Journal of Applied and Natural Science
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Assessment of toxic potential of three different heavy metals to Clarias batrachus (Linn.) utilizing static acute bioassay
Get PDFAcute toxicity bioassay of three different heavy metals copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) for the freshwater catfish, Clarias batrachus were conducted for evaluation of the toxicity. The 96h LC50 values recorded for Cu, Pb and Cd were 15 ppm, 29 ppm and 35 ppm respectively. The results of this study indicate that the order of toxicity of these heavy metals is Cu>Pb>Cd in short duration acute toxicity experiments. The toxicity was found to be dependent on dose and duration of experiment for all these heavy metals. Cu was found to be much more toxic than Pb and Cd to C. batrachus
Damage potential of Tetranychus urticae Koch to cucumber fruit and foliage: Effect of initial infestation density
Get PDFField trials were conducted to assess the damage potential of two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) on cucumber (Cucumis sativus Linnaeus). Young cucumber plants were artificially infested with different densities of T. urticae (5, 10, 15 and 20 mites/ grown up leaf) while uninfested plants acted as control. Post infestation, the plants differed in their support to mite density in accordance with initial infestation density and observation period. Grown up leaves were found to be the most susceptible to mite infestation (5.86 mites/ sq. cm leaf). The number of feeding (chlorotic) patches on cucumber leaves significantly increased from 1.38/sq cm at a pre-count of 5 mites per grown up leaf to 1.71/sq cm leaf at a pre-count of 20 mites as compared to no patch recorded in control. Highly significant negative correlation was recorded between mite population and photosynthetic pigments. Total chlorophyll, chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b and carotenoids decreased to a maximum of 40, 43.63, 45.45 and 47.27 percent at the highest infestation density as compared to control. Results revealed differences among various treatments in terms of yield attributes of cucumber. The per cent reductions from 6.15 to 12.42 in number of fruits, 0.59 to 1.56 in fruit length and 0.93 to 3.28 in fruit width at different inoculums of T. urticae were recorded over uninfested plants. The cumulative effect led to the ultimate reduction in average fruit weight in the range of 10.16 to 17.19 per cent in the infested plants
Analysis of rainfall data for storage and irrigation planning in humid south-eastern plain of Rajasthan in India
Get PDFA study was carried out to analyze the rainfall data for storage and irrigation planning under humid south-eastern region of Rajasthan using a time series record for 32-year (1980-2011) periods. It was observed that most of the years under observation were having adequate rainfall for all round the year crop production provided the water were collected during the rainy season. The area received 921.5 mm annual rainfall out of which 92% occurred during southwest monsoon (June-September) season. Of the total study period of 32 years, 19% were drought years, 66% were normal years and the remaining 15% were the abnormal years. The annual rainfall during the period showed negative trend (-6.955 mm/year). It showed decreasing trend (-7.782 mm/year) during the month of August and positive trends with 0.864, 3.909 and 1.192 mm/year, respectively, during month of June, July and September. The analysis generally showed that water deficit appeared during the period of November up till May and rain water was excess during the period of June up till September. During these months, rain water can be stored with the help of rainfall harvesting system. If only 50% of total rain water is collected, it forms approximately 44.16 lacs litres of water on a unit hectare basis of land. This rainfall water will be adequate for all rounds the year crop production with conservation of rain water and judicious use of rain water resources
Ultramorphology of antennal sensilla of open-nesting honey bees Apis florea F. and Apis dorsata F. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
Get PDFAntenna of honey bees is geniculate and has been known to possess a wide variety of sensilla. The sensilla are sensitive to odor, temperature, humidity, air pressure and gustatory stimuli. In the present investigation, ultrastructural study on the antenna of the two open-nesting worker honey bees- Apis florea F. - the dwarf honey bee and A. dorsata F. - the giant honey showed considerable amount of variation in the types and distribution pattern of sensilla in the two species. The antennal form as well as the sensilla arrangement has been suggested to be adapted to the pheromone perception need of regarding a particular species
In vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of carotenoid pigment extracted from Sporobolomyces sp. isolated from natural source
Get PDFThe aim of the present study was to isolate and study about the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of carotenoid pigment. Sporobolomyces sp. isolated from the phyllosphere surface of rice plant has found to produce carotenoid pigment. The present investigation was carried out for antioxidant assays viz., DPPH, iron reducing and metal chelating activity. A steady increase in the antioxidant activities was observed in the carotenoid pigment with raising the pigment concentration. In the present study, the maximum antioxidation characteristics of carotenoid by DPPH, iron reducing and metal chelating assays (75.04 %, 1.88 % and 59.32 %) were achieved by pigmentation of Sporobolomyces sp. at the concentration of 100 ?g ml-1. The antibacterial activity was studied on several organisms like Enterococcus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Among the six pathogens, the pigment was found to be more effective against E. coli (2.9 cm) and S. aureus (2.6 cm). This study revealed that yeast carotenoid pigment was a potential source for its use in food and pharmaceutical applications
A study on constraints in adoption of scientific aquaculture practices
Get PDFA study was undertaken to ascertain constraints faced by fish farmers in adoption of scientific aquaculture practices in East Champaran and West Champaran districts of Bihar. Information from 144 respondents was collected and analysed by calculating the Rank Based Quotient (RBQ) values. RBQ value for constraint faced by farmers were extreme climatic conditions (84.03), less extension programs and technical support (78.47), lack of contact with extension personnel’s (71.33), lack of awareness about scientific culture practices (65.28), inadequate credit facility (60.42), labour scarcity (57.64) and higher cost of material input (52.08).These constraints could be categorised under five heads namely extension constraints, financial constraints, production constraints, marketing constraints and social constraints. Average RBQ value for constraints related to extension was found to be 71.76 and ranked first. This was followed by financial constraint with RBQ value of 52.78. Production related constraint ranked third with an average RBQ value of 49.3 followed by marketing (32.87) and social constraints(27.08). Hypothesis that there is no significant difference with reference to rankings of constraints was tested by single factor ANOVA. Null hypothesis was rejected as Ftab=3.48>FNcal=2.61 with df=4 at 5% level of significance. There was a significant difference with reference to rankings of constraints. As the extension related constraints had the highest average RBQ value, it is clear that there is an urgent need of making effective strategy, engaging more fisheries extension professionals in this field along with capacity development of the existing extension professionals
Growth parameters and yield attributing characters of PR-118 (V1) and PR-116 (V2) varieties of rice (Oryza sativa L.) as influenced by different planting methods
Get PDFField experiments were conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab) to study the effect of different agronomic aspects of bed planting on growth and yield of rice during Kharif seasons of 2012 and 2013. The 30 days old seedlings of both rice varieties PR-118 (V1) and PR-116 (V2) were transplanted on 15th June (D1), 30th June (D2) and 15th July (D3). The two rice varieties were transplanted under bed planting (M1) and conventional planting (M2) methods respectively. The results showed that growth parameters like number of tillers per plant, dry weight per plant leaf area index (LAI) and plant height were significantly higher in bed planting than conventional method. In bed planting method, grain yield of rice (48.82q/h) was found to be more than the conventional method (35.74 q/h) during 2012.Varieties PR-118 yielded 47.61q/h more than PR-116 (39.97 q/h) in bed planting. Yield contributing characters like number of effective tillers, number of grains per plant and 1000-grain weight of rice were more in bed planting than conventional method. Harvest index and biological yield was also found to be more in bed planting method than conventional planting. Rice transplanted on 15th June yielded (50.15q/h) more than 30th June (41.45q/h) and 15th July (35.27q/h). Similar results were found in Kharif 2013. Interaction between dates of transplanting and varieties and between varieties and planting methods were found significant
Description of a new species of Neocressionella Gupta (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) from North western India
Get PDFA new species, Megachile (Neocressionella) patialensis is described from Patiala, India. Full description of male with their floral relationship, morphological measurements and specimens examined is provided. Knowledge of the life history and nesting habits of Megachile bees will pave the way for their manipulation so that these can be used to increase pollination. Documentation of the genera and species will increase our knowledge of the biodiversity of these bees in the study area
Genotype and environment interaction and stability analysis for seed yield in yellow mung bean (Vigna radiata L.)
Get PDFNine yellow seeded mung (Vigna radiata L.) genotypes were evaluated along with three checks for their yield performance during three years (2007, 2010 and 2011). Pooled analysis of variance and stability analysis were performed. The genotypic (G) × environment (E) interaction and both variance due to genotypes and environment were significant. The portioning of G × E interaction into linear and non-linear components indicated that both predictable and unpredictable components shared the interaction. On the basis of stability parameters, the top yielding genotypes such as BGS-9 (605.444 Kg/Ha), Sel-4 (519.778 Kg/Ha) and China mung (567.000 Kg/Ha) exhibited high mean yield. Based on stability parameters the genotypes YM-5 (459.889 Kg/Ha), YM-8 (451.333 Kg/Ha) exhibited low mean performance along with regression value nearer to unity (bi=1) and non significant deviation from regression (S2 di=0) indicating the high stability and wider adaptability across the three environments. The genotypes BGS-9 (605.444 Kg/Ha) and Sel-4 (519.778 Kg/Ha) exhibited high mean value and bi values (bi>1) and non significant deviation (S2 di < 0) value indicating adapted for high performance environments (These genotypes are sensitive to environments and give maximum yield when inputs are not limited)
Exploration of various flours as pollen substitutes for Apis mellifera L. during Dearth period at Tarai region of Uttarakhand, India
Get PDFStudies on evaluation of various flours as pollen substitutes and availability of pollen resources for Apis mellifera honey bees were conducted at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, India during 2010. Four flours were taken viz. Soybean, Maize, Wheat and Gram as pollen substitutes for A. mellifera. All the flours were mixed with honey and water to make a total of 4 treatments (4 flours + honey + water). Treatment T1 (Soybean flour + honey + water) were found to be best in reference to visitation of bees with a mean number of 32.59 honey bee foragers /5min/day and weight loss in flours was 19.12 g due to foraging by bees followed by the treatment T3 (Maize flour + honey + water) and T2 (Wheat flour + honey + water) were found 29.30 and 23.05, respectively. Gram flour + honey + water (T4) combination were found to be least preferred pollen substitute for A. mellifera (19.76 honey bee foragers/5min/day) with a weight loss 6.66 g. The overall study has great significance for bee keepers. The use of pollen substitute is important for growth and development of the bee colonies not only in dearth periods but also at other times (during foraging, pollination process and to overcome pesticide exposures.). From the present findings it can be concluded that although bees have accepted and grew on all the diets