FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligosaccharides Disaccharides Monosaccharides And Polyols) are indigestible, short-chain carbohydrates fermented in the large intestine, causing discomfort in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). FODMAPs, specifically fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), lactose, fructose in excess of glucose, and polyols, are found in fruits, vegetables, grains, milk and their processed products. The aim of this project was to identify the major sources of FODMAPs in the New Zealand diet to guide research into reducing FODMAPs in those major sources. FODMAP data were collected from the New Zealand Food Composition Database(1), in-house data and published sources(2-5). NZ food consumption data were sourced from multiple published sources. Estimated potential dietary intake of FODMAPs in NZ was calculated in grams per capita per annum. Foods and beverages were ranked to ascertain major FODMAP sources within each food group. Without replicated data for individual foods, inferential statistical analysis was not possible. NZ food consumption data on a per capita per annum basis is limited, therefore consumption data were calculated based on serving size and serves per day per capita for some foods. Comprehensive FODMAP data are not available for NZ foods and beverages. In terms of FODMAP data, the New Zealand Food Composition Database(1) contains only fructose and glucose data (to calculate excess fructose) and lactose data. The main cereal and grain source of FODMAPs is wheat flour (763–831 g fructan) and the main cereal-based product sources are breads (55–1194 g fructan, up to 121 g excess fructose and 55–159 g GOS) and breakfast cereals (60–525 g fructan, up to 99 g excess fructose, up to 159 g GOS, and 2409 g lactose if consumed with cow’s milk). The main fruit source of FODMAPs is apples, providing up to 456 g excess fructose and 68–81 g sorbitol. The main vegetable sources are onion bulb (134–662 g fructan), cauliflower (131 g mannitol) and mushroom (53 g mannitol). Consumption data for garlic were unavailable. Cow’s milk is the main source of lactose (4516–5259 g), followed by ice cream (415–937 g), cheeses and butter. The main beverage sources are milk and milk-based café-style coffee (1407–4220 g lactose) and apple-based fruit juices (486–836 g excess fructose). Little data exist for sweeteners and confectionery. Honey and pear juice (containing excess fructose) are sources, as are artificial sweeteners such as erythritol, maltitol and xylitol (i.e. polyols), commonly found in chewing gum, diabetic and low-carb food products. Milk chocolate contributes to lactose consumption. More comprehensive New Zealand food consumption data (on a per capita per annum basis) are required to obtain a more accurate picture of dietary FODMAP intake. Adding oligosaccharide and polyol data to the New Zealand Food Composition Database would be beneficial to provide complete FODMAP data of New Zealand foods.

In this study, the effects of wheat-based diets processed in a hammer mill with different sieve diameters (4000 (fine), 5000 (medium) and 6000 (coarse) µm) and enzyme addition (0 and 300 g/ton) on the performance, slaughtering characteristics, tibia properties, jejunum morphology and pancreatic enzyme secretion in broilers (1–42 days) were tested in a 3×2 factorial design. A total of 480 one-day-old chickens were randomly distributed into 6 treatment groups of 5 replicates, each containing 16 birds. The performance of broilers was not affected by particle size. Dietary enzyme supplementation improved body weight on the 1–10th day period but did not affect other performance parameters. Thigh and abdominal fat increased with fine particle size, breast weight increased with medium particle size and gizzard weight increased with coarse particle size. Enzyme addition decreased the carcass and gizzard weights. Tibia breaking strength decreased with fine particle size. Tibia wall thickness and ash increased with enzyme addition. Pancreatic enzyme secretions increased in the coarse group and with enzyme supplementation. Jejunum histomorphology worsened with coarse particle size, while enzyme inclusion improved histomorphology. The interactions affected feed consumption (25–42nd day), feed conversion ratio (11–24th day), breast weight, tibia breaking strength and ash, pancreas weight, lipase activity and villus parameters. These findings demonstrated that coarse grinding of wheat-based diets improved bone development and pancreatic enzyme activity without affecting performance while worsening jejunum morphology. Enzyme addition positively affected bone and digestive system development.

This article investigates the global history of dryland modernisation through the case study of southern Italy. From the early twentieth century to the fascist years, several intellectuals, scientists, and politicians reinterpreted the apparent and long-standing backwardness of this region as fundamentally due to its hydrology and climate: southern Italy was rediscovered as a dry land, formally part of Italy and civilised Europe and yet environmentally closer to extra-European spaces of empire. The article shows how Italian agrarian scientists mobilised this ‘environmental Otherness’ of the Italian south as the key to developing a ‘dryland’ science alternative to that of ‘humid’ northern Italy and continental Europe. Instead, this ‘dryland’ approach to modernisation grounded southern Italy within a vast transimperial network defined by the co-production and circulation of knowledge and technologies allowing the adaptation of modern and intensive food production to semi-arid regions. As such, the article argues that Italian agrarian scientists redefined the spatial order of the Italian south in a transimperial sense, embracing its environmental Otherness as a vantage point for its rehabilitation within Italy’s nation-building.

Corteva Agriscience recently registered a premix of tolpyralate and bromoxynil in the United States and Canada for weed control in cereal fields. Limited information exists on weed control efficacy and crop safety with this new herbicide premixture. Greenhouse trials were conducted for 2 yr to test the efficacy of tolpyralate and bromoxynil combinations on 14 broadleaf and four grass weeds and its safety to wheat and barley. Four combinations of tolpyralate and bromoxynil at a 1:10 ratio (3.75 + 37.5, 7.5+ 75, 11.25 + 112.5, and 15 + 150 g ai ha−1) as a tank mix and premix were tested. Stand-alone treatments of tolpyralate and bromoxynil were also included in this study. The lowest tested rate of tolpyralate (3.75 g ha−1) provided 10% to 98% control of broadleaf weeds and 27% to 77% control of grass weeds. Bromoxynil at the lowest tested rate (37.5 g ha−1) provided 16% to 80% control of broadleaf weeds and 0% to 30% control of grass weeds. Tank mixing these two herbicides at the same rates resulted in improved broadleaf (60% to 100%) and grass (45% to 94%) weed control. The minimum recommended field use rate of tolpyralate + bromoxynil (15 + 150 g ha−1) controlled all the broadleaf weeds by >95%. That combination also controlled green foxtail, barnyardgrass, and large crabgrass by >90%. An additive or synergistic effect between the two herbicides was observed against several broadleaf and grass weed species. Among all the tested weeds, a greater synergistic effect was observed when the herbicides were used on kochia, chickweed, wild mustard, corn poppy, barnyardgrass, green foxtail, and fall panicum. The premix of the two herbicides provided similar control of broadleaf weeds, but better control of grass weeds than the tank-mix combinations. The premix can be used safely on wheat and barley.

Cleavers, an annual or winter annual broadleaf weed in the Rubiaceae family, has become troublesome in the wheat fields of the Huang-Huai-Hai region in China due to its herbicide resistance. In North America the common name of the plant is stickwilly; in China it known as cleavers. Four populations of cleavers (JS-15, SD-10, JS-22, and AH-20) were collected from wheat fields in Jiangsu, Shandong, and Anhui provinces, where the plant was not being controlled with applications of florasulam. The aims of this study were to identify the herbicide resistance patterns and investigate the mechanism underlying florasulam resistance. Whole-plant dose-response experiments revealed a notable variation in the degree of resistance exhibited by three specific populations toward florasulam, in comparison to the most sensitive population (S and AH-9), with the highest resistance index reaching 841.4. A gene-sequencing assay for acetolactate synthase (ALS) found that plants that were resistant to ALS from the JS-15, JS-22, and AH-20 populations had a Trp-574-Leu mutation, while no known ALS resistance mutations were discovered in SD-10 plants. In vitro ALS enzyme activity assays also indicated that the extractable ALS from JS-15, JS-22, and AH-20 plants was greatly resistant to florasulam relative to plants that are susceptible. Additionally, according to the resistance rating system, all resistant populations were susceptible to carfentrazone-ethyl + MCPA-sodium and bipyrazone + fluroxypyr-methyl. AH-20, JS-15, and JS-22 exhibited resistance to selected ALS, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD), and photosystem II (PS II) complex inhibitors, demonstrating RR and RRR resistance profiles, whereas AH-9 displayed sensitivity to virtually all tested agents. The SD-10 population, on the other hand, exhibited RR and RRR resistance to HPPD and PS II inhibitors, and sensitivity to tribenuron-methyl. These findings indicate that a target site–based mechanism drives resistance to the ALS inhibitor florasulam in populations of cleavers, but nontarget site resistance may also have contributed to resistance, but this was not investigated. Other herbicides with different sites of action were tested and were active against cleavers.

Tiafenacil is a new nonselective protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase–inhibiting herbicide with both grass and broadleaf activity labeled for preplant application to corn, cotton, soybean, and wheat. Early season rice emergence and growth often coincide in the mid-southern United States with applications of preplant herbicides to cotton and soybean, thereby increasing the opportunity for off-target herbicide movement from adjacent fields. Field studies were conducted to identify any deleterious effects of reduced rates of tiafenacil (12.5% to 0.4% of the lowest labeled application rate of 24.64 g ai ha−1) applied to 1- or 3-leaf rice. Visual injury 1 wk after treatment (WAT) for the 1- and 3-leaf growth stages ranged from 50% to 7% and 20% to 2%, respectively, whereas at 2 WAT these respective ranges were 13% to 2%, and no injury was observed. Tiafenacil applied at those rates had no negative season-long effect because observed early season injury was not manifested as a reduction in rice height 2 WAT or rough rice yield. Application of tiafenacil to crops directly adjacent to rice in its early vegetative stages of growth should be avoided because visual injury will occur. When off-target movement does occur, however, the affected rice should be expected to fully recover with no effect on growth or yield, assuming adequate growing conditions and agronomic/pest management are provided.

Wild oat is a long-standing weed problem in Australian grain cropping systems, potentially reducing the yield and quality of winter grain crops significantly. The effective management of wild oat requires an integrated approach comprising diverse control techniques that suit specific crops and cropping situations. This research aimed to construct and validate a bioeconomic model that enables the simulation and integration of weed control technologies for wild oat in grain production systems. The Avena spp. integrated management (AIM) model was developed with a simple interface to provide outputs of biological and economic data (crop yields, weed control costs, emerged weeds, weed seedbank, gross margins) on wild oat management data in a cropping rotation. Uniquely, AIM was validated against real-world data on wild oat management in a wheat and sorghum cropping rotation, where the model was able to reproduce the patterns of wild oat population changes as influenced by weed control and agronomic practices. Correlation coefficients for 12 comparison scenarios ranged between 0.55 and 0.96. With accurate parameterization, AIM is thus able to make useful predictions of the effectiveness of individual and integrated weed management tactics for wild oat control in grain cropping systems.

This study examines the economic performance of rainfed cropping systems endemic to the Southern Great Plains under weed competition. Cropping systems include tilled and no-till wheat-fallow, wheat-soybean, and wheat-sorghum rotations. Net returns from systems are compared under different levels of weed pressure. Producers operating over longer planning horizons would choose to double-crop regardless of the tillage method used and weed pressure level. Producers operating under shorter planning horizons would implement wheat-fallow systems when weed pressure is high and double crop when weed pressure is low.

Wheat market integration between the US and the UK before the “first era of globalization” (in the second half of the nineteenth century) was frequently interrupted by policy and “exogenous” events such as wars. This paper adds Canada to this story by looking at trade and price data, as well as contemporary debates. This allows us to triangulate the role of policy and wars, since Canada as a small open economy was part of the British Empire. We find that, despite its privileged access to British markets, Canada faced similar barriers to the US, suggesting that membership of the British Empire provided only a modest benefit to trade. We also describe the limitations she faced accessing the US market, in particular after American independence.

Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) is a cool-season perennial grass developed as a dual-purpose grain and forage crop. One barrier to adopting this crop is a lack of information on the effects of herbicides on IWG for grain production. An experiment was conducted to evaluate herbicide effects on IWG grain yield, crop injury, and weed control over 2 yr (2019 to 2021) at sites in Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, and North Dakota. This evaluation included broadleaf herbicides registered for use on wheat: 2,4-D amine, clopyralid, MCPA, and a mixture of clopyralid + MCPA (all are categorized as Group 4 herbicides by the Weed Science Society of America). Each herbicide or mixture was applied at 1× and 2× the labeled wheat application rate to newly planted and established (1- to 5-yr-old) IWG stands in the fall or spring. Herbicides were applied during IWG tillering or jointing stages in the fall or during the jointing stage in the spring. Across site years, application timing, herbicide, and application rate showed no effect on IWG grain yield or plant injury. Broadleaf weed control ranged from 71% to 92% across herbicide treatments relative to the nontreated check at the Wisconsin site, whereas weed control at the Minnesota site was variable among treatments. At the New York site, herbicides were equally effective for broadleaf weed suppression, whereas weed pressure was very low at the North Dakota site and treatments did not affect weed cover. The results show that newly planted and established stands of IWG are tolerant to the synthetic auxin herbicides 2,4-D amine, clopyralid, and MCPA when applied during tillering or jointing in the fall or during jointing in the spring. Synthetic auxins represent a potentially useful tool for weed control in IWG cropping systems, especially for problematic broadleaf weed species.

Russian thistle is one of the most important broadleaf weeds in the semiarid U.S. Pacific Northwest. It consumes soil water after wheat harvest, compromising the yield of the following crop. The objectives of this work were to determine the impact of post–wheat harvest herbicide application timing on Russian thistle control and of stubble height on Russian thistle postharvest control and plant dispersal. For the first objective, experiments were conducted at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, Adams, OR (CBARC), and the Lind Dryland Research Station, Lind, WA (LDRS), in 2020 and 2021. Herbicides evaluated included paraquat, glyphosate, and either bromoxynil + pyrasulfotole (CBARC) or bromoxynil + metribuzin (LDRS). The different post–wheat harvest application timings were 24 h and 1, 2, and 3 wk after harvest. For the second objective, two stubble heights (short and tall) were compared for their impact on control at CBARC and in a production field near Ione, OR. Paraquat provided the greatest control in all scenarios, with no differences in application timings or stubble height. Impacts of application timings were not clear for glyphosate or bromoxynil mixtures. For glyphosate treatments, control in short stubble was 11% greater than in tall stubble in both years. Control was also greater in short stubble for the bromoxynil + pyrasulfotole application in 2020. However, Russian thistle plant dispersal was greater in short stubble at both locations. At CBARC, plant dispersal in short stubble was 58%, compared to 18% in tall stubble. Near Ione, plant dispersal in flattened stubble was 88%, compared to 43% in nonflattened short stubble. Leaving tall stubble at harvest should be considered to reduce Russian thistle plant dispersal if the infestation is going to be left untreated after harvest; otherwise, short stubble might result in better Russian thistle control when using systemic herbicides, such as glyphosate.

Water stress conditions have occurred in the past in various places of the world, affecting the yield and production of numerous crops, including wheat. The aim of this research was to estimate standard heterosis under two different water regimes for grain yield and its attributes in 33 crosses, which were obtained by crossing 11 lines and 3 testers in a Line × Tester mating design. The best cross combinations for yield and contributing traits under irrigated condition were C4, C8, C33, C24, and C23, compared to both checks HD2967 and PBW660. Whereas, in rainfed condition, C18, C14, C26, C21, and C20 crosses were superior to the checks. For both irrigated and rainfed conditions, the best cross combinations identified were C29, C15, C32, C2, and C31. As a result, these cross combinations could be used in wheat breeding programmes to improve bread wheat genotypes for increased grain yield, agro-morphological features, and water stress tolerance. The presence of high heterosis for yield-contributing traits not only aids in the development of hybrids by exploiting heterosis but also in the production of transgressive segregants to develop elite lines.

This study examines the extent to which wheat varieties supplied by the formal seed system align with the varieties demanded and used by farmers in Ethiopia. The framework of stated and revealed preferences drawn from the consumer preference theory is used to analyze farmer demand for different wheat varieties. We used official data from the formal seed sector and representative survey data from wheat farm households in Ethiopia. The survey data allow to contrast the farmer reported varietal use with genotyping by sequencing (also known as DNA fingerprinting). Farmers’ reliance on informal seed sources and own saved seed, among others, contributes to the misidentification of the varieties they grow. Consequently, farmers are likely to misinform the formal seed demand assessment leading to either an over- or underestimation of actual seed demand for specific wheat varieties. Genotyping by sequencing, as opposed to farmer reports, established the persistence of old varieties. This also implies vulnerability of wheat production to disease dynamics depending on the longevity of disease resistance by the variety in use. Apart from narrowing the gap between the actual and stated demand and ensuring timely replacement of wheat varieties, genotyping-assisted estimates can save seed carry-over cost. Genotyping by sequencing is increasingly used as the new benchmark and gold standard for identifying and tracking the adoption of crop varieties. The technique has potential to enhance the performance of the seed sector through effective planning that can optimize resource commitments and accelerate the rate of varietal replacement.

Applying the difference-in-difference (DID) estimation procedure, this study quantifies the wheat blast (Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum) induced losses in wheat yield, quantity of wheat sold, consumed, or stored, as well as wheat grain value in Bangladesh in 2016 following a disease outbreak that affected over 15,000 ha. Estimates show that the blast-induced yield loss was 540 kg ha−1 on average for households in blast-affected districts. Estimated total wheat production loss was approximately 8,205 tons worth USD 2.1 million in during the 2016 outbreak. Based on these insights, we discuss the need for long-term assured investment and concerted research efforts in controlling transboundary diseases such as wheat blast, including the importance of weather forecast driven early warning systems and the dissemination of blast-resistant varieties.