scholarly journals Effects of Sodium Carbonate on Striga hermonthica Del. Infestation and Agro-morphological Parameters of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of Cameroun

Author(s):  
C. Ndouyang ◽  
D. R. Braogue ◽  
T. J. B. Noubissié

Sorghum bicolor is the main food widely used to feed millions of people in Central and West Africa. Sorghum production in Sub-Saharan Africa is limited by biotic factors including the parasitic witchweed Striga hermonthica. In Northern Cameroon chemical and organic fertilizers, biological methods and cultivation practices were used by farmers to control Striga hermonthica in field. Some farmers spread sodium carbonate salt (locally named natron or kilbou) in high rates in fields to reduce parasite infestation but in high rate. This salt plays an important role in soil pH buffering. This study was conducted to evaluate effects of different rates of natron on striga emergence and on agro-morphological parameters of sorghum using a susceptible genotype GD-MP04. Field experiments have been conducted from 2017 to 2018 at Touboro, Mayo-Rey Division in the North Region located between longitude 13°34’; 12°07’ East and latitude 7°21’; 15°01’North. The experimental design was a complete randomized bloc with pots (11 m × 11 m) filled with soil naturally infected by striga seeds and different rates of sodium carbonate (0 g, 2 g, 4 g, 6 g, 8 g, 10 g and 12 g per 5 dm3 of soil) were employed. The numbers of emerged striga and sorghum parameters were evaluated. Results showed that striga-infestation and agro-morphological parameters of sorghum varied significantly (p <0.05) with rates of sodium carbonate. The mean number of emerged striga plants per pot varied from 0.08 in pot of 2 g of salt to 5.4 in the control. The number of sorghum leaves per plant, stem diameter, sorghum height, panicle weight and sorghum kernel yield varied significantly (p <0.05) with natron application rate. The application of 2 g of sodium carbonate per pot was the optimal rate to control Striga hermonthica and improve the main agro-morphological parameters of sorghum with 78.27% increase in g of kernel yield and simultaneously inhibited striga infestation by 98.62%. Application of 2 g of sodium carbonate in area naturally infested by striga for improving sorghum yield is required.

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 ◽  
pp. 03020
Author(s):  
Andrei Kuzin ◽  
Alexei Solovchenko ◽  
Ludmila Stepantsova ◽  
Grigory Pugachev

Intensification of horticulture in Russia involves planting of new high-density orchards with drip irrigation and fertigation as well as intensification of the exploitation of traditional orchards. This approach involves an increase in mineral fertilizer application imposing the risk of soil fertility loss. For several reasons, the use of traditional organic fertilizers like manure in orchards is currently marginal. Although bacteria-based biofertilizers cannot substitute mineral fertilizers completely, they can significantly reduce the need for mineral fertilizer application. The effect of microbial biofertilizers of the brands “Azotovit” (Azotobacter chroococcum), “Phosphatovit” (Bacillus mucilaginosus), as well as a mixture of bacteria and the fungus, “Organic” (Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Trichoderma harzian) was studied in two field experiments. In the experiment #1, the preparations “Azotovit” and “Phosphatovit” were delivered through a drip irrigation system in various combinations with mineral fertilizers. In experiment #2, the preparation “Organic” was also applied to the soil with irrigation water, also in combination with the mineral fertilizer. When solely applied, none of the studied preparations changed significantly the soil nutrient content and yield as compared with the variant fertilized by the mineral fertilizer at the maximum studied application rate. The combination of the microbial biofertilizer and mineral fertilizers applied at a low rate ensured the yield commensurate to that obtained under high-rate application of the mineral fertilizer.


Nematology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1111-1120
Author(s):  
Wenxiu Guo ◽  
Guoyu Zhao ◽  
Congli Wang ◽  
Xianhong Zhou ◽  
Yifan Zhai ◽  
...  

Summary Anomala corpulenta is one of the major white grubs that cause serious damages in peanut production. To develop an environmentally friendly method to control A. corpulenta larvae, the efficacy of species of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN), application rate and larval stage against A. corpulenta were determined. Results showed that Steinernema longicaudum X-7 and S. glaseri B-4-1 were the most virulent species, which caused 77.8 and 84.4% corrected mortalities of the 2nd instar larvae at 25°C 14 days after treatments. Corrected mortalities of A. corpulenta caused by EPN were significantly affected by EPN application rate. A decrease but no significant difference in susceptibility from the 2nd to the 3rd instar was observed for the test EPN species S. longicaudum, S. glaseri and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. The field experiments indicated that S. longicaudum and S. glaseri applied at a relatively high rate (⩾5.0 × 103 infective juveniles (IJ) plant−1, i.e., 7.5 × 108 IJ ha−1) were able to provide not only control efficacy against A. corpulenta with ⩾92.7% reduction of larvae and ⩽5.06% of damaged pods, and the peanut yield increase was as good as phoxim, but also gave better control persistency compared to phoxim. Our findings indicated that EPN could be an effective strategy for the management of A. corpulenta in peanut fields.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 840
Author(s):  
Saif Alharbi ◽  
Ali Majrashi ◽  
Adel M. Ghoneim ◽  
Esmat F. Ali ◽  
Abdullah S. Modahish ◽  
...  

Dairy products are vital components of human food, however, they are rapidly spoiled due to their high content of organic matter which encourages the growth of decomposing microbes. The recycling of dairy wastes is an ideal solution to preserve the environment, as it is in line with the principles of sustainable agriculture. In this experiment, an organic fertilizer was extracted from dairy wastes and was used for the nutrition of wheat grown on sandy soils under two-year field studies. The application rate of the extracted organic fertilizer was 8 ton ha−1. Moreover, the same rates of N, P, and K were added from inorganic fertilizers. The extracted organic fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the wheat growth and increased chlorophyll by 11% and 16% in the first and second season, respectively, in comparison to the inorganic fertilization. The extracted organic fertilizer significantly minimized the soil pH from an initial value of 8.00 to 7.05. The tested organic fertilizer increased the uptake of N, P, and K by 55%, 49%, and 51% above the inorganic nutrition, respectively. The wheat straw and grain yield increased by 16% and 29% as a result of the addition of the organic fertilizer extracted from dairy wastes. The dairy wastes organic fertilizer caused a notable improvement in the soil quality. The extracted organic fertilizer was able to supply wheat with its nutrient requirements as it showed a remarkable superiority over the mineral fertilization. The disposal of expired dairy waste can be managed in a way that preserves the environment by converting it to organic fertilizers. Laboratory and field experiments have proven the efficiency of the extracted organic fertilizer in nutrition of wheat plants in sandy soils with low fertility.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. O. Dahunsi ◽  
S. Oranusi ◽  
V. E. Efeovbokhan ◽  
A. T. Adesulu-Dahunsi ◽  
J. O. Ogunwole

AbstractIn recent times, research attention is focusing on harnessing agricultural wastes for the production of value-added products. In this study, the valorization of Carica papaya (Pawpaw) fruit peels was evaluated for the production of quality organic fertilizer via anaerobic digestion (AD) while the effects of the fertilizer on maize crop were also assessed. Pawpaw peel was first pretreated by thermo-alkaline methods before AD and analyses were carried out using standard methods. The resulting digestate was rich in nutrients and was dewatered to form solid organic fertilizer rich in microbes and soil nutrients. When applied to maize plants, organic fertilizer showed a better effect on plant traits than NPK 15–15–15 fertilizer and without fertilizer application. These were more pronounced at mid to high organic fertilizer applications (30-to-60-kg nitrogen/hectare (kg N/ha)) rate. Comparison between the values obtained from the field experiments reveals that the organic fertilizer showed better performance in all parameters such as the number of leaves, leaf area, plant height, stem girth, total shoot, and root biomass, and length of the root. However, the chemical fertilizer outperformed all the organic fertilizer applied rates in the average highest size of the corn ear by 1.4%. After harvesting, nutrient elements were found to have bioaccumulated in plant organs (leaves, stem, and root) with the highest values being 29.7 mg/L for nitrogen in the leaf and this value was reported from the experiment with 50 kg N/ha. For phosphorus and potassium, the highest concentrations of 7.05 and 8.4 mg/L were recorded in the plant’ stem of the experiment with 50 kg N/ha. All the treated soils recorded an increase in values of all nutrient elements over the control with the highest values recorded in the experiment with 60 kg N/ha. In soil with 60 kg N/ha, the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium increased by 28, 40, and 22% respectively over the chemical fertilizer applied experiment while different levels of increases were also recorded for all other macro and microelements in all the experiments. Thus, agricultural practices by using anaerobic digestates as organic fertilizers is a sustainable method to overcome the dependence on inorganic fertilizers high rate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojana Petrovic ◽  
Tomas Kopta ◽  
Robert Pokluda

AbstractThe present study evaluated the effect of different organic fertilizers on the morphological parameters and yield in two different onion cultivars. Proper use of organic fertilizers in appropriate amounts could be helpful to growers from the economic point of view. Field experiments were conducted to study the effect of three different organic biofertilizers on yield and morphological parameters of two onion cultivars ‘Stuttgarter Riesen’ and ‘Rote Laaer’ during 2016 and 2017. The investigated treatments included: B-Stimul® – a mixture of bacterial and algal extracts, EkoBooster 2® – organic matter and NPK, and VermiFit A® – an extract of compost produced by Californian earthworms, peat, nutrients, plant hormones, enzymes, amino acids, and sugars. The following parameters of onion plants were evaluated: number of leaves, bulb diameter, bulb weight, marketable and total yields. The study showed that all the results were affected by the growing season (higher values were recorded in 2016). In ‘Stuttgarter Riesen’, EkoBooster 2® application resulted in the highest bulb weight in 2016 (67.16 g) and in 2017 (55.17 g) and in the highest number of leaves in 2016 (6.66) and in 2017 (6.30), which led to the highest marketable bulb yield in 2016 (3.47 kg m−2) and in 2017 (2.53 kg m−2). In ‘Rote Laaer’ in 2016, EkoBooster 2® application resulted in the highest number of leaves (7.06), bulb diameter (54.32 mm) and bulb weight (79.30 g). In 2017, the largest bulb diameter (54.13 mm) and the highest bulb weight (71.79 g) and marketable bulb yield (2.39 kg m−2) were determined after VermiFit A® application. EkoBooster 2® showed the best effect on parameters such as the number of leaves, bulb weight, and marketable bulb yield of the cultivar ‘Stuttgarter Riesen’ and positively affected the parameters of ‘Rote Laaer’ during 2016, while in 2017 VermiFit A® showed better results as compared to the other treatments.


Author(s):  
Salwa A. Musa ◽  
Areej A. Ibrahim ◽  
Samar S. Hassan ◽  
Matthew B Johnson ◽  
Asmahan T. Basheer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Fanconi-Bickel syndrome (FBS) is a rare condition of carbohydrate metabolism, caused by a recessive defect in the facilitative glucose transporter GLUT2 encoded by the SLC2A2 gene and characterized by a wide spectrum of phenotypical features. There is a paucity of reported data on FBS from Sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we describe the clinical, biochemical and genetic characteristics of our patients with FBS from Sudan, a country with a high consanguinity rate. Patients & methods Eleven patients from ten unrelated Sudanese families were included. Clinical & biochemical data were documented and imaging studies done including bone survey and abdominal ultrasound. Liver biopsy was done to confirm the pathological diagnosis in 45% of cases and molecular genetics was performed through contribution with the Exeter genomics laboratory for ten patients. Results Reported consanguinity was 70% among our patients. Growth was significantly impaired at presentation with mean weights of (-5.3 ± 1.8) SD and heights (-5.4 ± 2.5) SD. Severe chest deformity was present in (27%) and all patients showed features of rickets at presentation. Three patients had neonatal diabetes requiring insulin therapy of which one has been reported before. Six families lost undiagnosed siblings with similar clinical presentations. We identified a total of four homozygous pathogenic SLC2A2 variants in our patients, one of whom had a novel mutation. Conclusions FBS is not uncommon in Sudan where there is a high rate of consanguinity. Many cases are likely missed because of variable presentation and lack of public and professionals’ awareness. This is the first series to describe this condition from Sub-Saharan Africa.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jose H. S. de Sanctis ◽  
Amit J. Jhala

Abstract Velvetleaf is an economically important weed in agronomic crops in Nebraska and the United States. Dicamba applied alone usually does not provide complete velvetleaf control, particularly when velvetleaf is greater than 15 cm tall. The objectives of this experiment were to evaluate the interaction of dicamba, fluthiacet-methyl, and glyphosate applied alone or in a mixture in two- or three-way combinations for velvetleaf control in dicamba/glyphosate-resistant (DGR) soybean and to evaluate whether velvetleaf height (≤ 12 cm or ≤ 20 cm) at the time of herbicide application influences herbicide efficacy, velvetleaf density, biomass, and soybean yield. Field experiments were conducted near Clay Center, Nebraska in 2019 and 2020. The experiment was arranged in a split-plot with velvetleaf height (≤ 12 cm or ≤ 20 cm) as the main plot treatment and herbicides as sub-plot treatment. Fluthiacet provided ≥ 94% velvetleaf control 28 d after treatment (DAT) and ≥ 96% biomass reduction regardless of application rate or velvetleaf height. Velvetleaf control was 31% to 74% at 28 DAT when dicamba or glyphosate was applied alone to velvetleaf ≤ 20 cm tall compared with 47% to 100% control applied to ≤ 12 cm tall plants. Dicamba applied alone to ≤ 20 cm tall velvetleaf provided < 75% control and < 87% biomass reduction 28 DAT compared with ≥ 90% control with dicamba at 560 g ae ha−1 + fluthiacet at 7.2 g ai ha−1 or glyphosate at 1,260 g ae ha−1. Dicmaba at 280 g ae ha−1 + glyphosate at 630 g ae ha−1 applied to ≤ 20 cm tall velvetleaf resulted in 86% control 28 DAT compared with the expected 99% control. The interaction of dicamba + fluthiacet + glyphosate was additive for velvetleaf control and biomass reduction regardless of application rate and velvetleaf height.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1161
Author(s):  
Roland Gerhards ◽  
Fructueuse N. Ouidoh ◽  
André Adjogboto ◽  
Vodéa Armand Pascal Avohou ◽  
Berteulot Latus Sètondji Dossounon ◽  
...  

Although clear evidence for benefits in crop production is partly missing, several natural compounds and microorganisms have been introduced to the market as biostimulants. They are supposed to enhance nutrient efficiency and availability in the rhizosphere, reduce abiotic stress, and improve crop quality parameters. Biostimulants often derive from natural compounds, such as microorganisms, algae, and plant extracts. In this study, the commercial plant extract-based biostimulant ComCat® was tested in two field experiments with maize in the communities of Banikoara and Matéri in Northern Benin and six pot experiments (four with maize and two with winter barley) at the University of Hohenheim in Germany. Maize was grown under nutrient deficiency, drought, and weed competition, and winter barley was stressed by the herbicide Luximo (cinmethylin). ComCat® was applied at half, full, and double the recommended field rate (50, 100, and 200 g ha−1) on the stressed and unstressed control plants as leaf or seed treatment. The experiments were conducted in randomized complete block designs with four replications. The above-ground biomass and yield data of one experiment in Benin were collected. The biostimulant did not promote maize and winter barley biomass production of the unstressed plants. When exposed to stress, ComCat@ resulted only in one out of eight experiments in higher barley biomass compared to the stressed treatment without ComCat® application. There was a reduced phytotoxic effect of cinmethylin after seed treatment with ComCat®. Crop response to ComCat® was independent of the application rate. Basic and applied studies are needed to investigate the response of crops to biostimulants and their mechanisms of action in the plants before they should be used in practical farming.


Soil Research ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingkai Xu ◽  
Zijian Wang ◽  
Yuesi Wang ◽  
Kazuyuki Inubushi

In recent decades, Chinese agriculturists have used rare-earth-containing fertilisers as basal fertilisers together with N fertilisers (e.g. urea). We studied urea hydrolysis and its hydrolysis products in a laboratory experiment using urea-N fertiliser with rare earths at rates from 0.5 to 50% (w/w). The results indicated that application of rare earths at a high rate could result in a short-term inhibition of urea hydrolysis and an increase in soil (NH4+ + NO3– + NO2–)-N content. When the application rate of rare earths was higher than 5% of the applied urea-N (corresponding to 10 mg/kg soil), soil exchangeable NH4+-N content increased significantly following the hydrolysis of the applied urea. Increasing the application rate of rare earths appeared to reduce the content of soil urea-derived (NO3– + NO2–)-N. A substantial reduction in soil pH was found immediately after application of rare earths and urea. We conclude that application of rare earths at >10 mg/kg may lead to a substantial increase in the content of urea-derived N in the soil, via the inhibition of urea hydrolysis and nitrification.


2002 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Dosdall ◽  
R. -C. Yang ◽  
P. M. Conway

While the importance of sulfur nutrition for the development of healthy stands of canola is well documented, the role of sulfur in the management of insect pest infestations has not previously been investigated in this crop. Field experiments were conducted at three sites in central Alberta in 1997 and 1998 to determine the influence of sulfur and sulfate applications on infestations of root maggots (Delia spp.) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) in canola (Brassica rapa L.). Different formulations (granules, powder, prills, and sprays), application methods (either drilled in with the seed or top-dressed on the soil surface), and application rates were evaluated. To assess the degree of root maggot infestation, oviposition throughout the season and damage to taproots at the end of the season were monitored. Sulfur contents were analyzed from leaf samples collected mid-season and seed yields were measured from all treatment plots. Root maggot responses to the different sulfur treatments and application methods varied among years and sites, indicating that environmental factors have great importance in determining infestation levels by these pests, and the oxidation rate of elemental sulfur in soil. Sulfur formulation and application rate had significant effects on root maggot egg deposition and root damage for some sites and years, but even at high rates of application (112 kg ha-1) reductions in infestation levels were not substantial relative to the controls. While sulfur additions alone will not greatly reduce root maggot infestation levels in canola, growers should employ adequate sulfur nutrition for optimum crop health to enable plants to better compensate for damage by these pests. Key words: Brassica rapa, Delia radicum, Delia floralis, elemental sulfur, sulfate, canola


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