Effect of conservation tillage, residue and nitrogen levels on soil nitrogen fractions and their contributions in nitrogen uptake in castor (Ricinus communis)

This experiment was conducted in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol at Hayathnagar Research Farm of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India, during the period 1995 to 2014 to study the long-term effect of conservation agricultural practices on organic and inorganic N fractions in soil, their contribution to available N pool and N uptake in castor (Ricinus communis L.). The experiment was conducted in a strip split-split plot design with conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT) as main factors, surface application of sorghum stover @ 2 tonnes/ha (SS), fresh gliricidia loppings @ 2 tonnes/ha (GL) and ‘no’ residue (NR) as sub-factors and levels of N, viz. 0 (N0), 30 (N30), 60 (N60) and 90 (N90) kg N/ha as sub-sub factors. The results of the study revealed that increasing N levels influenced exchangeable ammonical N and nitrate N. Practice of conservation tillage, application of residues and nitrogen significantly influenced the hydrolysable organic N fractions in the soil. Among these, aminoacid N, hexosamine N, hydrolyzable NH 4 + and unidentified N constituted 52%, 8%, 13% and 27% of total hydrolysable N. Linear regression relationship between castor yield and total soil N and N uptake (R2 = 0.998) was found significant. Further, inter correlations between N fractions indicated free mobility among the N fractions. Hence, the build up of N in these pools can be significantly influenced by adoption of appropriate conservation agricultural practices on long term basis in rainfed Alfisols which are highly deficient in available soil N

The complete mitochondrial genome of giant cricket, Tarbinskiellus portentosus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) and its curation

Tarbinskiellus portentosus, commonly known as giant cricket one of the important edible cricket species. However, the genetic information of these species is still limited. Therefore, we have assembled and annotated the first mitochondrial genome of T. portentosus. The mitogenome is 15710 bp long and has GC content of 27.19%. The nucleotide composition is similar with other insect mitogenomes (A 40.6%; T 32.2%; C 17.3%; G 9.9%). The gene organization in the mitogenome of T. portentosus is identical to the mitogenome of other cricket species. The complete mitogenome of T. portentosus consisted 37 genes including 13 protein coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes. The newly assembled mitogenome will help molecular biology research on edible crickets. Since mitogenome genes are traditionally used for DNA barcoding and phylogenetic analysis, comparative analysis of T. portentosus mitogenome with other related cricket species will also aid researchers in developing universal primers for species identification toward food security. Apart from the main goal of providing full mitogenome of T. portentosus, paper also provides conceptual workflow based on de novo assembly and its correction for final mitogenome construction

IMPACT OF LONG TERM TILLAGE AND RESIDUE APPLICATION ON ORGANIC CARBON POOLS AND CARBON STOCK IN SEMI ARID TROPICAL ALFISOL OF HYDERABAD

Not Availablelong term experiment was conducted in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol at Hayathnagar Research Farm of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India, during the period 1995 to 2013 to study the long-term impacts of tillage and residue application on carbon sequestration, C pools and C Management Indices and their relationship with crop yield. The experiment was conducted in a split-split plot design with conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT) as main factors, surface application of sorghum stover @ 2t ha-1 (SS), fresh gliricidia loppings @ 2t ha-1 (GL) and ‘no’ residue (NR) as sub factors and levels of N viz., 0 (N0), 30 (N30), 60 (N60) and 90 (N90) kg N ha-1 as sub-sub factors in a castor-sorghum yearly rotation. The results of the study clearly indicated that minimum tillage significantly increased the contents of soil C pools viz., microbial biomass carbon, labile carbon and its fractions and particulate organic carbon compared to conventional tillage. It was also observed that significant inter-correlations existed among the carbon pools studied which indicated a dynamic equilibrium with each other. Of all the treatment combinations studied, the practice of minimum tillage coupled with application of Gliricidia loppings @ 2t ha-1 and nitrogen applied @ 90 kg ha-1 (MTGLN90) was found to be the most promising in terms of maintaining significantly higher carbon stock in semi arid tropical Alfisols.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe present study was conducted in 2009–10 with the objective to monitor the effect of restorative soil management practices on biological soil quality. The experiment was initiated in 1995 in a strip–split–split plot design with three replications. Sorghum and castor were grown in two-year rotations. The procedure comprised of two tillage treatments: conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT; main plots), three residues treatments: sorghum stover (SS), Gliricidia loppings (GL), no residue (NR; sub-plots), and two nitrogen levels 0 (N0) and 90 kg ha–1 (N90) (sub–subplots). After 15th year of the experiment, activities of the soil enzymes, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), labile carbon (LC) and organic carbon (OC) were studied. Soil management treatments significantly influenced the soil enzyme activities. Enzyme activity was significantly correlated with MBC, LC and OC. The biological soil quality has been assessed in terms of GMeanBSQI (geometric mean of biological soil quality index). From the viewpoint of GMeanBSQI, the order of superiority of soil management treatments was: MT (0.82) > CT (0.69). The performance of the residues was in the order GL (0.87) > SS (0.75) > NR (0.65). Nitrogen @ 90 kg ha–1 (0.81) proved superior to no nitrogen (N0 – 0.70). Among all the treatment combinations, MTGLN90 was found to be the most superior management option for ensuring higher GMean in rainfed Alfisol soils. The present study indicates that crop residue management under minimum tillage is of great significance in improving the biological soil quality indicators and indices. The results obtained are significant in improving biological soil quality index and crop productivityNot Availabl

Poor zinc status in early infancy among both low and normal birth weight infants and their mothers in Delhi

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) infants are at high risk of zinc deficiency, but there is a paucity of data on their zinc status. Objective: To evaluate zinc status of LBW (BW < 2,500 g) and normal birth weight (NBW; BW ≥2,500 g) infants at birth and in early infancy. Methods: A total of 339 infants (LBW, n = 220; NBW, n = 119) were enrolled, and venous blood samples of mother-infant dyad were taken within 48 h of birth. Infants’ levels were repeated between 2 and 10 months of age. Serum zinc levels were estimated using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Primary outcome was zinc deficiency, defined as serum zinc < 65 µg/dl. Results: Zinc results were available for 182 LBW and 103 NBW infants at birth and for 100 LBW and 66 NBW infants at follow-up with a median postnatal age of 14 and 15.5 weeks, respectively. Median zinc levels were low and comparable at birth as well as at follow-up, with zinc deficiency being present in 51.0% of LBW and 42.4% of NBW infants at birth and in 79.0% of LBW and 66.7% of NBW infants at follow-up. Zinc levels decreased significantly in both groups from birth to follow-up, irrespective of zinc multivitamin supplementation. Zinc levels of infants with BW < 2,000 g at follow-up were significantly lower compared to infants with higher BW. Conclusion: Zinc status was poor in many infants at birth irrespective of BW. Zinc status worsened significantly during early infancy, with infants with BW < 2,000 g having the lowest zinc levels

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Not AvailableA long term experiment was conducted at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture for 14 years to evaluate the effect of low tillage and low cost conjunctive nutrient management practices in terms of productivity,sustainability, profitability and energy use efficiency in sorghum-mung bean system in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol. Results of the study revealed that of the tillage practices, conventional tillage (CT) recorded 11.0% higher yields (1534 kg/ha) over the low tillage (LT) (1382 kg/ha) practice. Among the conjunctive nutrient management treatments, the application of 2 t Gliricidia loppings + 20 kg N through urea to sorghum crop recorded significantly highest grain yield of 1712 kg/ha followed by application of 4 t compost + 20 kg N through urea (1650 kg/ha) as well as 40 kg N through urea (1594 kg/ha). As in case of sorghum, CT showed a significant influence on mung bean grain yield (888 kg/ha) which was 6.7% higher compared to LT (832 kg/ha). Application of 2 t compost + 10 kg N through urea and 2 t compost + 1 t Gliricidia loppings performed significantly well and recorded higher mungbean grain yields of 960 kg/ha. In case of mung bean, the long-term trends revealed that, the performance of minimum tillage on an average, was near to that of conventional tillage with slight fluctuation depending upon the rainfall distribution during the cropping season. In both the crops, conventional tillage recorded significantly higher net returns compared to low tillage. In case of Sorghum, net returns obtained were significantly higher with 4 t compost + 20 Kg N/ha through urea (T3) (Rs.` 30,262). The benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in sorghum crop was significantly higher (3.0) with application of 40 kg N through urea alone followed by 2 t Gliricidia loppings + 20 kg N through urea (2.77). Highest BCR (4.02) was observed with application of 2 t Gliricidia loppings + 20 kg N through urea under minimum tillage followed by recommended nitrogen dose of 40 kg/ha (through inorganic fertilizer) and application of 2 t compost + 10 kg N through urea (3.97) in mung bean. Low tillage recorded higher energy use efficiency (10.16, 5.05) compared to conventional tillage (7.21, 3.36) in case of Sorghum and mung bean, respectively.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThis experiment was conducted to study the long-term effect of soil management treatments on crop yields, sustainability yield indices (SYI) and soil fertility in rainfed semi-arid tropical Alfisol at Hayathnagar Research Farm, Hyderabad, India, during the period 1995 to 2009. The experiment was conducted in a split–split plot design with conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT) as main factors, surface application of sorghum stover @ 2 t ha−1 (SS), fresh Gliricidia loppings @ 2 t ha−1 (GL) and ‘no’ residue (NR) as sub-factors and levels of N viz. 0 (N0), 30 (N30), 60 (N60) and 90 (N90) kg N ha−1 as sub–sub factors in a castor–sorghum two-year rotation. On an average, CT maintained 30.4 and 57.0% higher grain yields of sorghum and castor, respectively, over MT. Between two residues, GL performed well in both the crops. The highest yields of sorghum (1425 kg ha−1) and castor (876 kg ha−1) were recorded at 90 kg N ha−1. CT maintained higher SYI of 0.44 compared to MT (0.38) and higher agronomic efficiency (AE) of 13.5 and 6.76 kg grain kg−1 N for sorghum and castor crop, respectively. Use of crop residue as mulch had an advantage in increasing the yield of both the crops with increase in rainfall under CT even without N application (control), probably by making the soil more receptive to water infiltration, better moisture storage and by reducing the evaporative losses. Using response functions, the optimum fertilizer N requirement was also computed for a given set of tillage and residue combinations. The revised optimum fertilizer N doses for sorghum and castor varied from 45 to 56 kg ha−1 and 46 to 74 kg ha−1, respectively, under different tillage and residue combinations and could be recommended depending upon the soil management practices.Not Availabl