Search results for: bread and durum wheat
Commenced in January 2007
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Edition: International
Paper Count: 489

Search results for: bread and durum wheat

279 Agro-Climatic Analysis in the Northern Areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Authors: Zia Ullah, Ruh Ullah

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A research study was conceded in four locations (Swat, Dir, Kakul and Balakot) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to find agro-climatic classes by using aridity index, Growing Degree Days of wheat and maize, crop growth index and Spatio-temporal analysis of rainfall by using long term climatic data (1970-2010). The climatic data used for research was acquired from Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Islamabad, Agriculture Research Institute, Weather Station Peshawar and Tarnab Peshawar. Agro-climatic classes of each location were determined using three criteria mean temperature of the coldest month, mean temperature of the warmest month and aridity index. The agro-climatic classes of Dir, Swat, Kakul and Balakot were classified as Humid, Cold and very Warm (H-K-VW). Average aridity index of wheat for Dir, Swat, Kakul, and Balakot was 2.23, 2.67, 1.94 and 2.34 and for Maize was 1.31, 1.26, 1.97, and 2.83 respectively. The overall and decade-wise trend of GDD of Wheat and Maize was declined in Swat and Kakul while increased in Dir and Balakot.The average maximum CGI (1.26) and (0.73) of Wheat and Maize was observed for Balakot and Dir, while the minimum (1.09) and (0.62) was observed for Swat and Kakul. Spatio-temporal analysis of rainfall shows that the trend has increased in Swat while decreased in Dir, Kakul and Balakot. From the relation between rainfalls with altitude showed that there was an increasing trend between rainfalls with altitude. The maximum average rainfall was in Swat (2703mm) on altitude 2000m while the minimum average rainfall was observed in Kakul (1410mm) on altitude of 1255m.

Keywords: agro-climatic zones, aridity index, GDD, rainfall

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278 Decision Support System Based On GIS and MCDM to Identify Land Suitability for Agriculture

Authors: Abdelkader Mendas

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The integration of MultiCriteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches in a Geographical Information System (GIS) provides a powerful spatial decision support system which offers the opportunity to efficiently produce the land suitability maps for agriculture. Indeed, GIS is a powerful tool for analyzing spatial data and establishing a process for decision support. Because of their spatial aggregation functions, MCDM methods can facilitate decision making in situations where several solutions are available, various criteria have to be taken into account and decision-makers are in conflict. The parameters and the classification system used in this work are inspired from the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) approach dedicated to a sustainable agriculture. A spatial decision support system has been developed for establishing the land suitability map for agriculture. It incorporates the multicriteria analysis method ELECTRE Tri (ELimitation Et Choix Traduisant la REalité) in a GIS within the GIS program package environment. The main purpose of this research is to propose a conceptual and methodological framework for the combination of GIS and multicriteria methods in a single coherent system that takes into account the whole process from the acquisition of spatially referenced data to decision-making. In this context, a spatial decision support system for developing land suitability maps for agriculture has been developed. The algorithm of ELECTRE Tri is incorporated into a GIS environment and added to the other analysis functions of GIS. This approach has been tested on an area in Algeria. A land suitability map for durum wheat has been produced. Through the obtained results, it appears that ELECTRE Tri method, integrated into a GIS, is better suited to the problem of land suitability for agriculture. The coherence of the obtained maps confirms the system effectiveness.

Keywords: multicriteria decision analysis, decision support system, geographical information system, land suitability for agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 599
277 Production of Mycelial Biomass, Exopolysaccharide, and Enzyme during Solid-State Fermentation of Plant Raw Materials by Medicinal Mushrooms

Authors: Tamar Khardziani, Violeta Berikashvili, Amrosi Chkuaseli, Vladimir Elisashvili

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The main objectives of this proposal are to develop low-cost, innovative, and competitive technologies for the production of mycelial biomass of medicinal mushrooms as a natural food supplement for poultry. To fulfill this task, industrial strains of Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidum, and Pleurotus ostreatus were used in this study. The solid-state fermentation (SSF) of wheat grains, wheat bran, and soy flour was performed in flasks and bags. Among nine mushroom strains, P. ostreatus 2191 appeared to be the most productive in protein biomass accumulation in the SSF of wheat bran. All mushrooms produced exopolysaccharide with the highest yield of 5-8 mg/mL depending on fungal strain and growth substrate. Supplementation of medium with 1% glycerol and 2-4% peptone favored mushroom growth and protein accumulation. Among inorganic nitrogen sources, KNO₃ also provided high biomass and protein production. The SSF of all growth substrates was accompanied by the secretion of cellulase and xylanase activities. The highest CMCase activity (12-13 U/g) was revealed in the cultivation of P. ostreatus 2191 using wheat bran as a growth substrate and ammonium sulfate or yeast extract as a nitrogen source, whereas the highest xylanase activity was detected in the fermentation of soy flour supplemented with peptone. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (Grant number STEM-22-2077).

Keywords: mushrooms, plant raw materials, fermentation, biomass protein, cellulase

Procedia PDF Downloads 32
276 Quality of Donut Supplemented with Hom Nin Rice Flour

Authors: Supatchalee Sirichokworrakit, Pannin Intasen, Chansuda Angkawut

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Hom Nin rice (Oryza Sativa L.) was processed into flour and used to substitute wheat flour in donuts. The donuts were prepared with 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80% Hom Nin rice flour (HNF). The donuts were subjected to proximate, texture, color and sensory evaluations. The results of the study revealed that the ash, moisture, crude fiber contents increased while crude fat and protein contents decreased as the level of HNF increased. The hardness and chewiness of donut increased as the HNF increased but the cohesiveness, springiness, and specific volume decreased. Color of donut (L*, a*, and b* values) decreased with the addition of HNF. Overall acceptability for the 20-40% HNF additions did not differ significantly from the score of the 100% wheat flour.

Keywords: Hom Nin rice, donut, texture evaluation, sensory evaluation

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275 Amino Acid Responses of Wheat Cultivars under Glasshouse Drought Accurately Predict Yield-Based Drought Tolerance in the Field

Authors: Arun K. Yadav, Adam J. Carroll, Gonzalo M. Estavillo, Greg J. Rebetzke, Barry J. Pogson

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Water limits crop productivity, so selecting for minimal yield-gap in drier environments is critical to mitigate against climate change and land-use pressures. To date, no markers measured in glasshouses have been reported to predict field-based drought tolerance. In the field, the best measure of drought tolerance is yield-gap; but this requires multisite trials that are an order of magnitude more resource intensive and can be impacted by weather variation. We investigated the responses of relative water content (RWC), stomatal conductance (gs), chlorophyll content and metabolites in flag leaves of commercial wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars to three drought treatments in the glasshouse and field environments. We observed strong genetic associations between glasshouse-based RWC, metabolites and Yield gap-based Drought Tolerance (YDT): the ratio of yield in water-limited versus well-watered conditions across 24 field environments spanning sites and seasons. Critically, RWC response to glasshouse drought was strongly associated with both YDT (r2 = 0.85, p < 8E-6) and RWC under field drought (r2 = 0.77, p < 0.05). Multiple regression analyses revealed that 98% of genetic YDT variance was explained by drought responses of four metabolites: serine, asparagine, methionine and lysine (R2 = 0.98; p < 0.01). Fitted coefficients suggested that, for given levels of serine and asparagine, stronger methionine and lysine accumulation was associated with higher YDT. Collectively, our results demonstrate that high-throughput, targeted metabolic phenotyping of glasshouse-grown plants may be an effective tool for the selection of wheat cultivars with high YDT in the field.

Keywords: drought stress, grain yield, metabolomics, stomatal conductance, wheat

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274 A Study on Conventional and Improved Tillage Practices for Sowing Paddy in Wheat Harvested Field

Authors: R. N. Pateriya, T. K. Bhattacharya

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In India, rice-wheat cropping system occupies the major area and contributes about 40% of the country’s total food grain production. It is necessary that production of rice and wheat must keep pace with growing population. However, various factors such as degradation in natural resources, shift in cropping pattern, energy constraints etc. are causing reduction in the productivity of these crops. Seedbed for rice after wheat is difficult to prepare due to presence of straw and stubbles, and require excessive tillage operations to bring optimum tilth. In addition, delayed sowing and transplanting of rice is mainly due to poor crop residue management, multiplicity of tillage operations and non-availability of the power source. With increasing concern for fuel conservation and energy management, farmers might wish to estimate the best cultivation system for more productivity. The widest spread method of tilling land is ploughing with mould board plough. However, with the mould board plough upper layer of soil is neither always loosened at the desired extent nor proper mixing of different layers are achieved. Therefore, additional operations carried out to improve tilth. The farmers are becoming increasingly aware of the need for minimum tillage by minimizing the use of machines. Soil management can be achieved by using the combined active-passive tillage machines. A study was therefore, undertaken in wheat-harvested field to study the impact of conventional and modified tillage practices on paddy crop cultivation. Tillage treatments with tractor as a power source were selected during the experiment. The selected level of tillage treatments of tractor machinery management were (T1:- Direct Sowing of Rice), (T2:- 2 to 3 harrowing and no Puddling with manual transplanting), (T3:- 2 to 3 harrowing and Puddling with paddy harrow with manual transplanting), (T4:- 2 to 3 harrowing and Puddling with Rotavator with manual transplanting). The maximum output was obtained with treatment T1 (7.85 t/ha)) followed by T4 (6.4 t/ha), T3 (6.25 t/ha) and T2 (6.0 t/ha)) respectively.

Keywords: crop residues, cropping system, minimum tillage, yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 187
273 Determinants of International Volatility Passthroughs of Agricultural Commodities: A Panel Analysis of Developing Countries

Authors: Tetsuji Tanaka, Jin Guo

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The extant literature has not succeeded in uncovering the common determinants of price volatility transmissions of agricultural commodities from international to local markets, and further, has rarely investigated the role of self-sufficiency measures in the context of national food security. We analyzed various factors to determine the degree of price volatility transmissions of wheat, rice, and maize between world and domestic markets using GARCH models with dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) specifications and panel-feasible generalized least square models. We found that the grain autarky system has the potential to diminish volatility pass-throughs for three grain commodities. Furthermore, it was discovered that the substitutive commodity consumption behavior between maize and wheat buffers the volatility transmissions of both, but rice does not function as a transmission-relieving element, either for the volatilities of wheat or maize. The effectiveness of grain consumption substitution to insulate the pass-throughs from global markets is greater than that of cereal self-sufficiency. These implications are extremely beneficial for developing governments to protect their domestic food markets from uncertainty in foreign countries and as such, improves food security.

Keywords: food security, GARCH, grain self-sufficiency, volatility transmission

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272 Assessment of Bisphenol A and 17 α-Ethinyl Estradiol Bioavailability in Soils Treated with Biosolids

Authors: I. Ahumada, L. Ascar, C. Pedraza, J. Montecino

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It has been found that the addition of biosolids to soil is beneficial to soil health, enriching soil with essential nutrient elements. Although this sludge has properties that allow for the improvement of the physical features and productivity of agricultural and forest soils and the recovery of degraded soils, they also contain trace elements, organic trace and pathogens that can cause damage to the environment. The application of these biosolids to land without the total reclamation and the treated wastewater can transfer these compounds into terrestrial and aquatic environments, giving rise to potential accumulation in plants. The general aim of this study was to evaluate the bioavailability of bisphenol A (BPA), and 17 α-ethynyl estradiol (EE2) in a soil-biosolid system using wheat (Triticum aestivum) plant assays and a predictive extraction method using a solution of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPCD) to determine if it is a reliable surrogate for this bioassay. Two soils were obtained from the central region of Chile (Lo Prado and Chicauma). Biosolids were obtained from a regional wastewater treatment plant. The soils were amended with biosolids at 90 Mg ha-1. Soils treated with biosolids, spiked with 10 mgkg-1 of the EE2 and 15 mgkg-1 and 30 mgkg-1of BPA were also included. The BPA, and EE2 concentration were determined in biosolids, soils and plant samples through ultrasound assisted extraction, solid phase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry determination (GC/MS). The bioavailable fraction found of each one of soils cultivated with wheat plants was compared with results obtained through a cyclodextrin biosimulator method. The total concentration found in biosolid from a treatment plant was 0.150 ± 0.064 mgkg-1 and 12.8±2.9 mgkg-1 of EE2 and BPA respectively. BPA and EE2 bioavailability is affected by the organic matter content and the physical and chemical properties of the soil. The bioavailability response of both compounds in the two soils varied with the EE2 and BPA concentration. It was observed in the case of EE2, the bioavailability in wheat plant crops contained higher concentrations in the roots than in the shoots. The concentration of EE2 increased with increasing biosolids rate. On the other hand, for BPA, a higher concentration was found in the shoot than the roots of the plants. The predictive capability the HPCD extraction was assessed using a simple linear correlation test, for both compounds in wheat plants. The correlation coefficients for the EE2 obtained from the HPCD extraction with those obtained from the wheat plants were r= 0.99 and p-value ≤ 0.05. On the other hand, in the case of BPA a correlation was not found. Therefore, the methodology was validated with respect to wheat plants bioassays, only in the EE2 case. Acknowledgments: The authors thank FONDECYT 1150502.

Keywords: emerging compounds, bioavailability, biosolids, endocrine disruptors

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271 Investigation of Genetic Variation for Agronomic Traits among the Recombinant Inbred Lines of Wheat from the Norstar × Zagross Cross under Water Stress Condition

Authors: Mohammad Reza Farzami Pour

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Determination of genetic variation is useful for plant breeding and hence production of more efficient plant species under different conditions, like drought stress. In this study, a sample of 28 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of wheat developed from the cross of Norstar and Zagross varieties, together with their parents, were evaluated for two years (2010-2012) under normal and water stress conditions using split plot design with three replications. Main plots included two irrigation treatments of 70 and 140 mm evaporation from Class A pan and sub-plots consisted of 30 genotypes. The effect of genotypes and interaction of genotypes with years and water regimes were significant for all characters. Significant genotypic effect implies the existence of genetic variation among the lines under study. Heritability estimates were high for 1000 grain weight (0.87). Biomass and grain yield showed the lowest heritability values (0.42 and 0.50, respectively). Highest genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation (GCV and PCV) belonged to harvest index. Moderate genetic advance for most of the traits suggested the feasibility of selection among the RILs under investigation. Some RILs were higher yielding than either parent at both environments.

Keywords: wheat, genetic gain, heritability, recombinant inbred lines

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270 In vivo Alterations in Ruminal Parameters by Megasphaera Elsdenii Inoculation on Subacute Ruminal Acidosis (SARA)

Authors: M. S. Alatas, H. D. Umucalilar

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SARA is a common and serious metabolic disorder in early lactation in dairy cattle and in finishing beef cattle, caused by diets with high inclusion of cereal grain. This experiment was performed to determine the efficacy of Megasphaera elsdenii, a major lactate-utilizing bacterium in prevention/treatment of SARA in vivo. In vivo experimentation, it was used eight ruminally cannulated rams and it was applied the rapid adaptation with the mixture of grain based on wheat (%80 wheat, %20 barley) and barley (%80 barley, %20 wheat). During the systematic adaptation, it was followed the probability of SARA formation by being measured the rumen pH with two hours intervals after and before feeding. After being evaluated the data, it was determined the ruminal pH ranged from 5,2-5,6 on the condition of feeding with 60 percentage of grain mixture based on barley and wheat, that assured the definite form of subacute acidosis. In four days SARA period, M. elsdenii (1010 cfu ml-1) was inoculated during the first two days. During the SARA period, it was observed the decrease of feed intake with M. elsdenii inoculation. Inoculation of M. elsdenii was caused to differentiation of rumen pH (P < 0,0001), while it was found the pH level approximately 5,55 in animals applied the inoculation, it was 5,63 pH in other animals. It was observed that total VFA with the bacterium inoculation tended to change in terms of grain feed (P < 0,07). It increased with the effect of total VFA inoculation in barley based diet, but it was more stabilized in wheat based diet. Bacterium inoculation increased the ratio of propionic acid (18,33%-21,38%) but it caused to decrease the butyric acid, and acetic/propionic acid. During the rapid adaptation, the concentration of lactic acid in the rumen liquid increased depending upon grain level (P<0,0001). On the other hand bacterium inoculation did not have an effect on concentration of lactic acid. M. elsdenii inoculation did not affect ruminal ammonia concentration. In the group that did not apply inoculation, the level of ruminal ammonia concentration was higher than the others applied inoculation. M. elsdenii inoculation did not changed protozoa count in barley-based diet whereas it decreased in wheat-based diet. In the period of SARA, it was observed that the level of blood glucose, lactate and hematocrit increased greatly after inoculation (P < 0,0001). When it is generally evaluated, it is seen that M. elsdenii inoculation has not a positive impact on rumen parameters. Therefore, to reveal the full impact of the inoculation with different strains, feedstuffs and animal groups, further research is required.

Keywords: In vivo, Subactute ruminal acidosis, Megasphaera elsdenii, Rumen fermentation

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269 Screening and Evaluation of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria of Wheat/Faba Bean for Increasing Productivity and Yield

Authors: Yasir Arafat, Asma Shah, Hua Shao

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Background and Aims: Legume/cereal intercropping is used worldwide for enhancement in biomass and yield of cereal crops. However, because of intercropping, the belowground biological and chemical interactions and their effect on physiological parameters and yield of crops are limited. Methods: Wheat faba bean (WF) intercropping was designed to understand the underlying changes in the soil's chemical environment, soil microbial communities, and effect on growth and yield parameters. Experimental plots were established as having no root partition (NRP), semi-root partition (SRP), complete root partition (CRP), and their sole cropping (CK). Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) were determined by GC-MS, and high throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was carried out to screen microbial structure and composition in different root partitions of the WF intercropping system. Results: We show that intercropping induced a shift in the relative abundance of some genera of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) such as Allorhizobium, Neorhizobium, Pararhizobium, and Rhizobium species and resulted in better growth and yield performance of wheat. Moreover, as the plant's distance of wheat from faba beans decreased, the diversity of microbes increased, and a positive effect was observed on physiological traits and crop yield. Furthermore, an abundance and positive correlations of palmitic acid, arachidic acid, stearic acid, and 9-Octadecenoic with PGPR were recorded in the root zone of WF intercropping, which can play an important role in this facilitative mechanism of enhancing growth and yield of cereals. Conclusion: The two treatments clearly affected soil microbial and chemical composition, which can be reflected in growth and yield enhancement.

Keywords: intercropping, microbial community, LMWOAs, PGPR, soil chemical environment

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268 Biological Control of Karnal Bunt by Pseudomonas fluorescens

Authors: Geetika Vajpayee, Sugandha Asthana, Pratibha Kumari, Shanthy Sundaram

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Pseudomonas species possess a variety of promising properties of antifungal and growth promoting activities in the wheat plant. In the present study, Pseudomonas fluorescens MTCC-9768 is tested against plant pathogenic fungus Tilletia indica, causing Karnal bunt, a quarantine disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum) affecting kernels of wheat. It is one of the 1/A1 harmful diseases of wheat worldwide under EU legislation. This disease develops in the growth phase by the spreading of microscopically small spores of the fungus (teliospores) being dispersed by the wind. The present chemical fungicidal treatments were reported to reduce teliospores germination, but its effect is questionable since T. indica can survive up to four years in the soil. The fungal growth inhibition tests were performed using Dual Culture Technique, and the results showed inhibition by 82.5%. The interaction of antagonist bacteria-fungus causes changes in the morphology of hyphae, which was observed using Lactophenol cotton blue staining and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The rounded and swollen ends, called ‘theca’ were observed in interacted fungus as compared to control fungus (without bacterial interaction). This bacterium was tested for its antagonistic activity like protease, cellulose, HCN production, Chitinase, etc. The growth promoting activities showed increase production of IAA in bacteria. The bacterial secondary metabolites were extracted in different solvents for testing its growth inhibiting properties. The characterization and purification of the antifungal compound were done by Thin Layer Chromatography, and Rf value was calculated (Rf value = 0.54) and compared to the standard antifungal compound, 2, 4 DAPG (Rf value = 0.54). Further, the in vivo experiments showed a significant decrease in the severity of disease in the wheat plant due to direct injection method and seed treatment. Our results indicate that the extracted and purified compound from the antagonist bacteria, P. fluorescens MTCC-9768 may be used as a potential biocontrol agent against T. indica. This also concludes that the PGPR properties of the bacteria may be utilized by incorporating it into bio-fertilizers.

Keywords: antagonism, Karnal bunt, PGPR, Pseudomonas fluorescens

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267 Physiological and Biochemical Assisted Screening of Wheat Varieties under Partial Rhizosphere Drying

Authors: Muhammad Aown Sammar Raza

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Environmental stresses are one of the major reasons for poor crop yield across the globe. Among the various environmental stresses, drought stress is the most damaging one, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Wheat is the major staple food of many countries of the world, which is badly affected by drought stress. In order to fulfill the dietary needs of increasing population with depleting water resources there is a need to adopt technologies which result in sufficient crop yield with less water consumption. One of them is partial root zone drying. Keeping in view these conditions, a wire house experiment was conducted at agronomic research area of University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, The Islamia University Bahawalpur during 2015, to screen out the different wheat varieties for partial root zone drying (PRD). Five approved local wheat varieties (V1= Galaxy-2013, V2= Punjab-2011, V3 = Faisalabad-2008, V4 = Lasani-2008 and V5 = V.8200) and two irrigation levels (I1= control irrigation and I2 = PRD irrigation) with completely randomized design having four replications were used in the experiment. Among the varieties, Galaxy-2013 performed the best and attained maximum plant height, leaf area, stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, total sugars, proline contents and antioxidant enzymes activities and minimum values of growth and physiological parameters were recorded in variety V.8200. For irrigation levels, higher values of growth, physiological and water related parameters were recorded in control treatment (I1) except leaf water potential, osmotic potential, total sugars and proline contents. However, enzyme activities were higher under PRD treatment for all varieties. It was concluded that Galaxy-2013 is the most compatible and V.8200 is the most susceptible variety for PRD, respectively and more quality traits and enzymatic activities were recorded under PRD irrigation as compared to control treatment.

Keywords: antioxidant enzymes activities, osmolytes concentration, partial root zone drying, photosynthetic rate, water relations, wheat

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266 Anecic and Epigeic Earthworms as Potential Biocontrol Agents of Fusarium graminearum, Causal Agent of Fusarium Head Blight on Wheat

Authors: Gabriella Jorge, Carlos A. Pérez, Hanna Friberg, Sara Söderlund, Jan Lagerlöf

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Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is one of the most important Fusarium-caused diseases, which affects cereals with serious detrimental effects on yield and grain quality worldwide. Earthworms have been suggested as an alternative to control this disease, which requires a combination of preventive methods to reduce level of damage, although it has been proven that their effect is species dependent. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the earthworms Aporrectodea longa and Lumbricus rubellus, on the inoculum of Fusarium graminearum on wheat straw. To test this we kept earthworms in vessels with soil, and F. graminearum-inoculated straw covering the surface, under controlled conditions for 6 weeks. Two factors were evaluated with a complete factorial design: earthworms (three levels: without earthworms, A. longa, and L. rubellus), and straw (two levels: inoculated with the pathogen, and sterile). The presence of L. rubellus significantly (P<0.05) reduced the amount of inoculated straw at the soil surface 31% after 6 weeks, while the presence of A. longa, most found in quiescence, did not have any significant effect on the amount of straw when compared to the control. After incubation, F. graminearum was detected by qPCR, only in the surface straw in those treatments inoculated with the pathogen but without earthworms. None of the treatments showed presence of Fusarium in the buried straw, soil or earthworm casts. Both earthworm species decreased in body weight during incubation, most likely due to the decrease in soil water content during the experiment, from 25% to 20%, and/or inadequate food supply, since no other source of food was added. However, this reduction in weight occurred indistinctly of the presence or not of Fusarium (P<0.05). This indicates that both species, of different ecological groups, anecic and epigeic, can reduce F. graminearum inoculum present in wheat straw, while their growth is not negatively affected by this pathogen. These promising results place A. longa, and L. rubellus as potential biocontrol agents of this fungal plant pathogen responsible for Fusarium Head Blight disease in wheat, although further ongoing experiments are needed to confirm the repeatability of these results.

Keywords: Aporrectodea longa, biological control, fungal plant pathogen, Lumbricus rubellus, qPCR, wheat straw

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265 Biostimulant Activity of Chitooligomers: Effect of Different Degrees of Acetylation and Polymerization on Wheat Seedlings under Salt Stress

Authors: Xiaoqian Zhang, Ping Zou, Pengcheng Li

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Salt stress is one of the most serious abiotic stresses, and it can lead to the reduction of agricultural productivity. High salt concentration makes it more difficult for roots to absorb water and disturbs the homeostasis of cellular ions resulting in osmotic stress, ion toxicity and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Compared with the normal physiological conditions, salt stress could inhibit the photosynthesis, break metabolic balance and damage cellular structures, and ultimately results in the reduction of crop yield. Therefore it is vital to develop practical methods for improving the salt tolerance of plants. Chitooligomers (COS) is partially depolymerized products of chitosan, which is consisted of D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. In agriculture, COS has the ability to promote plant growth and induce plant innate immunity. The bioactivity of COS closely related to its degree of polymerization (DP) and acetylation (DA). However, most of the previous reports fail to mention the function of COS with different DP and DAs in improving the capacity of plants against salt stress. Accordingly, in this study, chitooligomers (COS) with different degrees of DAs were used to test wheat seedlings response to salt stress. In addition, the determined degrees of polymerization (DPs) COS(DP 4-12) and a heterogeneous COS mixture were applied to explore the relationship between the DP of COSs and its effect on the growth of wheat seedlings in response to salt stress. It showed that COSs, the exogenous elicitor, could promote the growth of wheat seedling, reduce the malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, and increase the activities of antioxidant enzymes. The results of mRNA expression level test for salt stress-responsive genes indicated that COS keep plants away from being hurt by the salt stress via the regulation of the concentration and the increased antioxidant enzymes activities. Moreover, it was found that the activities of COS was closely related to its Das and COS (DA: 50%) displayed the best salt resistance activity to wheat seedlings. The results also showed that COS with different DP could promote the growth of wheat seedlings under salt stress. COS with a DP (6-8) showed better activities than the other tested samples, implied its activity had a close relationship with its DP. After treatment with chitohexaose, chitoheptaose, and chitooctaose, the photosynthetic parameters were improved obviously. The soluble sugar and proline contents were improved by 26.7%-53.3% and 43.6.0%-70.2%, respectively, while the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) was reduced by 36.8% - 49.6%. In addition, the antioxidant enzymes activities were clearly activated. At the molecular level, the results revealed that they could obviously induce the expression of Na+/H+ antiporter genes. In general, these results were fundamental to the study of action mechanism of COS on promoting plant growth under salt stress and the preparation of plant growth regulator.

Keywords: chitooligomers (COS), degree of polymerization (DP), degree of acetylation (DA), salt stress

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264 Nanocellulose Reinforced Biocomposites Based on Wheat Plasticized Starch for Food Packaging

Authors: Belen Montero, Carmen Ramirez, Maite Rico, Rebeca Bouza, Irene Derungs

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Starch is a promising polymer for producing biocomposite materials because it is renewable, completely biodegradable and easily available at a low cost. Thermoplastic starches (TPS) can be obtained after the disruption and plasticization of native starch with a plasticizer. In this work, the solvent casting method was used to obtain TPS films from wheat starch plasticized with glycerol and reinforced with nanocellulose (CNC). X-ray diffraction analysis was used to follow the evolution of the crystallinity. The native wheat starch granules have shown a profile corresponding to A-type crystal structures typical for cereal starches. When TPS films are analyzed a high amorphous halo centered on 19º is obtained, indicating the plasticization process is completed. SEM imaging was made in order to analyse the morphology. The image from the raw wheat starch granules shows a bimodal granule size distribution with some granules in large round disk-shape forms (A-type) and the others as smaller spherical particles (B-type). The image from the neat TPS surface shows a continuous surface. No starch aggregates or swollen granules can be seen so, the plasticization process is complete. In the surfaces of reinforced TPS films aggregates are seen as the CNC concentration in the matrix increases. The CNC influence on the mechanical properties of TPS films has been studied by dynamic mechanical analysis. A direct relation exists between the storage modulus values, E’, and the CNC content in reinforced TPS films: higher is the content of nanocellulose in the composite, higher is the value of E’. This reinforcement effect can be explained by the appearance of a strong and crystalline nanoparticle-TPS interphase. Thermal stability of films was analysed by TGA. It has not observed any influence on the behaviour related to the thermal degradation of films with the incorporation of the CNC. Finally, the resistance to the water absorption films was analysed following the standard UNE-EN ISO 1998:483. The percentage of water absorbed by the samples at each time was calculated. The addition of 5 wt % of CNC to the TPS matrix leads to a significant improvement in the moisture resistance of the starch based material decreasing their diffusivity. It has been associated to the formation of a nanocrystal network that prevents swelling of the starch and therefore water absorption and to the high crystallinity of cellulose compared to starch. As a conclusion, the wheat film reinforced with 5 wt % of cellulose nanocrystals seems to be a good alternative for short-life applications into the packaging industry, because of its greatest rigidity, thermal stability and moisture sorption resistance.

Keywords: biocomposites, nanocellulose, starch, wheat

Procedia PDF Downloads 185
263 Seed Priming Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for Germination and Emergence

Authors: Pakize Ozlem Kurt Polat, Gizem Metin, Koksal Yagdi

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In order to evaluate the effect of the different sources of salt on germination and early growth of five wheat cultivars (Katea, Bezostaja, Koksal-2000, Golia, Pehlivan) an experiment was conducted at the seed laboratory of the Uludag University, Agricultural Faculty, Department of Field Crops in Bursa/Turkey. Seeds were applied in five different resources media (KCl % 2, KCl %4, KNO₃ %0,5, KH₂PO₄ %0,5, PEG %10) and distilled water as the control). The seed was fully immersed in priming media at a temperature of 24ᵒC for durations of 12 and 24hours. Six different agronomic characters (seed germination, stem length, stem weight, radicle length, fresh weight, dry weight) were measured in 7th days and 14th days. Maximum seed germination percentage of seven days are Pehlivan was observed when the seeds were applied by KH₂PO₄ and Katea by distilled water as a control. The most stem length and stem weight were obtained for seeds were applied by KH₂PO₄ %0,5 with Katea and Bezostja immersed in priming media at 12h intervals beginning 7d after planting. Seeds were applied KH₂PO₄ %0,5 media produced maximum radicle length by Koksal and dry weight by Katea. The freshest weight obtains in Katea by KNO₃ %0,5 immersed in priming media at 24h. The most germination percent, dry weight, stem length of fourteen days was observed in Katea which subjected to KH₂PO₄ %0,5 solution. The most radicle length was observed Katea and Koksal in media of KH₂PO₄ %0,5. The most stem length was obtained for seeds were applied by KH₂PO₄ %0,5 and KNO₃ with Katea and Bezostaja. When the applied chemicals and all days examined KH₂PO₄ %0,5 treatment in fourteen days and immersed for the duration of 24 hours had better effects than other medias, seven days treatments and 12hours immersed. As a result of this research, the best response of media for the wheat germination can be said that the KH₂PO₄ %0,5 immersed in priming media at 24h intervals beginning 14 days after planting.

Keywords: germination, priming, seedling growth, wheat

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262 Evaluation of Toxicity of Some Fungicides Against the Pathogen Fusarium sp.

Authors: M. Djekoun, H. Berrebah, M. R. Djebar

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Fusarium wilt attacks the plants of major economic interest including wheat. This disease causes many problems for farmers and economic loss resulting are often very heavy. Chemical control is currently one of the most effective ways to fight against these diseases. In this study, the efficacy of three fungicides (tebuconazole, thiram and fludioxonil - difenoconazole mixture) was tested, in vitro, on the phytopathogenic Fusarium sp. isolated from seeds of wheat. The active ingredients were tested at different concentrations: 0.06, 1.39, 2.79, 5.58, and 11.16 mg/l for tebuconazole, 0.035, 0.052, 0.105, 0.21, and 0.42 mg/l for thiram and finally, for the mixture fludioxonil- difenoconazole 4 concentrations were tested : 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, and 1 mg/l. Toxicity responses were expressed as the effective concentration, which inhibits mycelial growth by 50%, (EC50). Of the three selected fungicides, thirame proved to be the most effective with EC50 value of the order of 0,15 mg/l followed by the mixture of fludioxonil- difenoconazole with 0,27 mg/l and finally tebuconazole with a value of 3.79 mg/l.

Keywords: Fusarium sp, thiram, tebuconazole, fludioxonil, difenoconazole, EC50

Procedia PDF Downloads 515
261 Conservation Agriculture and Precision Water Management in Alkaline Soils under Rice-Wheat Cropping System: Effect on Wheat Productivity and Irrigation Water Use-a Case Study from India

Authors: S. K. Kakraliya, H. S. Jat, Manish Kakraliya, P. C. Sharma, M. L. Jat

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The biggest challenge in agriculture is to produce more food for the continually increasing world population with in the limited land and water resources. Serious water deficits and reducing natural resources are some of the major threats to the agricultural sustainability in many regions of South Asia. Food and water security may be gained by bringing improvement in the crop water productivity and the amount produced per unit of water consumed. Improvement in the crop water productivity may be achieved by pursuing alternative modern agronomics approaches, which are more friendly and efficient in utilizing natural resources. Therefore, a research trial on conservation agriculture (CA) and precision water management (PWM) was conducted in 2018-19 at Karnal, India to evaluate the effect on crop productivity and irrigation in sodic soils under rice-wheat (RW) systems of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). Eight scenarios were compared varied in the tillage, crop establishment, residue and irrigarion management i.e., {First four scenarios irrigated with flood irrigation method;Sc1-Conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2-CT with residue, Sc3- Zero tillage (ZT) without residue, Sc4-ZT with residue}, and {last four scenarios irrigated with sub-surface drip irrigation method; Sc5-ZT without residue, Sc6- ZT with residue, Sc7-ZT inclusion legume without residue and Sc8- ZT inclusion legume with residue}. Results revealed that CA-flood irrigation (S3, Sc4) and CA-PWM system (Sc5, Sc6, Sc7 and Sc8) recorded about ~5% and ~15% higher wheat yield, respectively compared to Sc1. Similar, CA-PWM saved ~40% irrigation water compared to Sc1. Rice yield was not different under different scenarios in the first year (kharif 2019) but almost half irrigation water saved under CA-PWM system. Therefore, results of our study on modern agronomic practices including CA and precision water management (subsurface drip irrigation) for RW rotation would be addressed the existing and future challenges in the RW system.

Keywords: Sub-surface drip, Crop residue, Crop yield , Zero tillage

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260 Technical Efficiency in Organic and Conventional Wheat Farms: Evidence from a Primary Survey from Two Districts of Ganga River Basin, India

Authors: S. P. Singh, Priya, Komal Sajwan

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With the increasing spread of organic farming in India, costs, returns, efficiency, and social and environmental sustainability of organic vis-a-vis conventional farming systems have become topics of interest among agriculture scientists, economists, and policy analysts. A study on technical efficiency estimation under these farming systems, particularly in the Ganga River Basin, where the promotion of organic farming is incentivized, can help to understand whether the inputs are utilized to their maximum possible level and what measures can be taken to improve the efficiency. This paper, therefore, analyses the technical efficiency of wheat farms operating under organic and conventional farming systems. The study is based on a primary survey of 600 farms (300 organic ad 300 conventional) conducted in 2021 in two districts located in the Middle Ganga River Basin, India. Technical, managerial, and scale efficiencies of individual farms are estimated by applying the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology. The per hectare value of wheat production is taken as an output variable, and values of seeds, human labour, machine cost, plant nutrients, farm yard manure (FYM), plant protection, and irrigation charges are considered input variables for estimating the farm-level efficiencies. The post-DEA analysis is conducted using the Tobit regression model to know the efficiency determining factors. The results show that technical efficiency is significantly higher in conventional than organic farming systems due to a higher gap in scale efficiency than managerial efficiency. Further, 9.8% conventional and only 1.0% organic farms are found operating at the most productive scale size (MPSS), and 99% organic and 81% conventional farms at IRS. Organic farms perform well in managerial efficiency, but their technical efficiency is lower than conventional farms, mainly due to their relatively lower scale size. The paper suggests that technical efficiency in organic wheat can be increased by upscaling the farm size by incentivizing group/collective farming in clusters.

Keywords: organic, conventional, technical efficiency, determinants, DEA, Tobit regression

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259 An Ultrasonic Approach to Investigate the Effect of Aeration on Rheological Properties of Soft Biological Materials with Bubbles Embedded

Authors: Hussein M. Elmehdi

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In this paper, we present the results of our recent experiments done to examine the effect of air bubbles, which were introduced to bio-samples during preparation, on the rheological properties of soft biological materials. To effectively achieve this, we three samples each prepared with differently. Our soft biological systems comprised of three types of flour dough systems made from different flour varieties with variable protein concentrations. The samples were investigated using ultrasonic waves operated at low frequency in transmission mode. The sample investigated included dough made from bread flour, wheat flour and all-purpose flour. During mixing, the main ingredient of the samples (the flour) was transformed into cohesive dough comprised of the continuous dough matrix and air pebbles. The rheological properties of such materials determine the quality of the end cereal product. Two ultrasonic parameters, the longitudinal velocity and attenuation coefficient were found to be very sensitive to properties such as the size of the occluded bubbles, and hence have great potential of providing quantitative evaluation of the properties of such materials. The results showed that the magnitudes of the ultrasonic velocity and attenuation coefficient peaked at optimum mixing times; the latter of which is taken as an indication of the end of the mixing process. There was an agreement between the results obtained by conventional rheology and ultrasound measurements, thus showing the potential of the use of ultrasound as an on-line quality control technique for dough-based products. The results of this work are explained with respect to the molecular changes occurring in the dough system as the mixing process proceeds; particular emphasis is placed on the presence of free water and bound water.

Keywords: ultrasound, soft biological materials, velocity, attenuation

Procedia PDF Downloads 239
258 Evaluation of Broad Leaf Weed Herbicides on Weed Control and Productivity of Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.)

Authors: Kassahun Zewdie

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-- A field experiment was conducted at Holetta research center and farmers fields during 2017 and 2018 to determine the effects of haulauxifen-methyl + florasulam (QULEX 200 WG) on broadleaf weeds in wheat. The design was a Randomized Complete Block with three replications. The treatments were included haulauxifen-Methyl + florasulam @ 25gm, 50gm and 75gm ha-1, (King-D) 2, 4-D dimethyl amine @1.0 L ha-1, 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid @1.0 L ha-1 rate (standard check), farmers practice twice hand weeding (25-30 and 55-60) days after sowing and weedy check. Herbicides were applied with knapsack sprayer with a spray volume of 200 L ha-1. The wheat variety “Denda” was sown at 20 cm spacing. The recommended rate of fertilizer was applied. Weed density and biomass were recorded at (25-30 and 55-60) days after sowing. The results revealed that post emergence application of haulauxifen-methyl + florasulam @50gm ha-1 had a significant (P<0.05) effect on Guizotia scabra, Polygonum nepalense, Plantago lanceolata, Galinsoga parviflora, Sonchus spp., Galium spurium, Amaranthus hybridus, Raphanus raphanistrum and Medicago polymorpha population. The magnitude ranged from two to four folds when comparing with weed densities recorded in the unweeded plot. The grain yield harvested from the untreated check plot was significantly lower than the rest treatments. The grain yield was improved by 17.3% over the standard check with better performance.

Keywords: broadleaf, grass, weeds, control

Procedia PDF Downloads 152
257 Disease Level Assessment in Wheat Plots Using a Residual Deep Learning Algorithm

Authors: Felipe A. Guth, Shane Ward, Kevin McDonnell

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The assessment of disease levels in crop fields is an important and time-consuming task that generally relies on expert knowledge of trained individuals. Image classification in agriculture problems historically has been based on classical machine learning strategies that make use of hand-engineered features in the top of a classification algorithm. This approach tends to not produce results with high accuracy and generalization to the classes classified by the system when the nature of the elements has a significant variability. The advent of deep convolutional neural networks has revolutionized the field of machine learning, especially in computer vision tasks. These networks have great resourcefulness of learning and have been applied successfully to image classification and object detection tasks in the last years. The objective of this work was to propose a new method based on deep learning convolutional neural networks towards the task of disease level monitoring. Common RGB images of winter wheat were obtained during a growing season. Five categories of disease levels presence were produced, in collaboration with agronomists, for the algorithm classification. Disease level tasks performed by experts provided ground truth data for the disease score of the same winter wheat plots were RGB images were acquired. The system had an overall accuracy of 84% on the discrimination of the disease level classes.

Keywords: crop disease assessment, deep learning, precision agriculture, residual neural networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 295
256 Trehalose Application Increased Membrane Stability and Cell Viability to Affect Growth of Wheat Genotypes under Heat Stress

Authors: S. K. Thind, Aparjot Kaur

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Heat stress is one of the major environmental factors drastically reducing wheat production. Crop heat tolerance can be enhanced by preconditioning of plants by exogenous application of osmoprotectants. Presently, the effect of trehalose pretreatment (at 1 mM, and 1.5 nM) under heat stress of 35±2˚C (moderate) and 40±2˚ (severe) for four and eight hour was conducted in wheat (Tricticum aestivum L.) genotypes viz. HD2967, PBW 175, PBW 343, PBW 621, and PBW 590. Heat stress affects wide spectrum of physiological processes within plants that are irreversibly damaged by stress. Membrane thermal stability (MTS) and cell viability was significantly decreased under heat stress for eight hours. Pretreatment with trehalose improved MTS and cell viability under stress and this effect was more promotory with higher concentration. Thermal stability of photosynthetic apparatus differed markedly between genotypes and Hill reaction activity was recorded more in PBW621 followed by C306 as compared with others. In all genotypes photolysis of water showed decline with increase in temperature stress. Trehalose pretreatment helped in sustaining Hill reaction activity probably by stabilizing the photosynthetic apparatus against heat-induced photo inhibition. Both plant growth and development were affected by temperature in both shoot and root under heat stress. The reduction was compensated partially by trehalose (1.5 mM) application. Adaption to heat stress is associated with the metabolic adjustment which led to accumulation of soluble sugars including non-reducing and reducing for their role in adaptive mechanism. Higher acid invertase activity in shoot of tolerant genotypes appeared to be a characteristic for stress tolerance. As sucrose synthase play central role in sink strength and in studied wheat genotype was positively related to dry matter accumulation. The duration of heat stress for eight hours had more severe effect on these parameters and trehalose application at 1.5 mM ameliorated it to certain extent.

Keywords: heat stress, Triticum aestivum, trehalose, membrane thermal stability, triphenyl tetrazolium chloride, reduction test, growth, sugar metabolism

Procedia PDF Downloads 295
255 Grain Yield, Morpho-Physiological Parameters and Growth Indices of Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) Varieties Exposed to High Temperature under Late Sown Condition

Authors: Shital Bangar, Chetana Mandavia

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A field experiment was carried out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications at Instructional Farm Krushigadh, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, India to assess the biochemical parameters of wheat in order to assess the thermotolerance. Nine different wheat varieties GW 433, GW 431, HI 1571, GW 432, RAJ 3765, HD 2864, HI 1563, HD 3091 and PBW 670 sown in timely and late sown conditions (i.e., 22 Nov and 6 Dec 2012) were analysed. All the varieties differed significantly with respect to grain yield morpho-physiological parameters and growth indices for time of sowing, varieties and varieties x time of sowing interactions. The observations on morpho-physiological parameters viz., germination percentage, canopy temperature depression and growth indices viz., leaf area index (LAI), leaf area ratio (LAR) were recorded. Almost all the morpho-physiological parameters, growth indices and grain yield studied were affected adversely by late sowing, registering reduction in their magnitude. Germination percentage was reduced under late sown condition but variety PBW 670 was the best. Varieties GW 432 performed better with respect to canopy temperature depression while sown late. Under late sown condition, variety GW 431 recorded higher LAI while HI 1563 had maximum LAR. Considering yield performance, HD 2864 was best under timely sown condition, while GW 433 was best under late sown condition. Varieties HI 1571, GW 433 and GW 431 could be labelled as thermo-tolerant because there was least reduction in grain yield under late sown condition (1.75 %, 7.90 % and13.8 % respectively). Considering correlation coefficient, grain yield showed very strong significant positive association with germination percentage. Leaf area ratio was strongly and significantly correlated with grain yield but in negative direction. Canopy temperature depression and leaf area index also had positive correlation with grain yield but were non-significant.

Keywords: growth indices, morpho-physiological parametrs, thermo-tolerance, wheat

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254 Extraction of Osmolytes from the Halotolerant Fungus Aspergillus oryzae

Authors: H. Nacef, L. Larous

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Salin soils occupy about 7% of land area; they are characterized by unsuitable physical conditions for the growth of living organisms. However, researches showed that some microorganisms especially fungi are able to grow and adapt to such extreme conditions; it is due to their ability to develop different physiological mechanisms in their adaptation. The aim of this study is to identify qualitatively the osmolytes that the biotechnological important fungus A. oryzae accumulated and/or produced in its adaptation, which they were detected by Thin-layer chromatography technique (TLC) using several systems, from different media (Wheat brane, MNM medium and MM medium). The results showed that The moderately halotolerant fungus A. oryzae, accumulates mixture of molecules, containing polyols and sugars , some amino acids in addition to some molecules which were not defined. Wheat bran was the best medium for the extraction of these molecules, where the proportion was 85.71%, followed by MNM medium 64.28%, then the minimum medium MM 14.28%. Properties of osmolytes are becoming increasingly useful in molecular biology, agriculture pharmaceutical, medicinal, and biotechnological interests.

Keywords: salinity, aspergillus oryzae, halo tolerance, osmolytes, compatible solutes

Procedia PDF Downloads 391
253 Effect of Plant Growth Regulator on Vegetative Growth and Yield Components of Winter Wheat under Different Levels of Irrigation

Authors: Mohammed Ahmed Alghamdi

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Field experiment were carried out to investigate the effect of the plant growth regulator on vegetative growth and yield components of reduced height isogenic lines of the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar Mercia. The Field experiment compared the growth regulator response of seven isogenic lines of Mercia. Growth regulators reduced plant height significantly in all lines. Growth regulator decreased total dry matter and grain yield with greatest reduction generally for the control and Rht8 lines. Rht1 was the least affected. There were few significant effects of growth regulator on gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence but the trend was for greater values with growth regulator. In this field experiment, a rate of 2.0 l ha-1 applied just before the third node detectable stage under non water stressed and water stressed conditions gave slight increases in yield of up to 14% except for line Rht10 which increased significantly in non-stressed conditions. In the second glasshouse experiment, a rate of 2.5 l ha-1 applied at the start of stem elongation under 30% FC and 100% FC gave reductions in yield up to 16% for the growth regulator and 55% under water stress. In the field experiment, rates of 2.5 and 3.0 l ha-1 applied at the start of stem elongation gave reductions in yield up to 20% mainly through individual seed weight. In the final glasshouse experiment, rates of 2.5 and 3.0 l ha-1 applied at 6 leaves unfolded and 1st node detectable both reduced grain yield.

Keywords: growth regulator, irrigation, isogenic lines, yield, winter wheat

Procedia PDF Downloads 432
252 Conservation Agriculture under Mediterranean Climate: Effects on below and Above-Ground Processes during Wheat Cultivation

Authors: Vasiliki Kolake, Christos Kavalaris, Sofia Megoudi, Maria Maxouri, Panagiotis A. Karas, Aris Kyparissis, Efi Levizou

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Conservation agriculture (CA), is a production system approach that can tackle the challenges of climate change mainly through facilitating carbon storage into the soil and increasing crop resilience. This is extremely important for the vulnerable Mediterranean agroecosystems, which already face adverse environmental conditions. The agronomic practices used in CA, i.e. permanent soil cover and no-tillage, result in reduced soil erosion and increased soil organic matter, preservation of water and improvement of quality and fertility of the soil in the long-term. Thus the functional characteristics and processes of the soil are considerably affected by the implementation of CA. The aim of the present work was to assess the effects of CA on soil nitrification potential and mycorrhizal colonization about the above-ground production in a wheat field. Two adjacent but independent field sites of 1.5ha each were used (Thessaly plain, Central Greece), comprising the no-till and conventional tillage treatments. The no-tillage site was covered by residues of the previous crop (cotton). Potential nitrification and the nitrate and ammonium content of the soil were measured at two different soil depths (3 and 15cm) at 20-days intervals throughout the growth period. Additionally, the leaf area index (LAI) was monitored at the same time-course. The mycorrhizal colonization was measured at the commencement and end of the experiment. At the final harvest, total yield and plant biomass were also recorded. The results indicate that wheat yield was considerably favored by CA practices, exhibiting a 42% increase compared to the conventional tillage treatment. The superior performance of the CA crop was also depicted in the above-ground plant biomass, where a 26% increase was recorded. LAI, which is considered a reliable growth index, did not show statistically significant differences between treatments throughout the growth period. On the contrary, significant differences were recorded in endomycorrhizal colonization one day before the final harvest, with CA plants exhibiting 20% colonization, while the conventional tillage plants hardly reached 1%. The on-going analyses of potential nitrification measurements, as well as nitrate and ammonium determination, will shed light on the effects of CA on key processes in the soil. These results will integrate the assessment of CA impact on certain below and above-ground processes during wheat cultivation under the Mediterranean climate.

Keywords: conservation agriculture, LAI, mycorrhizal colonization, potential nitrification, wheat, yield

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251 Unequal Contributions of Parental Isolates in Somatic Recombination of the Stripe Rust Fungus

Authors: Xianming Chen, Yu Lei, Meinan Wang

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The dikaryotic basidiomycete fungus, Puccinia striiformis, causes stripe rust, one of the most important diseases of wheat and barley worldwide. The pathogen is largely reproduced asexually, and asexual recombination has been hypothesized to be one of the mechanisms for the pathogen variations. To test the hypothesis and understand the genetic process of asexual recombination, somatic recombinant isolates were obtained under controlled conditions by inoculating susceptible host plants with a mixture of equal quantity of urediniospores of isolates with different virulence patterns and selecting through a series of inoculation on host plants with different genes for resistance to one of the parental isolates. The potential recombinant isolates were phenotypically characterized by virulence testing on the set of 18 wheat lines used to differentiate races of the wheat stripe rust pathogen, P. striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), for the combinations of Pst isolates; or on both sets of the wheat differentials and 12 barley differentials for identifying races of the barley stripe rust pathogen, P. striiformis f. sp. hordei (Psh) for combinations of a Pst isolate and a Psh isolate. The progeny and parental isolates were also genotypically characterized with 51 simple sequence repeat and 90 single-nucleotide polymorphism markers. From nine combinations of parental isolates, 68 potential recombinant isolates were obtained, of which 33 (48.5%) had similar virulence patterns to one of the parental isolates, and 35 (51.5%) had virulence patterns distinct from either of the parental isolates. Of the 35 isolates of distinct virulence patterns, 11 were identified as races that had been previously detected from natural collections and 24 were identified as new races. The molecular marker data confirmed 66 of the 68 isolates as recombinants. The percentages of parental marker alleles ranged from 0.9% to 98.9% and were significantly different from equal proportions in the recombinant isolates. Except for a couple of combinations, the greater or less contribution was not specific to any particular parental isolates as the same parental isolates contributed more to some of the progeny isolates but less to the other progeny isolates in the same combination. The unequal contributions by parental isolates appear to be a general role in somatic recombination for the stripe rust fungus, which may be used to distinguish asexual recombination from sexual recombination in studying the evolutionary mechanisms of the highly variable fungal pathogen.

Keywords: molecular markers, Puccinia striiformis, somatic recombination, stripe rust

Procedia PDF Downloads 213
250 Triticum Aestivum Yield Enhanced with Irrigation Scheduling Strategy under Salinity

Authors: Taramani Yadav, Gajender Kumar, R. K. Yadav, H. S. Jat

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Soil Salinity and irrigation water salinity is critical threat to enhance agricultural food production to full fill the demand of billion plus people worldwide. Salt affected soils covers 6.73 Mha in India and ~1000 Mha area around the world. Irrigation scheduling of saline water is the way to ensure food security in salt affected areas. Research experiment was conducted at ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Experimental Farm, Nain, Haryana, India with 36 treatment combinations in double split plot design. Three sets of treatments consisted of (i) three regimes of irrigation viz., 60, 80 and 100% (I1, I2 and I3, respectively) of crop ETc (crop evapotranspiration at identified respective stages) in main plot; (ii) four levels of irrigation water salinity (sub plot treatments) viz., 2, 4, 8 and 12 dS m-1 (iii) applications of two PBRs along with control (without PBRs) i.e. salicylic acid (G1; 1 mM) and thiourea (G2; 500 ppm) as sub-sub plot treatments. Grain yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) was increased with less amount of high salt loaded irrigation water at the same level of salinity (2 dS m-1), the trend was I3>I2>I1 at 2 dS m-1 with 8.10 and 17.07% increase at 80 and 100% ETc, respectively compared to 60% ETc. But contrary results were obtained by increasing amount of irrigation water at same level of highest salinity (12 dS m-1) showing following trend; I1>I2>I3 at 12 dS m-1 with 9.35 and 12.26% increase at 80 and 60% ETc compared to 100% ETc. Enhancement in grain yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) is not need to increase amount of irrigation water under saline condition, with salty irrigation water less amount of irrigation water gave the maximum wheat (Triticum aestivum) grain yield.

Keywords: Irrigation Scheduling, Saline Environment, Triticum aestivum, Yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 116