A study of the potential of hedgerow intercropping in semi-arid India using a two-way systematic design

The potential of hedgerow intecrropping with Leucaena leucocephala was explored on vertic Inceptisols over 4 years at ICRISAT Center, Patancheru, India. The study was conducted using a systematic layout involving different alley widths ranging from 1.35 to 4.95 m and with varying distances between hedge and crops. The alleys were cropped with alternate rows of sorghum and pigeonpea. Hedges composed double Leucaena hedgerows 60 cm apart were periodically harvested for fodder. Sole crops of all components and a sorghum/pigeonpea intercrop were included in all four replications of the study.Starting in the second year, Leucaena was progressively more competitive to annual crops, causing substantial yield reduction. Competition (primarily for moisture) was most severe in narrow alleys and was greatest on pigeonpea.The growth of Leucaena was not sufficient to compensate for reduced crop yields. Land equivalent ratios (LERs) calculated on the basis of grain yield of crops and Leucaena fodder yields showed that hedgerow intercropping (HI) was advantageous over sole crops only during the first two years using wide alleys, but disadvantegeous in the last two years. LERs calculated on the basis of total dry matter indicated only a small advantage for HI (13–17 percent) over sole crops in wider (>4 m) alleys. Average returns per year from HI exceeded those of the most productive annual crop system (sorghum/pigeonpea intercropping) by 8 percent in 4.05 m alleys, and by 16 percent in 4.95 m alleys. Fodder production during the dry season was 40 percent of the annual total in these alley widths. Thus hedgerow intercropping at 4–5 m alley width is not very attractive for farmers in semi-arid India, which has 600–700 mm of annual rainfall. There is a need to examine the potential of HI in wider alleys. The merits and limitations of the systematic design are discussed.     

Inheritance and cross-resistance of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus thuringiensis</Emphasis> insecticidal crystal protein Cry1Ac resistance in cotton bollworm <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helicoverpa armigera</Emphasis> Hubner population from Tamil Nadu,India

Cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera Hubner selected for five generations with Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal crystal protein Cry1Ac in the laboratory developed 12.98-fold resistance. Resistance and susceptible populations were mass crossed to study the dominance of resistance. The Cry1Ac—selected (BCR) population showed 5.8-fold resistance to Cry1Aa and 5.04-fold resistance to Cry1Ab. The degree of dominance (D) was 0.34 and 0.40 for the R × S and S × R hybrids, respectively, which indicates incomplete recessive character of Cry1Ac resistance in the population. The estimated realized heritability (h ²) and response quotient (Q) of resistance for Cry1Ac were 0.52 and 0.15, respectively. This indicated the lower phenotypic variation in the selected population. The resistance risk assessment based on h ² indicated that the resistance would increased tenfold after <9 generations for Cry1Ac in the resistant population. The results show the ability of H. armigera to develop resistance against Cry1Ac and cross-resistance to Cry1Aa and Cry1Ab.     

Medicinal and aromatic plants in agroforestry systems

Agroforestry Systems - A large number of people in developing countries have traditionally depended on products derived from plants, especially from forests, for curing human and livestock...     

Crop productivity under differently lopped canopies of multipurpose trees in Central Himalaya, India

Ficus species are multipurpose trees well known by rural populations in Sahelian and Sudanian zones of Africa. Their uses are well documented but their amenability for vegetative propagation has not been extensively studied. This paper compares the rooting ability of stem and aerial root cuttings from thirteen Ficus species found in West Africa. It highlights the differences between species belonging to the sub-genera Sycomorus and Urostigma. The former show no capacity to propagate from cuttings whereas the latter, with epiphytic development, can be propagated by cuttings, although this capacity varies among species. Thus, F. thonningii, F. leprieurii and F. ovata are easily propagated, while F. platyphylla and F. elasticoides are propagated with difficulty. The rooting capacity also varies depending on the cutting material used. It decreases in the following order: long leafless hardwood cuttings (pole) > nodal cuttings > apical cuttings. Rooting potential increases when the cuttings are harvested towards the end of the dry season(March to May). Aerial root can be used for cuttings in all species of the sub-genus Urostigma. The capacity of root cuttings to regenerate is greatest when cuttings are collected at the beginning of the dry season (November). In this case, wound-induced adventitious roots arise at the basal end of the cutting while de novo buds are developed from the cambium at the distal end. The subsequent morphological development is identical to that of a stem cutting. These results clarify and allow the optimal use of the knowledge and methods developed by the indigenous people of the Sahel and could assist and promote fig tree (Ficus sp.) domestication in the dry tropics.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

厚朴矮林经营技术的初步研究

厚朴伐桩有很强的萌蘖能力，在生长季节采伐也能得到满意的萌芽更新效果，每个伐桩可萌发1－7个萌芽条，7年生厚朴矮林的树干与树枝鲜重达60.2t.hm^-2，平均净生产量为8.6t.hm^-2.a^-1，表明厚朴完全适宜矮林经营，伐桩高度对萌芽条数量，矮林生长影响不大；伐桩萌芽条数量越多，矮林生长越好。     

A new phorbol diester from Aleurites moluccana

A new phorbol diester, 13-O-myristyl-20-O-acetyl-12-deoxyphorbol (1), has been isolated from the benzene extract of the heartwood of Aleurites moluccana. In addition, hentriacontane, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, 5,6,7-trimethoxycoumarin and beta-sitostenone are being reported for the first time from this species.     

Monoclonal antibodies specific to thermostable proteins in animal blood

Bovine plasma proteins are used as high-quality protein supplements in animal feed and as binders or colorants in food for human consumption. Religious observance, as well as recent fears of epidemic bovine spongiform encephalopathy, highlights the need for methods to detect bovine blood in processed food and animal feed for regulatory purposes, as the currently available methods are neither species-specific, blood-specific, nor valid for excessively heat-processed samples. This paper reports the development of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) raised against bovine thermostable plasma proteins that display a unique species specificity pattern for plasma proteins. Immunoblotting revealed several thermostable antigenic proteins (10, 25, 40, and 60 kDa) in bovine plasma sterilized at 121 degrees C for 15 min. These MAbs can be employed individually or combined in immunoassays for analytical purposes and investigations of the chemical and biological properties of the thermostable plasma proteins identified here.     

PHANTOM 4 RTK+大疆像控处理技术在燕麦长势模拟中的应用

【目的】 利用小型消费级无人机航拍获取地物影像,通过地物阴影、高度差、色差快速提取地物,进而获取地物结构信息。【方法】 文章选取云南省曲靖市会泽县的大桥乡为研究区域,针对冬闲田闲置土地资源、种植结构相对单一的区域展开试验,利用高分辨率无人机遥感影像对燕麦进行识别,同时结合超声波传感器数据估算地物高度,并与实际高度和无人机生成的传统测高方法得到的高度进行相关性分析,获取高精度、可靠性强的数据。【结果】 基于可见光燕麦的总体分类精度为91.46%,Kappa系数为0.857,在增加DSM数据后的分类总体精度为98.91%,Kappa系数为0.982。研究表明由无人机获取的代表燕麦冠层高度信息的DSM数据能够显著提升燕麦的识别效果。相对于传统无人机测高方法生成数字表面模型提取地物高度的方法,依赖于光谱和高程信息识别地物信息的方法在计算地物高度时,精度更高,识别结果更可靠。【结论】 该文提出的小型消费级无人机利用地物阴影计算燕麦高度的方法,改进了相机镜头光心地位和RTK天线中心点地位补偿作用,打通了RTK模块、飞控模块及相机云台模块之间的通讯,能够应用于实际准确获取影像地位信息,为无人机遥感快速、准确地获取地物高度信息提供了一种新的思路。     

北京常用树木叶片吸水性能与冠层雨水截留能力评价

[目的]为了发挥绿地截留雨水的生态作用,减少城市内涝灾害的发生.[方法]利用浸水法对叶片吸水性能及整株树木冠层的雨水截留能力进行研究,利用聚类分析法对树木雨水截留能力进行系统评价.[结果]1)对乔灌木单位叶面积吸水能力进行比较,植物个体之间存在很大差异,乔木5 min单位叶面积吸水量最高的雪松(Cedrus deodara)为374.65 g/m2,是银杏(Ginkgo biloba)的4.0倍;灌木5 min单位叶面积吸水量最高的榆叶梅(Amygdalus triloba)为251.38 g/m2,是红瑞木(Swida alba)的2.7倍.2)乔木树冠5 min雨水截留能力最高的是雪松为106.02 kg,是西府海棠(Malus micromalus)的18.1倍.灌木雨水截留能力最强的是榆叶梅为12.09 kg,是紫叶小檗(Berberis thunbergii)的172.7倍.[结论]按照雨水截留能力大小对植物进行分类,乔木中,雪松属于强雨水截留能力植物,圆柏(Sabina chinensis)、栾树(Koelreuteria paniculata)属于中雨水截留能力植物;灌木中,榆叶梅属于强雨水截留能力植物,紫薇(Lagerstroemia indica)、金银木(Lonicera maackii)、月季(Rosa chinensis)、连翘(Forsythia suspensa)、珍珠梅(Sorbaria sorbifolia)属于中雨水截留能力植物.