Smart Nutrition Management of Rice Crop under Climate Change Environment

Soil fertility and plant nutrition remained main pillars of agricultural sciences in twentieth century. However, due to recent interest in achievement of sustainability and restricted natural resources, importance of soil fertility and plant nutrition is expected to be increased many folds in twenty-first century. Therefore, increasing rice crop yield under such scenario will require judicious and efficient use of mineral sources of nutrient with combination of natural resources, recycling of bioavailable nutrients, and genetic modification of crops for efficient nutrient utilization. There is an increasing pressure on agricultural land to produce sufficient amount of food needed to feed the growing global population. The pressure is associated with changing weather patterns related to fluctuations in rainfall and temperature, supply of fertilizers inflating price associated with energy demand, which is very closely linked with weather patterns and reducing soil fertility. Increasing rice yield under these constraints will require a rational use of chemical fertilizers with increase the use of natural resources of nutrition, recycling of plant available nutrients, and an exploitation of the genetic potential of crop species to make efficient use of nutrients a key feature to establish smart plant nutrition management in the recent global climate change scenario

Correlation and path analysis for yield and yield components in sunflower (Helianthus annus. L)

Ten (10) sunflower genotypes were evaluated in a triplicated randomized complete blocked design in field for plant height, stem diameter at base, internodal length, head diameter, number of whorls head-1, achene weight head-1, 100-achene weight, achene oil and protein content. Association among various plant traits and direct and indirect effects of various traits on achene weight head-1 were estimated. Correlations of head diameter, 100-achene weight, stem diameter at base, internodal length and oil contents were positive and significant with achene weight head-1. Path analysis showed that direct effects of plant height, head diameter, 100-achene weight and oil contents were positive while direct effects of stem diameter at base, internodal length, number of fertile whorls head-1 and protein contents were negative on achene weight head-1. This shows that selection based on head diameter, 100-achene weight, plant height, internodal length and stem diameter at base will be more effective in improving yield.Keywords: Sunflower, correlation coefficient, path coefficient, yield componentsAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(16), pp. 1968-197

Effects of Fertilizers on Copper and Nickel Accumulation and Human Health Risk Assessment of Vegetables and Food Crops

Despite the fact that fertilizers have been used for millennia for sustainable crop production, this high and considerable dependence on fertilizers heightens environmental concerns with the indirect human exposure due to accumulation of toxins in food chain via soil contamination. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the application of fertilizers to the soil and their effect on the accumulation of copper and nickel in spinach (Spinacia oleracea), garlic (Allium sativum), wheat (Triticum aestivum), maize (Zea mays), and barley (Hordeum vulgare); as well as potential health concerns associated with consuming vegetables cultivated on this contaminated land. Samples of available soil, food crops, and human blood were collected from three different Tehsils: Bhalwal, Sahiwal, and Silanwali and were regarded as site 1, site 2 and site 3 respectively. Urea, farmyard manure, and potassium chloride were delivered to Site 1; urea phosphate, manure, and ammonium sulphate were delivered to Site 2; and superphosphate, ammonium phosphate, and nitrate phosphate were delivered to Site 3. Data was subjected to statistical analysis for computing out ANOVA and correlation. Analysis revealed that minimum copper concentration was found in the soil of T. aestivum grown at Site-1 while the inhabitants of Site 3 had the highest concentration of Cu in their blood. The highest level of HIR was found in the human beings that ate the S. oleracea grown at Site 3. It is strongly advised that fertilizers be used sparingly, as their excessive use can cause human health risks

Mechanistic Insight of Water Stress Induced Aggregation in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Quality: The Protein Paradigm Shift

Vertical and horizontal expansion of agriculture to provide food, feed, fibre and fuel to escalating populations has affected the availability of wheat in terms of quantity and quality. Irrigation is the most important factor influencing yield and grain quality. To achieve sustainable and quality wheat production, strategic measures should be adopted. Seven water stress-tolerant wheat varieties/strains were crossed with drought-susceptible lines using a line � tester design to evaluate the effect of water stress on genetic variability and heritability of wheat grains. As might be expected, plant traits like moisture, ash, fat, protein and gluten content showed different responses under normal, irrigated and water-stress environments. In particular, the quality of wheat grains was found to be highly significant, indicating the presence of high variability in plant attributes like moisture percentage, ash content, crude fat, crude protein percentage and gluten content under both normal irrigation and water stress conditions. Water stress played a key role in reducing the moisture and fat content, whereas correspondingly, it increased protein, ash and gluten contents. The paradigm shifts in the deleterious effects of water stress have been elucidated. The broad-sense heritability estimate was significant for each of these characters under both conditions, with water stress in some measurements altering the heritabilities of all quality characters

Screening of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) germplasm against drought and heat stress

Drought and heat stress are major indicators of global climate change and yield-limiting factors in wheat. Moreover, simultaneous occurrence of both factors could increase the injuries and greater yield losses in wheat species. In this scenario, there is need to screen germplasm and develop breeding lines which may show better resistance under the targeted condition. A germplasm comprising of 17 advanced lines, 4 elite checks and 79 accessions was compared to determine their resistance under controlled osmotic (− 0.9 MPa) and heat stress (40 °C) on the basis of various seedling traits. Heat and drought resistance index showed significant positive relationship with root mass showing the importance of this trait for selection under stress condition. Germplasm accession such as NARC-11022 possessed the highest drought and heat resistance index while standard check such as FSD-08 had the highest drought resistance index. These accessions may be exploited in breeding cultivars for multiple stress condition. Some advanced lines such as SU-100, SU-159 showed promising results under both types of stress, and these lines may be recommended for stress-prone environment

Estimation of Heterosis, Heterobeltiosis and Potence Ratio Over Environments Among Pre and Post Green Revolution Spring wheat in Pakistan

Globally wheat trade has a major and impacting role in political and economic relationships between nations. Twelve pre-green revolution and post green revolution wheat genotypes viz., Sehr-06, Pasban-90, C-273, Pari-73, SA-42, Fsd-08, Chenab-70, Blue Silver, Lasani-08, Pak-81, Uqab-2000, and Pothowar-73 and their direct and reciprocal crosses were evaluated. The study concluded significant differences and highest values in heterosis, heterobeltiosis and potence ratio were found among genotypes and their cross combinations for pollen viability (Sehr-06 × Blue Silver), flag leaf area (SA-42 × Fsd-08), number of grains per spike (Pak-81× Lasani-08) and grain yield plant-1 (Chenab-70 × Fsd-08). Under changing climatic condition and limited water provision an amalgamation of pre-green revolution and post green revolution may provide a genetic diversity to break the stagnant yield barrier to ensure food security

Bioaccumulation of Zinc and Copper in Tissues of Chicken Fed Corn Grain Irrigated with Different Water Regimes

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Assessment of Trace Metal and Metalloid Accumulation and Human Health Risk from Vegetables Consumption through Spinach and Coriander Specimens Irrigated with Wastewater

This study focused on evaluating the metal and metalloid contamination and associated risks in the two vegetables crops, coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea) treated with three water regimes, canal water, groundwater and municipal wastewater. These vegetables are widely consumed by people and are also used in traditional medicine for treating various disorders. Metal and metalloid accumulation (Zn, Pb, Se, Cu, As, Mo, Fe, Ni) was found higher in vegetables treated with wastewater. Wastewater treated soil had high pollution load index. Fe, Zn, As and Pb had higher values in water, soil and vegetables as compared to other studied metals. Overall, metal correlation for soil and vegetables was significant and positive except for Fe and Cu in spinach. The highest value for daily metal intake was estimated for Fe while Se had the lowest value for the same index. It was thus concluded that trace metal and metalloid accumulation was a major health concern for the public consuming these vegetables

CaWRKY30 positively regulates pepper immunity by targeting CaWRKY40 against Ralstonia solanacearum inoculation through modulating defense-related genes

The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) network is composed of WRKY TFs’ subset, which performs a critical role in immunity regulation of plants. However, functions of WRKY TFs’ network remain unclear, particularly in non-model plants such as pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). This study functionally characterized CaWRKY30—a member of group III Pepper WRKY protein—for immunity of pepper against Ralstonia solanacearum infection. The CaWRKY30 was detected in nucleus, and its transcriptional expression levels were significantly upregulated by R. solanacearum inoculation (RSI), and foliar application ethylene (ET), abscisic acid (ABA), and salicylic acid (SA). Virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) of CaWRKY30 amplified pepper’s vulnerability to RSI. Additionally, the silencing of CaWRKY30 by VIGS compromised HR-like cell death triggered by RSI and downregulated defense-associated marker genes, like CaPR1, CaNPR1, CaDEF1, CaABR1, CaHIR1, and CaWRKY40. Conversely, transient over-expression of CaWRKY30 in pepper leaves instigated HR-like cell death and upregulated defense-related maker genes. Furthermore, transient over-expression of CaWRKY30 upregulated transcriptional levels of CaWRKY6, CaWRKY22, CaWRKY27, and CaWRKY40. On the other hand, transient over-expression of CaWRKY6, CaWRKY22, CaWRKY27, and CaWRKY40 upregulated transcriptional expression levels of CaWRKY30. The results recommend that newly characterized CaWRKY30 positively regulates pepper’s immunity against Ralstonia attack, which is governed by synergistically mediated signaling by phytohormones like ET, ABA, and SA, and transcriptionally assimilating into WRKY TFs networks, consisting of CaWRKY6, CaWRKY22, CaWRKY27, and CaWRKY40. Collectively, our data will facilitate to explicate the underlying mechanism of crosstalk between pepper’s immunity and response to RSI

Evaluation of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn Concentrations in Water, Soil, and Fruit Samples in Sargodha District, Pakistan

This study aimed to assess the concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) in the edible parts of grapefruit and kinnow fruit irrigated with sewage water (SW), tube-well water (TW), and canal water (CW). Preparation of the samples used in the study for metal analysis was carried out via the wet acid digestion method. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) was used for metal determination. According to the results, Cu concentration ranged from 0.152 to 0.754 mg/L in water, 5.254 to 41.659 mg/kg in soil, and 0.128 to 0.864 mg/kg in fruit samples. Zn concentration varied from 0.574 to 2.723 mg/L in water, 17.812 to 112.954 mg/kg in soil, and 2.658 to 42.642 mg/kg in fruit samples. Fe concentration ranged from 0.254 to 1.245 mg/L in water, 10.635 to 48.638 mg/kg in soil, and 1.062 to 7.584 mg/kg in fruit samples. Mn concentration ranged from 0.154 to 0.638 mg/L in water, 51.283 to 183.865 mg/kg in soil, and 0.136 to 1.464 mg/kg in fruit samples. The Pollution Load Index (PLI) indicated that Cu and Mn exceeded a PLI value of one, and Zn had a PLI > 1 only in sewage water-irrigated sites. Bioconcentration Factor (BCF), Enrichment Factor (EF), Daily Intake of Metal (DIM), and Health Risk Index (HRI) values for all metals were within permissible limits, indicating no immediate health risks associated with consuming these fruits