Last Week Of October Research Articles

First report on incidence of inflorescence blight and pod rot (Choanephora infundibulifera) on dolichos bean (Dolichos lablab, L.) and yard long beanin (Vignaunguiculata sub sp. sesquipedalis) India

Inflorescence blight and pod rot caused by Choanephorasp. were recorded in two major vegetable crops viz.dolichos bean and yard long bean at a very high degree of severity. Usually, the disease occurs in mild proportions without causing economic loss during rainy season in Kerala (June to September) affecting vegetable crops like cowpea and bhendi. However, during the year 2016, the disease was noticed with a very high severity of more than 90 per cent on two crops grown at two different locations in Thrissur district of Kerala during October to January. None of the commonly used fungicides could control the disease. The pathogen was found to be luxuriantly growing on the inflorescences of dolichos bean and on the fruits of yard long bean. The first incidence of the disease was recorded during the last week of October, 2016. The disease spread was almost cent per cent on susceptible genotypes of dolichos bean and more than 90 per cent in variety ‘Vaijayanthi’ of yard long bean. A study was conducted exploring the pre disposing factors leading to the occurrence of the disease in epidemic proportions.Meteorological factors affecting the disease were studied and it was found that there is positive correlation of the disease severity with increasing atmospheric temperature and rainfall.Atmospheric temperature more than 30oC along with high humidity and rain fall during the preceding week are found to be the major pre disposing factors lead to the epidemic in both the crops. The pathogen was isolated and based on morphological characters, identified as Choanephora sp. Pathogenicity was proved by inoculation on healthy inflorescence stalks.Molecular characterization of the pathogen confirmed the identity as Choanephora infundibulifera. This is the first report of the pathogen on dolichos bean and yard long bean in India.

Determining Seasonal Emergence and Control Programs for Henbit (Lamium amplexicauleL.)

AbstractHenbit is a winter annual weed that is not effectively controlled by spring-applied herbicide applications. Research was conducted to determine henbit’s emergence pattern and whether fall-applied residual herbicides would be effective for henbit control in the spring. Henbit emerges in Louisiana from late October through March, but emergence predominantly occurs in the last week of October through the first week of December. Applying paraquat plus flumioxazin, oxyfluorfen, or rimsulfuron:thifensulfuron November 1 through December 15 provided better than 90% henbit control in March. Applying paraquat plusS-metolachlor on November 15 or December 1 provided 92% henbit control, which was similar to flumioxazin, oxyfluorfen, and rimsulfuron:thifensulfuron. The addition of flumioxazin, oxyfluorfen, or rimsulfuron:thifensulfuron to paraquat reduced the height of henbit plants by 4% to 22% of nontreated plants when applied November 1 through December 15. These studies indicate that crop producers can achieve control of henbit in March following November 1 through December 15 applications of paraquat plus flumioxazin or rimsulfuron:thifensulfuron; however, paraquat plus oxyfluorfen can be applied October 15 through December 15 to achieve similar control.

Poultry manure application time and pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) trees

The effectiveness of poultry manure application time was studied on pistachios ( Pistacia vera L.) trees. The experiment consisted of seven different poultry manure application time, including poultry manure application as one time in 1) last week of October 2) last week of December 3) last week of January 4) mid-March and dividing into two parts and use in fall or in winter, dividing into four parts and use in dormant seasons (fall and winter). Based on the results, there were significant differences among treatments. The highest number of fruit per cluster (27.4) was found in poultry manure applied in last week of October. The highest nut splitting percent (84.3%) and the lowest nut blanking percent (8.6%) were obtained in poultry manure applied by dividing into four parts. Half kernel nuts followed a similar trend with blanking percent. Weight of 1000 nuts increased and responded positively and number of pistachios nut per ounce decreased by manure application when divided into two parts and used in the winter. Application of poultry manure in the mid-March enhanced the nut protein (19.63%).

Effect of Planting Dates on the Cotton Mealybug Phenococcus solenopsis (Tinsly) as a Main Insect Pest Attacking Tomato Plants in Damietta Governorate.

The current studies were conducted on the field at kafr El-battikh reigon, Damietta Governorate. The K-186 tomato variety planted in two planting dates first of February and last of September during the two successive seasons 2016/17 and 2017/18 to determine the population abundance of the cotton mealybugs Phenococcus solenopsis (Tinsly). The highest peaks of abundance of P. solenopsis recorded in the February plantation during the two successive seasons 2016/17 and 2017/18 in the second week of April 2016 and the first week of April 2017 and represented by 279 and 351 indiv. /100 leaves, respectively. Meanwhile September plantation recorded the highest peaks of abundance during the two seasons in the first week of November 2016 and the last week of October 2017 and represented by 119 and 140 indiv. /100 leaves, respectively. The cotton mealybug P. solenopsis showed a significantly differences in the two plantations during the two successive seasons.

Impact of temperature variability and management interventions on productivity of wheat

Field experiments for six seasons (2008–09 to 2013–2014) and simulations for mid–century (2021-2050) were carried out to (i) understand impact of inter– and intra– seasonal temperature variability on wheat yield, and (ii) identify best management intervention in relation to temperature variability. In the field experiments, treatments were three dates of planting, two inbred varieties and two irrigation schedules replicated thrice. Simulation with CERES–Wheat model pointed that variability of 5.5 percent in Tmax and 3.8 percent in Tmin would cause 11.2 percent variability in yield. The variation in yield would also vary with date of planting. It was relatively less in Nov 05 sown wheat than other dates,showing that in mid–century yield can be sustained by planting wheat at this date. However, at present growing of longer duration varieties in last week of October with adequate irrigation, medium to longer duration in 1st week of November is the practical adaptive measure to minimize impact of temperature variability on wheat yield.

Timing of Autumn Migration of Sora (Porzana carolina) In MISSOURI

ABSTRACT.— Monitoring and conserving waterbirds, including Sora (Porzana carolina), in Missouri, is constrained by the lack of information on migration phenology. We performed nocturnal distance sampling surveys by ATV across 11 state and federal managed wetlands in Missouri, USA from 2012–2015 to compare the timing of Sora' autumn migration among years. Migration of Sora in Missouri began in the first week of August, on average it peaked on 25 September, and continued through the last week of October. We detected migration of Sora earlier in autumn than did previous work. We found the start and end of migration did not vary annually in 3 of 4 years. With our results, wetland managers should be able to better time their management for rails in Missouri.

Status of Insect Pests and Natural Enemies of Direct Seeded and Transplanted Rice

Studies were conducted on the status of insect-pests and natural enemies of direct seeded rice (DSR) in comparison with puddled transplanted rice (PTR) during rabi and kharif in 2013-14. The rice leaf folder and yellow stem required both the seasons. Maximum leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee) (13.03%) damage and yellow stem borer damage (13.49%) of white ears was recorded during last week of October and second week of November in DSR under unprotected situation respectively. While sucking pests population mainly green leafhopper incidence was comparatively high in PTR (3.29 and 4.92/hill) also plant hoppers incidence (BPH and WBPH) (28.90 and 18.44 adults/hill) under unprotected situation during two seasons respectively. Population of predators at both the season remained high throughout the study period in PTR than the DSR except

Abrupt Intensification and Dissipation of Tropical Cyclones in Indian Ocean: A Case Study of Tropical Cyclone Nilofar – 2014

This study aims to investigate the possible influence of different atmospheric forcing on intensification/dissipation of tropical cyclonic “Nilofar” in Arabian Sea appeared during the last week of October, 2014 which exhibited abrupt intensification and dissipation as well. The cyclone was monitored by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (TCWC) of Pakistan Meteorological | department and the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) of Indian Meteorological | department (IMD) continuously, issued warnings and advisories with the help of available synoptic observations, satellite data and numerical models. Almost all the essential ingredients for intensification and tracking of the cyclone were studied and monitored accurately. Although the track forecast of the cyclone remained up to mark; but great errors occurred in intensity forecast. The atmospheric vertical wind shear could not be studied accurately. The intensity of wind shear itself is dependent on both; the local and global atmospheric forcing and climate variables, reoccurring periodically, especially while occurring two or more at the same time. More studies are required for influence of these climate variables while co-occurring at the same time period. This study will help weather forecasters to pay special attention on variation of climate factors affecting the wind shear for proper forecasting of tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea for the safety of coastal communities along the coast.

Effect of weather parameters on development of early blight of Tomato caused by Alternaria solani in polyhouse and field conditions

Field studies were conducted to determine the environmental factors associated with infection of field and protected plants. The overall mean disease incidence and intensity was 84.8% in protected environment and 82.2% in field condition during last week of October in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Results revealed that correlation coefficient (r) showed strong positive correlation (r = +841) with minimum temperature ranged (24.8–23.8°C) with maximum relative humidly (r = +0.792) ranged (91.1–84%) and negatively correlated with maximum temperature and minimum relative humidity (r =-0.170 &-0.826), (30.3–33.9°C) and (70.7–47.1%), respectively. In the case of field condition, r was (−0.37) with maximum (+0.94) minimum temperature, (+0.92 &-0.92) with maximum and minimum relative humidity and-0.62 rainfall, respectively. Disease severity was found comparatively higher in the temperature range from (24.8–35.4°C) and (20.0–33.9°C) coupled with relative humidity (66.5–91.1%) and (38.4–84.1%), respectively in polyhouse (protected) and field conditions.

Influence of sowing time on performance of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) varieties under mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of different linseed varieties (Binwa, Himani, Baner and Nagarkot) during different time of sowing (last week of October, first week of November and last week of November). Among different times of sowing, the crop sown during first week of November and last week of October being at par with each other had recorded significantly higher plant stand, more plant height and higher number ofsecondary branches/plant and capsules/plant, which have contributed in getting significantly higher seed yield and economic return over November last week sown crop. The increase of 37.6 and 35.0 per cent in seed yield and ` 5110 and 4281/ha in net returns were obtained when sowing was done during first week of November and last week of October, respectively over crop sown on last week of November. Among varieties, Nagarkot has recorded significantly highest plant population/ha, which was followed by Himani and Baner varieties. Nagarkot was found to significantly superior for recording higher number of primary and secondary branches and Himani for number of capsules/plant, which have resulted higher seed yield of 1062 and 1012 kg/ha and economic parameters (B:C ratio of 1.62 and 1.50) with Himani and Nagarkot varieties, respectively.

Effect of weather variables on whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) population in development of potato apical leaf curl virus disease

Potato apical leaf curl virus disease (PALCVD) is an important disease in early sown potato crop transmitted by whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). The studies pertaining to impact of weather variables on population of B. tabaci and PALCV disease incidence on seven potato cultivars (Kufri Pushkar, Kufri Bahar, Kufri Pukhraj, Kufri Badshah, Kufri Khyati, Kufri Surya and Kufri Sadabahar) were conductedduring 2012-13 and 2013-14. Results showed that the mean B. tabaci population was highest in the last week of October which varied from 24 to 85 white flies per plant. Thereafter, the population of B. tabaci decreased gradually with the fall in both maximum and minimum temperatures. Kufri Bahar variety had least B. tabaci population on all dates of observation. It was found that B. tabaci population (vector) was directly proportional to PALCVD. The pooled data showed that maximum temperature, minimum temperature, evening relative humidity and wind speed were the important contributing weather variables which could predict the vector populations by 57 per cent.

English

A field experiment was conducted in two consecutive seasons (2009 and 2010) to assess the effect of two microbial fertilizers, chicken manure, urea and their possible combinations on the performance of a maize variety (Hudeiba 45). The bio fertilizers used were Azospirillum brasilense (A), Azotobacter sp (B) and chicken manure (CM) at a rate of 7t/ha). Urea (46% N) was applied at rates of 120kg/ha (N) and 40kg/ha (T). The combinations used were Azospirillum brasilense with urea (A+T), Azotobacter sp with urea (B+T), A+CM and B+CM in addition to control. The field experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replicates. Four seeds were sown in holes with 20 cm between holes in 4×4 m2 plots with 5 ridges 70 cm apart. Sowing was carried out in the last week of October in 2009 and the first week of November in 2010. The fertilizers were applied on one side of the ridge and plants were irrigated at seven days intervals. Data were collected on cob length, cob diameter, number of rows/cob, number of seeds/row, 100-grain weight, grain yield/plant and grain yield/ha. Data were collected for yield components at physiological maturity and for grain yield after harvesting. The moisture, ash, fat, crude fiber, crude protein, tannins and carbohydrates contents of the grains were determined. Results showed that biofertilizers have significantly (p < 0.05) increased crop productivity. CM increased the grain yield (t/h) by 20 and 30% over the control in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Application of chicken manure solely or in combinations with Azosprillum barasilence or Azotobacter sp have also increased grain yield and its components. The combinations of N2 fixer inoculants with manure and/or urea improved grain quality of maize under field conditions. Key words: Azosprillum barasilence, Azotobacter sp, maize, chicken manure, grain yield.

Integrated Weed Management in Wheat under Subtropical Rain-Fed Conditions

A field experiment was carried out from July, 2013 to May, 2014 at University Research Farm Chakwal Road, of Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi to evaluate the integrated weed control management strategies followed by summer green manure practices on weeds and grain yield of wheat under rain-fed conditions. The experiment was laid out in a 2-factor factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in strip plot arrangement with three replications of each treatment. The sorghum and sesbania crops were sown in the first week of July, 2013 and incorporated into soil as green manure at the end of August, 2013 after attaining sufficient biomass. The wheat variety "Chakwal-50" was sown with a tractor drawn rabi drill in the last week of October, 2013 with a seeding rate of 125kg ha-1. The herbicides used were buctril super @ 750ml ha-1 and isoproturon @ 1.00kg a.i. ha-1. The weeds found in the wheat crop were Fumaria indica L., Convolvulus arvensis L., Chenonpodium album L., Asphodelus tenuifolius L. The incorporation of sorghum green manuring resulted in good control to suppress the weed population and biomass. The buctril super @ 750ml ha-1 along with tharphali significantly reduced the weed density (18.8 m-2), weed biomass (12.7g m-2) and increased weed control efficiency (71.1%) followed by isoproturon applied @ 1.00kg a.i. ha-1. The highest grains yield of 3208.5kg ha-1 was recorded in the plots where weeds were controlled with buctril super @ 750ml ha-1 followed by tharphali where sorghum green manure was incorporated in summer followed by the isoproturon application @ 1.00kg a.i. ha-1(3016.1kg ha-1) in combination with tharphali in the same green manuring crop.

English

Field experiments were undertaken to determine the effect of sowing dates and weather parameters on the disease progression or severity of Alternaria blight of rapeseed mustard and their impact on yield for the two consecutive years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. Disease severity gradually increased with delay in sowing irrespective of three different varieties (Binoy, Seeta and Bhagirathi). The crop sowing from 20th October to 5th November recorded significantly less disease severity with the highest seed yield irrespective of varieties and enhanced in subsequent sowing dates. Bhagirathi showed significantly less disease severity with maximum yield followed by Binoy and Seeta on leaf and siliqua infection on all sowing dates. 90 days old plants showed highest disease severity. From 20th October to 5th November, sowing only minimum temperature (9.69 to 12.04°C) had significant negative correlation, while minimum relative humidity (44.9 to 60.2% RH), wind velocity (during morning) (0.55 km to 1.04 km/h.) and total rainfall (5.74 mm) had positive significant correlation with disease progression upto 59%. Whereas in 20th November sowing minimum temperature (9.69 to 15.74°C, minimum(39 to 88%) and maximum (96 to 99%) relative humidity, wind velocity (during morning)(0.4 to 1.29 km/h), bright sunshine hours (3.8 to 9.0 h) and total rainfall (69.6 mm) had positive significant correlation and vapour pressure (noon, morning)(9.7-29.2 mb and 9.2-14.2 mb respectively), wind velocity (evening) (0.4 to 1.3 km/h) had negative significant correlation on disease progression upto 62%. In 5th December sowing, vapour pressure (noon)(9.7 to 17.5 mb), bright sunshine hours (3.8 to 9.2 h), total rainfall (73.7 mm) and minimum temperature(9.7-18.2°C) had positive significant correlation on disease progression upto 73%. In the West Bengal condition the suitable sowing date of mustard will be last week of October with tolerant variety Bagirathi could be cultivated to avoid loss from Alterania blight and increase the seed yield. Key words: Alternaria blight, mustard, sowing date, variety, weather, yield.

Bioremediation- A Beneficial Use of Biotechnology and Allied Engineering Technologies in Oil Producing Regions

Microbial decomposition has played a major role in the sustenance of societies by decomposing various materials thus enhancing physical space on the earth. However, a continuous increase in world population now threatens the carrying capacity of our planet. Within a defined space on Earth, the ever increasing number of living organisms creates challenges for the management of waste materials generated. Identification and isolation of microbes capable of decomposing wastes and hazardous materials and discovery of processes to produce genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMS) through biotechnological processes give hope to making this world a better place to live by managing global wastes using tamed microorganisms. Scientists coin this process of utilizing GEMS with defined characteristics of decontaminating waste and harmful materials as bioremediation. In this study, we evaluate relative scientific data from bioremediation and oil spills in the Middle East. The US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, PubMed and PubMed Health databases were used for retrieving information relevant to application of bioremediation in oil spills and issues associated with oil contamination in peripheries of oil drilling areas. The size of these databases gradually increase, however, based on our access in the last week of October 2015, the word “bioremediation” search on the PubMed databases returned above 36,000 articles, and among these a combined search of “bioremediation AND Oil” returned 2,400 articles which shows that 7% of global research in the area of bioremediation is dedicated towards oil cleaning. A further refining of the search in reference to Middle East (bioremediation AND Oil AND Middle East) returns 41 articles thus revealing 1.7% of the research activities occur in the Middle East. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the Middle East harbors 49% reserves of crude oil, whereas, it shares a significantly weaker output as far as scientific contributions remain. Based on this information, we provide our analyses of the ongoing bioremediation in general with a particular focus on oil and propose strengthening of biotechnology programs in collaboration with the discipline of engineering to foster research in oil bioremediation in the Middle East

Intra-seasonal rainfall variability during the maize growing season in the northern lowlands of Lesotho

Intra-seasonal rainfall distribution was identified as a priority gap that needs to be addressed for southern Africa to cope with agro-meteorological risks. The region in the northwest of Lesotho is appropriate for crop cultivation due to its relatively favourable climatic conditions and soils. High rainfall variability is often blamed for poor agricultural production in this region. This study aims to determine the onset of rains, cessation of rains and rainy season duration using historical climate data. Temporal variability of these rainy season characteristics was also investigated. The earliest and latest onset dates of the rainy season are during the last week of October at Butha-Buthe and the third week of November at Mapoteng, respectively. Cessation of the season is predominantly in the first week of April making the season approximately 137–163 days long depending on the location. Average seasonal rainfall ranged from 474 mm at Mapoteng to 668 mm at Butha-Buthe. Onset and cessation of the rainfall season vary by 4–7 weeks and 1 week, respectively. Mean coefficient of variation of seasonal rainfall is 39 %, but monthly variations are higher. These variations make annual crop management and planning difficult each year. Trends show a decrease in the rainfall amounts but improvements in both the temporal distribution of annual rainfall, onset and cessation dates.

Evaluation of root characteristics, canopy temperature depression and stay green trait in relation to grain yield in wheat under early and late sown conditions

Forty wheat varieties was evaluated for grain yield in the field for two successive crop seasons (2009–10 and 2010–11), with 2 dates of sowing, viz., early (last week of October) and late (first week of December). Based on the yield potential, five high yielding and five low yielding varieties were selected to study the relationship between grain yield and root characteristics along with canopy temperature depression (CTD) and flag leaf drying under early and late sown conditions. It was observed that under early sown restricted irrigation conditions the high yielding varieties utilized energy in increasing the root length and root density to deeper soil depths instead of accumulating root weight, compared to low yielding varieties. In contrast, under late sown condition, the high yielding varieties had more root weight and density in their upper soil depths, compared to low yielding varieties. Hence, it can be suggested to select wheat varieties with high root density and more root length in the lower depths of the soil for rainfed/restricted irrigation conditions to mitigate the early heat effects, and varieties having high root density and more root length in the upper layers of the soil for late sown conditions to tolerate the late or terminal heat. Further, high CTD scores at 1st stage (vegetative) and high leaf score at fourth stage (post flowering) were found to be important selection parameters, which help in reducing the evapo-transpiration and increase 1000 grain weight under early sown limited irrigation condition, and thereby increase the grain yield; whereas, CTD at 3rd stage (flowering stage) contribute to maintain the stay green trait for longer period and reduce the loss due to evapo-transpiration and in-turn increase the grain yield under late sown conditions. These traits can be used as selection tools for physiological breeding programme to increase the production and productivity of wheat.

The Halloween effect: an alternative approach and new evidence from the US market

The Halloween effect refers to a calendar anomaly that can be easily exploited and calls for buying the market index in the end of October each year and switching to treasury bills at the end of April the following year. The effect has only been studied on a 'calendar-month' basis and primarily on large capitalisation indices. By examining two popular indices for the US stock market for the period December 1983 to December 2009, on a calendar-month basis we find the effect to be statistically non-significant for large cap stocks (S%P 500) and statistically significant for small cap stocks (Russell 2000). Since we see no reason to constrain seasonality on a calendar-month basis, we go further to explore all possible entry and exit point combinations on a trading day basis and find that the interval between the first week of June (trading day n.107) and the last week of October (trading day n.208) captures the rationale of the 'Halloween' calendar effect at its peak. The resulting trading strategy remains robust even after controlling for outliers, short-term volatility and the January effect.

Sweet Sorghum Planting Effects on Stalk Yield and Sugar Quality in Semi‐Arid Tropical Environment

Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] has potential as a bioenergy crop for producing food, fiber, and fermentable sugar. Unlike dryland grain sorghum, little information is available on the influence of staggered planting and genotypes, especially in semiarid tropical environments. The objectives of the present study were (i) to quantify the effects of planting time and genotype on stalk and biomass yields, juice sugar quality, and (ii) to identify the most productive genotypes and planting windows for sustainable feedstock supply. Four commercial sweet sorghum genotypes (SSV84, SSV74, CSV19SS, and CSH22SS) were planted on five planting dates (1 June, 16 June, 1 July, 16 July, and 1 August) during the rainy (June–October) season of 2008 and 2009 in Hyderabad (17°27´ N, 78°28´ E), India. Planting in early and mid‐June produced significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher fresh stalk yield and grain yield than later planting dates. Commercial hybrid CSH22SS produced significantly more stalk, grain, sugar, and ethanol yield over genotypes SSV84 or SSV74. Based on the stalk yield, juice sugar quality, sugar, and ethanol yields, the optimum planting dates for sweet sorghum in semiarid tropical climate is early June to early July. Planting sweet sorghum during this time allows more feedstock to be harvested and hence extends the period for sugar mill operation by about 1 mo, that is, from the first to the last week of October.

The Neutron Flux Variation in the Earth’s Atmosphere Depending on the Solar Proton Flux

The Earth is continually exposed to the cosmic radiation of both solar and galactic origin. Solar eruption and solar ac- tivity may affect cosmic radiation flux density which has a secondary effect on the flux of particles in the atmosphere as well. Such one event was recorded in the last week of October 2003, where the measured dose rate of the cosmic radia- tion in the aircraft ATR 42 was 1.8 times higher than the average value of the other measurements. Later we found the data on an unusual solar activity in the mentioned time interval. Analysis of the increasing solar proton flux during the solar flare, as well as the decreasing neutron flux in the atmosphere (representing the galactic radiation), on May 14 and 15, 2005, showed a nonlinear correlation with the exponential equation of regression; this one described galactic ray modulation by solar flux during the short term variation of cosmic radiation.