Threshold Tolerance of New Genotypes of Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. to Salinity and Drought

With continued population growth, increasing staple crop production is necessary. However, in dryland areas, this is negatively affected by various abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity. The field screening of 10 improved genetic lines of pear millet originating from African dryland areas was conducted based on a set of agrobiological traits (i.e., germination rate, plant density, plant maturity rate, forage, and grain yields) in order to understand plant growth and its yield potential responses under saline environments. Our findings demonstrated that genotype had a significant impact on the accumulation of green biomass (64.4% based on two-way ANOVA), while salinity caused reduction in grain yield value. HHVBC Tall and IP 19586 were selected as the best-performing and high-yielding genotypes. HHVBC Tall is a dual purpose (i.e., forage and grain) line which produced high grain yields on marginal lands, with soil salinization up to electrical conductivity (EC) 6–8 dS m−1 (approximately 60–80 mM NaCl). Meanwhile, IP 19586, grown under similar conditions, showed a rapid accumulation of green biomass with a significant decrease in grain yield. Both lines were tolerant to drought and sensitive to high salinity (above 200 mM NaCl). The threshold salinity of HHVBC Tall calculated at the seedling stage was lower than that of IP 19586. Seedling viability of these lines was affected by oxidative stress and membrane peroxidation, and they had decreased chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis. This study demonstrated that ionic stress is more detrimental for the accumulation of green and dry biomass, in combination with increasing the proline and malonic dialdehyde (MDA) contents of both best-performing pearl millet lines, as compared with osmotic stress

Sweet Sorghum Genotypes Testing in the High Latitude Rainfed Steppes of the Northern Kazakhstan (for Feed and Biofuel)

Twenty-eight sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotypes of the different ecological and geographic origins: Kazakhstan, Russia, India, Uzbekistan, and China were tested in the high latitude rainfed conditions of northern Kazakhstan. The genotypes demonstrated high biomass production (up to 100 t·ha-1 and more). The genotypes ripening to full reproductive seeds were selected for seed production and introduction in the northern Kazakhstan. Lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum S-1, Streptococcus thermophilus F-1 and Lactococcus lactis F-4 essentially enhance the fermentation process, suppressing undesirable microbiological processes, reducing the loss of nutrient compounds, accelerating in 2 times maturation ensilage process and providing higher quality of the feed product

Rangelands of the arid and semi-arid zones in Uzbekistan

This book presents a panorama of the biodiversity of the arid and semi-arid regions of Uzbekistan, their climatology and-native flora (about 150 dominant range species are described) with their ecology, fodder properties, utilization and range rehabilitation techniques, with reference to other Mediterranean arid and semi-arid zones of the world. It also describes the location, the particular ecology and the specific flora and fauna of the natural reserves and national parks of Uzbekistan. The book is abundantly illustrated with about 550 high quality colour photographs, 14 figures, 20 tables and 9 maps. It is hoped that this book will contribute to a better understanding of these challenging arid environments and towards the conservation and rational use of their fragile and unique natural resources. It should also provide a valuable resource and reference for livestock owners, range managers, pastoralists, ecologists, conservationists, botanists, seed collectors, veterinarians, extension officers and national and international decision-makers in developing a sustainable management strategy for the Middle and Central Asian rangeland. This work is offered in hopes of a better future for the people of Uzbekistan and for the region as a whole

The chemical composition in the salt excretion of <i>Tamarix ramosissima</i> under conditions of different soil salinity level

Being grown on soils with different salinity degree, Tamarix ramosissima as the major representative of crinohalophytes reveals its ability to accumulate and removal the soluble salts. This is evidenced by a conjugated analysis to determine the chemical composition of soluble salts in ground waters, salt crusts, plant tissues and the salt excretion covering the Tamarix ramosissima sprigs. In these studies the soils were represented by hydromorphic solonchaks with salt crusts 5 and 0.1 cm thick and the content of toxic salts accounted for 32.4 and 57.6 respectively. The salinity was sulfate-sodium by nature. Based upon a comparative analysis of definite anions and cations in plant tissues and the salt excretion it seemed possible to notice that their content in salt secreted is higher by 3.2-7.7 times as compared to that in plant tissues. There is much in common in the content of cations and anions in the salt excretion of Tamarix ramosissima that can be presented in the following way: Na+ > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > K+ и Cl- > SO42-. It has been also established that the maximal removal of Na+ and Cl- in the salt excretion doesn’t connected with the amount of given ions in ground waters. One should be assumed that the content of Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ и SO42- is associated with the concentration of these cations in salt crusts of the studied solonchaks. It is worthy of note that the Cl- exudation is not dependent on its content in the ground water and salt crust being comparable with Na+ exudation. Thus, Tamarix ramosissima grown under natural conditions reveals no direct dependence between the ions exudation by plants in the kind of salt excretion, the chemical composition and the amount of salts in soil (salt crust) and the ground water