Emerging Issues in Agricultural Sciences Vol. 2

The agricultural sector serves as the basis of the Indian economy because it directly supports 65% of the country's population. When growing crops, the farmer strives for maximum yields. A study was conducted on the agronomic practices used by 120 farmers from Hasanpur (42 farmers), Kalewal (54 farmers), and Singhpura (24 farmers) in three villages. Wheat, paddy, mustard, sugarcane, maize, berseem, cauliflower, and carrot were reported to be the major crops grown. The information that was gathered from the respondents covered the following topics: seed rate, fertilizer application, seed treatment, number of irrigations, organic manure use, major weeds infesting the fields, herbicide use, major pests attacking crops, pesticide use, major diseases infesting the fields, disease chemicals use, and yield range of crops. The study's conclusions illustrated the techniques used by farmers in the fields to ensure the best crop stand and highest yields.

Organ-mineral fertilizers can improve soil quality and increase crop yields. The present research was carried out in a Nitisol located in Topes de Collantes, from the municipality of Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus province, Cuba, with the objective of evaluating the effects of organ- mineral fertilizers on soil quality and its impact on coffee yield. Three experiments were carried out with organic fertilizers and natural minerals: organic fertilizers (residues from the moist coffee benefit, compost) natural minerals (phosphate limestone, dolomitic limestone). Two of these experiments were conducted under semi-controlled conditions, and one of them was a field experiment. Organic waste levels and combinations of organic waste with natural minerals were evaluated by random block design. The field experiment was conducted for 3 years in a coffee plantation. The following indicators were evaluated: organic matter, phosphorus and assimilable potassium, pH, hydrolytic acidity, exchange acidity, exchangeable aluminum, permeability, stable aggregates, aggregation factor, dry weight and coffee yield. Main components and simple correlations analysis were used. Close relationships between physical and chemical properties and performance were obtained in both controlled and field conditions. The properties evaluated as soil quality indicators are organic matter, degree of aggregation, assimilable phosphorus, pH, and change acidity.

The development of new methodologies and analysis technologies is allowing to increase in knowledge about the biochemical interactions of plant organisms, as is the case of woody crops. In this sense, metabolomic studies through hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) enable the elaboration and definition of "metabolic fingerprints". These unique metabolic footprints can support both the determination of plant varieties and the identification of plant responses and adaptations to external and/or internal factors. In this study, the primary and secondary foliar metabolites of Citrus limon Burm were identified, because it is one of the most important crops in the southeast of Spain and is frequently consumed worldwide. Thus, the trial evaluated two-year-old lemon leaf samples (variety 'Verna'), cultivated under different conditions (three rootstocks and three culture media) aiming to identify the impacts of these variables on the vegetative development of the plant. In total, 19 metabolites were identified for all the samples, of which 9 were amino acids, 5 organic acids, 3 sugars, and 2 intermediate metabolites. Sucrose and maltose were the major sugars identified, which confirms the maturity degree of the studied leaves since the mature leaves are in charge of photosynthesis and provide sources of energy and carbon (mainly sugars such as glucose) to the other plant parts. The variable importance projection (VIP) study identified quinate, arginine and malate metabolites as significant and differentiated between substrates; and arginine, quinate and sucrose metabolites as significant between rootstocks. The results pointed to a limited influence, both of the substrate and the rootstock of the crop, in the metabolomic differentiation of the lemon tree leaves. The knowledge and foliar metabolomic differentiation can offer important information that supports the application of foliar treatments of crops and also helps in the management of diseases and pests.

The present study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of some new chemistry insecticides against cotton whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) during the kharif season of 2019 in a major cotton producing area of Punjab, Pakistan. Cotton whitefly is the world's most damaging pest of vegetables, ornamentals, and cotton, as well as a wide variety of weeds, forest trees, and semi-field crops. A total of ten insecticides (single or mixtures) i.e. Dinotefuran + Spirotetramat (T₁), Dinotefuran + Spirotetramat (T₂), Pyriproxyfen+ Spirotetramat (T₃), Pyriproxyfen+ Spirotetramat (T₄), Spirotetramat (T₅), Spirotetramat (T₆), Pyrifluquinazon (T₇), Pyrifluquinazon (T₈), Flonicamid (T₉), Flonicamid + Abamectin (T₁₀) were applied twice in a field experiment on two varieties of cotton (MNH-90 and BS-18) using randomized complete block design. Water (T₀) served as control. Pyrifluquinazon @ 48.7 g/acre (T₈) caused the maximum mortality (83%) of adults of whitefly while the maximum nymphal mortality (78.4 %) was observed in T₈ (Pyrifluquinazon @ 48.7 g/acre). The maximum increase in boll weight (133%) was observed in T₈ (Pyrifluquinazon @ 48.7 g/acre) followed by T₁₀ (Flonicamid+Abamectin) which gave 110% increase over control. Pyrifluquinazon at 40 g/acre was found to be safer than other tested insecticides, with a minimum reduction of 31% in natural enemy population. As a result, it is concluded that Spirotetramat and Pyrifluquinazon can be effectively included in IPM programs against Bemisia tabaci.

The main objective of the study is to ascertain suitable extension approaches for sustainable productivity of tribal and rural households. By inspiring and organising rural and tribal people towards sustainable productivity, the agricultural extension system in India can become more effective and efficient. In order to effectively organise and strengthen the farming community for better participation, adoption, and empowerment, innovative and effective approaches are needed. A sample of 500 tribal families were selected on stratified random sampling procedure from four village panchayats and seven hamlets based on purposive random sampling method. A socio-economic survey was carried out by using PRA techniques to analyze the tribal scenario of East Godavari district. Major issues were noted, and suitable agro-based interventions for the chosen tribal area were suggested. After running a three-year, externally funded extension-based DBT project and putting interventions into place in the tribal area of the East Godavari district, it was discovered that there is a lot of room to suggest appropriate, creative, and appropriate approaches for the tribal and rural population. For bringing about a desired change in enhancing the way of life of rural and tribal societies towards productivity and sustainability, appropriate innovative extension strategies have been proposed. The project interventions' use of the most recent cutting-edge extension approaches has improved tribal societies' long-term productivity and security of livelihood.

The present study was conducted to investigate the correlation and path analysis in twenty-five medium duration (120-125 day) rice varieties (Oryza sativa L.). Rice (Oryza sativa L) is a critical staple cereal crop that feeds more than half of the world's population. The character association of yield attributing traits revealed a significant positive relationship between plant height, 1000 seed weight, and panicle length and grain yield per hectare. As a result, selecting for these traits can improve yield. In the current study, a high genetic coefficient of variation was observed for number of seed/panicle, along with high heritability and genetic advance, indicating that there is room for improvement of the trait through simple selection. Following panicle length, 1000 seed weight had the greatest positive direct effect on yield, according to a path coefficient analysis. The characters 1000 seed weight and panicle length had a high direct effect as well as a positive association. Therefore, choosing these characters could result in an improvement in yield and yield components.

Water is a vital factor of production, but its diminishing quality may threaten economic growth and social development of a country or a region. One of the most significant irrigated agricultural areas in Morocco is the Loukkos perimeter. The use of pesticides has made this region one of the first agricultural areas of the country in terms of the quantity of its production. The environment, including groundwater, and human health could suffer from the excessive and hazardous use of these chemicals. In this area, Deltamethrin is one of the most widely used insecticides on a variety of crops, including citrus and sugar beet.  Excessive use of this insecticide presents a real risk to the deterioration of the groundwater quality, especially in the case of sandy soils. The aim of the present study was to investigate the adsorption and desorption processes of Deltamethrin in two contrasting agricultural soils (sandy and clayey soils) from Loukkos plain, using Batch equilibration method. The study is part of a large program to update information on pesticides for safer use and development of guidance and regulation for their application. The isotherms for adsorption and desorption were described using the Freundlich model. The adsorption coefficients, which were used to evaluate this phenomenon, were calculated using linear regressions. The results showed that adsorption and desorption processes of Deltamethrin on soils were well described by the Freundlich model. The Freundlich's adsorption coefficient (Kd) values for Deltamethrin in the clayey and sandy soils were 3.914 and 1.503 mL.g-1, respectively. Hence, the properties and the composition of the soils have great impacts on the sorption mechanisms of Deltamethrin. The results also showed that the irreversibility of the adsorption process is more important when the adsorption capacities of the soils and their clay content are high. Our study revealed a high risk of the presence of Deltamethrin in the Loukkos groundwater, particularly in sandy soils, which have low retention capacity due to their low clay and organic matter contents.

Post harvest management includes the processes done immediately after harvesting the produce, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. After the crop is harvested immediately from the field, there is a high chance of deterioration due to its initial high moisture content. Therefore postharvest treatments are given to increase its shelf life and maintain its quality. In terms of cleaning and upgrading of cereal seeds, winnowing fans are used for separation of unwanted materials particularly weed seeds, straw, rice husks, panicle stalks, empty and damaged grains, sand, rocks, rocks, dust, plastics, and even metal and glass particles. The moisture content of the harvested seeds at the initial stage should be dried in the range of 20-23%. Whereas the moisture content at the final stage of drying should be maintained at 13%. If not properly dried, the seed gets infested with insects early and the germination percentage of the seed lot deteriorates fast. Another important operation after drying is grading which helps in the removal of smaller and shrivelled seeds from the well filled healthy seeds. In order to maintain vigor and viability of the stored seeds, seed treatment is considered to be an essential step which includes application of fungicides, pesticides, insecticides or a combination of these in order to disinfect and disinfest seeds from seed borne or soil borne pathogenic organisms and storage insects. For the control of storage insects and pests, fumigation is done particularly with Aluminium Phosphide and Methyl Bromide. Hence, in order to maintain proper management and storage of seeds, seed moisture and temperature are considered to be the most important factors for maintaining and retaining quality of seeds particularly vigor and viability of the stored seeds.

This experiment was carried out to explore the potentiality of an indigenous strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens as a bio-control agent in the management of bacterial wilt disease of brinjal under local conditions. Bacterial wilt is a major threat to brinjal production. Different organic materials were evaluated for their potential as substrate carriers in the formulation of P. fluorescens based biopesticide. It was discovered that vermicompost and farmyard manure significantly extended the shelf life of the biocontrol bacteria. In pot and field experiments, formulations of P. fluorescens based on carboxy methyl cellulose and substrate carriers were used in various ways to test their efficacy in preventing bacterial wilt of brinjal. CVPf formulation and seed + root + soil method of application performed significantly better than others providing 83.33% control of bacterial wilt of brinjal in field experiment conducted by Completely Randomized Block Design. The yield and yield characteristics of CVPf-treated brinjal plants were also noticeably higher than those of other formulation-treated brinjal crops. The P. fluorescens-based organic formulation's capability and scope as a PGPR are indicated by its successful control of the bacterial wilt of brinjal and improvement of yield and yield attributes under local conditions.

The present research was conducted to investigate the response of two in vitro growing olive cultivars to deficiency and toxicity of B in the culture medium. The in vitro evaluation system is a quick technique for studying plant response to stress conditions; it ensures consistency of methodology and the credibility of the results obtained. Boron (B) is a micronutrient element that is required for normal plant growth. To date, nothing is known about the response of in vitro growing olive shoots to B deficiency and toxicity. The current research was carried out at tissue culture laboratory of Pomology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt. Olive shoots of ‘Aggezi Shami’ and ‘Picual’ cultivars were grown on Rugini Olive Media (ROM) supplemented with five B concentrations (0, 12.6 (control), 50, 100 and 150 mg L^-1 of boric acid). Our results indicated that B deficiency and toxicity had a negative effect on in vitro growing olive shoots of both cultivars. Control and 50 mg L^-1 of B produced higher values of olive shoot growth parameters. Olive shoots exhibited a moderate chlorotic appearance and high shoots mortality with 0 and 150 mg L^-1 B. By increasing B concentration of the culture medium B contents in explant increased as well as chlorophyll contents declined in response to increased B concentration in the culture medium. Shoots grown on boron-free medium also showed a significant reduction when compared to control treatments. To boron, the 'Aggezi Shami' cv. was more stress tolerant than the 'Picual' cv.

Night-Blooming Jasmine is one of the most important ornamental plants all over the world. But, inadequate multiplication rate and disease transmittance hamper it’s cultivation to adjoin the demand of high quality planting material for commercial production. Therefore, an efficient in vitro micropropagation protocol is considered as one of the best options to overcome this problem. The present study was carried out to evaluate the micropropagation of Cestrum nocturnum using single nodes and shoot tips extracted from soft cuttings using MS nutrient media, 30.5 gl^-1 Sucrose, 7.5 gl^-1 agar and various concentrations of phyto-hormones in culture medium. The findings revealed that the exploitation of mercuric chloride (0.05%, HgCl₂) for 10 minutes was very effective in preventing contamination and gave the highest survival percentage (99%). Maximum response (100%) was achieved at initiation stage from lateral bud explants on MS nutrient medium supplemented with 1.75 mgl^-1 of BA with most NAA concentration. Significant difference in multiplication stage was observed between lateral buds & terminal buds, since lateral buds assembled large number of newer shoots & leaves in addition to longer new shoots. At the rooting stage, the treatment with 1 mgl^-1 IBA gave the highest percentage (%) of rooting (100%), the highest amount of roots (14.1 root/explants) and the lengthy roots (8.48 cm) in-particular, on half strength MS medium. Finally plantlets were transferred into pots and acclimatized with 95% success. The key role of the present study on plant tissue and cell culture of C. nocturnum in meeting the growing needs and requirements of human beings in the fields of agriculture, forestry, horticulture and medicine is very impressive.