Spike Length Research Articles

Performance evaluation of advanced durum wheat genotypes under irrigated condition at Bhairahawa, Nepal

A field research was carried out at the National Wheat Research Program (NWRP) in Bhairahawa, Nepal in 2022 to investigate elite durum wheat genotypes and key traits contributing to grain yield. The experiment was performed in an alpha lattice design with two replications. Thirty distinct durum wheat genotypes were assessed, focusing on fourteen quantitative traits including days to booting, days to heading, days to maturity, plant height, spike length, peduncle length, number of tillers per square meter, number of spikes per square meter, number of grains per spike, grain weight per spike, thousand kernel weight, grain yield, biomass yield, chlorophyll content. The studied genotypes were grown under irrigated condition. Genotype NL1779 attained the highest grain yield of 3828 kg/ha, followed by NL1769 (3784 kg/ha), NL1772 (3726 kg/ha), NL1789 (3640 kg/ha) and NL1784 (3570 kg/ha). Principal components analysis revealed that eight traits were the major loadings on the first two principal components that describe 53.4% of the total morphological variance at irrigated condition. Cluster analysis grouped the different genotypes into four clusters, with each cluster showing variation in performance for different traits under irrigated conditions. Cluster III is characterized by genotypes exhibiting the highest grain yield, biomass yield, spike length, number of grains per spike, and number of spikes per square meter. Notably, the high-yielding genotypes NL1779, NL1769, NL1772, NL1789, NL1784, and NL1773 identified within this cluster could serve as potential candidates for inclusion in the national breeding program. These superior genotypes could be recommended for irrigated environment after further evaluation. Integrating them into national breeding programs offers an opportunity for genetic improvement, contributing to establishing a robust durum wheat production system in Nepal, meeting the growing demand for durum wheat products while promoting dietary diversity and sustainable agriculture.

Effect of Organic and Inorganic Sources of Nitrogen on Growth Parameter and Yield Attribute of Wheat in Inceptisolof Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India

The insufficient availability and escalating expenses of fertilizers present significant constraints to crop production, exacerbating the growing disparity between nutrient demand and supply. The overreliance on agrochemicals like synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides not only endangers human health but also degrades soil quality and environmental integrity. This study examined the impact of applying recommended doses of fertilisers (RDF) in conjunction with organic amendments in a pot experiment carried out throughout the 2020–2021 wheat growing season. Significant improvements were found for the following wheat plant attributes: straw and grain yields; height; greenness index; spike count; spike length; and weight of 1000 seeds. The treatment utilizing 50% RDF and 50% poultry manure (T5) demonstrated the most pronounced improvements across these parameters. These findings highlight integrated nutrient management's crucial importance as a modern agricultural requirement.

Assessing drought tolerance in advance wheat genotypes using stress tolerance indices

Wheat, an important crop of Nepal, is significantly affected by drought, leading to severe yield losses. Thus, an experiment was conducted to assess effect of drought on wheat traits and to identify drought resilient genotypes comparing stress tolerance indices. Altogether seventy-two genotypes including checks were evaluated under drought and non-stress condition in an alpha-lattice design with two replications at the research block of National Rice Research Program, Hardinath, Nepal during winter of 2019/20. Analysis of variance revealed significant genotypic differences (p<0.01) in traits such as days to heading, anthesis, and maturity, plant height, flag leaf area, spike length, grains per spike, 1000-grain weight, and grain yield under both conditions. The combined analysis of variance showed that genotype, environment, and their interaction significantly influenced most traits. The environment was the dominant factor, accounting for 86.2% of the variation in grain yield, followed by genotype (9.5%) and genotype-environment interaction (4.3%). Among the nine quantitative traits assessed, grain yield was most severely affected due to drought, experiencing a substantial reduction of 63%. To assess drought tolerance, six indices (TOL, SSI, MP, GMP, HMP, and STI) were calculated based on grain yield data. Most indices identified genotypes NL1373, NL1308, NL1407, BL4868, and BL4947 as highly drought-tolerant. Among the indices, MP, STI, and GMP were the most reliable for measuring stress tolerance due to their strong positive correlation with yield under both conditions. These identified genotypes are promising candidates for breeding programs aimed at developing drought-resilient wheat varieties, thereby enhancing food security in drought-affected regions.

Studies on the Impact of Spacing, Pinching and Growth Retardants on Vegetative Growth and Flowering Behaviour of Salvia

The present investigation entitled “Studies on the impact of spacing, pinching and growth retardants on vegetative growth and flowering behaviour of Salvia” was conducted at College of Agriculture, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during December 2021 to April 2022. The experiment was laid out in a Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications, comprising of 12 treatment combinations which includes the first factor spacing with two levels i.e., S1 (20 cm x 25 cm) and S2 (25 cm x 25 cm), second factor pinching with two levels i.e., P0 (no pinching) and P1 (pinching) and the third factor application of growth retardants with three levels i.e., G0 (control), G1 (CCC @500ppm) and G2 (MH @100ppm). The findings revealed that pinching and the application of growth retardants had a greater impact on critical flowering attributes than the spacing experimented with in this study. Treatment combination S2P1G1 i.e., T11 was proved to be better and yielded significant improvements. Based on the results it was concluded that pinching and application of CCC resulted in better growth and development in salvia regarding vegetative and flowering characters. Thus, the treatment combination S2P1G1 i.e., T11 was found to be superior for vegetative growth characters like plant height, the number of branches, the number of leaves and flowering characters like the number of flower spikes per plant, length of flower spike, and length of florets.

Cu-nanoparticles enhance the sustainable growth and yield of drought-subjected wheat through physiological progress

Drought stress (DS) is a significant abiotic stress that limits agricultural productivity worldwide. In semi-arid climates, one potential solution to alleviate the deleterious effects of drought is the use of soil amendments such as nanoparticles. The current research was conducted out to probe the sway of drought at critical growth stages (CGS) of wheat crop (D0: Control, D1: Drought at tillering stage, and D2: Drought at anthesis stage) and the application of Cu-nanoparticles (T0: 0 mg L−1, T1: 300 mg L−1, T2: 700 mg L−1, and T3: 950 mg L−1) in order to improve drought resilience. Results of the study revealed that DS considerably decreased the wheat growth and yield during CGS. However, Cu-nanoparticles application alleviated the detrimental backlash of DS and led to improvements in various aspects of wheat growth and yield, including plant height, spike length, 1000 grain weight, stomatal conductance, leaf chlorophyll content, water use efficiency, leaf turgor potential, relative water content, and ultimately the grain yield. The use of principal component analysis allowed us to integrate and interpret the diverse findings of our study, elucidating the impact of Cu-nanoparticle treatment on wheat growth and yield under drought. Overall, the study concluded that DS during the anthesis stage had the most significant negative impact on crop yield. However, applying Cu-nanoparticles at the rate of 300 mg L−1 proved to be an effective strategy for improving crop productivity by reducing the harmful effects of drought.

Effect of Seed Rate and Nitrogen on Growth and Yield Attributes of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The field experiment entitled Effect of Seed Rate and Nitrogen on Growth and Yield Attributes of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was conducted, in the experiment comprising a total 12 treatment combinations; such as three seed rates (100, 125 and 150 kg/ha) and four levels of nitrogen (75, 100, 125 and 150 kg/ha). Which was carried out in split plot design with three replications. Results revealed that the growth, yield and economics of wheat significantly differed with different seed rates and nitrogen levels. Results showed that crop sown using seed rate of 100 kg/ha recorded significantly higher plant height, spike length, number of grains per spike and test weight as compared to 125 and 150 kg/ha seed rates. Higher dry matter accumulation, number of tillers per meter row length and straw yield recorded with seed rate of 150 kg/ha over 100 and 125 kg/ha. However, significantly higher grain yield and biological yield, net returns and B: C ratio were recorded with the seed rate of 125 kg/ha as compared to seed rate of 150 and 100 kg/ha. Among nitrogen levels, significantly higher plant height, dry matter accumulation, number of tillers per meter row length, spike length, number of grains per spike and test weight, grain yield, straw yield and biological yield, net returns and B: C ratio recorded with the application of nitrogen @ 125 kg/ha as compared to application of nitrogen @ 75 and 100 kg/ha, but it was at par with the application of nitrogen @ 150 kg/ha as compared to 125 and 150 kg/ha seed rates.

Nanoengineered plasmonics-enhanced photothermal tags for sensitive detection of cardiac biomarker troponin I using lateral flow immunoassay

In recent years, photothermal lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has gained widespread use as a point-of-care testing (POCT) technique because of its cost-effective portable instrumentation and easy-to-handle procedures. However, developing a highly sensitive photothermal LFIA platform with high photothermal efficiency remains challenging. In this study, we developed a portable smartphone-based plasmonics-enhanced photothermal LFIA (PPh-LFIA) platform to improve the photothermal LFIA sensitivity by engineering plasmonic-active gold nanostars (GNS) having large-sized sharp branches. We investigated the photothermal effect using various GNS engineered to have different sizes and spike lengths of GNSs (GNS-1, GNS-2, GNS-3, and GNS-4) in order to exhibit optimal plasmonics properties. The results showed that the GNS-3 having a broad plasmon band with a plasmon maximum band at 995 nm exhibited the strongest photothermal efficiency (80 %). As a proof-of demonstration, we have employed GNS-3 for the detection of the cardiac biomarker, troponin I (cTnI), used as the model system. The results show high sensitivity with a detection limit (LOD) of 5.5 pg/mL, which was around 1000 times more sensitive than traditional colorimetric LFIA based on gold nanospheres (GNSP). To verify the applicability of the PPh-LFIA platform, cTnI was spiked into human blood serum samples, enabling the detection of cTnI with an LOD of 6.7 pg/mL. Overall, this study offers insights for nanoengineering and fine-tuning the GNS morphology to increase the photothermal efficiency, consequently improving the PPh-LFIA detection sensitivity, which makes it suitable for use as a sensitive and portable POCT tool.

Phenotypic characterization of two-row barley (Hordeum vulgare L. ssp. vulgare) germplasm conserved in Osman Tosun Genebank of Türkiye by multivariate analysis model

AbstractBarley is a crucial cereal crop with a diverse genetic heritage that includes landraces-traditionally cultivated variants that have adapted to varying agro-climatic conditions over centuries. Preserving barley landraces in genebanks is of utmost importance for safeguarding genetic diversity and aiding future breeding endeavors.This study aims an agro-morphological characterization of a selected collection of two row barley landraces conserved in the Osman Tosun Genebank. A total of 262 barley accessions were assessed in controlled field conditions to analyze various agro-morphological traits. The study unveiled notable disparities in the morphological traits of the genotypes, specifically in flag leaf anthocyanin, flag leaf sheath wax, spike shape, spike density, lemma color, grain color, lodging tendency, days to 50% flowering, plant height, spike length, spikelet quantity, and thousand grain weight, among other critical agronomical characteristics. To scrutinize the morphological disparities, the research utilized principal component analysis and ascertained that nearly 77.22% of the overall variance was accounted for by the first two principal components. The first four principal components accounted for 90.96% of the total variation, thus indicating significant genetic diversity among genotypes. The results of the cluster analysis revealed the presence of diverse genetic resources within the collection, with distinct groups of genotypes exhibiting similar traits being identified. The results of the agro-morphological characterization are a valuable resource for researchers and breeders, aiding them in making informed decisions regarding the management and application of barley landraces in breeding programs.

Effect of plant growth regulators on vegetative and floral of gladiolus (Gladiolus hybrid L. ) cv. Pusakiran

A experiment was carried out on the Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on the Vegetative and Floral of Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybrid L. ) cv. PusaKiran at Horticulture farm, Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Dabok, Udaipur from October 2022 to February 2023, The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design. Replicated thrice with 10 treatment combinations, comprising three plant growth regulators with 3 levels T1-GA3 100 ppm, T2-GA3 150 ppm, T3-GA3 200 ppm, T4-NAA 100 ppm, T5-NAA 150 ppm, T6-NAA 200 ppm, T7-CCC 200 ppm, T8-CCC 400 ppm, T9-CCC 600 ppm, T10-Control (water dipping) for corm dipping for 24hours. The maximum plant height was observed in treatmentT3-GA3 200 ppm (94.40 cm),Among the treatments, T3- GA3 200 ppm recorded a greater number of leaves per plant (9.90), the days to spike emergence was a significant difference on days to spike emergence. Among the treatments, the earliest days to first floret show color was observed in treatment T4-NAA 100 ppm (90.40). Days to last floret show color was a significant difference on days to last floret show color. Among the treatments.Among the treatments, maximum spike length was observed in treatment T3-GA3 200 ppm (88.20 cm). T3-GA3 200 ppm (73.80) corm dip planting recorded the highest rachis length.

Molecular and agro-morphological characterization of new barley genotypes in arid environments

BackgroundGenetic diversity, population structure, agro-morphological traits, and molecular characteristics, are crucial for either preserving genetic resources or developing new cultivars. Due to climate change, water availability for agricultural use is progressively diminishing. This study used 100 molecular markers (25 TRAP, 22 SRAP, 23 ISTR, and 30 SSR). Additionally, 15 morphological characteristics were utilized to evaluate the optimal agronomic traits of 12 different barley genotypes under arid conditions.ResultsSubstantial variations, ranging from significant to highly significant, were observed in the 15 agromorphological parameters evaluated among the 12 genotypes. The KSU-B101 barley genotype demonstrated superior performance in five specific traits: spike number per plant, 100-grain weight, spike number per square meter, harvest index, and grain yield. These results indicate its potential for achieving high yields in arid regions.The Sahrawy barley genotype exhibited the highest values across five parameters, namely leaf area, spike weight per plant, spike length, spike weight per square meter, and biological yield, making it a promising candidate for animal feed. The KSU-B105 genotype exhibited early maturity and a high grain count per spike, which reflects its early maturity and ability to produce a high number of grains per spike. This suggests its suitability for both animal feed and human food in arid areas. Based on marker data, the molecular study found that the similarity coefficients between the barley genotypes ranged from 0.48 to 0.80, with an average of 0.64. The dendrogram constructed from these data revealed three distinct clusters with a similarity coefficient of 0.80. Notably, the correlation between the dendrogram and its similarity matrix was high (0.903), indicating its accuracy in depicting the genetic relationships. The combined analysis revealed a moderate correlation between the morphological and molecular analysis, suggesting alignment between the two characterization methods.ConclusionsThe morphological and molecular analyses of the 12 barley genotypes in this study effectively revealed the varied genetic characteristics of their agro-performance in arid conditions. KSU-B101, Sahrawy, and KSU-B105 have emerged as promising candidates for different agricultural applications in arid regions. Further research on these genotypes could reveal their full potential for breeding programs.

Effect of different levels of nitrogen in combination with nano urea on growth, yield and quality of crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis L.) cv. Lakshmi

An investigation on the effect of different levels of nitrogen in combination with nano urea on growth, yield and quality of crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis L.) cv. Lakshmi was carried out in the Floriculture unit, Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Chidambaram during the year 2022-2024. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with 14 treatments and 3 replications. Among the different treatments, the treatment T5 (100% PK + 75% N through urea + 0.4% Nano urea (3 sprays)) resulted in increased growth attributes such as plant height (85.21 cm), stem girth (7.95 cm), number of branches/plant (24.51), number of leaves/plant (99.29), leaf area (95.41 cm2) and chlorophyll content (0.840 mg/g). With regards to yield attributes, the treatment T8 (100% PK + 50% N through urea + 0.4% Nano urea (3 sprays)) showed early spike emergence (37.54 days), time taken for 1st flowering (44.83 days) with an increase in number of spikes/plant (36.27), spike length (14.21 cm) and number of flowers/spike (39.21). 100 flower weight (8.62 g), flower yield/plant (51.03 g), flower yield/plot (974.76 g/plot), estimated flower yield/ hectare (32.49 q/ha) and quality attributes like xanthophyll content (69.42 mg/g), carotenoid content (57.76 mg/g), shelf life of flowers (74.88 hours), longevity of flower in the plant (95.52 hours) and flowers with an excellent quality of visual scoring (9.16) were also observed the maximum in the treatment T8. The treatment control (T1) had the lowest value for all the growth, yield and quality attributes. Hence, it is concluded that the treatment T8 (100% PK + 50% N through urea + 0.4% Nano urea (3 sprays)) was found to be the best combination for improving the growth, yield and quality of crossandra cv. Lakshmi.

ASSESSMENT OF COMBINING ABILITY FOR YIELD AND YIELD RELATED TRAITS IN SPRING WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.)

Grain yield and other related characters were studied in 18 F1 generations along with nine parents (six lines and three testers) which were evaluated for combining ability with three replications in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The results indicated that among various lines, line 9479 was identified as a good general combiner for the traits, viz., spike length, spikelet’s per spike, and 1000-grain weight, whereas, Line 9486 appeared as a good general combiner for the characters, flag leaf area, plant height, peduncle length, number of tillers per plant and 1000-grain weight. Line 9515 for flag leaf area, plant height, and spike length. Line 9519 for the number of tillers per plant, grain yield per plant, and plant height; line 9520 for peduncle length, number of tillers per plant, grains per spike, grain yield per plant and 9521 was identified as good general combiner for the characters spike length, spikelet’s per spike, number of grains per spike and spike density. Tester Punjab-11 emerged as a good general combiner for the traits; peduncle length, plant height, flag leaf area, and number of tillers per plant, whereas, Tester Ass-11 appeared as a good combiner for the spike length, peduncle length, 1000-grain weight, and flag leaf area. Tester Chakwal-50 identified a good general combiner for the number of tillers per plant, plant height, grains per spike, spikelets per spike, grain yield per plant, 1000-grain weight, and spike density. Out of 18 cross combinations, seven crosses viz. 9479 × Aas-11, 9486 × Aas-11, 9515 × Aas-11, 9519 × Chakwal-50, 9520 × Punjab-11, 9521 × Punjab-11, and 9521 × Aas-11 emerged with significant positive SCA effects for grain yield per plant. Thus, these crosses can be exploited for grain yield per plant by using biparental mating system.

Identification and validation of two major QTL for grain number per spike on chromosomes 2B and 2D in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Major QTL for grain number per spike were identified on chromosomes 2B and 2D. Haplotypes and candidate genes of QGns.cib-2B.1 were analyzed. Grain number per spike (GNS) is one of the main components of wheat yield. Genetic dissection of their regulatory factors is essential to improve the yield potential. In present study, a recombinant inbred line population comprising 180 lines developed from the cross between a high GNS line W7268 and a cultivar Chuanyu12 was employed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with GNS across six environments. Two major QTL, QGns.cib-2B.1 and QGns.cib-2D.1, were detected in at least four environments with the phenotypic variations of 12.99-27.07% and 8.50-13.79%, respectively. And significant interactions were observed between the two major QTL. In addition, QGns.cib-2B.1 is a QTL cluster for GNS, grain number per spikelet and fertile tiller number, and they were validated in different genetic backgrounds using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) markers. QGns.cib-2B.1 showed pleotropic effects on other yield-related traits including plant height, spike length, and spikelet number per spike, but did not significantly affect thousand grain weight which suggested that it might be potentially applicable in breeding program. Comparison analysis suggested that QGns.cib-2B.1 might be a novel QTL. Furthermore, haplotype analysis of QGns.cib-2B.1 indicated that it is a hot spot of artificial selection during wheat improvement. Based on the expression patterns, gene annotation, orthologs analysis and sequence variations, the candidate genes of QGns.cib-2B.1 were predicted. Collectively, the major QTL and KASP markers reported here provided a wealth of information for the genetic basis of GNS and grain yield improvement.

Unraveling Genetic Variability, Correlation and Path Analysis for Yield and Its Components in Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

The current study aimed to assess the genetic variability of yield and yield-related traits while examining the direct and indirect effects of trait interactions. Conducted at a research farm in Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, the experiment involved fourteen parents and their BC1F1 crosses, analyzed using a randomized block design (RBD). Significant differences were observed among the varieties for most traits, indicating a broad range of mean values and diversity. Both phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variance (PCV and GCV) were generally low, with biological yield showing the highest values (26.57 for GCV and 40.48 for PCV). PCV values were slightly higher than GCV values. Traits such as seed per spike, biological yield, flag leaf breadth, days of heading, and days of maturity exhibited relatively high heritability. Notably, grain yield showed high heritability and genetic progress, making it a favourable selection indicator. Several traits, including days of anthesis, days of maturity, and spike length, demonstrated significant positive correlations with yield while also showing significant negative correlations with grain filling period and biological yield. Conversely, these traits showed highly non-significant positive correlations with harvest index, plant height, thousand seeds weight, and chlorophyll content and highly non-significant negative correlations with tiller number and seeds per spike.

English

In modern agriculture, soil salinity stress has been extensively studied by researchers owing to its disastrous impacts on soil and plant health. Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient. Crucial role of Zn in regulating plant growth under salinity stress has been well documented. Current research consisted of two studies, first study was aimed at comparing three organic (i.e. sugarcane filter cake, farmyard manure and poultry manure) and inorganic sources (i.e. zinc oxide, zinc sulphate and zinc nitrate) of Zn for improving Zn uptake by salt tolerant wheat varieties in a pot trial. Whereas, in second experiment the effect of zinc sulfate (ZnSO4; inorganic) alone and in combination with sugarcane filter cake (SFC; organic) was evaluated in sustaining wheat growth under naturally salt affected soil. Results from pot trial suggested that among different organic sources, SFC application significantly enhanced the plant height (12.52%), spike length (9.07%) and number of fertile tillers (25%), whereas, application of ZnSO4 among the inorganic sources resulted in notable enhancements in plant height (7%), number of fertile tillers (24%), and spike length (8%) compared to their corresponding treatments. In addition, wheat variety Sehar-2006 proved to be the most efficient wheat variety under salinized conditions. Whereas the findings of the field trial revealed ZnSO4 application @ 24 kg ha-1 in combination with SFC 1 % w/w improved the plant height (2%), grain yield (81%), K+/Na+ ratio (1.4 fold), catalase (8%) and peroxidase (3%) activities.

ВПЛИВ ПЕРЕДПОСІВНОЇ ОБРОБКИ НАСІННЯ ЕКСТРАКТОМ ВІВСА ПОСІВНОГО НА ПРОДУКТИВНІСТЬ ПШЕНИЦІ ОЗИМОЇ

The article provides a comparative analysis of the effects of different concentrations of oat extract on the yield structure of the winter wheat variety "Dunyasha". The variability of crop structure is determined by several plant characteristics, such as tillering (both total and productive), spike length, number of spikes, number of grains per spike, and their weight. These indicators can fluctuate depending on growing conditions, leading to variations in yield. Antioxidants, phytohormones, and other substances in oat extract play a crucial role in protecting cells from oxidative stress and the harmful effects of free radicals, which directly impact crop structure. Pre-sowing treatment of "Dunyasha" winter wheat seeds with oat extract solutions of 30 % and 15 % concentration effectively stimulated the formation of quantitative plant structures, including spikes and stems per unit area. The highest number of plants with spikes in "Dunyasha" wheat was observed with pre-sowing treatment using a 6 % concentration of oat extract. Significant indicators of productive tillering in winter wheat were recorded with pre-sowing seed treatments of 15 % and 30 % oat extract. The weight of 1000 grains was highest with pre-sowing treatments using 30 % and 6 % oat extract solutions, while the number of seeds per spike was highest with a 6 % oat extract solution. Pre-sowing seed treatment of winter wheat with oat extract solutions of 6 %, 15 %, and 30 % concentration can be utilized as a component of agricultural technology in cereal crop cultivation. The highest biological yield values of the winter wheat variety "Dunyasha" were achieved after pre-sowing seed treatment with oat seed extract solutions at concentrations of 30 % and 15 %, reaching 65 and 51 centners per hectare respectively, compared to control values of 31 centners per hectare. Even lower concentrations of oat seed extract led to statistically significant increases in biological yield indicators. Thus, our research confirms that pre-sowing seed treatment with oat seed extract at concentrations of 15 % and 30 % maximizes the productivity of the winter wheat variety "Dunyasha". Therefore, pre-sowing seed treatment of winter wheat with oat seed extract can be effectively used as a technological element in grain crop cultivation.

Low-Cadmium Wheat Cultivars Limit the Enrichment, Transport and Accumulation of Cadmium

Low-cadmium (Cd) accumulating wheat cultivars (LAWC-Cds) can effectively reduce the total Cd content in wheat grains (Grain-Cd). Thirteen LAWC-Cds were planted in three fields to study the enrichment, transport, and accumulation patterns of Cd in LAWC-Cds. Compared with the soil properties before planting, the soil pH and the total Cd content in the soil decreased, while the Cd content in the diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid extract, soil conductivity, and soil organic matter increased at wheat maturity. The Cd enrichment capacity of the different organs of wheat decreased in the following order: root > leaf > rachis > stem > glume > grain. The dynamics of Cd accumulation in roots affected Grain-Cd, and these factors were negatively correlated. The Cd content and Cd accumulation in all organs of LAWC-Cds showed strong negative correlations with the lengths of the first and second internodes and highly significant positive correlations with both grains per spike and awn length. Structural equation modeling showed that the Cd content of wheat organs had the most direct effect (0.639) in determining Grain-Cd, and soil properties had the largest effect (0.744) in influencing Grain-Cd. This study is important for screening wheat cultivars with stable low Cd-accumulation characteristics.

Relative Efficiency of Prilled Urea, Urea Super Granules (USG), and Neem-Coated Urea (NCU) for Growth and Yield of Wheat

The experiment took place at the net house of the Agronomy field laboratory, Department of Agronomy and Agricultural Extension, University of Rajshahi, from November 2019 to March 2020, aiming to determine the relative efficiency of prilled urea, urea super granules (USG), and neem-coated urea (NCU) for wheat growth and yield. Five different nitrogenous fertilizers were included: BARC recommended prilled urea at 0.5 g/pot (T1), urea super granules (USG) at 0.25g/pot (T2), neem-coated urea at 0.25g/pot (T3), urea super granules (USG) at 0.5g/pot (T4), and neem-coated urea at 0.5g/pot (T5). The experiment followed a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Results indicated significant effects of nitrogenous fertilizer forms on wheat growth and yield characteristics. Across most parameters, the highest values were observed in T5, utilizing 0.5g of neem-coated urea per pot, including plant height (77.34 cm), number of tillers (6.14), effective tillers per pot (23.04), extrusion length (16.57), spike length (17.25), filled grains per pot (1093.43), 1000-grain weight (42.22 g), grain yield (46.39 g/pot), straw yield (77.81g/pot), and biological yield (124.20g/pot). Based on these findings, we can conclude that applying 0.5 g of neem-coated urea per pot (T5) was the most effective treatment for enhancing wheat growth and yield among the tested options.

Rice seeds biofortification using biogenic ıron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by using Glycyrrhiza glabra: a study on growth and yield ımprovement

Iron, a crucial micronutrient, is an integral element of biotic vitality. The scarcity of iron in the soil creates agronomic challenges and has a detrimental impact on crop vigour and chlorophyll formation. Utilizing iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) via nanopriming emerges as an innovative method to enhance agricultural efficiency and crop health. The objective of this study was to synthesize biogenic IONPs from Glycyrrhiza glabra (G. glabra) plant extract using green chemistry and to evaluate their nanopriming effects on rice seed iron levels and growth. The synthesized IONPs were analyzed using UV–Vis spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) techniques. The UV–Vis peak at 280 nm revealed the formation of IONPs. SEM and TEM showed that the nanoparticles were spherical and had an average diameter of 23.8 nm. Nanopriming resulted in a substantial enhancement in growth, as seen by a 9.25% and 22.8% increase in shoot lengths for the 50 ppm and 100 ppm treatments, respectively. The yield metrics showed a positive correlation with the concentrations of IONPs. The 1000-grain weight and spike length observed a maximum increase of 193.75% and 97.73%, respectively, at the highest concentration of IONPs. The study indicates that G. glabra synthesized IONPs as a nanopriming agent significantly increased rice seeds' growth and iron content. This suggests that there is a relationship between the dosage of IONPs and their potential for improving agricultural biofortification.

Effect of Intercropping with Leafy Vegetables on the Growth, Yield and Quality of Gladiolus Under Agro-Climatic Conditions of Prayagraj

Intercropping brings diversity of species in the cropping systems and is considered to make them more resilient against environmental stresses. It can significantly enhance the efficient use of land, water and solar energy besides assuring insurance against failure of one or the other crops. Therefore, an attempt was made to include leafy vegetable crops as intercrops in gladiolus cv. Novalux, for higher productivity and profitability per unit area. The experiment consists of seven treatments with three replications. From the present investigation, it was concluded that the intercrops significantly affected the performance of gladiolus. The intercropping combination T6: Gladiolus + Fenugreek gave the best results in terms of plant height (91.40 cm), number of leaves per plant (18.53), number of shoots per corm (4.93), days to spike initiation (64.33), spike length (73.93 cm), rachis length (49.47 cm), number of florets per spike (12.93), floret size (11.27), vase life (18.53 days), weight of corms (63.67g) and cormlets (6.77g), yield of corms (2385.00kg/ha) and cormlets (225.50kg/ha). The herbage yield per plot was recorded the highest in T3: Fenugreek sole (880.00. g), and intercropping combination of Gladiolus and fenugreek (T6) gave 665.83g. Based on the recent findings, intercropping of fenugreek with gladiolus can be recommended and expanded on a larger scale for additional yield.