Project title: New management practices for mitigating abiotic and biotic stresses in maize under changing climate conditions
Duration: 1. 7. 2019 - 30. 6. 2022
Project leader: Uroš Žibrat
Project team: link
Organizations: KIS, Biotehniška fakulteta
Co-financers: ARRS, MKGP
Project bibliography: link
Project description:
Corn crop requires adequate water in all stages of its development in order to attain optimum productivity. Because of its shallow roots, maize is susceptible to droughts, intolerant of nutrient-deficient soils, and prone to be uprooted by severe winds. Integrated management practices aim to mitigate these stresses with minimal use externally applied pesticides, nutrients or water, while retaining current yields or if possible increasing them.
We will introduce novel strategies for management of selected abiotic and biotic stressors. Selected beneficial microorganisms, in different mixtures, will be tested in order to ascertain their effect as pest controlling agents and on plant health and yield. New inventory strategies need to be developed to encounter additional entomopathogenic fungi to control the western corn rootworm. The models of climate changes predict an increase of average temperatures
and more frequent periods of drought, floods and heat waves. Warmer summers with less precipitation will strongly affect agricultural production in central Europe. Higher temperatures will allow development of several generations of pests in a growing season and consequently higher yield losses. The distribution of harmful organisms will be also affected by climate changes. One example is the tropical RKN species M. luci, which can survive winters in the open fields
in the temperate and Mediterranean climatic conditions. M. luci was already detected in open fields, at least in Greece and presents therefore a potentially emerging new pest as it is difficult to control in the open field. Furthemore, tropical RKN species like M. luci survive under glasshouse conditions (protected area) and cause serious damage to agricultural production. It is therefore important to assess the economic threshold of M. luci populations in the soil because it can cause
economic damage to maize crops. Accordingly, remote sensing methods can facilitate early detection of infestations in open fields and glasshouses, when they are still limited to a few plants. Because visible symptoms are virtually identical to drought stress and nitrogen deficiency, remote sensing has to focus on the near-infrared and shortwave infrared spectral regions. Furthermore, with genomic/genetic approach we will establish a set of functional DNA
markers, which are associated with agronomic, quality and abiotic stress traits. The abiotic stress related DNA markers will be utilized for the screening and selection of maize varieties. On heterogeneous soils, where nitrogen leeching is uneven, homogenous application of fertilizer leads to over application in certain areas. The principles of precision agriculture state that any management practices should be performed with high spatial accuracy. Remote sensing approaches to
precision agriculture can facilitate spatially accurate management practices.
Objectives:
Objective 1: High-end phenotyping: Remote sensing/hyperspectral cameras allow development of precision agriculture concepts for early detection and management of biotic and abiotic stresses.
Objective 2: Targeting the role of microorganisms: Beneficial microorganisms (fungi and bacteria) can counteract ill effects caused by pathogens and pests. Inventories for fungi able to parasitize eggs and larvae of the Western corn rootworm allows the identification of promising agents and may lead to the development of novel biopesticides naturally adapted to the soil conditions in Slovenia.
Objective 3: Quality assessment of newly implemented strategies: Strategies selected to improve maize health status can be evaluated in terms of yield andbiomass, at selected phenophases during the season and at harvest. DNA markers associated with traits such as drought, temperature, earliness and disease response allow selecting best varieties adapted to performed management practices and Slovenian conditions.