The effect of rhizobacterial inoculation on growth and nutrient accumulation of tissue-cultured banana plantlets under low N-fertilizer regime

Banana, an important fruit crop, requires high amounts of N-fertilizers for commercial cultivation. This, however, is costly and can be hazardous to the soil environment when used excessively. Biofertilizer is globally accepted as an alternative source of N-fertilizer and can substantially supplement the N requirement while enhancing the uptake of water and mineral nutrients of crop plants. An experiment was conducted to observe the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacterial inoculation on growth,nutrient uptake of bananas grown under hydroponics condition. The design of the experiment was randomized complete block with five replicates. The following six treatments were imposed: T1 (control; N0-PGPR), T2: (N0+Sp7), T3: (N0+ UPMB10), T4: (N33%+ Sp7), T5: (N33% + UPMB10), and T6: (N100%-PGPR). The results showed that inoculation by UPMB10 with minimal fertilizer-N supply increased (P < 0.05) the primary root elongation and secondary root initiation and subsequently increased (P < 0.05) the root biomass. The same treatment also increased (P < 0.05) N concentration in pseudostem and leaves and Ca concentration in roots. The total accumulation of N, P, K, Ca and Mg were increased due toinoculation; a consequence of increased plant growth. Plants with this treatment produced an equivalent total dry matter as those supplied with 100% N

Ascorbic Acid Influences on Growth and Yield of Tomato

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in various metabolic reactions in plants are mostly known for toxicity. Whereas ascorbic acid (AsA) involves in various physiological and biochemical processes; and acts as a ROS scavenger. Therefore, the experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of exogenous application of AsA on growth and yield of tomato plants. The ROS scavenger AsA was applied in the leaves of tomato plants in four treatment combinations (T1-Control; T2-0.5 mM; T3-2.0 mM and T4-4.0 mM) with three replications. Among the treatments, AsA at 4.0 mM (T4) efficiently increased leaf length (12%), inflorescence length (17%), and flower number (29%) than the untreated control plants. AsA at 0.5 and 2.0 mM also showed positive effects on the plant morphology to a lesser extent. Importantly, AsA at 4.0 mM increased yield by 18% than the control treatment. In physiochemical parameters, AsA at 4.0 mM (T4) was retained 64.07% higher chlorophyll content than the control plant even after 60 days of application. Exogenous application of AsA effectively reduced oxidative stress of the plant, which was attributed to the less accumulation of H2O2 and lipid peroxidation of membrane lipids. AsA at 4.0 mM decreased H2O2 and MDA accumulation by 39% and 45%, respectively, compared with the control plants. Therefore, exogenous application of AsA is a useful tool to enhance growth and yield of tomato under field conditions by lowering the accumulation of ROS and lipid peroxidation. Ann. Bangladesh Agric. (2021) 25 (1) : 55-65</jats:p

Variation in Morphological Characters and Yield Attributes of Five Selected Soybean Genotypes

A field experiment was conducted at the experimental field of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur during November 2013 to March 2014. Four soybean genotypes i.e BU Soybean1, BD2329, BD2331, AGS313 and a check variety BARI Soybean 6 were used to evaluate their variations in morphological characters and yield attributes. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The highest LAI (4.4) was found in genotype AGS313 and the smallest was found in BU Soyabean1. The highest pod size of 625 mg pod-1 was found in AGS313 while the lowest of 340 mg pod-1 was observed in BU Soybean1. Although BU Soyabean1 had smaller seed size but it had higher number of pods plant-1 (32.1) compared to other genotypes. The maximum 100-seed weight was recorded in AGS313 (16.34 g) and the minimum was obtained from the genotype BU Soybean1 (11.0 g). AGS313 genotype contributed to the highest grain yield of 4.29 tha-1, while BU Soyabean1 stood second position contributing 2.65 tha-1. Results also indicated that not only seed size but also number of pods plant-1 contributed to grain yield. Again there were highly significant differences among genotypes for all the characters.J. Environ. Sci. &amp; Natural Resources, 8(2): 93-96 2015</jats:p

Effect of potassium on yield, quality and shelf life of tomato

The experiment was conducted at the experimental field of the Department of Horticulture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Salna, Gazipur, to study the effect of potassium on yield, quality and shelf life of tomato under ambient condition during 15 October 2015 to 30 June 2016. Six levels of K viz., 0, 35, 70, 105, 140 and 175 kg/ha consisted of the treatments of the experiment. The tomato plant treated with K105 produced maximum plant height (128.50 cm), number of fruits plant-1 (26.49), fruit diameter (5.71 cm), fruit length (5.83 cm), weight of fruits plant-1 (1.72 kg), fruit yield ha-1(71.96 ton), dry matter (7.56 %), firmness (1.22 N), shelf life (15 days), TSS (10.30 %), β carotene (0.090 mg/100 g), ascorbic acid (26.49 mg/100 g) and total sugar (5.05 %). Contents of iron (123.20 ppm), calcium (0.42%) and potassium (0.71%) were recorded maximum in K140, K35 and K175 respectively. Iron and potassium content increased with the increasing level of potassium but reverse effect was found in case of calcium. The regression equation for applied K were Y=-3.339x2 + 636.5x + 42606. Based on this equation, the optimum dose of K for tomato was 95.31 kg ha-1 in salna series of shallow red brown terrace soil and its corresponding yield is 71.96 t ha-1.&#x0D; Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 44(4): 659-668, December 2019</jats:p