Search results for: seed yield

Authors: M. F. El-Barghathi, R. El-Tajouri

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The effect of different concentrations of cadmium sulfate "CdSO4" (0.0, 10, 50, 100, 500 ppm) was tested on seed germination, seedling elongation and growth of Lepidium sativum (garden cress) plants. Results indicated that seed germination and seedling elongation were not inhibited by different concentrations of CdSO4. This could suggest that, Lepidium sativum may be used as a phyto remediation tool of soils contaminated with cadmium.

Keywords: Lepidium sativum, heavy metals, ionic toxicity, phytoremediation

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Authors: Dionyssia Lyra, Shoaib Ismail

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Salinization of natural resources constitutes a significant component of the degradation force that leads to depletion of productive lands and fresh water reserves. The global extent of salt-affected soils is approximately 7% of the earth’s land surface and is expanding. The problems of excessive salt accumulation are most widespread in coastal, arid and semi-arid regions, where agricultural production is substantially hindered. The use of crops that can withstand high saline conditions is extremely interesting in such a context. Salt-loving plants or else ‘halophytes’ thrive when grown in hostile saline conditions, where traditional crops cannot survive. Salicornia bigelovii, a halophytic crop with multiple uses (vegetable, forage, biofuel), has demonstrated remarkable adaptability to harsh climatic conditions prevailing in dry areas with great potential for its expansion. Since 2011, the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) with Masdar Institute (MI) and King Abdul Aziz University of Science & Technology (KAUST) to look into the potential for growing S. bigelovii under hot and dry conditions. Through the projects undertaken, 50 different S. bigelovii genotypes were assessed under high saline conditions. The overall goal was to select the best performing S. bigelovii populations in terms of seed and biomass production for future breeding. Specific objectives included: 1) evaluation of selected S. bigelovii genotypes for various agronomic and growth parameters under field conditions, 2) seed multiplication of S. bigelovii using saline groundwater and 3) acquisition of inbred lines for further breeding. Field trials were conducted for four consecutive years at ICBA headquarters. During the first year, one Salicornia population was evaluated for seed and biomass production at different salinity levels, fertilizer treatments and planting methods. All growth parameters and biomass productivity for the salicornia population showed better performance with optimal biomass production in terms of both salinity level and fertilizer application. During the second year, 46 Salicornia populations (obtained from KAUST and Masdar Institute) were evaluated for 24 growth parameters and treated with groundwater through drip irrigation. The plant material originated from wild collections. Six populations were also assessed for their growth performance under full-strength seawater. Salicornia populations were highly variable for all characteristics under study for both irrigation treatments, indicating that there is a large pool of genetic information available for breeding. Irrigation with the highest level of salinity had a negative impact on the agronomic performance. The maximum seed yield obtained was 2 t/ha at 20 dS/m (groundwater treatment) at 25 cm x 25 cm planting distance. The best performing Salicornia populations for fresh biomass and seed yield were selected for the following season. After continuous selection, the best performing salicornia will be adopted for scaling-up options. Taking into account the results of the production field trials, salicornia expansion will be targeted in coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. As a crop with high biofuel and forage potential, its cultivation can improve the livelihood of local farmers.

Keywords: biosaline agriculture, genotypes selection, halophytes, Salicornia bigelovii

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Authors: Handan Ucun Özel, Halil Barış Özel

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The toxic effects of copper and cadmium on seed germination, seedling, root, shoot length, and seedling dry biomass of oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) was evaluated under laboratory conditions compared to control values. Copper and cadmium treatments at 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg/l affect seed germination and seedling growth of oriental beech as compared to control. Copper treatments at 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg/l concentrations produced significant (p < 0.01) effects on seed germination and seedling length of oriental beech while copper treatment at 150 mg/l significantly affected root growth and seedling dry biomass as compared to control. Similarly, cadmium treatments from 50 to 200 mg/l affected the seed germination, root, shoot length, and seedling dry biomass of oriental beech as compared to control. Cadmium treatments showed an adverse effect on seedlings of oriental beech as compared to copper, copper and cadmium treatments at 200mg/l exhibited the lowest percentage of tolerance in seedlings of oriental beech as compared to control.

Keywords: copper, cadmium, toxicity, oriental beech

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Authors: L. G. Karancsi

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The research was set up on chernozem soil at the Látókép AGTC MÉK research area of the University of Debrecen in Hungary. We examined the yield, the yield production per 1kg NPK fertilizer and the water and nutrient utilization of hybrid PR37N01 and PR37M81 in 2013. We found that PR37N01 produced the most yield at the level of N120+P (17,476kg ha-1) while PR37M81 reached the highest yield at level N150+PK (16,754kg ha-1). Studies related to yield production per 1kg NPK indicated that the best results were achieved at level N30+PK compared to the control treatment. Yield production per 1kg NPK was17.6kg kg-1 by P37N01 and 44.2kg kg-1 by PR37M81. By comparing the water utilization of hybrids we found that the worst water utilization results were reached in the control treatment (PR37N01: 26.2kg mm-1, PR37M81: 19.5kg mm-1). The best water utilization values were produced at level N120+PK in the case of hybrid PR37N01 (32.1kg mm-1) and at N150+PK in the case of hybrid PR37M81 (30.8kg mm-1). We established the values of the nutrient reaction and the fertilizer optimum of hybrids. We discovered a strong relationship between the amount of fertilizer applied and the yield produced (r2= 0.8228–0.9515). The best nutrient response was induced by hybrid PR37N01, while the weakest results were reached by hybrid PR37M81.

Keywords: hybrid, maize, nutrient, yield, water utilization

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Authors: Ewa Krasnodębska

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The article presents the costs and income maize cultivation for grain four selected varieties with different numbers of FAO in 2013-2014. Results of the experiments are derived from a field experiment conducted in indywidulnym farm specializing in the production plant located in the eastern part of Mazowieckie voivodship. The experiment examined the profitability of four varieties of maize cultivation: medium early: P8400 (FAO 240) and P8589 (FAO 250), and an average of late: PR38N86 (FAO 270) and P9027 (FAO 260). In order to evaluate the profitability of grain maize production was calculated income from 1 ha of crops in zł and profitability index taking into account the direct payments up to 1 ha. Analyzing the value of crop production can be concluded that the value of the total production of each variety was very much varied and very much depend on the sales price and yield of maize obtained from 1 ha of cultivation. The largest average seed yield of two years at a moisture content of 15% was achieved in a variety PR38N86, which amounted to 12.1 t / ha and the lowest in the variety P8400 - 9.8 t / ha. Income from 1 ha of crops including EU subsidies ranged from 4916.4 zł / ha in 2013 for variety and only 528.7 PR38N86 zł / ha for a variety of P8400 in 2014. Profitability index reached the highest average late PR38N86 variety of FAO 290 over the entire two-year period under study, and the lowest rate of profitability achieved P8400 medium early variety of FAO 240. The profitability of production ranged from 8964.0 zł / ha in 2013 for a variety of PR38N86 to 5616.0 zł / ha for a variety of P8400 in 2014. Cultivation of maize for grain production is attractive and does not require large amounts of work, but its economic rationale is based primarily on the resulting yield and the price of buying.

Keywords: corn, grain, income, profitability

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Authors: Mohamed H. El-Sheikh, Hoda F. Zahran

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Olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is considered as a Mediterranean tree which belongs to genus Olea that may comprise about 35 species. In fact, the crop requires mild to cool winters with a chilling accumulation from November to February with average temperatures varying between two groups of accumulated chilling hours (h1) of less than 7.2 °C (C1) and other group (h2) of less than 10 °C (C2) for flower bud differentiation. This work aims at studying the impact of chilling accumulation hours on the fruit yield of olive trees in Borg El Arab City, Alexandria Governorate, Egypt as a case study. Trees were aged around 7 years in 2010 and were exposed to chilling accumulation hours of h1, which was average of 280 hours under C1, and average h2 was around 150 hours under C2 the resulted fruit yield was around 0.5 kg/tree. On the hand, trees were aged around 7 years at 2016 showed that when average of h1 was around 390 hours under C1 and average h2 was around 220 hours under C2 then fruit yield was around 10 kg/tree. Increasing of fruit yield proved chilling accumulation effect on olive trees.

Keywords: chilling accumulation, fruit yield, Olea europaea, olive

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Authors: Kamel Hachour, Lydia Sadeg, Djamel Sersab, Tassadit Bellahcen

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The hydrostatic stress is, for polymers, a significant parameter which affects the yield behavior of these materials. In this work, we investigate the influence of this parameter on yield behavior of the high density polyethylene (hdpe). Some tests on specimens with diverse geometries are described in this paper. Uniaxial tests: tensile on notched round bar specimens with different curvature radii, compression on cylindrical specimens and simple shear on parallelepiped specimens were performed. Biaxial tests with various combinations of tensile/compressive and shear loading on butterfly specimens were also realized in order to determine the hydrostatic stress for different states of solicitation. The experimental results show that the yield stress is very affected by the hydrostatic stress developed in the material during solicitations.

Keywords: biaxial tests, hdpe, Hydrostatic stress, yield behavior

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Authors: Harukuni Tokuda, Xu FengHao, Nobutaka Suzuki

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As part of an ongoing our projects to investigate the anti-tumor promoring properties (chemopreventive potency) of Gromwell seed, dry powder materials and its active compounds were carried out through useful test systems. Gromwell seed (Coix lachryma-jobi seed) (GS) is a grass crop that has long been used and played a role in traditional medicine as a nourishing food, and for the treatment of various aliments, paticularly cancer. The application of a new screening procedure which utilizes the synergistic effect of short-chain fatty acids and phorbol esters in enable rapid and easy detection of naturally occurring substances(anti-tumor promoters chemo-preventive agents) with inhibition of Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) activation, using human lymphblastoid cells. In addition, we have now extended these investigations to a new tumorigenesis model in which we initiated the tumors with DMBA intiation and promoted with 1.7 nmol of TPA in two-stage mouse skin test and other models. these results provide a basis for further development of these botanical supplements for human cancer chemoprevention and observations seem that this materials more extensively as one of the trials for the purpose of complementary and alternative medicine.

Keywords: chemoprevention, medicinal plant, mouse, carcinogenesis systems

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Authors: Boukrouh Soumaya, Cabaraux Jean-François, Avril Claire, Noutfia Ali, Chentouf Mouad

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The introduction of marginal leguminous forage species in the diet of ruminants are of great importance. Bitter vetch is a good source of proteins, highly resistant against drought and poor soil conditions. Accordingly; two years field trials (2018/2019 and 2019-2020) were conducted to determine the digestibility of straw and grains of 17 promising bitter vetch ecotypes(Vicia ervilia) in the north of Morocco. In vitro dry and organic matter digestibility, gas production, and kinetics of fermentation of grains and straw were evaluated using gas production technique, pepsin-cellulase enzymatic digestibility of DM (CDDM)and OM (CDOM), as well as protease enzymatic CP degradation (CPD) and in vitro true digestibility, were performed using DAISYII Incubator. In vitro digestibility was performed using gas production method of (Menke et al., 1979) improved by Menke and Steingass (1988). Samples were incubated in glass syringes that contained rumen fluid and incubation solution that conserved in water bath in 39°C during 72 hours. Gas production was recorded after 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours. Studied digestibility parameters were dry and organic matter digestibility, microbial biomass production, partitioning factor, and volatile fatty acids. Enzymatic dry matter digestibility was different (p < 0.05) among grains and straw for all ecotypes. It varied from 804.1 to 957.7 g/kg DM and 270.4 to 412.3 g/kg DM for grains and straw, respectively. Metabolizable energy varied between 11.7 to 14.3 MJ/kg DM and 2.6 to 5.0 MJ/kg DM for grains and straw, respectively. Potential gas production (A), the rate constants (c and d), and lag times of grains and straws from different bitter vetch ecotypes were different (p > 0.05). The results emphasized that in any evaluation of bitter vetch ecotypes, where straw of this legume seed is used as an animal feed, not only seed yield but also yield and quality of straw should be taken into consideration, particularly in areas where straw from this legume is considered as an important feedstuff for ruminants. Enzymatic digestibility was lower than in vitro digestibility by gaz production and by the DAISYII method because rumen fluid contains bacteria than increase digestibility. There was no difference between in vitro digestibility by gaz production and the DAISY II method. The DAISY II method can be used to increase labor efficiency in the in vitro DM digestibility analysis if gaz production is not necessary for analysis.

Keywords: bitter vetch, grains, straw, ecotype, in vitro digestibility, gaz production, enzymatic digestibility

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Authors: H. Trabelsi, A. Chehma, I. Benseddik

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Animals can play an important role in the seed dispersal cycle through the active or passive uptake of seeds and the subsequent external (epizoochory) or internal transport (endozoochory) of seeds. In Algeria, small ruminants and camels are generally conducted in extensive livestock exploiting the Saharan and steppe rangelands. To get an idea on the ecological potential role of these animals in the spontaneous plants proliferation, we propose to make a study of seeds dispersal and germination possibilities by camel faeces compared to those of small ruminants. Manual faeces decortication of the two animals categories has allowed to inventory 72 seed which 71% are in good condition, while 29% of the seeds that are encountered are partially altered and could not be identified. The species that have been identified, from small ruminants dung are weeds of cultures, while those identified from camel dung are spontaneous plants of Saharan rangeland. Concerning germination in the laboratory, only 3 species seeds were germinated from camel feces, whose germination rate varies from 25% to 100%. Contrary to Sheep-Goat feces, a single species germinated with 71%. The three months seed germination in greenhouse allowed to identify 10 species belonging to 4 botanical families (5 species from small ruminants dung and 3 species from Camel dung). In general, the results show the positive effect played by two animals categories for plants seed dispersal with the camel particularity for spontaneous plants due to its capacity to cover long distances in different rangeland types.

Keywords: Algeria, camel, endozoochory, seeds, sheep-goat, rangeland

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Authors: Prem Singh, Jagdeep Singh

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In an attempt to investigate the performance of single basin solar still for climate conditions of Ludhiana a single basin solar still was designed, fabricated and tested. The energy balance equations for various parts of the still are solved by Gauss-Seidel iteration method. Computer model was made and experimentally validated. The validated computer model was used to estimate the annual distillation yield and performance ratio of the still for Ludhiana. The Theoretical and experimental distillation yield were 4318.79 ml and 3850 ml, respectively for the typical day. The predicted distillation yield was 12.5% higher than the experimental yield. The annual distillation yield per square meter aperture area and annual performance ratio for single basin solar still is 1095 liters and 0.43 liters, respectively. The payback period for micro-stepped solar still is 2.5 years.

Keywords: solar distillation, solar still, single basin, still

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Authors: Sarika Singh, Moin Uddin, M. Masroor A. Khan, Aman Sobia Chishti, Sangram Singh, Urooj Hassan Bhatt

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Mentha arvensis L. (Japanese mint) is a perennial plant carrying medicinal, aromatic, antiseptic, and anaesthetic properties. Plant-derived smoke-water (PDSW) plays a significant role in seed germination, seedling growth, and other physiological attributes. To ascertain the effect of PDSW and karrikinolide on Mentha arvensis L., a rhizome-soaking experiment was conducted on Mentha arvensis. Prior to planting, mint rhizomes were soaked for 24 hours with aqueous solutions of various concentrations of PDSW (1:125v/v, 1:250 v/v, 1:500 v/v, and 1:1000 v/v), karrikinolide (10-6M, 10⁻⁷M, 10⁻⁸M, and 10⁻⁹M) using double distilled water as control treatment. Rhizome soaking with 1:500 v/v concentration of PDSW and 10⁻⁸M concentration of KAR1 increased the growth attributes, including plant height, fresh weight, dry, leaf area, and leaf yield per plant of Mentha arvensis. Leaf physiological-parameters, viz. chlorophyll fluorescence, PSII activity, and total chlorophyll and carotenoid content, were also increased as a result of the application of this treatment PDSW (1:500 v/v) and KAR1 (10⁻⁸M). In addition, treatment with 1:500 v/v and 10⁻⁸M significantly increased the essential oil yield and active constituents of Mentha arvensis compared to the control. Results indicated that PDSW, being a cheap source of karrikins, might be successfully used to augment mint essential oil production.

Keywords: active constituents, essential oil, medicinal plant, mentha arvensis L

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Authors: Davoud Khodadadi Dehkordi

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This research was planned in order to study the effect of drought stress and different levels of Superabsorbent and their effect on grain yield, biologic yield and harvest index. In this study, 3 different depths of irrigation were considered as the main treatment I1, I2, I3 as 100, 75 and 50 percent of water requirement of plants respectively and different levels of Superabsorbent were used as secondary treatment (S0, S1, S2 and S3, equal to 0 (control), 15, 30 and 45 gr/m2 respectively). According to the results, independent effects of irrigation and Superabsorbent treatments at 1% level on biologic and grain yield of corn were significant. In addition, independent effect of irrigation treatments at 5% level on harvest index was significant. But independent effect of Superabsorbent treatments on harvest index was not significant.

Keywords: corn, deficit irrigation, superabsorbent, yield

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Authors: Asghar Rahimi, Majid Puryousef

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This study aimed to examine dormancy-breaking of bitter apple (Citrullus colocynthis) seed. Seeds of wild bitter apple collected from the Balochestan zone in east of Iran were subjected to different treatments including temperatures (20 and 30°C) and some dormancy breaking methods on breaking seed dormancy of bitter apple. Only 6 treatments from 12 dormancy breaking treatments were effective in dormancy breaking, therefore only effective treatments were analyzed. In general, germination percentage of cleaved seeds, soaked seeds in hot water (98°c) and soaking in H2SO4 in both temperatures was higher than other treatments and germination percentage of scarified seeds with sandy paper in both temperature was lower than other treatments. Also germination percentage of soaked seeds in hot water (98°c) and naturally cracked seeds in temperature 20°c was higher than 30°c.

Keywords: foliar application, nano chelate, nitrogen, Safflower

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Authors: C. S. D. S. Maduwage, P. W. Jeewanthi, W. A. J. P. Wijesinghe

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This study investigated the use of Jackfruit Seed Flour (JSF) as a thickening agent in tomato sauce production. Lye peeled mature jackfruit seeds were used to obtain JSF. Flour was packed in laminated bags and stored for further studies. Three batches of tomato sauce samples were prepared according to the Sri Lankan Standards for tomato sauce by adding JSF, corn flour and without any thickening agent. Samples were stored at room temperature for 8 weeks in glass bottles. The physicochemical properties such as pH, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and water activity were measured during the storage period. Microbial analysis and sensory evaluation were done to determine the quality of tomato sauce. JSF showed the role of a thickening agent in tomato sauce with lowest serum separation and highest viscosity during the storage period. This study concludes that JSF can be successfully used as a thickening agent in food industry.

Keywords: Jackfruit seed flour, food additive, thickening agent, tomato sauce

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Authors: Friday A. Ogori, Ojotu M. Eke, Oneh J. Abu, Abraham T. Girgih

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B.aeqygtiaca del (Balanites aegyptiaca del) seed protein concentrate (APC) was hydrolyzed using different enzymes such as pepsin+pancreatin (PP), Alcalase (Alca), and Flavourzyme (Flav). The Alca has higher yield (100%) when compared to PP (83.23%) and Flav (62.90%). The hydrophobic amino acid and Sulphur containing amino acid (40.19%, 7.04%) in PP hydrolysate were higher compared to Alcalase (38.92%, 6.69%), Flavourenzyme (37.43%,6.35%), and APC (39.97%, 6.95%) samples. The PP has stronger DPPH, Hydroxyl radical quenching, Ferric reducing activity, and linoleic acid peroxidation activity, followed by the protein concentrate (APC) and Alcalase (Alca), while Flavourenzyme (Flav) derived hydrolysate was least in scavenging and inhibiting radical peroxidation properties. Flavourenzyme derived hydrolysate had stronger Ferric reducing antioxidant potential and metal chelating property. The result showed that the Alcalase hydrolysate has promising peptide yield, and PP hydrolysate had excellent amino acid residues and good in-vitro antioxidant potentials and could be a preferred ingredients in the nutraceutical and functional food emerging industries.

Keywords: balanites aegyptiaca del, protein concentrate, protein hydrolysates, enzymatic hydrolysis, antioxidants

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Authors: Ali Hassan, Mian Muhammad Awais, Muhammad Rafique Shahid, Farazia Hassan, Shumaila Rasool

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Dusky cotton bug (Oxycarenus laetus) has attained the status of major insect pest of cotton. It is also known as seed bug due to its property of feeding on seeds. It causes floral abscission at flowering stage and reduction in seed germination. Present study was carried out to assess germination loss caused by dusky bug with respect to crop stage and insect intensity. Treatments consisted of three stages immature boll, mature boll and opened boll as well three levels of dusky bug i.e., 50 bugs per boll, 40 bugs per boll along with zero level kept as control. Results showed that the germination percentage was highest in control treatment where no insect was released followed by treatment where 40 insects released and minimum germination showed by treatment in which 50 insects were released. The germination percentage of seeds surpassed after control treatment in the treatment where dusky bugs exposure was given at boll opening stage than on mature boll stage. Minimum germination was observed in immature boll stage. Interaction between crop stages and dusky bug levels showed that germination percentage of seeds was maximum in control treatment then boll opening stage followed by mature boll stage. Minimum seed germination was recorded in dusky bug treatment at immature boll stage which was 34% where 50 insects were released. From the results it is clear that dusky bug should be managed properly at all reproductive stages but immature stage is most critical.

Keywords: Gossypium hirsutum, Oxycarenus laetus, seed bug, seed germination

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Authors: P. S. Akami, H. Nahunnaro, A. Zubainatu

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Cercospora leaf spot (Cercospora sesami. Zimm) has been identified as one of the most prevalent diseases, posing serious constraints to sesame production in producing areas. Two sets of experiments were carried out. The first and second experiments were conducted in the Modibbo Adama University of Technology Yola at the Crop Production and Horticulture and Plant Science Departments, respectively. The field experiment was carried out using a Randomized Complete Block Design and was replicated three times on a plot size of 4m x 5m with four sesame varieties and three Mancob-M fungicide levels (0g, 2g and 4g) to give a total of Twelve treatments. The laboratory experiment involved the isolation of the pathogens from diseased leaves with symptoms of Cercospora leaf spot, which was identified as Cercospora sesami. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance for a randomized complete block design using SAS (1999) statistical package. The treatment means that are significantly different were separated using the Least Significant Difference at P=0.05. The result revealed that 4g Mancob M recorded the lowest mean value for disease incidence and severity at 8WAS, which was 90.30% and 35.60%, respectively, while the control (0g) recorded the highest mean value for disease incidence and severity at 90.30% and 59.80% respectively. Ex-Sudan recorded the lowest value of 720 kg/ha, while NCRIBEN 03 recorded the highest yield of 834 kg/ha-¹. For the concentrations, 2g recorded a higher yield of 843 kg/ha-¹ followed by 0g, which recorded 765 kg/ha-¹. Conclusively, Cercospora leaf spot of sesame was found to be prevalent. E8 has a higher resistance to the disease, while NCRIBEN 03 tends to be more susceptible. It is therefore recommended that further trials should be carried out using different varieties in different locations.

Keywords: disease, evaluation, prevalence, treatment, resistance

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Authors: Somen Mondal, Subrata Kumar Majumder

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Removal of metal pollutants by efficient activated carbon is challenging research in the present-day scenario. In the present study, the characteristic features of an efficient activated carbon (AC) synthesized from Indian gooseberry seed shells for the copper (II) adsorption are reported. A three-step chemical activation method consisting of the impregnation, carbonization and subsequent activation is used to produce the activated carbon. The copper adsorption kinetics and isotherms onto the activated carbon were analyzed. As per present investigation, Indian gooseberry seed shells showed the BET surface area of 1359 m²/g. The maximum adsorptivity of the activated carbon at a pH value of 9.52 was found to be 44.84 mg/g at 30°C. The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model along with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. This AC could be used as a favorable and cost-effective copper (II) adsorbent in wastewater treatment to remove the metal contaminants.

Keywords: activated carbon, adsorption isotherm, kinetic model, characterization

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Authors: Hafiza Javaria Ashraf, Asim Abbasi, Muhammad Hussnain Babar, Muhammad Sufyan

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Brevicoryne brassicae (Aphid) is not only the major biotic constraint of rapeseed crop but also transmits 20 different viral pathogens that cause diseases in crucifers. Aphids cause major losses to rapeseed by stunting growth and yield, with real damage being contamination of harvested heads. The misuse of pesticides has led to tremendous economic losses and hazards to human health and environmental pollution. Thus, newer approaches for pest control are continuously being sought. The naturally occurring, biologically active plant-based products seem to have a prominent role in the development of future commercial pesticides not only for increased productivity but their eco-friendly nature. The present experiment was carried out in Research Area of Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, Faisalabad to check the efficacy of different botanicals against rapeseed aphid. The tested botanicals were, neem seed extract, neem leaf extract, dathora seed extract, kaner leaf extract and aak leaf extract. Insecticide, advantage 20 EC served as the positive control in the experiment. Data was recorded before and after 1, 3 and 7 days of treatment application. The results of the experiment revealed that neem seed extract exhibited maximum mortality (48.42%) followed by dathora (45.54%) and kaner leaf extract (40.29%) after 7 days of treatment application. However minimum mortality i.e. 26.64% was observed in case of aak leaf extract. Advantage encountered maximum mortality i.e. 86.14%. All treatments caused maximum mortality after 7 days of treatment application. In case of pollinators maximum population reduction was observed in case of insecticide (74.29%) while minimum reduction was observed in neem leaf extract (11.57%). Hence it was concluded that unlike insecticides, plant based products can be a better option for regulating pests and conserving beneficial insect fauna.

Keywords: Aphid, mortality, plant based, pollinators

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Authors: Muhammad Xaaceph Khan, Abida Butt, Farah Kausar

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Due to geogenic and anthropogenic factors, heavy metals concentrations increased throughout the world and deposit into soil. Thus available to different plants and travel in different food chains. The present study was designed to achieve bioaccumulation of Cd and Zn in the wheat-aphid-beetle food chain. For this purpose, wheat plants were grown in three different treatments: Cd, Zn, Cd+Zn. Data showed that Cd content in soil and wheat plant increases with increase in Cd concentration while plant weighs, panicle weight, seed number per panicle and seed weight per panicle decreases with increase in Cd content in the soil. Zn content in soil and wheat plant increases with increase in Cd concentration while plant weighs, panicle weight, seed number per panicle, and seed weight per panicle increase with an increase in Zn content in the soil. With the addition of Zn in Cd-treated soil, the uptake of Cd decreases in all parts of wheat plants. Bioaccumulation from wheat plant to aphids and then its predators were also studied. Cd concentration increases from low to high concentration in all arthropods. Same was observed in Zn concentrations, while in Cd+Zn, Cd accumulation decreases but Zn accumulates increases. Health risk index (HRI) also showed that in the presence of Zn, the HRI improves and can help to reduce health risks associated with Cd.

Keywords: aphid, beetle, bioaccumulation, cadmium, wheat, zinc

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Authors: Rupali Thorat, S. B. Dodake, V. N. Palsande, S. D. Patil

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A field experiment was conducted to study the “Response of onion to FYM and inorganic fertilizers application on growth, yield and nutrient uptake in lateritic soil of Konkan” at the farm of Pangari block of Irrigation of Scheme, Central Experimentation Station, Wakawali during Rabi 2009-10. There were 12 treatment combinations, comprising of 3 levels of NPK fertilizers (C1 ,C2-125 kg N, 62.5 kg P205 and 62.5 kg K20 ha-1 and C3-150 kg N, 75 kg P205 and 75 kg K20 ha-1) and 4 levels of FYM (F1-10 t FYM ha-1, F2 - 15 t FYM ha-1, F3-20 t FYM ha-1, F4-25 t FYM ha-1) replicated thrice using Factorial Randomized Block Design. The observations on plant height, number of leaves, girth of plant, polar and equatorial diameter of bulb as well as dry matter yield, onion bulb yield recorded during the course of field study were subjected to statistical analysis. Similarly nutrient content and uptake, quality parameters of bulb and soil properties were also determined and their data were also analyzed statistically. It is revealed from the study that the growth attributes, dry matter yield, onion bulb yield, nutrient content, nutrient uptake, quality parameters were improved significantly due to application of NPK @ 150:75:75 kg ha-1 along with FYM @ 20 t ha-1(C3F3). Application of NPK @ 150:75:75 kg ha-1 along with FYM @ 20 t ha-1 (C3F3) registered highest onion bulb yield (t ha-1). The quality of onion as well as availability of N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu in the soil was improved due to application of NPK @ 150:75:75 kg ha-1 and FYM @ 20 t ha-1.

Keywords: onion, FYM, yield, nutrient uptake and fertilizer

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Authors: U. Pangnakorn, S. Kanlaya

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The efficiency of wood vinegar mixed with each individual of three plants extract such as: citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus), neem seed (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), and yam bean seed (Pachyrhizus erosus Urb.) were tested against the second instar larvae of housefly (Musca domestica L.). Steam distillation was used for extraction of the citronella grass while neem and yam bean were simple extracted by fermentation with ethyl alcohol. Toxicity test was evaluated in laboratory based on two methods of larvicidal bioassay: topical application method (contact poison) and feeding method (stomach poison). Larval mortality was observed daily and larval survivability was recorded until the survived larvae developed to pupae and adults. The study resulted that treatment of wood vinegar mixed with citronella grass showed the highest larval mortality by topical application method (50.0%) and by feeding method (80.0%). However, treatment of mixed wood vinegar and neem seed showed the longest pupal duration to 25 day and 32 days for topical application method and feeding method respectively. Additional, larval duration on treated M. domestica larvae was extended to 13 days for topical application method and 11 days for feeding method. Thus, the feeding method gave higher efficiency compared with the topical application method.

Keywords: housefly (Musca domestica L.), neem seed (Azadirachta indica), citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus), yam bean seed (Pachyrhizus erosus), mortality

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: C. Chaiyaraksa, T. Khamko

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This study investigated the influence of limestone and sepiolite on heavy metals accumulation in the soil and soybean. The soil was synthesized to contaminate with zinc 150 mg/kg, copper 100 mg/kg, and cadmium 1 mg/kg. The contaminated soil was mixed with limestone and sepiolite at the ratio of 1:0, 0:1, 1:1, and 2:1. The amount of soil modifier added to soil was 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.8%. The metals determination was performed on soil both before and after soybean planting and in the root, shoot, and seed of soybean after harvesting. The study was also on metal translocate from root to seed and on bioaccumulation factor. Using of limestone and sepiolite resulted in a reduction of metals accumulated in soybean. For soil containing a high concentration of copper, cadmium, and zinc, a mixture of limestone and sepiolite (1:1) was recommended to mix with soil with the amount of 0.2%. Zinc could translocate from root to seed more than copper, and cadmium. From studying the movement of metals from soil to accumulate in soybean, the result was that soybean could absorb the highest amount of cadmium, followed by zinc, and copper, respectively.

Keywords: heavy metals, limestone, sepiolite, soil, soybean

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Mahesh Kothari, K. D. Gharde

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The ANN and fuzzy logic (FL) models were developed to predict the runoff and sediment yield for catchment of Kal river, India using 21 years (1991 to 2011) rainfall and other hydrological data (evaporation, temperature and streamflow lag by one and two day) and 7 years data for sediment yield modelling. The ANN model performance improved with increasing the input vectors. The fuzzy logic model was performing with R value more than 0.95 during developmental stage and validation stage. The comparatively FL model found to be performing well to ANN in prediction of runoff and sediment yield for Kal river.

Keywords: transferred function, sigmoid, backpropagation, membership function, defuzzification

Procedia PDF Downloads 553

Authors: Shatha A. Yousif, Hatem Jasim, Ali R. Abas, Dheya P. Yousef

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To study the effect of the cross direction in bead wheat, three hybrid combinations (Babyle 113 , Iratome), (Sawa , Tamose2) and (Al Hashymya Al Iraq) were tested for plant height, number of tillers/m, number of grains per spike, weight of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight and grain yield. The results revealed that the direction of the cross had significant effect the number of grain/spike, tillers/m and grain yields. Grain yield was positively and significantly correlated with 1000-grain weight, number of grains per spike and tillers. Depend on the result of heritability and genetic advance it was suggested that 1000-grain weight number of grains per spike and tillers should be given emphasis for future wheat yield improvement programs.

Keywords: correlation, genetic advance, heritability, wheat, yield traits

Procedia PDF Downloads 417

Authors: Edward Holupka, John Rossman, Tye Morancy, Joseph Aronovitz, Irving Kaplan

Abstract:

A common modality for the treatment of early stage prostate cancer is the implantation of radioactive seeds directly into the prostate. The radioactive seeds are positioned inside the prostate to achieve optimal radiation dose coverage to the prostate. These radioactive seeds are positioned inside the prostate using Transrectal ultrasound imaging. Once all of the planned seeds have been implanted, two dimensional transaxial transrectal ultrasound images separated by 2 mm are obtained through out the prostate, beginning at the base of the prostate up to and including the apex. A common deep neural network, called DetectNet was trained to automatically determine the position of the implanted radioactive seeds within the prostate under ultrasound imaging. The results of the training using 950 training ultrasound images and 90 validation ultrasound images. The commonly used metrics for successful training were used to evaluate the efficacy and accuracy of the trained deep neural network and resulted in an loss_bbox (train) = 0.00, loss_coverage (train) = 1.89e-8, loss_bbox (validation) = 11.84, loss_coverage (validation) = 9.70, mAP (validation) = 66.87%, precision (validation) = 81.07%, and a recall (validation) = 82.29%, where train and validation refers to the training image set and validation refers to the validation training set. On the hardware platform used, the training expended 12.8 seconds per epoch. The network was trained for over 10,000 epochs. In addition, the seed locations as determined by the Deep Neural Network were compared to the seed locations as determined by a commercial software based on a one to three months after implant CT. The Deep Learning approach was within \strikeout off\uuline off\uwave off2.29\uuline default\uwave default mm of the seed locations determined by the commercial software. The Deep Learning approach to the determination of radioactive seed locations is robust, accurate, and fast and well within spatial agreement with the gold standard of CT determined seed coordinates.

Keywords: prostate, deep neural network, seed implant, ultrasound

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Eleni Stefanidou, Nikolaos Katsenios, Ioanna Karamichali, Aspasia Efthimiadou, Panagiotis Madesis

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The excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers has significant environmental and human health-related negative effects. In the frame of the development of sustainable agriculture practices, especially in the context of extreme environmental changes (climate change), it is important to develop alternative practices to increase productivity and biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Beneficial bacteria, such as symbiotic bacteria in legumes (rhizobia) and symbiotic or free-living Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), which could act as "plant probiotics", can promote plant growth and significantly increase the resistance of crops under adverse environmental conditions. In this study, we explored the symbiotic relationships between Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) cultivars with different PGPR bacteria, aiming to identify the possible influence on yield and biotic-abiotic phytoprotection benefits. Transcriptomic analysis of root and whole plant samples was executed for two Vicia faba L. cultivars (Polikarpi and Solon) treated with selected PGPR bacteria (6 treatments: B. subtilis + Rhizobium-mixture, A. chroococcum + Rhizobium-mixture, B. subtilis, A. chroococcum and Rhizobium-mixture). Preliminary results indicate a significant yield (Seed weight and Total number of pods) increase in both varieties, ranging around 25%, in comparison to the control, especially for the Solon cultivar. The increase was observed for all treatments, with the B. subtilis + Rhizobium-mixture treatment being the highest performing. The correlation of the physiological and morphological data with the transcriptome analysis revealed molecular mechanisms and molecular targets underlying the observed yield increase, opening perspectives for the use of nitrogen-fixing bacteria as a natural, more ecological enhancer of legume crop productivity.

Keywords: plant probiotics, PGPR, legumes, sustainable agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Misheck Musokwa, Paramu Mafongoya, Simon Lorentz

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Seasonal shortages of fodder during the dry season is a major constraint to smallholder livestock farmers in South Africa. To mitigate the shortage of fodder, legume trees can be intercropped with pastures which can diversify the sources of feed and increase the amount of protein for grazing animals. The objective was to evaluate dry matter yield of Panicum maximum and land productivity under different fodder production systems during 2016/17-2017/18 seasons at Empangeni (28.6391° S and 31.9400° E). A randomized complete block design, replicated three times was used, the treatments were sole Panicum maximum, Panicum maximum + Sesbania sesban, Panicum maximum + pigeonpea, sole Sesbania sesban, Sole pigeonpea. Three months S.sesbania seedlings were transplanted whilst pigeonpea was direct seeded at spacing of 1m x 1m. P. maximum seeds were drilled at a respective rate of 7.5 kg/ha having an inter-row spacing of 0.25 m apart. In between rows of trees P. maximum seeds were drilled. The dry matter yield harvesting times were separated by six months’ timeframe. A 0.25 m² quadrant randomly placed on 3 points on the plot was used as sampling area during harvesting P. maximum. There was significant difference P < 0.05 across 3 harvests and total dry matter. P. maximum had higher dry matter yield as compared to both intercrops at first harvest and total. The second and third harvest had no significant difference with pigeonpea intercrop. The results was in this order for all 3 harvest: P. maximum (541.2c, 1209.3b and 1557b) kg ha¹ ≥ P. maximum + pigeonpea (157.2b, 926.7b and 1129b) kg ha¹ > P. maximum + S. sesban (36.3a, 282a and 555a) kg ha¹. Total accumulation of dry matter yield of P. maximum (3307c kg ha¹) > P. maximum + pigeonpea (2212 kg ha¹) ≥ P. maximum + S. sesban (874 kg ha¹). There was a significant difference (P< 0.05) on seed yield for trees. Pigeonpea (1240.3 kg ha¹) ≥ Pigeonpea + P. maximum (862.7 kg ha¹) > S.sesbania (391.9 kg ha¹) ≥ S.sesbania + P. maximum. The Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) was in the following order P. maximum + pigeonpea (1.37) > P. maximum + S. sesban (0.84) > Pigeonpea (0.59) ≥ S. Sesbania (0.57) > P. maximum (0.26). Results indicates that it is beneficial to have P. maximum intercropped with pigeonpea because of higher land productivity. Planting grass with pigeonpea was more beneficial than S. sesban with grass or sole cropping in terms of saving the shortage of arable land. P. maximum + pigeonpea saves a substantial (37%) land which can be subsequently be used for other crop production. Pigeonpea is recommended as an intercrop with P. maximum due to its higher LER and combined production of livestock feed, human food, and firewood. Panicum grass is low in crude protein though high in carbohydrates, there is a need for intercropping it with legume trees. A farmer who buys concentrates can reduce costs by combining P. maximum with pigeonpea this will provide a balanced diet at low cost.

Keywords: fodder, livestock, productivity, smallholder farmers

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: A. Bahrani

Abstract:

In order to study the effect of restricted irrigation systems and different potassium fertilizer on water use efficiency and yield of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), an experiment was conducted in an arid area in Khuzestan, Iran in 2013. The main plots consisted of three irrigation methods: FI (full irrigation), alternate furrow irrigation (AFI) and fixed furrow irrigation (FFI). Each subplot received three rates of K fertiliser application: 0, 150 or 300 kg ha-1. The results showed that the plots receiving the full irrigation resulted in significantly higher grain yields, 1000-kernel weight and grain number per pod than both alternate treatments. However, the highest WUE were obtained in alternate furrow irrigation and 300 kg K ha-1 and the lowest one was found in the FI treatment and 0 kg K ha-1. Potassium application increased RWC in alternate furrow irrigation and fixed furrow irrigation than FI treatment. Maximum oil content was observed in those treatments where full irrigation was applied while minimum oil content was produced in FFI irrigated treatments. Potassium fertilizer also increased grain oil by 15 % than control. Deficit irrigation reduced oleic acid and erucic acid. However, oleic acid and linoleic acid increased with increasing of potassium.

Keywords: erucic acid, irrigation methods, linoleic acid, oil percent, oleic acid

Procedia PDF Downloads 269