Many assessments of crop yield gaps based on comparisons to actual yields suggest grain yields in highly intensified agricultural systems are at or near the maximum yield attainable. However, these estimates can be biased in situations where yields are below full yield potential. Rice yields in the US continue to increase annually, suggesting that rice yields are not near the potential. In the interest of directing future efforts towards areas where improvement is most easily achieved, we estimated yield potential and yield gaps in US rice production systems, which are amongst the highest yielding rice systems globally. Zones around fourteen reference weather stations were created, and represented 87% of total US rice harvested area. Rice yield potential was estimated over a period of 13–15 years within each zone using the ORYZA(v3) crop model. Yield potential ranged from 11.5 to 14.5Mgha−1, while actual yields varied from 7.4 to 9.6Mgha−1, or 58–76% of yield potential. Assuming farmers could exploit up to 85% of yield potential, yield gaps ranged from 1.1 to 3.5Mgha−1. Yield gaps were smallest in northern California and the western rice area of Texas, and largest in the southern rice area of California, southern Louisiana, and northern Arkansas/southern Missouri. Areas with larger yield gaps exhibited greater annual yield increases over the study period (35.7kgha−1year−1 per Mg yield gap). Adoption of optimum management and hybrid rice varieties over the study period may explain annual yield increases, and may provide a means to further increase production via expanded adoption of current technologies

The Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar), is a major pest of sugarcane (hybrids of Saccharum spp.) in Louisiana and Texas. Resistance to E. loftini was evaluated in 51 commercial and experimental cultivars of sugarcane, energycane (hybrids of Saccharum spp.), and sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench and hybrids of Sorghum spp.] in four replicated small plot field experiments from 2009 to 2012. A relative resistance ratio was developed to compare levels of susceptibility among cultivars based on the percentage of bored internodes and survival to adulthood. This index was able to separate cultivars into five resistance categories and provides a new method for comparing levels of resistance among cultivars. E. loftini pest pressure in 2009 was among the highest recorded with injury ranging from 55 to 88% bored internodes. Commercial sugarcane cultivar HoCP 85-845 was identified as resistant in three of four experiments, whereas HoCP 04-838 was identified as susceptible in all experiments. Of the five sugarcane cultivars in commercial production in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, only TCP 87-3388 was categorized as resistant. Of the cultivars with potential for bioenergy production, all of the energycane cultivars demonstrated higher levels of resistance than high-biomass and sweet sorghum cultivars. Continued evaluation of cultivar resistance to E. loftini is important to development of effective integrated pest management strategies for this pest.

Wheat is one of the major crops throughout the Balkan peninsula of Europe. Specific harvest and binning dates can vary depending on the specific geographic region. Grain aeration, wherein ambient air is used at low-volume airflow rates to cool a grain mass to levels that will suppress insect population development, is an under-utilized component of pest management plans for stored wheat. The successful use of aeration can potentially reduce fumigation of stored wheat, which will contribute to the amelioration of increasingly prevalent phosphine resistance. Historical weather data were used from 19 sites in the Balkan region to predict how quickly grains could be cooled through the use of aeration, using a web-based aeration model, and three different starting dates, including 1, 15, and 30 July. The model was used to predict population growth and development of Sitophilus oryzae, the rice weevil, with and without the use of aeration. Results show that, in the northern regions of the Balkans, aeration implemented at the start of binning reduced insect populations far below pest levels in unaerated wheat, and may potentially eliminate the need for fumigations. In more southerly regions, additional chemical inputs, such as fumigation or grain protectants, may be necessary in conjunction with aeration. Results provide guidelines for the increased potential of using aeration for the management of wheat produced and stored in the Balkan peninsula.

Sheath blight (ShB; caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG1-1A) and narrow brown leaf spot (NBLS; Cercospora janseana) are among the most important diseases affecting rice production in Texas and other southern parts of the United States. Because of the high yield potential, hybrid rice acreage is continually increasing. Understanding the relative levels of resistance to ShB and NBLS in hybrids compared to those of inbreds is important for effective disease management; however, this information remains largely unknown. A comparison of the performance of hybrid rice and inbred rice was performed involving 173 hybrid and 155 inbred genotypes (cultivars and elite breeding lines) over the course of five crop seasons (2016 to 2020) and two locations in Texas. The results showed that genotype, cultivar type (hybrid or inbred), location, and their interactions had significant effects on the severity of ShB and NBLS. The ShB severity in hybrid genotypes was significantly lower than that in inbred genotypes, with an average reduction of 27% in disease severity during the 5-year, two-location evaluation. Most (53%) of the hybrid genotypes were rated moderately resistant, whereas almost all (97%) of the inbred genotypes ranged from very susceptible to moderately susceptible. Similarly, NBLS severity in hybrid genotypes is significantly lower than that in inbred genotypes. All but four hybrid genotypes exhibit immune reactions to NBLS. In contrast, 77% of inbred genotypes exhibit NBLS symptoms, with disease resistance reactions ranging from susceptible to resistant. The results demonstrate that hybrid rice is generally less susceptible to sheath blight and has a higher level of resistance against NBLS compared with inbred rice.