Azarian Journal of Agriculture
Volume:2 Issue: 5, Oct 2015

A field experiment was conducted during spring season of 2013 on sandy loam soil at Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal to study the effect of tillage and weed management methods on weeds dynamics and productivity of spring maize (Zea mays L.). Two tillage methods namely zero and conventional and six weed management methods namely weedy check, weed free, atrazine 1.5 kg/ha as pre emergence, atrazine and glyphosate as pre emergence, atrazine pendimethalin as pre emergence and atrazine and one hand weeding (HW) at 40 Days after sowing were tested in a strip plot design with three replications. Total weed density and dry weight recorded in conventional tillage were significantly higher than that of zero tillage at almost all growth stages. The tank mixed application of atrazine with glyphosate was found significantly more effective than with pendimethalin and Hand Weeding at 40 Days after sowing. The grain yield of maize was not affected significantly by tillage methods but it was lower in conventional tillage in comparison to zero tillage. The grain yields obtained in double combinations of atrazine with glyphosate (6.69 t/ ha), pendimethalin (6.24 t/ha) and HW at 40 DAS (6.48 t/ ha) were comparable to each other but significantly superior over its sole application and equally effective as weed free condition (7.18 t/ ha). Thus, the maize can be successfully cultivated in zero tillage and combination of atrazine either with glyphosate or with HW at 40 DAS as alternatives of manual weeding to achieve higher grain yield in spring season.

Scarcity of water is the most severe constraint for development of maize in arid and semi-arid areas. Based on the actual crop need, the irrigation management has to be improved so that the water supply to the crop can be reduced while still achieving high yield. Therefore, the current study has been organized to evaluate the effects of deficit sprinkler irrigation (DSI) and farmyard manure (FYM) on Grain yield (GY) and crop water productivity (CWP) of corn, a 2-year experiment was conducted in arid region of Libya. The DSI treatments were (I100 = 100%, I85 = 85% or I70 = 70%) of the crop evapotranspiration. FYM treatments were (0, 10 ton ha−1 ) spread either on the soil surface, incorporated with surface or subsurface layer (FYM10s, FYM10m or FYM10ss, respectively) and 20 ton ha−1 spread as before (FYM20s, FYM20m or FYM20ss, respectively). Results indicated that the highest values of grain yield (GY) were obtained from I100 treatment, while the lowest were observed in I70. FYM20ss enhanced GY than other FYM treatments in both seasons. The highest GY and CWP were recorded with I100 and received FYM20ss. It could be considered as a suitable under arid environmental conditions and similar regions, the treatment (I100 × FYM20ss) is the most suitable for producing high GY and CWP. Under limited irrigation water, application of (I85 ×FYM20ss) treatment was found to be favorable to save 15% of the applied irrigation water, at the time in which produced the same GY.

A controlled experiment was conducted on a randomized block design in three blocks with three levels of phosphorus (P) and molybdenum (Mo). P and Mo were applied in nine combinations, sixty days after planting, the flower counts, plant heights, fresh and dry weights were obtained. It was observed that the application of P and Mo in combination significantly influenced the flower count and fresh vegetative weight. However, only P application had a maximum positive effect on dry vegetative weight and there was no significant effect on plant height.

Salinity is a widespread soil problem limiting productivity of oilseed crops worldwide and soybean cultivars differ in their sensitivity to soil salinity. With this in mind, a pot experiment was conducted at plant nutritional physiology laboratory, Hiroshima University, Japan to study the response of three Egytp soybean cultivars (Giza-111, Giza-82 and Giza-35) to salinity stress (Control, 10 mM NaCl). The results showed that the culivars had a negative responce to salinity stress and most of the measured plant yield traits, oil and protein content. Results indicated that Giza-111 cultivar surpassed other cultivars in all characters under study. The highest value of seed yield, seed oil and protein percent observed in Giza-111 with the compare to other cultivars under salinity conditions. It was concluded that soybean is a sensitive plant to salinity stress, but the extent of this sensitivity varies among cultivars. As a result, Giza-111 cultivar showed more capability to survive under salinity condition compared with another cultivars regarding of almost all plant traits examined. Considering, Giza-111 was found more appropriate under salinity condition.

A split plot experiment (based on RCB design) with four replications was conducted in 2014, to evaluate the effects of different irrigation treatments (I1, I2, I3 and I4: irrigation after 70, 100, 130 and 160 mm evaporation, respectively) on essential oil content of dill (Anethum graveolens L.) organs in two genotypes (Local and Mammoth). Irrigation treatments and genotypes were allocated to the main and sub-plots, respectively. Essential oil percentage of dill organs increased, but their essence yield decreased as water deficit severed. Mammoth had the highest essential oil percentage in all organs, but essential oil yield of vegetative organs and flowers of the local genotype was much more than that of mammoth genotype. However, the difference in essence yield of seeds between two genotypes was not significant. The highest essential oil percentage and yield under all irrigation intervals were obtained from seeds, followed by flowers and vegetative organs. It was concluded that seeds and flowers are the most beneficial organs of dill, regarding essential oil production, although dill is largely used as a vegetable.