Evaluation of Alternative Pre-emergence Herbicides to Atrazine for Weed Control on Maize (Zea maysL.) plot in Ogbomoso, Southwest Nigeria

Field experiments were carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm of the LadokeAkintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso to evaluate the effectiveness and determine the optimum rate of applying alternative herbicides to atrazine on maize plots in view of the current criticism against the herbicide. Five herbicides, namely; 3-maize force, Xtra force, Pre-maize Guard force (solution and pellet) at two rates (100% and 50% recommended rates) were compared with atrazine at full dose and 3 hoe-weeding in a Randomized complete Block Experiment with 3 replications. Maize, Variety OBA Super, maturing in 75 days, was planted at two plants per stand at a spacing of 75 x 50cm in two-year trials and maintained following the standard procedures. The herbicides were applied using a knapsack sprayer calibrated to deliver at 200liters/ha. Results showed that there were no significant differences (p=0.05) among the treatment and between the treatments and control with respect to seed germination, plant survival and other growth parameters. The highest grain yield (6757.3kg/ha) obtained with atrazine was not significantly different from those of other treatments and control. The effectiveness of the herbicides, measured using weed density and biomass, showed comparable effectiveness across the herbicides and atrazine. Furthermore, at a dosage of 50%, the herbicide’s effectiveness was highly comparable to those of atrazine at 100%. The implications of these findings were discussed.

Exposure to COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Is as Impactful as Vaccine Misinformation in Inducing a Decline in Vaccination Intentions in New Zealand: Results from Pre-Post Between-Groups Randomized Block Experiment

While recent studies have investigated how health messages on vaccine characteristics shift public intentions to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a few studies investigate the impact of real-world, widely shared vaccine misinformation on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Moreover, there is currently no research that investigates how exposure to hesitancy, as compared to misinformation, is associated with COVID-19 vaccination intentions. Based on data from a nationally representative survey experiment conducted in March 2021 (N = 1,083), exposure to outright COVID-19 vaccine misinformation as well as exposure to vaccine hesitancy induces a decline in COVID-19 vaccination intentions to protect self and to get the vaccine to protect others in New Zealand, compared to factual information from government authorities. Moreover, there is no significant difference in exposure to misinformation or hesitancy in the self-reported change in COVID-19 vaccination intentions. However, respondents are more likely to believe in vaccine hesitancy information and share such information with family and followers compared to misinformation. Implications for research in health communication campaigns on COVID-19 are presented.

Effectiveness of Push–Pull Systems to Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) Management in Maize Crops in Morelos, Mexico

Chemical control is the main method used to combat fall armyworm in maize crops. However, its indiscriminate use usually leads to a more complex scenario characterized by loss of its effectiveness due to the development of resistance of the insect pest, emergence of secondary pests, and reduction of the populations of natural enemies. For this reason, efforts to develop strategies for agroecological pest management such as Push–Pull are increasingly growing. In this context, the present study was carried out to evaluate field effectiveness of Push–Pull systems for S. frugiperda management in maize crops in Morelos, Mexico. In a randomized block experiment, the incidence and severity of S. frugiperda, the development and yield of maize were evaluated in nine Push–Pull systems and a maize monoculture. The Push–Pull systems presented incidence/severity values lower than those of the monoculture. Morphological development and maize yield in the latter were lower than those of most Push–Pull systems. Mombasa—D. ambrosioides, Mulato II—T. erecta, Mulato II—C. juncea, Tanzania—T. erecta and Tanzania—D. ambrosioides systems presented higher yields than those of monocultures.

Masked transposition priming effects are observed in Korean in the same–different task

Research suggests that readers of Korean Hangul demonstrate precise orthographic coding. In contrast to findings from many other languages, the identification of Hangul words is not speeded by prior masked presentation of transposition primes relative to substitution primes. The present studies asked whether evidence for precise orthographic coding is also observed in the same–different task—a task claimed to reflect pre-lexical orthographic representations. Experiments tested whether masked transposed-letter (Experiment 1) or transposed-syllable-block (Experiment 2) primes facilitate judgements about whether a target matches a reference stimulus. In contrast to previous results using lexical decision, significant transposition effects were observed in both cases. These findings add weight to the proposition that apparent differences across writing systems in the precision of orthographic coding may reflect demands of the word identification process rather than properties of orthographic representations themselves.

The influence of fencing on seedling establishment during reforestation of oak stands: a comparison of artificial and natural regeneration techniques including costs

In temperate Europe, oak-dominated forests are widespread, supporting high biodiversity and providing important ecosystem services. Insufficient natural regeneration has, however, been a concern for over a century. The objective of this study was to gain insights into differences in regeneration success using artificial and natural regeneration techniques for reforestation of oak (Quercus robur L.) stands. We monitored seedlings following planting, direct seeding and natural regeneration over five years in a randomized block experiment in southern Sweden with fenced and non-fenced plots. Fencing had a strong positive effect on height growth, especially for planted seedlings that were taller than the other seedlings and more frequently browsed in non-fenced plots. In contrast, there was little effect of fencing on survival, establishment rate and recruitment rate of seedlings. Due to aboveground damage on seedlings from voles, protection of acorns did not improve establishment rate following direct seeding. Under current circumstances at the site with a sparse shelterwood of old oaks, we conclude that natural regeneration was the most cost-efficient regeneration method. It resulted in the most seedlings at the lowest cost. However, regeneration success was heavily influenced by interference from herbaceous vegetation. With a small additional investment in vegetation control, the results might have been improved for planting and direct seeding.

Cowpea Response to Two Organic Fertilizers in the Nord Sudan Zone of Burkina Faso

The Intensification of cowpea production is a priority because of its role in household income generation and its contribution to food security. To evaluate the effect of organic fertilizers on cowpea productivity, a dispersed block experiment design was set up in Saria in the semi-arid zone of Burkina Faso during the 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons. The combination of Biodeposit (Agro and Elixir) and Organova were used alone or in combination with mineral fertilizer. The results showed that during the two years, the highest cowpea grain yields were obtained with the Organova + the recommended mineral fertilizer and Biodeposit Agro + the recommended mineral fertilizer. The combination of organic fertilizers and recommended mineral fertilizer resulted in a 45% and 59% increase respectively with Organova and Biodeposit (Agro + Elixir). These two fertilizers then have the same effects on cowpea productivity. In the semi-arid zone where there is competition for organic resources, organic fertilizers can be used in combination with mineral fertilizer to improve cowpea productivity.

Comparing Extraction Methods for Biomarker Steroid Characterisation from Soil and Slurry

Clean water is a precious resource, and policies/programmes are implemented worldwide to protect and/or improve water quality. Faecal pollution can be a key contributor to water quality decline causing eutrophication through nutrient enrichment and pathogenic contamination. The robust sourcing of faecal pollutants is important to be able to target the appropriate sector and to engage managers. Biomarker technology has the potential for source confirmation, by using, for example the biomarker suite of steroids. Steroids have been used in the differentiation of human and animal faeces; however, there is no unequivocal extraction technique. Some of the methods used include (i) Soxhlet extraction, (ii) Bligh and Dyer (BD) extraction, and (iii) accelerated solvent extraction (ASE). The less costly and time intensive technique of ASE is particularly attractive, but a current research gap concerns further comparisons regarding ASE lipid extraction from soils/slurries compared with the more traditional Soxhlet and BD extractions. Accordingly, a randomised complete block experiment was implemented to assess differences between the three extraction methods, differences between the different sample types, and the interactions between these two factors. Following GC-MS, it was found that there was no significant difference between the results of the steroid extraction methods, regardless of the type of sample used, for the quantity of each steroid extracted. It was concluded that ASE could be used confidently instead of the more established steroid extraction methods, thereby delivering time and cost savings.

Selectivity and efficacy of herbicide GF-3488, containing synthetic auxins halauxifen-methyl and clopyralid, in winter oilseed rape crops in Ukraine

Halauxifen-methyl is a new synthetic auxin, which in combination with another auxin-like herbicide clopyralid is the active ingredient of complex herbicide GF-3488, that is used for dicotyledonous weeds control in winter oilseed rape crops. The reason of this study was a necessity to test crop selectivity and efficacy of GF-3488 to control dicotyledonous weeds in winter oilseed rape crops in Ukraine and also the possibility of GF-3488 application in the tank mixture with graminicide or/and insecticide to control monocotyledonous weeds and insects. A randomized block experiment was conducted in 2015—2017 in 4 locations. It was found that under spring applying, the GF-3488 is not inferior to another widely used herbicide Galera Super on selectivity to the crop. Herbicide GF-3488 at the rate 1.0 l/ha was significantly better than Galera Super at the rate 0.3 l/ha in controlling of annual dicotyledonous weeds Papaver rhoeas L., Galium aparine L., Consolida regalis S.F. Gray and was effective to control of certain types of cruciferous weeds, which are resistant to Galera Super. Adding graminicide Fusilade Forte and insecticide Nurelle D did not affect the GF-3488 selectivity to the crop and had no negative impact on dicotyledonous weeds control. Efficacy of monocotyledonous weeds control by graminicide did not change in the mixture with GF-3488. It was concluded that herbicide GF-3488 is effective on winter oilseed rape against dicotyledonous weed species. Therefore for the simultaneous control of dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous weeds in winter oilseed rape in the spring after the renewal of the crop vegetation herbicide GF-3488 is advisable to be used in a tank mixture with graminicides, and for simultaneous protection against weeds and pests it can be mixed with insecticides.

Yield and yield components of tomato grafted plants in the high Andean region of Colombia

Grafting as a technique is gaining attention, and the production and demand for grafted vegetable plants have increased worldwide, especially for greenhouse cultivation. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of different scion × rootstock combinations or improving the yield of the tomato crop under greenhouse conditions. For this purpose, a scion of tomato cv. Libertador was grafted on two commercial tomato rootstock (‘Olimpo’ and ‘Armada’) and cultivated in a greenhouse in a randomized complete block experiment design, with four scion-rootstock combinations: vigor and resistance rootstocks, self-grafting and non-grafted plants. The yield and yield components were evaluated (number and weight of the fruits of extra, commercial, and non-commercial quality, weight per cluster, and weight per fruit). Although vigor rootstocks produce less fresh fruit in the first harvests, from the seventh harvest onwards, the vigor rootstocks outperformed the other treatments in the accumulated yield by producing 37, 22 and 22% more yield, and 60, 30 and 40% higher number of fruits of extra quality in the resistance rootstock, self-grafted, and non-grafted plants. The fruits plants of vigor rootstock, self-grafted and non-grafted above 150 g, tend to have a cylindrical shape; however, fruits in the resistance rootstock tend to be flattened. The use of a vigor rootstock increased the yield of cv. Libertador, regarding the rootstock with resistance characteristics and controls, self-grafted, and non-grafted plants.

Nitrogen Fixation and Resorption Efficiency Differences Among Twelve Upland and Lowland Switchgrass Cultivars

In nitrogen (N)-limited terrestrial ecosystems, plants employ various strategies to acquire and conserve N, including translocation of N in perennial tissues and stimulation of N fixation in roots and soils. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a genotypically and phenotypically diverse perennial grass with two distinct ecotypes (lowland and upland) and numerous genotypes. It grows well in low-N soils, likely because of its ability to translocate N and to associate with N-fixing microbes, but little is known about variation in these traits among cultivars or even ecotypes. We measured N translocation, N fixation potential in roots and soils, soil net N mineralization, soil net nitrification, and biomass yields in 12 switchgrass cultivars grown in a replicated block experiment in southwestern Michigan, United States. Lowland cultivars had higher yields, rates of N translocation, soil net N mineralization, and N fixation potentials on washed, nonsterile roots, while upland cultivars exhibited higher N fixation potentials in root-free soil. N resorption efficiencies averaged 53 ± 5% (± standard error) for lowland versus 29 ± 3% for upland cultivars. Additionally, there were significant among-cultivar differences for all response variables except mineralization and nitrification, with differences likely explained by cultivar-specific physiologies and microbial communities. The ideal cultivar for biofuels is one that can maintain high yields with minimal fertilizer addition, and there appear to be several cultivars that meet these criteria. In addition, results suggest substantial N cycle differences among cultivars that might be exploited by breeders to create new or improved high-yielding, N-conserving switchgrass lines.