Actinomycetes are involved in important environmental processes such as the decomposition of organic matter. In this study, we examined the impact of crop rotation on the actinomycetes community colonizing rice straw residues in soil over 3 field seasons by means of Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting analysis of actinomycetes 16S rRNA gene fragments amplified from fie...

The paddy soil-rice system has efficient nutrient replenishing mechanisms. Basic cations and silica are supplied by irrigation water, while biological fixation works as an inexhaustible source of N in the system, and phosphorus availability is enhanced under anaerobic conditions. This, along with almost perfect resistance to soil erosion, gives the paddy rice system high productivity as well as...

Suitable substrates for laccase production by the thermotolerant basidiomycete Coriolus versicolor strain RC3 were screened using solid and liquid media. In liquid basal medium, 1%(w/v) rice bran as a carbon source was found to be the most efficient substrate for laccase production compared to 1%(w/v) glucose, wheat bran and rice straw meal. After 15 days cultivation at 37°C in shake flask cult...

High cation exchange capacity and organic matter content of crude humic substances from compost could be exploited to reduce ammonia loss from urea and to as well improve rice growth and soil chemical properties for efficient nutrients utilization in lowland rice cultivation. Close-dynamic air flow system was used to determine the effects of crude humic substances on ammonia volatilization. A p...

Rice, being a major staple crop in South Asia carries its importance in ensuring food security of the region, including in India and Bangladesh. Both the countries have agriculture-based economies where more than 50 percent of the active working population is engaged in agricultural activities. As per UN data, agriculture contributed 17.1 and 18.3 percent, in 2011, in the gross domestic product...

−The objective of this study was to examine the light and heavy metals on the fruit body growth of Cordyceps militaris in the rice-based cultivation. Since heavy metals are commonly detected in the paddy field, we investigated the effect of lead, cadmium and mercury on the rice grain-based cultivation of C. militaris. Cordycepin and cordycepic acid were determined by HPLC method. The result sho...

Laboratory tests of fipronil and its degradation products have revealed acute lethal toxicity at very low concentrations (LC50) of <0.5 microg/L to selected aquatic macroinvertebrates. In streams draining basins with intensive rice cultivation in southwestern Louisiana, USA, concentrations of fipronil compounds were an order of magnitude larger than the LC50. The abundance (rho=-0.64; p=0.015) ...

A low-input cropping system has been developed at Yurimiaguas, Peru, to serve as a transition technology between shifting and continuous cultivation for acid soiln of the humid tropics. Principal features are slash-andburn clearing, rotation of acid-tolerant upland rice and cowpea cultivars, maximum residue return, no tillage, and no lime or fertilizer apoiications. When yields decline as a res...