Effect of Zinc and Boron in Combination with NPK on Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Growth and Yield

A field study was undertaken at Oilseed Section, Agriculture Research Institute, Tandojam during autumn 2013 to evaluate the effect of zinc and boron in combination with NPK on sunflower growth and yield. The experiment was laid out in a three replicated randomized complete block design. The treatments comprised of: 90-45-45 NPK kg/ha-1, NPK + 10 + 1.5 Zn + B kg/ha-1, NPK + 15 + 1.5 Zn + B kg/ha-1, NPK + 15 + 2.0 Zn + B kg/ha-1 and NPK + 20 + 1.5 Zn + B kg/ha-1. The results showed that zinc, boron and NPK in combination with each other caused significant (P<0.05) effect on growth and yield traits of sunflower variety HO-1. The plots receiving NPK + 20 + 1.5 Zn + B kg/ha-1 produced maximum plant height (160.6 cm), stem girth (3.6 cm), head diameter (20.4 cm), seeds per head (1255.3), seed weight (60.9 g head-1), seed index (1000-seed weight: 64.8 g) and seed yield (2386.0 kg/ha-1), closely followed by plots fertilized with NPK + 15 + 2.0 Zn + B kg/ha-1 resulting in 157.8 cm plant height, 3.4 cm stem girth, 18.6 cm head diameter, 1189.3 seeds per head, 53.3 g head-1 seed weight, 62.9 g seed index (1000-seed weight) and 2314.0 kg/ha-1 seed yield whereas, NPK + 15 + 1.5 Zn + B kg/ha-1 ranked 3rd with 153.8 cm plant height, 3.3 cm stem girth, 17.8 cm head diameter, 1150.0 seeds per head, 57.3 g head-1 seed weight, 62.3 g seed index (1000-seed weight) and 2277.7 kg/ ha-1 seed yield. However, minimum plant height (144.1 cm), stem girth (3.0 cm), head diameter (16.2 cm), seeds per head (1013.0), seed weight (46.7 g head-1), seed index (1000-seed weight: 57.6 g) and seed yield (2030.7 kg/ha-1) was observed in plots where 90-45-45 NPK kg/ha-1 (Control) was applied. Hence, results indicated that application of micronutrients (zinc and boron) in combination with macro-nutrients (NPK) enhanced the growth and yield performance of sunflower. Although at higher doses of Zn and B numerically higher yield was noted but application of NPK + 15 + 1.5 Zn + B kg/ha-1 showed non-significant differences with NPK + 20 + 1.5 Zn + B kg/ha-1 and NPK + 15 + 2.0 Zn + B kg/ha-1 almost in all the growth and yield parameters, particularly seed yield. Keywords: Sunflower, Zinc, Boron, NPK, growth and yiel

Stress Analysis of Mixing of Non-Newtonian Flows in Cylindrical Vessel Induced by Co-Rotating Stirrers

The impacts of rotational velocity and inertia on velocity gradients and stresses are addressed under present study. The non-Newtonian behaviour of inelastic rotating flows is predicted by employing Power law model. A numerical model has been developed for mixing flow within a cylindrical vessel along a couple of stirrers. A time marching FEM (Finite Element Method) is employed to predict the required solution. Predicted solutions are presented for minimum to maximum values in terms of contour plots of velocity gradients and shear stresses, over the range. The long term application of this research will be used to improve the design of mixers and processing products. The predicted results are used to generate the capability and are in good agreement with numerical results to the mixer design that will ultimately effect the processing of dough product

Influence of Blood Inertia on Vortex Enhancement in the Wake of Plaque Deposited Arteries

Flow of blood structure is presented in terms of stream line projections at different percentages of deposition against various Reynolds numbers. The impact of atherosclerosis is investigated on the vortex enhancement and intensity. The predicted results are computed in terms of stream function for quantifying the reattachment length and re-circulating flow rate of blood at various Reynolds numbers and different percentages of blockage. The results show that flow of blood is disturbs at the vicinity of blockage, especially in the down stream area that leads to the formation of vortexes. It is observed that the length of vortex increases along with the deposition levels as well as with increasing inertia .To solve the Navier-Stokes equations, together with the incompressibility constraints a semi-implicit time stepping procedure, namely Taylor- Galerkin/Pressure-correction finite element scheme has been employed

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Sub-Clinical Mastitis in Kundhi Buffaloes

The present study aimed to elucidate the magnitude and distribution of subclinical mastitis and associated risk factors in ‘Kundhi’ buffaloes of Hyderabad, Tandojam and Tando Allahyar locations of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Milk samples (n=840) collected from 210 buffaloes were evaluated for the presence of subclinical mastitis in buffaloes using California Mastitis Test (CMT) and severity; moderate, severe, more severe, most severe. The positive samples were further processed for isolation and identification of bacterial pathogens. The overall intensity of subclinical mastitis at animal level was recorded as 54.29% while significantly higher prevalence (