Agriculture

Green house experiment was conducted to explore the influence of different concentrations of Vermicompost in root–knot nematode management against Meloidogyne incognita infecting Cluster bean Cyamposis tetragonaloba. Vermicompost fortification treatment resulted in reduced nematode infection and increased growth characteristics such as shoot – root length and shoot – root weight. With the increase of concentration of Vermicompost corresponding increase noticed in growth characteristics of treated plants. Vermicompost fortified plants showed increment in sugar, protein and lipid over untreated control. Increment of these metabolites reflects treated plants were metabolically cope up the infection and promoting excessive plant growth.In vitro studies of hatching trials revealed significant reduction in larval emergence. The percent reduction of larval emergence showed a significant positive correlation with increased concentration of Vermicompost. Vermicompost treatment significantly affects the soil population of nematode which again reflects a dosage dependent phenomenon. Present investigation confirms Vermicompost as an excellent growth promoters and potential prophylactic agent.

A study was conducted to study the effect of integration of nitrogen sources on okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) grown in sandy regosols. Nitrogen sources farmyard manure, poultry manure, Amutha Karaisal and urea were applied on equal N basis at 135 kg Nha-1. Organic nitrogen (N) sources were used solely and in combination with urea at 50% N from each. And P2O5 and K2O were applied at the rate of 90 kg ha-1 by triple super phosphate and muriate of potash respectively. There were eight treatments replicated thrice. Among the treatments, yield was superior in 100% N supplied by poultry manure and next was followed by 50% N from farmyard manure + 50% N from Urea. The influence of AmuthaKaraisal was inferior in yield than other manures. There was no significant difference in average length of pod, but there was significant difference in average number and fresh weight of pod.

Studies on pathogenecity of Meloidogyne incognita on Green gram, Phaseolus aureus were carried out in relation to different concentration of Azolla pinnata, a biofertilizer with reference to growth parameters of host plant and reproductive parameters of nematode pathogen. Amendments of Azolla resulted reduction in nematode infection and increment in growth characteristics of host plant. Azolla treated plants showed excessive shoot and root growth over infected untreated control plants. The growth increment was directly proportional to the dosage of Azolla amendments Reproductive parameters studied were also significantly affected by Azolla treatment. A progressive reduction in root – knot index, number of egg masses, eggs/egg mass, soil population and reproductive factor was recorded in different concentration of Azolla treatment. Alteration in protein content of plant tissue in response to Azolla treatment reveals that plants were put up resistance against nematode infection.

Two field experiments were carried out at Arab El-Awammer Research Station, Agric. Res. Center Assiut Governorate during winter seasons of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. The present study assessed the effect of crop sequence and nitrogen fertilization on productivity of wheat. The experimental treatments were four crop sequences with three nitrogen fertilizer rates. Treatments were arranged in a factorial experiment 3×4 based on a RCBD with four replications. These results suggest that the sequence of cowpea / clover / wheat and the sequence of cowpea + maize / clover / wheat produced the maximum yield and its components of wheat as compared with the other sequences. Naturally Occurring Biological Control Agents (NOBCA) the maximum number of agents was existed in the sequences of cowpea / clover / wheat and cowpea + maize / clover / wheat. The lowest number was existed in the sequence of maize / wheat. The present research proved that the two promising sequences contributed so much in increasing the cropping area. Therefore, the cropping index was increased to be 2.87 or 3.39 in the year for the two sequences of cowpea / clover / wheat and cowpea + maize / clover / wheat, respectively. These values are considered to be more than the traditional index in Egypt which is 1.73. The net return from the sequence of cowpea + maize / clover / wheat was the highest when compared with the other sequences. Thus increasing the cropping area which increased the cropping index caused an increase in the net return.

Macabo (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott.) May be a solution to the problems of hunger, inadequacy and food insecurity faced by several developing countries like DR Congo, because it is adapted to tropical equatorial and tropical climates. However, its large-scale cultivation encounters a problem of lack of propagating material in quality and quantity sufficient for the extension of the culture related to its mode of multiplication and growth. Indeed, the pronounced dominance of the terminal bud inhibits the development of lateral buds. To try to solve this problem, a study was carried out by experimenting the PIF method in Kisangani. It consisted in evaluating the rejecting power of X. sagittifolium bulbs planted on three different substrates, notably sawdust, charcoal (bio-char) and rice husks. The parameters observed were respectively the recovery rates of the mother bulbs, the number of offspring formed and weaned. The results obtained showed that: 1. The recovery rate of mother bulbs was 100% irrespective of the treatment; 2. After 24 weaning, a 9.6 cm diameter bulb produced 32 and 34 3 cm diameter shoots respectively for sawdust and bio-char, and 32 x 2.9 cm diameter shoots with bulb 8.8 cm in diameter for rice balls. These numbers of offspring do not differ statistically; 3. There is a positive correlation between the size of mother bulbs and the number of offspring formed (Y = -32,057 + 6,926X with r = 0,521) and secondly between the size of mother bulbs and the vigor of the offspring formed (Y = 1,300 + 0,182X with r = 0,560). These results show that the number of offspring formed increases with the size of the mother bulbs and their vigor also depends on it.

Mycotoxin contaminations are ubiquitous in livestock diets. This comes under many generic names of which Fumonisin B1 (FB1) was the object of evaluation on its influence on growth and laying performance of laying birds fed with graded level of FB1 with or without vitamin C supplementation. One hundred and five (105) point-of-lay Isa brown breed at 18 weeks and twenty-one (21) cocks at 25 weeks were purchased for the experiment. The birds (layers) were assigned to Seven (7) dietary treatments of 15 birds each at three (3) birds per replicate. The treatments were classified according to inclusion level of Fumonisin B1 and Vitamin C. Treatment A served as the control, B (10 mg/kg of FB1), C (20 mg/kg of FB1), D (30 mg/kg of FB1), E (10 mg/kg of FB1 + Vitamin C), F (20 mg/kg of FB1 + Vitamin C), and G (30mg/kg of FB1 + Vitamin C). Feed intake and weights of the birds were taken for performance evaluation. Eggs were daily collected and counted and analysed for Hen-house and Hen-day production. The relative weight of organs were taken to examine the influence of fumonisin on them. It was observed that there are no significant difference (P>0.05) in the final weight, total weight and daily weight gain of hens when compared with the control. Increased inclusion of FB1 resulted in significant (P<0.05) increase in total feed intake, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. There were no significant difference in the organ weight for treatment and levels of inclusion. The weight of the laying hens was reduced with increased feed intake. This showed that FB1 caused poor feed conversion rate which was evident in the result of this study. Meanwhile, the Vitamin C effectively ameliorated the toxic effect of the FB1. It is therefore important to include Vitamin C in the diet of laying hens so as to reduce the negative effects of FB1 on the performance and Carcass characteristics.

Nine genotypes of grain amaranthus (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) were evaluated for nine characters to evaluate field performance. Experiments were conducted at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Hill Campus, Ranichauri, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand during kharif 2011 and 2012. The results revealed that, the genotype Durga followed by IC35468 showed minimum days to 50% flowering during both years and Durga was found to be best for the character days to maturity having minimum days. The highest yield was recorded by PRA 2010-1 followed by PRA3, however, genotype PRA3 showed stability for many characters like germination per-cent, Days to 50% flowering, Spikelets as well as inflorescence length and can be used for improvement of these traits in breeding programme. Genotype PRA2010-1 performed better for almost all the characters over checks.

Determination of suitable probability distribution function in among frequency distribution models in evaluating occurrences for any phenomena is very important. The gradient ratio is the one of the best important parameter for evaluation of envelope clogging. To conduct this research, data of each replicate was divided into four hourly periodic lengths of 24, 48, 72, and 96. Then, with analysis of data in time series according to HYFA software output and goodness fit of Relative Residual Square Mean, suitable frequency distribution function for each envelope was selected. Based on relative frequency, the best fitted distribution was found to be Three Parameter Log Normal distribution (Moment method) and Two Parameter Log Normal distribution (maximum likelihood method) for synthetic envelope of PP450, Normal distribution (Moment method and maximum likelihood method) for synthetic envelope of PP700, Three Parameter Log Normal distribution (Moment method) and Two Parameter Log Normal distribution (maximum likelihood method) for synthetic envelope of PP900 and Pearson type III distribution (Moment method) and Normal distribution (maximum likelihood method) for envelope of gravel.

The purpose of this study was to determine the morphological diversity of banana and plantain in the province of Maniema and to identify criteria for the choice of planting material, as well as the different uses of banana in the study area. To do this, a survey was carried out using the questionnaire established by Bioversity-CIALCA, on the morphological characterization of the different cultivars. These surveys identified 19 banana cultivars as follows: 4 French type plantains, 3 false horns, 2 true horns, 6 dessert bananas and 4 cooking plantains not belonging to the first three groups. The results also showed that dessert-type bananas are the most diversified in the study area (Maniema Province) with a proportion of 31% followed by French-type plantains with 27%. A small proportion of cooking plantains (7%) were recorded in this region. All these banana and plantain cultivars of the region have been described on the basis of previous knowledge, which allows to enrich the biodiversity knowledge of this crop in the Province of Maniema. Criteria for choosing planting material include flavor, taste, the amount of juice first and demand / price on the market for essential items (such as salt, soap, ...) and for sustainable production because they work for self-consumption. The main uses of banana in the region are food and the manufacture of indigenous alcohol.

35 female weanling rabbit of an average weight of 510g were used in a feeding trial that lasted 12 weeks to evaluate the effect of inclusion of different levels of REE (0, 100, 200, 300 and 400ppm) on the performance, blood and serum parameters of the animals. The animals were randomly allotted to five treatments of 7 replicates (1 animal per replicate) per treatment. The initial weight, final weight and fed intake were monitored, recorded and analysed. Blood samples was collected and used for the haematological analysis. There was significant (p>0.05) difference in the final weight, daily weight gain, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. However, the daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio increases as the inclusion level of dietary REE increase likewise the. Haemoglobin (Hb), Packed cell volume (PCV), Red blood cell (RBC), White blood cell (WBC), neutrophils, eosinophils and lympocytes were not significantly (p>0.05) influenced among the dietary treatment. The total protein, albumin, globulin, cholesterol and urea were also not significantly (p>0.05) different, though all higher numerically in supplemented diets compared to the control.