Impact of chemical and organic fertilizer on the yield and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut (vigna subterranea l. Verde.)

A pot experiment was conducted to find out the effects of chemical and organic fertilizer on the yield and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea). The size of the pot was 65.94 cm2. Different rates of compost, biofertilizer, gypsum was used along with the combination of different doses of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer. N and P fertilizers were found to play dominating role to increase yield and nutritional composition of the plant. Number of pod (41.75), 100-seed weight (34.25 g), protein (22.15%), Ca (803.25 mg/ka) increased with the application of N and P 30 and 60 kg/ha, respectively which was better than all other treatments. The application of N30 + P60 kg/ha increased yield and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut

Impact of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer on growth and yield of bambara groundnut

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) is an indigenous African crop which belongs to the family fabacea and sub-family of faboidea. It seeds contain 63% carbohydrate, 19% protein and 6.5% oil and good source of fibre, calcium, iron and potassium. Hence, this study aimed to determine the effect of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) on growth and yield bambara groundnut. A pot experiments was conducted in ladang 15 at the Faculty of Agriculture; Universiti Putra Malaysia. The experiment was performed Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The size of the pot was 65.94 cm2. The experiment was conducted in a factorial design with four levels of N (0, 10, 20, 30 kg/ha) and P (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg/ha). In this study, N and P fertilizer was played dominating role for vegetative growth of the plant. Plant height (20.65 cm), leaves number (262), leaf area (2140.54 cm2), number of pod (47.25) and pod weight (22.8 g) increased with the application of level of N and P. Vegetative growth and yield of the plant was better at N30P60 kg/ha than the all other treatments. It can be concluded that by using N30P60 kg/ha growth and yield of bambara groundnut is maximum

Purslane: A Perspective Plant Source Of Nutrition And Antioxidant

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a leafy vegetable that most likely originated in the Mediterranean region. It is a rich source of potassium, magnesium and possesses the potential to be used as vegetable source of omega-3 fatty acid and recently has been recognized as the richest source of a-linolenic acid, essential omega-3 and 6 fatty acids, ascorbic acid, glutathione, atocopherol and b-carotene. The stems and leaves also have high energy values which is 303.9 Kcal/100g dry weight. Mineral contents (mg/100gm DM) were K (14.71), Na (7.17), Ca (18.71), Fe (0.48) and Zn (3.02). P. oleracea has higher total phenolic and antioxidant content than plants at immature stages. The antioxidant content and nutritional value of purslane are important for human consumption. It revealed tremendous nutritional potential and has indicated the potential use of this herb for the future

Weed control efficacy and soil activity of a new promising bioherbicide ‘WeedLock’

The development of plant-based bioherbicides has gained the interest of researchers and acceptability from the farmers to control weeds in order to reduce their overdependence on chemical herbicides. Therefore, this research investigated the efficacy and soil activity of WeedLock, a new plant-based bioherbicide. In the efficacy study, WeedLock was applied at 672.75, 1345.50 (recommended dose), 2691.00 L ha-1 over the untreated (control) on weeds in mixed-culture (Ageratum conyzoides L., Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn., and Cyperus iria L). For soil activity, Zea mays L. seedlings were grown in different soil textures, namely clay, sand, sandy clay loam, and peat soil and WeedLock was applied to each soil type at 1345.50 L ha-1 with a pipette as a soil drench method. After 21 days, the plants were harvested, including roots and the soil in trays that were previously sprayed with WeedLock, and the trays were further maintained for 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks, respectively, before new seedlings were grown on the same soil. WeedLock at 1345.50 L ha-1 showed severe injury on weeds and produced 98.15% weed control efficacy compared to untreated (control). For soil activity, WeedLock did not show any significant decrease in growth and development of Z. mays, and the injury scale was 1.00, which means all leaves of Z. mays remained green, and the plants were actively growing on the WeedLock treated soils. Thus, it can be concluded that WeedLock has excellent weed control efficacy with negligible soil activity

Identification of phytochemicals in Cleome rutidosperma DC. methanol extract and evaluate its efficacy on some common rice field weeds

Screening different plant species for herbicidal activity and identifying new allelochemicals with novel structures and phytochemical activity could be promising candidates for reducing the negative consequences of chemical herbicides. Our study aims to investigate the allelopathic substance(s) and herbicidal efficacy of Cleome rutidosperma DC. on rice filed weeds in the lab and glasshouse. The phytochemical constituents of the methanol extract of Cleome rutidosperma were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS). The allelopathic effect of C. rutidosperma has been further studied on the germination and early development of five common rice field weeds: Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv., Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) Vahl, Oryza sativa f. spontanea Roshev., Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees, and Cyperus iria L. The seed germination and growth of tested weeds under lab and glasshouse conditions were compared to three concentrations of C. rutidosperma methanol extract at 2.5, 5, and 10% with the control (only distilled water). The results indicated the presence of 64 and 10 known chemicals using positive and negative ionization techniques, the majority of which were toxic. The inhibitory effect of C. rutidosperma was stronger in the lab than in the glasshouse. No seed germination of the tested species was observed when 10% C. rutidosperma extract was applied. The photosynthesis rate of C. iria exhibited a higher reduction (70.56%) compared to other species at higher doses (10%) of C. rutidosperma. These findings demonstrated that C. rutidosperma is a significant source of phytotoxic components and can be used to develop future bio-herbicides. The outcome of this study can be employed in the organic management of weeds and reduce our heavy reliance on synthetic herbicides

Determination of allelopathic noxious weed species as potential bioherbicide for weed control in Malaysia

Continuous and indiscriminate use of synthetic herbicides has caused environmental pollution and the development of herbicide resistance weed. Allelopathic plants as natural herbicides could be a novel solution to reduce reliance on synthetic herbicides while also improving crop weed management. Noxious weeds have the potential to convey allelochemicals and influence the organisms around them. There is relatively little information available about the allelopathic activity of Malaysian noxious weed species. The discovery of unknown allelopathic noxious weeds in Malaysia could provide the way to develop new natural herbicides. In this regard, a variety of experiments were carried out in the lab and glasshouse to achieve the following goals; i) to assess the allelopathic activity of 30 noxious weed species in Malaysia ii) to determine the effects in laboratory and glasshouse; iii) to identify their allelopathic substance(s); iv) to determine the efficacy in comparison to the commercial herbicides, v) to evaluate the effect on physiological and biochemical changes of weeds. The experiment was conducted at the Seed Technology Laboratory, Crop Science, and Ladang 15, Universiti Putra Malaysia. A complete randomized design (CRD) with five replications and randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications were laid out for laboratory and glasshouse experiments. Experiment on the effects of methanolic extracts of 30-Malaysian noxious weed species (9 families) on the seeds survival rate and seedlings growth of Weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea Roshev) in the laboratory has been conducted. Five concentrations (6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 g L-1) of extracts were compared with control (distilled water). Parthenium hysterophorus L., Cleome rutidosperma DC. and Borreria alata (Aubl.) DC. proved strongly allelopathic compared to the other tested extracts. The phytotoxic effects of P. hysterophorus, C. rutidosperma and B. alata extract concentrations were further investigated and compared on survival rate and growth of crops (Zea mays L., Oryza sativa L., Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench, Amaranthus gangeticus L.) and weeds (weedy rice, Echinochloa colona L. Link., Euphorbia hirta L. and Ageratum conyzoides L.) under laboratory and glasshouse conditions. Test plants were less sensitive to C. rutidosperma and B. alata than P. hysterophorus extract in both conditions (lab and glasshouse). Ageratum conyzoides, E. hirta, A. esculentus and A. gangeticus were mostly injured by P. hysterophorus extract at 100 g L-1 in the glasshouse. The LC-QTOF-MS/MS analysis has confirmed the presence of phenolic compounds (flavonoids, phenols, coumarins, carboxylic acids, benzoic acids), terpenoid, alkaloids, amino acids, fatty acids, piperazines, benzofuran, indole, amines, azoles, sulfonic acid and other unknown compounds in P. hysterophorus, C. rutidosperma and B. alata. The result indicated that methanol extract of C. rutidosperma and B. alata had fewer known phytotoxic substances than P. hysterophorus. A comparison study was conducted between P. hysterophorus extract (20, 40, and 80 g L-1), synthetic herbicide (glyphosate and glufosinate-ammonium at 2 L ha-1) as positive control and no treatment (negative control) on A. conyzoides, Weedy rice and Cyperus iria. No significant difference was obtained when P. hysterophorus extract (80 g L-1) and synthetic herbicides (glyphosate and glufosinate-ammonium) were applied on A. conyzoides. The response of physiological and biochemical properties of A. conyzoides, Weedy rice and C. iria was also investigated by the foliar application of P. hysterophorus at different concentrations (20, 40 and 60 g L-1). Physiological and biochemical properties of A. conyzoides were more sensitive to P. hysterophorus, especially at higher concentrations (60 g L-1). These results confirmed that P. hysterophorus have significant herbicidal effects for weed control. Hence it has the potential to be used as a bioherbicide to control weed in Malaysia

Phytochemical Constituents and Allelopathic Potential of Parthenium hysterophorus L. in Comparison to Commercial Herbicides to Control Weeds

The allelopathic effect of various concentrations (0, 6.25, 12.5, 50 and 100 g L−1) of Parthenium hysterophorus methanol extract on Cyperus iria was investigated under laboratory and glasshouse conditions. No seed germination was recorded in the laboratory when P. hysterophorus extract was applied at 50 g L−1. In the glasshouse, C. iria was mostly injured by P. hysterophorus extract at 100 g L−1. The phytochemical constituents of the methanol extract of P. hysterophorus were analyzed by LC-ESI-QTOF-MS=MS. The results indicated the presence of phenolic compounds, terpenoids, alkaloids, amino acids, fatty acids, piperazines, benzofuran, indole, amines, azoles, sulfonic acid and other unknown compounds in P. hysterophorus methanol extract. A comparative study was also conducted between P. hysterophorus extract (20, 40 and 80 g L−1) with a synthetic herbicide (glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium at 2 L ha−1) as a positive control and no treatment (negative control) on Ageratumconyzoides, Oryzasativa and C. iria. The growth and biomass of test weeds were remarkably inhibited by P. hysterophorus extract. Nevertheless, no significant difference was obtained when P. hysterophorus extract (80 g L−1) and synthetic herbicides (glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium) were applied on A.conyzoides

Nitrogen, phosphorus and compost application: effects on growth, yield and seed quality of bambara groundnut

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) is an indigenous African crop. Its seeds contain 63% carbohydrate, 19% protein, 6.5% oil and good source of fibre, calcium, iron and potassium. Hence, this study aimed to determine the effect of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and compost on growth, yield and seed quality of bambara groundnut. Two pot experiments were conducted in Ladang15 at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Both of the experiments were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design. The first experiment was conducted in a factorial design with four levels of N (0, 10, 20, 30 kg ha-1) and P (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg ha-1). The second experiment was conducted using different levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, compost, biofertilizer and gypsum. Mineral composition of the seed was determined by dry ashing method. Amino acid content in the seed was determined by HPLC. In the first experiment, the vegetative growth of the plant i.e. plant height (20.65 cm), leaves number (262), branch number (86.50) and leaf area (2140.54 cm2) was attained at N and P (N30 + P60 kg ha-1) application. The maximum pod number per plant (47.25) was attained in the treatment of T16 (N30 and P60 kg ha-1) i.e. the highest amount of N and P application. From the results, it is revealed that the seed of bambara groundnut contains 20.30% protein, 5.01% fibre, cysteine 11.3 mg kg-1, alanine 42.5 mg kg-1, 663.3 mg kg-1 Ca, and 650.5 mg kg-1 Mg. In the second experiment, compost, biofertilizer, gypsum was used along with the combination of N and P (two best treatments from the first study and also recommended dose of N and P). In this study, N and P fertilizers played dominating role for vegetative growth of the plant. Plant height (21.73 cm), leaves number (265.50) and leaf area (2802.9 cm2) increased with the application of highest level of N and P i.e. T1 (control) (N30 + P60 kg ha-1) application. The maximum number of pod (41.75) and highest pod weight (49.68 g) were also attained by T1 (N30 + P60 kg ha-1). Protein 19.95%, fiber 5.20%, histidine 30 mg kg-1, methionine 14.8 mg kg-1, potassium 448.8 mg kg-1 and manganese 24.4 mg kg-1 were contained in the seed of bambara groundnut. From the two experiments, it is presented that application of compost and different levels of fertilizer had no major changes in the nutritional value of bambara groundnut. However, the application of N30 and P60 kg ha-1 fertilizer, vegetative growth and yield of the plant was better than all other treatments in both experiments. For getting maximum growth, yield and seed quality of bambara groundnut N30 kg ha-1 and P60 kg ha-1 could be recommended

Weed Control Efficacy and Crop-Weed Selectivity of a New Bioherbicide WeedLock

Plant-based bioherbicides could be an effective alternative to current chemical herbicides for sustainable agriculture. Therefore, this research evaluated the weed control efficacy and crop-weed selectivity of the new plant-derived bioherbicide WeedLock compared to commercial herbicides in glasshouse and field conditions. In the glasshouse, the herbicides applied were WeedLock (672.75, 1345.50, 2691.00 L ha−1), glyphosate isopropyl-amine, and glufosinate-ammonium (1, 2, 4 L ha−1), over the untreated (control) on six weeds and four crops. In the field trial, typical weeds were allowed to grow at a uniform density across plots (2.5 × 2.5 m), and WeedLock (1345.50, 2691.00 L ha−1), glyphosate isopropyl-amine, and glufosinate-ammonium (2, 4 L ha−1) were applied along with untreated plot (control). A randomized complete block design was set with four replications for glasshouse and field experiments. WeedLock at 1345.50 L ha−1 showed efficacy similar to glyphosate isopropyl-amine and glufosinate-ammonium at 2 L ha−1 for Ageratum conyzoides L. in the glasshouse. Applied herbicides killed all tested crops except Zea mays L. at 1345.50 L ha−1 (WeedLock). WeedLock showed more than 50% efficacy at 35 days after spray, while 65% was produced by glyphosate isopropyl-amine and glufosinate-ammonium compared to the untreated plot (control). WeedLock has excellent potential to control weeds in both glasshouse and field conditions and showed a non-selective character

Bioherbicidal properties of Parthenium hysterophorus, Cleome rutidosperma and Borreria alata extracts on selected crop and weed species

Natural product-based herbicides could be the effective alternatives to synthetic chemical herbicides for eco-friendly weed management. This research, therefore, was conducted to identify the phytotoxic properties of Parthenium hysterophorus L., Cleome rutidosperma DC. and Borreria alata (Aubl.) DC. with a view to introducing them as a tool for natural herbicide development. The methanol extracts of these plants were examined on the germination and growth of Zea mays L., Oryza sativa L., Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench and Amaranthus gangeticus L., Oryza sativa f. Spontanea Roshev. (Weedy rice), Echinochloa colona (L.) Link., Euphorbia hirta L., and Ageratum conyzoides L. under laboratory and glasshouse conditions. A complete randomized design (CRD) with five replications and randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications were laid out for laboratory and glasshouse experiments, respectively. In the laboratory experiment, three plant extracts of 0, 6.25, 12.5, 50, and 100 g L−1 were tested on survival rate, hypocotyl, and radicle length of eight test plant species. No seed germination of A. conzyoides, E. hirta, and A. gangeticus were recorded when P. hysterophorus extract was applied at 50 g L−1. C. rutidosperma had the same effect on those plants at 100 g L−1. In the glasshouse, similar extracts and concentrations used in the laboratory experiments were sprayed on at the 2–3 leaf stage for grasses and 4–6 for the broadleaf species. Tested plants were less sensitive to C. rutidosperma and B. alata compared to P. hysterophorus extract. Among the weeds and crops, A. conyzoides, E. hirta, A. esculentus and A. gangeticus were mostly inhibited by P. hysterophorus extract at 100 g L−1. Based on these results, P. hysterophorus was the most phytotoxic among the tested plant extracts and could be used for developing a new natural herbicide for green agriculture