Cauliflower Plants Research Articles

THE EFFECT OF CHICKEN MANURE AS ORGANIC MATTER AND NPK FERTILIZER ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF CABBAGE IN ALLUVIAL SOIL

Cabbage Flowers are flower buds in large numbers forming thick and dense circles. Utilization of alluvial soil as a growing medium is faced with low soil fertility, acidic soil pH, low levels of organic matter availability, and lack of nutrient content. The limited carrying capacity of the alluvial soil needs to be overcome by adding organic matter and nutrients needed to improve soil fertility as a growing medium for cauliflower plants. This study aims to determine the interaction of chicken manure as organic matter and NPK on the growth and yield of flower cabbage on alluvial soil. This research was conducted at Jalan Daya Nasional, Tanjungpura University Lecturer Complex, Pontianak from 27 December – 28 March 2022. This research is a field experiment with a factorial pattern of Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of 2 factors. The first factor consisted of chicken manure (K) which consisted of 3 treatment levels and the second factor was NPK fertilizer (N) with 3 treatment levels. Each treatment combination was repeated 3 times and each experimental unit contained 4 sample plants, so there were 108 plants. The first factor is chicken manure which consists of 3 levels, namely: 108 ton/ha, 243 ton/ha and 378 ton/ha. The second factor is NPK fertilizer which consists of 3 levels, namely: 300 kg/ha, 450 kg/ha and 600 kg/ha. Observation variables include: number of leaves, root volume, dry weight of the top of the plant, fresh weight of flowers and flower diameter. The results showed that there was an interaction between chicken manure and NPK fertilizer on the variable number of leaves 4 WAP. The dose of 243 ton/ha and pupuk NPK 600 kg/ha fertilizer is an efficient dose to increase the growth of flower cabbage on alluvial soil. Keywords : Alluvial, Cabbage Flowers, NPK, Chicken Manure

Effect of Sowing Media and Variety on Seedling Root Growth and Field Performance of Early Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis)

An experiment was conducted inside greenhouse and in the field of the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019) to assess the effect of sowing media and variety on root growth of early cauliflower seedling and subsequent performance of seedling in the main field. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design with eight treatments comprising of four sowing media [M1-cocopeat (60%): vermiculite (20%): perlite (20%), M2-cocopeat (50%): vermicompost (50%), M3-cocopeat (50%): vermicompost (50%): microbial consortium and M4-Conventional nursery] and two varieties [V1 (White Diamond) and V2 (CFL1522)] replicated thrice. Treatment M1, M2 and M3 were inside green house. The results revealed root parameters at seedling stage were significantly influenced by sowing media. The highest root length (4.94 cm), root fresh weight (0.26 mg) and root dry weight (0.07 mg) of seedling were recorded in M3. Between the two varieties (i.e V1 and V2) V1 exhibited the maximum root length (4.24 cm) while no significant difference was observed for root fresh and dry weight. Among interactions, M2V1 recorded maximum root length (5.83 cm) while M3V1 recorded maximum root fresh weight (0.28 mg) and dry weight (0.08 mg) of seedling. After transplanting in the field, significant variations for root parameters were observed. Cauliflower plants that were grown in M3 at seedling stage recorded highest root length (21.94 cm) and volume (74.59 cm3) but for root dry weight seedlings that were grown in M2 recorded maximum dry weight i.e. 3.28 g. Variety V2 recorded maximum root length (17.76 cm) and dry weight (2.68 g). M3V2 recorded highest root length (22.01 cm), volume (76.46 cm3) and dry weight (3.48 g). Curd characters were also significantly influence by media while variety showed significant variation for days to curd initiation, harvesting and curd diameter only. M3 recorded minimum days for curd initiation and harvesting (37.09 and 53.26), maximum curd compactness (53.05 g/cm3), diameter (12.84 cm), weight (0.41 kg) and shelf life (8.89 days).The interaction effect between media and variety was also found significant. The combination M3V1 recorded minimum days for curd initiation and harvesting ((36.55 and 52.32), maximum curd compactness (53.15 g/cm3) while M3V2 recorded maximum curd diameter (13.51 cm), curd weight (0.41 kg) and shelf life (9.50 days) .The combination M4V2 recorded maximum days for curd initiation and harvesting (45.46 and 63.87),minimum curd compactness (42.77 g/cm3) and M4V1 recorded minimum curd diameter (10.28 cm), shelf life (4.95 days) while both M4V1 and M4V2 recorded minimum curd weight (0.27 kg). From the present investigation it can be concluded that for producing quality seedlings in the nursery which will further show good performance in the field seedling can be raised in media(M3) i.e.cocopeat (50): vermicompost (50): microbial consortium @ 1:100 under protected condition.

GrowliFlower: An image time‐series dataset for GROWth analysis of cauLIFLOWER

AbstractIn this paper, we present GrowliFlower, a georeferenced, image‐based unmanned aerial vehicle time‐series dataset of two monitored cauliflower fields (0.39 and 0.60 ha) acquired in 2 years, 2020 and 2021. The proposed dataset contains RGB and multispectral orthophotos with coordinates of approximately 14,000 individual cauliflower plants. The coordinates enable the extraction of complete and incomplete time‐series of image patches showing individual plants. The dataset contains the collected phenotypic traits of 740 plants, including the developmental stage and plant and cauliflower size. The harvestable product is completely covered by leaves, thus, plant IDs and coordinates are provided to extract image pairs of plants pre‐ and post‐defoliation. In addition, to facilitate classification, detection, segmentation, instance segmentation, and other similar computer vision tasks, the proposed dataset contains pixel‐accurate leaf and plant instance segmentations, as well as stem annotations. The proposed dataset was created to facilitate the development and evaluation of various machine‐learning approaches. It focuses on the analysis of growth and development of cauliflower and the derivation of phenotypic traits to advance automation in agriculture. Two baseline results of instance segmentation tasks at the plant and leaf level based on labeled instance segmentation data are presented. The complete GrowliFlower dataset is publicly available (http://rs.ipb.uni-bonn.de/data/growliflower/).

Exogenous Proline, Methionine, and Melatonin Stimulate Growth, Quality, and Drought Tolerance in Cauliflower Plants

The impact of proline, methionine, and melatonin on cauliflower plants under drought stress is still unclear in the available publications. So, this research aims to study these biochemical compounds’ effects on cauliflower plants grown under well-irrigated and drought-stressed conditions. The obtained results showed that under drought-stressed conditions, foliar application of proline, methionine, and melatonin significantly (p ≤ 0.05) enhanced leaf area, leaf chlorophyll content, leaf relative water content (RWC), vitamin C, proline, total soluble sugar, reducing sugar, and non-reducing sugar compared to the untreated plants. These treatments also significantly increased curd height, curd diameter, curd freshness, and dry matter compared to untreated plants. Conversely, the phenolic-related enzymes including polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) were significantly reduced compared to the untreated plants. A similar trend was observed in glucosinolates, abscisic acid (ABA), malondialdehyde (MDA), and total phenols. Eventually, it can be concluded that the foliar application of proline, methionine, and melatonin can be considered a proper strategy for enhancing the growth performance and productivity of cauliflower grown under drought-stressed conditions.

A high yield method for protoplast isolation and ease detection of rol B and C genes in the hairy roots of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.) inoculated with Agrobacterium rhizogenes

Protoplasts represent a unique experimental system for the circulation and formation of genetically modified plants. Here, protoplasts were isolated from genetically modified hairy root tissues of Brassica oleracea L. induced by the Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain (ATCC13332). The concentration of enzyme solutions utilized for protoplast isolation was 1.5 % Cellulase YC and 0.1 % Pectolyase Y23 in 13% mannitol solution, which resulted in high efficiency of isolation within 8 hours, in which the protoplast yield was 2 x 104 cells ml-1 and the percentage of viability was 72%. Each protoplast has one nucleus with a nucleation of 48%. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay verified the presence of rol B and rol C genes in hairy root tissues by detaching a single bundle of DNA replication from these roots using a specific pair of primers. The current study demonstrated that A. rhizogenes strain (ATCC13332) is a vector for the incorporation of T-DNA genes into cauliflower plants, as well as the success of the hairy roots retention of rol B and rol C genes transferred to it.

Agricultural plant cataloging and establishment of a data framework from UAV-based crop images by computer vision.

BackgroundUnmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)–based image retrieval in modern agriculture enables gathering large amounts of spatially referenced crop image data. In large-scale experiments, however, UAV images suffer from containing a multitudinous amount of crops in a complex canopy architecture. Especially for the observation of temporal effects, this complicates the recognition of individual plants over several images and the extraction of relevant information tremendously.ResultsIn this work, we present a hands-on workflow for the automatized temporal and spatial identification and individualization of crop images from UAVs abbreviated as “cataloging” based on comprehensible computer vision methods. We evaluate the workflow on 2 real-world datasets. One dataset is recorded for observation of Cercospora leaf spot—a fungal disease—in sugar beet over an entire growing cycle. The other one deals with harvest prediction of cauliflower plants. The plant catalog is utilized for the extraction of single plant images seen over multiple time points. This gathers a large-scale spatiotemporal image dataset that in turn can be applied to train further machine learning models including various data layers.ConclusionThe presented approach improves analysis and interpretation of UAV data in agriculture significantly. By validation with some reference data, our method shows an accuracy that is similar to more complex deep learning–based recognition techniques. Our workflow is able to automatize plant cataloging and training image extraction, especially for large datasets.

Environmental Geochemistry and Bioavailability and Health Effects of Chromium in Topsoil and Cauliflower Plant in Kirkuk, Northern Iraq

The content of chromium in the surface soil as well as its content in cauliflower plants in Kirkuk was studied to investigate the environmental geochemistry of this element. 30 samples of surface soil were collected from inside the study area at a depth of 0-20 cm. Eight samples of cauliflower were collected from the same study area, soil and plant sampling sites were determined using a GPS device . Using ICP-MS technology we were able to analyze these samples. The results of ICP-MS showed that the average concentration of chromium in the soil samples was 78.59 mg/kg and its highest concentration was in the sample A12 (93.4 mg/kg), the increase in the concentration of chromium in the soil is due to agricultural fertilizers, irrigation with sewage water, the impact of traffic, commercial activities and industrial workshop. The mean of its concentration cauliflower samples was 3.81 mg/kg, and the highest concentration was 4.7 mg/kg in sample AQ10, the increase in the concentration of chromium in the plant is due to pollution in the soil, and the difference in these concentrations is due to the location of the sample and the properties of the soil. The plant absorbs it through the roots, then the stems, leaves,and fruits. Bioaccumulation factor value for chromium ranged with an average of 0.047 for all cauliflower samples. CF soil samples that the surface soil for this area is within a level (low pollution, CF <1) indicating the presence of pollution at a very low level, and the potential ecological risk index PRI found that all surface soil samples in the study area have (low risk level, PLI≤50), and Igeo indicates that there is no pollution (practically uncontaminated, Igeo ≤ 0). It was found that the value of THQnc for both groups of adults and children in the study area was greater than 1. The CRcancer values for both groups were greater than 1*10-4.

Is partial desynapsis in cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) pollen mother cells linked to aneuploidy in the crop?

Trisomic cauliflower plants (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) display abnormal curd phenotypes that seriously decrease commercial value of the crop. Despite extensive breeding efforts, selection of genotypes producing euploid gametes remains unsuccessful due to unknown genetic and environmental factors. To reveal an eventual role of an-euploid gametes, we analyzed chromosome pairing, chiasma formation and chromosome segregation in pollen mother cells of selected cauliflower genotypes. To this end we compared three genotypes exhibiting Low with < 5%, Moderate with 5–10% and High with > 10% aberrant offspring, respectively. Although chromosome pairing at pachytene was regular, cells at diakinesis and metaphase I showed variable numbers of univalents, suggesting partial desynapsis. Cells at anaphase I–telophase II exhibit various degrees of unbalanced chromosome numbers, that may explain the aneuploid offspring. Immunofluorescence probed with an MLH1 antibody demonstrated fluorescent foci in all genotypes, but their lower numbers do not correspond to the number of putative chiasmata. Interchromosomal connections between chromosomes and bivalents are common at diakinesis and metaphase I, and they contain centromeric and 45S rDNA tandem repeats, but such chromatin connections seem not to affect proper disjoin of the half bivalents at anaphase I. Moreover, male meiosis in the Arabidopsis APETALA1/CAULIFLOWER double mutant with the typical cauliflower phenotype does show interchromosomal connections, but there are no indications for partial desynapsis. The causality of the curd development on the desynapsis in cauliflower is still a matter of debate.

PERTUMBUHAN DAN HASIL TANAMAN KEMBANG KOL (BRASSICA OLERACEAE L.) PADA BERBAGAI KONSENTRASI AIR CUCIAN BERAS TERFERMENTASI

This study aims to determine the effect of various concentrations of fermented rice washing water on the growth and yield of cauliflower plant. The research was carried out at the Field Laboratory of Experimental Gardens II, Faculty of Agriculture, Halu Oleo University, Kendari, from July to September 2021. The study used a Randomized Block Design (RBD) consisting of six treatments, namely Control (P0), POC 20 mL/L(P1), POC 40 mL/L (P2), POC 60 mL/L (P3), POC 80 mL/L (P4) and POC 100 mL/L (P5). Each treatment was repeated three times so that there were 18 experimental units. The variables observed were plant height, number of leaves and weight of flower mass. The results showed that the application of various concentrations of fermented rice washing water could increase the growth and yield of cauliflower plants. The best treatment was obtained at POC concentration of 40 mL/L with a plant height of 11.83 cm, flowermass weight of 35.05 g. Whereas the highest number of leaves was obtained in the 60 mL/L (P3) treatment.

Identification of Diseases and Pests of Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea) in the Pedan Hamlet Plantation, Karanglo, Tawangmangu

Cauliflower (Brassicca oleracia var.brotrytis L.) is a type of vegetable that belongs to the Brassicaceae family (a type of cabbage with small white flowers). The purpose of the research on cauliflower (Brasica oleracea var. Botrytis L.) was to identify pests and diseases that attack cauliflower (Brasica oleracea var. Botrytis L.). The method used in this study was to go directly to the field once in August 2021. Observations were made on agricultural land owned by farmers in Pedan Hamlet, Karanglo Village, Tawangmangu, Karanganyar. The results showed that from three different land samples, different pests and diseases were encountered. In the first land sample, several pests were found such as grasshoppers, capers, spiders, and cauliflower caterpillars (Plutella xylostella) while the diseases that attacked were some cauliflower affected by whip tail disease, but very many cauliflower plants were found that were attacked by black rot and soft. In the second land sample, the most common pests found were capers, third field mop spiders, and the pests encountered were grasshoppers, spiders, capers and caterpillars and cauliflower caterpillars. While the disease that attacks is whiptail disease. In conclusion, the average pests that attack cauliflower plants are capers, spiders, cauliflower caterpillars and grasshoppers. And the common diseases that attack cauliflower plants are black rot, soft rot and whip tail.

Laju Pertumbuhan dan Hasil Kubis Bunga Akibat Perlakuan Pupuk Organik Cair

The people in Indonesia widely know cauliflower plants. In addition to their delicious taste, they also contain a high nutritional value for various kinds of dishes, both in restaurants and families. The purpose of this study was to determine the appropriate dose of liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) in order to obtain maximum growth and production of cauliflower (Brassica olerasea var Botritis). The study was conducted at the greenhouse of the Agriculture Faculty of Kadiri University. The experimental design employed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), which consisted of six treatments repeated four times with a level test using the 5% Least Significant Difference test. Based on the results of observations and data analysis, it was found that the LOF dose treatment had no significant effect on the parameters of the average plant height, the number of leaves, and leaf area at the age of 9 days after planting (DAP). However, there was a highly significant difference in the observations of the average plant height, number of leaves and leaf area at the age of 16, 23 and 30 DAP. The average plant height, number of leaves, and leaf area were the largest in the D3 treatment (LOF dose of 75ml/plant). The observation of root wet-weight, root dry-weight, plant wet-weight, plant dry-weight, flower wet-weight, and flower dry-weight on different LOF dose treatment showed a highly significant difference, and the highest average was in the D3 treatment (75ml/plant). For the observation of harvest index, various doses of LOF showed a highly significant difference, and the highest average was in treatment D2 (50 ml/plant). However, it was not significantly different from D4 (100 ml/plant).

Phytopathological and nutraceutical evaluation of cauliflower plants treated with high dilutions of arsenic trioxide

Introduction: This research aimed at verifying the effects of highly diluted (HD) treatments on cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.) plants both healthy and inoculated by the fungus Alternaria brassicicola, causing the dark leaf spot disease. In vitro spore germination assays (A), growth chamber experiments (B) and field trials (C) were performed. &#x0D; Material and Methods: (A): spore suspensions were prepared in HD treatments and their inhibiting effect on germination was recorded microscopically after incubation at 25°C for 5 h. (B): the same treatments were tested in plants artificially inoculated with the fungus. The infection level on leaves was blindly evaluated by a previously defined infection scale. (C): the field was divided into plots according to a complete randomized block design. In the first trial (i), plants were artificially inoculated and weekly treated; the infection level was evaluated on cauliflower heads. The second trial (ii) was performed on the same field with the aim to induce a natural infection, mediated by infected crop residues. Measurement endpoints concerned the evaluation of some physiological parameters along with the glucosinolate content on cauliflower heads.&#x0D; Results: (A): arsenic trioxide (As 35x and 35x diluted 1:5000) and Cuprum 5x induced highly significant inhibition of germination rate (-60%) vs. control. (B): As 35x and Cu 3 g/l induced a significant decrease of mean infection level (-50%). (C): in (i), a significant reduction of disease symptoms on heads was recorded for As 35x and Cu 3 g/l (-45%). In (ii) natural fungal infection did not occur due to dry weather conditions; physiological and nutraceutical analyses of healthy heads demonstrated that As 35x induced a significant increase of both head size and glucosinolate content.&#x0D; Discussion: Some evidences on the efficacy of arsenic, at different decimal and centesimal HD, in fungal and viral disease control were previously reported [1]. In the present study the efficacy of HD arsenic in dark leaf spot control in field has been shown for the first time: since fungal inoculation was performed on the leaves before flowering, we can hypothesize that this treatment induced an increase of plant resistance to fungal infection. &#x0D; Conclusions: This research showed the possibility of using HD arsenic in agriculture (“agrohomeopathy”), as it increased both plant resistance to fungal infection and the content of glucosinolates, ie secondary metabolites involved in plant resistance mechanisms [2] and considered as “plant food protection agents” [3]. &#x0D; Acknowledgments: Authors declare there is no conflict of interest. This research has been supported by Marche Region. A grateful acknowledgement to Dr. Leonardo Valenti for his support to this research. The authors thank Laboratoires Boiron srl for the grant awarded to one of the author Dr. Grazia Trebbi. Finally, authors are grateful to Cemon srl for financial support of glucosinolate analyses. We had full access to all the data in this study and we take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis&#x0D; Keywords: cauliflower, arsenic trioxide, Alternaria brassicicola, glucosinolates &#x0D; References&#x0D; [1] Betti L, Trebbi G, Majewsky V, Scherr C, Shah-Rossi D, Jäger T, et al. Use of homeopathic preparations in phytopathological models and in field trials: a critical review. Homeopathy 2009; 98: 244-266. &#x0D; [2] Ménard R, Larue J-P, Silué D, Thouvenot D. Glucosinolates in cauliflower as biochemical markers for resistance against downy mildew. Phytochemistry 1999; 52: 29-35.&#x0D; [3] Talalay P, Fahey JW. Phytochemicals from Cruciferous plants protect against cancer by modulating carcinogen metabolism. J Nutr. 2001; 131:3027S- 3033S.

First report of Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis (16SrXIV-A subgroup) associated with cauliflower phyllody and flat stem in India.

Symptoms of suspected phytoplasma infection were observed in cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) (cultivar NS60N) at Integrated Farming System Research Station, Trivandrum, Kerala, India (08o28'28"N, 76o57'47"E) in April-2021. The disease incidence was recorded up to 10% in different fields. The disease manifested as stunting, phyllody, floral malformation and flattening of stem (Fig.1A,B). Ten symptomatic and five asymptomatic plants were assayed for the presence of phytoplasma using nested PCR assays performed with P1/P7 and R16F2n/R16R2 primer pairs for 16S rRNA gene and SecAfor1/ SecArev3 and SecAfor2/ SecArev3 for secA gene (Deng and Hiruki 1991; Gundersen and Lee 1996; Hodgetts et al. 2008). The expected amplicons of ~1.25 kb and ~480 bp were consistently amplified in all the symptomatic cauliflower samples with the phytoplasma specific universal 16S rRNA and secA gene specific primers. Nested PCR products (~1.2 kb and 480 bp) amplified from cauliflower was cloned in EcoRI restriction sites of pGEM-T Easy vector (Promega, USA). The cloned nested PCR products were directly sequenced (16S rRNA gene: Acc. Nos. MZ196223, MZ196224; secA gene: MZ215721, MZ215722) in both forward and reverse directions which showed 99.77% sequence identity with Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis reference strain (Acc. No. AJ550984). Further analyses of the 16S rRNA and secA genes based phylogenetic tree (Fig. 2A and B) and the iPhyClassifier-based virtual RFLP analysis of 16Sr RNA gene study demonstrated that the phytoplasma-associated with cauliflower phyllody & flat stem disease (CaPP) belonged to 16SrXIV-A subgroup with a similarity coefficient of 1.0. No amplicon was observed from any of the asymptomatic cauliflower plants with the specific tested primers of both the genes. Earlier association of 16SrXV-A subgroup (Candidatus Phytoplasma brasiliense) and 16Sr III-J subgroup in Brazil (Canale and Badendo, 2013; Rappussi et al. 2012), 16SrII-A (Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia) subgroup in China (Cai et al. 2016) and 16SrVI-A (Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii) subgroup in Iran (Salehi 2007) were reported in cauliflower. Another species of cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. capitata L. was reported as host of Ca. P. trifloii (16Sr VI-D subgroup) from north India (Gopala et al. 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of a 'Candidatus Phytoplasma cynodontis', 16SrXIV-A subgroup related phytoplasma strain associated with cauliflower phyllody and flat stem in the world. The results described in this report confirm that the 16SrXIV-A phytoplasma, a widely distributed strain associated with sugarcane, wheat, grasses, sapota and many ornamentals in India (Rao 2021), has also infected cauliflower. This is not only the first instance of cauliflower phyllody disease found in India, but also the first instance of CaPP disease caused by 16SrXIV-A subgroup phytoplasma worldwide. This report has epidemiological significance and needs immediate attention, as cauliflower is the one of the most common vegetable crop grown all over India.

Effect of the Matric Potential on Growth and Water, Nitrate and Potassium Absorption of Vegetables under Soilless Culture

To exploit the full potential of plants, it is essential to provide an adequate water balance during critical growth stages. With knowledge of the substrate’s matric potential, it is possible to realistically measure the amount of water available to the plant. The objective of this research is to study the effect of the matric potential of the substrate on the growth of beans, lettuce, sweet peppers, watermelon, and cauliflower plants. The research goal was to evaluate the effect of the matric potential on the main fertigation parameters of horticultural plants. The plants were cultivated at the University of Almería (Spain) in a controlled chamber in a pot with 250 mL of coconut fiber substrate from block propagation. For treatments T15, T30, T45, and T60, new irrigation was applied when easily available water (EAW) depletion levels of 15, 30, 45, and 60% were reached, respectively. The efficiency of the use of water (WUE), nitrate (NUE), and potassium (KUE) was measured. From T15 to T60, a significant effect was found for the absorption of water, nitrate and potassium, WUE, NUE, and KUE. T60 reduced the plant growth by half. The largest growth was between 15 and 30% of the level of use of EAW. Two different models were constructed according to each plant. It is possible to have a small depletion in the available water and still have plant growth, if there is a balance between the air and water needs of the substrate.

Temporal prediction and evaluation of Brassica growth in the field using conditional generative adversarial networks

Farmers frequently assess plant growth and performance as basis for making decisions when to take action in the field, such as fertilization, weed control, or harvesting. The prediction of plant growth is a major challenge, as it is affected by numerous and highly variable environmental factors. This paper proposes a novel monitoring approach that comprises high-throughput imaging sensor measurements and their automatic analysis to predict future plant growth. Our approach’s core is a novel machine learning-based generative growth model based on conditional generative adversarial networks, which is able to predict the future appearance of individual plants. In experiments with RGB time series images of laboratory-grown Arabidopsis thaliana and field-grown cauliflower plants, we show that our approach produces realistic, reliable, and reasonable images of future growth stages. The automatic interpretation of the generated images through neural network-based instance segmentation allows the derivation of various phenotypic traits that describe plant growth.

Seed-priming with H2O2 alleviates subsequent salt stress by preventing ROS production and amplifying antioxidant defense in cauliflower seeds and seedlings

In the present study, we examined the impact of three seed priming agents; H2O2, GA3 and NaCl on the oxidative stress status in primed seed germination dynamics and growth establishment of cauliflower seedlings subsequently grown under salt stress. Results showed beneficial effect of all priming agents in improving plant responses to salinity. However, specific differences, depending on development stage, organ and priming type were recorded. At the germination stage, GA3 was the most advantageous agent to accelerate seedling emergence. At the seedling stage, seedlings obtained from redried H2O2-primed seeds showed the highest level of seed superoxide anion (5-fold) and H2O2 (4-fold), resulting in higher MDA content (2.4-fold). At the same time, priming seeds with H2O2 triggered the overall seedling antioxidant defense, including enzymatic (SOD, CAT, GPX and APX) and non-enzymatic systems (AsA, GSH and proline). Salinity restricted the growth of both leaves (43%) and roots (60%) of cauliflower seedlings issued from unprimed seeds. Under primed conditions, the relative contribution of GA3 and NaCl was more associated with growth establishment and osmotic adjustment. However, H2O2 role was greatly correlated with the antioxidant defense. Indeed, salt-treated seedlings issued from H2O2-primed seeds showed the lowest levels of superoxide anion, H2O2 and MDA, resulting in the highest activities of the entire antioxidant systems. These findings support the hypothesis that cauliflower plants, when exposed to salt stress benefit from H2O2 seed priming, as a pre-germination stimulus, to prevent itself from subsequent oxidative injuries, which supports the hypothesis of “stress memory” of subsequent salt stress.

Critical Limits of Sulfur in Relation to the Growth and Development of French-bean and Cauliflower in Acidic Soils of Northwestern Himalayas

ABSTRACT Sulfur deficiency is recognized as a constraint to crop production all over the world from last decade. The soils of Northwestern Himalayas are also administering sulfur deficiency. To achieve higher yields with better nutritive quality, the plant fertilization management must include sulfur. Critical-level approach hardly advocated in vegetables, and no reports of critical limits of S were reported in Northwestern Himalayas. The present experiment on French bean and cauliflower on 10 types of soil (varying in pH and clay content) was laid out in completely randomized design under glass house with five levels of sulfur (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 kg ha−1). Application of sulfur significantly increased the yield of French-bean and cauliflower as compared to no application of sulfur. The highest yield was obtained with application of 40 kg S ha−1 in both the crops. The green pod yield of French-bean at 30 kg S ha−1 was statistically at par with 40 kg S ha−1. Critical limits of sulfur in soil were 9.5 mg kg−1 and 10.5 mg kg−1 for French-bean and cauliflower, respectively. Critical limits of S in French-bean and cauliflower plants were 0.103 and 0.336% sulfur, respectively. Critical limits of S in French-bean and cauliflower will help to supply nutrients in balanced amount and to achieve sustainability in production.

Water yield and consumption of cauliflower plants grown in a hydroponic system using brackish waters and different flow rates

HIGHLIGHTS Raising the flow rate of the nutrient solution with brackish water results in less water consumption in cauliflower. The water yield in cultivation of cauliflower depends on the chemical composition of the water used in the nutrient solution. The cauliflower production is viable in hydroponics using waters with electrical conductivities of up to 5.88 dS m-1.

Yield and quality of cauliflower hybrids depending on the plant growth regulators usage

The article presents the results of the research conducted during the 2015– 2017 years. On the experimental field of the Department of Horticulture and Storage of V.V. Dokuchaev KNAU was determined the influence of the plant growth regulators on the formation of a marketable yield and the content of some components of the cauliflower hybrids chemical composition. The early ripening hybrids of cauliflower Livingstone F1 and Kul F1 were studied. The Humisol-super, Vympel, and Megafol were taken for the study. The experience was a two-factor: factor A was the features of the hybrid, factor B was drug treatment. The repetition was four-fold. Field experiments were carried out according to generally accepted methods. The cauliflowers` soil preparation and the plant care were carried out according to the generally accepted recommendations. Treatment with growth regulators was carried out by spraying plants during the growing season according to the manufacturers' recommendations. The first spraying was carried out after planting seedlings in the open ground; the subsequent spraying had been carried every 14 days. An option without treatment was taken as a control. As a result of the studies, it was found that treatment of cauliflower plants with growth regulators during the growing season significantly affects the yield of hybrids. Over the years of research, the highest yield of the Livingston F1 hybrid was obtained with the Megafol treatment, – 12,9 t/ha (+1,6 t/ha to control). The highest yield of the Kul F1 hybrid was 13,4 t/ha (+1,0 t/ha to control) during Humisol-super treatment. It has been proved that the usage of the growth regulators influenced the physical indicators of the commercial yield of hybrids. During the 2015–2017 years, the average weight of cauliflower heads increased by 2,1–11,8 % compared to the control, depending on the treatment. The Megafol had a greater effect on the hybrids. Plants` treatment with growth regulators increased the average volume of the hybrid head by 1,3–11,3 % compared to the control. In terms of influence on this indicator, Megafol and Humisol-super were the best drugs. It has been established that plant growth regulators affect the components of the cauliflowers' heads' chemical composition. The Vympel and Megafol increased the dry matter content in the Kul F1 hybrid by 1,0 and 1,4 %, respectively, compared with the control. The treatment of plants with the Humisol-super increased the ascorbic acid content in the heads of the Livingston F1 hybrid by 4,3 % compared to the control. It is recommended to apply the treatment of plants during the growing season with Humisol-super (1,5l/ha) and Megafol (2,3 l/ha) every 14 days to increase the yield and improve the physical parameters of cauliflower heads. Key words: cauliflower, hybrids, plant growth regulators, crop yields, physical yield indicators, chemical components.

Calcium in the production and quality of cauliflower seeds

There are researches with calcium to produce the cauliflower inflorescence, but for seeds production no studies were found, this element is fundamental for the fixation of the floral buds and in the production and quality of seeds. The objective was to evaluate the effect of foliar application of calcium on different phenological stages of cauliflower plants in seed production and quality. Eleven treatments were evaluated, varying the number (1 to 4) of calcium (6 g L-1 of calcium chloride) applications and the phenological stages (E1 = floral stem with 30 cm length, E2 = opening of the first flowers; E3 = formation of first siliques; E4 = 50% of silique formed), resulting: T1 = control without application of Ca; T2 = E1; T3 = E1 + E2; T4 = E1 + E2 + E3; T5 = E1 + E2 + E3 + E4; T6 = E2; T7 = E2 + E3; T8 = E2 + E3 + E4; T9 = E3; T10 = E3 + E4; T11 = E4. The results showed a higher seed production per plant in treatments T10 (E3 + E4) and T11 (E4) with 42 and 48 g per plant, and a higher number of seeds per plant, with 12,379 and 12,978, respectively, compared to the control (T1): 23 g and 5,725 seeds per plant. Calcium applications in different phenological stages did not influence the physiological quality (germination and vigor) of cauliflower seeds of cultivar 'Piracicaba Precoce'. Application of these treatments in other cultivars is promising for further studies.