Nitrogen (N) plays a vital role in plant growth; however, the yield response to N fertilizer is regularly declining in the major cropping systems due to overuse and the upper limit of yields. Heavy losses of N are also documented due to its excessive use in the rice-wheat rotation system, resulting in low nitrogen-use efficiencies (NUE) and environmental problems. Therefore, a three-year field experiment was performed with different N managements to investigate the impact of reduced N input rates in this exhaustive cropping system. Reducing the N application rates did not affect the wheat and rice yields significantly, only during the second wheat season was the yield slightly reduced as compared to higher N input treatments. Decreasing the N input rates in the prior crop and present crop, and the interactions of both rice and wheat seasons (R × W) did not influence the yields of either crop. A reduction in N fertilizer had a considerable impact on dry matter production during the wheat seasons but demonstrated no effect during the rice season. The accumulation of N was significantly reduced during both crop seasons by lowering the rate of N application. In addition, the NUE indices were significantly influenced by N fertilizer application rates. In conclusion, N fertilizer input rates for both rice and wheat crops can be lowered as compared to present fertilization rates without any risk of yield decline. Lowering the N input increases the NUE and effectively reduces N losses, and soil N status can also be maintained.

This study investigated how amylopectin (AP) chain-length distribution (CLD) influences the structural and functional properties of ten waxy rice varieties through a multiscale analysis. The fitting CLD parameters revealed that varieties such as YN12 and GMN2 contained the highest proportions of intermediate chains (h_iii~14.5~10.2) and long chains (h_v~0.552~0.477), resulting in higher gelatinization temperatures, including onset temperatures (T_o~60.2~66.4 °C), temperature peak (T_p~72.0~72.2 °C), and the conclusion temperatures (T_c~80.8~79.4 °C). Sample YN12 exhibited the lowest breakdown viscosity (BDV~748 cP), indicating higher thermal stability and stable pasting behavior. All of the samples showed relative crystallinity (Rc%) ranging from 19.3 to 22.8% with lamellar spacing of 8.8~9.4 nm. Sample YN12 exhibited the lowest enzymatic digestion rate (k~1.48 × 10⁻² min⁻¹) and the highest resistant starch (C_res~9.81%), reflecting restricted enzyme accessibility. In contrast, sample SN9714 and ZN106, characterized by a higher proportion of shorter branches in the long-chain region of AP CLD (β_vi~3.75~2.53), exhibited greater BDV (1407 cP) and faster digestion kinetics (k~1.90 × 10⁻² min⁻¹). The Rc% (22.83%) of NGXN was positively correlated with gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH~14.8 J/g). These findings highlight the pivotal role of AP CLDs in determining the structural, thermal, pasting, and digestive properties of waxy rice starch, offering molecular-level guidance for the development of rice-based ingredients with tailored functional characteristics.

Zinc is an essential plant and human nutrient and its primary source is Zn-rich food consumption. The only way to enrich plants with Zn is through the application of Zn fertilizers including various chemical and organic sources of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). The Zn bioavailability from ZnO NPs must be considered for their recommendation as a fertilizer, and very little is known about the efficacy of such fertilizers in the Hungarian soil environment. In the present investigation, we prepared ZnO NPs of different sizes and applied them in two distinct textures of soils (sandy loam (SL) and silty clay (SC)) in an incubation experiment. The prepared ZnO NPs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). ZnO NPs were applied in both soil types at 500 mg L⁻¹ in the form of a suspension, and ZnSO₄ was applied in the form of a solution. The soils were incubated for 7 and 14 days. Column leaching was performed to analyze the dissolved Zn. Retained Zn in the soil matrix was extracted using 0.05 M EDTA. The results showed that approximately 21–23% and 10–13% higher Zn was observed in the pore water of SL and SC soils, respectively, when spiked with small-sized NPs compared to large-sized NPs, while 14–26% higher dissolved Zn was observed in SL soil compared to SC soil. It is concluded that the size of NPs and the soil texture are the main factors that play important roles in deciding the fate of NPs under an alkaline soil environment.