Evaluation of efficacy and compatibility of herbicides with fungicides in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) under different environmental conditions: Effects on grain yield and gluten content

In the present study, field experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy and compatibility of herbicides and fungicides in durum wheat under Mediterranean semi-arid conditions, in Central Greece. Our results indicate that the herbicide florasulam+2.4-D was safe and did not cause any injury when applied alone or with fungicides, while bromoxynil+2.4-D mixed with azoxystrobin or trifloxystrobin+prothioconazole caused injury symptoms on leaves. The injury symptoms were transient, and observed only at Velestino area, where low temperatures and broad diurnal temperature fluctuations were recorded during the pesticides application period. Regarding septoria leaf blotch control, good results showed strobilurin alone or in mixture with a triazole, regardless the herbicide that was added to the mixture. The results of this study showed that bromoxynil+2.4-D caused injury when mixed with fungicides and applied under cold temperatures, while one fungicide application at stem elongation provided adequate Septoria leaf blotch control. © 2018 Academic Press

Magnetic field pre-sowing treatment as an organic friendly technique to promote plant growth and chemical elements accumulation in early stages of cotton

The enhancement of plant growth using an environmental friendly technique is an absolutely desirable step for modern agriculture. This study reports the positive effect of pulsed electromagnetic field in early growth characteristics of cotton plants, as well as the percentage content of some important chemical elements. Pulsed electromagnetic field was used for 0, 15 and 30 minutes as a pre-sowing treatment in cotton seeds in a pot experiment under field conditions. The experiment followed a completely randomized design, with 3 main treatments and 60 replications for each treatment in a one year study. The use of magnetic field as a pre-sowing treatment is becoming more familiar among researchers, as it is closer to the agricultural practices. In all measurements (transpiration rate, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, root growth, shoot growth and N, P, K, Ca and Mg percentage), plants derived from treated seeds, performed better than control plants with statistically significant differences at the 5% level of significance. The exposure of seeds in magnetic field for 15 and 30 minutes gave statistically significant better results than control in most measurements. In chemical analysis, seeds treated for 30 minutes (MF-30) gave the highest values for all measurements, except K where seeds treated for 15 minutes (MF-15) gave the higher values in all three measurements. The investigation of plant physiology and chemical elements accumulation revealed an alternative approach for the mechanism of magnetic field enhancement

Effects of Post-Emergence Herbicides and Period of Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers.) Control on Growth and Yield of Sunflower Crops

Sunflower is an important industrial crop since it is grown all over the world for oil production, while Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers.) is characterized by great competitiveness and can severely impair plant growth and crop productivity. Thus, a two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of Johnsongrass control practices on plant growth, seed yield, and oil content of sunflower crop. The results indicated that Johnsongrass competition negatively affected sunflower growth and productivity as the lowest values of height, dry biomass, seed, and oil yields were recorded at the weed-infested treatment, followed by the weed infested for 30 days after sowing. All the other treatments had a positive effect on vegetative and yield parameters. Moreover, fluazifop-p-butyl, quizalofop-p-ethyl, and the combination of fluazifop-p-butyl and imazamox effectively controlled Johnsongrass. Specifically, in 2020, the lowest dry weight of Johnsongrass was observed in the plots where fluazifop-p-butyl + imazamox were applied. Thus, the results of this study clearly showed that the use of the above-mentioned herbicides can improve the seed and oil yield of a sunflower crop by managing Johnsongrass, while the competition of this rapidly growing weed for a short period of 30 days can significantly reduce crop yield. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

The High Resolution Thermal Emission Spectra of InF and DF

Author Institution: Centre for Molecular Beams and Laser Chemistry, University of WaterlooThe high resolution gas phase spectra of InF and DF were recorded with the Bruker IFS 120Hr Fourier transform spectrometer at the University of Waterloo. The spectrum of InF was recorded in the region of $400-600 cm^{-1}$ with a helium cooled Si:B detector at a resolution of $0.006 cm^{-1}$ The DF spectra were recorded in the region of $2200-3300 cm^{-1}$ at a resolution of $0.01 cm^{-1}$. An InSb detector was used and a total of 20 scans were co-added to obtain the spectrum Ro-vibrational data up to $\nu$=12 were obtained for InF and up to $\nu$=3 for DF. Sets of Dunham coefficients $Y_{ij}$ and mass-reduced Dunham constants $U_{ij}$ are determined. The Spectra show evidence of Born-Oppenheimer breakdown

Chemical composition and bioactive properties of: Sanguisorba minor Scop. under Mediterranean growing conditions

Sanguisorba minor Scop. is a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region which exhibits several medicinal activities. In the present study, plant growth, chemical composition, and antitumor and antimicrobial properties of S. minor plants were evaluated under different growing conditions. In particular, plants were grown on different substrates, namely (A) peat, (B) peat:perlite (1:1) and (C) peat:perlite (2:1). The dry weight of the aerial parts and roots was higher for the peat treatment (A), whereas plant growth was severely affected in the peat:perlite (1:1) treatment (B). The major detected sugars were fructose and glucose, while the peat:perlite (2:1) treatment resulted in a significant increase of α-tocopherol, glucose and total sugars content, especially in the aerial parts. Oxalic acid and citric acid were the major organic acids detected, with a varied effect of growth substrate on organic acid profile. Growth substrate and plant part also had a significant effect on fatty acid composition, especially on linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid content which was higher in the peat:perlite (1:1) treatment in both aerial parts and roots. An impact on the composition of phenolic compounds was also observed, where the plants grown on peat:perlite (2:1) and peat:perlite (1:1) substrates had the highest content of individual and total phenolic compounds in their aerial parts and roots, respectively. Moreover, roots contained significantly higher amounts of phenolic compounds than the aerial parts. Moreover, plant extracts exhibited antiproliferative activity against four tumor cell lines (HeLa, HepG2, MCF-7 and NCI-H460) and a primary culture of porcine liver cells (PLP2), as well as significant antimicrobial properties. In conclusion, S. minor presented significant bioactive properties, while growth substrates affected the nutritional value, chemical composition, antitumor and antimicrobial properties of the species which could be probably attributed to the higher phenolic compound content and different compositions of phenolic compounds. Therefore, although the species is commonly found in the Mediterranean region, it is underexploited yet and its plant tissues could be a potential source of natural bioactive compounds with further use in pharmaceutical and medicinal applications. © 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Agronomic Practices to Increase the Yield and Quality of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): A Systematic Review

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important legume for human consumption worldwide and an important source of vegetable protein, minerals, antioxidants, and bioactive compounds. The N2-fixation capacity of this crop reduces its demand for synthetic N fertilizer application to increase yield and quality. Fertilization, yield, and quality of common bean may be optimised by several other agronomic practices such as irrigation, rhizobia application, sowing density, etc. Taking this into consideration, a systematic review integrated with a bibliometric analysis of several agronomic practices that increase common bean yield and quality was conducted, based on the literature published during 1971–2021. A total of 250 publications were found dealing with breeding (n = 61), sowing density and season (n = 14), irrigation (n = 36), fertilization (n = 27), intercropping (n = 12), soilless culture (n = 5), tillage (n = 7), rhizobia application (n = 36), biostimulant/biofertilizer application (n = 21), disease management (n = 15), pest management (n = 2) and weed management (n = 14). The leading research production sites were Asia and South America, whereas from the Australian continent, only four papers were identified as relevant. The keyword co-occurrence network analyses revealed that the main topics addressed in relation to common bean yield in the scientific literature related to that of “pod”, “grain”, “growth”, “cultivar” and “genotype”, followed by “soil”, “nitrogen”, “inoculation”, “rhizobia”, “environment”, and “irrigation”. Limited international collaboration among scientists was found, and most reported research was from Brazil. Moreover, there is a complete lack in interdisciplinary interactions. Breeding for increased yield and selection of genotypes adapted to semi-arid environmental conditions combined with the suitable sowing densities are important agronomic practices affecting productivity of common bean. Application of fertilizers and irrigation practices adjusted to the needs of the plants according to the developmental stage and selection of the appropriate tillage system are also of high importance to increase common bean yield and yield qualities. Reducing N-fertilization via improved N-fixation through rhizobia inoculation and/or biostimulants application appeared as a main consideration to optimise crop performance and sustainable management of this crop. Disease and weed management practices appear neglected areas of research attention, including integrated pest management. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland