Consumptive use pattern of mustard (Brassica Juncea L) under different soil and climatic environments

Mustard is an important cash crop in north India where it is widely grown under different climatic environment and soil types. In the present study, evapotranspiration and other agro-meteoralogical data for four agroclimatic locations, viz., Jorhat, Samakhunta, Raipur and Jodhpur have been utilized to understand consumptive use and related aspects of mustard. The evapotranspiration values recorded by lysimeters, global radiation and actual soil moisture data of Jorhat and the computed soil moisture have been used. The study suggests that the nlustard plant uses n10re water at all the stations except at humid location where consumptive use is least. The utilization is n1aximum betw~n 31-60 days after sowing in case ofJorhat l;er 111 and Samakhunta. The con1puted soil 1110isture estimates for 45 cm layer agree with the actual soil moisture. 15-1 The analysis also brings oUt that during the seventh week after sowing, the ratio of consumpiive use and rti. Ru Ilobal radiation attains a nlaxin1um value. This infonnation can be used for detennining irrigation needs and ular m computing energy balance components in the crop. ncymodsE..C.1..S.l.R...llC

Leaf Blight Caused by Colletotrichum Fructicola of Large Cardamom (Amomum Subulatam Roxb.) an Important Cash Crop Grown in Sikkim, India

The full text of this preprint has been withdrawn by the authors due to author disagreement with the posting of the preprint. Therefore, the authors do not wish this work to be cited as a reference. Questions should be directed to the corresponding author.

Diet impacts on the biological aspects of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) under controlled laboratory conditions

Background Pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is a native pest of Asia and preferably invasion on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) crop as a commendatory host plant. Commercially, G. hirsutum is known as white gold and is an important cash crop all over the globe. Limited studies were published to focus on certain dietary compositions against different cotton pests. Therefore, the present study was undertaken in the laboratory under controlled conditions (temperature: 27 ± 2°C and relative humidity: 60 ± 10%) to determine the impact of three different treatment diets (wheat germ meal, okra, and chickpea) on the biological aspects (lifetime, developmental period) of P. gossypiella. Results Results revealed that the shortest larval time of P. gossypiella was observed on the okra feed diet while the longest period was recorded on the wheat germ diet. Meanwhile, the pupation delay was noted on the wheat germ diet. The dietary influence was also observed on adult stages of female and male P. gossypiella (43.00 and 37.50 days respectively) and compared with a standard diet (56.50 and 52.50 days respectively). Furthermore, larval weighed more on the okra and chickpea diet followed by the wheat germ diet, whereas highest pupal weight was observed on the standard diet followed by the chickpea diet and okra diet. Conclusion Developmental parameters were significantly variant across all treatment diets, whereas the higher significant difference was reported on the okra diet. Therefore, the existing data of this study offers fruitful interventions for the future as a modified diet for large-scale and rapid mass production of P. gossypiella larvae.

Growth and Bulb Yield of Garlic as Influenced by Clove Size

Garlic is an important cash crop in many regions of Ethiopia. However, the yield of the crop is constrained by several factors. Among these, inappropriate clove size is one of the major agronomic practices that can decrease the yield of the crop. Hence, a field experiment was conducted during the 2020/21 main cropping season at Debre Berhan University, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences, demonstration and research site to evaluate the effect of clove size on growth and bulb yield of garlic (Allium sativum L.). The treatments consisted of five clove sizes: 1–1.49 g, 1.5–1.99 g, 2–2.50 g, 2.51–2.99 g, and 3–3.5 g. An improved variety “Tseday” was used as a planting material. The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement and replicated for three times. The results revealed that clove size significantly influenced all growth and yield parameters of garlic. Planting of 3–3.5 g cloves reduced days to emergence by 11 and 6.33 days and days to maturity by 28.33 and 18.00 days, respectively, as compared to planting of 1–1.49 g and 2–2.5 g cloves. This treatment also increased total bulb yield by 25.88% and 15.58%, respectively, as compared to planting of 1–1.49 g and 2–2.5 g cloves. In addition, this treatment significantly increased most of the growth and bulb yield components. Hence, it can be concluded that planting of 3–3.5 g cloves could be recommended to enhance early emergence, good vegetative growth, and total bulb yield of garlic.

The effect of application of control techniques to the population, damage intensity of onion caterpillar (Spodoptera exigua hubner) and yield of shallots

Shallot is an important cash crop in Indonesia. However, its productivity is relatively low, due to the attack of the onion caterpillar (Spodoptera exigua Hubner). This study aimed to identify the effect of the application of control techniques on the population, damage intensity, and shallots yield. This research was conducted by field experiment. Control treatment consisted of covering shallots by using gauze/net and insecticide treatment with active ingredients of profenofos, metomil, and carbosulfan. The research variables consisted of the population and the damage intensity of S. exigua, as well as the yield of shallots. The results showed that the caterpillars population of S. exigua was found at 16 DAP and increased up to before harvest at 44 DAP. Covering shallots with gauze effectively suppressed the population of S. exigua (0.0 per hills), followed by treatment with profenofos (0.14 per hills), carbosulfan (0.15 per hills), and methomyl 0.32 per hills). The damage intensity of S. exigua in the plot gauze covered was 0%, lower than 32%, 25%, 12%, 10%, respectively, in the control plot, treatment of metomil, carbosulfan, and profenofos. Covering shallots with gauze also increased the weight of wet-harvested tubers (50.83 g per hills).

Rapid Mining of Candidate Genes for Verticillium Wilt Resistance in Cotton Based on BSA-Seq Analysis

Cotton is a globally important cash crop. Verticillium wilt (VW) is commonly known as “cancer” of cotton and causes serious loss of yield and fiber quality in cotton production around the world. Here, we performed a BSA-seq analysis using an F2:3 segregation population to identify the candidate loci involved in VW resistance. Two QTLs (qvw-D05-1 and qvw-D05-2) related to VW resistance in cotton were identified using two resistant/susceptible bulks from the F2 segregation population constructed by crossing the resistant cultivar ZZM2 with the susceptible cultivar J11. A total of 30stop-lost SNPs and 42 stop-gained SNPs, which included 17 genes, were screened in the qvw-D05-2 region by SnpEff analysis. Further analysis of the transcriptome data and qRT-PCR revealed that the expression level of Ghir_D05G037630 (designated as GhDRP) varied significantly at certain time points after infection with V. dahliae. The virus-induced gene silencing of GhDRP resulted in higher susceptibility of the plants to V. dahliae than the control, suggesting that GhDRP is involved in the resistance to V. dahlia infection. This study provides a method for rapid mining of quantitative trait loci and screening of candidate genes, as well as enriches the genomic information and gene resources for the molecular breeding of disease resistance in cotton.

GhGASA10–1 promotes the cell elongation in fiber development through the phytohormones IAA-induced

Background Cotton is an important cash crop. The fiber length has always been a hot spot, but multi-factor control of fiber quality makes it complex to understand its genetic basis. Previous reports suggested that OsGASR9 promotes germination, width, and thickness by GAs in rice, while the overexpression of AtGASA10 leads to reduced silique length, which is likely to reduce cell wall expansion. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the function of GhGASA10 in cotton fibers development. Results To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying fiber elongation regulation concerning GhGASA10–1, we revealed an evolutionary basis, gene structure, and expression. Our results emphasized the conservative nature of GASA family with its origin in lower fern plants S. moellendorffii. GhGASA10–1 was localized in the cell membrane, which may synthesize and transport secreted proteins to the cell wall. Besides, GhGASA10–1 promoted seedling germination and root extension in transgenic Arabidopsis, indicating that GhGASA10–1 promotes cell elongation. Interestingly, GhGASA10–1 was upregulated by IAA at fiber elongation stages. Conclusion We propose that GhGASA10–1 may promote fiber elongation by regulating the synthesis of cellulose induced by IAA, to lay the foundation for future research on the regulation networks of GASA10–1 in cotton fiber development.

IMPROVED SSRs-BASED GENETIC DIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF COCONUTS (COCOS NUCIFERA L) ALONG THE COAST OF KENYA

ABSTRACTCoconut is the most important cash crop along the Coast of Kenya, yet its genetic diversity has not been fully established. A genetic diversity study of 48 coconut genotypes that were collected along the Coast of Kenya was conducted with 13 polymorphic short sequence repeats (SSRs) markers. SSR analysis was performed using GeneMapper while data analysis was done with PowerMarker and DARwin softwares.The results revealed a total of 68 alleles ranging from 2 to 11 per locus with a mean of 5.23 per marker. Gene diversity and polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged between 0.41 to 0.83 and 0.33 to 0.79, respectively. A neighbour-joining dendrogram grouped the genotypes into three major clusters containing distinct sub-clusters. This study underscored that capillary electrophoresis is a more accurate and informative technique for SSRs allele scoring than agarose gels, which was reported in a previous study with the same SSRs markers and coconut genotypes in Kenya. The clusters observed forms the basis to isolate conservation blocks, which are the key to establishing a genebank, since there is no documented coconut genebank for ex-situ conservation in Kenya.

Seasonal Variation in Chemical Compositions of Essential Oils Extracted from Lavandin Flowers in the Yun-Gui Plateau of China

Lavandin, as an important cash crop, is cultivated in Kunming, Yun-Gui Plateau of China. For the special growing environment, Lavandin was grown here and used to investigate the changes in the yield and chemical compositions of essential oils extracted from the flowers in different seasons. The essential oils were extracted by hydro-distillation and analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results indicated great changes in chemical composition depending on the season of harvesting. The yields of essential oils ranged from 2.0% to 3.8% among the seasons, and the highest yield was in the summer. Chemical composition data showed that the extracted oils were rich in oxygenated monoterpenes (55.4–81.4%), eucalyptol (38.7–49.8%), camphor (8.41–14.26%), α-bisabolol (6.6–25.5%), and linalool (4.6–12.5%). The contents of eucalyptol and α-bisabolol changed in a contrary trend with seasonal variations. The results provided new insight for Chinese Lavandin germplasm to be used in application and development, and reference to the researcher, the farmer, and investor for sustainable industrialization of the plant grown in the Yun-Gui Plateau of China, but also the similar plateau area of the sustainable developments.

Constraints faced by the Respondents in Cultivation of Betel Vine in Malappuram District of Kerala

Betel vine (Piper betel L. ) in India is grown as an important cash crop across the states, of, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tripura ,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. A study was undertaken in Malappuram district of Kerala for analysis of constraints faced by the farmers in betel vine cultivation covering Tanur block taking six villages selected purposively where the crop is grown as a major crop. A total 120 betel vine growers were selected randomly from six villages. It is observed that nearly half of the respondents felt the constraints were severe (45%) in betel vine cultivation, followed by not severe (31.66%) and very severe (23.33%). Most of the respondents experienced labour shortage or high labour cost as the most problematic constraint, the study further indicated that the second most important constraint found was price fluctuation followed by water scarcity, transportation and insects and diseases.