Induction of systemic resistance against fusarial wilt in pigeon pea through interaction of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and rhizobia

A Bacillus cereus strain BS 03 and a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain RRLJ 04 were studied for their effect on induction of systemic resistance against Fusarium udum wilt in pigeon pea, both individually and in combination with a rhizobial strain RH 2. Split root experiments confirmed that plants with combination treatment of PGPR and Rhizobium can survive longer than individual treatments and control. An increased level of defense-related enzymes, viz., L-phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POX) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), were also recorded in co-inoculated plants. Production of �-1,3- glucanase and polymethyl galacturonase by the pathogen in culture medium was also sharply reduced in presence of both the PGPR strains. An increased level of phenol content with a decreased level of nitrogen content was recorded in the leaves of bacterized plants grown in pathogen infested soil. Presence of BS 03 in the culture medium stimulated the production of chlamydospore-like structures in the funga

Raman Signatures of Strong Kitaev Exchange Correlations in (Na1−x_{1-x}Lix_x)2_2IrO3_3 : Experiments and Theory

Inelastic light scattering studies on single crystals of (Na$_{1-x}$Li$_x$)$_2$IrO$_3$ ($x = 0, 0.05$ and $0.15$) show a polarization independent broad band at $\sim$~2750 cm$^{-1}$ with a large band-width $\sim 1800$~cm$^{-1}$. For Na$_2$IrO$_3$ the broad band is seen for temperatures $\leq 200$~K and persists inside the magnetically ordered state. For Li doped samples, the intensity of this mode increases, shifts to lower wave-numbers and persists to higher temperatures. Such a mode has recently been predicted (Knolle et.al.) as a signature of the Kitaev spin liquid. We assign the observation of the broad band to be a signature of strong Kitaev-exchange correlations. The fact that the broad band persists even inside the magnetically ordered state suggests that dynamically fluctuating moments survive even below $T_{N}$. This is further supported by our mean field calculations. The Raman response calculated in mean field theory shows that the broad band predicted for the spin liquid state survives in the magnetically ordered state near the zigzag-spin liquid phase boundary. A comparison with the theoretical model gives an estimate of the Kitaev exchange interaction parameter to be $J_K\approx 57$~meV.Comment: 14pages 4 figure

Full control of Co valence in isopolar LaCoO3 / LaTiO3 perovskite heterostructures via interfacial engineering

We report charge-transfer up to a single electron per interfacial unit cell across non-polar heterointerfaces from the Mott insulator LaTiO3 to the charge transfer insulator LaCoO3. In high-quality bi- and tri-layer systems grown using pulsed laser deposition, soft X-ray absorption, dichroism and STEM-EELS are used to probe the cobalt 3d-electron count and provide an element-specific investigation of the magnetic properties. The experiments prove a deterministically-tunable charge transfer process acting in the LaCoO3 within three unit cells of the heterointerface, able to generate full conversion to 3d7 divalent Co, which displays a paramagnetic ground state. The number of LaTiO3 / LaCoO3 interfaces, the thickness of an additional "break" layer between the LaTiO3 and LaCoO3, and the LaCoO3 film thickness itself in tri-layers provide a trio of sensitive control knobs for the charge transfer process, illustrating the efficacy of O2p-band alignment as a guiding principle for property design in complex oxide heterointerfaces

Not Available

Not AvailableThis study was carried out in farmers’ fields to quantify the total water and consumptive water use in grow-out culture of Penaeus monodon under recommended package of practice with two different water management protocols: T1, with no water exchange and T2, with regulated water exchange. Treatment-wise estimated total water use, was 2.09 and 2.43 ha-m 122/day, while the computed consumptive water use index (m3/kg biomass) was 5.35 and 6.02 in T1 and T2 respectively. Lower rates of water exchange (T2) showed significantly improved (P < 0.05) crop performance in terms of performance index (19.75 ± 0.75), production-size index (74.1 ± 3.4), survival rate (80.13 ± 1.7%) and productivity (2.44 ± 0.08 t) over the zero water exchange. The shrimp pond water quality suitability index (WQSI) infers that regulated water exchange (T2) improved the overall suitability of water quality for shrimp culture. WQSI up to 90 days of culture ranged between 7.5–9.0 in T2, needs little management while in the last month of rearing, it was good with moderate management requirements. Treatment-wise sediment load ranged between 50.4–56.3 m3/t shrimp biomass. High intensity of water exchange and low apparent feed conversion ratio influenced in lowering the sedimentation rate. Regulated water exchange protocol (T2) performed well (higher net total water productivity and net consumptive water productivity) against no water exchange (T1). A higher OV:CC ratio (ratio of the output value to the cost of cultivation) indicated that T2 had a distinct edge over the T1 protocol.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableThis study was designed to quantify the total water requirement and consumptive water use in carpprawn polyculture system under different water management protocols, using water balance model. Under different water management protocols, treatment-wise estimated total water use, TWU (9104, m3) was 3.7, 4.6 and 3.9, while the computed consumptive water use index, CWUI (m3/kg biomass) was 6.62, 9.31 and 7.08, in T1 (no water exchange), T2 (periodic water exchange) and T3 (regulated water exchange) respectively. Significantly higher yield (P < 0.05) in both T2 and T3 over T1, was probably due to water exchange that improved the rearing environment. Although intensity of water exchange was more in T2, significant variation (P < 0.05) in overall growth and yield was not recorded between T2 and T3. Treatmentwise sediment load ranged between 54.6 and 71.3 m3/t biomasses. Higher sediment load was recorded at lower intensity of water exchange as well as with higher apparent feed conversion ratio. Higher net total water productivity, net consumptive water productivity and OV-CC ratio in T3 infers that regulated water exchange has a distinct edge over the no water exchange protocol. Restricted water use instead of regular/excess water exchange not only improves the production performance and water productivity, but also helps in lessening the operational pumping cost.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableInvestigating the response of groundwater levels to the extreme weather events provides essential information for sustainable planning and management of water resources. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the groundwater level trend of the state Orissa (India) to understand the forcing mechanism of droughts in conjunction with the anthropogenic pressure using the non-parametric Mann–Kendall statistical procedure. The pre- and post-monsoon groundwater level records of 1002 monitoring stations during the period 1994–2003 were analyzed. The results show that the drawdowns due to deficient rainfall during dry years, high temperatures, and anthropogenic pressure have not been recovered through the recharge in wet years. However, this study does not determine whether drought, high temperatures or anthropogenic effects have had largest influence on the groundwater levels decline. The cases of significant water table declines are higher in number than those expected to occur by chance. In the pre-monsoon season, 59% of the monitoring stations experienced groundwater declines as against 51% in the post-monsoon season for the study area as a whole. This could be interpreted that the fluctuation is not a part of noise, but that a signal is being identified. Further, the trend result showed wide spatial and seasonal differences. Irrespective of seasons, the consolidated rock formation that covers 80% of the geographical area experienced significant water table decline. However, the semi-consolidated and unconsolidated formations experienced water table decline in the pre-monsoon (summer) season only. The vulnerable sites where the groundwater-level declined significantly were identified so that recharge measures could be taken up.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableThis study provides the comprehensive analysis of changes in mean and extreme temperature indices of India to assist the climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and to add information for the global comparisons, using a high-resolution daily gridded temperature data set (1◦ ×1◦) during 1971–2005. In addition to the indices recommended by the World Meteorological Organization/CLIVAR Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, few more indices having social and agricultural implication are investigated at the seasonal and annual scales, utilizing widely adopted statistical methodologies in climate research. The results show, in general, a robust signal of warming, broadly consistent with what has been observed and predicted in other parts of the world in the context of global warming. The frequency and intensity of warm extremes, especially representing the daily minimum temperature, have increased with simultaneous decreases in cold extremes in large parts of the country, but the spatial distribution of the trend magnitude reflects the complex natural climatic settings of India and its possible interaction with the anthropogenic forcing. Seasonal analysis reveals a faster warming in day and night temperatures in winter affecting the major wheat crop. In summer, however, both human and ecosystems appear to be more vulnerable to the increasing tendency of the heatwave occurrences, particularly during night-time, since the 1990s. The relationship with the large-scale natural climatic modes indicates that the warming indices tend to increase in the year following the El Ni˜no events as evident from the correlation with the NINO3.4 index, with a relatively higher association in the monsoon season. Moreover, the concurrent correspondence of the summer heatwaves with the north Indian Ocean sea surface temperature suggests a degree of predictability of the heat stress episode.Not Availabl

Controlling phase separation in La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 (y=0.45) epitaxial thin films by strain disorder

Present study reveals that the length-scale of phase separation in La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 thin films can be controlled by strain disorder invoked during the growth and relaxation process of film. Strain disorder provides an additional degree of freedom to tune colossal magnetoresistance. Magneto-transport measurements following cooling and heating in unequal fields protocol demonstrate that coherent strain stabilizes antiferromagnetic insulating phase, while strain disorder favors ferromagnetic metallic phase. Compared to bulk, antiferromagnetic-insulating phase freezes at lower temperatures in strain disordered films. Raman spectroscopy confirms the coexistence of charge-ordered-insulating and ferromagnetic-metallic phases which are structurally dissimilar and possess P2(1)/m and R-3C like symmetries, respectively. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

A statistical significance of differences in classification accuracy of crop types using different classification algorithms

Crop classification is needed to understand the physiological and climatic requirement of different crops. Kernel-based support vector machines, maximum likelihood and normalised difference vegetation index classification schemes are attempted to evaluate their performances towards crop classification. The linear imaging self-scanning (LISS-IV) multi-spectral sensor data was evaluated for the classification of crop types such as barley, wheat, lentil, mustard, pigeon pea, linseed, corn, pea, sugarcane and other crops and non-crop such as water, sand, built up, fallow land, sparse vegetation and dense vegetation. To determine the spectral separability among crop types, the M-statistic and Jeffries–Matusita (J–M) distance methods have been utilised. The results were statistically analysed and compared using Z-test and χ2-test. Statistical analysis showed that the accuracy results using SVMs with polynomial of degrees 5 and 6 were not significantly different and found better than the other classification algorithms