Physiological Characters and Alimentary Needs of Both Divergent Lines of the Barbary Partridge (Alectoris barbara, Bonnaterre, 1792) in Algeria

Background: The Barbary partridge (Alectoris barbara) is a wild endemic species of North-Africa. The lack of information about this species, allows putting research focus in the hunting center of Zeralda, on the selection of a line for an improvement on the zootechnical characteristics of this population. Methods: Over 13 weeks of follow-up, we have performed weekly measurements on 3 successive generations F12-F14 with daily measurements of food intake. We are interested at the fundamental level of the biological characterization of both divergent lines. The analysis of the effects of selection pressures on the growth to estimate the metabolizable energy of each line. Result: During 273 days of study period, we noticed that the metabolizable energy has an average divergence between the fast line and the slow one with 0.328 Kcal/day since birth and an average divergence of 8.899 Kcal/day towards the 13th week in favour of the fast line. Significance noticed between males and females with a favour of the males which are more important. In addition to that, the values of weight-based consumption index imply higher indices for the slow line compared to the values of the fast line. Our results highlight the efficiency of the selection scheme. This progress will allow developing the restoration methods and/or the natural restocking populations on scientific bases.

Association, direct and indirect effects of yield, biochemical and physiological characters on seed yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

The present research consists of the 25 genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) which was carried out at the field experimentation center, Department of the Genetics and Plant Breeding, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj during Rabi 2019-20 in Randomized Block Design with three replications with an aim to determine genetic variability, correlation, direct and indirect effects yield, biochemical and physiological characters on seed yield. All the genotypes of chickpea showed significant differences among them, significance variability existed for all the characters. Based on the mean performance, high yield was found for the C-18106 followed by C-18122, C-18103, and C-18101, genotypes C-18123, ICC-15896, C-18102 & GPF-02 showed against pod borer. High heritability (?70%) coupled with high genetic advance (?20%) were being observed for the number of seeds per plant, biological yield. Seed yield per plant exhibited positive and highly significant correlation with biological yield, chlorophyll index, starch content and number of seeds per plant at both genotypic and phenotypic level. Path analysis at phenotypic level identified hundred seed weight followed by chlorophyll index, number of seeds per plant, number of secondary branches, trypsin inhibitor and harvest index important direct components for seed yield per plant. Thus, due consideration should be given to these characters during the selection.

Application of Sewage Sludge and Its Impact on Soil Characteristics, Including Morphological and Biochemical Properties of Vigna radiata Plant

This experiment was conducted in pots to study the effects of sewage sludge application on some morphological, physiological and accumulation characters of Vigna radiata. The experiment contained the following treatments: control (C) 0 gm sludge/30 kg soil, (T1) 300 gm sludge/30 kg soil, (T2) 600 gm sludge/30 kg soil and (T3) 900 gm sludge/30 kg soil. All sludge treatments showed a significant increase in all morphological, physiological and accumulation characters compared with control. (T2 ) treatment gave a significant increase as compared to other treatments in all morphological characters (height of the plant, leaf area, and total dry weight for shoots and roots). It increased by 34.1 cm, 33.1 cm2, 29.8 gm and 3.3 gm, respectively, compared with the control. T2 treatment also gave significant values in all physiological characters (chlorophyll and protein content) as compared to other treatments and the control treatment, (2.60 μg/gm and 17.7%) respectively compared with the control. T3 treatment showed a higher accumulation of Cd and Pb in all plant parts, the root system showed greater susceptibility to bioaccumulation than the shoot system for both the heavy metals.

Test of Samosir local varieties of shallots with gamma-ray radiation on changes morphology characters, physiology and production

Shallots are one of the vegetable commodities that are in demand by the public, but their production does not meet market demand. One of the reasons is the difficulty of suitable seeds for the area. This condition can be overcome by obtaining superior seeds in the Samosir area through irradiation on shallot bulbs. The research objectives were to produce high production, and to identify changes in the morphological and physiological characters of the local Samosir variety shallots. Treatments were arranged in a non-factorial Randomized Block Design. Shallots bulbs were irradiated with several doses of gamma-ray irradiation (0, 1, and 2Gy) using a Co 60irradiation sources. The results showed that there were morphological and physiological differences between the irradiation treatments. The number of leaves with the highest value at 2 Gy 20.147 g and the lowest at 18.894 g control. The heaviest wet weight in the control was 20.355 g and the lowest was at 2 Gy 18.45 g. At 1 Gy and 2 Gy can significantly increase the content of chlorophyll-a 2 Gy 2.484, chlorophyll-b 2 Gy 1.579, and total chlorophyll-(a+b) 2 Gy 4.056. This proves that the dose of gamma-ray radiation affects the morphological and physiological characters of shallots.

Physiological characters of four lowland chilli varieties (Capsicum annum L.) with root cutting

The root system plays some vital roles in overall plant development, promoting plant anchorage, absorption of nutrients and water, and hormone production. Cutting is an attempt to root regeneration and enhance the plant's metabolism capability, including canopies and roots for high yielding. Non-hybrid chilli can be used as a model plant because Indonesia's chilli yield has not been maximal yet. This research was aimed to determine the physiological characters of four lowland chilli varieties with root cutting. This study was designed using a randomized, complete block design (RCBD) with two factors: root cutting and varieties. The root cutting factor consisted of 4 levels: root cutting in seeding, root cutting in ridging, root cutting in seedling and ridging, and non-cutting. The varieties factor consisted of 4 levels, namely Lembang, Kencana, Tanjung, dan Ungu. The results showed that root cutting in ridging for Kencana, Lembang, and Ungu increased stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, CO2 intercellular, chlorophyll accumulation, photosynthesis rate, and improved fruit yield per plant. However, Tanjung did not respond to root cutting treatment because it did not improve plant physiology characters and fruit yield than non-cutting treatment. It is concluded that root cutting in ridging can be improved plant physiology, which contributes to increasing yield on Kencana, Lembang, and Ungu.

Effect of production environments on storage and physiological quality of maize seed

Storage is a factor that can affect seed quality as a function of latent damages. The losses that most contribute to the reduction in germination and vigor during storage are those caused by humidity, mechanical and temperature-related, that may interfere with seed quality throughout storage. The aim of this study was evaluating the physiological quality of maize seeds produced in two environments and classified in different formats compared to storage periods. The experiment was carried out in the 2016 harvest in two cultivation environments: Entre-Ijuís, RS and Pelotas, RS. Seeds were stratified by thickness through sieves with oblong holes and stratified into small round, large round, small flat and large flat. Growing environments influence the physiological characteristics of maize seeds. The flat and large format seeds have superior physiological quality for the measured physiological characters. The small and round seeds present lower values for germination, first germination count, emergence speed index, shoot dry matter of emergence seedlings and shoot dry matter of germination seedlings. Corn seeds when stored under controlled conditions remain for long periods without causing decreases in physiological quality.

Drought-adapted maize line based on morphophysiological selection index

Padjung R, Farid M, Musa Y, Anshori MF, Nur A, Masnenong A. 2021. Drought-adapted maize line based on morphophysiological selection index. Biodiversitas 22: 4028-4035. Synthetic line formation is an effort to increase maize productivity in drought-stressed areas. This process requires systematic selection in determining adaptability levels involving important secondary characters formulated in the selection index. Furthermore, the principal component index had been widely reported, both in normal and stressed conditions. The selection index development on morpho-physiological characters based on multivariate analysis was expected to increase drought stress tolerance and maize lines selection precision. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to form a selection index based on morpho-physiological characters and selecting synthetic lines adaptive under drought stress. This research was designed using a split-plot with 3 replications, where the main plot consisted of normal and stressed irrigation, while the subplot was genotype consisting of 6 lines and 3 check varieties namely Bisma, Lamuru, and Sukamarga. Observations were performed on 18 morphological and 4 physiological characters, and the results showed that the selection index was formed based on multivariate analysis from 9 characters. Through index selection, Syn_2-2 (0.79), Syn_2-15 (0.85) and Syn_2-16 (0.97) were considered as drought stress adaptive lines. Therefore, the 3 lines can be recommended in the synthetic variety release process.

Influence of Foliar Application of Glycinebetaine on Tagetes Erecta L Yield Cultivated under Salinity Conditions

Tagetes genus of Composite family consider one of the most favorite floriculture plant. Therefore, of particular interest examine the salt tolerance of this bedding and coloring agent plant. In this research, was report the role of glycinebetaine (GB) in attenuating the adverse impacts of salt stress in African marigold plant, along with their anti-oxidative capacities and biochemical attributes. The salt stressed African marigold (100 and 150 mM NaCl) was treated with GB at 200 mM, beside untreated control plants. According to the obtained results, the growth characters were negatively in salt stressed plants but a mitigate impact of GB were observed in this respect. Obviously, the morphological as well as some physiological characters were reduced with salinity treatments while GB treatment reverses these effects. Overall, the alleviate impact of GB on the negative impact of salt stress was enhanced through improving total phenolic and antioxidant enzyme activity. Further, it is concluded that GB concentration induces the activities of antioxidative enzymes which scavenged ROS increased under saline conditions.

​Identification of Low Light Tolerant Blackgram Varieties with Respect to Morpho-physiology and Yield

Background: Blackgram is generally considered as a shade sensitive crop. Nevertheless, it fits well in intercropping, crop rotation and crop mixture in coconut gardens thus forming an integral part of cropping systems of the tropics. To encourage and extend blackgram cultivation in coconut gardens, suitable varieties tolerant to shade, need to be identified. The current study aims to screen shade tolerant blackgram varieties with respect to morpho-physiological characters and yield. Methods: Field experiment was conducted during Rabi 2019 at College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala, India. Uniformly spaced coconut palms of age above 40 years were selected having a light intensity of 40-46.5 Klux. Twelve promising blackgram varieties along with three cultures were evaluated under low light intensity in coconut garden. Morpho-physiological attributes and yields were recorded and analysed statistically. Result: Superior growth attributes and physiological parameters like stomatal frequency, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate were recorded in varieties namely, DBGV 5, Sumanjana and VBN 5. These varieties were found tolerant to low light intensity with DBGV 5 recording significantly higher yield (1183.33 kg ha-1) followed by VBN 5 (916.67 kg ha-1) and Sumanjana (906.67 kg ha-1) and could be recommended as suitable for intercropping in coconut garden.

Preliminary Application of Vermicompost in Rice Production: Effects of Nursery Raising with Vermicompost on Fragrant Rice Performances

Vermicompost is an excellent organic fertilizer, but the application of vermicompost in fragrant rice production has not yet been reported. Seedling nursery is an important component of rice production. The present study firstly applied vermicompost in fragrant rice production through nursery raising. The seedlings of three fragrant rice cultivars were raised in matrix with different rations of vermicompost (the treatment without vermicompost was taken as the control), and the growth parameters and physiological characters of seedlings were investigated. The results showed that, compared with the control, the application of vermicompost significantly (p < 0.05) increased the plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight, and dry weight of fragrant rice seedlings by 11.22–24.73%, 38.34–65.87%, 16.74–30.46%, and 16.61–35.16%, respectively. Nursery raising with vermicompost significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the net photosynthetic rate by 5.99–12.93%, relative to the control. Higher contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, and total chlorophyll were recorded in vermicompost treatments than in the control. Compared with the control, vermicompost treatments also increased root length, surface area, mean diameter, root volume, root tip number, and root activity of fragrant rice seedlings by 12.42–27.82%, 15.04–38.65%, 12.64–23.12%, 42.41–63.58%, 18.62–24.95%, and 12.01–26.29%, respectively. Moreover, nursery raising with vermicompost enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide, peroxidase, and catalase by 7.97–24.21%, 17.11–44.99%, and 7.37–15.95%, respectively, relative to the control. Moreover, 7.92–29.40% lower malondialdehyde contents were recorded in vermicompost treatments compared with the control. Therefore, nursery raising with vermicompost could be a good agronomy practice in machine-transplanted fragrant rice.