Design of Automated Rainout Shelter to Conduct Experiment on Drought Tolerant Maize Genotype

Uneven and low precipitation areas of Nepal are continuously suffering from drought and received low productivity because of unavailability of suitable drought tolerant maize genotype. An attempt has been made first time in Nepal by constructing an automated rainout shelter with soil moisture based automated drip irrigation system at National Maize Research Program in 2018-2019 to conduct an experiment on drought tolerant maize genotype. The rainout shelters automatically covers the cropping area as soon as the rain sensor received a single drop of precipitation and also if the light intensity decreased to value set in the control panel. Likewise, the soil water level in different treatments were maintained on the basis of the treatment controlled with automatic drip irrigation system set to irrigate at threshold value set in the microcontroller. The complete system had found very useful in determining accurate amount of water required to cultivate drought tolerant maize genotype. We have tested drought tolerant variety RampurSo3Fo8 under 10 level of irrigation and it was determined that 495.2 mm of water is maximum level of water to produce highest yield of 3.32 t/ha whereas 445.6 mm to 247.6 mm of water could can be manage to produce competitive yield without any reduction. An experiment under such kind of infrastructure provide useful information on irrigation management practices required for drought variety in the natural environment. The research output also guides farmers and agriculturist in making Nepalese agricultural more sustainable, mechanized and productive

Productivity of maize (Zea mays L.) as affected by varieties and sowing dates

Genotypic yield potential of maize varieties is greatly affected by sowing dates. In order to investigate the effects of sowing dates and varieties on the grain yield of maize, the field experiment was carried out at research field of National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from April 2009 to March 2010.  Three varieties namely Rampur Composite, Arun-2 and Gaurav were sown at every week. The results of experiment showed that interaction effect of variety and sowing date on grain yield of maize was significant. Rampur Composite produced highest grain yield (6.1 t/ha) in August and lowest yield (2.6 t/ha) in May. Similarly Arun-2 produced highest yield (4.6 t/ha) in August and lowest yield (2.1 t/ha) in May. Gaurav produced highest grain yield (5.1 t/ha) in September followed by 4.9, 4.8 and 4.6 t/ha in February, July and August respectively and lowest yield (1.5 t/ha) in November. The sowing date was highly significant on grain production. The highest grain production was 5.1 t/ha in August followed by in February (4.9 t/ha), September (4.6 t/ha) and March (4.4 t/ha) respectively. The lowest grain yield was produced in May (2.4 t/ha). Therefore it was concluded that August planting was best for higher grain production of maize varieties (Rampur Composite, Arun-2 and Gaurav) in terai region of Nepal

Survey on maize post-harvest losses and its management practices in the western hills of Nepal

A survey was conducted in order to assess the losses of maize under farmers’ storage conditions in the Western hills of Nepal in 2014. The survey area included Thanapati Village Development Committee (VDC) of Gulmi, Aalamdebi VDC of Syangja, Khasauli VDC of Palpa and Baglung municipality-12, Baglung district. Primary information was collected through semi-structured questionnaires among the heterogenous groups of the farming communities. Survey revealed that about 61% respondents reported the storage pest as the major pests and about 12% respondents reported that field pests as the major pests in the western hills. Maize weevil (Sitophylus zeamais Mostsch.) and Angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella Oliv.) were found to be major storage insect pests in surveyed areas. Majority of respondents (39%) presumed on 10-20% losses during storage. Among the other biotic factors, farmers ranked insect (42%), weeds (32%) and diseases (17%) respectively. Maize storage methods had distinct among the surveyed areas compared with Baglung district to other surveyed areas. In Baglung, about (73%) farmers had stored maize in the form of grain whereas in Palpa, Gulmi and Syangja, about (77%) farmers had practice of storing maize with husk for 5-7 months. Approximately, 40% respondents were using open floor in upper stair “Aanti”as a major maize storage place in Palpa, Gulmi and Syangja whereas almost (79%) of respondents were using sacks to store shelled grains in Baglung. Hence, there is ample opportunity to reduce the storage losses of maize depending upon the existing situation

Productivity of maize (Zea mays L.) as affected by varieties and sowing dates

Genotypic yield potential of maize varieties is greatly affected by sowing dates. In order to investigate the effects of sowing dates and varieties on the grain yield of maize, the field experiment was carried out at research field of National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal from April 2009 to March 2010.  Three varieties namely Rampur Composite, Arun-2 and Gaurav were sown at every week. The results of experiment showed that interaction effect of variety and sowing date on grain yield of maize was significant. Rampur Composite produced highest grain yield (6.1 t/ha) in August and lowest yield (2.6 t/ha) in May. Similarly Arun-2 produced highest yield (4.6 t/ha) in August and lowest yield (2.1 t/ha) in May. Gaurav produced highest grain yield (5.1 t/ha) in September followed by 4.9, 4.8 and 4.6 t/ha in February, July and August respectively and lowest yield (1.5 t/ha) in November. The sowing date was highly significant on grain production. The highest grain production was 5.1 t/ha in August followed by in February (4.9 t/ha), September (4.6 t/ha) and March (4.4 t/ha) respectively. The lowest grain yield was produced in May (2.4 t/ha). Therefore it was concluded that August planting was best for higher grain production of maize varieties (Rampur Composite, Arun-2 and Gaurav) in terai region of Nepal

Epidemiology and Pathogenesis of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

An acute respiratory syndrome (ARDS) episode was first identified in Wuhan, China, and later officially designated as COVID-19 by the WHO. It is caused by SARS-CoV-2 that is likely associated with zoonotic transmission. Based on the live data from live reference website Worldometer which provides counters and realtime statistics for diverse topics data, COVID-19 has influenced 186 nations. China reported 25% of cases, while 75% of the remaining cases were reported in other nations. The clinical and genetic characteristics of SARSCoV-2 support the similar pathogenesis pattern between SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. The elevated level of cytokine release during the infection caused the failure of multiple organs leading to the patient death. Treatment of patients depends on the clinical course and symptoms associated with the COVID-19. Several prevention and control measures including; active surveillance, use of masks, and hand sanitizers are recommended to stop the spread of this virus. Besides, COVID-19 was sampled using a throat swab to detect the viral nucleic acid using Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), for early detection and treatments evaluation. In this review, we comprehensively summarized the COVID-19 epidemiology, pathogenesis and diagnosis, using suitable literatures obtained from reliable sources

Tillage methods and mulch on water saving and yield of spring maize in Chitwan

Tillage methods and mulch influences the productivity and water requirement of spring maize hence a field experiment was conducted at the National Maize Research Program, Rampur in spring seasons of 2011 and 2012 with the objectives to evaluate different tillage methods with and without mulch on water requirement and grain yield of spring maize. The experiment was laid out in two factors factorial randomized complete design with three replications. The treatments consisted of tillage methods (Permanent bed, Zero tillage and Conventional tillage) and mulch (with and without). Irrigation timing was fixed as knee high stage, tasseling stage and milking/dough stage. Data on number of plants, number of ears, thousand grain weight and grain yield were recorded and analysed using GenStat. Two years combined result showed that the effect of tillage methods and mulch significant influenced grain yield and water requirement of spring maize. The maize grain yield was the highest in permanent beds with mulch (4626 kg ha-1) followed by zero tillage with mulch (3838 kg ha-1). Whereas total water applied calculated during the crop period were the highest in conventional tillage without mulch followed by conventional tillage with mulch. The permanent bed with mulch increased the yield and reduced the water requirement of spring maize in Chitwan

Post COVID sequelae among COVID-19 survivors: insights from the Indian National Clinical Registry for COVID-19

Introduction The effects of COVID-19 infection persist beyond the active phase. Comprehensive description and analysis of the post COVID sequelae in various population groups are critical to minimise the long-term morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19. This analysis was conducted with an objective to estimate the frequency of post COVID sequelae and subsequently, design a framework for holistic management of post COVID morbidities.Methods Follow-up data collected as part of a registry-based observational study in 31 hospitals across India since September 2020–October 2022 were used for analysis. All consenting hospitalised patients with COVID-19 are telephonically followed up for up to 1 year post-discharge, using a prestructured form focused on symptom reporting.Results Dyspnoea, fatigue and mental health issues were reported among 18.6%, 10.5% and 9.3% of the 8042 participants at first follow-up of 30–60 days post-discharge, respectively, which reduced to 11.9%, 6.6% and 9%, respectively, at 1-year follow-up in 2192 participants. Patients who died within 90 days post-discharge were significantly older (adjusted OR (aOR): 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.03), with at least one comorbidity (aOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.31, 2.35), and a higher proportion had required intensive care unit admission during the initial hospitalisation due to COVID-19 (aOR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.08, 2.06) and were discharged at WHO ordinal scale 6–7 (aOR: 49.13 95% CI: 25.43, 94.92). Anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (at least one dose) was protective against such post-discharge mortality (aOR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.03).Conclusion Hospitalised patients with COVID-19 experience a variety of long-term sequelae after discharge from hospitals which persists although in reduced proportions until 12 months post-discharge. Developing a holistic management framework with engagement of care outreach workers as well as teleconsultation is a way forward in effective management of post COVID morbidities as well as reducing mortality