Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilization on the Growth and Yield of Mustard Under Irrigated Conditions in Agra District

The present field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Farm of RBS College, Bichpuri Agra, during Rabi season of 2018-19. The soil of the experimental site is Gangetic alluvial. The experimental was laid out in RBD factorial having 3 main treatment (N level) and 4 sub treatments (P2O5 level) with 3 replications. All growth and yield attributing character increase with application of N @ 120 Kg-1 and P2O5 @ 60 kg-1. All the yield components i.e., number of siliquae plant-1, length of siliqua and number of seeds siliqua-1 improved with the increase in the level of nitrogen. Higher value of harvest index was associated with the application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1. Seed yield increased appreciably with every additional increase in the level of nitrogen. Respectively 26.85 and 40.05 per cent higher seed yield ha-1 was obtained with the application of 80 and 120 kg ha-1 nitrogen as compared to 40 kg ha-1 .

Performance of CERES-rice model for prediction of different rice cultivars at Navsari

Filed experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2012 at college farm of Navsari Agricultural University, (Gujarat) to investigate the CERES-Rice model validation for three rice cultivars, viz., V1 - Jaya, V2 - Gurjari and V3 - GNR-2 with three different dates of transplanting, viz., D1- 12 July, 2012, D2- 27 July, 2012 and D3-11 August, 2012 and two nitrogen levels, viz., N1-75 kg/ha and N2-100 kg/ha. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design. The model was subsequently validated against observed data from field experiment. From the response of CERES-Rice model it was found that among the genotypes prediction accuracy for cv. Gurjari at third date of transplanting at 100 kg N level was better in respect to panicle initiation with percent error PE (-4.25%), anthesis (-3.40%) and beginning of grain filling (1.05%). But for physiological maturity stage, cv. GNR-2 was found better at third date of transplanting at same N level with PE (-0.97%) as comparison to other treatments.

Pedagogical Challenges in the Teaching of N-Level 4 Economics

The lack of relevant Teacher Education Training Programme (TETP) specifically for economics teachers in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges globally, including South Africa has posed many challenges for teachers. This study reports on the pedagogical challenges of Economics teachers with Postgraduate Certificate (PGCE): Further Education and Training (FET) phase teaching N-level 4 economics in Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges. The study investigated the pedagogical challenges experienced by economics teachers during the teaching and learning of N-Level 4 economics in one college at Motheo Technical and Vocational Education and Training College. The seven categories of teacher knowledge by Shulman's (1987), underpinned this study. In addition, the pedagogical challenges of Business Studies in secondary schools by Kimotho (2016) serve as a lens to understand the economics teachers’ challenges in a Technical, Vocational Education, and Training college. This qualitative research approach used an exploratory case study research design, and selected two economics teachers purposefully and their students who were observed in two different classrooms and later interviewed individually. The findings revealed that the economics teachers displayed five pedagogical challenges associated with content knowledge (CK), curriculum knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), knowledge of students, and the interaction with students. Based on the study’s limitation, there is a need to identify the educational implications on economics teachers’ pedagogical challenges when teaching economics to N-Level 4 students.

Biomass and Yield Estimation of MR219 and MR220 of Paddy Varieties using Terrestrial Laser Scanning Data

Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) is the main food source in Malaysia. Thus, to fulfill the needs, continuous rice production is required. Appropriate amount of nitrogen (N) fertilizer is needed to ensure high production of rice. In this research, the effect of N to plant height, SPAD reading, biomass and yield were firstly studied. It was later followed by the estimation of biomass and yield using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) data. Different amount of N i.e. 0 kg/ha, 85 kg/ha, 170 kg/ha and 250 kg/ha were applied to MR 219 and MR 220 paddy. The 2-way ANOVA results showed that all parameters were significantly different at each N level. The highest reading was achieved at 250 kg/ha of N level; 70.46 cm (plant height), 39.13 (SPAD reading), 927.29 g/m2 (biomass) and 830.99 g/m2 (grain yield) respectively. Therefore, these parameters can be used to indicate the level of input nitrogen at the plant. Later, the plant height calculated using developed Crop Surface Model (CSM) of the Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) data was used to evaluate the biomass and grain yield of paddy. Results has shown that high correlations and regression were accomplished for CSM plant height and biomass (R2 = 0.809). However, the results between CSM plant height and grain were lower (R2 = 0.582). In accordance with the outcome, biomass and yield were best estimated at 94 Day After Sowing (DAS). An estimation model for biomass and grain yield using linear equation was developed. Then a t-test was done to test the estimated and measured biomass and grain yield. The outcome showed that there was no significance difference between measured and estimated values. The values for both parameters were 1 (p≥0.05). Thus, it can be said that CSM plant height can be used to estimate biomass and grain yield.

Extreme Weather Events Affect Agronomic Practices and Their Environmental Impact in Maize Cultivation

Sustainable and profitable crop production has become a challenge due to frequent weather extremes, where unstable crop yields are often followed by the negative impacts of agronomic practices on the environment, i.e., nitrate leaching in irrigated and nitrogen (N)-fertilized crop production. To study this issue, a three-year field study was conducted during quite different growing seasons in terms of weather conditions, i.e., extremely wet, extremely dry, and average years. Over three consecutive years, the irrigation and N fertilizers rates were tested for their effect on grain yield and composition, i.e., protein, starch, and oil content of the maize hybrids; soil N level (%); and nitrate leaching. The results showed that the impact of the tested factors and their significance was year- or weather-condition-dependent. The grain yield result stood out during the extremely wet year, where the irrigation rate reduced the grain yield by 7.6% due to the stress caused by the excessive amount of water. In the remainder of the study, the irrigation rate expectedly increased the grain yield by 13.9% (a2) and 20.8% (a3) in the extremely dry year and 22.7% (a2) and 39.5% (a3) during the average year. Regardless of the weather conditions, the N fertilizer rate increased the grain yield and protein content. The soil N level showed a typical pattern, where the maximum levels were at the beginning of the study period and were higher as the N fertilizer rate was increased. Significant variations in the soil N level were found between weather conditions (r = −0.719) and N fertilizer rate (r = 0.401). Nitrate leaching losses were expectedly found for irrigation and N fertilizer treatments with the highest rates (a3b3 = 79.8 mg NO3− L).

Response to nitrogen and salinity in Rhizophora mangle propagules varies by maternal family and population of origin

Many coastal foundation plant species thrive across a range of environmental conditions, often displaying dramatic phenotypic variation in response to environmental variation. We characterized the response of propagules from six populations of the foundation species Rhizophora mangle L. to full factorial combinations of two levels of salt (15 ppt and 45 ppt) reflecting the range of salinity measured in the field populations, and two levels of nitrogen (N; no addition and amended at approximately 3 mg N per pot each week) equivalent to comparing ambient N to a rate of addition of 75 kg per hectare per year. The response to increasing salt included significant plasticity in succulence. Propagules also showed plasticity in maximum photosynthetic rate in response to N amendment, but the responses depended on the level of salt and varied by population of origin. Generally, survival was lower in high salt and high N, but the impact varied among populations. Overall, this study revealed significant phenotypic plasticity in response to salt and N level. Propagules from different populations differed in all traits measured. Variation in phenotypic plasticity and propagule survival in R. mangle may contribute to adaptation to a complex mosaic of environmental conditions and response to climate change.