Treatment with insecticide and fungicide on the physiological quality of lentil seeds

The low Brazilian productive index and the high demand have aroused interest in the cultivation of lentils, however the legume is little known and needs further studies. The objective of this study was to analyze and identify the effects of treatments with insecticides and fungicides on the physiological quality of lentil seeds, CA-1512 strain. The experiments were conducted in the seed laboratory in a completely randomized design with seven treatments and four replicates. Seed treatment with Thiophanate-methyl; Fluazinam® (180 ml) + Pyraclostrobin; Thiophanate-methyl; Fipronil® (150 ml) promoted higher levels of germination under accelerated aging, lower number of abnormal seedlings and longer lengths of shoot and radicle for the emergence in paper. Treatment with Carboxin; Thiram® (250 ml) + Imidacloprid® (150 ml) allowed a higher value in the first count of germination in sand, lower number of dead seeds under accelerated aging and longer root length, in the emergence in sand. Shoot length in the emergence in sand increased after seed treatment with Metalaxyl-M; Fludioxonil® (75 ml) + Pyraclostrobin; Thiophanate-methyl; Fipronil® (150 ml). Treatments with fungicides and insecticides considerably improved the physiological properties of the seeds, thus being able to guarantee greater phytosanitary qualities in the field, generating healthier seedlings and with protection against possible pests and diseases, and consequently guaranteeing greater productivity.

Consumers’ Willingness to Buy CRISPR Gene-Edited Tomatoes: Evidence from a Choice Experiment Case Study in Germany

The CRISPR gene-editing (GE) breeding method is used to increase the resilience of high-yielding tomato cultivars against pests and diseases, reducing crop protection requirements. This study investigated consumers’ willingness to buy CRISPR GE tomatoes in a repeated discrete-choice experiment. We observed a strong positive effect of providing information on the CRISPR breeding technology, while the sensory experience of the CRISPR GE tomatoes in a visit to a greenhouse had a rather weak, predominantly negative effect on the participants’ willingness to buy CRISPR GE tomatoes. We found that roughly half of the 32 participants demonstrated constant CRISPR GE tomato choices during the experiments, and these participants were mainly employed as scientists. However, the rest of the participants changed their CRISPR GE tomato choices, with the majority showing an increase in their willingness to buy CRISPR GE tomatoes; these “changers” were dominated by non-scientists. Science communication on CRISPR GE breeding technology should target people with little knowledge about the technology, and consumers of organic tomatoes seem to have more specified, stable preferences regarding the technology. Further, scientific information about the CRISPR GE methodology should preferentially be provided when new technology and information about it are not yet widespread and people have not yet formed a strong opinion about the technology.

System for Identifying Pests and Diseases in Soybean Crop through Natural Language Processing

The presence of technologies in the agronomic field has the purpose of proposing the best solutions to the challenges found in agriculture, especially to the problems that affect cultivars. One of the obstacles found is to apply the use of your own language in applications that interact with the user in Brazilian Agribusiness. Therefore, this work uses Natural Language Processing techniques for the development of an automatic and effective computer system to interact with the user and assist in the identification of pests and diseases in soybean crop, stored in a non-relational database repository to provide accurate diagnostics to simplify the work of the farmer and the agricultural stakeholders who deal with a lot of information. In order to build dialogues and provide rich consultations, from agriculture manuals, a data structure with 108 pests and diseases with their information on the soybean cultivar and through the spaCy tool, it was possible to pre-process the texts, recognize the entities and support the requirements for the development of the conversacional system.

Research Trends and Challenges of Using CRISPR/Cas9 for Improving Rice Productivity

Nowadays, rice production faces significant challenges due to population pressure, global climate change, and outbreak of various pests and diseases. Breeding techniques used to improve rice traits include mutant breeding, cross breeding, heterogeneity, transformation, molecular markers, genome-wide association study (GWAS), and so on. Since the recently developed CRISPR/Cas9 technology can directly target a specific part of a desired gene to induce mutation, it can be used as a powerful means to expand genetic diversity of crops and develop new varieties. So far, CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been used for improving rice characteristics such as high yield, good quality, abundant nutrition, pest and disease resistance, herbicide resistance, and biotic and abiotic stress resistance. This review highlights the mechanisms and optimization of the CRISPR system and its application to rice crop, including resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and improved rice quality and yield.

New High Yielding Mung Bean Variety Phule Chetak for Maharashtra

Background: Mung bean is one of the important pulse crop requiring low inputs. The productivity of kharif mung bean is very low. The present improved varieties have lower yield potential and disease susceptibility. There is a need to develop high yielding varieties combined with early to mid synchronous maturity, better quality and resistance/tolerance to major pests and diseases. Methods: The green gram var. Phule Chetak was developed by pedigree selection method from a cross between SML-668 X Naval at Oilseeds Research Station, MPKV, Jalgaon. It was tested over several locations and environments for its stability performance. Result: The results indicated a significant improvement in yield level under field conditions. The new variety Phule Chetak reported an average yield of 1003 kg/ha which is 26.96%, 36.46%, 29.42%, 21.72%, 17.58% and 13.21 per cent higher than the check varieties Vaibhav, BPMR-145, AKM-8802, BM-2002-1, BM-2003-2 and Utkarsha respectively. It is bold seeded having early maturity, moderately resistant to major diseases like powdery mildew, mungbean yellow mosaic virus under field conditions. Considering its consistent performance, the mung bean genotype PM-707-5 has been released for cultivation in the kharif season for Maharashtra under the name of Phule Chetak in Joint Agresco during 29-30 October, 2020 held at Dr PDKV, Akola.

COVID-19 in the International Year of Plant Health

<p>Pests, in their broad sense, have played an important part in the history of humankind. We could say that humans, crops and pests have walked together through life. Codices, glyphs, paintings and countless ancient documents, including the Bible and the Koran, bear witness to this. Humanity has been attacked by its own diseases, but also by those that limit them from obtaining food and deteriorate the environment. COVID-19, which is now troubling us and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March of 2020, became a part of the list of experiences we have suffered in the past, with pests or epidemics that caused millions of deaths by diseases or famines. It is paradoxical that this health contingency occurs when the United Nations General Assembly, on December 20th, 2018, in its resolution A/RES/73/252 decides to declare 2020 the International Year of Plant Health in order to “highlight the importance of plant health to improve food security, protect the environment and biodiversity and boost economic development” according to the pronouncement by the FAO. For the first time, in an era with great technological and scientific breakthroughs, humanity was aware of its vulnerability against the inevitable evolution of life forms in the face of dilemmas global impact caused by human beings. Thus, the pest or parasite makes its own declaration of existential preeminence through SARS-CoV-2 to remind us that the health of humans or plants is the essence of life and its continuity. But perhaps absolute health is not enough. It is necessary to find a balance in a world overwhelmed by giving so much in return for almost nothing to everyone living on it. If the sensor of our anthropocentric intervention of the world is climate change, then biological chaos is a masterpiece. The reemergence of pests and diseases considered eradicated, or those of zoonotic origin that had never accompanied our existence is a surreal dystopia that we will never be able to deny again.</p>

Cotton growing in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

This chapter provides information on the history of the cotton industry in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The various insect pests and disease affecting cotton production in these countries are discussed and the efficacy of some strategies in the management of these pests and diseases are presented.

Evaluating the efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus thuringiensis on induce the plant growth and resistance of local variety patchouli under covered and uncovered seedlings methods

To increase plant resistance from an early age, it is necessary to introduce biological control agents from groups of fungi and bacteria. This study aims to determine the effect of Trichoderma harziaunum and Bacillus thuringiensis Aceh isolates in increasing the superiority of Aceh patchouli plants that are resistant to pests and plant diseases. The study used non-factorial RAL method with cover and uncovered seedling methods. Both series were treated with the same biological control agent, the control without any treatment, the treatment of T. harzianum and B. thuringiensis while the observations were made when the seedling covered was opened. Observations included plant morphological characters, plant growth development and peroxidase enzymes. The results showed that morphologically the original patchouli growing in Lhoong district had similar morphological characters to the Lhokseumawe variety. The application of biological control agents of the T. harzianum and B. thuringiensis groups was more effective in increasing plant growth in the closed seedling treatment compared to the uncovered seedling. T. harzianum gave the best effect at a dose range of 1-1.5 while B. thuringensis showed a better effect at a concentration of 10-15 ml. Both treatments increased the growth of patchouli seedlings as indicated by the better plant height and number of shoots. Furthermore, higher peroxidation enzymes were found in the closed seedling treatment with 1.5 g T harzianum and 15 ml B. thuringiensis. The high peroxidase enzyme as an indicator of the more resistant plants have been induced to pests and diseases. From the screen house experiment, T. harzianum and B. thuringiensis were more efficient in inducing plant growth and disease resistance of local varieties of patchouli using the closed seedling method.

Assessing the application and practice of conservation agriculture in Malawi.

The Conservation Agriculture (CA) system promoted by Total LandCare (TLC) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is based on 14 years of experience grounded on the principles of minimum soil disturbance, good soil cover and crop associations. The platform to promote CA in Malawi was to build a strong base of knowledge about best practices through an innovative non-linear research-extension approach. Long-term on-farm trials were conducted in multiple sites across Malawi to compare yields and labour inputs of CA with conventional ridge tillage on the same footing. Results showed the superiority of CA in terms of maize and legume yields with significant savings in labour and resilience to climate change. The results provided the basis to upscale CA although adoption was lower than expected. Key challenges included: (i) lack of exposure and training; (ii) conflicting extension messages; (iii) misconceptions about inputs and tools for CA; (iv) resistance to change unless CA is clearly seen to be a better practice; (v) fears about controlling weeds, pests and diseases under CA; and (vi) perceptions that increased termites and earthworms are harmful to soils and crops.