Journal of Applied and Natural Science
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Effect of heavy metals on the survival, growth and development of earthworm Eisenia fetida
Get PDFThe present laboratory study was carried out to determine the effect of the metal contaminated soil on the survival, growth and development of Eisenia fetida. Metal contaminated soil samples were collected from five different sites of Ludhiana city which is an industrial hub of Punjab. Maximum heavy metal concentrations were recorded in soil sample taken from hambran around the Buddha Nullah and minimum concentration of heavy metal from haibowal. The level of heavy metals chromium and nickel (347 ppm and 189 ppm) were higher than permissible limits according to CCME (2001), whereas lead (42.6 ppm) was within permissible limits. Adult E. fetida were exposed to different concentrations of heavy metals in artificial soil for 28 days. Significant effects were observed on growth and reproduction of the tested organisms. There was 100% survival of E. fetida in soil amended with lead, chromium and nickel along with morphological abnormalities such as extrusion of coelomic fluid. It was observed that the worms in the low and high doses of heavy metal treated substrate produced cocoons with a one week and two week delay, respectively, vis-a-vis the control group. Furthermore, the emergence of hatchlings started one week earlier in control than in soil treated with medium and high concentration of metals. It is safely concluded that presence of heavy metal in soils adversely affects the growth, reproduction and development of E. fetida. Results ofthe study indicated that reproduction was more sensitive to higher concentrations of heavy metal contaminated soil than survival or weight change
Heterosis and inbreeding depression to identify superior F1 hybrids in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) for the yield and its contributing traits
Get PDFEight parental lines of diverse origin of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) were crossed in 8 × 8 diallel mating design excluding reciprocals. The 28 F1 hybrids along with their parents and one standard check (H-86) were evaluated in a randomized block design with three replications during seasons of rabi 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. In the present study, revealed that heterosis over better parent, mid parent, standard check and inbreeding depression was observed for all the traits under studies. Highly significant heterosis was observed for days to first flowering (-13.49, -13.52 and -12.28%), number of flowers per cluster (17.90, 22.11 and 24.27%), days to first harvest (-8.01, -11.04 and -9.76%), number of fruit per cluster (39.17, 42.71 and 20.71%), fruit diameter (19.93, 31.43 and 13.27%), fruit length (19.29, 22.34 and 13.35%), Average fruit weight (18.88, 19.41 and 7.80%), number of fruits per plant (25.86, 46.69 and 41.87%) and yield per plant (58.61, 75.61 and 56.33%) over the better, mid and standard parents, respectively along with considerable inbreeding depression. Most promising cross Pant T-3 × H-24 showed highly significant positive heterosis over better parent for yield per plant
Management of Ashwagandha root rot disease with fungicides, biocontrol agents and botanicals
Get PDFThe experiment was conducted to study fungicides, biocontrol agents and botanicals for management of ashwagandha root rot disease. Ashwagandha root rot disease caused by two pathogen Fusarium solani and Rhizoctonia solani. In field trial, seed treatments with integration of fungicides, neem cake manure, neem oil and Trichoderma viride agent evaluated as seed treatments individually as well as in different combination of seed treatment and soil application of neem cake was found effective integrated treatment (ST SAAF + neem cake manure + T. viride) and soil application of neem cake manure@500g/plot showed minimum per cent root rot and maximum per cent germination and maximum yield of Ashwagandha as compared to their individual applications over the untreated control
Assessment of Penicillium bilaii inoculation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for improving growth, yield and phosphorus availability in Mollisols of India
Get PDFA field experiment was carried out with an aim to study the influence of two strains of Penicillium bilaii (PB -201 and PB-208) inoculation along with superphosphate application on growth, yield and P uptake of wheat (cv. PBW-343) and, also to examine the inoculation effect on P availability, forms of P and soil properties in Mollisols of Uttarakhand, India. The results showed that both strains of P. bilaii effectively solubilized tri-calcium phosphate in Pikovskaya agar medium, which was much higher over native fungal isolates. Wheat seed inoculation with P. bilaii strains along with superphosphate levels significantly influenced shoot height, shoot dry weight, number of total and effective tillers, yield attributes, yield components, tissue content and uptake of P. The treatment T7 (P. bilaii, strain PB-208 + 50% P) has resulted into the highest amount of shoot height (87.9 cm at 90 DAS), shoot dry weight (1.5 and 3.8 g at 60 and 90 DAS, respectively), grain (66.8 q ha-1) and straw yield (42.7 q ha-1) and P uptake (26.5 kg ha-1). The Olsen-P, organic carbon, dehydrogenase activity and fungal populations also increased in soil inoculated with P. bilaii strains combined with superphosphate application compared to the control soil. The conjoint use of the fungal strains with or, without P fertilization has developed an antagonistic interaction that has caused decline in yield, tissue content and uptake of P and its availability in soil. In conclusion, it is possible to reduce the rate of soluble P-fertilizer added by 50% without reducing yield, if wheat is inoculated with P-solubilizing fungi like P. bilaii
Temporal dynamics of sucking pest and field response of promising insecticidal molecules in okra
Get PDFTo investigate the response due to application of newer insecticide on sucking pest in okra, a trial was designed at field level for three consecutive years from 2011-12 to 2013-14 in kharif season. Moreover, impacts of applied insecticides on natural enemies were also assessed. Based on experimental finding thiamethoxam 25WG 0.003% (2.83 per 3 leaves, 0.93 per 3 leaves), imidacloprid 70WG 0.004% (3.49 per 3 leaves, 1.30 per 3 leaves) and thiacloprid 21.7 SC 0.006% (4.28 per 3 leaves, 1.75 per 3 leaves) provided superior control of leafhoppers and whiteflies population on okra. Effectiveness of these treatments was reflected in terms of reduction in population of both insects and significantly increases (thiamethoxam: 95.50 q/ha, imidacloprid: 86.96 q/ha and thiacloprid: 80.99 q/ha) the fruit yield in comparison to others. However, the incidence of Yellow Vein Mosaic disease was recorded least in thiamethoxam 0.003% sprayed plots followed by imidacloprid 0.004%. Slow progress in the population ofwhitefly and leaf hopper was recorded in thiamethoxam 0.003% applied plots. There was positive correlation between whitefly and virus incidence in conducted field trial. Under the experiment, neonicotinoids group of insecticides have not adverse effect on natural enemies in okra crop. The information generated under the study can be incorporated in management modules in crop okra without disturbing the ecology of natural enemy and cropping system. In our findings, the quantitative data of temporal increment of whiteflies and mosaic disease will be helpful in understanding or formulating of epidemiological models
Egg shell morphology of an amblyceran louse, Hohorstiella rampurensis (Phthiraptera) infesting ring dove, Streptopelia decaocta
Get PDFScanning electron microscopy (SEM) study showed that miniature rice grain like egg shell of Hohorstiella rampurensis was covered by obliquely placed opercular disc. The apophyses were present only on one side of the egg shell. There were 25-35 long elongated rod like apophyses (apically turned), which were arranged in 3-4 rows and occurred in pair. The nature of egg shell of H. rampurensis characteristically differed from that of H. lata (the only species of Hohorstiella studied, so far). The study further indicates about the role of egg morphology as a guide to louse taxonomy
Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and its applicability in aquaculture systems and aquatic animal health management: An overview
Get PDFGlobal aquaculture production in 2012 touched new high of 90.4 million tonnes including 66.6 million tonnes of food fish and 23.8 million tonnes of aquatic algae providing 19.2 kg per capita food fish suppy. Aquaculture is reported to suffer heavy production and financial losses due to fish infections caused by microbial pathogens. Therefore in order to make aquaculture industry more sustainable, effective strategies to control fish infections are urgently needed. Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT) is an emerging, low-cost anti-microbial approach to the treatment of locally occurring infections and also for the treatment of aquaculture water and waste waters. Already proven effective in various medical and clinical applications, it utilizes three vital components: a photosensitizing agent (PS), a light source of an appropriate wave length and oxygen. aPDT has got a potential of being a preferred choice over antibiotics in aquaculture systems because of its non-target specificity, few side effects, lack of the pathogenicity reversal and re-growth of the micro-organism after treatment and the lack of development of resistance mechanisms. The technique has been proved effective in vitro against bacteria (including drug-resistant strains), yeasts, fungi, viruses, parasites and even the stubborn biofilms. Although preliminary results indicate that this technology has a high potential to disinfect waters in aquaculture system and also in hatcheries and seed production units, but it clearly needs more deep knowledge and multi-dimenstional approach
G x E Interaction and path analysis for yield and its attributing traits in advanced genotypes of pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]
Get PDFThe present investigation was carried out during kharif-2012, 2013 and 2014 under rain fed condition at the Agricultural Research Station, Kalaburagi located in north eastern dry zone (Zone 2) of Karnataka, to know the stability and path analysis of the twenty genotypes of pigeonpea including check WRP-1. Highly significant differences among genotypes were observed for all the characters except primary branches. Environmental + (Genotype × Environment) interaction was significant for days to maturity, primary branch, pod bearing length, and seed yield per plant. The variance due to pooled deviation was highly significant for all the characters except for primary branches, pod length and number of seeds per pod which reflect the presence of sufficient genetic variability in the material. Out of 20 genotypes studied, RVK-275 (X=38.713, bi=1.7 and S2di = -9.67) and AKT-9913 (X =43.397, bi=2.86 and S2di= -7.42) were found to be a stable for seed yield and test weight, across the environments with good stability under rain fed conditions compared to local check. Path analysis revealed that days to flower initiation (3.942 and 1.123), days to maturity (1.493 and 0.960), primary branches (0.667 and 0.045), pod bearing length (1.153 and 0.394), number of pods per plant (0.661 and 0.463) and 100 seed weight (0.352 and 0.426) had the highest positive direct effect on grain yield both at genotypic and phenotypic level. For maximizing the grain yield per plant emphasis should be given in selection of such characters for further improvement in pigeonpea
Resource use efficiency of maize production in Jammu Region of J & K State
Get PDFMaize one of the important crops of rainfed agriculture is grown in low, mid and high hill altitudes. The study was conducted on resource use efficiency of maize production in Jammu Region of J&K state during the year 2007-08. Jammu region of state observed a positive trend for area but negative for yield of maize. In sampleddistricts, area under maize cultivation contributed positively in production but yield and interaction effect of both factors contributed negatively during the overall period of twenty years. The allocative efficiency was 0.014, 0.668, 1.019, 3.244 and 13.38 respectively for labour, capital, irrigation and fertilizers (N and K), respectively and the allocative efficiency of fertilizer (P) was negative (-1.732). Maximum likelihood estimates showed that the value of variance parameters lambda (?) was 4.219 and that of sigma (?) was 0.455, which were significantly different from zero indicating a good fit and the correctness of the distributional assumptions specified and the value of gamma ( ?) was 0. 946 indicating 94 per cent of variation between the observed output and frontier output The estimated elasticities of the explanatory variables like labour (0.378), capital (0.336), irrigation (0.225), nitrogen (0.244) and potash (0.292) were positive while the value of phosphate (-0.383) was negative. The analysis of results showed that the returns to scale (RTS) was 1.092. Factors that affected on technical efficiency predicted the regression coefficient for education as 0.023 and farm size as 0.878 and for the proportion of female workers (0.062) in the family was also positively significant
In vitro plant regeneration in rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush.) through epicotyl segments by direct shoot organogenesis
Get PDFThe effect of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various concentrations and combinations of growth hormones on direct regeneration from one month old epicotyl segments of in vitro grown rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush.) seedlings was studied. The earliest bud induction in 7.5 days, highest bud induction frequency (98.50%), percent regeneration(90.53) were obtained on MS medium supplemented with 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) (1mglit-1) with an average number of 12.50 buds per explants. The epicotyls segments with proliferated buds were transferred to elongation media in order to improve the recovery of normal shoots. Maximum number of elongated shoots (8.50) was obtained on MS medium having BAP (0.5mglit-1) + Gibberellic Acid (GA3)(1.0 mglit-1).These elongated shoots were then rooted on MS medium containing Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) (0.1mglit-1) + Indole-3-aceticacid(IAA)(0.5mglit-1) with highest rooting percentage(96%) and root number(5.0). Early (10.10 days) rooting was observed in MS medium supplemented with NAA1.0 mglit-1 + IBA0.5 mglit-1.The plantlet survival was 98.52%, when plantlets were transferred to plastic pots containing a mixture of garden soil and vermiculite (1:1). The hardened plants were successfully established in the soil. The present study developed protocol which can be reliably used for in vitro regeneration of rough lemon and for gene transfer studies in rough lemon, especially to induce salinity and Phytophthora tolerance