The economic sustainability of second crops implementation in organic maize production

Although organic crop production has numerous advantages, concerns about economic sustainability, both environmental and financial, make farmers reluctant to convert their conventional production into the organic production. Certain agricultural methods, such as second crop use, can alleviate some problems regarding soil tilth, erosion prevention, nutrients availability and weed control, thus contributing toward more sustainable crop production. Also, the added value crop growth, such as maize (Zea mais L.) hybrid's parental line production, with lower yields but higher prices, can contribute to sustainability of organic production. In order to test the hypothesis that the use of second crops can contribute toward the sustainability of organically grown maize after soybean (Glycine max L.) as a previous crop in the crop rotation, the experimental site was established in Valpovo, Croatia, in the eutric brown soil type, during the years 2005 and 2006. The experimental design was set up as a CRBD in four repetitions, with six second crop treatments: CT – Control, without second crop; WW – winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) second crop; RY – rye (Secale cereale L.) second crop; FP – fodder pea (Pisum arvense L.) second crop; WP – mixture of WW and FP; and RP – mixture of RY and FP. In order to assess the soil surface protection and evaluate the weed suppression, the second crop coverage had been recorded. Regarding the economic sustainability, the second crop use depending costs were analysed in relation to the extra produced maize yield. The RY treatment had the highest profitability, followed by WW, RP and O. The WP and FP revealed lower relative profitability than O, thus presenting the evidence of sustainability risk of these treatments

Comparison of two soil tillage treatments for winter barley-soybean growing based only on residual nitrogen after soybean

The winter barley crop growing has not been adequately researched regarding soil tillage systems, especially in crop rotation with the soybean, both crops gaining importance as food or fodder. Also, productivity of such crop rotation in low nitrogen environment is especially interesting for organic crop growing, where mineral nitrogen fertilization is not allowed. The research on two soil tillage systems, the conventional one, based on mouldboard ploughing (PLOW) and reduced soil tillage, based on discharrowing (DISC), with no other nitrogen source except symbiotic soybean bacterial fixation, was conducted at the experimental site Bokšić (Croatia), during the seasons 2004/05 and 2005/06. Results showed low but stable yields of winter barley, between 2.1 and 2.6 t ha-1, where PLOW treatment recorded lower yield than DISC in 2005, and usual soybean yields (between 2.8 and 3.4 t ha-1), with higher soybean grain yields for PLOW only in 2006. The absolute mass and hectolitre mass did not show any statistical differences among treatments either

Effects of the second crop on maize yield and yield components in organic agriculture

The second crop use in organic agriculture is a known method of maintaining the soil tilth, soil protection against environmental deterioration, soil nutrients conservation and even the weed control. The nitrogen conservation from previous leguminose crop is even more important, especially in the organic agriculture where use of N-fertilizers is the strictly forbiden, and second crops can be used as a catch crops for nutrients in rotation prior to the crops with the high N requirement. The choice of the proper second crop has, however, been insufficiently investigated, especially for agri-environmental conditions of the Panonian agricultural area in Croatia. The second crop experiment was established in Valpovo, Croatia, in the eutric brown soil type, during the years 2005 and 2006. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effects of different second crops and their combinations on maize (Zea mais L.) yield and yield components in organic agriculture after soybean (Glycine max L.) in crop rotation. The experimental design was set up as a CRBD in four repetitions, with soybean as a previous crop in crop rotation. The six second crop treatments were: O – Control, without second crop; WW – winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) second crop; RY – rye (Secale cereale L.) second crop; FP – fodder pea (Pisum arvense L.) second crop; WP – mixture of the WW and FP; and RP – mixture of RY and FP. The WW treatment had the highest second crop dry mass, whereas FP had the lowest dry mass. The highest plant density was recorded for FP, and it was higher than the RP plant density, which also had the lowest plant height. The achieved maize yields were the highest for RY, but they were not significanlty different from the O, RP, and WW treatments. However, the yield achieved by RY treatment was significantly higher than the yields recorded for WP and FP treatments. The absolute mass and hectolitre mass did not show any statistical differences among treatments

Evaluation of Nutritional, Phytochemical, and Mineral Composition of Selected Medicinal Plants for Therapeutic Uses from Cold Desert of Western Himalaya

The aim of this study was to determine the elemental and nutritive values of leaf parts of 10 selected wild medicinal plants, Acer pictum, Acer caecium, Betula utilis, Oxalis corniculata, Euphorbia pilosa, Heracleum lanatum, Urtica dioica, Berberis lycium, Berberis asiaticaand, and Quercus ilex, collected from the high hills of the Chitkul range in district Kinnaur, Western Himalaya. The nutritional characteristics of medicinal plant species were analyzed by using muffle furnace and micro-Kjeldahl methods, and the mineral content in plants was analyzed through atomic absorption spectrometry. The highest percentage of used value was reported in Betula utilis (0.42) and the lowest in Quercus ilex (0.17). In this study, it was found that new generations are not much interested in traditional knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants due to modernization in society. Therefore, there is an urgent need to document ethnomedicinal plants along with their phytochemical and minerals analysis in study sites. It was found that rural people in western Himalaya are dependent on wild medicinal plants, and certain steps must be taken to conserve these plants from extinction in the cold desert of Himalayan region. They are an alternative source of medicine because they contain saponin, alkaloid, and flavonoid etc. as well as minerals. The leaves used for analysis possesses good mineral content, such as Na, N, K, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Ca, Mg, and S. Hence, in the current study it was observed that medicinal plants are not only used for therapeutic purposes, but they can also be used as nutritional supplements

Ethnomedicinal Plants Used in the Health Care System: Survey of the Mid Hills of Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, India

The study was performed in the mid hills of the Dharampur region in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. At the study site, a total of 115 medicinal plants were documented (38 trees, 37 herbs, 34 shrubs, 5 climbers, 1 fern, and 1 grass). In the study region, extensive field surveys were performed between March 2020 and August 2021. Indigenous knowledge of wild medicinal plants was collected through questionnaires, discussions, and personal interviews during field trips. Plants with their correct nomenclature were arranged by botanical name, family, common name, habitat, parts used, routes used, and diseases treated. In the present study, the predominant family was Rosaceae, which represented the maximum number of plant species, 10, followed by Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, which represented 8 plant species. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region in the Solan district have been using local plants for primary health care and the treatment of various diseases for a longer time. However, information related to the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants was not documented. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region reported that the new generation is not so interested in traditional knowledge of medicinal plants due to modernization in society, so there is an urgent need to document ethnomedicinal plants before such knowledge becomes inaccessible and extinct

Therapeutic Uses of Wild Plants by Rural Inhabitants of Maraog Region in District Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

The main aim of this study is to document important ethnomedicinal plants from the Maraog region, located in the district of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, India. A total of 110 medicinal plant species belonging to 102 genera and 57 families were reported from the study site. All of the species were collected from wild habitats. The rural people of the Maraog region were surveyed through interview methods, group discussions, and participatory observations. In the current study, data were collected from 88 informants through the snowball method. A total of 110 plant species were collected from the study area, including 64 herbs, 24 shrubs, 9 trees, 5 climbers, 3 grasses, and 5 ferns. Most of the plant species, reported from the study area, belong to the Rosaceae and Asteraceae families, each contributing 12 plant species, followed by the Lamiaceae family with 6 plant species. The most used part of the plant in the preparation of herbal medications is the leaves, which have been reported in 62 plants, followed by roots in 14 plants, and flowers and other aerial parts in 9 plants. The ethnomedicinal data were analyzed using “Use Value,” a statistical quantitative method, with Artemisia vestita having the highest use value (1.00), followed by Cannabis sativa (0.79), Rhododendron arboreum (0.79), and Datura stramonium (0.71). Older people were found to have a vast knowledge of wild medicinal plants, while the younger generation’s knowledge was lacking. As a result, traditional knowledge about the use of plants as a source of medicine has decreased day-by-day.Therefore, there is a need to document traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. The data could serve as a basis for research by pharmacological and nutraceutical industries for the development of novel drugs

Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial activity studies of new 2‑pyrral‑L‑amino acid Schif base palladium (II) complexes.

Three new 2-pyrral amino acid Schif base palladium (II) complexes were synthesized, characterized and their activity against six bacterial species was investigated. The ligands: Potassium 2-pyrrolidine-L-methioninate (L1), Potassium 2-pyrrolidine-L-histidinate (L2) and Potassium 2-pyrrolidine-L-tryptophanate (L3) were synthesized and reacted with dichloro(1,5- cyclooctadiene)palladium(II) to form new palladium (II) complexes C1, C2 and C3, respectively. 1 NMR, FTIR, UV–Vis,elemental analysis and conductivity measurements were used to characterize the products. The antibacterial activities of the compounds were evaluated against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, ATCC 25923), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, ATCC 33591), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis, ATCC 12228) and Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes, ATCC 19615) and, gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa, ATCC 27853) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae, ATCC 13883) using the agar well difusion assay and microtitre plate serial dilution method. The palladium complexes were active against the selected bacteria with the imidazole ring containing complex C2 and indole heterocyclic ring containing complex C3 showing the highest activity

Boosting wheat yield, profitability and NUE with prilled and nano urea in conservation tillage

Abstract Rice–wheat production in the Indo-gangetic plains (IGPs) of India faces major concerns such as depleting resources, rice residue burning, excessive fertilizer use, and decreasing nitrogen use efficiency. These issues threaten sustainable crop production in the future. Therefore, a field study was conducted during the winter seasons of 2020–21 and 2021–22 to evaluate the effect of combined conventional and nano fertilizers on nitrogen application just before or after irrigation to improve wheat productivity, profitability and NUE under conservation tillage. The study evaluated eight treatment combinations of nitrogen application through conventionally applied urea (46% N) and foliar applied nano urea (4% N) under zero tillage with rice residue retention. Results revealed that growth, physiological indices, yield, and quality parameters were enhanced with the application of 150 kg N/ha in three equal splits as basal and just before 1st and 2nd irrigation alone (T2) or along with a spray of nano urea (T5) compared to other treatments. T5 recorded 7.2%, 8.5%, and 7.8% more plant dry matter, number of tillers, and grain yield, respectively, over the conventional practice of applying 150 kg N/ha in three equal splits as basal and 7–10 days after 1st and 2nd irrigation (T3, farmers practice). Although, T2 showed similar results to T5, T5 recorded significantly higher gross ($2542/ha) and net returns ($1279/ha) than the other treatments. However, the benefit–cost ratio of T2 and T5 was same (2.01). A significant and positive correlation coefficient between grain yield and physiological parameters such as CCI and NDVI confirmed that increasing the nitrogen dose enhanced the chlorophyll content, greenness, and plant vigor. Based on the results, it can be concluded that applying 150 kg N/ha in three equal splits as basal and just before 1st and 2nd irrigation under conservation agriculture, along with a single spray of nano urea (4% N) at 60–65 days after sowing, can improve growth, yield attributes, wheat yield, and NUE compared to farmers practice (T3) in India

Efficient nitrogen management in wheat through a combination of conventional and nano urea with optimized methods and timing

The rice-wheat cropping system is the largest cereal-based agricultural production system in India. It provides considerable significance to national food, nutrition, and livelihood security. However, the extensive use of resources under rice-wheat system has resulted in significant issues, including a decline in groundwater levels, indiscriminate use of fertilizers, the burning of rice residues, increased emissions of greenhouse gases, and the development of herbicide-resistant weeds which led to stagnant crop productivity and reduced profitability. This study was conducted at the research farm of ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal, India, to evaluate the combined effects of conventional and nano urea on productivity, profitability, and efficient nitrogen management strategy in wheat under rice-wheat system. The study evaluated eight treatment combinations of nitrogen application through conventionally applied urea (46% N) and foliar applied nano urea (4% N). The results of the study showed that the application of 150 kg N/ha in three equal splits as basal and just before 1st and 2nd irrigation, either alone (T2) or along with a spray of nano urea (T5), resulted in the highest grain yield and profitability. Top dressing of urea just before irrigation with a dose of nitrogen 150 kg/ha applied in three equal splits (T2) resulted in 420 kg/ha additional grain yield over top dressing at 7-10 days after irrigation with same dose (T3). Treatment T5 recorded the highest gross and net returns with 2492.5 and 1804.0 US $/ha. The study’s findings suggest that efficient nitrogen management is essential for sustainable wheat production in India. The application of 150 kg N/ha in three equal splits, either alone or along with a spray of nano urea, is a promising strategy for improving wheat productivity and profitability in India.</p