Lodging stress is an important constraint that leads to yield and quality losses and cause problems with mechanical harvesting of wheat crops. Foliar application of uniconazole or ethephon significantly reduced the lodging rate by improving lignin metabolism and optimising culm morphological characteristics in winter wheat, thereby also increasing the grain yield.

Soil carbon (C) is generally lost during the cultivated transition from pasture to crop. Loss of C in the <0.4-mm fine fraction of soil was smaller in higher fertility soils when lime was applied. For lower fertility soils, the treatment with lime had greater loss of C in the <0.4-mm fraction unless supplementary nutrients were applied. Loss of C from the >0.4-mm coarse fraction as a proportion of total loss was greater with incorporated pasture residue than with nutrient-poor crop residue.

The economics of liming and nitrogen (N)-related practices are inter-related because N-related practices, including fertilisers and legume crops, affect soil acidification. This study presents insights from a dynamic economic optimisation model that simultaneously determines optimal strategies for lime application, N application and legume crop rotation in Western Australia. The most profitable liming rate is sensitive to N fertiliser type and legume rotation, and optimal rates for both lime and fertiliser increase with rainfall.

Characterisation of critical genes involved in the stress responses is an essential prerequisite for soybean crop improvement. Soybean proteins containing TIR domains are likely to play a role in stress resistance, and the present study provides evidence that the soybean GmTIR gene can improve the tolerance of salt and drought stresses, as demonstrated using the model plant Arabidopsis. GmTIR therefore has the potential to improve the tolerance of soybean to multiple types of stresses; however, confirmation of the effects of GmTIR in soybean remains to be completed via transgenic studies in soybean.

Optimising P level could improve the source–sink relationship of dry matter and phosphorus. This study showed that leaves are the major contributor to the seed P in cotton, and that cultivars significantly differed in source size in response to P fertilisation.

Seasonal patterns of pasture production and its year-to-year variability are important because they influence key grazing management decisions such as stocking rates and policies. This study found that pasture growth patterns have changed in south-eastern Australia, with increased winter production, decreased spring growth and increased year-to-year variability in the autumn and spring seasons in 2002–15 compared with earlier periods. Similar changes to pasture growth patterns were predicted under future climate scenarios for the year 2030, but this study provides evidence that these changes are already occurring.

The use of microorganisms in agricultural crops is well established, and inoculation of legumes such as soybeans has been in practice for several years. In forage plants, these studies are still scarce, and so the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of different bacteria on Urochloa genotypes. The effects of bacteria on the morphological and structural characteristics of the forages are clear; hence, this study expands the possibilities for reducing nitrogen fertiliser use and practising agriculture without dependence on N inputs.

The selection of genotypes with high yield potential under water deficit is a major goal for lucerne-breeding programmes. The use of physiological traits related to forage biomass production could improve the selection process; however, their evaluation is usually expensive and time-demanding. The prediction of both productivity and physiological traits by using remote sensing and statistical models could allow the use of those traits routinely in breeding programmes.