Plant Dry Matter Content Research Articles

Effect of exogenous application of salicylic acid on salt-stressed sorghum growth and nutrient contents

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of salinity and foliar application of salicylic acid (SA) on sorghum biomass and nutrient contents. Treatments were comprised of salinity levels (0 and 100 mM NaCl) and SA concentrations (0.3, 0.7, 1.1 and 1.5 mM). Salinity increased sodium (Na), chlorine (Cl) and copper (Cu) but decreased nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) contents and the root and shoot dry matter. Fe and Zn were the most affected nutrients by salinity. However, SA reduced Na and Cl but increased plant dry matter and nutrient content. SA had greater positive effects on root than on shoot dry matter. Maximum increases through SA were achieved in N, K, Fe, Mn, Cu, and shoot weight under salt stress but in Zn and root weight under non-saline condition. In most cases 1.1 mM was the most effective SA concentration in reducing the negative effects of salinity.

ИНТЕНСИВНОСТЬ СПИРТОВОГО БРОЖЕНИЯ В ЗАВИСИМОСТИ ОТ СТЕПЕНИ ПРОВЯЛИВАНИЯ И ОБЕСПЕЧЕННОСТИ КОРМОВЫХ ТРАВ САХАРОМ И ЕГО РОЛЬ В ВОЗНИКНОВЕНИИ АЭРОБНОЙ ПОРЧИ СИЛОСА И СЕНАЖА

Aerobic spoilage in silage and haylage is affected by the intensity of alcoholic fermentation, which causes the amount of nutrient loss of the feed during excavation from the trench. The negative effect is not the alcohol content, as such, which in some cases even helps to improve the aerobic stability of the feed, but the amount of yeast found in the silo and hay at the time of opening the silos, which, in turn, depends on a number of factors. One of these factors is the low sugar-buffer ratio in plants, which should be ≤2.5. Under this condition, there is a slight accumulation of alcohol in the dry matter of the feed, which indicates a weak development of the yeast. The second factor that determines the aerobic stability of the feed and the amount of nutrient loss during storage in air is the dry matter content of plants. When stored in the air of haylage and silage from dried herbs, the loss of dry matter is reduced, reaching a minimum when preparing food from plants with a sugar-buffer ratio of ≤ 2.5. This is especially noticeable in the first 2–3 days of storing feed in the air. Subsequently, the loss of dry matter from aerobic spoilage begins to increase, causing the occurrence of secondary fermentation, which leads to its spoilage of feed. The third factor determining the aerobic stability of a silo is its shelf life under anaerobic conditions, which should not be less than 90 days. This follows from the biological features of the development of yeast, which are the main initiators of aerobic spoilage. However, haylage is predisposed to aerobic spoilage for any shelf life in trenches.

Desempenho agronômico do milho em função da inoculação com Azospirillum brasilense e adubação nitrogenada

Maize is one of the crops that consumes the most nitrogen fertilization in the mineral form, being depredated by soybeans because there is no efficient and greener way to provide the nutrient. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance of corn as a function of the application of Azospirillum brasiliense and nitrogen fertilizer doses. The experiment was carried out in a typical clayey Latosol, in a randomized block design with eight replications using the 2×5+2 factorial scheme, two forms of application of the inoculant (one in sowing groove and the other in seed treatment), five (0.0, 17.5, 35, 52.5 and 70 kg ha-1) using as urea source and two additional treatments (without the use of A. brasiliense with doses of 0.0 and 70 kg ha-1 of nitrogen in coverage, respectively). During flowering it was evaluated: duration of the vegetative cycle, chlorophyll content, plant dry matter, plant height and nitrogen content. During the maturation period it was evaluated: production components, productivity and cost benefit ratio. The use of A. brasiliense provides different responses to maize crop, depending on the way of use and dose of N. This practice does not completely replace the use of nitrogen fertilizer in cover, however, the application of A. brasilense in the sowing furrow shows higher productivity and better cost benefit relation when compared to inoculation in the seeds.

Effects of vertically rotary sub-soiling tillage on water utilization and yield of potato in semi-arid area of northwest China.

To examine the effects of vertically rotary sub-soiling tillage (VRT) on stage water consumption, individual and population development, yield, water use efficiency, and economic profit of potato is helpful to find the optimized tillage method which could increase crop drought-resistant, yield, and resource use efficiency. With randomized block design, the field experiment involved in three treatments, 1) vertically rotary sub-soiling tillage for 40 cm depth (VRT), 2) deep loosing tillage for 40 cm (DLT), and 3) rotary tillage for 15 cm (TT). The soil water storage in 0-200 cm soil profile in different growth stages of potato, foliar SPAD value, leaf area index (LAI), plant dry matter content, tuber yield were recorded, and stage water consumption, water use efficiency (WUE), tuber commodity rate, tuber commodity yield, and profit were calculated, to investigate the effects of VRT on production efficiency and economic profit. The results showed that VRT increased water consumption in flowering and tuber expanding stage by 46.7, 35.7 mm in 2016 and 27.2, 47.3 mm in 2017, as compared with DLT and TT. Based on the increased stage water consumption, foliar SPAD value, dry matter content, and LAI increased significantly, suggesting the VRT promoted individual and population development. The higher individual and population biomass resulted in significant increase in tuber yield which increased by 156.8%, 47.8% in 2016 and 24.8%, 41.0% in 2017 respectively, as compared with DLT and TT. Accordingly, WUE increased by 92.3%, 19.2% and 18.9%, 26.6%. The tuber commodity yield and profit significantly increased in VRT treatment, as well as the profit which reached to 12631.9, 11019.1 yuan·hm-2 in 2016 and 29498.3, 18245.5 yuan·hm-2 in 2017, respectively. VRT promoted potato water consumption in flowering and tuber expanding stages, resulted in significant increases of foliar SPAD value, plant dry matter, and LAI, with positive consequences on the tuber yield, WUE, as well as the tuber commodity yield and economic profit. These indicated that the VRT was helpful to increase potato drought resistance, yield and profit, and thus would be the appropriate tillage method on semi-arid northwest Loess Plateau.

Estimating Plant Traits of Alpine Grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Using Remote Sensing

Mapping plants traits on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau grassland is important for understanding ecosystem functions and how plants respond to global change. Detailed trait maps for the complete Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are missing. Here, we addressed this issue by combining Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 multispectral satellite data with field measurements to map and compare plant traits of meadow and steppe communities across the complete Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We measured in-situ plant-level traits of CHLorophyll content (CHL), specific plant area (SPA = plant area / plant dry mass), and plant dry matter content (PDMC = plant dry mass / fresh mass). We hypothesized that plant-level traits of SPA and PDMC are close to community-weighted means (CWMs) of specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) because leaves represent the largest fraction of aboveground biomass in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau grasslands. Despite vastly different measurement methods, we found that the remotely sensed traits (SPA and PDMC) correlated with literature-derived leaf traits of CWMs of SLA and LDMC. Both remotely sensed and field-measured results showed that alpine meadow plants reveal a wider range and higher averages of CHL and SPA but lower PDMC compared with alpine steppe plants. These trait differences between vegetation types indicate faster growth of alpine meadow and higher resilience to harsh conditions of alpine steppe, representing differences in adaptation strategies to environmental conditions. Our study demonstrates that remote sensing can be used to estimate plant traits in alpine grasslands with potential applications to retrieve functional diversity and correlated ecosystem functions in future studies.

Surviving Volcanic Environments—Interaction of Soil Mineral Content and Plant Element Composition

Different plant species were investigated from two Aeolian Islands located in close vicinity, one with fumarolic activity (Vulcano) and one without (Lipari). On Vulcano, elevated concentrations of SO2/H2S determined in ambient air indicated the need of plants to adapt to harmful sulphur concentrations by detoxification strategies. The current study was focused on evaluating the element composition of plant leaves in relation to soil mineral contents. The soil of Volcano was characterised by a significantly lower pH on all three sampling sites as well as very high amounts of sulphur and plant available sulphate due to volcanic activities, compared to Lipari. By contrast, a general difference in the composition of trace elements in the soil was not observed between the islands, apart from arsenic, which was increased at all three sampling sites on Vulcano. Element accumulation in the leaves differed between the two islands. The tested species showed a significant higher accumulation of numerous elements (Al, B, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, and Zn) on Vulcano compared to Lipari, while excluding Ca and Mo. These differences in element accumulation in the leaves between the islands may be caused by the lower soil pH on Vulcano. Extreme sulphur accumulation was found for all tested species on Vulcano, but was lower in woody species with higher dry matter content compared to herbaceous species with lower dry matter content. This caused a significantly negative correlation between plant sulphur and dry matter content. From these results, it is concluded that species with higher dry matter contents possess a more effective protection against extreme sulphur accumulation. Strategies to cope with other potentially toxic elements in the soil ranged from exclusion to hyper-accumulation. Hierarchical cluster analyses of the leaf element content revealed a clear separation between two groups: First, herbaceous perennial plants as strong accumulators; and second, woody perennial plants such as shrubs or trees as less strong accumulators, with the primordial species Fumaria capreolata representing an outside group.

Genetic analysis of yield and agronomic traits under reproductive-stage drought stress in rice using a high-resolution linkage map

Drought stress at the reproductive stage of rice crop leads to a huge loss in grain yield. Identification and introgression of large effect drought tolerant QTLs are necessary to develop drought-tolerant rice varieties. Compared to the high-density linkage maps, widely spaced markers lead to the identification of QTLs with large confidence intervals which are difficult to incorporate in a breeding program. A previously generated genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) based linkage map consisting of 4748 SNP markers was used to map QTLs in Cocodrie × N-22 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population. Twenty-one QTLs were discovered for days to flowering (DTF), plant height (PH), leaf rolling score (LRS), plant dry matter content (DM), spikelet fertility (SF), grain yield (GY), yield index (YI), and harvest index (HI) under drought stress. A major QTL qPH1.38 was identified in a narrow confidence interval on chromosome 1. The QTLs, qDTF3.01 and qPH1.38, overlapped with the previously identified QTL qDTY1.1 and Hd9, respectively. Another large-effect QTL qLRS1.37 was identified close to the sd1 locus on chromosome 1. A grain yield QTL qGY1.42 located on chromosome 1 contained only 4 candidate genes. There was no overlapping of QTLs for the root traits and the yield attributes. The important candidate genes present within the large effect QTL regions are MYB transcription factors, no apical meristem protein (NAC), potassium channel protein, nuclear matrix protein1, and chlorophyll A-B binding protein. The large effect QTLs (qDTF3.01, qPH1.38, and qLRS1.37) and a novel grain yield QTL qGYS1.42 can be used to incorporate in elite breeding lines to develop drought-tolerant rice varieties.

Morphological and biochemical changes in response to salinity in sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) cultivars

This study was conducted to evaluate the alterations of some morphological and biochemical parameters of sunflower cultivars (‘08-TR-003’, ‘TR-3080’ and ‘TARSAN-1018’) under salt stress. For this aim, the seedling of sunflower cultivars was irrigated with tap water as a control, and with salinised water with 50, 150 and 250 mM NaCl for 30 days under controlled conditions. Salinity caused an apparent reduction in morphological parameters (plant height, leaf area, fresh weight, dry matter and water content) in all cultivars. Salt stress significantly (P<0.01) reduced the activity of glutathione reductase (GR) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities in all sunflower cultivars expect for superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. According to our results, SOD seems to play a key role in the antioxidative process in salt treated sunflower plants. Proline and malondialdehyde contents were significantly (P<0.05) increased under salt stress in all cultivars. Among the cultivars, ‘TR-3080’ had greater values in terms of morphological (plant height, leaf area, fresh weight, water content) and biochemical [GR, APX and SOD (secondly) activities and proline contents] parameters. In the light of these findings, cv. ‘TR-3080’ seems to be less affected by salt stress.

Photosynthetic potential of sugar sorghum under the conditions of the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

Purpose. Identify the peculiarities of the photosynthetic productivity formation of sugar sorghum as affected by row spacing and plant density under the conditions of the Central Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine.Methods. The materials of the study were sorghum hybrids ‘Dovista’ and ‘Gulliver’ sown at a width between rows of 45 and 70 cm. After the appearance of complete sprouts on experimental sites, various variants of plant density were formed – 150, 200 and 250 thousand per hectare. In the field experiment, leaf area, photosynthetic potential of sugar sorghum (Nichiporovich, 1982) and the dry matter content of plants (Hrytsaienko et al., 2003) were determined.Results. The leaf area of the sugar sorghum, depending on the seeding rate and the width of the row, reached a maximum at the stage of panicle formation. With the increase in the seeding rate from 150 to 250 thousand per hectare, the leaf area increased respectively: in the ‘Dovista’ hybrid from 7.5 to 9.2 thousand m2/ha, in the ‘Guliver’ hybrid from 6.8 to 9.0 thousand m2/ha. The maximum leaf area during the period of grain filling in the ‘Dovista’ hybrid was fixed at the seed rate of 250 thousand per hectare and the width of the row spacings of 70 cm 37 thousand m2/ha; in the hybrid ‘Gulliver’ for the same seeding rate and width of rows of 45 cm this index was 35.9 thousand m2/ha. In the variants with wide rows and seeding rate of 250 thousand per hectare, the photosynthetic potential was 2140 thousand m2/ha × day. In general, during the period of plant growth from thestage of tillering to the mature ripeness, this figure in the ‘Dovista’ hybrid reached 3212 thousand m2/ha×day, in the ‘Guliver’ hybrid 2986 thousand m2/ha×day. The photosynthetic potential of the plants of the hybrid ‘Dovista’ for the sowing rate of 150 thousand pcs / ha in crops with an intermediate row of 45 cm ranged from 98.9 to 2337 thousand m2/ha×days, in the ‘Guliver’ hybrid – from 96.4 to 2242 thousand m2/ha × days, respectively. Indicators of net productivity in plants of sorghum were the highest during the period of tillering – leaf tube formation and reached 26.7 g/m2×day in the ‘Dovista’ hybrid, 20.5 g/m2×day in the ‘Guliver’ hybrid. The maximum accumulation of dry matter was reached at the stage of milk ripeness. The hybrid ‘Dovista’ was found to be more efficient in collecting dry matter per unit area (1341 g/m2); the hybrid ‘Gulliver’ was slightly inferior with 1335 g/m2.Conclusions. The net productivity of photosynthesis in sugar sorghum depends on the growth rate of the leaf area and photosynthetic potential in all growing periods. The utilization of photosynthetic active radiation contributes to the formation of a larger vegetative mass that reaches a maximum at 70-cm row spacing during the period of leaf-tube formation and throwing panicle and gradually decreases during the following stages of growth and development.

Specifics of productivity formation of brоwn mustаrd sowings

Purpose. To find out the specifics of productivity formation in brоwn mustаrd at the different ways of sowing, timing of sowing and seeding rate under the conditions of the Right Bank Forest-Steppe. Methods. During the research, typical methodologies for research in agronomy were used. Results. The results on the peculiarities of the productivity formation in brоwn mustаrd are given. The content of dry matter in plants was determined by the main macrostages of brоwn mustаrd development. The most active accumulation of dry matter in plants occurs during the period of active growth (stem development – flowering) and somewhat slower at the end of the vegetation. The largest amount of it at all stages of development was noted on the crops of the second period of sowing. Reducing the dry matter content of plants in the third term was primarily due to the reduction of the vegetation period, as well as the increase of potassium content, which increases the concentration of cellular juice, osmotic pressure of cells, their moisture content, thereby reducing the dry matter content of the plant. It was found that the weather conditions of 2016 were more favourable for the growth and development of brоwn mustаrd. The average yield of the crop was higher by 0.1–0.32 t/ha as affected by the experimental treatment compared to the results of 2015 and 2017. The highest yield was obtained at the combination of seeding rate of 2.0 million seeds per hectare and a linear method of sowing. In the years favourable for the development of the crop, sowing rate can be reduced to 1.5 million seeds per hectare. Analysis of the data suggests that the oil content is largely affected by the timing of seeding, and to a lesser extent, by the seeding rate and seeding method. Conclusions. The maximum dry matter and the highest yield of brоwn mustаrd was formed when sowing in the I–II decade of April by the typical seeding method at the soil temperature of +6–7 °C and a depth of 10 cm and the and a seeding rate of 2.0 million seeds per hectare. When seeding was carried out in a broad-row way, the seed rate should be 1.5 million seeds per hectare. The maximum yield of oil per unit area was provided by the usual routine method of sowing in the I–II decade of April and the seed rate of 2.0 million seeds per hectare.

CRESCIMENTO INICIAL E CONCENTRAÇÃO DE NUTRIENTES EM CLONES DE<i> Eucalyptus urophylla</i> x <i>Eucalyptus grandis</i> SOB INTERFERÊNCIA DE PLANTAS DANINHAS

http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/1980509821099A presença de plantas daninhas em plantios de eucalipto, especialmente nos dois primeiros anos, pode acarretar grandes prejuízos à produtividade, pois reduz a eficiência de aproveitamento dos recursos de crescimento pela cultura. Assim, objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar os efeitos da interferência de plantas daninhas sobre o crescimento inicial de dois clones de Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus grandis e sobre a concentração foliar de nutrientes na cultura e nas plantas daninhas. O experimento foi instalado em esquema fatorial 2 x 5 + 7, sendo dois clones de híbridos de Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus grandis, identificados como CNB001 e CNB016, em competição com cinco espécies de plantas daninhas Urochloa decumbens (capim-braquiária), Ipomoea nil (corda-de-viola), Commelina diffusa (trapoeraba), Spermacoce latifolia (erva-quente) e Panicum maximum (capim-colonião). Adicionalmente foram cultivados os dois clones de eucalipto e as cinco plantas daninhas em monocultivo como padrão de comparação, no delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições. Foram avaliados o crescimento inicial de mudas de eucalipto através da altura de plantas, o diâmetro do coleto, o número de ramos, a área foliar e matéria seca, o teor foliar de nutrientes do eucalipto, bem como o teor de nutrientes nas folhas das plantas daninhas. O clone CNB001 apresentou crescimento inicial superior ao clone CNB016, no entanto, livre da interferência de plantas daninhas, verificaram-se teores foliares semelhantes para a maioria dos nutrientes em ambos os genótipos. O clone CNB016 mostrou maior sensibilidade à interferência negativa das plantas daninhas que o clone CNB001, sendo seu crescimento inicial mais afetado por Ipomoea nil e a concentração de nutrientes reduzida pelas espécies Panicum maximum, Urochloa decumbens e Commelina diffusa. Panicum maximum apresentou maior interferência com o clone CNB001, enquanto Ipomoea nil pouco influenciou o crescimento e o teor de nutrientes deste híbrido. As plantas daninhas apresentaram elevada capacidade de extrair nutrientes do solo, mesmo em convivência com os clones de Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus grandis. A interferência imposta à cultura é dependente da espécie infestante e do genótipo de eucalipto.

Nitrogen and phosphorus on crambe development after off-season corn cultivation

Crambe, a winter crop, is used as forage in crop rotation and soil coverage, besides being a raw material source for biodiesel production. However, information on the crop nutritional requirements in Brazil is scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate nitrogen (0, 30, 60, 90 and120 kg ha -1 ) and phosphorus (0, 50, 75, 100 e 125 kg ha -1 ) fertilization effects on crambe development and N, P and K leaf contents in an Eutrophic Red Latosol after off-season corn cultivation, at an experimental field in the state of Parana, Brazil. A randomized block design was used in the experiment, with three repetitions in a 5 x 5 factorial. Nitrogen and phosphorus application and N and P interaction increased the number of branches and grains. Plant dry matter and potassium leaf content were influenced by N application. Plant height was influenced by phos­phorus application and N and P interaction. Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus were not affected by nitrogen and phosphorus application in the soil. Additional keywords: Crambe abyssinica H. ; nitrogen fertilizer; oleaginous plant; phosphate fertilizer; production components.

Growth and yield of summer groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) as influenced by foliar application of water soluble fertilizer

The field experiment was undertaken at the District Seed Farm, Kalyani at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal during summer season of 2012 and 2013 to study the growth and yield of summer groundnut as influenced by application of water soluble foliar grade fertilizer. Application of liquid grade fertilizerat early growth stage up to 45 DAE did not influence the plant height and dry matter production significantly, but towards maturity varied significantly (P ? 0.05). Crop growth rate was faster at early part of the crop age and gradually slows at later part towards maturity. Foliar application of water soluble fertilizer along with RDF 85% had the significant (P ? 0.05) influence to increase the number of pods per plant, but shelling percentage and hundred kernel weight did not vary significantly. Liquid grade fertilizer either starter dose or booster dose or in both had the positive response to increased the groundnut pod yield up to 4-6 % over RDF only. The crop was equally responsive in increasing the pod yield, when RDF was reduced by 15% along with foliar application of liquid grade fertilizer. The foliar application of water soluble fertilizer was not the substitute to soil applied inorganic fertilizer. Instead, foliar supplementation of nutrients showed positive response to increase the pod yield, in addition to the fertilizers added to soil. Gross return decreased with reduction in amount of RDF applied for the crop, but gross return increased, when water soluble foliar grade inorganic fertilizer was supplemented with RDF. The maximum gross return of `150399 was obtained. The results obtained from correlation analysis carried out to examine the linear relationship between pod yields with different plant characters. Data obtained in case of dry matter of the plant was 0.995 and 0.997 in the respective years at 1% level of significance. Thus, it was concluded that dry matter content of plant is solely responsible over the yield increase in groundnut and foliar application of inorganic fertilizers in addition to that in soil has helped in better adsorption of nutrients in adequate amount by the crop.

EFFECT OF PLANTING DATE AND SPACING ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF CABBAGE (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.)

Two field trials were carried out during two consecutive winter seasons of 2009/10 and 2010/2011 at Baramon Experimental Farm, Dakahlia Governorate to investigate the effect of three planting dates (1st Nov., 15th Nov. and 1st Dec.) and three plant spacing (50, 60 and 70 cm) on cabbage cv. Brunswick. The trials were laid out in a split-plot design with three replicates. Results indicated that the earliest planting date (1st of November) significantly promoted vegetative growth characters, i.e. plant weight, number and weight of outer leaves. Moreover, the earliest planting date increased average head weight, total and marketable yield. Head quality attributes, i.e. head equatorial and polar diameters, head volume, head density and dry matter content were increased when planting at the earliest planting date, compared to the later planting dates. The wider plant spacing (70 cm within row) exhibited the largest values of plant weight, number and weight of outer leaves. The wider plant spacing produced heads with larger dimensions, volume and density. Otherwise, the closer plant spacing (50 cm within row) produced larger total and marketable yield in relation to that yield produced by wider spacing. The interaction effects among the experimental factors were significant at both seasons of this investigation for plant weight, total yield and dry matter content, whereas no significant interaction was found for other studied characters.

Effect of silicon and selenium on enzymatic changes and productivity of dill in saline condition

Anethum graveolens is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. The experiment was carried out in a factorial design with two factors include salinity, which was applied to the root medium as NaCl (0 and 10ds/m) and nutrition as sodium silicate (0 and 1.5mM), and selenate (0, 5μM). Supplementary Si or Se ameliorated the negative effects of salinity on plant dry matter and chlorophyll content. Application of Si or Se decreased Na+ concentration and increased K+ concentration in roots and shoots of dill plants. Salinity imposed oxidative stress and leaded to increase malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration. Under saline condition, addition of Si/Se significantly increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in salt-stressed plant when compared with plant subjected to salinity alone. Our results revealed that improvement in growth of salt stressed plants under the influence of Si and Se may be due to the improved ion balance, antioxidant enzymes activities and osmotic adjustment. These trace elements had negative effect on growth under non-saline conditions. Therefore, application of these trace elements (especially Silicon) under saline condition could be a better strategy for maintaining the crop productivity in these regions.

Efficacy of boron and salicylic acid on quality production of sim carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)

Flower production is an increasing activity of world’s agriculture. Carnation is one of the most important cut flower of the world which ranks only next to rose. It has been extensively cultivated to be used as cut flower because of its excellent keeping quality. The present study is therefore designed with the aim of improving the quality of Sim carnation by applying Boron (0, 5ppm, 10ppm, 15ppm, 20ppm) and Salicylic acid (0,1mM, 2mM, 3mM and 4mM). Different growth and flowering traits which include plant height, number of leaf pairs, intermodal distance, leaf area, leaf chlorophyll content, days to flower emergence, number of flowers/plant, diameter of flower, stalk length and girth, duration of flowering and dry matter content of plants was studied in the experiment. The results reveal that foliar application of boron and salicylic acid has pronounced effect on growth and quality parameters of carnation. Among all the treatment SA @ 3mM exhibited best results and among doses of boron @ 15ppm showed good results.

Productivity of Digitaria grass in different doses of nitrogen

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different doses of nitrogen on the productivity of grass digitaria (Digitaria sp.) The experiment was conducted from April to July 2012 at the Experimental Station of Embrapa Meio-Norte, located in the city of Parnaíba, Piauí.The experimental design was completely randomized with four treatments and five replications consisting of nitrogen levels (T1 – 200; T2 – 400; T3 – 600 and T4 - 800 kg N ha-1 year-1). Three cuts at intervals of 28 days each were realized. The variables evaluated were: grass plant height, production and dry matter content, penetration and absorption of light, the leaf blade/stem and dead material and efficiency of nitrogen use. Nitrogen fertilization promoted a decrease in dry matter, nitrogen use efficiency, light penetration and leaf/stem + sheath, and influenced positively in plant height, dry matter production and light interception in grass digitaria depending on the doses N applied.

Effect of harvesting regime and nitrogen fertilization on the field pea (Pisum sativum ssp. arvense l.) agronomic traits

Field pea (Pisum sativum spp. arvense L.) is becoming increasingly common legumes in fodder production due to the high green mass yield, nutritional value and significant content of nitrogen leaving in the soil. The aim of this study was to determine the purpose and effect of nitrogen fertilization as well as the impact of harvesting regime on three field pea important traits (plant height, dry matter green mass yield). The research was conducted during a period of three years on experimental field at the Agricultural Institute Osijek. The experiment was set up in a split block design with three replications where the harvesting deadline (start of blooming and full bloom) was the main factor and seven levels of nitrogen fertilization (0 to 180 kg N ha-1) the subfactor. Significant differences at a significance level P<0.01 were observed between two harvesting time for all traits, while the interaction between year and harvesting time was determined for the traits: plant height and dry matter content at the level of P<0.01, and the green mass yield at a significance level of P<0.05. Green mass yield in the first year was the smallest being 17.78 t ha-1 on the average, while the highest yield (41.34 t ha-1) was achieved on the average in the second year of the study. Fertilization level and its interaction had no significant effect on plant height, dry matter and green mass yield.

Evaluation of genetic diversity for yield and quality parameters of different potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) germplasm

An investigation was carried out at Vegetable Research Centre, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar during spring-summer season 2011 and 2012 to study the genetic diversity using Mahalanobis’s D2 – technique among thirty five potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) germplasm for important yield attributing and quality traits. The D2 values were calculated and thirty five potato genotypes were grouped into nine clusters for growth characters and ten clusters for quality traits respectively. All the genotypes included in the present investigation, were indigenous, but their grouping in different clusters, suggested that genotypes did not follow the geographic distribution. The cluster I contained the maximum number of genotypes with respect to both yield attributing and quality traits. The inter cluster distance in most of the cases were higher than the intra-cluster distance indicating wider genetic diversity among the genotypes of different groups. Average tuber weight of potato plant contributed maximum (31.76%), followed by number of tuber per plant (27.56%), internodal length (14.45%) and plant dry matter content (13.61%) for growth characters. For quality characters, ascorbic acid content (24.70%), protein content of tuber (20.84%) and TSS of tuber (20.00%) contributed effectively towards genetic divergence. So, these traits will offer a good scope for improvement of yield and quality through rational selection of parental genotypes for future potato breeding. The findings indicated that use of parents selected from the same cross or from a cross involving a common parent should be avoided in hybridization. The results broadly showed there was no parallelism between geographical and genetic divergence.

The Storage Ability Of Lamb’S Lettuce Cultivated In The Greenhouse Under Led Or Hps Lamps

Abstract Leafy vegetables are the source of many valuable components like vitamins, minerals and phenolic compounds as antioxidants. Chlorophyll derivatives have antioxidant and anticarcinogenic activity, or may even act as signalling molecules in organisms. However, during the storage of the leafy vegetables in the cold and darkness, numerous biochemical changes usually occurs, demonstrated as the breakdown of chlorophyll. Storage ability of plants depends to some extent on the conditions under which plants grew. Lamb’s lettuce plants were grown in the greenhouse in different light regimes - emitted with sodium (HPS-control) and LED lamps (100% red, 90% red + 10% blue, 70% red + 30% blue and 50% red + 50% blue light). The intensity of radiation at the height of the leaves of the plants was the same in every treatment. After harvesting, the plants were stored at the temperature of 5 °C and high humidity in plastic bags. The analyses of the material were done four times: after harvest and three times during storage at weekly intervals. Fresh weight lost, dry matter, phenolics and chlorophyll content were analysed. Additionally, the fluorescence of chlorophyll a was carried out. Changes in plant fresh weight and dry matter content during storage did not depend on the lighting used during cultivation. After 3 weeks of storage, higher value of indicator of the vitality of PSII (PIABS - Performance Index) was noticed in leaves treated with higher red light intensity during cultivation (100%, 90% and 70% red). LED lamps, which emitted 100% and 90% red light, enhanced concentration of total phenolics in lamb’s lettuce leaves. Light of HPS lamps decreased radical scavenging activity in leaves. Quality and usefulness of plants produced under LED lamps was just as good as those grown under HPS lamps.