Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology

An investigation was conducted during 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons under South Gujarat conditions to study the impact of de-blossoming in six mango varieties during regular flowering season on off season fruiting characters. The investigation consisted of four de-blossoming treatments i.e. foliar sprays of Naphthalene Acetic Acid at 400 and 800 ppm, hand de-blossoming and untreated trees which were imposed on six mango varieties i.e. Amrapali, Baramasi, Neelphanso, Neelum, Ratna and Totapuri. The trial was evaluated in a Randomized Block Design with factorial concept. De-blossoming was done at full bloom stage for induction of off season flowering. Results indicated that in regular season cultivar ‘Totapuri’ recorded significantly higher fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width and fruit volume during 2013-14 and 2014-15. With regard to off-season fruiting, significantly maximum value of the above traits was observed in ‘Ratna’ cultivar. Fruit weight, volume, length and width were lowest in cv. ‘Neelphanso’ in regular as well as in off-season. Hand de-blossoming was found superior over control for fruit weight and fruit volume in all the varieties selected for this study in the coastal climate of South Gujarat.

This research was undertaken to assess the spatial distribution of Nitrate levels in the groundwater withdrawn via boreholes. This was done by sampling functional boreholes in the study area for nitrate levels. Lokoja town was selected for this research and the analysis of nitrate contamination was conducted in September which is usually the peak of the rainy season. Ten (10) water samples were collected from ten (10) different boreholes across Lokoja town and examined for Nitrate contamination. Laboratory analysis was conducted via standard methods for water examination using the Cadmium Reduction Method. Results from the laboratory analysis showed that all the boreholes sampled during the study were contaminated with Nitrate. However, the levels of contamination observed were all below the maximum limit of 50 milligrams per litre (mg/l), prescribed by the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ). Nitrate levels observed were low at the northern part of the study area and increased down south. This can be attributed to factors of land use and hydrogeologic features of the place. Annual flooding, the use of inorganic fertilizers and the indiscriminate dumping of waste might be responsible for the high levels of Nitrate observed in Ganaja Village, which is in the southern part of the study area. On a whole, it is recommended that further work be carried out to examine Nitrate levels in the groundwater of other flood plains within the country with similar land use patterns. This will help to ascertain the combined influence of waste, the use of inorganic fertilizers and flooded soils on nitrate levels in groundwater reserves. Furthermore, the water in the study area can be utilised if properly subjected to efficient purification methods.

Tuberose is an ornamental crop which is growing under tropical and sub-tropical areas. Recently, the incidence of leaf blight disease caused by Alternaria polianthi a fungal disease of tuberose is considered as a severe problem causing growth reduction and yield loss triggered by high temperature and humidity. Hence an investigation was carried out in farmer fields at Tumnakatti, Ranebennurtq in Karnataka, to study the bio-efficacy of different fungicides against leaf blight of tuberose. There were six chemicals viz., Tebuconazole 250 EC @ 0.1%, Difenconazole – 25% EC @ 0.1%, Propinoconazole 25% EC @ 0.1%,  Hexaconazole  2% SC @ 0.1%, Mancozeb75 WP @ 0.25%, Chlorothalonil 75 WP @ 0.2%, were evaluated in tuberose cultivar Prajwal during kharif  2016 and 2017. Among the different fungicides, four sprays taken with Tebuconazole @ 0.1% at 15 days interval starting from onset of disease proved to be the most effective treatment and resulted in lowest percent disease index, PDI (10.80). Maximum yield and number of flower stalks per square meter area were recorded in Tebuconazole @ 0.1% (50.90). Tebuconazole @ 0.1% could be used for management of leaf blight and increase the yield of tuberose.

Decision-making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision-maker. This research examines the decision-making skills of managers employed in public and private organizations. The methodology entails a survey of 60 randomly selected managers (i.e. 30 from public organizations and 30 from private organizations) in Udaipur city, India. An online questionnaire technique was used for data collection. Secondary data was also used to get a better insight into the research problem. Frequency, percentage and means weighted scores were used for the analysis of data. The major limitation of this study is that it was conducted in Udaipur city alone, while the work culture of organizations other than in Udaipur city may be different. Results showed that decision-making skills were at a good level among most of the managers in public organizations (63.3%) but in private organizations the majority of managers (60%) were at an excellent level. Maintenance Window Scheme (MWS) were higher in decision making statements of private organizations in comparison to public organizations. There is difference among managers’ managerial skills of public and private organizations.

United Nations Hunger Task Force listed eight goals and conservation of nature and protection of environment is one of them. Different practices involved in use of agrochemicals like mishandling, indiscriminate use, disposal could have adverse health and environmental impact. This experiment was done in eight selected villages of Sonamukhi block in Bankura district of West Bengal with the main objectives of assessing the knowledge and practices regarding agrochemicals stewardship role performed at the end user level i.e. farmers; exploring the farmers perceptions of agrochemical use and its potential adverse effects on health and identifying socioeconomic variables which influence this role and perception. Two types of Methodology involved in this study among which participatory types are cross sectional survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews along with descriptive statistics and Pearson Correlation Analysis. Pesticides which are highly hazardous according to WHO report, are very much in use for different purposes in the study area. All total of 300 farmers were interviewed, among them 20% stored agrochemicals in their homes prior to usage. Eighty percent of the respondents do not use anything to mix the chemicals and they do it bare hand, Unsafe dispose of empty sacs or containers of agrochemicals found in 40% of the respondents and whereas almost 25% of the respondents reused containers/sacks to store materials at homes. A minimal number of them i.e. only 5% of the respondents used sufficient personal protective equipment during application of agrochemicals. Participatory and bottom-up approaches like focus group discussion and key informant interviews divulged that awareness and perception regarding adverse effects of agrochemicals is moderate among the participants. The practice of handling of agrochemicals without proper protection and unsafe disposal of pesticide containers appears to be widely prevalent in the study villages. It was found the though respondent possess moderate knowledge of health and environmental hazard but the implementation of this perceived knowledge is very low. Among the different socioeconomic variables age and size of land holding has negative but significant, whereas education has shown positive and significant correlation with the use of Personal Protective Equipment. A holistic program for increasing awareness for safe management, handling and disposal of pesticides among both users and agricultural input dealers is required to address this important health and environmental problem.

Effects on pH based adsorption of nucleic acid bases (thymine and uracil) at two different concentrations 1 x 10^-4 M and 1 x 10^-5 M on copper, cobalt and silver ferrocyanides were studied over a pH range (1.0 – 10.0) at temperature 30±1ºC. The progress of adsorption was followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the UV absorbance of the nucleic acid base solutions at their corresponding _max. Maximum adsorptions were found at neutral pH for both thymine and uracil.  Effects of concentrations on adsorption of thymine and uracil on copper, cobalt and silver ferrocyanides were studied in a concentration range 10^-4 – 10^-5 M at neutral pH 7.0 ± 0.1 and at temperature 30±1°C. The interaction followed the Langmuir type of adsorption in general in the concentration range of 10^-4 to 10^-5 M of thymine and uracil solution. The uptake of nucleic bases on metal ferrocyanides followed the order of CuFc > AgFc > CoFc for the adsorption of thymine and CuFc > CoFc > AgFc for the adsorption of uracil. Effects of the presence of salts on the adsorption of thymine and uracil on metal ferrocyanides also had been studied. The insoluble metal ferrocyanides’ interaction with biomolecules must have either formed metal complexes or could have enhanced the formation of biopolymers in fluctuating environment.

Onion (Allium cepa L.) also known as the bulb onion or is rightly called as Queen of kitchen. It is one of the oldest important vegetable crops grown in India. Among the various fungal diseases, purple blotch caused by Alternaria porri is one of the most serious disease of onion which causes extensive damage to bulbs as well as seed crop. Field experiment was carried out to know the effect of combi-fungicide Luna sensation 500SC (Fluopyram250SC and Trifloxystrobin 250SC) at 400, 500 and 600 ml /ha along with recommended fungicides against purple blotch disease of onion during kharif seasons 2017-18 and 2018-19. A total of eight treatments were taken and among them Luna sensation 500SC (Fluopyram250SC and Trifloxystrobin 250SC) 600 ml / ha proved to be best for management of purple blotch 22.03% diseases index (PDI), which was superior over all other treatments with maximum bulb yield of 24.77 t/ha.

Dholpur district is located in the semi-arid regions of Rajasthan. The region is affected due to unreliable rainfall pattern, which resulted in the development of a drought-like situation.  The mean annual rainfall in the district is 596.76 mm. The present study has been conducted to identify drought-prone station, drought year and drought characteristics. Departure analysis of seasonal and annual rainfall helps to determine drought year and drought characteristics. The study shows that the region in under widespread drought condition in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2002, 2006, and 2007. The drought severity in the region was classified into four categories, namely extreme, severe, moderate and mild. Maximum extreme drought events occur in Baseri and Dholpur station. Urmilsagar station faced severe drought events 4 times followed by Rajakhera station with three times. Occurrences of moderate and mild drought events are frequent in the region. All the stations are drought-prone based on probability analysis of annual rainfall. Relative departure index (RDI) has been used to decide the relative drought proneness of the various station and based on which Dholpur station (RDI= 1.04) followed by Baseri station (RDI=1.0) are relatively higher drought-prone. The region faces natural water scarcity and droughts. Therefore effort is needed for drought preparedness, mitigation and management measures.

Aim: The current experiment was conducted to study correlation and path analysis among morphological traits and their contribution towards yield under irrigated and drought stress condition using forty eight diverse rice genotypes.

Study Design: The experiment was studied in three replications using Randomized Block Design.

Place and Duration of Study: The research was carried out during Kharif 2018 at Rice Research Farm, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour (Bhagalpur), India.

Methodology: The experiment was conducted in two different sets; irrigated and drought stress condition. The yield and yield attributes were recorded under both the conditions to conduct the correlation and path analysis.

Results: The analysis of variance revealed that genotypes significantly varied in yield and yield related traits. In addition, growth and yield attributes such as effective tillers per hill, biological yield, harvest index (%) and number of fertile grains per panicle were significantly and positively correlated with grain yield per plant under irrigated as well as reproductive stage drought stress condition. It was observed that total number of grains per panicle, number of fertile grains per panicle and biological yield had high positive direct effect on grain yield per plant in both irrigated (control) as well stress condition, indicating true relationship of these characters with grain yield and direct selection for these characters will be rewarding. In rest of the characters studied, correlation was mainly due to indirect effects through component characters and hence indirect selection will lead to yield improvement in rice.

Conclusion: The potential for direct and indirect selection for reproductive stage drought stress tolerance using the associated characters may be useful to the breeder to formulate appropriate breeding plans for the selection of the genotype which tolerate high temperature condition.

Weather forecasting is an important subject in the field of meteorology all over the world. The pattern and amount of rainfall are the essential factors that affect agricultural systems. The present paper describes an empirical study for modeling and forecasting the time series of monthly rainfall patterns for Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The Box-Jenkins Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) methodology has been adopted for model identification, diagnostic checking and forecasting for this region. The best SARIMA models were selected based on the Autocorrelation Function (ACF) and Partial Autocorrelation Function (PACF) and the minimum values of Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). The study has shown that the SARIMA (0,0,0)(2,0,0)₁₂ model was appropriate for analysing and forecasting the future rainfall patterns. The Root Means Square Error (RMSE) values were found to be 52.37 and proved that the above model was the best model for further forecasting the rainfall.

The profitability of ex-situ straw management largely depends on the quantity and quality of straw recovered from the field. The straw reaper-combine is one of the widely used ex-situ straw management technologies being used to retrieve the leftover residue in the field after grain combine operation. Besides considering the positive implication of this technology in recent times, the quality of operation, which accounts for maximizing the performance parameters of straw reaper-combine in a wheat crop. The relationship among these parameters was established using multiple linear regression techniques through the regression equation. The ANOVA test of this experiment also established the significant (P<0.01) effect of forwarding speed and cutting height on all performance parameters. It was observed from the experiment that when the forward speed was increased while keeping the cutting height at a constant level the recovery percentage and specific energy consumption were decreased whereas, straw split percentage and actual field capacity were increased. Likewise, when cutting height was increased keeping the forward speed at a constant level the recovery and split percentage were reduced but, the actual field capacity and specific energy consumption were increased. In order to achieve maximum performance at optimum energy consumption, the straw reaper should be operated at a speed between 3-4 km/h with cutting height between 30-60 mm.

Irrigation water is many a time contaminated with physical, chemical and biological impurities. Proper filtration is of paramount importance to prevent clogging in drip irrigation system thereby aiding in reduced maintenance of the micro irrigation system. This study was conducted on Development and Evaluation of Low cost filters in the Network project on “Engineering Interventions in Micro Irrigation Systems (MIS) for improving water productivity” under Consortia Research Platform on Farm Mechanization and Precision Farming during 2018 to 2020. The objectives of the study are to develop low cost filters and to test the developed system in the field for efficiency in terms of pressure drop throughout discharge and quality of output. It was observed that the discharge from the filter increases as the time increases. Pressure drop and head loss in the filter system increases with flow rate. Filtration efficiency is a percentage of sand particles divided by the TSS removed by the filter. Efficiency of the filter increased from 25% to 64% (double chamber filter) and 23% to 62% (single chamber filter) with flow range of 5 m³/h to 30 m³/h. As flow rate increases, soil particles retained and efficiency of the filter increased with increase in head loss. Filter materials and screen filter removed the sand particles effectively. Uniformity coefficient of 0.95 was observed in single chamber filter which is suitable for small farm application.

The aim of this paper is to interrogate key legal perspectives of reintegration of ex-offenders into society with specific reference to their appointment as directors of private enterprises in Botswana. The paper contends that re-integration of ex-offenders is a continuation of their rehabilitation that should start during their incarceration. The paper argues that the Companies Act Chapter 42:01, the principal statutory law governing private enterprises in Botswana, generally fetters the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders by placing unlimited discretion on the courts in the determination of whether ex-offenders should become directors of companies. Such wide and unrestrained powers of the courts may violate the right of ex-offenders to employment and managing their businesses. The paper adopts a qualitative research design with interpretivist paradigm because of the critical and hermeneutical approach when one is interpreting and analyzing diverse legal instruments. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is considered so as appropriately locate the current discourse. With a view to assessing the magnitude of the treatment of ex-offenders in the private sector for director positions, the paper examines the law on the qualifications for appointment as a director in selected public sector boards. The finding is that whereas the Companies Act Chapter 42:01 leaves the fate of an ex-offender in the hands of the judiciary, that is not the case in the appointment of directors in State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that are established by legislation. The paper therefore recommends legal reform for the Companies Act Chapter 42:01 to adopt an approach that clearly re-integrates ex-offenders without any court process. For a proper appreciation of the approach found in the Companies Act Chapter 42:01, the paper examines South Africa’s Companies Act 71 of 2008. The paper finds that there is need for legal reform in Botswana so that the fate of ex-offenders regarding managing their own companies and serving in other companies is not left to the courts without any statutory safeguards.

Ten rice genotypes were evaluated to study the genetic variability, correlation and path analysis under aerobic conditions for selection of high yielding genotypes. The experiment is carried out in RCBD with 3 replications and the data is analysed in SPAR 2.0, Past 4.01 and OPSTAT for variability, correlation and path analysis respectively. The phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were high for the number of productive tillers per plant, the number of filled grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, biological yield and grain yield indicating the possibility of genetic improvement through direct selection for these traits. The magnitude of difference between PCV and GCV was less for the traits indicating little influence of environment. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was recorded for the number of productive tillers per plant, the number of filled grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, spikelet fertility, biological yield and grain yield indicating a preponderance of additive gene action, which provide excellent scope for further improvement by selection. Significant positive association of grain yield with number of productive tillers per plant, panicle length, number of filled grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, spikelet fertility and biological yield was observed. Path analysis revealed the traits, number of filled grains per panicle exerted highest positive direct effect on grain yield followed by 1000-gain weight and number of productive tillers per plant. Thus, these traits which contribute to the grain yield under aerobic condition could be exploited for further breeding programme.

Despite advances in sanitation facilities and the introduction of various antimicrobial agents with anti-pseudomonal activities, the life-threatening infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa has continue to be hospital infections. This study was aimed to determining the incidence and susceptibility patterns of P. aeruginosa from some teaching hospitals in Southwest, Nigeria. Seventy-seven (77) isolates of Pseudomonas species were obtained from different clinical specimens from three (3) teaching hospitals in southwest, Nigeria. The isolates were re-identified by culturing on cetrimide agar plate and oxidase test was performed on the isolates. Information on the site of isolation, age and gender of the patient were obtained from request forms. Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is mostly associated with the age range of 30-39 years in male patients and 10-19 years in female patients (P<0.05). The wound swab (29.87%) has the highest rate of P. aeruginosa infections closely followed by ear swab (22.08%). There was a statistical significant increase in the mean diameter of zone of inhibition of ciprofloxacin against P. aeruginosa when compared with other antibacterial agents (F-ratio = 18.798, P< 0.0001). However, P. aeruginosa was absolutely resistant to ceftazidime and augmentin.