcohol clearly attracted to E. obliqua moths of both sex and that (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate could enhance the attractiveness of the ternary blend. Moreover, we found that the volatiles emitted from the plant-E. obliqua larva complex have the same attractiveness as: 1) the blend of volatiles containing the ternary mixture and 2) the blend containing (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate plus the ternary mixture to both male and female moths. In a field bioassay, more male moths were observed on traps that were baited with the blend containing (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate plus the ternary mixture than on control traps. Our study raises the tantalizing possibility that synthetic blends could be deployed as attractants for pests in the field.

Although plastic-covered ridge and furrow planting (RF) has been reported to produce substantial increases in the grain weight of winter wheat, the underlying mechanism is not yet understood. The present study used two cultivars, Xinong 538 and Zhoumai 18, and RF and traditional flatten planting (TF, control) with the objective of investigating the effect of RF on wheat grain filling and the possible relationship of hormonal changes in the wheat grains under RF to grain filling. The results indicated that RF significantly increased the grain weight, although the effects on grain filling were different: RF significantly increased the grain-filling rate and grain weight of inferior grains, whereas RF had no significant effect on grainfilling rate and grain weight of superior grains. The ?nal grain weight of inferior grains under RF was 39.1 and 50.7 mg for Xinong 538 and Zhoumai 18, respectively, 3.6 and 3.4 mg higher than the values under TF. However, the final grain weight of superior grains under RF was only 0.6 and 0.8 mg higher than under TF for Xinong 538 and Zhoumai 18, respectively. RF significantly decreased the ethylene and gibberellic acid content in the inferior grains and increased the indole-3-acetic acid, abscisic acid and zeatin + zeatin riboside content in the inferior grains; however, no significant difference between RF and TF was observed for the hormonal content in the superior grains. Based on these results, we concluded that RF significantly modulated hormonal changes in the inferior grains and, thus, affected the grain filling and grain weight of the inferior grains; in contrast, RF had no significant effect on grain filling, grain weight and hormonal changes in the superior wheat grains.

The ridge and furrow rainfall harvesting (RFRH) system is used for dryland crop production in northwest of China. To determine the effects of RFRH using different mulching materials on corn growth and water use efficiency (WUE), a field experiment was conducted during 2008-2010 at the Heyang Dryland Experimental Station, China. Four treatments were used in the study. Furrows received uncovered mulching in all RFRH treatments whereas ridges were mulched with plastic film (PF), biodegradable film (BF) or liquid film (LF). A conventional flat field without mulching was used as the control (CK). The results indicated that the average soil water storage at depths of 0-200 cm were 8.2 and 7.3%, respectively higher with PF and BF than with CK. However, LF improved soil water storage during the early growth stage of the crop. Compared with CK, the corn yields with PF and BF were increased by 20.4 and 19.4%, respectively, and WUE with each treatment increased by 23.3 and 21.7%, respectively. There were no significant differences in corn yield or WUE with the PF and BF treatments. The net income was the highest with PF, followed by BF, and the 3-yr average net incomes with these treatments were increased by 2 559 and 2 430 CNY ha-1, respectively, compared with CK. BF and PF had similar effects in enhancing the soil water content, crop yield and net income. Therefore, it can be concluded that biodegradable film may be a sustainable ecological alternative to plastic film for use in the RFRH system in northwest of China.