Effect of Phosphorus and Irrigation Levels on Yield,Water Productivity,Phosphorus Use Efficiency and Income of Lowland Rice in Northwest Pakistan

With decreasing availability of water for agriculture and increasing demand for rice production, an optimum use of irrigation water and phosphorus may guarantee sustainable rice production. Field experiments were conducted in 2003 and 2004 to investigate the effect of phosphorus and irrigation levels on yield, water productivity (WP), phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) and income of low land rice. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with split plot arrangements replicated four times. Main plot consisted of five phosphorus levels, viz. 0 (P0), 50 (P50), 100 (P100), 150 (P150), and 200 (P200) kg/hm2, while subplots contained of irrigation times, i.e. 8 (I8), 10 (I10), 12 (I12), and 14 (I14) irrigation levels, each with a water depth of 7.5 cm. Mean values revealed that P150 in combination with I10 produced the highest paddy yield (9.8 t/hm2) and net benefit (1 231.8 US$/hm2) among all the treatments. Phosphorus enhanced WP when applied in appropriate combination with irrigation level. The highest mean WP [13.3 kg/(hm2?mm)] could be achieved at P150 with I8 and decreased with increase in irrigation level, while the highest mean PUE (20.1 kg/kg) could be achieved at P100 with I10 and diminished with higher P levels. The overall results indicate that P150 along with I10 was the best combination for sustainable rice cultivation in silty clay soil.     

The Applicability of the Local and International Water Quality Guidelines to Al-Gassim Region of Central Saudi Arabia

The quality of 109 water samples, comprised of 70 drinking waterand 39 irrigation water samples, in Al-Gassim Region of SaudiArabia was investigated with respect to total dissolved salts(TDS), electric conductivity (EC), pH, total hardness and themajor cations (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺) andanions (Cl^-, SO₄ ^2-, NO₃ ^-,F^- andHCO₃ ^-) beside coliform bacteria as an indicator offaecal contamination.The concentrations of TDS varied widely, from 109 to 6995 mgL^-1, with a mean of 1427 mg L^-1. Of the 109 watersamples examined, 81 (74.3%) comply with the maximumpermissible drinking water limits set by the local and international standards and guidelines and 28 (25.7%) were abovethe limits of these standards. The concentrations of the cationsand anions (with the exception of NO₃ ^- and F^-)follow, more or less, a trend similar to TDS. NO₃ ^- concentrations (range 0–30 mg L^-1) comply with the limitof 50 mg L^-1 NO₃ ^- as the highest tolerableNO₃ ^- content. The concentrations of F^- indrinking water (range 0.2–1.5 mg L^-1) are alarming since88% of samples were below the lower permissible limit of 0.6 mgL^-1 set by SASO (1984), the guideline of the WHO is 1.5 mgL^-1 while the EEC maximum concentration lies within the range 0.7–1.5 mg L^-1. Microbiological analyses showednegative coliform tests, which confirms that they are devoid ofany faecal contamination.     

Dietary Moringa oleferia leaf meal induce growth,innate immunity and cytokine expression in grass carp,Ctenopharyngodon idella

The present research was designed to investigate the growth promoting and immunostimulating properties of Moringa oleferia leaf meal (MLM) in grass carp. Juvenile grass carp (22.03 g ± 1.164) were fed with diets supplemented with 0, 50, 100 and 150 g/kg MLM for 48 days. At the end of feeding trial, skin mucus was used for analysis of lysozyme, protease, antiprotease and peroxidase activity. Head kidney was used for expression analysis of tumour necrosis factor‐alpha, interleukin‐8 and interferon‐γ. The obtained results showed that fish fed with 100 and 150 g/kg MLM had significant increase in weight gain and specific growth rate (p < .05). However, condition factor was not altered. The MLM (50 and 100 g/kg) inclusion resulted in higher mucus lysozyme and protease activity (p < .05), while peroxidase activity increased only in fish fed with 100 g/kg MLM and antiprotease activity was not altered. Expression of tnf‐α increased in a dose‐dependent manner, and significant (p < .05) increase was recorded in fish fed with 150 g/kg MLM. The expression of il‐8 and ifn‐γ increased in fish fed with 50 and 150 g/kg MLM; however, the increase was not significant (p > .05). In conclusion, supplementing juvenile grass carp feed with MLM up to 150 g/kg has growth promoting and immunostimulating effects.     

Improvement of growth and nitrogen utilization in sheep using sugar beet pulp treated with Trichoderma reesei or urea

Twenty-five intact Barki lambs with mean body weight of 24.81 ± 0.16?kg were used to investigate the effect of including in the diet sugar beet pulp (SBP) treated biologically with Trichoderma reesei or chemically with urea 4 % on nutrients digestibility, growth performance, nitrogen (N) utilization, and hematological and biochemical parameters. Two experiments were conducted. In the growth experiment, five lambs were randomly assigned to one of five dietary treatments. Lambs were offered isonitrogenous and isoenergetic concentrate feed mixture containing on dry matter basis 0 % SBP (D0), 50 % SBP (D1), 50 % SBP treated with 4 % urea (D2), 50 % SBP treated with T. reesei (D3), and 25 % SPB treated with 4 % urea plus 25 % SPB treated with T. reesei (D4). In the metabolism experiment, five rams were used in a 5?×?5 Latin square design and housed in metabolism crates for 21?days. The present study showed that inclusion of SBP at the level of 50 % (D1) negatively affected diet digestibility coefficients of crude protein, crude fiber, and ether extract, in addition to average daily gain, feed conversion, and N utilization. However, treatment of SBP with urea (D2), T. reesei (D3), or the combination (D4) of both had improved (P?相似文献   

Development of ergosterol, microbial biomass C, N, and P after steaming as a result of sucrose addition, and Sinapis alba cultivation

A pot experiment was carried out to monitor the recovery of a steaming-reduced microbial biomass (C, N, and P) and fungal ergosterol by sucrose addition. The second objective was to investigate the recovery of a steaming-reduced microbial biomass by white mustard (Sinapis alba) cultivation and its interactions with microbial residues, freshly formed from sucrose addition. Thirty days after steaming, the soil microbial biomass C and N was still significantly reduced by 80%, leading to a rather constant microbial biomass C/N ratio around 7 throughout the experiment. The steaming-induced decreases of microbial biomass P and ergosterol were only roughly 50%, leading to a decrease in the microbial biomass C/P ratio and an increase in the ergosterol-to-microbial biomass C ratio. Sucrose addition led to a 25% reduction in the ergosterol-to-microbial biomass C ratio. Mustard cultivation had significant positive effects on microbial biomass C, N, P, and ergosterol, but the effects were smaller than those of sucrose addition. Cultivating mustard had no significant effects on the C loss or on the incorporation of sucrose C into the microbial biomass. In contrast, the application of sucrose led to a significant decrease in the mustard shoot biomass and especially in the mustard root biomass.     

Outbreaks of severe myositis in cultured white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus L.) associated with Streptococcus iniae

Outbreaks of an infectious disease affecting cultured white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) were investigated. Clinical signs included erratic swimming, arching of the back and mortality. Necropsy findings included poorly demarcated yellow to dark-red and friable lesions in the epaxial muscle, ulcerative skin lesions and haemorrhages in the swim bladder and coelomic wall. Histological evaluation revealed areas of necrotizing and heterophilic myositis with aggregates of bacterial cocci. The lumen of blood vessels in the dermis, under ulcerated areas, and in the posterior kidney, was occluded by fibrin thrombi. Aggregates of Gram-positive cocci were observed in the muscle lesions and within the fibrin thrombi in the dermis and kidney. Genetically homogeneous Streptococcus iniae strains were recovered from affected fish from different outbreaks. The isolates shared high degree of similarity at gene locus (gyrB) with previously characterized S. iniae from cultured fish in California, confirming the emergence of this particular strain of S. iniae in US aquaculture.     

Influence of nitrogen fertilizer forms and crop straw biochars on soil exchange properties and maize growth on an acidic Ultisol

Effects of repeated application of urea (UN) and calcium nitrate (CN) singly and together with crop straw biochars on soil acidity and maize growth were investigated with greenhouse pot experiments for two consecutive seasons. Canola straw biochar (CB), peanut straw biochar (PB) and wheat straw biochar (WB) were applied at 1% of dried soil weight in the first season. N fertilizers were applied at 200 mg N kg^?1. In UN treatments, an initial rise in pH was subjected to proton consumption through urea hydrolysis, afterwards nitrification of NH₄⁺ caused drastic reductions in pH as single UN had soil pH of 3.70, even lower than control (4.27) after the 2nd crop season. Post-harvest soil analyses indicated that soil pH, soil exchangeable acidity, NH₄⁺, NO₃^? and total base cations showed highly significant variation under N and biochar types (P < 0.05). Articulated growth of plants under combined application with biochars was expressed by 22.7%, 22.5%, and 35.7% higher root and 25.6%, 23.8%, and 35.9% higher shoot biomass by CB, PB and WB combined with CN over UN, respectively. Therefore, CN combined with biochars is a better choice to correct soil acidity and improve maize growth than UN combined with biochars.     

Perspectives of Using L-Tryptophan for Improving Productivity of Agricultural Crops: A Review

Plant growth regulators are biologically active signaling molecules that regulate a number of plant physiological processes. Auxin (indole-3-acetic acid) is an important plant growth regulator and is synthesized within plant tissues through L-tryptophan (L-TRP)-dependent and -independent pathways. It has been found that plants respond to exogenously applied L-TRP due to insufficient endogenous auxin biosynthesis. The exogenous application of L-TRP is highly significant for normal plant growth and development. L-tryptophan is applied through foliar spray, seed priming, and soil application. Soil-applied L-TRP is either directly taken up by plants or metabolized to auxin by soil microbiota and then absorbed by plant roots. Similarly, foliar spray and seed priming with L-TRP stimulates auxin synthesis within plants and improves the growth and productivity of agricultural crops. Furthermore, L-TRP contains approximately 14% nitrogen (N) in its composition, which is released upon its metabolism within a plant or in the rhizosphere and plays a role in enhancing crop productivity. This review deals with assessing crop responses under the exogenous application of L-TRP in normal and stressed environments, mode of action of L-TRP, advantages of using L-TRP over other auxin precursors, and role of the simultaneous use of L-TRP and auxin-producing microbes in improving the productivity of agricultural crops. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review reporting the importance of the use of L-TRP in agriculture.     

Determination of the role of salicylic acid and Benzothiadiazole on physico-chemical alterations caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumber mosaic virus</Emphasis> in tomato

Shoe-string disease caused by Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) is one of the major threats to tomato production worldwide. The alteration in some biochemical parameters in leaves of the susceptible tomato genotype (Nagina) associated with CMV infection and the effect of exogenous application of salicylic acid (SA) and benzothiadiazole (BTH) were studied in this paper. Results showed that exogenous treatment with SA and BTH not only led to plants which gave significantly more yield than diseased controls (DC), but also delayed symptom expression and reduced disease severity. Analysis of biochemical parameters indicated that exogenous application of elicitors and viral infection, significantly affected the activity of peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Compared to the DC plants, minimum disease severity and maximum number of fruit were recorded after a single dose of SA + BTH. Maximum plant height was recorded after weekly application of SA and maximum fruit yield per plant was gained with single dose of SA. Moreover, the activity of POD was significantly elicited many-fold after weekly application of SA + BTH, while higher amount of SOD was recorded with single dose of SA. The activity of CAT was also significantly accelerated after weekly application of SA + BTH while increased level of APX was noticed with single dose of BTH. In conclusion, the combined application of SA and BTH played an important role in induction of defense mechanism against CMV infection and can be useful in tomato disease management programs.     

Devices to detect red palm weevil infestation on palm species

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and other palm species have recently been threatened by the red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier, which is very difficult to be detected at early stage. This research tested non invasive approaches to detecting RPW including: a TreeRadarUnit? (TRU); a densitometer, a penetrometer used for evaluation of the standing trees stability; a thermal camera and a digital camera. The technologies were applied in Italy on 715 palms (173 P. dactylifera, 453 Phoenix canariensis Chabaud and 311 of other palm species), and on 86 adult date palms in Saudi Arabia. In Italy, the thermal camera showed a high accuracy (96.29%) compared to close visual observation over the following nine months. The digital camera did almost as well (92.57%). Tree Radar Unit and densitometer also showed good accuracy (83.33 and 88.89% respectively). In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the thermal camera showed a good accuracy (77.73%) when compared to invasive diagnosis (i.e. cutting down and opening up palm trunks). The digital camera showed a lower accuracy of 66.67% due to the fact that the red weevil mainly attacks the base of the stem and therefore there are no visible symptoms on the crown shape that would be picked up in image analysis. TRU gave good results (74.73% compared to invasive diagnosis), with the best accuracy at ground level (80.65%). The densitometer results were similar to the TRU case, with higher accuracy (82.26% compared to invasive diagnosis) and the highest at ground level (87.10%).