Azarian Journal of Agriculture
Volume:8 Issue: 3, Jun 2021

Newly constructed black light traps (BLT) were placed in an open maize cropping area at Rampur in Chitwan (228 masl), Puranchaur (900 masl) and Lumle (1750 masl) in Kaski district of Nepal. Traps were operated at weekly interval from dusk to dawn in fixed day throughout the year for two consecutive years 2017 and 2018, and trapped borer insects recorded. Stem borers complex (Chilo partellus Swinhoe and Sesamia inferens Walker) were found in the study areas. Maximum number of C. partellus (103) moths was trapped in the month of March at Rampur, followed by Lumle (28) and Puranchaur (25) during the month of April with mean temperature ranged 18-24ºC. Similarly, the highest numbers of S. inferens (51 and 33) moths were trapped during the month of November at Rampur and Puranchaur; 22 at Lumle area during October at mean temperature range of 14-21ºC, respectively. This study clearly indicated that C. partellus was mostly active in summer and S. inferens in winter season in all three ecological regions. These results clearly showed that the incidence of borer complex was found more in the lower elevation>300 masl than in the foot hill, 900-1000 masl and the high hill, 1700-1800 masl. Occurrence of the adult of C. partellus was positively correlated with maximum temperature (r=0.248) and minimum temperature (r=0.751) but negatively corrected with rainfall (r=-0.172) while negatively correlated with maximum temperature (r =-0.652), minimum temperature (r=-0.233) and rainfall (r=-0.575) in the case of S. inferens.

A study carried in 2019, assesses the sociodemographic characteristics of vegetable growers, their knowledge on proper postharvest practices, factors affecting the adoption of proper postharvest activities, and their economic calculation of significant vegetable growers of Nepal. The study sites included Hetauda, Khairahani, Bharatpur, and Kawasoti, municipality of Nepal which were purposively selected based on area coverage, production, number of growers, and commercialization scale. A total of 172 vegetable-producing households were sampled using a simple random sampling technique. Descriptive statistics, economic analysis, and Logit model were used for data analysis. Harvesting was mainly carried by hand whereas, very few people used a knife for cauliflower and cabbage. Damaged vegetables were discarded for grading in most of the vegetables. In the case of tomatoes, grading was done based on color and size. Few farmers used calcium zinc and potash to increase the shelf-life of vegetables. Logit econometric model revealed that education, ethnicity, demand information, household type, training on activities, and land area for vegetables significantly determined the adoption of proper postharvest activities. The total postharvest loss of $ 2382.67 occur on average in a season. Since this study is at the introductory level, the adoption level of farmers was based on their prior knowledge; thus, further educational aspects (knowledge, attitude, skill, and aspiration) on proper postharvest activities by the related project can help farmers and traders to minimize the postharvest losses.

From October 6, 2015, to March 5, 2016, in research field of the National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal, an experiment was conducted to assess mid parent and better parent heterosis in growth and yield traits among single-cross maize hybrids. In a randomized complete block design with three replications, eleven maize hybrids were evaluated. The results showed that mid parent and better parent heterosis were considerably greater for yield traits viz cob length (67.1, 49.6%), cob diameter (113, 93.6%), number of kernel rows per cob (40, 27.6%), number of kernels per row (134.5, 98%), and test weight (92.2, 96.4%). The highest mid-parent heterosis for growth and yield attributing traits was found in RML-98/RL-105, followed by RML-5/RL-105, RML95/RL-105, and RML-4/NML-2. The hybrid RML-98/RL-105 had the highest better parent heterosis for growth and yield attributing traits, followed by RML-5/RL-105, RML-95/RL-105, and RML-4/NML-2. These findings suggested that hybrids like RML98/RL-105, RML-5/RL-105, RML-95/RL-105, and RML- 4/NML-2 are promising hybrids that the farmers should grow these hybrids in order to increase maize production

Although silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth's crust, its absorption is limited. Its use as a beneficial element can play a significant role in plant growth. This study was conducted to research the potential effects of Si application (K2SiO3 with Four levels: 0 (Control), 50, 100, and 200 mg kg-1 soil) on the growth properties, chlorophyll content (Chll), number of flowers (NoF), and uptake of silicon (Si), potassium (K) and iron (Fe) by root and shoot of Viola tricolor L. Although the Si application did not cause a significant difference for Chll content. But a significant increase of the NoF (P ≤ 0.01) was observed for all used Si levels and increased from 14 to 27 under Control to 200 mg kg-1 treatment, respectively. Si application significantly increased root and shoot uptake of K and Fe (P ≤ 0.01). Although the K uptake by roots declined (50 mg kg-1) or no significant difference (100 mg kg-1 and 200 mg kg-1), but shoot uptake of K witnessed an increasing trend from 50 mg kg-1 to 200 mg kg-1 and hit a peak at 200 mg kg-1 with 22% increase compared with control. The highest Fe uptake by root and shoot was observed under 200 mg kg-1 and 100 mg kg-1 respectively where the Fe uptake recorded a rise with 43% and 62% compared with control respectively. Based on our results, the Si application had positive effects on growth parameters and elements uptake in Viola tricolor L.