National Agricultural Technology Research Articles

Nitrogen and weed management effects on weeds and yield of barley in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Growth and yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) are highly influenced by nutrients and weed management. Nitrogen (N) is the most crucial nutrient to which barley crop responds readily. Efficient management of N and weeds can provide higher yield, better quality, and higher income to the farmers. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted in a split-plot design with three replications during winter season of 2019-20 in the Afghanistan National Agricultural Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar, Afghanistan to evaluate the effect of weed and N management on weeds growth and barley productivity. There were three weed management options in main plots, such as weedy check, herbicide use alone [post-emergence application (PoE) of clodinafop-propargyl 60 g/ha + metsulfuron-methyl 4 g/ha (tank-mix) at 30 days after sowing (DAS)], and integrated weed management (IWM) involving stale seed bed 15 days before sowing + wheat crop residue (2.5 t/ha) retention + clodinafop-propargyl + metsulfuron-methyl (tank-mix) PoE with half of the recommended dose at 30 DAS]. Four N levels (~0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N/ha, i.e., N0, N40, N80 and N120) were included as sub-plot treatments. The IWM led to significantly lower density and biomass of weeds at 40 and 70 DAS and significantly increased weed control efficiency (WCE) and weed control index (WCI). Clodinafop-propargyl (60 g/ ha) + metsulfuron-methyl (4 g/ha) (tank-mix) PoE also resulted in significantly lower density and biomass of weeds and higher WCE and WCI than weedy check at all stages. IWM being at par with clodinafop-propargyl + metsulfuron-methyl (tank-mix) PoE led to higher growth (crop height, dry weight, leaf area index and growth rate) and yield of barley. On the contrary, the effect of nitrogen levels was not significant on the weed density and biomass reduction. N120 and N80 were comparable with respect to growth, yield attributes and yield of barley. Thus, IWM with 80 kg N/ha may be recommended for better weed management and higher barley yield and income in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Refinement in Cultivar of Indian Mustard for Higher Yield Under Thermal Climatic Condition of Uttar Pradesh

The refinement and assessment based field experiment was laid out during Rabi season of 2002 and 2003 on farmers fields at Mainpuri district under National Agricultural Technology Project, Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Mainpuri. The main objective was to find out suitable variety of Indian mustard for sowing in early period under thermal condition and replace the local Indian mustard cultivar ‘chhapka’. The nutrient status of pilot area was low. Five high yielding varieties i.e. Rohani, Varuna, Kanti, Urvarshi, Pusa Jai Kisan were tested with local cultivar Chhapka. The tested varieties of Indian mustard did not much differ in growth parameters but cv. Urvarshi displayed the superiority over all varieties. The lowest seed weight/plant (15.85 /plant) and test weight (4.30 gram) were weighed in local cultivar Chhapka, while highest seed weight/plant (18.00 g/plant) and test weight (4.95 gram) were recorded in cv. Urvarshi. The highest seed yield of 30.80 q/ha was noted under tested cultivar Urvarshi and lowest noted under Chaapka(15.70 q/ha). The other tested varieties yielded seed between these two limits. The highest net return of Rs. 99667/ha and BCR (1:3.56) were computed under Urvarshi cultivar. The lowest net return of Rs. 31717/ha and BCR (1:1.81) were computed under local cultivar Chhapka. The cultivar Urvarshi also increased net income of famers by 3.15 fold, which was higher over other tested varieties.

Efficiency of post-emergence herbicide for enhancing yield attributes, yield, and economics of hybrid maize (Zea mays L.)

An experiment was conducted at the research farm of National Agricultural Science and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar, Afghanistan in a randomized complete block (RCBD) during the summer season of 2017 to evaluate the effect of post-emergence herbicides in maize. The experiment consisted of ten treatments and was replicated thrice. Among the weed control treatments, sequential application of atrazine @ 1.5 kg/ha pre-emergence followed by tembotrione 120 g/ha as PoE at 25 DAS recorded significantly higher grain row-1 (36.18), the number of grain cob-1 (502.48), and Grain weight cob-1 (137.63 g). Significantly higher grain and stover yield (6.7 and 11.6 t ha-1) were recorded in weed-free check plot which is on par with (T10) atrazine @ 1.5 kg/ha pre-emergence fb tembotrione 120 g /ha PoE at 25 DAS (6.5 and 11.4 t ha-1) and (T9) pendimethalin (1000 ml/ha) pre-emergence fb atrazine (750 g/ha) + 2,4-D Amine 0.4 kg /ha at 25 DAS as PoE (6.2 and 11.0 t ha-1). The benefit-cost ratio was higher (1.57) in the sequential application of Atrazine 1.5 kg/ha fb 2,4-D Amine 0.4 kg/ha at 25 DAS as PoE, which was on par with Pendimethalin (1000 ml/ha) pre-emergence fb Atrazine (750 g/ha) + 2,4-D Amine 0.4 kg/ha at 25 DAS as PoE and (T7) Atrazine @ 1.5 kg/ha pre-emergence fb Halosulfuron67 g/ha 25 DAS.

Maturity Evaluation of National Agro-technology Park Innovation Network Based on Improved Matter-element Extension Model From the Perspective of Intensive Development

Based on the improved match-element extension model, the maturity of collaborative innovation network in China’s agricultural science and technology parks was explored with 257 national agricultural science and technology parks as research objects. The results show that: (1) the results obtained by measuring the maturity level of collaborative innovation network in national agricultural science and technology parks by asymmetric proximity degree are more consistent with the actual situation;(2) the maturity of collaborative innovation networks in national agricultural science and technology parks are good. Therefore, the park should replace the traditional resource input-driven development model through innovation-driven development to achieve low energy consumption, intensive and high-quality development.

浅谈三明国家农业科技园区建设发展思路

浅谈三明国家农业科技园区建设发展思路

Scheme design of Smart Platform for the Agricultural Science and Technology Park

With the rapid development of the global IoT and various information technologies, the construction of “smart city” has been gradually put on the agenda, and at the same time, the smart management of the National Agricultural Science and Technology Park will also become the key content of smart city construction. This paper proposes a scheme design of smart platform for the agricultural science and technology park, and lists the basic contents of the construction of the smart park. The proposed scheme design of smart platform applies 5G, AI, cloud computing, Internet of Things, mobile Internet and other new ICT technologies to solve the long-term pain points faced by traditional agricultural science and technology parks, including poor service experience, weak comprehensive security, low operational efficiency, high management costs, difficult business innovation, and so on. Because of the construction of the smart park has many contents and a long construction period, this paper discusses the specific design options of smart platform for the agricultural science and technology park. It can provide users with better service perception and help enterprises achieve innovative development through digital transformation. Based on the proposed smart platform, the business subsystem of the agricultural science and technology park is opened horizontally, through data fusion to business integration, to help customers more efficiently and agilely solve business problems that are difficult or even impossible to solve with traditional technical means. The future development and the impact on the life of people.

Effect of phosphorus on yield and economics of maize (Zea mays) under semi-arid conditions of Afghanistan

A field experiment was conducted at the Afghanistan National Agricultural Science and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar, Afghanistan during 2015 to find out the optimum level of P in maize. Seven phosphorus levels at 0 (control), 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 kg P2O5/ha were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that the application of 75 kg P2O5/ha resulted in maximum number of cobs/plant (1.8), number of cob/m (12.4), cob girth (14 cm), cob diameter (4.4 cm), thousand grain weight (261.2 g), grain yield (6.51 t/ha) and biological yield (19.43 t/ha) compared to those in control. A dose of 73.6 kg P2O5/ha based on grain yield, and a dose of 86.7 kg P2O5/ha based on biological yield of maize were economic optimum doses of P in maize. But, the 75 kg P2O5/ha resulted in highest values of most of the yield attributes, leading to highest grain, stover and biological yields and net returns. Therefore, a 75 kg P2O5/ha may be advocated to maize along with the recommended 150 kg N/ha, 20 kg K2O/ha and 25 kg ZnSO4/ha for obtaining higher yield and income in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Effect of moisture conservation and integrated nutrient management on summer maize (Zea mays) in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Afghanistan National Agricultural Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar, Afghanistan during summer season of 2017 to determine the effect of moisture conservation practices and INM on maize growth, productivity, profitability and resource-use efficiency. Planting maize on raised-beds along with wheat crop residues-mulch (3 t/ha) significantly improved the growth, yield attributes, yield, net returns, monetary-efficiency, production-efficiency and water-productivity over flat-bed planting. Applying 50% RDF + FYM (10 t/ha) and 2-foliar sprays of urea (2%) first at knee-high stage and second at tasseling stage, resulted in the highest growth, yield, production efficiency and water productivity, which was in general at par with 100% RDF. These results suggest that summer maize crop in Kandahar and other similar regions may be planted on raised beds mulched with crop residue (3 t/ha) and fertilized using INM approach to enhance productivity, profitability and resource-use efficiency.

Attitude of common interest group members towards National Agricultural Technology Programme (Phase-I) interventions

Attitude of common interest group members towards National Agricultural Technology Programme (Phase-I) interventions

Detection of disease in Cucurbita maxima Duch. ex Lam. caused by a mixed infection of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus, Watermelon mosaic virus, and Cucumber mosaic virus in Southeast China using a novel small RNA sequencing method.

The genus Cucurbita comprises many popular vegetable and ornamental plants, including pumpkins, squashes, and gourds, that are highly valued in China as well as in many other countries. During a survey conducted in Zhejiang province, Southeast China in 2016, severe symptoms of viral infection were observed on Cucurbita maxima Duch. ex Lam. Diseased plants showed symptoms such as stunting, mosaicking, Shoe string, blistering, yellowing, leaf deformation, and fruit distortion. Approximately, 50% of Cucurbita crops produced in Jinhua were diseased, causing an estimated yield loss of 35%. In this study, we developed a method using all known virus genomes from the NCBI database as a reference to map small RNAs to develop a diagnostic tool that could be used to diagnose virus diseases of C. maxima. 25 leaf samples from different symptomatic plants and 25 leaf samples from non-symptomatic plants were collected from the experimental field of Jihua National Agricultural Technology Garden for pathogen identification. Small RNAs from each set of three symptomatic and non-symptomatic samples were extracted and sequenced by Illumina sequencing. Twenty-four different viruses were detected in total. However, the majority of the small RNAs were from Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV), and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Mixed infections of these three viruses were diagnosed in leaf samples from diseased plants and confirmed by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) using primers specific to these three viruses. Crude sap extract from symptomatic leaf samples was mechanically inoculated back into healthy C. maxima plants growing under greenhouse conditions. Inoculated plants developed the same disease symptoms as those observed in the diseased plants and a mixed infection of ZYMV, WMV, and CMV was detected again by RT-PCR, thus fulfilling Koch’s postulates. The diagnostic method developed in this study involves fewer bioinformatics processes than other diagnostic methods, does not require complex settings for bioinformatics parameters, provides a high level of sensitivity to rapidly diagnose plant samples with symptoms of virus diseases and can be performed cheaply. This method therefore has the potential to be widely applied as a diagnostic tool for viruses that have genome information in the NCBI database.

Evaluation for Innovation Ability of National Agricultural Science and Technology Parks in Jiangxi Province

Innovative ability is an important indicator for judging the effectiveness of the national agricultural science and technology park construction. Based on the statistical data of four national agricultural science and technology parks built in Jiangxi Province, this paper constructs an evaluation system consisting of three first-level indicators, eight second-level indicators and 24 three-level indicators. Based on the combined weighting method, the comprehensive scores of the innovation capabilities of the parks are obtained. It is found that the gap in innovation capability of each park is wide, and the radiation-driven function has not yet appeared. It is necessary to promote the improvement of innovation capabilities by promoting the synergy and innovation of agricultural science and technology in the park, encouraging the park to construct agricultural technology business incubators, and building and improving innovation platforms.

Scientists’ attitudes toward agricultural GM technology development and GM food in China

PurposePrevious studies have mainly focused on public opinions regarding genetically modified (GM) technology and GM food. The purpose of this paper is to assess scientists’ attitudes on whether China needs to develop its national agricultural GM technology and their willingness to buy GM food.Design/methodology/approachA stratified sampling method was used to select and interview 806 scientists from six major agricultural universities and 20 research institutes under two national academies in China in 2013. Based on these data, the authors use both descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis to examine scientists’ attitudes toward agricultural GM technology and food, using GM soybean oil as an example of GM foods.FindingsThe survey results show that nearly three-quarters of scientists agree that China needs to develop its agricultural GM technology, but their attitudes differ largely. Only 29 percent of scientists are willing to buy GM soybean oil, similar to urban consumers (25 percent) in China. The knowledge of biology is extensive for some scientists but varies significant among scientists and correlates positively with their attitudes toward agricultural GM technology and GM soybean oil. Younger and male scientists with higher professional titles, and those involved in GM research are more in favor of China’s GM technology compared to other scientists. Female scientists, scientists with lower professional titles, those that have never engaged in GM research or are from non-agricultural scientific disciplines are less willing to buy GM soybean oil. Interestingly, their low willingness to buy GM soybean oil is inconsistent with the fact that it is the most common edible oil in China.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine scientists’ attitudes toward GM technology and food in China. The results of this study contribute to understanding the current debates on GM technology and the relevance of research, based on the willingness to buy GM food, for decision making regarding the commercialization of GM technology.

Study on integrated farming systems model development

Study on Integrated Farming Systems Model Development was conducted by the Livelihood Improvement of Farming Community in Haor area through System approach Project of the Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultral University, Mymensigh worked in Purbo Tethulia village of Moahjganj upazilla, Netrakona district from April 2010 to June 2013 with the financial assistance from the National Agricultural Technology Project, SPGR subproject, Bangladesh Agricultural Council with the following objectives i. Increase productivity of field crops, vegetables, livestock and fishes in a household through the use of appropriate technogies and techniques devised/developed/ designed/refined by the farmers for ensuring household food security and nutritional upliftment and raising income ii. Diversify enterprises, mobilize resources and intensify farming and non farming activities for in situ employment generation iii. Conserve farm environment through efficient mobilization and management of natural resource for sustainable production sysyems iv. Develop human resoures for capacity building of the participants and improve their livelihood through system approach. Research programme was finalized in the Bench Mark Survey Workshop. Farmer selection for different research acivities was done as per plan for defferent five components. The crop and agroforestry component conducted experiments both in the homestead land and crop land. In the homestead area, year round vegetables were intervened through community trial for three years. Production of timber trees like mahogany, lambu and fruit trees like mango, guave, jujube, litchi, lemon papaya and jackfruit was also practiced. Timber trees are now at growing stage and among the fruit trees some like papaya, jujube and lemon are at bearing stage. African dhaincha was introduced around homestead fallow/waste land to protect homestead area from wave thrust and to produce biomass fuel. Field trials on rice, vegetables, spices and oil crops were conducted to intensify and diversify the cropping pattern and as well as to utilize the fallow/ waste land of the research site. Under livestock component, experiments were conducted on rearing of egg producing hen, duck, fattening of animals, milching cow, artificial insemination and chemical evaluation of available feedstuffs. A continuous vaccination programme against common diseases of poultry was maintained throughout the study period. Farmers’ response was very positive towards the experimental results. In the fisheries component, experiment on cage culture in open water, perennial and seasonal pond culture, dry fish and pickle were conducted/done. Among the experiments cage culture in open water proved to be a promising technology and fish pickle was highly appreciated in panel test. For the rural hydrology and mechanization component four studies were conducted. The physico-chemical properties of farm land and homestead soils were determined. Additional application of sulphur and zinc fertilizers were found not required. Both the surface and groundwater characteristics were studied. The maximum flood water depth was found around 3.0 m at farm land. Irrigation facilities developed by installing a shallow tubewell (STW) resulted higher crop production and motivated farmers to install four new STWs by their own capital. All the households (462) of Purbo Tethulia were intervened from the project. The interventions were crop, vegetable, livestock, poultry and fish farming. It was observed that as the number of enterprises increased in the farming systems, the income also increased. The evidence also showed that the training of the beneficiaries increased their knowledge and skill.J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 12(2): 325-336, December 2014

A Note on Indian Agricultural System Vis---Vis ATMA Model

During the past 60 years, the Indian extension system has evolved to reflect national priorities. At the same time, malnutrition and poverty continue to be persistent problems for the rural poor. The major issues before Indian extension system are: how to improve the effectiveness of extension systems? How to serve the small land holders and marginal farmers in diversified farming systems, and proper allocation of funds, human resources and its management? The World Bank funded Innovations in Technology Dissemination (ITD) component of National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) focused on bottom-up planning process for technology assessment, refinement and dissemination in order to make the whole extension system demand-driven and farmer accountable. This has helped to strengthen research and extension capabilities, restructure public extension services and test new institutional arrangements for technology transfer with the involvement of all the stakeholders of Government and Non-Government agencies at the district level.

Gain in knowledge of Krishak Mitra through training

In view of recent advancement in the agricultural technologies and more and more involvement of Krishak Mitra in agriculture, the role of Krishak Mitra is not just to educate the Krishak Mitra regarding agriculture technologies but they have to pay equal attention towards dissemination of agro-based technologies for the socio-economic upliftment of the rural families. For this, it is imperative that the women functionaries should have through knowledge in agriculture and allied areas. Keeping this in view a 5 days training on agricultural technology for Krishak Mitra was organized at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Barmer in collaboration with ATMA, Barmer. The concept of Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) was introduced in 1999 as an autonomous organization under the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) by providing flexible working environment with objective of integrating research, extension and all other stake holders at the district level to support the farmer’s needs and interest through an integrated approach of strategic plan. ATMA is a society of key stake holders involved in Gain in knowledge of Krishak Mitra through training

Prevalence and abundance of Eimeria spp. infection in captive vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) from the Argentinean Andean Altiplano

Two hundred and thirty-five faecal samples from adult and young captive vicuñas from the Abra Pampa Experimental Station of the National Agricultural Technology Institute (Jujuy Province, Argentina) were obtained in May and November 2011 in order to study the prevalence and abundance of Eimeria spp. Faeces were individually assessed by two methods: the modified Mc Master technique for the diagnosis of the smaller Eimeria species: E. punoensis, E. alpacae and E. lamae and the sedimentation–flotation technique for the detection of the bigger Eimeria species: E. macusaniensis and E. ivitaensis. The five species of Eimeria of South American camelids were found in the vicuñas population with prevalence ranging from >65% (E. punoensis and E. alpacae in both ages and also E. macusaniensis in young vicuñas) to <2% (E. ivitaensis in both ages). The juveniles showed both higher prevalence and mean abundance than adults for most coccidian species, except for E. ivitaensis. E. punoensis exhibited the highest prevalence in young and adult vicuñas whereas the highest mean abundance in juveniles was due to E. lamae (May) and E. punoensis (November). In adult vicuñas, smaller Eimeria had a higher prevalence and mean abundance than the bigger ones for both sampling dates. Most (>70%) of adult and young vicuñas were concurrently infected by two to four Eimeria species. Despite the high oocysts’ outputs in some juveniles no clinical signs of coccidiosis were seen in them. The epidemiological patterns of Eimeria spp. infections in vicuñas are discussed.

Design of Remote Crops Image Capture and Expert System in the Yellow River Delta

The Yellow River Delta National Agricultural Science and Technology Park proposed the concept of "One Zone One Hundred Parks", namely the Yellow River Delta National Agricultural Science and Technology Park consists of a hundred geographically dispersed agricultural technology demonstration park. In order to effectively provide intellectual support for these geographically dispersed agricultural technology demonstration parks, this paper presents the design and the idea of remote crop image capture and expert systems. The core idea is to set up image collection terminals in a decentralized agricultural technology demonstration park. Crop samples are collected by the terminals, using GPRS network to transfer the captured image data to the Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioengineering. Agricultural experts make an analysis to image samples, and propose treatment advice. And then, the experts feedback the advice to the various agricultural technology demonstration parks. After a year of testing, the entire system is reliable, excellent performance in real-time transmission of images. This system has played a very important role in the prevention and control of crop pests and crop growth guidance.

A Decentralized, Participatory, Market-Driven Extension System: The ATMA Model in India

This paper outlines the basic concepts, procedures, and results that were achieved by pilot-testing a decentralized, participatory, market-driven extension model into the agricultural extension system of India. The Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) concept was field-tested as part of the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) that was jointly financed by the government of India and the World Bank from late 1998 through June 2005. Under this project, the ATMA model was introduced into 28 project districts, which directly or indirectly involved about 15 million farm households. Currently, the government of India is attempting to scale up this model to all 588 rural districts in India. As a result of the institutional changes that were successfully implemented under the Innovations for Technology Dissemination component of the NATP, the government of India decided to upscale this new extension model to all 588 rural districts across India. However, to successfully implement this participatory approach in all new ATMA districts, further investments will be necessary to train the district- and block-level extension staff about how to effectively use these different participatory, market-driven methods. At the end of the NATP project, it was decided that extension field staff would need continuing access to unobligated, central government funds if they are to successfully implement this bottom-up, participatory extension approach. To date, however, most central government funds are still obligated to specific program activities that reflect the previous, top-down, technology-driven extension system. If the district- and block-level extension field workers do not have access to unobligated program funds, then further progress in implementing a decentralized, participatory, market-driven extension approach will be very limited.

ENGLISH

The paper provides the brief background of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It elaborates the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) and the components of the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) with special reference to the Component-I under which all the important and most innovative web-based projects, i.e., KrishiPrabha, CeRA, and e-Granth falls. The overview of these projects including objectives and deliverables has been highlighted especially keeping in view of the current scenario of the NARS institutions. It further elaborates the rationale, mission and objectives of the projects, the methodologies, and work programs. It also shows the directions and outcomes of the projects. The long term positive deliverables of the projects have also been projected.

Effect of Conservation Trenches on Plantation Crop in Degraded Watershed in Kandhamal District of Odisha

Kandhamal district situated in central part of Orissa receives an annual rainfall of 1396 mm, and this region is highly prone to soil and runoff loss due to heavy rainfall during kharif. A trial was conducted during 2001-2004 to study the effect of conservation trenches on plantation crop. This trial was conducted on farmers’ field of Sudreju village of Kandhamal district under National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP, RRPS-7), with the following objectives. 1. To conserve moisture for establishment of plantation crop 2. To reduce erosion from upstream area. 3. To increase production of timber, fruit species, fuel wood and fodder .The following treatments were tried. a. No treatment (Control) b. Continuous V-ditches at 10 m horizontal interval. c. Continuous V-ditches at 20 m horizontal interval. d. V-ditches staggered at 5 m horizontal interval. e. V-ditches staggered at 10 m horizontal interval. Mango varieties Pusa Amrapalli was tried during kharif and during, rabi Black gram (PU-30) was tried in between mango rows. It is observed that in, cont. contour V-ditch at 10 m interval rate of growth was 2.06 cm/month in case of Amrapalli,which is 46% higher compared to control. The grain yield of niger, black gram and mustard are 33.4%, 23.5% and 26.6% higher than control, respectively. Though the cost of construction is little high, it is recommended to practice contour V-ditch at 10 m intervals, to conserve soil and moisture, and to get more grain yield in degraded watershed of Kandhamal district.