Performance of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl in non-puddled transplanted rainy season rice and its residual effect on growth of the succeeding crop in rice-wheat cropping pattern

Abstract

A study was carried out in sandy clay loam textured soil of Mymensingh, Bangladesh to evaluate weed control efficiency of pre-emergence herbicide pyrazosulfuron-ethyl either alone or in sequential application with post-emergence herbicide in transplanted rainy season rice under non-puddled strip-tilled (NPST) field condition and also to examine the residual effect of those herbicides on germination and growth of the subsequently grown wheat crop. Five treatment combinations of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl were tested against one weedy check and one weed-free check. The study revealed that NPST rice field was mostly infested by grass and sedge weeds and herbicide treatments offered a wide range of control (above 50% to 95%) on all types of weeds. Application of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl followed by (fb) orthosulfamuron fb butachlor plus propanil provided the most effective and economic weed control over two years of the study. Moreover, micro-plot bioassay study claimed germination and growth of subsequently grown wheat were not adversely affected by herbicides that were applied in rice. Therefore, application of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl followed by post-emergence herbicide could be effective and economic to control weeds in NPST rice under rice-wheat system, but proper rate and time of application should strictly be followed.     

锐劲特对家蚕持效期的生物测定

１９９５～１９９６年进行了５％锐劲特胶悬剂对家蚕特效期的生物测定。结果表明：锐劲特对家蚕持效期与甲胺磷基本相似，可维持在１５～２０ｄ之间。     

Breeding perennial ryegrass for agriculture

Summary Perennial ryegrass has become the most widely sown perennial forage grass in temperate regions due to its combination of high digestibility and tolerance of grazing. The primary objectives in breeding for agricultural use are to improve total and seasonal dry matter production over a range of fertiliser inputs, digestibility, persistency, freezing tolerance and drought or heat tolerance. Adequate seed production and resistance to a wide range of diseases and pests is also necessary. Improvements in productivity and persistency so far have been achieved mainly by hybridisation and recurrent selection using the polycross method and by the use of polyploidy. Further improvements in freezing tolerance, drought and heat tolerance and, for some localities, resistance to pests and snow moulds are required to extend the geographic range of the species. Modern cultivars show little improvement in leaf or stem digestibility but a high magnesium variety is now available. Perennial ryegrass breeding is at an early stage and prospects for further progress appear good.     

The silage yield potential of hybrid ryegrass over a 5-year period in Northern Ireland relative to other ryegrasses and timothy

The yield and persistency of grass species within a managed sward are a major consideration when determining species mixtures for either long-term or short-term sward management systems. Perennial ryegrass is lower yielding but more persistent than Italian ryegrass. Hybrid ryegrass, an interspecies cross between perennial and Italian ryegrass, may be higher yielding than perennial ryegrass and more persistent than Italian ryegrass. Therefore, the yield and persistency of hybrid ryegrass was investigated in Northern Ireland in five experiments, each harvested over five consecutive years, and compared with that of Italian ryegrass, perennial ryegrass and timothy. The performance of the five grass species were in the expected order; Italian ryegrass was higher yielding than hybrid ryegrass, which was higher than perennial ryegrass, with timothy the lowest, whereas perennial ryegrass and timothy had significantly higher sward densities than the hybrid and Italian ryegrasses. In addition, it was found that the rate of decline in yield and sward density with age was the same for all species. Consequently, this study indicated that the higher yielding Italian and hybrid ryegrasses could continue to out-perform perennial ryegrass for 5 years, opening the possibility of more extensive farming use of these species, particularly in Northern Ireland.     

闽南地区荔枝花期干湿序列的概率特征

利用漳州1954—1985共32年的4月1日至5月10目的降水资料,分别采用传染分布和泊松分布分两个时段计算该地区荔枝花期干、湿日持续日数和日雨量≥25mm的大～暴雨的频数。结果表明,理论频数的分布趋势与实际情况基本吻合,在r≤3下,4月21～5月10日时段的湿日频数小于4月1～20日时段的,说明荔枝开花太早遇连续湿日危害的机会较大。4月1～30日出现1次大～暴雨的概率最大,出现5次以上的概率极小。     

Forage yield and persistency of Trifolium repens × Trifolium nigrescens hybrids when sown with a perennial ryegrass companion

Abstract Introgression of reproductive traits from ball clover (Trifolium nigrescens Viv.) into white clover (Trifolium repens L.) is one breeding strategy to improve seed yields of T. repens that must be achieved without sacrificing agronomic performance and persistency. The yield and persistency of hybrids between white clover and the annual, profuse flowering species T. nigrescens were compared under a cutting regime over three harvest years. The hybrids included the F1 and the backcross (BC) 1, 2 and 3 generations produced using T. repens as the recurrent parent. Parental species and hybrids were sown with a perennial ryegrass companion; clover and perennial ryegrass dry‐matter (DM) yield and the proportion of clover present were measured over the growing season. In the third harvest year, a portion of each plot was grazed. Differences were observed between T. nigrescens, the F1 and the backcross hybrids and T. repens. In the first and second harvest years, clover DM yield, the proportion of clover present and total DM yield of the backcross hybrids were similar to T. repens, whereas that of the T. nigrescens and the F1 hybrid were negligible. No significant difference in perennial ryegrass production was observed between the parental species and the hybrids when grown, respectively, in combination with these species and hybrids. In the third harvest year, clover DM yield and the proportion of clover present with the BC3 was lower than with T. repens. Throughout the growing season the DM production of T. repens and the backcross hybrids was similar. In the third harvest year, under cutting, DM yield of T. repens was greatest and that of the BC3 lowest, but under grazing, the yields of the BC1 and BC3 were greater than T. repens and the BC2. The implication of these results for the future development of these hybrids is discussed.     

Forage yield and persistency of Trifolium repens × Trifolium nigrescens hybrids under rotational sheep grazing

Introgression of reproductive traits from the annual, profuse flowering, ball clover (Trifolium nigrescens Viv.) into white clover (Trifolium repens L.) is one breeding strategy to improve seed yields of T. repens that must be achieved without sacrificing agronomic performance and persistency under grazing. The yield and persistency of hybrids between white clover and T. nigrescens were compared under rotational sheep grazing over three harvest years. The hybrids included the backcross (BC) 2 and 3 generations produced using white clover as the recurrent parent. The large‐leaved T. repens variety Olwen, medium‐leaved varieties AberDai and Menna and the small‐leaved variety S184 were sown as controls. Hybrids and control varieties were sown with a perennial ryegrass companion; between April and the end of October in each harvest year the plots were rotationally grazed with sheep with clover and perennial ryegrass (DM) yield and the proportion of clover present measured over the growing season. The clover and total DM yields of the BC2 and BC3 were generally comparable with the small‐ and medium‐leaved varieties within the experiment and significantly greater than the yields of the large‐leaved variety Olwen. Throughout the 3 years of the experiment the BC2 maintained a clover content above 0·30 and comparable with the small‐leaved varieties, while the clover content of the BC3 was comparable with the small‐ and medium‐leaved varieties in the first and third harvest years. No significant difference in perennial ryegrass production was observed when grown with the backcrosses or the control varieties. Differences in stolon and growing‐point density were observed at the end of the experiment with the density of the BC2 and BC3 less than the small‐leaved variety S184 but, in common with the medium‐leaved varieties, greater than the large‐leaved variety Olwen. The implication of these results for the use of this material in future experiments and in the white clover breeding programme is discussed.     

Some physicochemical and environmental factors affecting transformation rates and sorption of the herbicide metamitron in soil

In addition to the molecular structure of a pesticide, environmental conditions may influence its persistence through their effect on the growth and activity of pesticide-degrading micro-organisms. As a result, transformation rates may decrease rapidly when a compound is leached into subsoil. Metamitron sorption isotherms were determined and incubation series were set up for a sandy loam soil, simulating single and combination effects that occur during transport of metamitron into subsoils. K_OC values increased with increasing depth from 185 to 700 litre kg⁻¹. A combination of conditions that are unfavourable for microbial activity, such as low temperature (5°C), low concentrations (0·5 mg kg⁻¹) and a large sorbed fraction (K_OC = 700) resulted in half-lives of over one year. Oxygen inhibition decreased the transformation rate of metamitron from 0·058 to 0·019 day⁻¹. In order of significance, the transformation of metamitron appears to be a function of temperature, oxygen availability and sorption to organic carbon. Increasing doses did not change transformation rates significantly, although different transformation pathways were observed.     

Persistency and monosaccharide composition of polysaccharides of soil which received no plant materials for a certain period under field conditions

Abstract

The monosaccharides in acid hydrolysates were monitored in soil which was packed in a bag made of glass microfiber paper and buried in upland and paddy fields for up to 36 months. During the initial flush of decomposition, all constituent monosaccharides except for non cellulosic glucose were found to decrease. The amounts which disappeared were greater than the water extractable saccharides of the air dried soil or ground sample of the air dried soil. After the flush of decomposition, the changes in mannose, galactose, fucose and rhamnose were small, whereas cellulosic glucose, arabinose and xylose continued to decline in the upland field soil. The soil saccharides are classified into six groups and their relative persistency is discussed.

The monosaccharide composition did not change markedly, but the proportion of monosaccharides relating to plant materials declined with time after incubation. The molar ratios of hexoses to pentoses, deoxyhexoses to pentoses, and non-cellulosic glucose to cellulosic glucose increased gradually, whereas a gradual decline in the ratio of xylose to mannose was observed when the soil received no plant materials under field conditions.