Institute Of Agriculture And Animal Science Research Articles

Identification of drought tolerant wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes using stress tolerance indices in the western terai region of Nepal

Drought is the leading abiotic factor influencing global wheat production. To evaluate the drought performance of wheat genotypes, it is essential to identify and employ stress tolerance indices. These indices are essential for evaluating variation among genotypes in their response to drought, ultimately contributing to the development of more resilient and sustainable wheat production systems worldwide.. Thus, a field experiment was conducted in alpha lattice design with twenty genotypes including three checks viz., Bhrikuti, Gautam, and RR 21 at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Nepal, under irrigated and drought conditions, to identify drought tolerance wheat in winter season of 2022. In irrigated condition, five irrigations were applied at different critical growth stages. Whereas in drought conditions, only initial irrigation was applied after field preparation, for the germination of seed, and a poly house was constructed, to restrict all forms of natural precipitation. Genotypes were harvested when they attained harvestable maturity, grain yield was recorded, and stress tolerance indices were calculated. The mean grain yield reduction was 86.88 % in drought condition. Correlation analysis showed that Yield under Stress conditions (Ys) had a significant positive correlation with Yield Stability Index (YSI)(0.911**), Geometric Mean Productivity (GMP)(0.918**), and Stress Tolerant Index (STI)(0.911**). Thus, YSI, GMP, and STI are the important stress tolerance indices considered while selecting drought tolerance genotypes. Principal component and biplot analysis revealed that Bhrikuti, BL 5116, NL 1447, NL 1508, and Gautam were stable and high-yielding drought tolerant wheat genotypes.

Identification of Heat Stress Tolerant Wheat Genotype Using Stress Tolerance Indices

This experiment was conducted to identify heat stress tolerant wheat genotypes using stress tolerance indices. A total of twenty wheat genotypes, provided by the National Wheat Research Program (NWRP) in Bhairahawa, were evaluated in both irrigated and heat stress environments. These genotypes comprised three Bhairahawa Lines (BL), fifteen Nepal Lines (NL), and two commercial checks—Bhrikuti and Gautam. The research was conducted at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in Paklihawa, using alpha lattice design. Results showed that the mean grain yield of wheat was reduced by 24.82% under heat stress conditions as compared to irrigated conditions. Notably, mean productivity (MP), geometric mean productivity (GMP), stress tolerance index (STI), and yield index (YI) exhibited strong and highly significant positive correlations with yield under both irrigated and heat stress conditions. In contrast, tolerance index (TOL) and stress susceptibility index (SSI) displayed negative correlations under heat stress conditions. Genotype NL 1384 exhibited the highest MP, GMP, and STI, closely followed by NL 1417, establishing them as the most stable and productive genotypes. These findings suggest that these genotypes have the potential to be selected for high yields under both irrigated and heat stress conditions. The biplot analysis showed a positive correlation of MP, STI, GMP, YI, and yield stability index (YSI) with yield in the irrigated environment (Ys) and yield in the heat stress environment (Yp), and a negative correlation of stress susceptibility index (SSI), TOL, and reduction (Red). Hence, these indices could potentially be used for the evaluation of wheat genotypes under both irrigated and heat stress conditions.

Effect of Different Combinations of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium on Growth and Yield of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) under Rupandehi Condition

An experiment on effect of different combinations of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium on growth and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) var. ArkaAnamika was conducted at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Paklihawa, Rupandehi during February 2017 to June 2017. The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with seven treatments and three replications. The treatments 220:200:60 NPK Kg ha–1 (T1), 200:180:60 NPK Kg ha–1 (T2), 180:160:40 NPK Kg ha–1 (T3), 160:140:40 NPK Kg ha–1 (T4), 140:120:20 NPK Kg ha–1(T5), 120:100:20 NPK Kg ha–1 (T6) and Control (T7) were applied and the growth, yield and yield attributes of okra were studied. The result revealed that there were no significant differences (p=0.05 level by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test-DMRT) on plant height, number of leaves, number of branches, fruit length, fruit diameter, average number of fruit per plant and average marketable yield to the effect of different combination of NPK levels. However, the result showed that average marketable yield and total yield was found significant over the control and also the highest total yield (43.21 Mt/ha) was obtained at 160:140:40NPK Kg ha–1.

Ways for the Prosperity of Farmers in Western Hills and Terai, Nepal

The Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) under Tribhuvan University (TU) has launched the internship programme me for their final semester students studying under-graduate level since 2014/15 in its all constituent and affiliated campuses. About 106 UPA mini-theses accomplished by 221 B.Sc. Ag. graduates from the Prithu Technical College (PTC) libraries were systematically arranged and categorized in chronological order based on the disciplinary subjects and thematic areas, and the technologies have been recommended to scale-out for the prosperity of the farmers in the western Tertian mid-hill agro-ecology of Lumbini and adjoining provinces in Nepal. The review revealed that the researches at PTC were concentrated majorly on major food grain crops with five major themes viz. varietal evaluation, crop management, soil nutrient, weed and insect pest management. The review further revealed that the adequate number of researches were in the vegetable crops specially in production packages and value-chain analysis followed by the control of insect pests and diseases both in on-farm and storage structures, suggesting to follow the integrated pest management (IPM) approach. Varietal testing in major field and vegetable crops, and economic survey of chamomile, marigold, honeybees, broiler chicken, cardamom and ginger and oyster mushroom cultivation practices are the newly defined arena to be adopted for harnessing the prosperity of the farmers of the western hills and Terai region in Nepal and its adjoining congenial agro-climatic environment. Future collaboration with the various agriculture related national and international organizations as adopted by PTC on these recent years has to be continued and strengthened further to extrapolate the UPA research innovations obtained from the graduate student’s mini-thesis works.

TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND EXTENSION AS AN INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND ANIMAL SCIENCE FUNCTION-LEGAL AND STRUCTURAL OVERVIEW

For more than 25 years, the Tribhuvan University (TU) Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS) has conducted numerous disciplines and system research projects, publishing the results in the IAAS Journal of Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, IAAS research reports, and Nepalese Journal of Agriculture. The assessment notably draws attention to the structure of agricultural education, examines the significant issues, and makes various recommendations to strengthen Nepal’s agricultural education institutions in preparation for the future. Academic institutions are encouraged to form creative partnerships and long-term research collaborations with a variety of national and international organizations after connecting with the agriculture and forest industries, and finally suggesting that students be more actively involved in action research projects with clear strategic plans and programs. These three areas are crucial for the success of educational institutions. The integration of research, education, and extension—along with producer input—leads to more relevant programs and resource usage that is more effective. Agencies involved in research, education, and extension realize that when they collaborate, their efforts produce win-win outcomes rather than win-lose ones. The financial self-sustainability of the technical institutions is not just a concern for the overall development of the provincial republican country; it also has to create synergy in multiple aspects with the non-technical faculties of the various Nepalese universities. It is also suggested that the country’s Agriculture Councils be established as soon as possible to control the caliber, volume, and employment opportunities of agriculture graduates.

Evaluation of Yield Attributing Trait of Spring Wheat Genotypes Under Normal and Late Sowing Condition

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is the third most important cereal crop in Nepal after rice and maize. The research is carried out during the winter season in agronomic field of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Bhairahawa, Nepal. Sowing is carried out 28th November 2020 and 24th December 2020 on alpha lattice design with two replication of twenty wheat genotype under normal and late sowing respectively. In the late sowing condition, all genotype's performance is reduced as compared to normal sowing. Under late sown condition, high temperatures reduced the days to booting (15.64%), days to heading (14.97%), days to maturity (14.16%), chlorophyll content (15.99%), plant height (8.59%), spike length (7.03%), number of spikelet per spike (9.21%), number of grain per spike (10.6%), spike weight (15.32%), effective tiller/m2 (9.92%), thousand kernel weight (10.3%) and grain yield (22.5%). NL 1420 presented higher 4118 kg/ha and 3310.5 kg/ha yield respectively and BL 4407 presented early maturity 119.2 DAS and 100.6 DAS respectively in normal sowing and late sowing condition. In a combined environment, maximum grain yield is recorded in NL1420. The result suggested that the tolerant line against the late sowing condition can be used as genetic resource for crop improvement and promote for grain yield.

Correlation coefficient and path analysis of yield and yield attributing characters of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes under reproductive drought stress in the Terai region of Nepal

An experimental trial of nine rice genotypes was conducted in the Agronomy field of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) Paklihawa Campus under a randomized block design layout with three replications from July to November of 2022. The aim was to study genetic variability and analyze the character association of yield and yield-attributing components in rice genotypes and their direct and indirect effect on grain yield under reproductive drought stress conditions. Observations on days to flowering (50%), plant height, panicle length, panicle weight, number of grains/panicles, effective panicle/m², grain yield, and 1000 kernel weight were recorded. Grain yield showed a highly positive significant correlation with effective panicle/m² (0.713**), followed by plant height (0.347) and panicle length (0.289). The path coefficient analysis of different traits revealed the highest positive direct effect of the effective panicle per m² (0.748963), followed by panicle length (0.24145) and plant height (0.227505). The highest negative direct effect was shown by the number of grains per panicle (-0.31218). The experimental results revealed that the selection of trait-effective panicle per square meter would be most beneficial for the improvement of yield in rice genotypes facilitating selection and plant breeding programs.

Agromorphological Diversity and Disease Assessment of Grain Amaranth in Lamjung, Nepal

Amaranth is a nutritious traditional food and vegetable crop with incomparable health benefits. However, very little research has been carried out to study diversity of amaranth in Nepal. An experiment was conducted in the research field of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) at Sundarbazar, Lamjung, Nepal, during 2021 growing season to assess twelve amaranth accessions based on agromorphological characters. Seed materials were collected from the Nepal Agriculture Genetic Resource Center (NAGRC), Khumaltar, and the experiment was conducted in alpha-lattice design with 3 replications. Early maturing accessions had inflorescence at 42.33 days while late maturing accessions were after 82 days. ANOVA test for quantitative traits revealed significant differences among the accessions for all traits studied except stem girth. Similarly, from frequency distribution of agromorphological characters, high variability was found in stem pigmentation, terminal inflorescence shape, inflorescence color, and seed color. Diversity indices (Shannon–Weaver diversity index and Simpson’s index of diversity) were also estimated in which inflorescence color, terminal inflorescence shape, seed color, stem pigmentation, leaf shape, branching index, and leaf pigmentation exhibited high variation confirming the presence of tremendous diversity in Amaranthus. Accessions NGRCO 6977, NGRCO 6969, and NGRCO 6871 had low disease incidence showing the potential of developing resistant varieties through précised breeding in the future. High yield attributing traits were possessed by accessions NGRCO 6977, CO 2435, NGRCO 6904, and CO 1239. Accession NGRCO 6977 was found superior among twelve accessions with highest grain yield and least disease occurrence which can further be evaluated in successive years as a promising variety in mid-hill region.

Effect of biochar and nitrogen on soil characteristics, growth and yield of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) at Paklihawa, Rupandehi condition of Nepal

An experiment on effect of biochar and nitrogen on soil characteristics, growth and yield of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) was conducted at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Paklihawa, Rupandehi, from November 2019 to February 2020. The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design with two factors: nitrogen and biochar, each factor having four levels (biochar: 0 t/ha, 5 t/ha, 10 t/ha and 15 t/ha and nitrogen: 0 kg/ha, 50 kg/ha, 100 kg/ha, 200 kg/ha), resulting in sixteen treatment combinations. Biochar application was found to be effective in improving soil bulk density, pH, soil organic matter and soil nitrogen and potassium content. Application of nitrogen fertilizer (200 kg/ha) and biochar (15 t/ha) alone, and in combination, showed significantly higher root dry matter (15.83 gm, 16.63 gm and 20.57 gm), biological yield (80 t/ha, 63.75 t/ha, and 95.75) and root yield (26.74 t/ha, 24.06 t/ha and 30.32 t/ha). In comparison to the sole effects of the highest dose of nitrogen fertilizer (200 kg/ha) and the highest dose of biochar (15 t/ha), their combined application showed the increased yield in radish root by 13.38% and 26.01%, respectively, indicating that the combined effect of biochar and nitrogen is more productive for the growth and yield in radish crop as compared to the sole effect of nitrogen and biochar.

Influence of Nitrogen Level on Growth Pattern and Yield Performance of French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Nepal

A field experiment was carried out with an objective to study the effect of nitrogen levels in the growth and yield performance of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (PDR 14 or Uday) at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from October 2008 to March 2009. The experiment of nitrogen levels was carried out with five treatments of 0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg/ha with three dates of sowing in three replications in split plot design. The soil of the experimental plots was sandy loam with acidic (pH 6.33) in nature. The effect of nitrogen levels on growth pattern and grain yield was found significant. Significantly higher grain yield was obtained with 120 kg N/ha (2.57 t/ha) as compared to control (1.39 t/ha), 40 (1.84 t/ha), 80 (2.04 t/ha) and 160 (2.01 t/ha) kg N/ha, respectively. The yield increased significantly with nitrogen up to 120 kg/ha and then declined at 160 kg/ha. So, in order to achieve higher productivity of French bean, 120 kg N/ha can be considered as an optimum level of nitrogen application in the humid sub-tropical condition of inner Terai, Chitwan of Nepal.
 Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 10(1): 31-40.

STUDY ON RESEARCH WORKS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS OF POST-GRADUATE PROGRAM AT PATHOLOGY DEPARTMENT, IAAS, RAMPUR, CHITWAN, NEPAL

The Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) under Tribhuwan University (TU) has been carrying out various disciplinary and system research works through post-graduate students' research and publishing their findings through the M.Sc.Ag and Ph.D. thesis dissertations. Various thesis written by researchers under IAAS were collected and the appraisal of pathological research works on major cereals, vegetable crops, legume crops, oilseed crops and high-value crops along with ideas on management practices was done with the help of a thorough literature review. Data were gathered from IAAS/TU libraries, Rampur Library, Kritipur library, GAASC library and IAAS journals. A total of 68 types of research were conducted at IAAS. It is revealed that major diseases associated with cereals area brown spot of rice, rice blast, yellow rust of wheat, helminthosporium leaf blight of wheat, spot blotch of wheat and leaf blast of finger millet. Similarly, diseases of vegetables include late blight of potato, a white mold of french beans. The major diseases of legumes are wilt of lentil & chickpea, powdery mildew of pea, anthracnose of soybean and those of oilseeds are mainly leaf blights. Large cardamom, greatly known as high- value crop, is found to be suffered from Chirkey Foorkey and leaf blight diseases. Fungal pathogens cause most of the diseases in almost all crops. The management practices at their best results included the use of biological agents along with commonly available fungicides. The study found out a research gap in agricultural pathology as well. It also luminated the future area of research works that is lacking in current research works

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF SELECTED PLANTS AND THEIR ALLELOPATHIC EFFECT IN GERMINATION OF BEAN AND RADISH SEEDS.

BACKGROUND: The study of ethno-botanical is important in different sectors like medical and agriculture so the discovery, exploration and documentation of such plants is necessary. This research assessed the phytochemicals present in the selected plants and studied their allelopathic effect on germination, radicle length, and plumule length of bean and radish seeds. METHODOLOGY: The research was conducted in the Agroecology lab of Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (IAAS )Paklihawa. Six plants such as Camellia sinensis, Zanthoxylum armatum, Amomum subulatum, Eupatorium glandulosum, Cymbopogan flexuosus, and Rhododendron arboreum were selected and collected from different districts of Nepal. The collected plant parts were dried, powdered, and aqueous extract was used to screen some secondary metabolites. Six treatments @ 10% aqueous concentration of extracts including control were applied in bean and radish seeds in CRD format along with 3 replications to study their allelopathic effect. KEY FINDINGS: Glycoside was detected in all the extracts, and alkaloid was also detected in all the extracts except in the extract of Rhododendron arboreum. Alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and saponins were found highest in Eupatorium glandulosum leaves (5.2%), Camellia sinensis (1.4%), Cymbopogan flexuosus (7.03%), and Camellia sinensis (2.12%) respectively. The reading of germination rate for bean and radish seeds was found lowest in Camellia sinensis extract and Eupatorium glandulosum extracts respectively. Average length of radicle and plumule of both bean and radish seeds was found highest in the extract of Rhododendron arboreum and least in an extract of Eupatorium glandulosum. CONCLUSION: In conclusion the selected plants possess many secondary metabolites that inhibited the development of the bean and radish seeds to grow vigorously hence upon further research and trial, these plants could be a wonderful source of herbicides to suppress the growth of unwanted weeds in the field.

Efficacy of bio-rational pesticides for the management of Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee in Rupandehi, Nepal

The field experiment was conducted from March to June of 2017 in field conditions at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Nepal to evaluate the efficacy of botanicals, microbial, and chemical insecticide against Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee. We assessed seven treatments including control in randomized complete block design with four replications and two sprays. The treatments evaluated for the management of L. orbonalis were i) Jholmal, 250 ml/l of water ii) Beauveria bassiana (Daman), 4 g/l water iii) Abamectin 5 % (Biotrine), 0.5 ml/l of water iv) Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Mahastra), 4 g/l of water v) Emamectin benzoate (Cobra), 0.5 g/l of water vi) Azadirachtin 1500 ppm (Neem Kavach), 5 ml/l of water vii) Control (pure water application). All the treatments applied were found to be superior to the control. The results revealed that the lowest percentage of infested fruit i.e. 57.97% and 34.52% were found at 14 days after the first and second spray of Emamectin benzoate treatment respectively, as well as it was found to be significant over control in both sprays. The marketable yield of plot treated with Emamectin benzoate in eggplant was found to be the highest i.e.7.19 t/ha and 7.13 t/ha which was followed by Neem Kavach with the yield of 6.69 t/ha and 7.06 t/ha and that of control plots was 2.98 t/ha and 2.56 t/ha after first and second spray respectively. Further, our study concluded both marketable yield and Benefit-Cost (BC) ratio of brinjal fruit were the highest under the treatment of Emamectin benzoate followed by Jholmal and Neem Kavach. From this experiment, we concluded that Emamectin benzoate was the most effective treatment for the management of L. orbonalis while Jholmal and Neem Kavach proved to be the best alternative.

Relationship between Wheat Yield and Yield Attributing Character at Late Sowing Condition

Correlation coefficient and path analysis were computed between yield and yield attributing trait among twenty genotypes of wheat. The research was conducted during winter season of 2020/2021 in the agronomic field of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Bhairahawa, Nepal to identify the traits which influence the positive and negative relation to grain yield. Twenty genotypes of wheat were sown on 24th December 2020 on alpha lattice design with two replications. It has been found that under heat stress, DTB, DTH, DTM, CLC, PH, NGPS show a non-significant positive correlation with GY. Similarly ET shows a highly significant positive correlation to GY. However, SL, SW, TKW have a non-significant negative correlation with GY. In path analysis, DTM and ET have a positive direct effect on GY and DTH, SL, CLC and NGPS have an indirect effect on GY. Hence, the ET and DTM can be used to select wheat genotype for breeding purpose and studies to improve yield of genotypes under heat stress condition.

Variability, Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis for Agro-morphological Traits in Wheat Genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.) under Normal and Heat Stress Conditions

Assessment of variability and traits association in crop help to enhance selection efficiency. Therefore, the present investigation entitled “Variability, Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis for Agro-morphological Traits in Wheat Genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.) under Normal and Heat Stress Conditions” was carried out during winterseason of 2019/2020 at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Bhairahawa, Nepal to identify traits that highly contribute to grain yield and suitable for its further improvement. The experiment was laid out following alpha lattice design with two replications. The twentygenotypes of wheat was sown in two different environments viz., irrigated and heat stress in November 29, 2019 and December 25, 2019 respectively. It was found that under normal condition, moderate GCV and PCV were recorded in SW, TGW, NGPS, and WGPS. Under heat stress condition, high GCV and PCV were observed in GY. High heritability and high GAM was observed in TGW & GY, NGPS, WGPS, TGW under normal and heat stress condition respectively. Under normal condition SW exhibited positive correlation and high positive direct effect on GY at genetic level and WGPS at phenotypic level. And under heat stress condition SW exhibited positive correlation and high positive direct effect on GY. Whereas, at phenotypic level, WGPS and PH exhibited high positive direct effect on grain yield. Hence it is clear that spike weight and weight of grains per spike are important traits for grain yield improvement.
 Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 9(1): 65-74

Evaluation of Botanical Powders for the Management of Rice Weevil (Sitophilus oryzae L. Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Rupandehi, Nepal

An experiment to manage rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae L. Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Gramineae) was carried out at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Nepal. The experiment was conducted under completely randomized design (CRD) with seven treatments viz. neem leaf dust (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) 15 g/kg, tobacco leaf dust (Nicotiana tabacum L.) 10 g/kg, ginger rhizome powder (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) 20 g/kg, garlic cloves powder (Allium sativum L.) 20 g/kg, Sichuan pepper seed powder (Zanthoxylum armatum Roxb.) 10 g/kg, sweet flag rhizome dust (Acorus calamus L.) 5 g/kg, and control with three replication. Result revealed that the highest mortality of weevils was observed in the wheat seed treated with A. calamus (98.33%), followed by N. tabacum (85.67%), A. sativum (73.34%), A. indica (70.67%), Z. armatum (70.34%), and Z. officinale (58.34%). Similarly, the lowest percent weight loss (3.32%) and damage of seed (4.0%) were observed in wheat treated with A. calamus. Moreover, the highest germination (89%) was observed in seeds treated with A. calamus rhizome powder when tested at 90 days after treatment application. Based on weevil mortality and the germination test, it is found that sweet flag rhizome powder is the best treatment against rice weevil followed by tobacco leaf dust and garlic clove powder. Therefore, these botanicals could be one of the effective alternatives for the management of weevil especially to the farmers who do not use chemical insecticides in the rural areas of Nepal.

Effect of Different Organic Manures on Growth, Yield, and Quality of Radish (Raphanus Sativus)

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of different organic manures on growth, yield, and quality of radish (Raphanus sativus) at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Rupandehi, Nepal. The experiment was laid in Randomized Complete Block Design single factorial with seven treatments and three replications. The treatments were consisted as farmyard manure (FYM) (30 tha-1), poultry manure (PM) (30 tha-1), FYM(15 tha-1) + PM (15 tha-1), FYM (15 tha-1) + vermin compost (2.5 tha-1) + phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) (10kgha-1), FYM (15 tha-1) + bone meal (5 tha-1) + PSB ( 10 kgha-1), PM (15 tha-1) + vermi compost (2.5 tha-1) + PSB (10 kgha-1), PM (15 tha-1) + bone meal (5 tha-1) + PSB (10 kgha-1). A significant variation was observed among the treatments. The poultry manures combined with bone meal and PSB significantly increased the growth and yield attributes viz., plant height (43.43 cm), number of leaves (20.9), shoot length (44.49 cm), root length (21.68 cm), root diameter (3.77 cm), root weight (211.3 gm plant-1 ), shoot weight (170.9 gm plant-1), biological yield (82.28 gm plant-1), dry root weight (46.89 gm plant-1), dry shoot weight (50.33 gm plant-1), total dry weight (97.22 gm plant-1), root yield (49.31 tha-1), shoot yield (939.87 tha-1) and biological yield (89.19 tha-1) at 70 days after sowing. The vitamin-C in radish root was recorded highest (2.87 mgml-1) with PM. However, the total soluble solid remains unchanged among the treatments. In total, the results suggested that poultry manures combined with bone meal and PSB is suitable to cultivate radish.
 SAARC J. Agri., 18(2): 101-114 (2020)

An Efficacy of Bio-Rational Pesticides for the Management of <i>Leucinoides Orbonalis </i> Guenee in Rupandehi, Nepal

Field experiment was conducted from March to June, 2017 in field conditions at Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Paklihawa Campus, Rupandehi, Nepal to evaluate the efficacy of botanicals, microbials and chemical insecticide against Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee. Seven treatments including untreated-control were assessed in randomized block design with four replications and two sprays. The treatments were i) Jholmal, 250 ml/l of water ii) Beauveria bassiana (Daman),4 g/l water iii) Abamectin 5% (Biotrine), 0.5 ml/l of water iv) Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Mahastra), 4 gm/l of water v) Emamectin benzoate (Cobra) @ 0.5g/l of water vi) Azadirachtin 1500 PPM (Neem Kavach) @ 5 ml/l of water vii) Control (water application) which were evaluated for the management of L. orbonalis. All the treatments applied were superior to the control. The results revealed that, at 14 days after treatment, the lowest percentage of infected fruit i.e. 57.97% and 34.52% were found at 14 days after the first and second spray of Emamectin benzoate treatment respectively as well found to be significant over control in both sprays. The marketable yield of plot treated with Emamectin benzoate in eggplant was found to be the highest i.e.7.19 t/ha and 7.13 t/ha which was followed by Neem Kavach with the yield of 6.69 t/ha and 7.06 t/ha and that of control plots was 2.98 t/ha and 2.56 t/ha. Further, our study concluded both marketable yield and Benefit Cost (BC) ratio of brinjal fruit were the highest under the treatment Emamectin benzoate followed by jholmal and Neem Kavach. From this experiment, we concluded that Emamectin benzoate was the most effective treatment for the management of L. orbonalis while jholmal and Neem Kavach was proved to the best alternative.

Assessing the Level of Awareness about Predatory Journal among the Students of IAAS, Paklihawa

The predatory journal has emerged as a threat to credible scientific researches and publication practices because of its ill-money-draining mentality by attracting the authors for publication without providing mandatory peer-review, low publication standard, editorial, and publishing services. This study’s main objective is to assess the level of awareness about predatory journals among students of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) as a hope to support scholarly communication in battling unprofessional conduct. We conducted an online crosssectional survey from 26th June to 6th July 2020 at IAAS. A structured questionnaire loaded in Google form was circulated online via E-mails, social media messages, and posted on various IAAS pages. With a total of 110 respondents from the veterinary and agriculture science students, the data concluded that among all respondents only 66.4% were familiar with the idea of predatory journals whereas only 38.2% of respondents were aware of Beall’s list and its concept. This fails in a published article to meet the criteria in the scientific community. Hence, proper knowledge regarding the nature of the journal is necessary for publishing the paper so that the scholarly work could reach its milestone.

A Case Study of Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour in Community Dog

Dogs the first animals to be associated with humans have suffered most in unplanned urbanised societies. Community dogs are of serious health and safety problems in developing countries and many are seen suffering in the streets with various problems. Canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), an only transmittable oncogenic disease seen frequently in these community dogs. Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) located at Paklihawa Campus, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS). Tribhuvan University (TU) is the major centre for canine health care in Nepal. A dog was brought with complaints of bleeding from the rear and visible reddish mass. The mass in the genital region was diagnosed to be venereal tumour by cell cytology. For the treatment of CTVT, surgical intervention along with chemotherapy (vincristine @0.025mg/ Kg) was done. To remove the ectoparasite, amitraz bath and ivermectin (0.2mg/Kg) was used. The dog completely recovered and it was returned in its original territory.