INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE SCIENCES

321-335

Authors: Kiros Gebretsadkan

On-field experiment on Tef performance was conducted in Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia with the objective of evaluating the effects of N-P rates and water levels on yield and yield components of tef. The experimental design was a factorial combination of three levels of water with three levels of N-P fertilizers replicated four times at Illala and Wukro research stations. The highest tef yield 2770 kg ha-1 was recorded at Illala site from 64 kg ha-1 N and 46 kg ha-1 P under full irrigation and that of Wukro was 1988 kg ha-1 under full irrigation with 32 kg N ha-1 and 23 kg P ha-1. However, the lowest grain yield was obtained under rainfed with 64kg ha-1N and 46 kg ha-1P at Illala and at Wukro it was rain fed with N0P0 fertilizer. Increase in water level and N-P rates (P˂0.001) increased the grain yield, biomass, days to maturity and harvest index. However, the interaction of water levels, N-P rates across locations did not show significant difference (p=0.05) for biomass, harvest index, days to heading, days to senescence, days to maturity, lodging%, plant height, panicle length and tiller number. Highest water use efficiency was obtained in full irrigation with 64kg ha-1N and 46 kg ha-1P at Illala with 0.643 kg m-3 and rainfed and deficit irrigation at Wukro with 0.374 kg m-3 whereas the lowest water use efficiency was obtained from treatments of rainfed and 64kg ha-1N and 46 kg ha-1P at Illala with 0.294 kg m-3 and deficit irrigation and N0P0 fertilizer at Wukro with 0.293 kg m-3. The highest net benefit was obtained in deficit irrigation and 64kg ha-1N and 46 kg ha-1P at Illala with 35769 ETB ha-1 and full irrigation and N0P0 fertilizer at Wukro with 26253 ETB ha-1.The lowest net benefit was also gained in deficit irrigation and 64kg ha-1N and 46 kg ha-1P at Illala and Wukro with 8335 birr ha-1 and 18231 ETB ha-1 respectively. It can be concluded that not only the amount but also the time of supplementary irrigation applied to mitigate water stress in combination with timely application of the recommended fertilizer dose has increased the yield of tef at the test sites. Both mineral fertilizer management and water management are found to be very important factors for areas with water scarcity and with degraded soils. Full irrigation with 64 kg ha-1 N and 46 kg ha-1 P could bring relatively better yield advantage to farmers around Enderta having soils of clay whereas it is full irrigation with 32 kg ha-1 N and 23 kg ha-1 P for farmers around Wukro with sandy clay loam soils. However, further research needs to know whether limited irrigation could bring higher yield in those sites.

349-360

Authors: Alemayehu Biri1, Sheleme Kaba1*, Fikadu Taddesse, Nigussie Dechassa, Sharma JJ, Asrat Zewidie and Arvind Chavhan*

The parasitic weed, Striga, is a major constraint to sorghum production in Ethiopia. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted during the main cropping season of 2013 with an objective to study the effect of different levels of nitrogen (N) and vermicompost (VC) application on Striga infestation, growth and yield of sorghum at Fedis Agricultural Research Center, eastern Ethiopia. The treatments consisted of three rates of N (0, 46, 92 kg/ha) in the form of urea and five rates of vermicompost (VC) (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 t/ha) in the form of organic fertilizer. The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement and replicated three times. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences in the parameters studied. The results of this study revealed that application of vermicompost significantly increased soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium contents. Nitrogen and vermicompost interacted to significantly (P < 0.01) influence the number of Striga per hectare. Number of Striga in the control plot was about 4.6-fold higher than in the plots treated with the highest rates of the two fertilizers. Both the main and the interaction effects of nitrogen and vermicompost significantly influenced the sorghum growth parameters. However, nitrogen had more profound effects in enhancing the growth response of the crop than vermicompost. Increasing the rate of nitrogen from nil to 46 kg N/ha resulted in a 57% increase in grain yield, with no further increases noted beyond this level. Similarly, increasing the rate of vermicompost from nil to 1.0 t/ha increased grain yield of sorghum by about 17%. However, stover yield was significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by the interaction effect of the two fertilizers and the average value at the highest application rates of the two fertilizers exceeded the control plots by about 30%. In conclusion, the findings of this study have demonstrated that application of 46 kg/ha nitrogen and 1.0 t/ha vermicompost significantly reduced infestation of Striga in sorghum, improved soil moisture and nutrient contents, and enhanced growth and yield of the crop. Nonetheless, further research works are required to draw sound technology options for striga prone sorghum growing areas.

373-378

Authors: Sundarrajan Priya*, Shetty Sangeeta and Shigvan Aniket

The use of bioethanol as an alternative, renewable and green source of fuel has been steadily increasing around the world. Ethanol can be made synthetically from petroleum or by microbial conversion of biomass through fermentation. In the present study, nine ethanol-producing yeasts were isolated from various sources like soil, sugarcane bagasse and rotten fleshy fruits. Morphological, microscopic and biochemical studies were carried out with these isolates. The yeasts were characterized for temperature tolerance, osmotolerance and growth with sugar sources at various pH. Ethanol production was estimated by Nitroblue tetrazolium assay. Different strains showed ethanol production with 2% of glucose, sucrose, galactose, lactose, maltose and fructose. One of the strains isolated showed high osmotolerance with growth up to 70% sugar. The strains grew at different pH ranging from 3.5 to 9 and temperature ranging from 20°C to 37°C. For one strain, maximum ethanol production was observed at 25°C, pH 5.5. This strain produced 43.9 mg/ml ethanol from 80 mg/ml of glucose after 72 hours of fermentation indicating that the strain has a potential for industrial application.

385-393

Authors: Hafsa Basharat, Abdul Ghafoor, Arvind Chavhan, Muhammad Muddassar Zafar, Khalid Abbas, Javeria Tabasum and Razia Parveen

Understanding with genetic variation is important for management of wild populations and these variations are imperative for maintaining evolutionary potential and ensuring characteristics for wild populations. Genetic diversity and population structure of Wallago attu was assessed across its natural distribution in Punjab using five species specific microsatellite markers. A total of 177 fish samples was taken and genotypic data of all the samples were generated through PCR amplification of targeted loci. All microsatellite proved to be polymorphic, a total of 36 alleles were found in five sampled populations whose number of allele varied from 6 to 9. The mean FST value 0.0269 revealed little genetic differentiations. The mean observed heterozygosity was ranged from 0.5328 (CB) to 0.8225 (MD) and the expected heterozygosities were found in range from 0.5396 (CB) to 0.8341 (MD). Significant deviations (p<0.05) from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) have been observed in all five populations. The results purposed poor genetic structuring in this valuable resource. The knowledge generated and tools used in this research work will be helpful for the future commercial development of W. attu in terms of selective breeding and for better understanding of effective fisheries management.

401-411

Authors: Bawaskar Kiran S, Khate Dinesh and Wazalwar Sachin

This paper deals with the community of birds in and around Chargaon dam Warora district Chandrapur Maharashtra state India. It is situated at coordinate 20.3944526°N 79.1757202°E district of Maharashtra India. In present no data pertaining to avifaunal diversity of this region is available, so that we were decided to prepare a checklist of birds. The observation was carried out throughout year from April 2012- April 2016 in and around Chargaon dam. The study revealed a total 196 species of birds belonging to the 64 families and 19 orders of which 139 Species were resident 17 Migratory residents 38 winter migratory 1 breeding migratory and 1 species were passage migrant.

419-422

Authors: Chavhan ST, Darade MS and Pawar SS

Identification of fungi from infected black gram plant was carried out in present investigation. Various fungal pathogens were identified from black gram plants with respect to different localities and different varieties at field condition. Black gram samples were collected from regions of Barshitakli, taluka. Total nine and twelve fungi were identified from two variety of black gram TAU-1 and TAU-2 respectively. Black gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) is one of the most widely used pulse crop of India. Black gram was found in ancient Indian literature like Kautilya Arthasastra and Charkas Charka samhita. It is widely cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world including India, Iran, Malaysia, East Africa and many southern European countries.

427-431

Authors: Baviskar RN and Dekate HM

Blue mold of pear is caused by Penicillium expansum Link. Thom. ex. is one of the most serious post harvest disease in India. Total twenty three isolates of P. expansum were isolated from infected pear fruits for sensitivity tested against carbendazim on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium. Sensitivity of these isolates to carbendazim was determined using food poisoning method. In vitro Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) for carbendazim was determined; isolate Pe-9 MIC-750.6µg/ml was sensitive while isolate Pe-15 MIC-970.3 µg/ml was tolerant. In vivo Pe-9 MIC-1900.2µg/ml was sensitive. Pe-15 MIC-2470.3µg/ml was tolerant. Carbendazim resistant mutant (Pe-EMS-10, MIC-4850.6µg/ml) is equally important to manage using different fungicides. P. expansum was tested against carbendazim and other fungicides viz. dithane Z-78, polyram, acrobat, kocide, dithiocarbmate, thiobendazole and diphenylamine. In vitro results revealed that the Percentage Control Efficacy (PCE) values range at 50% Conc. (44.02 - 49.28%) while at 100% Conc. (50.89 - 61.39%) individually and in mixture with carbendazim increased its PCE from at 50% Conc. (55.39 - 68.98%) while at 100% (68.72 -73.57%). In vivo PCE at 50% Conc. (51.62 - 56.95%) individual and mixture (57.25 - 59.26%) while at 100% from alone (58.32 - 69.36%) and in mixture (71.63 - 79.82%) PCE further increased and without fungicide served as control.