Field Trails Research Articles

Silicon- and Boron-Induced Physio-Biochemical Alteration and Organic Acid Regulation Mitigates Aluminum Phytotoxicity in Date Palm Seedlings.

The current study aimed to understand the synergistic impacts of silicon (Si; 1.0 mM) and boron (B; 10 µM) application on modulating physio-molecular responses of date palm to mitigate aluminum (Al3+; 2.0 mM) toxicity. Results revealed that compared to sole Si and B treatments, a combined application significantly improved plant growth, biomass, and photosynthetic pigments during Al toxicity. Interestingly, Si and B resulted in significantly higher exudation of organic acid (malic acids, citric acids, and acetic acid) in the plant’s rhizosphere. This is also correlated with the reduced accumulation and translocation of Al in roots (60%) and shoots (56%) in Si and B treatments during Al toxicity compared to in sole Al3+ treatment. The activation of organic acids by combined Si + B application has significantly regulated the ALMT1, ALMT2 and plasma membrane ATPase; PMMA1 and PMMA3 in roots and shoots. Further, the Si-related transporter Lsi2 gene was upregulated by Si + B application under Al toxicity. This was also validated by the higher uptake and translocation of Si in plants. Al-induced oxidative stress was significantly counteracted by exhibiting lower malondialdehyde and superoxide production in Si + B treatments. Experiencing less oxidative stress was evident from upregulation of CAT and Cyt-Cu/Zn SOD expression; hence, enzymatic activities such as polyphenol oxidase, catalase, peroxidase, and ascorbate peroxidase were significantly activated. In the case of endogenous phytohormones, Si + B application demonstrated the downregulation of the abscisic acid (ABA; NCED1 and NCED6) and salicylic acid (SA; PYL4, PYR1) biosynthesis-related genes. Consequently, we also noticed a lower accumulation of ABA and rising SA levels under Al-stress. The current findings illustrate that the synergistic Si + B application could be an effective strategy for date palm growth and productivity against Al stress and could be further extended in field trails in Al-contaminated fields.

Biodegradation of Low- and High-Density Polyethylene Films by Microbacterium Barkeri Sh20

Polyethylene waste contamination is one of the most concerning environmental issues not only in India but also in world. Microbial degradation is one of the safest and environment friendly process to degrade polyethylene among other major types degradation methods such as thermo-oxidative degradation and photo-degradation. The present research focused on the isolation, enrichment, and characterization of polyethylene-utilizing bacteria, not screen as far for biodegradation, and evaluation of its degrading capacity on polyethylene. A bacterial strain (TN2) was isolated from a motor-oil contaminated soil. The biochemical characterization of the strain was based on an automated microbial identification system. Strain TN2 was identified through 16SrRNA gene sequencing, which shows strain was closely related to Microbacterium genus and identified as Microbacterium barkeri SH20 (Accession No. KY887791.1). To examine the degradation capacity of isolated strain, it was used for biodegradation studies on two types of polyethylene films i.e. LDPE as well as HDPE (low and high density polyethylene respectively) HDPE (high-density polyethylene) for 30 days. The film samples were analyzed after bacterial strain incubation based on the weight loss percentage and the Keto & Ester Carbonyl Index (via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy- FTIR). The highest decrease in weight loss percentage was calculated of PE-S1 HDPE film samples i.e 0.985±0.23%, as weight loss represents a qualitative evaluation of biodegradation. FTIR studies shows changes IR peaks of C=O regions and Keto & Ester Carbonyl Index was found to decrease in HDPE films (PE-S1) compared to other two LDPE (PE-S2) and HDPE films (PE-S3) shows degradation of polyethylene. The research established that Microbacterium barkeri SH20 (TN2) is a novel bacterial strain that can degrade polyethylene films. Hence, it can be used in future biodegradation studies and field trails.

Reclamation of Coal Mined Land with Integrated Biological Approach

A pilot study was conducted at a backfill area of coal mine overburden dump (OBD) in Tikak Colliery, North Eastern Coal Field, Margherita, Assam, India, to evaluate the performance of 42 native plant species in a revegetation experiment with integrated biological approach during 2018-2021. The plantation was done with application of lime @ 15 gm per pit and farm yard manure (FYM) @ 2 kg per pit and planting nursery raised inoculated seedlings with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) after a series of pot experiments. Pot culture experiments were done to obtain the best treatment combination for the field trails. The seed ball technology was also adopted in the initial year to stabilize the area with green herbaceous cover and to improve soil parameters. The result revealed that herbaceous species growing from seed ball sowing could survive in the OBD area. The best performed treatment combination was AMF + PGPR + Lime + FYM. Out of a total of 42 native plant species 17 were recorded for 60- 70 % survival after 2 years of planting on the OBD site. These practices completely replaced the application of topsoil in the revegetation programme of coal mine site and may be replicated for reclamation of OBD site for successful plantation programme.

Analyses on the Infection Process of Rice Virus and the Spatiotemporal Expression Pattern of Host Defense Genes Based on a Determined-Part Inoculation Approach.

Rice viral diseases adversely affect crop yield and quality. Most rice viruses are transmitted through insect vectors. However, the traditional whole-plant inoculation method cannot control the initial inoculation site in rice plants because the insect feeding sites in plants are random. To solve this problem, we established a determined-part inoculation approach in this study that restricted the insect feeding sites to specific parts of the rice plant. Rice stripe virus (RSV) was used as the model virus and was inoculated at the bottom of the stem using our method. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analyses detected RSV only present at the bottom of the Nipponbare (NPB) stem at 1 day post-inoculation (dpi), indicating that our method successfully controlled the inoculation site. With time, RSV gradually moved from the bottom of the stem to the leaf in NPB rice plants, indicating that systemic viral spread can also be monitored using this method. In addition, a cultivar resistant to RSV, Zhendao 88 (ZD88), was inoculated using this method. We found that RSV accumulation in ZD88 was significantly lower than in NPB. Additionally, the expression level of the resistant gene STV11 in ZD88 was highly induced at the initial invasion stage of RSV (1 dpi) at the inoculation site, whereas it remained relatively stable at non-inoculated sites. This finding indicated that STV11 directly responded to RSV invasion to inhibit virus accumulation at the invasion site. We also proved that this approach is suitable for other rice viruses, such as Rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV). Interestingly, we determined that systemic infection with RSV was faster than that with RBSDV in NPB, which was consistent with findings in field trails. In summary, this approach is suitable for characterizing the viral infection process in rice plants, comparing the local viral accumulation and spread among different cultivars, analyzing the spatiotemporal expression pattern of resistance-associated genes, and monitoring the infection rate for different viruses.

Physiological, Transcriptomic Investigation on the Tea Plant Growth and Yield Motivation by Chitosan Oligosaccharides

Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) has been abundantly studied for its application on regulating plant growth of many horticultural and agricultural crops. We presented here the effect of COS on tea plant growth and yield by physiological and transcriptomic checking. The results showed that COS treatment can enhance the antioxidant activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) and increase the content of chlorophyll and soluble sugar in tea plants. The field trail results show that COS treatment can increase tea buds’ density by 13.81–23.16%, the weight of 100 buds by 15.94–18.15%, and the yield by 14.22–21.08%. Transcriptome analysis found 5409 COS-responsive differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 3149 up-regulated and 2260 down-regulated genes, and concluded the possible metabolism pathway that responsible for COS promoting tea plant growth. Our results provided fundamental information for better understanding the molecular mechanisms for COS’s acting on tea plant growth and yield promotion and offer academic support for its practical application in tea plant.

Comparison of Protectivity and Safety of Two Vaccines against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae in a Field Study

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae causing porcine pleuropneumoniae is responsible for lowered productivity and reduction of performance indicators such as daily weight gain and increase of losses in the swine industry worldwide. To control the disease, vaccination is used to reduce clinical signs and production losses. A randomized, blinded field trail was conducted to compare two licensed A. pleuropneumoniae vaccines in 600 finishing pigs in terms of lung lesions, mortality, medication, weight gain and safety, in a farm in northeast Germany. After weaning, pigs were allocated randomly in two groups resulting in group sizes of 300 individuals. Nursery pigs were vaccinated at the age of 7 to 10 weeks either with a A. pleuropneumoniae bacterin, containing ApxI-III toxoids (group 1), or with a subunit purified A. pleuropneumoniae toxoid vaccine (group 2). Blinded lung lesion scoring at slaughter following the Ceva Lung Program methodology revealed a significantly lower proportion of lungs affected with pleurisy in group 1 compared to group 2. Weighing of the animals did not show a significant difference (p = 0.092); however, at the end of finishing animals of group 1 showed a 1.59 kg higher weight (100.40 ± 10.15 kg) compared to animals in group 2 (98.81 kg ± 11.56 kg). Mortality and antimicrobial medication were significantly lower in group 1 compared to group 2 (13 losses and 17 antimicrobial medications in group 2, 4 losses and 1 antimicrobial medications in group 1). Injection site and systemic adverse reactions were recorded on both days of vaccination and did not differ significantly between the groups (p > 0.05). In this study, the efficacy of vaccination with a commercially available A. pleuropneumoniae bacterin containing ApxI-III toxoids was superior to that of a commercially available A. pleuropneumoniae subunit toxoid vaccine in preventing pulmonary lesions associated with A. pleuropneumoniae infection.Grzegorz Woźniakowski

The Use of Fermented Typha Domingensis Residues by Pleurotus Ostreatus as A bio-Fortification to Control Root Disease on Cucumber Caused by Rhizoctonia Solani

Cucumber is one of important crops and susceptible to root disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani. The study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of two isolates of P. ostreatus (Ah and Ak) and soil treatment with several rates of Typha domingensis residues fermented by P. ostreatus to control R. solani that causes root diseases on cucumbers. In vitro trails, R. solani inhibited significantly by isolate (Ah) as well as redial mycelial growth and the percentage of cucumber seeds germination. In field trails, the number of germinated seedlings was highest at fermented T. domingensis 59.81 compare to control treatment which was 59.81. Disease severity (DS) of root damage was recorded in R. solani and R. solani + Fermented T. domingensis treatments and reached 70.4 and 64.27 respectively.

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A two years field trail was conducted for evaluating the effect of different bio-liquids (vermiwash) sources on sunflower sown at different sowing dates. Experiment was comprised of three sowing dates viz. 20th February, 1st March and 10th March, with three levels of vermiwash viz. alligator @ 15%, alfalfa @ 15% and alligator @ 7.5% + alfalfa @ 7.5% along with control. Foliar application of bio-liquid was sprayed at bud formation, flower initiation and seed (achene) formation. Results revealed that during both the years of study, sowing dates and vermiwash sources significantly affected the yield and quality attributes. Moreover, sunflower planting on 20th February alongside alligator weed bio-liquid @ 15% produced significantly maximum height of the plant (246 and 241 cm), stem circumference (2.36 and 2.31 cm), head circumference (18.6 and 18.2 cm), 1000- achene’s weight (64.72 and 66.18 g) and achene yield (3237 and 3310 kg ha-1 ). This combination also significantly improved the quality traits of sunflower like achene oil contents (50.79 and 49.89%), protein contents (19.67 and 19.32%), oleic acid (30.99 and 30.44%)) and linoleic acid contents (59.94 and 58.88%). It can be concluded from the study that sunflower planting on 20th February with bio-liquid alligator (Alternanthra) weed 15% exhibited maximum morphological and quality performance of sunflower.

Isolation and Identification of Talaromyces sp. Strain Q2 and Its Biocontrol Mechanisms Involved in the Control of Fusarium Wilt.

Fusarium wilt is an important disease of many food crops and often causes serious damages to yield and food quality. Consequently, numerous studies mainly focused on exploring the control strategy for Fusarium oxysporum as well as the mechanism of interaction between the F. oxysporum and other beneficial soil microorganisms. In this study, we have screened and identified an efficient biocontrol strain from the soil with infection of F. oxysporum f. sp. momordica (referred to as Fom), Talaromyces purpurogenus Q2 (referred to as TpQ2), which could be effective to reduce relative abundance of the rhizospheric Fom, leading to a significant decrease of Fusarium wilt disease incidence in bitter gourd during the greenhouse and field trails. TpQ2 can reduce the relative abundance of rhizospheric Fom through inhibition of growth and development of Fom. During the co-cultivation of TpQ2 and Fom, we confirmed that TpQ2 could significantly suppress the growth and development of Fom through disturbing the normal hyphae shape and function of the cell walls of Fom via secreting cell wall–degrading enzymes and suppression of the expression of cell wall biosynthesis genes, such as FomCFEM. In the meantime, TpQ2 showed a strong negative correlation with F. oxysporum in soil and positive correlation with beneficial indigenous microorganisms that had significant negative correlation with Fusarium populations, such as Streptomycetes, Lysobacter, and Sphingobium. To summarize, TpQ2 has a good biocontrol efficacy on Fusarium wilt of bitter gourd. The biocontrol mechanisms of TpQ2 on Fusarium wilt are complex and diverse.

Morphological, physiological and molecular assessment of cotton for drought tolerance under field conditions.

Climate change could be an existential threat to many crops. Drought and heat stress are becoming harder for cultivated crops. Cotton in Pakistan is grown under natural high temperature and low moisture, could be used as a source of heat and drought tolerance. Therefore, the study was conducted to morphological, physiological and molecular characterization of cotton genotypes under field conditions. A total of 25 cotton genotypes were selected from the gene pool of Pakistan based on tolerance to heat and drought stress. In field trail, the stress related traits like boll retention percentage, plant height, number of nodes and inter-nodal distance were recorded. In physiological assessment, traits such as photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, leaf temperature, relative water content and excised leaf water loss were observed. At molecular level, a set of 19 important transcription factors, controlling drought/heat stress tolerance (HSPCB, GHSP26, HSFA2, HSP101, HSP3, DREB1A, DREB2A, TPS, GhNAC2, GbMYB5, GhWRKY41, GhMKK3, GhMPK17, GhMKK1, GhMPK2, APX1, HSC70, ANNAT8, and GhPP2A1) were analyzed from all genotypes. Data analyses depicted that boll retention percentage, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, relative water content under the stress conditions were associated with the presence of important drought & heat TF/genes which depicts high genetic potential of Pakistani cotton varieties against abiotic stress. The variety MNH-886 appeared in medium plant height, high boll retention percentage, high relative water content, photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and with maximum number transcription factors under study. The variety may be used as source material for heat and drought tolerant cotton breeding. The results of this study may be useful for the cotton breeders to develop genotype adoptable to environmental stresses under climate change scenario.

Optical Characteristics, Thermal use Efficiency, Yield and Yield Attributes of Bt Cotton under Different Plant Spacing and Fertilizer Levels

Field trail was conducted at the Research Farm of Cotton Section, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS HAU, Hisar (Lat 29ᵒ 10' N, Long 75ᵒ 46' E and 215.2 m msl) during Kharif season of 2015. The experiment was conducted in split-split plot design with three replications. Three varieties viz. V1=RCH 602, V2=RCH 650 and V3=Bunty were kept in main plots while three spacing viz. S1=67.5 cm × 45 cm, S2=67.5 cm × 60 cm and S3=67.5 cm × 75 cm with three fertilizer levels i.e. F1=RDF, F2=125 % of RDF and F3=150 % of RDF application of the recommended dose were kept in subplots. Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) was N:P:K=175:60:60 kg ha-1. Optical characteristics, thermal use efficiency (TUE) were computed along with yield and yield attributes were also studied. V1 (86.6 %), S3 (84.8 %) and F3 (85.1 %) absorbed maximum PAR among all the cv., plant spacing and fertilizer levels. TUE was found higher in the V1 (0.35 g/m²/℃ day), S3 (0.34 g/m²/℃ day) and F3 (0.29 g/m²/℃ day) among all the cv., plant spacing and fertilizer levels. Number of bolls plant-1 were found higher in V1 (21.0), S3 (14.7) and F3 (16.0) among all the cv., plant spacing and fertilizer levels. Among all the cv., plant spacing and fertilizer levels boll weight (g) were found higher in V2 (3.89 g), S2 (3.66 g) and F2 (3.62 g). Sympodial branches plant-1 at harvest were found highest in V1 (23.7), S1 (21.0) and F1 (21.4) among all the cv., plant spacing and fertilizer levels. In seed cotton yield V1 (1248.7 kg ha-1), S3 (1120.7 kg ha-1) and F2 (1094.3 kg ha-1) have the maximum yield as compare to other cv., plant spacing and fertilizer levels.

Substituting chemical P fertilizer with organic manure: effects on double-rice yield, phosphorus use efficiency and balance in subtropical China

Organic manure is an ideal alternative fertilizer to provide phosphorus (P) but is not fully recycled in subtropical China. In order to identify if it can replace chemical P fertilizer, a 35-year field trail in a paddy soil under double-rice cropping system was conducted to assess the effects of substituting chemical P fertilizer with pig manure (NKM) on rice yield, phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) and P balance. The N, P and K input under NKM was 1.2, 0.8 and 1.2 times of the combined chemical fertilizer treatment (NPK), respectively. The NKM treatment reached the same level of grain yield with NPK after 20 years’ application, and showed significantly 4.0% decreased double-rice grain yield compared with NPK over the 35 years. The NKM treatment reduced the crop P uptake leading to decreased PUE compared with NPK. Long-term P budget showed that NKM may result in higher potential of P loss than NPK. Thus, substituting chemical P fertilizer with organic manure under this rate of nutrient input slightly sacrificed the crop yield and may increase the P loss. Considering the benefits of soil fertility, adjusting the substitution rate with a more balanced NPK input might be alternative in subtropical China.

Multivariate Interaction Analysis of Winter Wheat Grown in Environment of Limited Soil Conditions.

The less productive soils present one of the major problems in wheat production. Because of unfavorable conditions, halomorphic soils could be intensively utilized using ameliorative measures and by selecting suitable stress tolerant wheat genotypes. This study examined the responses of ten winter wheat cultivars on stressful conditions of halomorphic soil, solonetz type in Banat, Serbia. The wheat genotypes were grown in field trails of control and treatments with two soil amelioration levels using phosphor gypsum, in amounts of 25 and 50 tha−1. Across two vegetation seasons, phenotypic variability and genotype by environment interaction (GEI) for yield traits of wheat were studied. The additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) models were used to study the GEI. AMMI analyses revealed significant genotype and environmental effects, as well as GEI effect. Analysis of GEI using the IPCA (Interaction Principal Components) analysis showed a statistical significance of the first two main components, IPCA1 and IPCA2 for yield, which jointly explained 70% of GEI variation. First source of variation IPCA1 explained 41.15% of the GEI for the grain weight per plant and 78.54% for the harvest index. The results revealed that wheat genotypes responded differently to stressful conditions and ameliorative measures.

Residue analytical method for the determination of trifluoroacetic acid and difluoroacetic acid in plant matrices by capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry (CE-MS/MS)

In the past years, the technology for trace residue analysis of plant protection compounds in plant and animal matrices, soil, and water has gradually changed to meet changing regulatory demands. Generally, from the '70s to the '90s of the last century, the active compounds and only a few major metabolites had to be determined in a typical "residue definition". Step by step and within the framework of product safety assessments of the enforcement of residues in dietary matrices and in the environment, further metabolites have come into the authorities focus. Many active substances were formerly determined via gas chromatography (GC) based detection techniques. The introduction of liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technology in the '90s and the acceptance of this technique, by official bodies at the end of the '90s, has led to a major change for residue analytical laboratories all over the world. Most of the medium to non-polar active compounds as well as many of the more polar metabolites can be detected with this technique, and today LC-MS/MS is the "workhorse" in many residue analytical laboratories in the industry as well as official enforcement labs responsible for analyzing registration-related field studies. With the demand to analyze further breakdown products, more and more polar compounds, or even (permanently) charged target compounds, have now come into the focus of the registration authorities. This now brings standard LC-based techniques to their limits and requires the application of approaches such as hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) MS/MS or ion chromatography, however these techniques often incur related uncertainties and problems with matrix samples.The aim of this study was to develop a new CE-MS/MS-based approach to reduce the impact of matrix on the separation and detection of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and difluoroacetic acid (DFA) in agrochemical field trials. This project used 7 representative examples of fruit, grain and vegetables which had undergone homogenization and extraction with acetonitrile water and filtration before CE-MS/MS analysis. The CE-MS/MS developed reached the limit of quantitation (LOQ) requirement of current legislation for both TFA and DFA (0.01 mg/kg) in all 7 matrices tested. The mean relative standard deviation (RSD) obtained from the repeat analysis of control field trail samples in all matrices, for both TFA and DFA, was less than 10% meeting GLP guidelines. When compared with LC-MS/MS, using on column loading amounts, the CE-MS/MS was 17 - 43 times more sensitive than a standard method and less matrix effects were observed.The developed method was validated under GLP conditions to provide a GLP-validated residue analytical method for the charged metabolites TFA and DFA in matrix samples from GLP field residue trials.

Effect of Different Nitrogen Rate and Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Variety to different Growth Analysis at Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia

Nitrogen (N) is the most common limiting nutrient in agricultural systems throughout the world. Crops need sufficient available N to achieve optimum yields and adequate grain-protein content. Consequently, sub-optimal rates of N fertilizers typically cause lower economic benefits for farmers. On the other hand, excessive N fertilizer use may result in environmental problems such as nitrate contamination of groundwater and emission of N 2 O and NO. In spite of the economical environmental importance of good N fertilizer management, the development of an optimum fertilizer recommendation is still a major challenge in most agricultural systems. Nitrogen supplies have a strong influence on the physiological and phonological characteristics of crop as well as on the quality of barley growth, which have the capacity to enhanced yield and production of barley. In order to evaluate the physiological and quality assessment of barley in response to soil fertilization of nitrogen a field trail was carried out having randomized complete block design with four replications and three different treatments of nitrogen allotted to plots at planting and tillering growth stages. Results indicated that maximum leaf area ratio, maximum crop growth rate and maximum dry weight was recorded when the crop was none fertilized with as compared to fertilized nitrogen. Likewise maximum leaf area index was obtained with the non-fertilization of nitrogen. Control practice resulted in high values for all recorded parameters. Thus it is possible to obtain maximum physiological traits as well as vigorous barley through non nitrogen application. Keywords: Barley, leaf area index, leaf area ratio, crop growth rate, Biomass and nitrogen. DOI: 10.7176/ALST/86-01 Publication date: March 31 st 2021

Evaluation of Different Chaba (Piper chaba) Germplasm for Growth and Yield Performances

Genetic diversity is the base for survival of plants in nature and for crop improvement. Diversity in plant genetic resources provides opportunity for plant breeders to develop new and improved cultivars with desirable characteristics. Therefore, an experiment was employed to determine the genetic variability and evaluate the growth performing parameters of different Chaba germplasm at the research field of Regional Spices Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Magura during kharif 1 season in 2018-19 following completely randomized design with three replications. Six germplasm namely PCmag-001, PCmag-002, PCmag-003, PCmag-004, PCmag-005 and PCmag-006 were collected from khulna region of Bangladesh and transplanted adjunct to different tree species mainly mango. Among the six germplasm heighest plant height (450 cm), number of branch (35), number of leaves (350), internodes length (16 cm) and vine diameter (2.5 cm) after one year of planting was recorded from PCmag-001 germplasm followed by PCmag-002 while the lowest plant height (450 cm), number of branch (35), number of leaves (350), internodes length (16 cm) and vine diameter (2.5 cm) were found from the germplasm PCmag-005. Through the observation of one year field trail in terms of growing characteristics the germplasm PCmag-001 and PCmag-002 can be chosen for future breeding material to release a commercial variety in southern part of Bangladesh.

Efficacy of biorational insecticides against Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) and their selectivity for its parasitoid Encarsia formosa Gahan on Bt cotton

The toxicity of seven biorational insecticides [five insect growth regulators (Buprofezin, Fenoxycarb, Pyriproxyfen, Methoxyfenozide, and Tebufenozide) and two oil-extracts of neem and bitter gourd seeds] against Bemisia tabaci and their selectivity for its parasitoid, Encarsia formosa were evaluated in laboratory and field conditions for 2 years (2018–2019) in Pakistan. Toxicity results demonstrate that Pyriproxyfen, Buprofezin, and Fenoxycarb proved to be effective (80–91% mortality and 66.3–84.2% population-reduction) against B. tabaci followed by Methoxyfenozide, Tebufenozide (50–75% mortality and 47.8–52.4% population-reduction), and then oil-extracts of neem and bitter gourd (25–50% mortality and 36.5–39.8% population-reduction) in the laboratory [72 h post-application exposure interval (PAEI)] and field trails (168 h PAEI), respectively. All tested biorationals, except Methoxyfenozide [(slightly-harmful/Class-II), i.e., causing mortality of parasitoids between a range of 25–50%] and Tebufenozide [(moderately-harmful/Class-III), i.e., causing mortality of parasitoids between the ranges of 51–75%], proved harmless/Class-I biorationals at PAEI of 7-days in the field (parasitism-reduction < 25%) and 3-days in the lab (effect < 30%). In laboratory bioassays, exposure of parasitized-pseudopupae and adult-parasitoids to neem and bitter gourd oils demonstrated that these compounds proved harmless/Class-I biorationals (< 30% mortality). Alternatively, Pyriproxyfen, Buprofezin, Fenoxycarb, Methoxyfenozide, and Tebufenozide were slightly-harmful biorationals (30–79% mortality) against the respective stages of E. formosa. We conclude that most of the tested biorationals proved harmless or slightly harmful to E. formosa, except tebufenozide after PAEI of 7-days (168 h) in the field and, therefore, may be used strategically in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of B. tabaci.

Impact of promotional activities on sales of agrochemicals in nalgonda district of miryalaguda region

Promotion of products plays a very important role in business. It increases not only the sales but also increase awareness about the product. In case of agriculture, it is a prime importance because farmers always believe what they see. Promotion is influenced by many factors and it affects many other things also. Due to Ad campaigns farmers are aware of the various brands and the companies. The most desired media by the farmers is found to be the pamplets, brouchers, newspaper, magazines and hoardings. Sales promotion in agrochemicals is a key ingredient in marketing. Sales promotion such as demonstration, field trails, get together are growing up fast. Majority of the respondent comments that there is an influence on them purchasing the agrochemicals through advertising and sales promotion. It is because they believe that due to advertisement they become aware of the products and its usage.

Modeling of Different Irrigation Methods for Maize Using AquaCrop Model: Case Study

Modeling of irrigation methods is one of the most important techniques that contribute to the future of modern agriculture. This will conserve water as water scarcity is a major threat for agriculture. In this study, AquaCrop model was used to model different irrigation methods of maize in field trails in Al-Yousifya, 15 km Southwest of Baghdad. Field experiments were conducted for two seasons during 2016 and 2017 using five irrigation methods including furrow, surface drip and subsurface drip with three patterns of emitter depth (10, 20 and 30 cm) irrigation. AquaCrop simulations of biomass, grain yield, harvest index and water productivity were validated using different statistical parameters under the natural conditions obtained in the study area. For 2016 and 2017 seasons, results of R2 were 0.98 and 0.99, 0.99 and 0.99, 0.99 and 0.97, and 0.8 and 0.73 for biomass, grain yield, harvest index and water productivity, respectively. The study has conducted that simulation using AquaCrop is considered very efficient tool for modeling of different irrigation applications for maize production under the existing conditions in the central region of Iraq.

Quality parameters in linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) varieties grown under sodic soil

The present study entitled “Evaluation of fatty acid profile and nutritional quality of some linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) varieties grown under sodic soil” was conducted at Agronomy Research Farm and analysis was carried out in the Laboratory of Department of Agricultural Biochemistry, A.N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya (U.P.) during Rabi season in the year 2017-18 and 2018-19. Ten varieties of linseed NDL-1 NDL-3 Parvati, Shikha, Shubhra, Shekhar, Chambal, T-397, Mukta, and Garima, were collected from department of Genetics and plant breeding of this University, and used as experimental material in the field trail. The seeds of linseed varieties were sown in Completely Randomized Design with three replications on 2017-18 and 2018-19. The row to row and plant to plant spacing was kept 10 cm and 30 cm, respectively. The seeds were sown at the rate of 30-40 kg per hectare. All agronomical practices were adopted to achieve a good crop. After harvesting the seeds of each variety were collected separately and used for the analysis various physical parameters. The seeds of each varieties were ground into fine powder stage and stored in air tight container for further physical parameters such as number of pods per plant, 1000-seed weight, colour of seeds, yield per plant,. The data obtained in the experiment showed the Morphological characters such as number of pods per plant 59.80 to 45.50 pods and 59.88 to 45.53 pods, 1000 seed weight 08.23 to 06.50 g and 8.27 to 06.53 g, in variety NDL-3 and Garima, seed yield per plant 8.70 to 06.80 (g) and 08.70 to 06.83(g) during year 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively. Variety Garima and NDL-3, recorded maximum and yield parameter was superior in physical parameters.