192 research outputs found
Drought Resilience of Wheat Genotypes Through Microbial Biostimulants Under Water Deficit Regimes
No full textABSTRACT Drought resilience strategies are needed to tackle the escalating issue of water scarcity and to sustain crop productivity under water deficit conditions. There is a gap in identifying the most effective consortium of microbial biostimulants and understanding the underlying physiological and antioxidant mechanisms involved in the drought resilience of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) crop. To address this, three experiments were carried out in laboratory and wire house conditions to identify and optimise the response of drought‐tolerant microbial biostimulants for wheat genotypes. Three drought‐tolerant microbial biostimulants: Bacillus subtilis , Bacillus megaterium and Trichoderma harzianum were selected from a laboratory study. The two wheat genotypes: Dilkash‐2021 and Bakhar Star (drought tolerant and sensitive, respectively) were selected from a wire house experiment. Afterwards, the response of individual and consortium of selected drought‐tolerant microbial biostimulants was evaluated in drought‐tolerant and sensitive wheat genotypes under well‐watered and water deficit regimes. Results indicated that seed inoculation of drought‐tolerant genotype with the microbial consortium of Bacillus subtilis , Bacillus megaterium and Trichoderma harzianum significantly increased relative water contents (58%), stomatal conductance (39%), sub‐stomatal conductance (70%), water use efficiency (38%) and net leaf photosynthetic rate (34%) as compared with the un‐inoculated control under water deficit. Furthermore, a significant reduction in malondialdehyde concentration (36%) and an improvement in proline contents (77%), superoxide dismutase (82%) and peroxidase (51%) were observed with this microbial consortium under water deficit. Therefore, seed inoculation of drought‐tolerant wheat genotypes with the microbial consortium might be considered in formulating the best agricultural practices for alleviating the adverse effects of water deficit on the wheat crop
Enhancing Heat Tolerance in Maize Hybrids Using Bacterial Consortium: Modulation of Morpho‐Physiological Traits and Antioxidant Mechanisms
No full textABSTRACT Heat stress is one of the most detrimental abiotic stresses, causes significant reduction in plant growth and yield in tropical and sub‐tropical regions. Mitigating the adverse effects is crucial for sustainable crop production and global food security. The use of bacterial consortia represents a promising and eco‐friendly approach to enhance heat tolerance in plants, offering a biological strategy to improve resilience under climate‐induced stress conditions. In this study, three heat‐tolerant Bacillus species ( Bacillus velezensis , Bacillus altitudinis and Bacillus cereus ) and two maize hybrids DK‐6103 (heat tolerant) and SW‐1080 (heat sensitive) were selected from laboratory and glasshouse experiments. The bacterial strains were screened in laboratory at various heat stress levels (30°C, 40°C and 50°C for 96 h), while maize hybrids were evaluated in glasshouse conditions [30°C ± 3 (control) and 45°C ± 3 (heat stress) for 6 h per day over a period of 8 consecutive days]. Subsequently, the response of best performing heat‐tolerant Bacillus spp. as individual and consortium was explored in selected maize hybrids under heat stress [45°C ± 3; 6 h/day over a period of 8 consecutive days] based on morpho‐physiological and antioxidant activity. The results revealed that seed inoculation with a bacterial consortium of B. velezensis , B. altitudinis and B. cereus resulted significant improvements in plant growth, morpho‐physiological traits and antioxidant mechanisms. Inoculation treatment demonstrated a rise in shoot and root length (39% and 30%) attributed to enhancements in net leaf photosynthetic rate (25%), soluble protein content (46%), superoxide dismutase (73%), catalase (94%) and proline content (151%) compared to the control. Additionally, seed inoculation also led to a reduction in leaf transpiration rate and malondialdehyde contents indicating a stress response in plants. Consortium‐inoculated seedlings exhibited the highest increases in net leaf photosynthetic rate, soluble protein content, superoxide dismutase, catalase and proline under heat stress. It highlights the effectiveness of bacterial inoculation in enhancing thermotolerance in maize hybrids. In conclusion, seed inoculation with a bacterial consortium effectively enhances seedling growth, physiological traits, antioxidant activities and osmolytes production under heat stress
Genome-wide identification, characterization, and functional analysis of the myb transcription factor family in chickpea (Cicer arietinum)
No full textA Scalable Remote Sensing and Machine Learning Framework for High-Resolution Land Surface Temperature Modeling
No full textComparison of predictive modeling approaches to estimate soil erosion under spatially heterogeneous field conditions
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaf
Integrating machine learning with multitemporal remote sensing to quantify spatial soil salinity
No full textOpen-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
Hydraulic simulations to evaluate and predict design and operation of the Chashma Right Bank Canal
No full textIrrigation systems / Irrigation canals / Flow control / Velocity / Canal regulation techniques / Hydraulics / Simulation models / Design / Operations / Crop-based irrigation / Distributary canals / Water delivery / Policy / Protective irrigation / Water allocation / Water requirements / Sedimentation / Water distribution / Equity / Water conveyance / Pakistan / Chashma Right Bank Canal
Co-application of salicylic acid and potassium induce salinity tolerance by modulating ion homeostasis, chlorophyll pigments and photosynthetic apparatus in wheat
No full textYolo-pest: an optimized YoloV8x for detection of small insect pests using smart traps
No full textAbstract Fruit flies and fall-armyworm are one of the major insect pest that adversely affect fruit and crops, whereas fall-armyworm is also a highly destructive pest in maize crop but also damage other economically important field crops and vegetables. Adults of both pests can fly, making it hard to monitor them in the field. This study focuses on fine-tuning the YoloV8x model for automated monitoring and identifying insect pests, like fruit flies and fall-armyworms, in open fields and closed environments using IoT-based Smart Traps. The conventional techniques for monitoring of these insect pests involve pheromone attractants and sticky traps that require regular farm visits. We developed an IoT-based device, called Smart Trap, that attracts insect pests with pheromones and captures real-time images using cameras and IoT sensors. Its main objective is automated pest monitoring in fields or indoor grain storage houses. Images captured by smart traps are transmitted to the server, where Yolo-pest, a fine-tuned YoloV8x model with customized hyperparameters performs in real time for object detection. The performance of the smart trap was evaluated in a mango orchard (Fruit Flies) and maize field (fall Armyworm) in an arid climate, achieving a 94% average detection accuracy. The validation process on grayscale and coloured images further confirmed the model’s consistent accuracy in identifying insect pests in maze crop and mango orchards. The mobile application also enhances the practical utility as having a user-friendly interface for real time identification of insect pest. Farmers can easily acces the information and data remotely that empowering them for efficient pest maangment
Silicon seed inoculation enhances antioxidants, physiology and yield of hybrid maize under heat stress
No full textAbstract Background Heat stress, next to drought, is one of the major constraints to maize crop growth, development and sustainable yield in the tropics and sub-tropics, particularly in arid and semi-arid climatic regions. Hence, there is a dire need to explore strategies that alleviate adverse effects of heat stress. In this regard, silicon (Si) is an important plant nutrient which may support crop in alleviating heat stress-induced damages by modulating plant defense mechanisms. The aim of the study was to explore the potential role of Si for inducing heat tolerance in hybrid maize. Yet, to date, limited knowledge is available on how Si modulates plant defense mechanisms to induce heat tolerance in maize crop. Methods Two maize hybrids were adopted for field experiment (heat tolerant and sensitive selected from a pot experiment study) on the basis of traits performance through screening in the glasshouse. Six maize hybrids were tested at different heat stress levels (T1 = control; T2 = 40 °C ± 3 and T3 = 45 °C ± 3 for a period of 6 h per day) at six leaf growth stage (V6) in the glasshouse. Secondly, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Si seed inoculation [Si0 = 0.0 mM (control); Si1 = 3.0 mM (recommended); Si2 = 6.0 mM] on physiology, growth, antioxidants activity and yield traits of two selected maize hybrids; H1 = AA-9633 (heat sensitive); H2 = YH-5427 (heat tolerant) under heat stress conditions (HS0 = control (without heat stress); HS1 = heat stress at pollination stage- 65 days after sowing for a period of 8 consecutive days). Results The field study results showed that maize hybrid “YH-5427”, a prior rated as heat tolerant, produced higher cob length, number of grains per cob, thousand grain weight and grain yield through improved photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, activity of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase with the seed inoculation of Si (6.0 mM) under heat stress conditions. However, heat sensitive hybrid (AA-9633) produced reduced grain yield (9.26%) and yield components as attained by YH-5427 with the seed inoculation of Si (6.0 mM) under heat stress conditions. Conclusion Maize hybrid YH-5427 with Si seed inoculation (6 mM) is a promising option to maintain relatively high maize grain yield (t ha− 1) under heat stress conditions.Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
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