salinity of water and soil in arid and semi arid regions restricts the growth and yield of crops such as sesame. in order to evaluate yield and yield components of 43 lines and ecotypes of sesame (sesamum indicum l.) under saline condition (ec of irrigation water, 5.2 ds m-1) an experiment was carried out in randomize complete block design with three replications at salinity research station of...

Microalgae mass cultures can use solar energy for the biofixation of power plant flue gas and other concentrated CO2 sources into biomass that can be used to produce renewable fuels such as methane, ethanol, biodiesel, oils and hydrogen and for other fossil-fuel sparing products and processes. They thus can mitigate emissions of fossil CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Microalgae are currently us...

in order to determine the relationship between the variables grain yield and biological yield and some important agronomic traits, and to find the direct and indirect effects of important agronomic traits on both grain and biological yields, 364 soybean genotypes (3 planting dates) were studied. the study was based on a design augmented with 3 checks and 6 blocks implemented, in seed and plant ...

Information on heritability and predicted gains from selection for increased biomass yield for ethanol production in switchgrass is limited and may vary among breeding populations. The purpose of this study was to estimate heritability and predicted gains from selection for higher biomass yield within a lowland ecotype switchgrass population, Southern Lowland 93 (SL-93), and two upland ecotype ...

1. Predators can reduce herbivory and increase plant biomass by consuming herbivores, lowering individual herbivore feeding rates, or both. We tested whether the presence of predators increases plant quality by non-consumptively reducing grazing pressure and thereby weakening the strength of the induced response in plant chemical defences. 2. We performed a 42-day outdoor mesocosm experiment in...

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is considered one of the most important pests of soybean, Glycine max L. (Merrill) (Fabaceae), in Brazil and worldwide. Although chemical control still represents the principal strategy used to control this insect, less aggressive strategies such as the use of resistant genotypes stand out as potentially efficient alternatives for in...

introduction: fao aquacrop model (raes et al., 2009a; steduto et al., 2009) is a user-friendly and practitioner oriented type of model, because it maintains an optimal balance between accuracy, robustness, and simplicity; and it requires a relatively small number of model input parameters. the fao aquacrop model predicts crop productivity, water requirement, and water use efficiency under water...

(1) Competitive ability can be compared between species in two ways: effect of different neighbour species on performance of a single target species or response of different arget species to a single neighbour species. In a 5-week glasshouse experiment, an additive design was used for all combinations of seven species as both target and neighbour species to determine if there were consistent hi...

Several recent studies have indicated that an enriched atmosphere of carbon dioxide (CO2) could exacerbate the intensity of plant invasions within natural ecosystems, but little is known of how rising CO2 impacts the belowground characteristics of these invaded systems. In this study, we examined the effects of elevated CO2 and nitrogen (N) inputs on plant and soil microbial community character...