فهرست مطالب
Azarian Journal of Agriculture
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Feb 2020
- تاریخ انتشار: 1399/02/10
- تعداد عناوین: 4
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Pages 1-7
The field experiment was carried out in bitter gourd cv. Paalee in Chitwan during the cropping season of March-May, 2019. 4 × 2 Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was conducted with three replications. Four different mulching materials viz. silver plastic mulch, black plastic mulch, straw mulch and a control with no mulch were assigned as first factor whereas second factor consisted of two plant spacing of 1.5m and 1m (plant-to-plant).The analysis revealed that silver plastic mulch recorded highest vine length (468.71 cm), maximum number of nodes per main vine (44.47) and maximum number of branches per main vine (31.57).Days to first male and female flowering, and sex ratio were found significantly (p<0.05) lower in silver plastic mulch as compared to other mulches. Similarly, silver plastic much had highest average fruit length (26.9cm), average fruit diameter (6.95cm), fruit number per plant (16.23), individual fruit weight (285.14g) and fruit yield (61.5 tons ha-1), soil moisture percentage (47.45) and Benefitcost Ratio (BCR) (3.08).The control treatment with no mulch had the lowest of all these parameters. The plant spacing did not significantly (p<0.05) differ for all the characters, except average individual fruit weight, average fruit yield and BCR, which were found higher (265.07g, 50.91 tons/ha and 1.9 respectively in wider spacing. The interaction effects of plant spacing and mulching materials were observed only for average fruit length and average fruit diameter. This study suggests silver plastic mulch as an effective mulching material for better growth and yield of bitter gourd cv. Paalee.
Keywords: Bitter gourd, Mulching materials, Plant spacing, Sex ratio, Benefit-cost Ratio -
Pages 8-16
Three age groups of eggs of the stored grain pests, Ephestia kuehniella (1, 2, and 3days old) were exposed to ultraviolet irradiation with 254 nm wavelength (UV-C) for different exposure times (0.5- 40 min.) under controlled conditions to determine irradiation effect on egg-hatching. The effect of UVC-irradiation on reproduction and population growth parameters was investigated for eggs irradiated for 0.5, 1 and 1.5 minutes. An increase in time of exposure to irradiation caused a gradual decrease in percentage of hatching off eggs in all age groups of eggs. In all treatments, the older eggs were more sensitive to UV-rays than younger ones. The results indicated that different exposure periods of UV-irradiation could affect the reproduction and population growth parameters. The highest value of net fertility rates was observed in 1, 2, and 3-days-old eggs which were treated with 0.5 min exposure time (26.69 ± 4.66, 5.99 ± 0.57 and 1.55 ± 0.16 eggs/female, respectively). Both the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) and the net reproductive rate (R0) decreased with increasing the exposure time from 0.5 to 1.5 min while the mean generation time (Tc) and doubling time (DT) increased within this irradiation range. The lowest amount of rm was determined in 1, and 2 days-old eggs at 1.5 min and in 3-day-old eggs at 1 min exposure times (0.037 ± 0.0025, 0.004 ± 0.0016 and 0.006 ± 0.0008 day-1, respectively). UVC-irradiation may be used as an alternative approach to control of stored product pests.
Keywords: Ephestia kuehniella, Physical control, Population growth parameters, Reproductive parameters -
Pages 17-25
In the current examination, we assessed the impacts of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) for ameliorating salinity in Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.), a useful legumes crop. Experimental salinity was controlled in terms of dSm-1 at levels of 0 (control), 4, 8 and 12 dSm-1, have been researched in a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The impacts of four distinctive TiO2 NPs concentrations (0, 20, 40 and 60 mg L-1) were contrasted with deference with plant development and stress reactions. Germination and seedling emergence percentage was fundamentally affected by 12 dSm-1 of NaCl. Presentation to NaCl stress essentially decreased length of grass pea seedling organs (root and shoot) comparatively, the substance of proline expanded for the most part in the roots from moderate saltiness conditions. In any case, foliar of nano-TiO2 conquered pernicious impacts of salt pressure and improved the vast majority of these parameters. The best outcomes were found at 20 mg L-1 nano-TiO2. Generally, utilization of Tio2 was useful in expanding saltiness resistance in Grass pea seedlings and their application may incite a reasonable strategy to ensure plants against sodium harmfulness.
Keywords: Grass pea, NaCl, Salinity, Seed Germination, TiO2 NPs -
Pages 26-35
A survey was conducted to carry out an in-depth value chain analysis of honey bee subsector in the Chitwan from January 2019 to May 2019. Seventy-two respondents, including 60 beekeepers, 2 intermediaries, 2 cooperatives, 2 wholesalers cum processor, 3 retailers and 3 consumers were selected for interview using simple random sampling technique. Each beekeeper with more than 20 beehives was taken as respondents. The average number of beehives per farm was 56.80, and the average honey production per annum was 24.064 kg Hive-1. The gross return per hive and benefit-cost ratio in the study area was found to be NRs. 9247.69 and 1.56, respectively. The price spread was calculated as NRs. 151.3 per kg and producers share was 69.6% on an average. The marketing efficiency was found highest when sold directly to the retailers (2.57) followed by the involvement of wholesalers cum processors (1.75) and found lowest when various intermediaries were involved (0.48). Furthermore, the low availability of foraging areas and high competition with foreign honey was identified as the major production and marketing problem, respectively. This research explored the existing scenario of the value chain in honey bee products and its major constraints in the study area.
Keywords: Apiculture, beekeeping, bee products, honey, value addition