Performance of broiler chicks fed on alkali‐treated neem (Azadirachta indica) kernel cake as a protein supplement

1. An experiment was conducted to evaluate growth and nutrient efficiency of broiler chicks from 3 to 42 d fed on diets containing alkali‐treated neem (Azadirachta indica A. juss) kernel cake (NKC) as a protein supplement in place of peanut meal (PNM).

2. NKC was treated with sodium hydroxide at 10 (ANKC 1) or 20 g (ANKC 2)/kg and incorporated into the test diets at 135 or 300 g/kg to replace 50 (low—L) or 100 (High—H) % of the PNM protein of the reference diet.

3. Despite comparable retentions of dry matter and total carbohydrate on L‐ANKC 1 and 2, fibre on L‐and H‐ANKC 2 and nitrogen, calcium and acid detergent fibre on all experimental diets compared to the retentions of chicks on the reference diet, only the chicks fed L‐ANKG 2 were found to grow and utilise food as well as those on the reference diet.

4. The activities of serum alkaline phosphatase on H‐ANKC 1 and alanine amino transferase on all test diets were depressed (P < 0.05), but the activity of serum aspartate amino transferase, total erythrocyte count and concentration of blood haemoglobin and urea were similar in all chicks.

5. No significant differences were noticed in the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the meat of chicks fed on the reference diet and on diets incorporating ANKC at the lower concentrations. Feeding ANKC protein did not impart any untoward taste as evaluated in pressure cooked meat by a semitrained panel on a 7 point Hedonic scale.

6. Except for duodenal and jejunal inflammation in chicks on both reference and test diets, all the vital organs were normal, ruling out any adverse affects caused by residual neem bitters.

7. Comparable performance and cost of chicks fed on the reference and L‐ANKC 2 diets, warrants the utilisation of hitherto wasted protein‐rich NKC after alkali treatment in broiler chick diets to spare peanut meal for human consumption in developing countries.     

Cultivar Specific Response of CO2 Fertilization on Two Tropical Mung Bean (Vigna radiata L.) Cultivars: ROS Generation,Antioxidant Status,Physiology, Growth,Yield and Seed Quality

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (CO₂) is an important component of global climate change that will have a significant impact on the productivity of crop plants. In recent years, growth and yield of agricultural crop plants have been shown to increase with elevated CO₂ (EC) and have enticed considerable interest due to variation in the response of crop plants. In this study, comparative response of two mung bean cultivars (HUM‐2 and HUM‐6) was evaluated against EC at different growth stages under near‐natural conditions for two consecutive years. The plants were grown in ambient as well as EC (700 ppm) in specially designed open‐top chambers. Under elevated CO₂, marked down‐regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, membrane disruption and activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase were noticed in both the cultivars, but the extent of reduction was more in HUM‐6. As compared to ambient CO₂, EC increased total chlorophyll, photosynthetic rate, growth and yield parameters. Cultivar‐specific response was noticed as HUM‐6 showed higher increase in yield attributes than HUM‐2. Under CO₂ treatment, soluble protein and reducing sugars decreased while total soluble sugars and starch showed an opposite trend. Principal component analysis showed that both the cultivars responded more or less similarly to EC in their respective groupings of physiological and growth parameters, but the magnitude of ROS and antioxidative enzymes was variable. The experimental findings depict that both the cultivars of mung bean showed contrasting response against EC and paved the way for selecting the suitable cultivar having higher productivity in a future high‐CO₂ environment.     

Rice: Nilaparvata lugens Stal interaction—current status and future prospects of brown planthopper management

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Pragmatically, Oryza sativa L. is the most considerable food in the world and about 3 billion&nbsp;people rely on rice for their living sustenance and...     

Performance and Kinetic Study on Bioremediation of Diazo Dye (Reactive Black 5) in Wastewater Using Spent GAC–Biofilm Sequencing Batch Reactor

Combinations of sequential anaerobic and aerobic process enhance the treatment of textile wastewater. The aim of this study was to investigate the treatment of diazo dye Reactive Black 5 (RB5)-containing wastewater using granular activated carbon (GAC)–biofilm sequencing batch reactor (SBR) as an integration of aerobic and anaerobic process in a single reactor. The GAC–biofilm SBR system demonstrated higher removal of COD, RB5 and aromatic amines. It was observed that the RB5 removal efficiency improved as the concentration of co-substrate in the influent increased. The alternative aeration introduced into the bioreactor enhanced mineralization of aromatic amines. Degradation of RB5 and co-substrate followed second-order kinetic and the constant (k ₂) values for COD and RB5 decreased from 0.002 to 0.001 and 0.004 to 0.001 l/mg h, respectively, as the RB5 concentration increased from 100 to 200 mg/l in the GAC–biofilm SBR system.     

Effect of biofertilizers on the nutrient availability in soil in relation to growth,yield and yield attributes of Stevia rebaudiana

A field experiment was conducted at Rani Chandramma Agricultural University (Arabhavi, Belgaum), Karnataka, India, in basic soil to study the nutrient availability in soil, yield and yield attributes of the medicinal plant stevia (Stevia rebaudiana). The results showed that the availability of nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in the soil increased up to the fifth month; and thereafter, decreased by the same amount with the progress of the plant growth up to the sixth month, irrespective of treatments. Results also showed that the fresh and dry biomass yields significantly increased up to the sixth month with different treatments, but the yield attributes like plant height and the number of branches were observed to be varied with various treatments, being highest in the combined application of biofertilizers over that of their corresponding sole applications.     

Current status and future strategy in breeding grasspea (Lathyrus sativus)

Efforts in grasspea (Lathyrus sativus) improvement have increased since the development of lines that are very low in the neurotoxin Beta-N-oxalyl-L-alpha-beta-diamino propionic acid (ODAP); also referred to as Beta-N oxalyl-amino-L-alanine (BOAA). Many programs now address several related aspects of improvement simultaneously. These include reduced ODAP concentrations, insect and disease resistance, nitrogen fixation, agronomic practices, fodder and forage production, and components for increased yielding ability. The coordinated, multidisciplinary approach now being applied to the genetic improvement of grasspea should allow the potential of this largely neglected grain legume to be fully realized.     

Trade-offs and synergies in management of two co-occurring specialist squash pests

Journal of Pest Science - Co-occurring herbivorous pests may have shared or divergent responses to plant- and insect- derived cues, creating challenges for effective pest management in...     

Identification of a diverse mini‐core panel of Indian rice germplasm based on genotyping using microsatellite markers

Identification of a small core germplasm set representing the available genetic diversity is essential for its proper evaluation and subsequent utilization in rice improvement programmes. For constituting a small diverse mini‐core panel of Indian rice germplasm, a representative set of 6912 accessions drawn based on their geographic origin from the whole rice germplasm collection available in the National Gene Bank was genotyped using 36 microsatellite markers. Automated fragment analysis of amplicons yielded a total of 435 alleles, with an average 12.4 and range of 3–29 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.08 (RGNMS190) to 0.86 (RM552) with an average of 0.528. Based on genotyping data, a mini‐core consisting of 98 genotypes was identified. Ninety‐four per cent of the alleles present in the core set were present in the mini‐core. The identified small but diverse panel will be useful for further intensive trait‐specific evaluation and utilization in allele mining.     

Recent advances in molecular marker techniques: Insight into QTL mapping,GWAS and genomic selection in plants

Recent advances in sequencing technology have brought several novel platforms for marker development and subsequent genotyping. The high-throughput and cost effective marker techniques have changed the entire scenario of marker applications. The huge genotypic data obtained with next generation sequencing (NGS) also demands analytical tools, statistical advances, and comprehensive understanding to cope with breeding applications. In the present review, we discussed different available marker techniques, their strengths, and limitations. Emphasis was given on software tools, analytical pipelines, workbenches, and online resources available for marker development. Comparison of SNP genotyping involving complexity reduction techniques like GBS, RRL, RAD, and array-based platforms were presented in a view to describe suitability for specific purposes. We found that genotyping by whole genome re-sequencing has great potential, and could be a routine application in the near future with continuously decreasing cost of sequencing. Microsatellites, still a valuable option for breeders, have also advanced with NGS. Here a catalogue of tools for microsatellite evaluation in short sequence reads was provided. The most common applications of molecular marker like QTL mapping, genome-wide association mapping (GWAS), and genomic selection were highlighted. The present review will be helpful for the effective utilization of available resources and for the planning of crop improvement programs employing molecular marker techniques.     

A new gene for resistance in rice to Asian rice gall midge (Orseolia oryzae Wood Mason) biotype 1 population at Raipur, India

The Asian rice gall midge, Orseolia oryzae Wood Mason (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is a major pest of rice in several South and South East Asian countries. The maggots feed internally on the growing tips of the tillers and transform them into tubular galls, onion leaf-like structures called ‘silver shoots’ resulting into severe yield loss to the rice crop. We studied the mode of inheritance and allelic relationships of the resistance genes involved in resistant donor Line 9, a sib of a susceptible cultivar ‘Madhuri’. The segregation behaviour of F₁, F₂ and F₃ populations of the cross between Line 9 and susceptible cultivar MW10 confirmed the presence of a single dominant gene for resistance. Tests of allelism with all the known genes giving resistance to this population indicated that Line 9 possessed a new gene which was designated Gm 9 This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.