Intercropping is a farming practice used to boost the crop yield. In this study we investigated the combined effects of inoculation by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria and intercropping on growth, and phosphorus and nitrogen nutrition of durum wheat and faba bean. Inoculation of intercrops significantly improved biomass and nutrient concentrations in plants and their spikes/pods compared with monoculture and single inoculation treatments, suggesting that intercropping and co-inoculation improves the yield of intercrops even under stressful conditions.

Plant architectural traits significantly affect overall production, with compact plant architecture using less space between plants, and hence, allowing higher density. QTLs controlling production-related architectural traits in sorghum have received insufficient attention; hence, the present experiment investigates genomic regions that might harbor putative QTLs for these traits. Our findings will support the genetic improvement of architectural traits for sorghum production increase.

External factors including N fertilisation, N sources and seasonal variation play an important role in influencing accumulation of oxalate in Napier–bajra hybrid leaves, causing hypocalcaemia or formation of urinary calculi in animals with prolonged grazing. Nitrogen fertilisation, particularly in nitrate form, is directly associated with upregulation of nitrate-reducing enzymes, which leads to increased accumulation of oxalate. The amide and ammonium forms at the recommended N rate (75 kg/ha) may be more suitable for minimising oxalate poisoning in animals.

The pigeonpea industry in Australia is experiencing revival owing to a high export potential, but weeds pose a biological constraint to high yield of the crop. At row spacings of 25 and 50 cm, pre-emergent pendimethalin provided effective control of weeds when used either alone or in sequential application with post-emergent imazapic. In paired-row arrangement, superior weed control was found only with sequential application of pendimethalin and imazapic.

Seed shape of soybean is an important morphological trait that significantly affects the quality of marketable seed. The study combined genotypic and phenotypic data of a Chinese soybean collection with 202 cultivars to find loci underlying seed shape, using genome wide association analysis. The identified loci along with 28 candidate genes could be of great value for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying seed shape and improving the potential seed yield of soybean.

Avocado is an important tropical crop plant, known to be particularly responsive to environment in terms of survival and production, yet likely effects of global climate change on its potential geography remain unknown. This study used correlative ecological niche models to explore the future geographic potential, which has implications for future development of its production.

The seed ecology of two spatially varied populations of Lactuca serriola was examined to understand the effect of various environmental factors. Results show >80% germination across a range of temperatures; however, emergence decreased with increase in burial depth. To manage this species, we recommend burying the seeds at least 4 cm deep to reduce emergence and subsequent establishment.

Strategies need to be defined to maintain legume persistence in grass–legume intercropping. We found that row intercropping was more efficient than mixed intercropping at maintaining high proportions of legume plants. Grass–legume intercropping had a positive effect on the productive and nutritional characteristics of the forage and maintaining sustainability.