International Journal of Agriculture and Biosciences

Salinity of the soil and water is one of the principal environmental elements that might influence the soil proprieties, crop production, distribution plant pathogens and their associated diseases. In addition to preventing plant growth and development, salinity also has an impact on antagonistic and pathogenic of numerous fungi. In addition to its direct effects on crops, salinity has been a significant problem that causes additional damage by enhancing the predisposition of plants to biotic diseases. However, salinity may either a potential antifungal agent by reducing mycelia growth, sporulation and conidial germination or increases the virulence of diseases by promoting the production of enzymatic activities including cellulase, pectin lyase, and polygalacturonase by the microorganisms. The effect of this environmentally agent on the growth and reproductive parameters differs between species, either directly or indirectly. There are numerous fungal species that can grow in situations with high salt concentrations; the majority of them are halotolerant, but there are also some halophilic species that can only flourish in salty conditions. The aim of this review is to characterize behavior fungal regarding salinity, in order to develop an integrated pest management strategy that incorporates biological, chemical, and cultural control approaches for disease management, economical effective, and extremely appealing for better crop quality and environmental sustainability in these salinity-related conditions.

Keywords: Antimicrobial, Disease management, Osmotic stress, Plant diseases, Salt stress, Yield.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) is one of important summer vegetable of Pakistan. In the present study GCA effects of parents and SCA effects of crosses were estimated by using line × tester analysis. Five lines i.e. Clean strawless, Sanura, Okra Malka, 0019221, Krishna and three testers Sabz pari, Perbhani selection, Ikra-03 were crossed to develop 15 F1 hybrids. The parents along with their hybrids were evaluated in RCBD in three replications in the field during 2019. The GCA and SCA mean squares for plant height, number of fruits, number of leaves, Stem diameter, Fruit diameter, Protein content, Fiber content, Ascorbic acid, Ash content, internodal distance and Pubesence were significant. Among lines Clean strawless, Okra malka and Sanura whereas among testers Sabz pari and Ikra-03 were proved to be good general combiners for most of the traits. These parents suggested to be used in future programs for fixing the desirable traits. Among crosses Clean strawless × Sabz pari, Sanura × Perbhani selection,Sanura × Sabz pari, were proved to be best specific combiners for most of the characters. Whereas Okra malka × Sabz pari, Sanura × Ikra-03, Krishna× Ikra-03, 0019221 × sabz pari had significant mid and better parent heterosis for most of the traits under study. So these cross combinations may be used in the development of hybrid okra or in the improvement of different quality traits of okra.

Keywords: Okra, GCA, SCA.

Mali is one of the largest mango producing country in the world. Despite its production potential, the country’s mango plantations are not resistant to the effects of climate change, the negative impacts of climate change affects the production, the adaptation of growth and the development of the main exportable varieties. The development of a tree crop resilient to the adverse effects of climate change is necessary to meet the ever-increasing demand. The objective of this study was to compare growth resilience techniques of Kent and Keitt varieties of mango in the face of environmental disruptions. The experimental study was conducted from 2016 to 2018 in an IPR/IFRA orchard in Katibougou to document growth traits. The behavior of the two mango varieties through four cultivation techniques was tested (mulched plowed plot, mulched unplowed, plot plowed plot, and unplowed un-mulched plot). Three different periods were selected after planting: from 6th to 11th month (February-June), from 12th to 18th month (July-November) and from 19th to 24th (December-April). The mulched plowed technique was the best technique to improve the resilience of mango varieties to climatic variability. Among all the growth traits studied: the survival rate, the length of Growth Unit (GU), the speed of GU, the number of leaves, the phyllochron duration, the plowing with mulching technique obtained the best values; particularly for the interval of time between the dates of emergence of two successive vegetative shoots (phyllochron), which was less than one month. Except for the growth rate of the GU, for all the growth studied traits, both varieties behaved similarly under the different cultivation techniques. The good resistance of the Kent variety with a survival rate of about 100%, and the phyllochron achievement time of the Keitt variety were noted. The technique of plowing with mulching could be proposed for adoption to mango producers in the Koulikoro district, and the choice of Kent or Keitt varieties could be made after confirmation tests.

Keywords: Cultivation Techniques, Mango Variety, Resilience, Climate Change, Plowing, Mulching, Koulikoro.

An experiment was conducted during rabi season of 2021-2022 at the Agronomy Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan, to study the appropriate dosage of Organic matter and vermicompost for wheat germination and growth under drought conditions. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with twelve treatments (1) clay Soil at 100% field capacity (F.C) (T1: control, T2: V.C@ 5g/2kg of soil, T3: O.M@15g/2kg of soil), (2) sandy soil at 100% F.C (T4: control, T5: V.C@ 5g/2kg of soil, T6: O.M@15g/2kg of soil), (3) clay soil at 50% F.C (T7: Control, T8: V.C@ 5g/2kg of soil, T9: O.M@15g/2kg of soil), (4) sandy Soil at 50% F.C (T10: control, T11: V.C@ 5g/2kg of soil, T12: O.M@15g/2kg of soil), and replicated three times. Results indicate that the growth parameters, clay soil at 50% F.C and sandy soil at 100% F.C have (109.34 t/ha) found highest in combined application of organic matter@15g/2kg + vermicompost @5g/2kg.

Keywords: Drought stress, Vermicompost, Organic matter, Wheat, Tolerance, Germination

For the weed control of Japanese yams, farmers pull out the vines by hand because the chemical control of Japanese yams in tea plantations is difficult as the vines grow from the area below the tea trees, where the herbicides have limited reach. This study compared the regeneration and growth of vines after controlling weeds using the following methods: 1) cutting the vine at 30 cm height, 2) cutting the vine at ground level, and 3) pulling out the vine from the base (at the node of the tuber and vine). All three treatments were performed during three weeding seasons to determine the most effective method and time to control Japanese yams in tea gardens. In addition, we investigated the deterioration of old tubers and the formation of new tubers by studying their weight changes because each old tuber disappears and forms a new tuber each year. However, our results indicated that new tubers were formed before the disappearance of old tubers, and there were no border time periods where both old and new tubers were absent. Furthermore, the new tubers grew in a short period from July to August. Therefore, we recommend repeatedly pulling out Japanese yam vines during July for effective weed control. Moreover, when vines of Japanese yam were not pulled out completely or were cut in May or July, branches grew rapidly and reached the canopy of tea trees after 2–4 weeks. Furthermore, when vines were pulled out at the ground level, 40 % of vines reached the canopy after one month. Therefore, it is difficult to control Japanese yam completely by pulling out vines alone.

Keywords: Japanese yam (Dioscorea japonica), Vine weed, Tea garden, Tuber, Hand weeding.

Wheat is staple food in many countries and a key cereal crop of the world. In Asia and south Asian areas wheat is the second leading cereal crop and it is providing 68% of energy. It provides trace elements, carbohydrates and protein to our body. Drought stress is a major problem and threating crop productivity around the world. It affects wheat crop at all growth stages and reduces its yield potential from 10-90%. So, there is dire need to develop drought tolerant wheat varieties. This study was conducted by using ten high yielding varieties of wheat. These varieties were sown under normal conditions and drought stress under randomized complete block design with three replications. The data was collected for plant height, number of productive tillers per plant, spike length, peduncle length, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, yield per spike, yield per plant, 1000-grain weight. Analysis of variance was executed and results were analyzed. The results showed that all characters were showing highly significant results for irrigation and genotypes except spike length. Interaction of irrigation and genotypes showed non-significant results for grains per spike, grain yield per spike, yield per plant and 1000-grain weight but show significant for spikelets per spike and highly significant for plant height number of tillers per plant and peduncle length. The graphical representation of genotypes under normal condition and drought stress was done by mean values. Inqlab-91 performed good for grain yield, yield per plant and 1000-grain weight under both levels of irrigation followed by Galaxy-13. Genotypes C-273 and C-250 were tallest under normal irrigation. Thus, results obtained from this research will be useful in selecting best genotypes for rainfed and water stress environment in future breeding programs.

Keywords: Wheat, Drought, Tillers.

Nanochemistry has its diverse applications in the field of food science and technology. Various nano particle acts as anti-bacterial agents in active packaging of food. The application of these active packaging containing nanoparticles in it plays a vital role in the protection, preservation and enhancement in the shelf life of food. Silver nano particles (AgNPs) and Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) can be easily mixed with bio-polymer and synthetic polymers used for packaging materials. These nanoparticles act as anti-microbial agent to enhance the shelf life of food products. This review presents the effect of various physical factors including size, concentration, morphology, pH, surface charge and strain specific activity upon the anti-bacterial activity of AgNPs and ZnO NPs against five gram positive Staphylococcus aurerus(S. aurerus), Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), Streptococcus pneumoniae(S .pneumoniae), Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), Bacillus subtilis (B.subtilis) and five gram negative Escherichia coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium), Klebsiella pneumonia (K. pneumoniae ), Klebsiella aerogenes (K. aerogenes) strains are presented. Furthermore, practical approaches for addition of AgNPs and ZnO NPs in edible and inedible coating of various food products to enhance the shelf life of food materials is also presented. It is important to address all possible health effects caused by nanoparticles to ensure food safety. Therefore, this review also presents regulation and limitation of different regulating bodies’ sets for Ag and ZnO NPs.

Keywords: Nanochemistry, Inedible Food Packaging, Anti-Microbial Agent.

The present study was conducted for evaluation of double haploid maize hybrids under water deficit condition. Total nine maize hybrids having eight double haploid maize hybrids and one commercial maize hybrid check have sown in autumn season 2019 with two treatments by using randomized complete block design under factorial by two replications. For evaluating maize hybrids under water deficient condition, 100% and 50% irrigation was given in Treatment-I and treatment-II. At several maize growth stages data was collected regarding morphological and physiological traits. Data was analyzed by using analysis of variance, path analysis and correlation analysis. The results showed that all the double haploid maize hybrids under evaluation was significant in analysis of variance. Path coefficient analysis of field research showed, days to 50% tasseling, plant height, leaf area, leaf temperature, cob diameter, kernel rows per cob and grain yield positive direct effect on total biomass of plant. The traits such as days to 50% tasseling, tasseling to silking interval, ear height, cob length and harvest index indicated negative direct effect on total biomass of plant. Grain yield showed highest positive direct effect on other side the lowest positive direct effect of kernel rows per cob on total biomass of plant. Correlation coefficient indicated that maximum significant positive genotypic correlation was present between days to 50% silking and days to 50% tasseling, it was also significant positive correlation present among grain yield per plant and total biomass of plant under normal but under water deficit condition maximum positive correlation was observed among kernel rows per cob and cob diameter.

Keywords: Maize, double haploid, drought.

The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the oldest and best-known cultivated fruit trees. The fruit is composed of very nutritive minerals like potassium, calcium, iron, chlorine, phosphorus, and magnesium. The tree can withstand relatively harsh climate and soil conditions, which no other crop can match. In Ethiopia, date palm is cultivated and/or wildly grown in the Afar, Dire Dawa, Somali, Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions. However, the yields of local cultivars are too low to meet the sharply increasing demand. Thus, research has been conducted to evaluate and register the best-performing, desirable yield and quality of introduced improved varieties. Fourteen (14) tissue-cultured introduced materials from England and Israel were planted at 10m x 10m spacing between rows and plants over three locations, viz., Werer Agricultural Research Center (WARC), Assiyta, and Afambo districts. Two varieties (Barhee and Medjool), early fruiting types, were individually evaluated out of 12 varieties on the basis of fruit yield for two years at WARC, while vegetative parameters were taken from the other locations. The study revealed that Barhee and Medjool were superior to the remaining date palm varieties. The annual yield advantage of Barhee (68.39 kg tree-1) over Medjool (50.87 kg tree-1) was 34.44%. The high offshoot production potential of Barhee and Medjool varieties could reduce the purchase of imported tissue-cultured date palms by the country as well as individuals. In conclusion, the newly released varieties Barhee and Medjool could be cultivated profitably and sustainably for commercial cultivation in the low land areas of the Afar regional state and other similar agro-ecology, and could also increase the income of smallholder farmers and agro-pastoralists.

Keywords: Date Palm, Clusters, Fao, Fruits/Cluster, Barhee, Medjool, Bunches.