Plant water relations, crop yield and quality of arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) as affected by supplemental deficit irrigation.

Low amount and erratic distribution of the seasonal precipitation and recurrent droughts are major threats to coffee production in Ethiopia. This necessitates application of supplemental deficit irrigation for coffee production. This study evaluated the impact of two supplemental irrigations, viz. supplemental full (SFI) and deficit irrigation (SDI) in comparison to rain-fed (RF) control on plant water relations, yield and quality of Coffea arabica L. during the dry season using three cultivars (cv. F-59, 74110 and 75227). Supplemental full irrigation consistently improved soil and plant water status and stomatal conductance (gs) during the dry season and resulted in significantly higher yield. However, the difference between SFI and SDI was not significant for crop yield, but had higher yield than RF control. Overall quality in terms of raw appearance and total quality of coffee beans was substantially improved and the amount of irrigation water applied was considerably reduced by SDI compared to SFI practice. Therefore, SDI appears to be more effective than SFI for coffee production in areas of frequent water scarcity and recurrent drought as for eastern and northern parts of Ethiopia

Bio-efficacy of microbial infused rice straw compost on plant growth promotion and induction of disease resistance in chili

Microbial fortified organic amendment in chili cultivation may affect plant development and disease suppression. Microbial infused rice straw compost, commercial rice straw compost, and fungicide Benomyl for chili (Capsicum annum L.) cultivation and control of Sclerotium foot rot were studied under glass house condition. Chili seed cv. Kulai were sown in the Sclerotium rolfsii infested and non-infested soil. After two weeks, five healthy seedlings were transplanted into planting bags. Growth performance and development of disease symptoms associated with S. rolfsii foot rot infection were assessed. Applying microbial infused rice straw compost increased seed germination and plant growth, and suppressed development of foot rot compared to using commercial rice straw compost and the Benomyl. A higher disease reduction (84.6%) occurred with 15 Mg · ha−1 microbial infused rice straw compost (62.7%), followed by Benomyl (53.8%), and 15 Mg · ha−1 commercial rice straw compost (46.2%). Application of microbial infused rice straw compost at 15 Mg · ha−1 yielded optimum seed germination and seedling establishment, plant growth, and disease suppression. Microbial infused rice straw compost is a good alternative to chemical fungicide in controlling Sclerotial disease in chili

Teachers’ professional identity measures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the perspective of Rasch Model Framework

This study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the professional identity measure of the professional identity of Mathematics teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Professional identity topic has not been widely addressed in the Arab environment. Studying the Mathematics Teachers’ Professional Identity (TPI) is important because only few and inadequate body of research has been performed in the Arab environment. Establishing measuring tool on the TPI contributes on the evaluation of the teachers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and their roles in the educational process in the country. This study applies descriptive approach. 600 secondary Mathematics teachers were involved. The adapted version of the questionnaire designed by Albaqi'i (2014) used to measure the Mathematics TPI. Delphi techniques in three rounds to gather experts’ opinion about the suitability of Mathematics TPI questionnaire used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia context. Rasch model as a framework applied to assess the psychometric properties of Mathematic TPI questionnaire. The results are valuable in terms of analyzing the psychometric properties for the first version of Mathematics TPI, to improve Differential Item Functioning (DIF) and the psychometric properties for the revised version of Mathematics TPI Questionnaire

The impact of window's size in DWSIGF routing protocol.

In this study, different collection window's size is been analyzed to investigate the impact on network performance: packet delivery ratio, message overhead and end to end delay on the Dynamic Window Secured Implicit Geographic Forwarding (DWIGF) routing protocol where this protocol is based on a dynamic collection window approached. Its method on using dynamic window's size has minimized the probability of selecting attackers and guaranteed high packet delivery ratios when there is a blackhole attack in the communication link. The DWSIGF is then compared with the best chosen window's size to analyze the network performance with and without attacker in the communication line, respectively. The DWIGF is able to minimize a Clear To Send (CTS) rushing attack that leads to a blackhole and selectively forwarding attack with a guaranteed of high packet delivery ratios where a selection of a failed trade and all attacker is minimized, respectively. As a result, this routing protocol is promising a dynamic and secured communication without inserting any existing security mechanism inside

Development of compatible lignocellulolytic fungal consortium for rapid composting of rice straw

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of lignocellulolytic fungi for rapid composting of rice straw. Forty-nine isolates of fungi were isolated from several natural and induced rice straw composting sources. Ten isolates were tested for their potential to decompose lignocellulosic rice straw by assessing their growth rate and biomass production, as well as their ability to decompose lignin and cellulose on rice-straw-powder-amended media. Four isolates (F26, F28, F29, and F44) were selected as potential lignocellulolytic agents for in-vitro compatibility study based on their optimum growth rate, biomass production, and lignocellulolytic activities. Six different interactions were found among four interacting isolates in the form of mutual intermingling, partial mutual intermingling, and inhibition at the contact point. Finally, a consortium of Aspergillus niger (F44) and Trichoderma viride (F26) was tested for in-vitro biodegradation of rice straw. The fungal consortium was able to decompose cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and total carbon significantly (p � 0.05) over the control. The C/N ratio was reduced to 19.5 from an initial value of 29.3 in three weeks of the biodegradation process, thus showing the potential of this method for use in large-scale composting of rice straw