Interception of Photosynthetically Active on Cocoa Plantations in Mexico
Abstract— The cocoa or cacao tree (Theobroma cacao L.) requires shade to efficiently perform its physiological processes. The objectives of this study were to characterize the shading on cocoa plantations in the Chontalpa region of Tabasco to generate possible pruning and phytosanitary control recommendations, and to measure the PAR in three strata of the cocoa agroecosystems to determine the shade percentage and the amount of PAR intercepted by shade and cocoa trees in the sampled plots. PAR was measured in units of µmol/m2/s using a ceptometer. PAR readings were taken on sunny days in three vertical strata, namely the upper, middle and lower parts, and an average of five readings per stratum were considered for plantations with 1 to 10 acres, and 25 to 30 readings per stratum for plantations greater than 10 hectares. The results for the plantations studied indicate that on average 49.1% of the PAR reaches the cocoa plants and only 10.3% reaches the soil surface. The PAR used by cocoa averaged 620 µmol/cm2/s, which represent only 38.9% of the total incident radiation. The PAR measured in the middle and lower strata of the cocoa plantations has a negative logarithmic effect on the shade percentage and is a reliable indicator for estimating the shade percentage in cocoa plantations. There is a direct relationship between the intercepted PAR or shade percentage and the pruning practices performed by the producer on the cocoa plantations.
Keywords— Cocoa productivity, Photosynthetically active radiation, Shade percentage, Shade trees.
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Host resistance breeding against the virus diseases of soybean in Nepal
Abstract— Soybean is a miracle legume crop of Nepal which shares 7% out of total legume production and ranks third position after lentil (MOAD, 2015). Being high nutritious legume crop helps to food & nutritional security and sustainable soil management in the system niches. Soybean is mainly consumed as roasted bean or green pod as vegetable and grown in either rice bund or intercropped with maize in mid hills of Nepal. It has a great potentiality for commercial cultivation in terai/inner terai, as soybean is becoming one of the important ingredient of poultry feed which is well thriving in Nepal. However the national productivity of soybean was very low due to the vulnerable to virus diseases. There is a long list of diseases that infect soybean and many diseases are of soil borne nature and pathogens survive in the soil for a long period of time. MYMV are the important diseases of soybean observed in terai/ inner terai region of Nepal. White fly (BemisiatabaciGenn.) transmitted Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Virus has been a serious threat to blackgram, soybean, mungbean and cowpea production in terai / inner terai and foot hills. Yield losses up to 100%, 52.6% and 21% have been reported due to MYMV in blackgram, mungbean and soybean, respectively. Farmers have been using a variety of fungicides indiscriminately which has serious hazardous effects on environment and human health. Efforts to validate farmers’ indigenous knowledge for MYMV management turned futile since no treatment appeared beneficial in susceptible cultivar like Chapbas Local in hot spot location i.e. Rampur. Some genotypes have been observed resistant to MYMV in mungbean while genotypes with durable resistance are scanty in blackgram and soybean. Unavailability of suitable variety for various cropping patterns such as Maize-soybean-toria /other winter crops, Rice+Soybean (Bund Planting) has been realized in the recent years. Released varieties have more or less smaller seed size, susceptible to different foliar diseases Like YMV and longer maturity period (135-145 days), which farmers usually don’t prefer. Varietal differences have been observed in its severity. Chemical control measures are not environmentally friendly. Under such situation use of resistant varieties and manipulations in cultivation practices are important options for the management of grain legume diseases. This approach is accessible to marginal and disadvantaged farmers too. In this context, the main objective of the study was to identify high yielding and resistant to yellow mosaic virus diseases tolerant of soybean suited for existing cropping system. MYMV severity is gradually building up at Rampur, Chitwan. High population of white fly (Bemisiatabaci) observed during the crop season. For this, many local landraces and exotic lines received from IITA and AVRDC were evaluated at Rampur. Three years research results (2012-2014) revealed that soybean genotypes CM9125, G8754, LS-77-16-16, SB0065 and SB0095 showed resistant to MYMV and Chaing Maw 60-63, CM9133, Dhankuta and SJ-4 were moderately resistant in physical observation. These genotypes were promoted in participatory trials to validate at the farmers field and seed increase program at farm level of different agro eco-system. Besides legume breeders are being used it as a parent materials in crossing program to develop disease resistant high yielding varieties at the research station.
Keywords— Soybean, Yellow Mosaic Virus, genotypes, cropping system.
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Control of Mites and Thrips and its Impact on the Yield of Avocado cv. “Hass” in Filo de Caballos, Guerrero, Mexico
Abstract— For social and economic reasons Avocado is an important crop; however, some arthropods, of which mites are especially important, can limit its production, as is the case in the state of Guerrero. In order to determine which treatment is the best for controlling these pests, an experiment was carried out in Filo de Caballos, Guerrero, where five treatments were applied, together with an absolute control. Sampling was continuous, and the mites found in each treatment were counted. The treatment was applied when the economic threshold of 10 mites/leaf/tree was reached. The best treatments for controlling mites were T1 (abamectin and azadirachtin), and T3 (abamectin and imidacloprid), with 8 and 10 applications each. The population of thrips never reached the economic threshold; their densities were low throughout the experiment. Treatments 4, 1, 3, 2, and 5 had higher weights and they were classified into the “Extra” caliber. The fruits with the greatest length were those from treatments 4, 1, 3, 2 and 5, ordered decreasingly according to their size. Regarding fruit quality, the differences were not well marked among the treatments. The choice of control to be used is left to the farmers; however, it is necessary to remember that there are alternatives to the control of mites and thrips that help to increase caliber, size, and fruit quality.
Keywords— Avocado, Oligonychus punicae, Oligonychus perseae.
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Production and characterization of fermented rice flour containing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
Abstract— Fermented foods provides therapeutical attributes beyond their basic nutritional value and are known to reduce disease risk. Broken rice was fermented using Enterococcus faecium NCIM 5593 and its fermentation characteristics was studied. Attempts were made to formulate gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) containing fermented rice flour (GFRF) by lactic acid fermentation. Fermentation enhanced the level of GABA and antioxidant phenolics. GFRF exhibited potential antioxidant capacity evaluated against DPPH (77.89±1.85 mg vitamin C equivalent/g dry matter) and ABTS (163.21±2.81 mg vitamin C equivalent/g dry matter) radicals. Fermentation significantly increased the levels of proteins and reduced carbohydrate content. Microstructure of GFRF was also influenced, where its starch granules where released from its enclosed structure after fermentation. In addition, fermentation enhanced the whiteness of the flour. This investigation shows evidence that fermentation modified the functionality of GFRF and can be used as a functional food ingredient. Further studies are directed towards studying the effect of GFRF extract to ameliorate neurotoxin induced oxidative dysfunctions and neurotoxicity in mice model.
Keywords— Fermentation, Fermented foods, Gamma-aminobutyric acid, Microstructure, Antioxidant.
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MicroRNAs regulated cell differentiation in plants: Case Study
Abstract— MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function on post-transcriptional gene silencing and regulate the gene expression by degrading the transcripts of their targets, leading to down-regulation of the target genes. Plant miRNAs have been reported to play important roles in developmental control, hormone secretion, cell proliferation, and response to environmental stresses. In this review, we have reviewed miRNA expression and its potential role in regulating cell differentiation in Arabidopsis and summarized the miRNAs regulated cell differentiation during root, shoot, leave, and embryo development. We have further described practical application of expression of miRNAs in plant molecular breeding.
Keywords— Cell differentiation, gene expression, microRNAs, post-transcriptional gene silencing, root, shoot, leave, embryo development.
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Resistance of corn inbred lines to foliar diseases in two planting dates
Abstract— The aim of this study was to attempt to identify elite inbred lines resistant to tropical rust, southern rust, gray leaf spot, northern leaf blight, physoderma brown spot and phaeosphaeria leaf spot. Fifty inbred lines were evaluated, in two seasons, in randomized blocks with 3 replications for AUDPC (Area Under the Disease Progress Curve), obtained by evaluation of the disease at 45, 60, 75 and 90 days after planting. Rating of at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 corresponded to 0, 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80 and > 80% of leaf symptoms, respectively. The joint analysis of variance had significant differences between inbred lines for tropical rust, southern rust, gray leaf spot and phaeosphaeria leaf spot. There was a significant interaction between inbred lines and seasons for both tropical rust and southern rust. In season 1, tropical rust, southern rust and gray leaf spot differed significantly. In season 2, significant differences occurred for southern rust and phaeosphaeria leaf spot. We found 12 inbred lines with improved levels of resistance to tropical rust, southern rust and gray leaf spot. For phaeosphaeria leaf spot, 38 inbred lines had satisfactory resistance.
Keywords— Gray leaf spot, Northern leaf blight, Phaeosphaeria leaf spot, Physoderma brown spot, Rust.
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Mineral balance and absorption from soil of Pennisetum sp at different stages
Abstract— Forage availability, in quantity and quality, is essential for livestock development. In this context, the aim of this study was to characterize the macro and micro elements of Maralfalfa grass (Pennisetum sp) in function of different harvest frequencies under subsurface drip irrigation. The results showed that mineral concentration in plants depends on: (i) the retention in soil and/or elapsed time for nutrient to be available after a manure application. In this sense, due to the large P retention capacity of Andosols, soil P and Mg mineralization were very slow, in spite of root activity and its influence in the soil balance (ii) the age of the plant: all element concentrations decreased as the plant grew old, except Na. The concentration values between leaf and sheath showed significant differences for all elements except for P and Cu. Thus Ca, Mg, B, Fe and Mn contents were significantly higher in leaf than in sheath while K, Na and Zn were lower in leaf. B contents were also higher in leaves. The ratio K/ (Ca+Mg) for all ages of the plant was higher than 2.2, increasing the possibility of induced hypocalcaemia.
Keywords— Maralfafa, mineral uptake, nutrient concentration, ratio K/Ca, soil depletion.
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Using next generation sequencing to describe epiphytic microbiota associated with organic and conventionally managed apples
Abstract— Its seems likely that agricultural management as diverse as certified organic and conventional IPM practices would impact the microbiota associated with crop surfaces differently. We sampled organic and conventionally managed apples at multiple time-points in a growing season and characterized the bacterial taxa associated with replicates of each treatment type. Surprisingly, no evidence of significant differences persisting across multiple time-points was observed. Significant differential abundance of certain taxa was documented but when it was, it was primarily associated with a single time-point making it difficult to understand if these observations resulted from an environmental or a treatment effect. Principal component analyses demonstrated that sampling time-point explained more of the differences between bacterial communities than treatment. Description of dominant shared bacterial families for both organic and conventional samples included Oxalobacteraceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Sphingomonadaceae and Enterobacteriaceae.
Keywords— Organic, conventional, 16S, ITS, phyllosphere, bacteria, fungi.
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Cluster Analysis of Aerobic Heterotrophic Bacteria from Clarias gariepinus and Tilapia zillii in Unwana River, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Abstract— Fish is a major source of protein for humans, and it is patronized by many in the tropics – where fishes can either be cultivated in the farms domestically or caught from open water bodies such as rivers, ponds and streams. These various sources of fishes and their attendant diversity of microorganisms particularly the bacteria make fishes as potential sources of pathogens. The maintenance of the microbiological quality of food and water is important to prevent waterborne/foodborne diseases in any community, thus the need for this study. A total of 14 samples of water at different points (upstream, midstream and downstream) and 50 samples of live fishes were used for this study. Each of the fish sample was bacteriologically analyzed using the pour-plate and spread plate techniques on culture media plates. And the isolated bacteria were identified using standard microbiological identification techniques. The water samples were subjected to physicochemical analysis to determine the physical and chemical properties of the water. The relatedness of the isolated bacteria was established using cluster analysis/dendogram. The highest bacterial count was obtained from downstream water sample (5.6×10 cfu/ml), indicating a possible pollution of water at this point. Both aerobic heterotrophic Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were isolated. The Gram positive bacteria isolated include Staphylococcus lugdunensis, S. hominis, S. cohnii, Streptococcus pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, Kocuria varians while the Gram negative bacteria include Raoutella ornithinolytica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Aeromonas hydrophila, A. veronii, Proteus vulgaris, Serratia fonticola, and Enterobacter gergoriae. Cluster analysis using dendrogram showed some degree of similarity among the different clusters of isolated bacteria. The result of this study presumptively shows that the water sample is polluted; and this in turn affects fresh water fishes in the river. Therefore the microbiological examination of the water at this study site is necessary for monitoring and controlling the quality and safety of the water for usage by the locals.
Keywords— Water Microbiology, Water Pollutants, Heterotrophic Bacteria, Cluster Analysis, Nigeria.
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Global custom-tailored machine learning of soil water content for locale specific irrigation modeling with high accuracy
Abstract—A novel approach to irrigation modeling is presented: the locale specific machine learning of soil moisture data. The merits of this new patent pending technique are clear when compared to existing methods, such as the AquaCrop program created by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). From a case study on the comparative performance of AquaCrop and machine learning in the extrapolative modeling of soil moisture, AquaCrop performed with a mean squared error of 0.00165 whereas the machine learning received 0.00013, an order of magnitude lower. In addition, a novel algorithm, the ConserWater™ algorithm, has been created for the purpose of machine learning soil moisture with accuracy and efficiency. The performance of the algorithm is very superior when compared to other popular machine learning techniques, as applied to soil moisture. Finally, to allow this technology to reach agriculturalists at the grassroots level, the entire world has been machine learned and the resultant models have been encapsulated into a lightweight easy-to-use smartphone application.
Keywords— ConserWater™, irrigation, machine learning, soil moisture.
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Hydrological responses to forest cover change in mountains under projected climate conditions
Abstract— This study quantified the hydrological responses to the forest cover change in the upper part of Sola River basin, Forest Creek catchment, southern Poland, under projected climatic conditions. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) will be applied to investigate the response of the hydrology regime to deforestation and reforestation processes. Under two emission scenarios (A1B and B1, IPCC) of the general circulation model GISS_E (NASA Goddard Institute) were employed to generate future possible climatic conditions. The detailed research was performed on a Forest Creek catchment during the 2002-2012.A key point is to assess both the rate of change in hydrological conditions after the collapse of the spruce stands and the time necessary to stabilize the water management after the afforestation. The results of elaborations show that deforestation process reduces the retention by 40% (10 years), in the same time water drainage from the catchment shortened by 47%.
Keywords— climate change, forest decomposition, water balance, SWAT.
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The effects of cadmium and cow manure on nodulation and growth attributes of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)
Abstract— Different biotic and abiotic factors are involved in the availability of heavy metals in soil including organic matter. In order to study the effects of cow manure on cadmium availability and their interactions on common bean nodulation and growth parameters, an experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions. The treatments included five cadmium levels (0, 2, 5, 10, 20 mg cadmium per kg soil) and four cow manure levels (0, 15, 30, 60 t ha-1) based on a completely randomized design with three replications. Results indicated that increased soil cadmium concentrations caused higher cadmium uptake by root tissues whereas, Root nodulation and total N content of shoot tissues decreased significantly at all cadmium concentration levels except for 2 mg Kg-1. In addition, the interaction of cow manure and high concentrations of cadmium caused a decrease in nodule number, nodule fresh weights and total N content of shoot in common bean.
Keywords— cadmium, common bean, cow manure, nitrogen, nodulation.
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Prevalence of pathogens and microbiological quality of milk marketed in the region of the Recôncavo from Bahia, Brazil
Abstract— Current study evaluates the sanitary quality and the presence of pathogens of crudeand processed bovine milk samples. Fifty-five samples from five municipalities in the Recôncavo da Bahia region were analyzed between May and July 2015. Psichrotrophic, mesophilic and thermophile rates were counted by depth plating method in standard agar; HiCrome ™ selective ECC was employed to quantify total coliforms and Escherichia coli. Escherichia coli O157: H7 was identified with fast method Singlepath®- E. coli O157. Staphylococcus aureuspopulation was estimated with Petrifilm ™ plates and Listeria monocytogeneswas identified by Singlepath L’Mono® kit. There was a greater contamination and presence of pathogens in the raw milk when compared to processed milk. However, total coliformswere detected in 14.28 %,Escherichia coliin 7.14 % and Escherichia coli O157: H7 in 2.04 % of processed milk. The enforcement by authorities against the illegal sale of raw milk and the monitoring of steps in milk production up to marketing should be mandatory.
Keywords— sanitary conditions, dairy industry, food safety.
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Essential oil of Baccharis as a sustainable alternative for small farmers in South America
Abstract— This work aimed at evaluating the insecticidal and repellent effect of essential oils of Baccharis trimera and Baccharis articulate leaves against the maize weevil in maize grains. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation and the chemical composition showed that the major constituent was the carquejil acetate (73.6%) for B. trimera and β-pinene (22.3%) and β-cariofilene (21.5%) for B. articulate. Our results show that B. trimera oil was insecticidal and repellent to maize weevil. About 100% of mortality was achieved using concentrations of 0.32 μL.cm-2, after 24 h of exposure and the lower concentration 0.065 µL.cm-2 obtained similar results in 96 h. The LD50 value for B. trimera essential oil was 8.4 μL/ Petri dishes or 0.05 µL.cm-2. The results obtained indicate that the effect insecticidal of the essential oil of B. trimera is probably because of the presence of carquejil acetate. B. articulate showed low insecticidal activity. The values of the Preference level varied from -0.6 (0.065 μL.cm-2) to -0.9 (0.65 μL.cm-2) for B. trimera oil and -0.4 (0.065 μL.cm-2) to -0.7 (0.65 μL.cm-2) for B. articulata oil, being lower than -0.10. The minimum limit to consider that a plant has repellency activity, demonstrating that the both plants oils presents repellency activity. Although from an economical point of view synthetic chemicals are still more frequently used as repellents, we find the essential oil of B. trimera have potential to be used sustainably as bioinseticide by the small farmers.
Keywords— Baccharis trimera, Baccharis articulata, repellency activity, insecticidal activity, small farmer, sustainability.
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The Link between the User´s Health and Deficiencies in the Physical Indoor Environment
Abstract— In this project we study a school building where users for many years have complained about health problems. The symptoms reported are often nonspecific and are also common among the population in general, such as headache, fatigue, mucosal and skin problems. The purpose of this project is to investigate whether physical deficiencies in the indoor environment can be identified by measurements that can be linked to the health problems that users complain about. The starting point is to use a working model that not only seek damages in the building itself as the cause of the problems, but considering all polluting factors affecting the air environment. The measurement results, both the survey and the study of the physical measurements, show that there are problems with the air environment in the school building. The study shows that a link has been identified, that is the physical measurements show deficiencies in the air environment that is directly linked to the health problems that users complain about. Through a program of action a significant improvement of the indoor environment has been achieved, since the unhealthy emissions have been eliminated. Dry air prevails most of the year in the school building, below 40% and periodically below 20%. The cause of the dry air, are the air flows that the ventilation system creates. In Sweden the authorities pose far-reaching demands on the ventilation flow, causing technological systems installed to create these air flows. This would however go beyond the framework of this project.
Keywords— Hygiene and Health, Indoor Air quality, Indoor Humidity, Indoor Temperature.
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Allelochemicals of Neea theifera Oerst. (Nyctaginaceae) with phytotoxic potential on plant germination and growth
Abstract— Plant species able to produce phytotoxic substances are widely studied in agronomy because when identified and isolated can lead to herbicides or insecticides less toxic than current pesticides. Knowing the ecological characteristics of the Neea theifera species in cerrado biome, this study aimed to evaluate the phytotoxic effect of extracts and fractions of leaves and screen the secondary compounds in the methanol extract. The organic extracts and fractions showed phytotoxic potential in germination indexes, the initial growth of the root system and the mitotic index of L. sativa. In phytochemical screening performed by HPLC-PAD was possible to identify the presence of phenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids, a secondary class of compounds widely known in the literature for its medicinal and allelopathic actions. Therefore, according to the results it can be concluded that the species N. theifera is capable of producing phytotoxic compounds, since the leaf extracts and fractions changed the pattern germination indexes, root length and mitotic index of lettuce.
Keywords— germination indexes, HPLC-PAD, mitotic index, Phytotoxicity, Root length.
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Metals accumulation and As releasing during interaction of clay and iron minerals with heterotrophic bacteria in soil and sediment bioleaching
Abstract— The soil and sediment samples with different content of metals and clay minerals were investigated during bioleaching. The increasing of clay and metal concentrations with decreasing particle size were found both in contaminated soil and sediment. Heterotrophic bioleaching of the iron rich clay fractions from the soil and the sediment were evaluated for his effectiveness in the cycling of iron bound As by consuming organic nutrients. The treatment involved the use of the indigenous bacteria, whose activity was combined with the chelating strength of EDDS, SDS, Na4P2O7 and fertilizers. Heterotrophic bacteria caused decomposition of iron binding deposition as is adsorption on clay with followed dissolving of Fe mainly by the sediment bioleaching. The concentration of iron decreased by precipitation with As sorption after 19 days of sediment bioleaching. The Cu and Zn extraction was inhibited by bioleaching during the iron and arsenic dissolution and precipitation. By contrast, the additives 3mM Cu and 3mM Zn were applied into medium and thus affected the activity of soil resistant heterotrophic bacteria with followed increasing of the iron and arsenic extraction by the soil clay bioleaching. Therefore, this study confirmed the soil and sediment bioleaching in Fe or As releasing efficiency under different conditions regulated by indigenous bacteria. The bioleaching can be a suitable technology for As removal from the untreated soil and sediment by stimulation of the resistant bacteria activity. The separation of clays from the soil and sediment samples did not decreased of toxic element limits because clay and iron minerals coated on coarse silicate particles and the clay fraction is bearers of metals which contaminate the soil and sediment environment.
Keywords— soil, sediment, clay minerals, heavy metals, bioleaching.
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Effect of fly ash on Crop Production around coal-fired thermal power plant in rural India
Abstract— The fly ash emitting from Kolaghat thermal power plant (KTPP), India, is affecting the crop production in the vicinity of power plant. Use of NPK fertilizers for cereal crops has increased by 0-50% in the surrounding area (<4km) during last four years (2011-2015) whereas it is 14.29% – 33.33% for the rest of Kolaghat block. Increase in use of nitrogen and phosphorus bearing fertilizers have been observed but potassium requirement (0-25%) has become lower within area 4km radius from KTPP. For the remaining area of the block, it is quite higher than that of adjacent area. Pest incidence has increased (66.67%) throughout the study area. But a considerable increase in pest attack has been observed in the nearer circles of KTPP. Doses of pesticides are higher (25% – 100%) in the adjacent area (<4km) than the rest of the block (12.5%-46.67%). Yields of different cultivated crops also have decreased by 1.08% – 24.7% in the area close to KTPP. On the other hand, the rest of the block has experienced little yield deviation (-0.2% to -9.34%) for all crops expect wheat (+6.48%), maize (+0.41%), mustard (+10.08%), and moong (Vigna radiata) that have gained more yields (+10.25%). Consequently, the cost of cultivation (<4km) is higher (12.5%-76.47%) than the rest (6.58%-62.5%) of the block. The results clearly show that the adverse impact of fly ash on crop production in the proximity (<4km) of KTPP. Site-specific crop adaptation, resources management, organic farming and good agricultural practices can nourish the agricultural sustainability and improve the socio-economic status in the affected area of coal-fired thermal power plant in rural India.
Keywords— crop production, cultivation cost, fertilizer application, fly ash, pest incidence.
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Influenced of Yield and Yield Contributing Characters of Tuberose by the Application of Bulb and Fertilizers
Abstract— The experiment was conducted at the Horticultural farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh to investigate the influenced of yield and yield contributing characters of tuberose by the application of bulb and fertilizers. The experiment consisted of three bulb size viz., B1– small (1.0-1.5 cm ); B2– medium (1.6-2.5 cm) and B3– large (2.6-3.0 cm ) in diameter and different sources of fertilizers viz.,F0= control (no fertilizers ), F1– chemical fertilizers 330, 150 and 200 kg ha-1 of urea, TSP and MoP, respectively; F2– vermicompost 5 t ha-1; F3– poultry litter 10 t ha-1 and F4- cowdung 20 t ha-1. The experiment was laid out in a two factor Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The growth parameters as well as yield characters were greatly influenced by the application of poultry manure. In case of bulb size, the highest flower (12.45 t ha-1) and bulb (23.93 t ha-1) yield was recorded from B3 and the lowest flower (8.83 t ha-1) and bulb (12.94 t ha-1) yield was recorded from B1. In case of fertilizers, the highest flower (12.09 t ha-1) and bulb (21.36 t ha-1) yield was recorded from F3 and the lowest flower (7.95 t ha-1) and bulb (14.44 t ha-1) from F0. The maximum flower (14.19 t ha-1) and bulb (27.19 t ha-1) was found from the treatment combination of B3F3 and the minimum flower (6.16 t ha-1) and bulb (10.15 t ha-1) yield from B1F0. So, it may be concluded that large bulb size and 10 t ha-1 poultry litter is best for growth, bulb and flower production of tuberose.
Keywords— Bulb size, flower yield, organic farming, poultry manure, tuberose.
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Biochemical changes induced by Bioneem (0.03%) formulation in chick embryogenesis (Gallus domesticus)
Abstract— In ovo studies on the effect of 1,3,5, ppm Bioneem (0.03%) formulation on Biochemical aspect of chick embryo revealed that there was dose dependent total protein reduction in 96 hrs old embryo (treated at 24 hrs) as compared to the control. Also there was reduction in total protein concentration Liver, Brain and Heart of 15 day old chick embryo (treated with Bioneem at 96 hrs. stage) as compared to that of control. Protein carbonyl concentration of 96 hrs old embryo (treated at 24 hrs with Bioneem) and that of Liver, Brain and Heart of 15 day old chick embryo (treated with bioneem at 96 hrs) increased in dose dependent manner. Most affected organ was Liver and least affected organ was Heart. Blood analysis of 15 day old chick embryo (treated with Bioneem at 96 hrs) showed increased level of Blood urea, LDH, SGOT, SGPT, while Serum alkaline phosphatase and serum cholesterol were decreased in dose dependent manner as compared to the control. Thus Bioneem though ecofriendly pesticide can adversely affect vertebrate non target organisms and therefore should be carefully used in pest management programs.
Keywords— Chick embryo, Bioneem, Protein carbonyl, Blood biochemistry.