Yellow melon yield in response to mineral or organic fertilization

Although current recommendations in Brazil suggest the application of mineral and organic fertilizers, there is little information regarding the interaction between them in melon plants. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of mineral and organic fertilization in the plant development, nutritional status, and fruit yield of yellow melon. The following fertilizations were evaluated: mineral fertilization; bovine manure; bovine manure associated with mineral fertilization; poultry litter; and poultry litter associated with mineral fertilization. Bovine manure and poultry litter were applied at rates equivalent to 15 m³ ha^?1 and 5 m³ ha^?1, respectively. Phosphorus and potassium were applied based on the results of the soil analysis and nitrogen based on the expected yield of 20 to 30 t ha^?1 of fruits. Phosphate and organic fertilizers were applied at the time of preparation of the beds, while nitrogen and potassium were supplied daily through irrigation water. Goldex F1 melon hybrid seedlings were used in the experiment. Plants were collected to evaluate the dry matter production at beginning of flowering, beginning of fruiting, fruit growth, and fruit harvest. Leaves were collected at flowering stage to evaluate the nutritional status of plants. Harvest was made when the fruits reached the intense yellow coloration. Organic fertilizers alone and combined to mineral fertilizer did not affect the dry matter yield of leaves, stems, fruits and shoot, the concentrations of macro and micronutrients in melon leaves, the nitrogen accumulation in the plant, and the yield of the yellow melon. The application of bovine manure associated to mineral fertilization showed the lowest values of nitrogen recovery applied. Bovine manure application resulted in increase of nitrogen organic forms in soil.     

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) response to weed and disease management in northern Ghana

Weeds and diseases can reduce peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) yield or increase cost of production to maintain acceptable yield. While herbicides and fungicides have limited availability in many areas of Ghana and currently are too expensive for resource-poor farmers, control by these pesticides can have a major positive impact on peanut yield. Field experiments were conducted during the rainy seasons of 2009 and 2010 in northern Ghana to determine the effects of herbicide and hand weeding in combination with fungicides on pest management and peanut yield. Peanut pod yield was often more highly correlated with disease severity and canopy defoliation resulting from early leaf spot (caused by Cercospora arachidicola Hori) and late leaf spot (caused by Cercosporidium personatum (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Deighton) than weed biomass. In some instances, less disease and canopy defoliation were observed when weeds were not controlled effectively compared with increased weed management through hand weeding or herbicide. Two hand weedings or applying pendimethalin preemergence with one hand weeding in combination with 4 applications of triadimefon and chlorothalonil resulted in the lowest weed density and canopy defoliation and often resulted in the highest peanut yield.     

Virus-mediated abrogation of chicken lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogenic stimulus

We have found that various sorts of virus particles, including avian leukosis and sarcoma viruses, Sendai virus, Friend leukemia virus and murine mammary tumor virus, are able, upon coincubation with chicken peripheral lymphocytes and either Concanavalin A (Con A) or phytohemagglutinin (PHA), to inhibit the mitogenic responses that normally follow. Such inhibition is not dependent on the use of infectious virus, and can be documented by using particles whose infectivity has been abolished by irradiation with ultraviolet light. Lymphoid cells that had been preincubated with viruses at concentrations approximating 10 particles per cell and for only 2 hours were inhibited by as much as 83% in ability to respond to the lectins employed. These results appear to be mediated, at least in part, by a virus-induced factor with the capacity to abrogate the responsiveness of freshly obtained lymphocytes to mitogenic stimulus. This factor is devoid of interferon activity, as tested in a vesicular-stomatitis-virus plaque reduction assay.     

Control and prevention of contact infection of brown rot disease with fosetyl-aluminium,and residue levels in post-harvest-treated citrus fruits

The effect of fosetyl-aluminium on the control and spread of brown rot disease Phytophthora citrophthora in post-harvest citrus fruit was studied in laboratory and semi-commercial experiments. Aqueous solutions of fosetyl-aluminium at 5 to 10 g a.i. litre^?1 controlled the fungus even when applied 3 days after inoculation at 17°C. No mycelia developed on the peel surface of treated fruit. The fungicide exerted a good prophylactic effect on healthy fruit, protecting them during storage from contact inoculation. Fosetyl-aluminium also showed a fungitoxic effect in vitro and in vivo on other fungi which developed in harvested citrus fruits. Residue levels of phosphoric acid in the treated fruit were higher when the fungicide was incorporated in the wax coating the fruit than when applied in aqueous solution, and levels were lower in the pulp than in the peel. It is concluded that fosetyl-aluminium is a suitable commercial post-harvest treatment for control of brown rot in citrus fruits.     

Population dynamics of three lizard species from the genus Sceloporus: short‐term changes in demographic parameters

Most demographic studies focus on numerical changes that occur within populations across years. However, typically studies at an interannual scale do not provide information on the particular times of the year (particular months or seasons) when rates of survival, recruitment, or migration increase or decrease due to physiological, behavioral or ecological processes. These monthly or seasonal changes in demographic parameters may lead to substantial variations in population abundance. In this study, we collected capture–mark–recapture data on 3 species of lizards of the genus Sceloporus (Sceloporus torquatus, Sceloporus grammicus and Sceloporus megalepidurus) found in ecologically similar habitats to examine potential changes in demographic rates among 3 different climatic seasons: rainy, cold‐dry and warm‐dry seasons. We tested different hypotheses about the effect of these seasons on survival, recruitment of new adults, and temporary emigration. We found that during the season with severe thermal constraints, the cold‐dry season, survival of S. torquatus decreased markedly. We also detected a considerable increase in the recruitment rate of S. grammicus during the rainy season, when these lizards are establishing territories and finding mates. In contrast, we found no evidence of intra‐annual changes in the rate of temporary emigration. In addition, we calculated abundance and population growth rates for each species and for each season. Our study represents a significant contribution to the understanding of intra‐annual demographic variation in lizards.     

Reproduction,early development and larviculture of the barber goby,Elacatinus figaro (Sazima,Moura & Rosa 1997)

The barber goby, Elacatinus figaro, is a cleaner species of ecological importance and of keen interest to the aquarium trade. Endemic to Brazil, it is a threatened species and so aquaculture is a potential solution for reducing pressure on the natural stocks. This study describes the reproductive behaviour, the embryonic and larval development and the general breeding and rearing conditions. Ten wild fish initiated the formation of breeding pairs 20 days after acclimation to captivity. Spawning started 12 days after the first pair was formed, with one female from each pair spawning from 140 to 700 eggs (n=15 spawnings). The average period of incubation of the eggs was 6.8 days at 25 °C. The best hatching rate was 99.5% (n=10 spawnings). Larval rearing used Nannochloropsis oculata with rotifers (Brachionus rotundiformis) as the first food (day 0–25); nauplii and meta‐nauplii of Artemia were fed from day 18 until larval metamorphosis with subsequent weaning using commercial marine fish diets. The transformation to juveniles started at around the 30th day post hatch. The best larval survival rate until complete metamorphosis was 30.6% (n=4 larvicultures). After this period, the mortality was insignificant. This study demonstrated that the cultivation of barber goby is feasible.     

A spectral index to monitor the head-emergence of wheat in semi-arid conditions

Harvesting wheat (Triticium aestivum L.) for forage or leaving it for grain is the main decision uncertainty growers face in semi-arid regions during mid-season. To facilitate decision-making, a decision support system (DSS) has recently been proposed that requires information about crop water and nutritional status during spike emergence. Though remote sensing has been used to provide site-specific crop status information, a spectral vegetation index is needed to ensure that the information has been acquired during spike emergence. The objective of this study was to propose a spectral index sensitive to spike emergence and validate its suitability across different commercial farm fields by using ground spectral measurements and multispectral satellite imagery. To develop the index, controlled experiments with commonly grown wheat varieties were conducted during the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 growing season in the agricultural area of the northern Negev desert of Israel. The experiments showed that spike emergence correlated most strongly (r = 0.7, p < 0.05) with spectral changes near the 1.2 μm water absorption feature in contrast to the band at 1.1 μm which appeared to be only weakly correlated. Thus, the spike emergence sensitive band at 1.2 μm has been combined with the insensitive band at 1.1 μm as reference to form the ratio-based normalized heading index (NHI). Experimental data were then used to establish an index threshold that helps separate data acquired before and after spike emergence. The proposed NHI was able to identify spike emergence with a classification accuracy varying between 53 and 83%. Accuracy was influenced by season, and whether narrow or broad spectral bands were used. Validation of the index in commercial farm fields in Israel and the United States showed that the classification accuracy was similar for ground spectral measurements and the advanced land imager (ALI) satellite imagery. These results suggest that the NHI is suited for identifying the onset of heading throughout wheat-growing areas without the need for characterizing seasonal trends.