Irrigation with municipal wastewater as a suitable solution for safflower cultivation in arid regions

In order to study the effect of different manure and chemical fertilizer levels on qualitative and quantitative characteristics of safflower in the condition of irrigation with municipal wastewater, an experiment was conducted as split plot basis of randomized complete design in Lakhshah region locate in Zahedan city, Iran. The treatments were comprised of two levels of irrigation, W1= Well water and W2= Treated wastewater, in main plots and sub plots consisted of F1: control (without consumption of manure and chemical fertilizer), F2: Recommended manure, F3: Half of recommended manure and chemical fertilizer (N, P and K), and F4: Recommended chemical fertilizer (N, P and K). The results showed that Treatment of treated wastewater had a positive and significant influence on all yield components, and the most influence was shown on 1000 seed weight. Also, irrigation with wastewater significantly increases the dry and fresh yield and grain yield of safflower than ordinary water. Among the fertilizer treatments, complete treatment of chemical fertilizer N, P and K had the greatest effect on increase of yield and grain yield components. In this experiment, water treatment hadn’t significant effect on accumulation of Cr, pb, Fe and Mn in safflower grain, and soil. While, fertilizer treatment had only a significant influence on the accumulation of Fe and Mn in safflower grain, but between these treatments wasn’t saw any significant difference on the accumulation of Cr and pb. In general, the results of this experiment showed that irrigation with wastewater and application of complete fertilizer with manure is recommended.

Dual-purpose ability of barley and wheat at drought and heat stress conditions

Dual-purpose barley and wheat production is a valuable resource to fill feed gaps and grain production, but availability at drought and heat stress conditions is still not clearly studied. Two experiments were conducted at semi-controlled green house to determine biomass production at vegetative stages, chlorophyll content and grain yield. Experiment 1 consists of four clipping treatments on wheat, i.e. one, two, three times clipping and un-clipping control. Experiment 2 combined two clipping treatments (one clipping and un-clipping) and two levels of water (low: 40 % of field capacity; normal: 85 % of field capacity) on barley. Wheat grain yield was severely affected by increasing clipping number under heat stress. Total biomass at one clipping was the same level as control treatment. Although physiological maturity was delayed 8 days from control to 3 times clipping application, biomass and yield remained below the control application due to shrinkage in plant height and other organs size. Clipping and water levels at barley significantly impacted biomass and plant height, but all traits were not related by interactions clipping x water level. The clipping application in heat stress reduced total biomass by 21.3 and 30.4 % in well-watered and dry conditions, respectively. Contrary to what is expected, it seems clear to obtain satisfactory forage and grain yield by optimizing the management technique, growing in dual-purpose production in wheat and barley in warm environments.

Actual evapotranspiration evaluation based on multi-sensed data

The importance of active and passive remote sensing data integration appears strongly on cloudy days. The lack of passive remote sensing data on cloudy days prevents the benefit of large-scale satellite data in cloudy areas, while the advantage of active remote sensing, it could penetrate the cloud and collect data underneath the cloud. The main objective of this paper is to determine the benefits of combining active and passive remote sensing data to detect actual evapotranspiration (ETa). Sentinel-1 radar data represents active data, while Landsat-8 represents passive data. Multi-date data for Landsat-8 and Sentinel-1 were used during the 2016 summer season. The characteristic soil texture in the study region is clay. The meteorological data were used to estimate ETo based on the FAO-Penman-Monteith (FPM) process, while the Lysimeter data were used to test the estimated ETa. Landsat-8 data are used to measure the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI). Crop Coefficient (Kc) is calculated on the basis of NDVI. The CWSI, Kc, and ETo were then used to determine ETa. Backscattering (dB) C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data extracted from the Sentinel-1 satellite was correlated with Kc and used to estimate ETa. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) reported relevant results for active and passive satellite data separately and the combination process. For Sentinel-1, Landsat-8 and combination methods, the RMSE reported 0.89, 0.24, and 0.31 (mm/day) respectively.

Effect of cytokinins on growth and phenylpropanoid accumulation in Tartary buckwheat sprouts (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench)

This study analyzed the effect of plant hormones, zeatin, 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP), kinetin, and thidiazuron (TDZ) on the growth of Tartary buckwheat sprouts and analyzed the fresh weight, shoot and root length, and production of phenolic compounds. All the hormone-treated plants at the lowest concentration (0.1 mg/L) showed the highest levels of growth parameters (fresh weight, shoot, and root length) when compared to the control. Among the various hormones treatment, the plant treated with 1 mg/L of BAP, kinetin, and zeatin showed the highest total phenolic level, whereas the TDZ showed the highest accumulation of total phenolic at the lowest concentration (0.1 mg/L). A total of 6 compounds were identified (4-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, rutin, and trans-cinnamic acid) were quantified by high liquid performance chromatography (HPLC) after treatment of plant with different concentrations of hormones. Among these individual phenolic compounds, at the higher hormonal concentration (1 mg/L) the rutin showed the highest accumulation in BAP, zeatin, and kinetin treated sprout, whereas in the TDZ treated sprout the rutin content was highest at the lowest concentration (0.1 mg/L). From these results, it is suggested that BAP, zeatin, and kinetin at the lowest concentrations might positively enhance the growth of buckwheat sprouts, whereas at the highest hormonal treatment the accumulation of the phenolic compounds was higher. However, in TDZ treatment the growth and phenolic compound accumulation were highest at the lowest concentration. From these results, it is showed that suitable concentrations might enhance the growth and phenolic compound accumulation in Tatary buckwheat sprout.

Application of geographic information systems in effective management of the land resources of Syrdarya region, Uzbekistan

The article analyzes the opportunities of effective land management using geographical information systems. The perspectives of the using of geo information systems in the efficient use of agricultural lands especially in the development of recommendations for improving the reclamation of saline soils are given. The development of algorithms for the provision of relevant regulatory recommendations on the state of the lands in the studied area and the creating of salt washing norm maps based on GIS technologies have been studied.

Effect of salinity on seed germination of some tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) varieties

Salinity adversely affects 20-30% of the irrigated area in the world. Tomato is sensitive to salinity. It is one of the most severe abiotic factors of many agricultural crops and it becoming the main problem in Ethiopia. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different salinity levels on the seed germination parameters of tomato varieties. It was laid out in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The treatment included four tomato varieties (Sirinka, Weyno, ARP D2, and Roma VF) and five salinity levels (1 dS m-1, 2 dS m-1, 3 dS m-1, 4 dS m-1, and control). Fifty seeds were placed in a Petri dish over a moistened germination paper for germination and seedlings and allowed to grow for 14 days. The germination rate, speed and energy of tomato seeds were significantly (p < 0.001) affected by the combined effect of variety and salinity. The shortest mean germination time, the highest mean germination rate, and the highest speed of germination were recorded in the ARP D2 variety in the control treatment. The lowest first and last days of germination, and the uncertainty of germination were recorded from ARP D2. However, an increase in the days of germination and in the uncertainty of germination, and a decrease in the germination index and total germination percentage trends were observed with increasing salinity levels. The highest level of salinity (4 dS m-1) affected the germination of tomato varieties. Among the four tested tomato varieties, ARP D2 and Roma VF were tolerant to salinity.

Analysis of volatile compounds from three species of Atractylodes by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

A total of 99 different volatile compounds were detected through Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) from three species of Atractylodes, namely Atractylodes lancea, Atractylodes japonica, and Atractylodes chinensis. Thirteen-volatile flavor compounds i.e., acid, alcohol, aldehyde, alkane, alkene, alkyne, ester, ketone, monoterpene, oxygenated monoterpene, sesquiterpene, oxygenated sesquiterpene, and oxygenated triterpenoid detected from different species of Atractylodes. It was observed that all the species contained 38 common compounds, while A. lancea contained 7 unique compounds, A. japonica has 4 unique compounds, and A. chinensis hold 6 compounds not detected in the other extracts. In addition, essential oils from A. lancea and A. japonica possessed 11 compounds in common, and A. lancea and A. chinensis possessed 19 compounds in common. The remaining 14 compounds were detected only in A. japonica and A. chinensis. The total content of all components in the species was comparable, with 82.528%, 81.766%, and 81.799% of volatile components being detected for A. lancea, A. japonica, and A. chinensis, respectively. Curzerene was found to be the most predominant compound in both A. lancea (14.1%) and A. chinensis (16.7%), while murolan-3,9(11)-diene-10-peroxy was found predominantly in A. japonica (16.8%). The present study suggests that the identified volatile compounds may possess important biological properties, and could be suitable for application in both oriental medicines and the pharmaceutical industry.

The effect of zinc fertilization and cow dung on sterility and quantitative traits of rice

The grain yield of rice is far below from its potential yield due low organic matter and micronutrients in the soil. Application of cow dung and zinc fertilizer increases grain yield and quality. A field experiment was, therefore, conducted to evaluate the effect of zinc fertilization and well decomposed cow dung on the spikelet sterility, yield, zinc concentration in grains and plants of aromatic rice (cv. Tulsimala). In this experiment,two levels of well decomposed cowdung (CD) of 0, 10 tha-1, and fourdoses of zinc fertilization viz. 0, 2.16, 4.32, 6.48 kg ha-1 of zinc were used followingeight treatment combinations. The experiment was laid out in a factorial randomized complete block design (RCBD) with replication thrice. The data revealed that zinc fertilization remarkably increased the grain yield of Tulshimala by reducing the spikelet sterility percentages in both conditions of CD and the efficiency of zinc fertilization was superior in manuring (CD) condition to non-manuring condition. However, zinc fertilization at the rate of 4.32 kg ha-1 of zinc produced the maximum grainyields under manuring and non-manuring conditions. Zinc fertilization increased the concentration of Zn in the rice plants and grains without and with CD. The strong linear relationship between the grain yield and zinc concentration in the rice plants and grains was found with in this study. Zinc fertilization increased grain yield and quality by decreasing sterility percentage under CD. Hence, for increasing productivity towards food security in future generation, integrated use organic and inorganic fertilizers should be used.

Assessment phenotypic diversity of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes by multivariate analysis

An efficient way to achieve superior productivity is to determine the genetic variation of the various rice genotypes. This research was aimed at estimating potential variations between rice genotypes and identifying each trait contribution in total variation and classifying superior genotypes. The experiment was performed at the Rice Research and Training Centre, Sakha, Kafr El-Sheik, Egypt. Twenty-two genotypes of rice were analyzed using seven agronomic traits. Multivariate approaches were utilized including principal components and cluster analysis. Results showed that PC1 and PC2 represented 66.1% of the variation between studied genotypes, mainly 48% because of grain yield per plant variation in PC1 followed by the characteristics of its components i.e., number of panicles per plant, number of filled grains per panicle, and 1000-grain weight. The three Egyptian rice genotypes Giza 181, Giza 178, and Giza 177 were the best genotypes for grain yield. Cluster results revealed that the majority of genotypes originated from one source (except for Indian variety IET1444) or belonged to one classification were clustered together. Multivariate analytical approaches are ideal instruments for providing information on agronomic character variations. Consequently, the results of the current study should be taken into account when developing new rice varieties.

Onion cultivation approach by custom-made outdoor hydroponics: A very first attempt in Bangladesh

Onion is one of the most important economic crops in the world for growing, trading and consuming. But its production rate is lower in Bangladesh due to insufficient farmlands and alternative production systems. So, onion cultivation hydroponically would be a potential consideration in Bangladesh. In this experiment, onions were grown in custom-made outdoor hydroponics using ground water of Barishal, Kirtankhola River water and deionized water as treatments to check their performances for future use. Ground water demonstrated best performances and the average yields of ground water were more than half of land based yields. Besides, only plant growth was normal in ground water treatments throughout the experiment. Finally, the authors concluded that onion production is possible hydroponically in Bangladesh and to minimize the need of commercial fertilizers; the ground water of Barishal is recommended.