Clay Loam Texture Research Articles

Soil analysis gis-based fertility assessment and mapping of agricultural research station, Pakhribas, Dhankuta, Nepal

<p>Soil fertility evaluation has been considered as a most effective tool for sustainable planning of a particular region. This study was conducted to determine the soil fertility status of the Agricultural Research Station, Pakhribas, Dhankuta, Nepal. The total 60 soil samples were collected randomly at a depth of 0-20 cm by using the soil sampling auger. For identification of soil sampling points A GPS device was used. The collected samples were analyzed for their texture, pH, OM, N, P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>, K<sub>2</sub>O, Ca, Mg, S, B, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn status following standard methods in the laboratory of Soil Science Division, Khumaltar. The Arc-GIS 10.1 software was used for soil fertility maps preparation. The observed data revealed that soil was dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) in colour, and single grained, granular and sub-angular blocky in structure. The sand, silt and clay content were 56.61±0.97%, 27.62±0.56% and 15.77±0.58%, respectively and categorized as loam, sandy loam and sandy clay loam in texture. The soil was very acidic in pH (4.66±0.07) and very low in available sulphur (0.53±0.11mg/kg), available boron (0.24±0.07mg/kg). The organic matter (1.34±0.07%), total nitrogen (0.09±0.003mg/kg), available calcium (605.70±31.40mg/kg), available magnesium (55.96±4.67mg/kg) and available zinc (0.54±0.22mg/kg) were low in status. Similarly, available potassium (115.98±9.19 mg/kg) and available copper (1.13±0.09 mg/kg) were medium in status. Furthermore, available manganese (36.31±2.82mg/kg) was high, whereas available phosphorus (105.07±9.89 mg/kg) and available iron (55.80±8.89 mg/kg) were very high in status. The soil fertility management practice should be adopted based on the determined status in the field for the sustainable production of crops. The future research strategy should be built based on the soil fertility status of the research farm.</p>

Effects of sepiolite nanoparticles on the kinetics of Pb and Cu removal from aqueous solutions and their immobilization in columns with different soil textures

Available information about the application of clay minerals (e.g. sepiolite) at nanoscale levels for stabilization of potentially toxic trace elements in soils and wastewaters is very limited. Therefore, this study was carried out to: (i) determine how removal of Pb and Cu from aqueous solutions (containing 150 mg/kg Pb and Cu) differs between microparticles (<10 μm) and nanoparticles (<100 nm) of sepiolite, and (ii) find out the kinetic parameters of Pb and Cu adsorption onto micro- and nano-sized particles of sepiolite. Batch experiments at eleven contact times (5, 10, 20, 30, 60, 120, 240, 480, 720, 1440 and 2880 min) with three replications were conducted and the data were evaluated using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and intraparticle diffusion models. The results indicated that the sorption of Pb and Cu onto both microparticles and nanoparticles of sepiolite follows an increasing trend with contact time, and it is a three-stage process that is well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Intraparticle diffusion modeling showed that intraparticle diffusion was not the only mechanism that influenced the rate of Pb and Cu uptake by the nano- and microparticles of sepiolite. The maximum adsorptions of Pb and Cu by sepiolite nanoparticles were 34.70 and 24.50 mg g−1, respectively, higher than those of the microparticles (27.17 and 17.10 mg g−1). To identify how the addition of sepiolite nanoparticles (10 and 20 g/kg soil) would function as a soil amendment relative to Pb and Cu pollution, the leaching potential of Pb and Cu was also tested, using distilled water and 1 M NH4NO3 solutions from the two soils with clay loam and sandy loam textures. The results implied that the addition of sepiolite nanoparticles to both the sandy loam and clay loam soils increased their ability to retain Pb and Cu elements in comparison with the control. In both the clay loam and sandy loam soils, the amounts of Pb and Cu leached using the 1 M NH4NO3 solution were significantly higher than those with distilled water. The amounts of metals eluted using 1 M NH4NO3 solution from the sandy loam and clay loam soils treated with 20 g kg−1 nanoparticles of sepiolite were 7.15% and 5.33% for Cu, and 6.44% and 4.55% for Pb, respectively. The results also illustrated that using water and NH4NO3 solutions, the metal extraction yield was greater in the sandy loam soil than in the clay loam soil. The highest amounts of Pb (9.76%) and Cu (9.88%) leached from the soils were observed in the sandy loam soil, using 1 M NH4NO3 solution, but without any addition of sepiolite nanoparticles. In contrast, the clay loam soil leached with water and amended with 20 gkg−1 sepiolite nanoparticles showed the least amount of Pb (3.49%) and Cu (3.93%) in the leachates. In conclusion, sepiolite nanoparticles improved the efficiency of Pb and Cu removal from aqueous solutions and their immobilization in soils with sandy loam and clay loam textures. The findings also emphasize the importance of extracting agents in evaluating the amounts of Pb and Cu leached from the soils.

Spatial variability and mapping of selected soil properties in Kaligaudanahalli Microwatershed, Gundlupet Taluk, Chamarajanagar District, under hot semi arid agrosubregion of Central Karnataka Plateau, India

The soil attributes of spatially structured data were often measured in Central plateau, of Karnataka, but often poorly defined spatial variability of soil attributes important for land management under hot semiarid agroecological environment. The Kaligaudanahalli microwatershed (612 ha) divided into 250 m × 250 m square grids using ArcGIS and collected surface soils (0–15 cm) at 89 locations. The results of cluster analysis with average linkage method revealed four soil typologies viz., slightly alkaline, sandy clay loam texture showing high coefficient of variation for all soil variables in cluster-I, but neutral, sandy clay loam with high variability for DTPA-extractable Cu in cluster-II, moderately alkaline sandy clay loam to clay texture with high variability for EC, OC, available K2O, B and Cu for cluster-III and IV. The study concluded that the measured soil properties in regular gird sampling at given scale were enough to capture spatial dependence using ordinary and cokriging techniques and in deriving thematic maps for efficient soil management strategies at watershed level. The results of spatial dependence of each soil property, using ordinary kriging showed that there is strong spatial dependence of pH, EC, K2O, B, Cu, Fe and Mn with nugget-to-sill ratio [(C0/C0 + C)] less than 0.25 showing strong spatial distribution where DTPA-extractable Zn had a nugget/sill more than 0.75, displaying a weak spatial autocorrelation. The results showed that cokriging is the best fit and strongly correlated with EC, P2O5, K2O, Fe and Mn using pH as ancillary variable over ordinary kriging to derive thematic maps.

Development of a low-cost automated calorimeter for determining soil specific heat

This paper describes the development of an automated calorimeter for measuring the specific heat (c) of soil samples. An isoperibolic calorimeter prototype was developed with low cost material. The data acquisition system was based on an Arduino microcontroller paired with modular sensors. For testing the developed system, c determination was performed soils of three textures and varying soil water and organic matter contents. Results of soil specific heat for the soil water content range varied from 945 to 1876 J kg−1 K−1 for sandy clay loam texture, from 736 to 1154 J kg−1 K−1 for sandy texture and from 1099 to 2296 J kg−1 K−1 for sandy clay texture. For several organic matter contents in the sandy clay soil, c varied from 1105 to 1793 J kg−1 K−1. The reliability of the automated system was assessed by comparison to measurements of temperature, voltage and electrical current by a calibrated equipment, whereas measured c was also compared against results estimated with a known worldwide equation, confirming the reliability of the developed prototype and system of data acquisition.

Comparison of Different Cover Crops on DTPA-Extractable Micronutrients in Hazelnut and Apple Orchards

This study was conducted to compare the effect of different cover crop treatments&amp;nbsp;on DTPA-extractable micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu) and soil pH in&amp;nbsp;a hazelnut orchard with clay loam texture located in Samsun province&amp;nbsp;and in an apple orchard&amp;nbsp;with sandy loam texture&amp;nbsp;located in Kayseri province of Turkey. For this purpose,&amp;nbsp;Trifolium repens&amp;nbsp;(TR),&amp;nbsp;Festuca rubra&amp;nbsp;subsp.&amp;nbsp;rubra&amp;nbsp;(FRR),&amp;nbsp;Festuca arundinacea&amp;nbsp;(FA),&amp;nbsp;T. repens&amp;nbsp;(40%) +&amp;nbsp;F. rubra rubra&amp;nbsp;(30%) +&amp;nbsp;F. Arundinacea&amp;nbsp;(30%) mixture (TFF),&amp;nbsp;Vicia villosa&amp;nbsp;Roth.&amp;nbsp;(VV) and&amp;nbsp;Trifolium meneghinianum&amp;nbsp;Celm.&amp;nbsp;(TM) were used as cover crops in the experiments. Experiments also included a plot mechanically cultivated (MC), herbicide treatment (HC) and bare control plot (BC). Soil samples were taken from two different depths (0-20 and 20-40 cm)&amp;nbsp;in each plot.&amp;nbsp;Experiments were conducted in randomized complete blocks design with 4 replications.&amp;nbsp;While the highest mean extractable Fe content was determined in the VV treatment&amp;nbsp;in the&amp;nbsp;hazelnut&amp;nbsp;orchard&amp;nbsp;(74.35&amp;nbsp;mg kg-1)&amp;nbsp;and in the apple&amp;nbsp;orchard (3.12&amp;nbsp;mg kg-1),&amp;nbsp;the highest mean extractable Zn content in the hazelnut and apple orchards were obtained in the TR treatment (2.45 and 1.08&amp;nbsp;mg kg-1, respectively).&amp;nbsp;While the highest mean extractable Mn content was also obtained in the VV (92.87&amp;nbsp;mg kg-1) in the hazelnut orchard, the highest mean extractable Mn content was determined in the TR (6.35&amp;nbsp;mg kg-1)&amp;nbsp;in the apple&amp;nbsp;orchard.&amp;nbsp;The greatest significant negative correlations in the TFF treatment were observed between pH and extractable Mn content (0.914**) in the&amp;nbsp;hazelnut orchard and in the TR&amp;nbsp;treatment&amp;nbsp;between pH and extractable Fe content (0.968**) in the apple&amp;nbsp;orchard.

Increased Production of Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) with Application Capillary-Irrigation System

Increased Production of Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) with Application Capillary-Irrigation System. Application of capillary irrigation system on mustard is expected to increase the crop productivity. The aims of this study was to calculate the use of water of mustard with application capillary irrigation using wick and flanneland to determine the best combination of irrigation capillary tools of capillarity system. The design of this study used two factors and three replications. The first factor was wick materials (S), consistings two level: the flannel wick (S1), and stove wick (S2). The second factor was the dosage sawdust (M), consists two level: 0 % of sawdust (M1), and 50 % of sawdust (M2).The research results showed that total water use of M1S1 is 169.7 ml and M1S2 is 107,91 ml, M2S1 is 198.4 ml, and M2S2 is 151.76 ml. The best combination of this research obtain on M2S1, the second cultivating media, the soil by using soil with silty clay loamtexture which mixed50 % of sawdust and the wick of flannel.

Optimized tuning of rosin adduct with maleic anhydride for smart applications in controlled and targeted delivery of urea for higher plant’s uptake and growth efficiency

Conventional urea is lost due to its high water solubility and microbial transformations which results low agriculture productivity and environmental pollution. To solve these problems, rosin adduct-coated controlled release urea fertilizer (RA-CRUF) was prepared. Properties of rosin adduct with maleic anhydride were optimized during synthesis by varying the reaction temperature (120, 140 and 160 °C), reaction time (2, 4, 6 h) and coating repeats (3, 6, 9 cycles). Twenty different rosin adduct compositions were coated by spraying of rosin adduct on urea to prepare RA-CRUF. The best optimized response of urea release for RA-CRUF was 510.00 mg L−1 in water at optimized values of coating repeats (6.79 cycles), reaction time (4.71 h) and reaction temperature (137.39 °C). The Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy confirmed the reaction of rosin with maleic anhydride at wavenumber 1780 cm−1 and 1856 cm−1 correspond to carbonyl of cyclic anhydride group. The optical microscopy analysis of surface and cross view of RA-CRUF showed a high homogeneity of coating surface. The cumulative urea release was 41.76% and 47.23% for RA-CRUF compared 100% and 82.6% for conventional urea in clay loam texture and loam texture soils respectively. RA-CRUF effect on growth performance of maize plant showed healthy growth and increase in chlorophyll contents up to 51.11 mg g−1 (clay loam texture soil) and 87.55 mg g−1 (loam texture soil).

Enhancement of phytoextraction by Taiwanese chenopod and Napier grass by soapnut saponin and EDDS additions.

Employment of biosurfactants and biodegradable chelants could further promote sustainability of soil and groundwater remediation tasks. Biosurfactant (soapnut saponin) and biodegrading chelants (ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid (EDDS)) were employed to enhance the phytoextraction by native Taiwanese chenopod (Chenopodium formosanum Koidz.), Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) cultivar Taishi No. 4, and soapwort (Saponaria officinalis). Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) was also employed as the control. Contaminated soils as silty clay loam texture was collected from a defunct rice paddy, containing chromium (Cr), cadium (Cd), and copper (Cu). Addition of both soapnut saponin and EDDS proportionally increased bioaccumulation factors (BCFs) of aboveground biomass for all three plants. Taiwanese chenopod demonstrated the best BCF values among three plants, with BCF increased from 0.76 to 2.6 and 1.3 for Cu under the presence of the highest dosages of EDDS and saponin. Plant aboveground biomass did exhibit negative correlation toward biomass metal concentrations. Presence of saponin did exhibit the least negative slopes among the correlations of all three additives for three plants. Taiwanese chenopod did exhibit the least negative slopes among the correlations of all three additives for three plants. Above observations suggested that saponin may have some protection for plants, especially for Napier grass. Taiwanese chenopod could possess more tolerance toward heavy metals than Napier grass does.

DEVELOPMENT SOIL FERTILITY MAP BY GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY FOR AL-SOUERA

The study area is located in Wasit province, represented in Al-Souera about 60km south of Baghdad (464273.369- 463318.982) East and (3643443.734 - 3643798.3013) North. GIS technology was used to predict some of soil fertility parameters by using Kriging Application and to produce a final fertility map by standard method of assessment, building a database of soil characteristics in GIS environmental. The results showed: There were four classes of fertility assessment in the study area, very fertile soil class was not found because the study area did not contain the ideal state of the indicators used in soil fertility assessment. The fertile soil class in the study area was 7.53% from the total area were silty clay loam texture, high organic matter, neutral pH, moderately CaCO3, high CEC, high contain NPK, low ECe , and low ESP. The moderately fertile soil class in the study area was 51.99 % from the total area were silty clay loam texture, low organic matter, neutral pH, high CaCO3, high CEC, high contain NPK, low ECe, and low ESP. The slightly fertile soil class in the study area was 39.61 % from the total area were silty clay loam texture, moderately organic matter, neutral pH, high CaCO3, high CEC, high contain NPK, moderately ECe, and low ESP. The non-fertile soil class in the study area was 0.93% from study area. The soil productivity digresses because of low organic matter, high CaCO3, and high ECe.

Soil health assessment of Crop Research Centre through scoring function graph

To assess the soil health of Crop Research Centre of SVPUAT, Meerut soil samples from 0–15 cm depth were collected, processed and analyzed for various physical, chemical and biological properties viz., bulk density, infiltration rate, aggregate stability, pH, available P, K, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn and OC (%) during 2013–14. Study indicates that soils of study area are sandy clay and clay loam in texture with low to medium in health. Scoring function graph of the properties was developed for the rating of individual indicators, following the work of Andrews et al. (2004). Overall soil health was judged by averaging the rating of all studied indicators. The individual indicator rating for bulk density, infiltration rate, aggregate stability, pH, available P, K, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn and OC (%) were 85, 83, 83, 24, 97, 40, 90, 0, 77, 0 and 56, respectively for sandy clay soil and 97, 35, 76, 20, 97, 79, 45, 0, 63, 0 and 87, respectively for clay loam soil. For sandy clay soil out of 11indicators studied 6 (bulk density, infiltration rate, aggregate stability, available P, Zn and Fe) showed high score, 2 (available K and OC %) showed medium and rest of the 3 (pH, available Mn and Cu) scored low while for clay loam soil 5 indicators (bulk density, aggregate stability, available P, K, and OC) were found highly rated, 3 (infiltration rate, available Fe and Zn) medium and 3 (pH, available Mn, Cu) low. However, overall quality score of both the soil was medium and low (57 and 54 out of 100, respectively). Hence, on the basis of study, it can be concluded that soils of CRC are low to medium in health. However infiltration, pH and toxicity of Mn and Cu in soil invite special attention to manage the sustainable productivity.

Evaluation of Cu and Zn Content in Soils and their Interaction with Some Physicochemical Soil Properties

The content of metals in soils depends on the combined effect of several factors, which include the properties of the metals themselves and their concentrations in the soil, environmental conditions and soil components. Topsoil samples from different plots of a rural area, which combines reforestation (forests soils) with agriculture (pasture and cultivation soils) and livestock in the Galicia region, NW Spain, were analyzed for total Cu and Zn, pH, organic matter content, and particle size distribution. The geological substrate of the study area is mainly biotitic schist. The aims of this study were to investigate the total Cu and Zn concentrations in the topsoil samples, and to examine the relationship of these metals with the mentioned physicochemical properties using a correlation analysis. Soils were characterized by conventional analytical methods. Total Cu and Zn contents were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry after wet digestion with a hot mixture of nitro-perchloric-hydrofluoric acids. The results showed that the soils have on average moderately acid pH, considerable organic fraction and clay loam texture. The total Cu and Zn concentrations were low (mean about 25 mg kg-1 and 78 mg kg-1 respectively), which reveals that these topsoils are not contaminated. The statistical analysis showed positive correlations between the sum of the clay and silt contents, and the total Cu and Zn concentrations. There are no significant correlations between total Cu and Zn, and organic matter content.

Effects of climate and soil properties on phytochemical characteristics of Ferulago angulate (Schltdl.) Boiss

This research investigated the effects of climate and soil on the content and components of essential oils in Ferulago angulate (Schltdl.) Boiss, belonging to the Apiaceae family. Aerial parts of plants were collected from three elevations (2500, 3000, and 3500 m above sea level) and three regions (Kallar Mountain from Boroujen, Mili Mountain from Koohrang, and Saldaran Mountain in Farsan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province) with three replications. Results suggested that soil and climatic conditions had significant effects on the quantitative and qualitative properties of essential oils. The highest (0.65%) and the lowest (0.15%) levels of essential oils were obtained from elevation of Mountain Kallar (3000 m) and Mili Mountain (3500 m), respectively. Forty-four compounds were detected most of them being alpha-pinene, alpha-thujene, alpha-phellandrene, cis-ocimene, beta-phellandrene, beta ocimene, and nonadecane. As for regional variations, most of alpha-pinene (20.88%), betaocimene (6.8%), cis-ocimene (23.6%) were recorded in the elevation of 3000 m from Saldaran Mountain and alpha-thujene (10.14%), alpha-phellandrene (3.49%), nonadecane (5.01%), and beta-phellandrene (7.57%) were obtained in the elevation of 3000 m from Kallar Mountain in clay loam soil texture. The lowest values were obtained from elevations of 3500 m in each region especially in sandy clay soil texture in Mili Mountain. It seems that the greater amount of nutrients was due to the presence of clay-loam texture, and the less environmental stresses and desirable soil enrichment in this elevation led to an increase in the essential oils content and components of this plant.

Study of different rice establishment methods on growth and yield of different varieties

A field experiment was conducted in spit plot design with three replication to “to study different rice establishment methods on growth, yield and different varieties” was conducted at Agronomy farm, College of Agriculture, Dapoli, Distt. Ratnagiri (M.S.) during kharif season of 2014 on was sandy clay loam in texture, moderately acidic in pH (5.63), medium in organic carbon content (0.82 %), electrical conductivity (Ec) 0.035 dSm-1 , medium in available nitrogen (284.82 kg/ha), low in available phosphorus (14.63 kg/ha) and high in available potassium (248.45 kg/ha). The highest plant height (71.09 cm), effective tillers (360.58 m2), length of panicle (21.07 cm), test weight (22.24 g), straw yield (47.42 q ha-1), weight of per panicle (2.15 g), number of filled grains per panicle (97.08) and B:C ratio (1:2.23) were recorded in line transplanting technique. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that in areas where labour is available and cheap, transplanting as per as recommended (21 days old age seedling) is a better establishment methods of rice because it produces more yield and gross monetary economic return than other methods.

THE EFFECT OF HUMIC ACID ADDITION MIXING WITH SALINE WATER IRRIGATION IN KINETICS OF SALTS RELEASE AND SODIUM ADSORPTION RATIO IN CALCAREOUS SOIL

A column experiment was conducted to study the effect of added humic acid in a mixture of different salinity water in kinetics of salts release and sodium adsorption ratio in calcareous soil with a texture clay loam. The soil was taken from the surface layer (0-30 cm), dried with an antenna and passed through a 2 mm diameter sieve. It was filled with steel polyethylene columns with a diameter of 7.5 cm, height 30 cm and a density of 1.37 Mgm m-3. Place a filter under the column 5 cm high of sand and glass wool. All columns were dampened by the poetic properties to maintain homogeneity of moisture content in the entire column. The number of columns used to study the movement and distribution of salts is 4×3= 12 columns. A fixed column of water was placed above the surface of the soil column of different salinity water (0.72, 3.00, 5.00 and 7.00 dSm-1) in accordance with humic acid levels of 0.00, 0.25 and 0.50 g L-1. The washing process continued until the electrical conductivity of the added water was equal to the electrical conductivity of the running water from the columns. The electrical conductivity and sodium adsorption ratio in the candidate water was determined and the results were subjected to kinetic equations for the study of salts release over time. Results showed that the best equation for describing the relationship between the liberated salts (g l -1) and the free SAR and the time (day) is the diffusion equation and the mathematical model Ct= C0-Kt1/2 for the diffusion equation is the most appropriate in describing the relationship. It is noticed that the rate of release speed (K) increases with the increase in the level of added humic acid and any level of salt water used in the experiment and the amount of salts released and the proportion of adsorption of sodium increases over time and increase the levels of addition of the humic acid

Role of Organic Acids on Phosphorus Fractions in Silty Clay Loam Soil

This study was conducted to evaluation the role of the organic acids in the phosphorus fractions in silty clay loam texture. The laboratoryexperiment was conducted by adding the organic acids (Humic acid ,Citric acid ,Oxalic acid , Malic acid ,Acetic acid and Lactic acid )to the fertilized soil with conc. super phosphate fertilizer with 100 kg h-1 level with concentrations (0,15,30,45 and60)mg L-1,except Humic acid (500,1000,1500 and 2000) mg L-1.The soil was incubated at 30 C for 14,28,42,56 and 70 days period and the keep of field capacity about of incubation period during the daily weight.Amount of available ,mineral ,organic and total phosphorus after each incubated period were measured. The results showed that theaddition of organic acids of Humic acid ,Citric acid ,Oxalic acid and Malic acid were caused to increaseamount of available ,mineral ,organic and constant of total phosphorus in fertilized soil with conc. super phosphate fertilizer and increased its amount with increasing of organic acid concentration and better of Humic acid 2000mg L-1 significanton all the treatments .The results of the study that theaddition of organic acids were caused to increase amount of available and mineral phosphorus with increasing of incubation period and constant amount of total phosphorus and decreasing of organic phosphorus amount and available for only soil and only fertilizer treatment during increasing of incubation period .The organic acids can be arranged according to its ability toincrease the availabilityof the phosphorus as follow : Humic acid> Citric acid> Oxalic acid> Malic acid> Acetic acid>Lactic acid >control..

Fatores edafoclimáticos relacionados à produção de sementes em castanhais nativos de Roraima

Apesar da importância socioeconômica para a Amazônia, o conhecimento sobre os fatores que influenciam a produção de frutos e sementes da castanheira-do-brasil ainda é incipiente. Neste trabalho, avaliamos a influência da precipitação e textura, alagamento e profundidade do solo na produção de sementes. Os dados foram coletados em árvores nativas monitoradas em parcelas permanentes de 9 ha (300 m x 300 m) no município de Caracaraí, RR, por cinco anos. Utilizamos a correlação de Pearson para selecionar o período de precipitação e concluímos que a precipitação do mês de setembro mostrou-se positivamente correlacionada com a produção de frutos. As variáveis de solos foram avaliadas por ANOVA. Observamos que maiores precipitações no mês de setembro, mês de transição entre a estação seca e chuvosa, se correlacionaram de forma significativa e positiva com a produção de sementes. Árvores em solos profundos e com textura franco-argilosa mostraram maior produção de sementes do que aquelas em solos pouco profundos.

Role of Organic Acids on Phosphorus Fractions in Silty Clay Loam Soil

This study was conducted to evaluation the role of the organic acids in the phosphorus fractions in silty clay loam texture. The laboratoryexperiment was conducted by adding the organic acids (Humic acid ,Citric acid ,Oxalic acid , Malic acid ,Acetic acid and Lactic acid )to the fertilized soil with conc. super phosphate fertilizer with 100 kg h-1 level with concentrations (0,15,30,45 and60)mg L-1,except Humic acid (500,1000,1500 and 2000) mg L-1.The soil was incubated at 30 C for 14,28,42,56 and 70 days period and the keep of field capacity about of incubation period during the daily weight.Amount of available ,mineral ,organic and total phosphorus after each incubated period were measured. The results showed that theaddition of organic acids of Humic acid ,Citric acid ,Oxalic acid and Malic acid were caused to increaseamount of available ,mineral ,organic and constant of total phosphorus in fertilized soil with conc. super phosphate fertilizer and increased its amount with increasing of organic acid concentration and better of Humic acid 2000mg L-1 significanton all the treatments .The results of the study that theaddition of organic acids were caused to increase amount of available and mineral phosphorus with increasing of incubation period and constant amount of total phosphorus and decreasing of organic phosphorus amount and available for only soil and only fertilizer treatment during increasing of incubation period .The organic acids can be arranged according to its ability toincrease the availabilityof the phosphorus as follow :

A near infrared index to assess effects of soil texture and organic carbon content on soil water content

SummaryCharacterization of soil hydrodynamic properties is important for assessing the soil water regime. Ex situ measurements are costly and time consuming. Reflectance spectroscopy can rapidly estimate several soil properties, including soil water content (SWC). Here, we evaluated the ability of visible (vis) and near‐infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to assess the effects of soil texture and soil organic carbon (SOC) content on SWC. Thirteen undisturbed soil surface blocks were sampled in 2014 across the Brittany region, western France. Textural classes ranged from sandy loam to sandy clay loam texture, and SOC content ranged from 8.12 g kg−1 to 62.3 g kg−1. Aggregates of 3–4‐cm width and 5–6‐cm height were extracted and set at 10 matric potentials from saturation to permanent wilting point (1585 kPa). At given pressure heads, soil samples were scanned in triplicate to acquire reflectance spectra between 350 and 2500 nm. Spectra were converted into continuum removal and we focused on the absorption band near 1920 nm, which is linked to combination vibrations of water. We defined a new index based on the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the absorption feature near 1920 nm. Results showed a linear relation between this NIR index and the volumetric SWC (R2 &gt; 0.9) for every soil aggregate. The slope and the intercept of the line were correlated well with soil texture and SOC content. Results indicated that the parameters of this linear relation offer a new way to study SWC and water retention properties of soils in relation to their physical properties.Highlights We used vis–NIR spectroscopy to assess effects of texture and SOC content on soil water content. Formulated a new spectral index based on absorption feature of water near 1920 nm. Linear relation between SWC and NIR index; its parameters are related to texture and SOC content. Vis–NIR spectroscopy can be relevant to assess effects of texture and SOC content on SWC.

Performance of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) lines with different plantation time during rainy season

The experiment was conducted during April to September, 2016 at Spices Research Sub-Centre, Faridpur to evaluate the performances of four chilli lines with BARI Morich-2 as check and to select the suitable planting time during rainy season. The experimental field belongs to high land of Low Ganges River Floodplain (AEZ 12) with clay loam in texture. The experiment was laid out in RCB design with three replications. Four lines and a variety viz., C0711, C0712, C0713 and C0714 and BARI Morich-2 as check were evaluated with three planting time viz., 01April, 15 April and 30 April. Seedlings of 40 days old were transplanted maintaining of 50cm × 50cm spacing in each case. The crop (Green chilli) was started to harvest from July and completed on August-September, 2016.Among the lines, C0712 emerged as superior in terms of maximum number of fruits/plant (225.7) and weight of fruits/plant (478.6g) and fresh yield (15.43t/ha) while the highest single fruit weight (3.217 g) was found from C0714. The 15 April planting date emerged as best in terms of maximum weighed fruit (2.661g), weight of fruits/ plant (409.3 g), number of fruits/plant (182.5) and fresh yield (12.14 t/ha). The interaction effect showed that lineC0712 transplanted on 15 April gave the heavier fruits/plants (542.2 g) with maximum number of fruits/plant (241.3)and maximum fresh yield (16.73 t/ha). The 15 April planting was ideal for rainy season chilli evaluation and the line C0712 was the most stable performing line with respect to different planting dates.

STUDY OF TaSOS4 GENE AND YIELD , CHEMICAL TRAITS IN SOME BREAD WHEAT GENOTYPES UNDER SALINITY CONDITIONS

This experiment was carried out at greenhouse in Centre of Biotechnology Researches/ University of Nahrin using soil clay loam texture, soil was in pots closed to study the effect of different salinity levels on detection TaSOS4 gene and yield traits in some bread wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.).Wheat seeds were planted in Nov. 2016 with ten seeds in each pot. a factorial experiments within Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications was used and Four levels of salinity (4, 8 , 12 and 16 ds.m-1) with four genotypes (G1:Iraq, G2: 2H ,G3: 3H and G4: Hussein). The result showed non-significant differences among genotypes under first salinity levels (4 ds.m-1) in most traits. in second salinity level (8 ds.m-1), G2,G4 gave variation on G1 over 10 in No. grains. Spike-1 , 5-10 in grain 1000weight , over 2% in percentage of protein and K+/Na+ ratio value over 7. in third salinity level (8 ds.m-1), G2,G4 gave variation on G1 over 25 in No. grains. Spike-1, over 12 in grain 1000weight, over 100% in plant grains yield , 2-3% in percentage of protein , over 5 in K+/Na+ ratio value . in forth salinity level (16 ds.m-1), G2 gave variation on G1 over 25 in No. grains. Spike-1 , over 14 in grain 1000weight, over 100% in plant grains yield, over 3% in percentage of protein , over 5 in K+/Na+ ratio value. Molecular study showed TaSOS4 gene was found in G2 ,G3 and G4 genotypes but it did not appear in G1 genotype. This indicator refers to differences among genotypes in salinity tolerance and sensitive to salinity in G1 genotype.