Journal of Agriculture and Applied Biology
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Strip planted mechanical seeding of mustard and mungbean with crop residue retention is more profitable than conventional practice
Smallholder agriculture of the Asian continent faces a significant challenge of declining soil productivity and an acute shortage of agricultural labor. Reduced tillage and crop residue mulch application is an integrated approach to preserving soil health and addressing the labor crisis to maintain farm sustainability. We undertook this study to evaluate the effect of strip planting and increased residue mulching on mustard and mungbean\u27s productivity and profitability in northern Bangladesh during 2015 and 2016. Mustard cv. BARI Sharisha 14 and mungbean cv. BARI Mungbean 6 was grown following (i) Conventionally Tilled broadcasting method (CT) and (ii) Strip Planted line seeding (SP) with two levels of crop mulch (i) no-mulch and (ii) 50% mulch. The CT was done by a two-wheel tractor with four plowings and cross plowing followed by leveling. In SP, single tillage, seeding, fertigation, and field leveling were done simultaneously by a Versatile Multi-crop Planter machine. Results reveal that mechanized seeding of mustard and mungbean in SP with 50% residue mulching fetched 62% higher profit than broadcasted CT without residue through producing 24% higher seed yield. This practice reduced the land preparation costs by 68%, in association with reducing the labor and fuel requirements by 30%. Hence, it could be concluded that the mechanized seeding of mustard and mungbean with the retention of 50% of crop residue is profitable to the conventionally broadcasted seeding process
Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for growth, yield and yield related traits in maize genotypes
Evaluation of the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance of traits is an essential task in any plant improvement program. Twenty maize genotypes were replicated twice in a randomized complete block design on a research plot of Prithu Technical College, Deukhuri Dang of Nepal from June 2017 to September 2017 to determine genetic variability, heritability, and genetic advance for different agronomic traits. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in the traits tassel length, ear height, days to fifty percent tasseling, days to fifty percent silking, kernels’ rows ear-1, kernels row-1 and grain yield. The highest GCV (31.53%) and PCV (39.20%) were recorded on grain yield. Grain yield and ear height recorded high heritability along with high genetic advance as a percent of mean (GAM). Tassel length and kernels row-1 showed high heritability integrated with moderate GAM and moderate heritability integrated with moderate GAM respectively. Further, grain yield showed a significant and positive correlation with plant height, tassel length, ear height, cob length, cob diameter, kernels’ rows ear-1, and kernels row-1. Thus the selection of ear height, tassel length and kernels row-1 is suggested as they performed better in terms of both heritability and GAM than other traits and they also recorded a significant and positive correlation with yield
Application of foliar biofertilizers with and without NPK in cultivating white-glutinous corn
Organic farming used fermented fruit and plant juices as foliar fertilizers to enhance crop production. However, the usage is usually limited to sole fruit or plant fermentation with chemicals and other growth enhancers. The use of various fruits, plants, fish products, and Cyanobacteria with Mycorrhizal fungi combinations to enhance white-glutinous corn has not yet been explored. This trial investigated the different fermented fruits (FFJ), plants (FPJ), fishes (FAA), and commercial Cyanobacteria with Mycorrhizal fungi (Rhizocote) in single-use or combination with NPK to enhance the growth, yield, and Return on Investment (ROI) of cultivating white-glutinous corn. The application was 2 tbsp L-1 water for single use of fermented biofertilizers while 1 tbsp L-1 water for fermented foliar with NPK combinations. The results showed that the height of corn was not significant among treatments in 30 and 60 days after planting (DAP). However, corn treated with Rhizocote alone was the tallest in 45 DAP and had longer days to reach 50% corn tasseling. White-glutinous corn treated with Rhizocote + NPK had the highest number of ears. The rest of the treatments yielded a comparable number of ear sizes ranging from 1.27 to 1.37 cm. The highest yield of marketable green ears accounted for 7.45 t ha-1 with Rhizocote + NPK, while the lowest was observed when the white-glutinous corn was fertilized alone with FFJ at 2.93 t-ha. The Rhizocote + NPK obtained the highest R.O.I. of 263.68% compared to other treatments. Thus, the recommendation is to use 1.00 tbsp L-1 water commercial Rhizocote + recommended NPK for a productive and profitable white-glutinous corn. More investigation using different agri-fishery products fermentation at higher concentrations are needed in culture of white-glutinous corn for green ear production in various planting season
Chitosan for suppression of fusarium wilt and plant growth promotion of brinjal
Chitosan is a biodegradable natural compound that has a great potentiality in agriculture for controlling plant diseases. An attempt was made to control Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae under inoculated field condition and increase the growth and yield of brinjal by chitosan. Before setting the experiments in the field, preliminary laboratory experiments were carried out to select virulent isolate and effective dose of chitosan against the mycelial growth of the selected pathogen. F. oxysporum f. sp. melongenae isolate F-1 was found to be the most virulent on brinjal in pathogenicity test. Chitosan @ 1.0% concentration was appeared to be the highest inhibitory to the test pathogen at in vitro condition. Additionally, seed treatment with 1.0% chitosan for 12 hrs resulted in the highest increased in germination and seedling growth of brinjal. The field experiment was conducted following Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four treatments. No treatment was given in T1, the pathogen was inoculated in T2 and seed treatment and soil amendment with 1.0% chitosan was done in T3 and T4, respectively, in test pathogen inoculated condition. Application of 1.0% chitosan as a seed treatment (T3) or soil amendment (T4) significantly reduced pre- and post-emergence seedling mortality, incidence and severity of Fusarium wilt as well as enhanced germination percentage, plant growth and yield of brinjal. On the contrary, pre-emergence and post-emergence seedling mortality, disease incidence and severity of Fusarium wilt were highest in treatment T2 where the soil was inoculated with pathogen without chitosan. Therefore, chitosan could be used against this vascular disease as an alternative to inorganic fungicides and augment yield
Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the peel essential oils extracted from citrus fruits
Citrus peel is an important source of essential oils (EOs). However, these EOs are not invested, although the annual production of citrus is high in Syria. The current study aimed to investigate chemical composition and antibacterial activity of some citrus peel EOs, namely: lemon (Citrus limon), orange (C. sinensis), grapefruit (C. paradisi), mandarin (C. reticulata) and bitter orange (C. aurantium). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) (gas chromatograph type: Agilent 7890A, auto sampler type: Agilent 7683B coupled to mass spectrometer, type Agilent 5975C, using DB–1 capillary column. EOs. concentration 1: 10 v/v in chloroform, injection volume 1 µl, split ratio 1: 80), was used to identify the chemical composition of the EOs, which were extracted by hydrodistillation technique, and chemical composition was expressed as Mean ± SD of three replications using SPSS V17 software. Minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) was used to determine the antibacterial activity against five Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus, B. licheniformis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, S. lugdunensis, Enterococcus faecalis) and five Gram negative bacteria (Klebsiella oxytoca, Citrobacter koseri, Serratia liquefaciens, Pseudomonas fluorescens and P. luteola). Limonene formed the vast majority of EOs (between 62.16 and 95.26% in lemon and orange EOs, respectively), but there were other active components, such as α–Pinene and β–Pinene. Lemon EO was the most effective one, with MBC values ranged between 4 μl.ml–1 (against Bacillus cereus) and 50 μl.ml–1 (against Serratia liquefaciens). Pseudomonas luteola (a Gram-negative bacterium) was the most sensitive species to citrus EOs (MBC values ranged between 4 and 50 μl.ml–1 for lemon and orange EOs, respectively); while S. liquefaciens (a Gram-negative bacterium) was the most resistant bacterium (MBC values were 50 and 150 μl.ml–1 for lemon and mandarin EOs, respectively) among all species studied in the current research
Sago and the indigenous peoples of Papua, Indonesia: A review
A significant concern with the food security issue worldwide is indigenous peoples and their food resources. The indigenous peoples of Papua are still very dependent on rice, a heavily imported commodity. During the global pandemic, the indigenous peoples of Papua faced the issue of food supply and food resilience. Simultaneously, Indonesia has the largest sago (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) palm-growing areas, accounting for over half (51%) of the 2.3 million hectares of sago worldwide, and about 90% of sago is estimated to be in Papua and Maluku. Indigenous food crops such as sago are exceptionally resilient to adverse local environments, highlighting their crucial role in ensuring food and nutrition security, particularly during a natural disaster. However, despite sago’s multiple uses and benefits, it is still poorly evaluated as a food resource by the government, with consumption at relatively low levels. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art regarding indigenous peoples and their food resources, focusing on why sago is essential, not only for the indigenous peoples of Papua but also for the possibility of introducing sago to the world
Inventory of herbs plants at three different locations in forest education of Mulawarman University, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Many plants have the potential to be medicinal from the herbaceous group. Herbaceous plants have short, small steam and have a wet trunk because they contain many water and non-woody. This research aims to inventory species of herbaceous plants that can be medicinal plants and other uses in three different locations. The results showed that 12 species were found in the slope area, 340 individuals. The highest number of SDRn of 29.26% was Nephrolepis biserrata (SW.) Schott. In the ramp, the area has been found of 11 species of herbaceous, 215 individuals. The highest number of SDRn of 34.81% was Phrynium pubinerve Blume. In a hill, area has been found 16 species of herbaceous, 542 individuals. The highest number of SDRn of 38.72% was Phrynium pubinerve Blume. Dominance index (C) in three locations research was 0.26, 0.23 and 0.31. Similarity index (ISs) in three locations was 60.87% (slope-ramp: high), 59.26% (slope-hill: medium) and 57.14% (ramp-hill: medium). There were 11 species as medicinal plants, 17 species as ornamental plants, and 2 species as crafts
Estimation of avoidable losses caused by Meloidogyne incognita infecting cucumber in poly-house
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a high nutritious and mineral-rich vegetable, which occupies a prominent place as a salad and vegetable. It is being used in many ways in the daily diet of humans and widely cultivated worldwide. The decrease of agricultural land, adverse environmental conditions and continuous increase of population, the demand of nutritious food is a matter of great concern to the world. Protected cultivation is a very effective tool to solve this problem because in this cultivation the productivity of crops is very high as compared to open field conditions. High value crops successfully grown in protected cultivation, specially vegetables (cucumber, tomato, Capsicum etc.) which are highly susceptible to the numerous pests and pathogens, including phyto-parasitic nematodes (specially root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne spp.). With this view, present trial was taken to estimate the avoidable losses caused by Meloidogyne incognita infecting cucumber in poly-house situated on farmer’s field with the application of phorate at 2 kg a.i. ha-1 over check. Results exhibited that application of chemical treatment significantly reduced number of galls per 5 g roots, egg masses per 5 g roots, eggs & juveniles per egg mass and final nematode population 79.03, 81.10, 30.91 and 56.54%, respectively. Avoidable yield losses were recorded to the tune of 66.84% on cucumber by M. incognita in poly-house