Effect of NaCl on physiological, biochemical, and ionic parameters of naked oat (Avena nuda L.) line Bayou1

Oat (Avena nuda L.) is a globally important cereal crop grown for its nutritious grains and is considered as moderately salt-tolerant. Studying salinity tolerant mechanisms of oats could assist breeders in increasing oat production and their economic income in salt-affected areas, as the total amount of saline land in the world is still increasing. The present study was carried out to better understand the salt tolerance mechanism of the naked oat line Bayou1. A soil experiment was conducted on 17 days-old Bayou1 seedlings treated with varying concentrations of NaCl for a period of 12 days. Bayou1 plants grew optimally when treated with 50 mM NaCl, demonstrating their salinity tolerance. Reduced water uptake, decreased Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, and guaiacol peroxidase activity, as well as increased Na+ concentration in leaves, all contributed to a reduction in shoot growth. However, the damage to ionic homeostasis caused by increased Na+ concentrations and decreased K+ concentrations in the roots of Bayou1 did not inhibit its root growth, indicating that the main salt-tolerant mechanism in Bayou1 existed in its roots. Further, a hydroponic experiment found that increasing Na+ concentration in root cell sap enhanced root growth, while maintaining the integrity of root cell membranes. The accumulated Na+ may have facilitated the root growth of Bayou1 exposed to NaCl by effectively adjusting cellular osmotic potential, thereby ensuring root cell turgor and expansion

Modern Biotechnologies: Innovative and Sustainable Approaches for the Improvement of Sugarcane Tolerance to Environmental Stresses

[EN] Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is one of the most important industrial cash crops, contributing to the world sugar industry and biofuel production. It has been cultivated and improved from prehistoric times through natural selection and conventional breeding and, more recently, using the modern tools of genetic engineering and biotechnology. However, the heterogenicity, complex polyaneuploid genome and susceptibility of sugarcane to different biotic and abiotic stresses represent impediments that require us to pay greater attention to the improvement of the sugarcane crop. Compared to traditional breeding, recent advances in breeding technologies (molecular marker-assisted breeding, sugarcane transformation, genome-editing and multiple omics technologies) can potentially improve sugarcane, especially against environmental stressors. This article will focus on efficient modern breeding technologies, which provide crucial clues for the engineering of sugarcane cultivars resistant to environmental stressesThis research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation, PR China (grant numbers: KF2015080, KF2015118, KFA17263A, KJG16005R).Shabbir, R.; Javed, T.; Afzal, I.; El Sabagh, A.; Ali, A.; Vicente, O.; Chen, P. (2021). Modern Biotechnologies: Innovative and Sustainable Approaches for the Improvement of Sugarcane Tolerance to Environmental Stresses. Agronomy. 11(6):1-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061042S12011

Evaluation of turmeric-mung bean intercrop productivity through competition functions

An intercropping experiment was conducted with varying combinations of turmeric and mung bean to find out the efficacy of productivity and economic return through competition functions. Treatments were evaluated on the basis of several competition functions, such as land equivalent ratio (LER), aggressiveness, competitive ratio (CR), monetary advantage index (MAI) and system productivity index (SPI). Results showed that rhizome yields of turmeric were higher in intercropping system than in mono crop. It indicated that intercropping of mung bean did not affect the rhizome yield of turmeric. However, turmeric (100 %) + 3 row mung bean (100 %) in between turmeric lines intercropping system exhibited maximum yield of both the crops as well as turmeric equivalent yield, LER, competitive indices values, SPI and MAI (Tk. 2,44,734.46 ha-1) compared to the other intercropping combinations and the mono crops. Aggressiveness of intercrop indicated dominance of turmeric over mung bean in all the combinations except turmeric (100 %) + 1 row mung bean (33 %). Competition functions of intercroping suggested beneficial association of turmeric and mung bean crops. The study revealed that mung bean could be introduced as intercrop with turmeric without hampering rhizome yield with higher benefit additionally increasing mung bean production area. © 2018 University of Ljubljana. All rights reserved

Improvement of production and net economic return through intercropping of upland cotton with mungbean

Bangladesh has a glorious historic record in growing superfine quality cotton. The performance of mungbean inter-cropped in upland cotton cultivars was evaluated in the field of Cotton Research, Training and Seed Multiplication Farm, Sadarpur, Dinajpur 2011-2012 to find out the ways of improvement of production and net economic return through intercropping of upland cotton with mungbean. The treatments were; T1– Cotton cv Rupali 1/Mungbean cv BARI Mung-6, T2 -Cotton cv DM 1/Mungbean cv BARI Mung-6, T3 -Cotton cv CB 12/Mungbean cv BARI Mung-6, T4– Cotton cv CB 10-Mungbean cv BARI Mung-6, T5 -Cotton cv Rupali 1 (Sole), T6 -DM 1 (Sole), T7 -CB 12 (Sole), T8 -CB 10 (Sole) and T9 -Sole mungbean. The seed cotton yields did not respond significantly among the treatments of cotton-mungbean intercropping systems and sole cotton as well. The highest grain yield of mungbean (702 kg ha-1) was obtained from the sole mungbean than the other treatments because of the highest mungbean plant density. Mungbean intercropping with cotton produced the highest seed cotton equivalent yield, gross margin and gross return for local varieties as well as hybrid lines. The lowest gross return, gross margin and Benefit cost ratio (BCR) were obtained from the treatment of sole mungbean. Mungbean based intercropping in cotton would be ideal for increasing productivity and profitable benefit returns per unit land area, which ultimately encourage farmers for sustainable cotton cultivation in Bangladesh

Changing Climate and Advances on Weeds Utilization as Forage: Provisions, Nutritional Quality and Implications

Under changing climate, growth and prevalence of many invasive and indigenous weeds are expected to boost up owing to their greater genetic diversity, competitive superiority and better plant architecture. Atmospheric CO2 enrichment and elevating global temperature are causing weeds invasion to new localities making prevalent weed management strategies ineffective. Weed utilization as forage for ruminants provided that their nutritional profile is available and can be a biologically feasible and economically viable approach compared to existing management system of eliminating them from agro-ecological systems. Different weeds like Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), canary grass (Phalaris minor), nut sedge (Cyperus rotundus), yellow duck (Rumex crispus), drooping brome (Bromus tectorum), burr clover (Medicago polymorpha), button weed (Diodia scandens), and purslane (Portulaca oleracea) had acceptable nutritional profile with organic matter (89.0–91.3%), protein (7.1–19.5%) and fats (2.1–3.7%). Those were also rich in micro-nutrients (calcium, magnesium and zinc), while anti-nutritional factors (saponins, tannins, phytates and oxalates) were in safer limits for dairy animals. Lack of nutritional profiling and presence of anti-nutritional factors decreased feed intake and led to malnutrition, while higher concentration of tannins caused digestibility depression in small ruminants. There is need to conduct further studies for nutritional profiling of local weed species and development of techniques for reducing their anti-nutritional factors

Foliar application of putrescine alleviates terminal drought stress by modulating water status, membrane stability, and yield- related traits in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Drought stress is one of the major limitations to the growth and yield productivity of cereal crops. It severely impairs the early growing and grain -filling stages of wheat. Therefore, cost- effective and eco-friendly approaches for alleviating drought stress in cereal crops are in high demand. Polyamines, such as putrescine, have a significant effect on improving crop yield under drought- stress conditions. Therefore, the current study was executed with the aim of exploring the significance of putrescine in alleviating drought stress and improving yield- related traits in wheat. Two distinct wheat cultivars (Fakhar-e-Bhakkar and Anaj-2017) were treated with the foliar application of different concentrations (control, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 PPM) of putrescine (put) under two moisture conditions (well- watered and terminal drought stress). The results demonstrate that the imposition of terminal drought stress significantly reduces different physiological and yield- related traits of both wheat cultivars. The reduction of relative water content (RWC%), membrane stability index (MSI), leaf area, tillers per plant, biomass yield, number of spikelets per spike, 100-grain weight, grain yield per plant, and straw yield was greater in Anaj-2017 than in Fakhar-e-Bhakkar cultivar. The results further explain that the foliar application of increased concentrations of putrescine from 0.0 to 1.0 PPM gradually improved physiological and yield traits, whereas these traits declined with the application of putrescine at the highest dose (1.5 PPM). The exogenous application of 1.0 PPM putrescine improved the relative water content (19.76%), specific leaf area (41.47%), and leaf area ratio (35.84%) compared with the controlled treatment. A higher grain yield (28.0 g plant-1) and 100-grain weight (3.8 g) were obtained with the foliar application of 1.0 PPM putrescine compared with controlled treatments. The findings of this study confirm the protective role of putrescine against terminal drought stress. It is therefore recommended to use putrescine at a concentration of 1.0 PPM, which could help alleviate terminal drought stress and attain better wheat yield

Modelling of land use and land cover changes and prediction using CA-Markov and Random Forest

We used the Cellular Automata Markov (CA-Markov) integrated technique to study land use and land cover (LULC) changes in the Cholistan and Thal deserts in Punjab, Pakistan. We plotted the distribution of the LULC throughout the desert terrain for the years 1990, 2006 and 2022. The Random Forest methodology was utilized to classify the data obtained from Landsat 5 (TM), Landsat 7 (ETM+) and Landsat 8 (OLI/TIRS), as well as ancillary data. The LULC maps generated using this method have an overall accuracy of more than 87%. CA-Markov was utilized to forecast changes in land usage in 2022, and changes were projected for 2038 by extending the patterns seen in 2022. A CA-Markov-Chain was developed for simulating long-term landscape changes at 16-year time steps from 2022 to 2038. Analysis of urban sprawl was carried out by using the Random Forest (RF). Through the CA-Markov Chain analysis, we can expect that high density and low-density residential areas will grow from 8.12 to 12.26 km2 and from 18.10 to 28.45 km2 in 2022 and 2038, as inferred from the changes occurred from 1990 to 2022. The LULC projected for 2038 showed that there would be increased urbanization of the terrain, with probable development in the croplands westward and northward, as well as growth in residential centers. The findings can potentially assist management operations geared towards the conservation of wildlife and the eco-system in the region. This study can also be a reference for other studies that try to project changes in arid are as undergoing land-use changes comparable to those in this study

Response of Growth and Yield Attributes of Aromatic Rice to Cowdung and Zinc Fertilization

A field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Research Field, Department of the Agronomy, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh during Aman season (June to December) 2016 to evaluate the growth, yield and yield attributes of aromatic rice (cv. Tulshimala) under the fertilization of cowdung (organic manure) and zinc (micronutrient). The application of different levels of cowdung and zinc fertilizers considerably increased the number of total tillers hill-1, number of productive tillers hill-1, panicle length, test weight (g), grain yield hill-1 (g), straw yield hill-1 (g), grain yield (t ha-1), straw yield (t ha-1), and biological yields over control. However, the treatment combination of CD1Zn2 i.e. 10 t ha-1 cowdung and 12 kg ha-1ZnSO4 along with other recommended doses of inorganic fertilizers produced the highest grain yield (2.79 t ha-1) and straw yield (5.80 t ha-1) over other treatments

Effect of slow-release nitrogenous fertilizers on dry matter accumulation, grain nutritional quality, water productivity and wheat yield under an arid environment

Slow release nitrogenous fertilizers can improve crops production and reduce the environmental challenges in agro-ecosystem. There is a need to test the efficiency and performance under arid climatic conditions. The study investigates the effect of slow-release fertilizers (urea, neem coated urea (NCU), sulfur coated urea (SCU) and bioactive sulfur coated urea (BSCU)) on the growth, productivity and grain nutritional qualities of wheat crop. Slow-release fertilizers (SRF) with nitrogen levels (130,117,104 and 94 kg ha−1) were applied with equal splits at sowing, 20 and 60 days after sowing (DAS). Research showed that the BSCU with 130 kg ha−1 increased dry matter accumulation (1989 kg ha−1) after anthesis and grain yield 4463 kg ha−1. The higher plant height (102 cm) was attained by 130 kg N ha−1 SCU while the minimum (77.67 cm) recorded for 94 kg N ha−1 as urea source. Maximum grain NPK concentrations (3.54, 0.66 and 1.07%) were recorded by BSCU 130 kg N ha−1 application. While, the minimum NPK (0.77, 0.19 and 0.35%) were observed by Urea 94 kg N ha−1. The high irrigation water use efficiency (WUE) recorded (20.92 kg ha−1 mm−1) and a crop index of 25.52% by BSCU 130 kg N ha−1 application. Research findings show that generally all SRF but particularly BSCU proved effective and can be recommended for wheat crop under arid environmen