Mitigation of Salinity Stress Effects on Broad Bean Productivity Using Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles Application

Water salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses, and the use of saline water for the agricultural sector will incur greater demand in the coming decades. Recently, nanoparticles (NPs) have been used for developing numerous plant fertilizers as a smart and powerful form of material with dual action that can alleviate the adverse effects of salinity and provide the plant with more efficient nutrient forms. This study evaluated the influence of calcium phosphate NPs (CaP-NPs) as a soil fertilizer application on the production and bioactive compounds of broad bean plants under salinity stress. Results showed that salinity had deleterious effects on plant yield with 55.9% reduction compared to control. On the other hand, CaP-NPs dramatically improved plant yield by 30% compared to conventional fertilizer under salinity stress. This improvement could be attributed to significantly higher enhancement in total soluble sugars, antioxidant enzymes, proline content, and total phenolics recorded use of nano-fertilizer compared to conventional use under salt stress. Additionally, nano-fertilizer reflected better mitigatory effects on plant growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, and oxidative stress indicators (MDA and H2O2). Therefore, our results support the replacement of traditional fertilizers comprising Ca2+ or P with CaP-nano-fertilizers for higher plant productivity and sustainability under salt stress.

Comparative effect of fertilization on cocoyam and component crops on Cocoyam-based intercropping systems in Uyo, Southeastern Nigeria

Field experiment was conducted at University of Uyo Teaching, research farm during the 2018 and 2019 cropping seasons to assess the effect of fertilization on cocoyam-based intercropping systems. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments were six fertilizers rates - 0kg/ha, NPK200kg/ha, NPK400kg/ha, PM2.5t/ha, PM5.0t/ha, Mixture (NPK200kg/ha + PM2.5t/ha) and six crop mixtures - Sole Cocoyam, Sole Melon, Sole Maize, Cocoyam + Maize, Cocoyam + Melon and Cocoyam + Melon + Maize). Result analysed with analysis of variance revealed PM2.5t/ha, NPK400kg/ha and Mixture (NPK200kg/ha + PM2.5t/ha) gave higher plant height, leaf area, stem girth in sole cocoyam, maize and melon respectively. PM2.5t/ha favoured leaf area, stem girths of cocoyam, maize with cocoyam + maize, cocoyam + melon and cocoyam + melon + maize crop mixtures. PM5.0t/ha gave higher values of corm, cormels, cormels weight, cormels number and cormels length in both sole cocoyam and mixtures (cocoyam + melon, cocoyam + maize, cocoyam + melon + maize) in both seasons respectively. PM2.5t/ha gave higher values of maize grain yield with cocoyam + maize, cocoyam + melon + maize crop mixtures. PM5.0t/ha and NPK400kg/ha gave higher melon seed values with cocoyam + melon and cocoyam + Melon + maize. Conclusively, it is recommended that application of organic fertilizer promotes higher yields and yield components in both sole and crop mixtures of cocoyam and maize respectively.

Screening of Onion (Allium cepa L.) Genotypes for Waterlogging Tolerance

Onion production is severely affected by waterlogging conditions, which are created due to heavy rainfall. Hence, the identification of waterlogging-tolerant onion genotypes is crucial for increasing onion production. In the present study, 100 distinct onion genotypes were screened for waterlogging tolerance under artificial conditions by using the phenotypic approach in the monsoon season of 2017. Based on plant survival and recovery and changes in bulb weight, we identified 19 tolerant, 27 intermediate tolerant, and 54 highly sensitive onion genotypes. The tolerant genotypes exhibited higher plant survival and better recovery and bulb size, whereas sensitive genotypes exhibited higher plant mortality, poor recovery, and small bulb size under waterlogging conditions. Furthermore, a subset of 12 contrasting genotypes was selected for field trials during monsoon seasons 2018 and 2019. Results revealed that considerable variation in the morphological, physiological, and yield characteristics were observed across the genotypes under stress conditions. Waterlogging-tolerant genotypes, namely, Acc. 1666, Acc. 1622, W-355, W-208, KH-M-2, and RGP-5, exhibited higher plant height, leaf number, leaf area, leaf length, chlorophyll content, membrane stability index (MSI), pyruvic acid, antioxidant content, and bulb yield than sensitive genotypes under stress conditions. Furthermore, the principal component analysis biplot revealed a strong association of leaf number, leaf area, chlorophyll content, MSI, and bulb yield with tolerant genotypes under stress conditions. The study indicates that the waterlogging-tolerant onion genotypes with promising stress-adaptive traits can be used in plant breeding programs for developing waterlogging-tolerant onion varieties.

Impact of Human Settlements on Diversity of Range Vegetation

The rapidly increasing population of human beings in semi-arid areas is often considered as a major factor of land degradation. Only a few studies have examined the dynamics of human settlements on the composition, diversity, structure and palatability of range vegetation in Southern Punjab Pakistan. The current study aims to assess whether the distance from settlements had any effect on the range vegetation’s diversity and cover. In order to determine the impact of human settlements on the vegetation, the sampling area (Thal rangeland) was classified into three categories, i.e., Near (1–2 km from human communities), Away (2–4 km from human communities), and Far (4–6 km from human settlements). A total of 75 transects in all of the three sites were placed in the study sites. Along the transects, a quadrate of 1 m2 after every 10 m was randomly placed. The study site yielded floral diversity of a total of 29 species, representing 23 genera and belonging to 9 families. Results showed that the areas away from the human communities had higher species diversity (20), while the site near to human settlements depicted lower diversity (14). It was observed that, although the site near to communities had lower diversity, it depicted higher plant density, while the highest diversity along with the lowest plant density was observed in sites away from the communities. The study concluded that the diversity of range grasses, especially desirable species, was affected by distance to human settlements. These findings could be useful to detect flora changes, establish habitat protection priorities and improve efforts for conserving natural landscapes.

Effect of Organic Fertilizer Form and Dosage on Soil Chemical Properties, Leaf Macro Nutrient Content and Vegetative Growth of Siamese Orange (Citrus nobilis Lour) seedlings

Orange is a national superior commodity that has an important role in increasing foreign exchange for the country. However, the development of citrus cultivation in Indonesia is still relatively low, probably due to soil fertility degradation. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effect of differences in the application of organic fertilizer (form and dose) and their interaction on soil chemical properties, nutrient concentration in the leaf (i.e. N, P, K), and growth in Siamese citrus seedlings. The treatments included the application of a combination of forms and doses of organic fertilizer, namely SD1 (powder dose 2 t ha-1), SD2 (powder dose 4 t ha-1), SD3 (powder dose 6 t ha-1), SD4 (powder dose 8 t ha-1), SD5 (powder dose 10 t/ha), GD1 (granule dose 2 t ha-1), GD2 (granule dose 4 t ha-1), GD3 (granule dose 6 t/ha), GD4 (granule dose 8 t ha-1) and GD5 (granule dose 10 t ha-1). The results showed that there was a significant difference in the interaction between form and dose of organic fertilizer only in the number of primary branches at 4 WAP (weeks after application) with the highest values was found in powder organic fertilizer at a dose of 8 t ha-1 and granules organic fertilizer at a dose 10 t ha-1. In addition, the application of powder organic fertilizer application had a higher plant height at 10-12 WAP as compared to the application of granule organic fertilizer.

Evaluation of rice genotypes on seed attributes and agronomic performance for developing direct-seeded cultivar

<abstract> <p>Direct seeding of rice (DSR) may give benefit in using water and labor more efficient and reduce production costs. This study purposes to investigate the character of the seeds, their early vigor traits, the growth and development of rice plants for developing DSR cultivar. The research was conducted in four stages: the measurement of the size of the seed, endosperm, and embryo; the germination test in the laboratory; seedling test using experimental pots; and testing the agronomic performance on transplanting and direct seeding methods in a plastic house. Seed material used eight breeding lines of IPB University and two released varieties. The results of study showed that each genotype had different characteristics of seed, endosperm, and embryo in both weight and area. Seed weight becomes the most dominant in the emergence of superior EV traits, whereas the more seed weight indicates faster radicle emergence and more weight of seedling. DSR method compared to transplanting showed performance such as taller plant, higher leaf area and photosynthesis rate at early growth stage, earlier heading time, and higher plant dry weight since early growth until 65 days old. The seed characters have positively correlation to dry weight of seedlings, number of leaves, leaf area, and canopy dry weight. We also found that higher area of endosperm and embryo significantly correlated to have faster plumule emergence, higher leaf area and plant height. Candidate genotypes for DSR would be further investigated in the field trial agronomically.</p> </abstract>

Pengaruh Ragam Jarak Tanam terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Produksi Sawi Hijau Organik

Modifying cultivation techniques potentially enhances mustard physical qualities to attain the demanded marketable value. The reputation of organic mustard propels farmers to implement modified cultivation techniques to improve harvest quality further. Planting space is one of the modifiable technical cultivations to achieve sustainable crop production. This research used soil planting media from acid dry land to optimize agricultural land use and cow manure as primary fertilizer to implement organic farming. This research objective is to figure the effect of different planting spaces on the growth and productivity of mustard greens that applied organic cultivation method. The preliminary arrangement of the research was a single-factor randomized block design. The factors were studied with different planting spaces: control without planting spaces, planting space of 20x20, 25x25, 30x30, 35x35, and 40x40 cm2. The outcomes revealed that the mean values of mustard green plant height (13.38 cm) and the number of leaves (9 strands) had significant differences to the control treatment (10 cm plant height and seven strands number of leaf). The results showed that the optimum planting space of organic mustard cultivation was 40x40 cm2 which achieved significantly higher plant height and the number of leaves than the control without planting spaces. This research's planting space of 40x40 cm2 is appropriately suitable for monocropping systems in acid dry land. It can alter plant population and distribute environmental resources for sustaining crop growth and production.