Effect of Fruiting Branch/Square Removal on Growth and Quality of Bt Cotton under Different Potassium Rates

Removal of early fruiting branches with greater potassium doses caused more source and no sink at early stages of growth, leading to improved yield, yield components, and fiber quality traits in Bt cotton. The study used manual alteration of plant architecture (F₁, no branch removal; F₂, removal of first fruiting branch; F₃, removal of first and second fruiting branches; F₄, removal of all squares from first fruiting branch; F₅, removal of all squares from first and second fruiting branches) and potassium rates (50, 100, and 150 kg ha^?1) in a randomized complete block design and was repeated for 2 years (2011 and 2012). Increasing potassium application increased total bolls per plant and cotton yield to the greatest levels in F₃ and F₅, against lowest level in the control. Ginning out turn, fiber length, seed oil, and seed protein content were influenced by fruiting branch or square removal but the difference was less. Increasing potassium improved seed and fiber quality.     

Study the Effects of Siderophore-Producing Bacteria on Zinc and Phosphorous Nutrition of Canola and Maize Plants

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are soil bacteria that are able to colonize rhizosphere and to enhance plant growth by means of a wide variety of mechanisms. In the present study, Myristica yunnanensis and Stenotrophomonas chelatiphaga strains were recognized as new records in Iran flora. According to the results, these strains significantly affected plants’ zinc and phosphorous contents which could be due to the production of phytosiderophore. Siderophore-producing bacteria increased canola zinc (Zn) content as strategy-I plant, while in maize, it can be said that probably the effect of phytosiderophore produced by plant on increasing root and shoot Zn content was more than siderophore produced by bacteria. These isolates could be used as bio-input for improving the plant productivity as a substitute to chemical fertilizers and also to correct the nutrient deficiencies in canola and maize for sustainable agriculture.     

Soybean (Glycine max) Extracts Impact on Plant and Soil Biology

The aim of the present investigation was to determine the phytotoxic effect of aqueous extract from fresh and oven-dried leaves and roots of soybean plants on maize growth and on rhizosphere soil. The extract prepared from fresh leaves of drought-stressed soybean plants significantly increased the accumulation of proline, soluble sugar, and endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) content of maize-treated plants. Increase in antioxidant activity like superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), and endogenous ABA was recorded in treated plants. The soybean leaf extracts prepared from drought-stressed plants significantly decreased the soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of maize cultivated soil. The soybean drought-stressed leaf extracts prepared plants were found more effective in modulating the physiology of maize, indicating the higher allelopathic potential of soybean.     

Seed vigor and boron and calcium nutrition influence oilseed rape germinability and seedling growth under salt stress

The beneficial effects of boron (B) and calcium (Ca) nutrition on pea seed germinability under salinity stress have recently been shown. However, nothing is known about the influence of seed vigor status on these results, especially in oilseed rape as an important oil crop worldwide. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of seed vigor, boron and calcium nutrition on seed germinability, seedling growth, and some biochemical characteristics of oilseed rape seedlings under salinity. In spite of promotive effects of application of both boron and calcium nutrition on oilseed rape germinability and seedling growth, there was a more significant promotion on germination rate of high vigor seeds. Proline content and guaiacol peroxidase activity of seedlings were significantly increased by adding supplemental boron to the medium compared to the control. Finally, it can be concluded that boron and calcium nutrition would improve the salt tolerance capability of oilseed rape seedlings from vigorous seeds, at least in the early plant development.     

Effects of Increasing Dosages of Acid Mining Wastes in Metal Uptake by Lygeum spartum and Soil Metal Extractability

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution - A yearlong (December 2003 to February 2005) monitoring program was undertaken for urban roadside measurement of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, m- and p-xylene,...     

Influence of varying dietary electrolyte balance on broiler performance under tropical summer conditions

A 6‐week feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of varying dietary electrolyte balance (DEB) on growth performance and physiological responses in broiler chicks reared during hot summer months (26.1–37.5 °C). The average minimum and maximum room temperatures recorded from 14 to 42 days of age were 26.1 and 37.5 °C, respectively, with relative humidity ranging from 51% to 55%. Five DEB treatments supplying 0, 50, 150, 250 and 350 (Na⁺+K⁺–Cl^?) mEq/kg of diet were prepared by adding NaHCO₃ and/or NH₄Cl to basal diet that contained 185 mEq/kg from 1 to 28 days and 172 mEq/kg from 29 to 42 days. These DEB diets were randomly offered to six experimental units of 20 chicks each. Improved 42‐day body weight gain (BWG), feed:gain (F:G) and reduced mortality was noted with DEB 50, 150 and 250 mEq/kg compared to DEB 0 and 350 mEq/kg. A quadratic effect of increasing DEB level was observed on BWG and F:G, whereas the effect was linear for feed intake, water intake and litter moisture. The DEB 50, 150 and 250 maintained better blood pH, pCO₂ and HCO₃ concentrations during acute heat stress periods than that of 0 and 350. The blood heterophil and lymphocyte percent as well as heterophil:lymphocyte were remained unaffected. The lowest DEB (0 mEq/kg) diet reduced the feed intake and promoted metabolic acidosis. At 350 mEq/kg DEB, water intake and metabolic alkalosis were promoted probably due to high levels of dietary NaHCO₃. The study concluded that overall better performance was recorded with DEB 50, 150 and 250 mEq/kg. These results indicated that single optimal DEB value could not be recommended to combat heat stress in broilers.     

Origin of Clostridium perfringens isolates determines the ability to induce necrotic enteritis in broilers

Since the ban on growth-promoting antibiotics in animal feed in the European Union, necrotic enteritis has become a major cause of mortality in broiler chickens. Despite the importance of the disease, the pathogenesis is still not completely understood. In the current study, Clostridium perfringens strains isolated from healthy flocks and isolates from outbreaks of necrotic enteritis were evaluated for the ability to cause gut necrosis in an intestinal loop model in laying hens and in an experimental infection model in broilers. High, intermediate and low alpha toxin producing strains were chosen from each isolation source. Only the isolates from field outbreaks induced necrotic gut lesions, independent of the amount of alpha toxin produced in vitro. It was also shown that alpha toxin producing isolates from calf hemorrhagic enteritis cases were not able to induce necrotic enteritis in poultry. These results suggest the presence of host specific virulence factors in C. perfringens strains, isolated from chickens with intestinal necrotic enteritis lesions.     

Comparative efficacy of standard AGID and precipitinogen inhibition test with monoclonal antibodies based competitive ELISA for the serology of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Peste des Petits Ruminants</Emphasis> in sheep and goats

This project was conducted to investigate the comparative efficiency of competitive ELISA (cELISA), standard Agar Gel Immunodiffusion Test (AGID) and Precipitinogen Inhibition Test (PIT) for the diagnosis of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in Pakistan. To deal with this, serum samples from 198 sheep and 82 goats were collected from three different government livestock farms and all the samples were run simultaneously with the three serological tests. The samples found positive for PPR antibodies through cELISA, AGID and PIT were 96 (34.2%), 60 (21.4%) and 72 (25.7%), respectively. Kappa statistics were applied to evaluate the concordance between the laboratory-based test (cELISA) and field-based tests (AGID and PIT). Kappa statistics scores for cELISA versus AGID and PIT were 0.6343 (95% Confidence Interval CI 0.5231–0.7456) and 0.7134 (95% Confidence Interval CI 0.5987–0.8281), respectively, which indicate a “substantial” agreement between cELISA and AGID and “significant” agreement between cELISA and PIT. AGID and PIT revealed relative diagnostic sensitivities with cELISA of 59.3% and 69.7% and relative diagnostic specificities of 98.3% and 97.2%, respectively. The data suggested that for mass screening and control of PPR, these serological tests proved practical in the absence of cELISA since they have high relative diagnostic specificities and a satisfactory relative diagnostic sensitivities.     

Estimating Crop Coefficient in Intermittent Irrigation Paddy Fields Using Excel Solver

The current study proposes a novel method using Excel Solver to estimate,from limited data,crop coefficient(Kc) in paddy fields under intermittent irrigation(II).The proposed method was examined in a field experiment conducted at Karang Sari Village,Bekasi,West Java,Indonesia during the first rice season of 2007/2008(December 2007 to April 2008) in the rainy season.As the control,continuous flooding irrigation(CF) was applied to the conventional rice cultivation fields.Based on the observed water storage,Excel Solver was used to estimate crop evapotranspiration.Estimated crop evapotranspiration was used to compute Kc value,then the average Kc values at each growth stage were compared with that for the CF treatment.The estimation method was evaluated by comparing estimated crop evapotranspiration and the crop evapotranspiration derived by the well established FAO procedure.Excel Solver estimated crop evapotranspiration accurately with R2 values higher than 0.81.Accordingly,more than 81% of the FAO crop evapotranspiration was described by the proposed method.Thus,Kc value could be well determined from those estimated crop evapotranspiration.Under the II treatment,the average Kc values were 0.70,1.06,1.24 and 1.22 for the initial,crop development,reproductive and late stages,respectively.These values were lower than those under the CF treatment for initial and crop development stages because of a minimal soil evaporation and intense dryness during these stages.However,average Kc values under the II treatment were higher than those under the CF treatment at the reproductive and late stages,indicating that the II treatment promoted more plant activity particularly for dry biomass production as indicated by a greater number of tillers per hill.