Forage seed production and trade as a pathway out of poverty in the smallholder sector: lessons from the Zimbabwe Crop Livestock Integration for Food Security (ZimCLIFS) project     

Irenie Chakoma  Lovemore C Gwiriri  Godfrey Manyawu  Sikhalazo Dube  Mercy Shumba  Aleck Gora 《African Journal of Range and Forage Science》2016,33(3):181-184

The major challenge to adoption of improved forage technologies in the smallholder farming sector is poor accessibility to seed of improved cultivars. Since 2012, the Zimbabwe Crop Livestock Integration for Improved Food Security (ZimCLIFS) project set out to address such challenges through research-for-development initiatives. The main objective was to demonstrate the potential viability of a pasture seed business using a lead farmer approach, farmer-to-farmer technology dissemination, innovation platforms and field demonstrations. Snapshot surveys were used to map forage seed distribution pathways within and outside project areas. Total land area planted to forages from the 2012/13 to 2014/15 seasons increased by 147% from 14.6 ha. In 2013, Mucuna pruriens (mucuna), Lablab purpureus (lablab) and Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) seed produced was 2 250 kg, 120 kg and 4 450 kg, respectively, and by the third season, total yield increased by 163%. Seed diffusion was within and beyond project boundaries, with mucuna (67%) and lablab (43%) seed produced in the 2013/14 season being distributed outside the project area. Highest amounts received by some farmers were US$800 and US$750 for lablab and mucuna, respectively. It was concluded that there is scope to develop formal pasture seed businesses to increase rural industrialisation and provide a pathway out of poverty in the smallholder sector.  相似文献   

Induction of protective immunity in chickens immunised with plasmid DNA encoding infectious bursal disease virus antigens   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

Fodor I  Horváth E  Fodor N  Nagy E  Rencendorsh A  Vakharia VN  Dube SK 《Acta veterinaria Hungarica》1999,47(4):481-492

Direct DNA inoculations were used to determine the efficacy of gene immunisation of chickens to elicit protective immune responses against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). The vp2 gene of IBDV strains GP40 and D78, and the vp2-vp4-vp3 encoding segment of strain D78 were cloned in an expression vector which consisted of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediate early enhancer and promoter, adenovirus tripartite leader sequences and SV40 polyadenylation signal. For purification of vaccine-quality plasmid DNA from E. coli, an effective method was developed. Chickens were vaccinated by inoculation of DNA by two routes (intramuscular and intraperitoneal). Two weeks later, chickens were boosted with DNA, and at 2 weeks post-boost, they were challenged with virulent IBDV strain. Low to undetectable levels of IBDV-specific antibodies and no protection were observed with DNA encoding VP2. However, plasmids encoding VP2-VP4-VP3 induced IBDV-specific antibodies and protection in the chickens. DNA immunisation opens a new approach to the development of gene vaccines for chickens against infectious diseases.  相似文献   

Impact of organic manure and chemical fertilizers on artemisinin content and yield in Artemisia annua L     

Prabhakar JhaMauji Ram  M.A. KhanUsha Kiran  Mahmooduzzafar  M.Z. Abdin 《Industrial Crops and Products》2011,33(2):296-301

Artemisinin isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. is a promising and potent antimalarial drug. It posses remarkable activity against both chloroquinine resistant as well as chloroquinine sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum. It is also useful in the treatment of cerebral malaria. The relatively low content of artemisinin in A. annua and unavailability of cost effective and viable synthetic protocol however, are major obstacles to the commercial production of the drug. The enhanced production of artemisinin is hence, highly desirable, which can be achieved by adequate and judicious supply of plant nutrients. The present experiment was therefore, designed to study the effect of organic manure (15 tonnes ha⁻¹) and chemical fertilizers (N₄₀₊₄₀, P₄₀, K₄₀, S₁₅₊₁₅ kg ha⁻¹; nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur) on the accumulation of artemisinin and biomass in various plant parts through the developmental stages of A. annua L. Artemisinin yield (kg ha⁻¹) was also determined through the developmental stages of A. annua L. Artemisinin content and artemisinin yield of dried leaves were increased significantly at pre-flowering stage in the plants treated with NPKS (27.3% and 53.6%) and NPK (18.2% and 33.5%), respectively, when compared with control. Maximum dry yield of leaf ranging from 2596 to 3141 kg ha⁻¹ was observed at pre-flowering stage with various treatments.  相似文献   

SCAR markers: A potential tool for authentication of herbal drugs     

Usha Kiran  Salim Khan  Khanda Jabeen Mirza  Mauji Ram  M.Z. Abdin   《Fitoterapia》2010,81(8):969-976

Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is easy to develop and simple molecular marker, but lack of reproducibility makes it less reliable for authentication of herbal drugs. Besides RAPD, other popular PCR and non-PCR based markers like AFLP, ISSR, SSR and RFLP are also used for authentication. However, these also have disadvantages like use of radioactive isotopes, high cost and absolute requirement of sequence information. Therefore, it is a better option to improve the reproducibility of RAPD by converting RAPD amplicons into Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR) markers. SCAR markers are easy, reliable and reproducible thus, have an advantage over RAPD markers for authentication of medicinal herbs used in the preparation of traditional medicines. These markers however, have been developed for only a few medicinal herbs. This review is an attempt to evaluate critically the role of SCAR markers in authentication of medicinal herbs used in traditional formulations.  相似文献   

Spatio-temporal epidemiology of Japanese encephalitis virus infection in pig populations of eastern Uttar Pradesh,India, 2013–2022     

Himani Dhanze  Balbir B. Singh  Michael Walsh  M. Suman Kumar  Amit Kumar  Kiran N. Bhilegaonkar  Victoria J. Brookes 《Zoonoses and public health》2024,71(4):429-441

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Dietary lipid influences gonadal maturation,digestive enzymes and serum biochemical indices of Cyprinus carpio reared in biofloc system     

Peer Saba Manzoor  Kiran Dube Rawat  Virendra Kumar Tiwari  Nalini Poojary  Babitha Rani Asanaru Majeedkutty 《Aquaculture Research》2020,51(8):3244-3254

An experiment was conducted for 120 days to evaluate optimum dietary lipid requirements for gonadal maturation of Cyprinus carpio fed with varying dietary lipid levels under biofloc‐based systems (BFT). About 180 fingerlings (22 g ± 0.05) were randomly distributed in 15 tanks (300 L) at the rate of 48 no./m² and fed with varying lipid levels (T1—4% lipid with BFT, T2—6% lipid with BFT, T3—8% lipid with BFT, T4—10% lipid with BFT, control—10% lipid without BFT). The C/N ratio of 20:1 was maintained using tapioca flour as carbon source. Biofloc units supplemented with 8% dietary lipid (T3) showed advanced maturation in terms of absolute fecundity (9,913 ± 7.62), relative fecundity (229.0/g ± 11.92), gonadosomatic index (24.47% ± 1.27), hepatosomatic index (1.97% ± 0.07), condition factor (0.02 g/cm³ ± 0.00) compared with control (clear water with 10% lipid) (p < .05). Histological observations of gonads also revealed that the biofloc groups with supplementation of 8% dietary lipid promoted gonadal maturation for female oocyte and 6% dietary lipid promoted maturation for males, compared with control (clear water with 10% lipid). The results obtained in this experiment elucidate that the biofloc improves gonadal maturation of common carp broodstock at a dietary supplementation with 8% lipid compared with conventional system of broodstock management.  相似文献   

Variation in rooting behavior of stem cuttings in relation to their origin in Taxus wallichiana Zucc.     

Kiran Kaul 《New Forests》2008,36(3):217-224

The present study investigates optimal conditions for the vegetative propagation of Himalayan yew Taxus wallichiana Zucc., an important medicinal tree, during spring. Effect of four treatments: (a) sex of donor plant (male and female), (b) age/type of shoot (1, 2, 3 year old, long and dwarf shoots), (c) auxin treatment (IBA and NAA at 0, 0.5, 1.25, 5.0 & 50.0 mM) and (d) rooting environment (raised beds/polythene bags) on percentage rooting in stem cuttings was studied. Randomized complete block (RBD) designs were used for experimentation. Rooting ability of cuttings was significantly influenced by all these treatments. The overall rooting response was higher in long shoot cuttings taken from female tree. Age of shoot also influenced the rooting response and was highest in 1 year old long shoot cuttings of female tree. Exogenous application of auxin, α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and indole-3 butyric acid (IBA), had significant positive effect on the percentage rooting. IBA significantly enhanced the rooting percentage in 1 year old long and dwarf shoots at lower doses and 2 and 3 year old long shoots from female tree at higher doses. Maximum percent rooting (90% ± 2.8) was obtained with interactive effect of 0.5 mM, NAA (22 h) × 1 year old long shoot from female tree; followed by the interactive effect of 50 mM IBA (5 s) × 3 year old long shoot from female tree (83% ± 4.1). Cuttings planted in soil: sand medium in polythene bags showed earlier rooting response (12 weeks) than cuttings planted in raised nursery beds (24 weeks). Overall, the findings of this study suggest that 0.5 mM IBA treatment is suitable for enhancing adventitious rooting in 1 year old long and dwarf shoots of male and female trees. IBA at higher doses is suitable for enhancing the rooting percentage of 2 and 3 year old long shoots from female tree. This study provides a significant lead towards the development of a simple and inexpensive technique for large scale propagation, aforestation of elite genotypes and raising of bush type plantation under ex-situ conditions.  相似文献   

Evaluation of CERES-Wheat and CropSyst models for water–nitrogen interactions in wheat crop     

Anil Kumar Singh  Rojalin Tripathy  Usha Kiran Chopra 《Agricultural Water Management》2008,95(7):776-786

Crop simulation models can provide an alternative, less time-consuming and inexpensive means of determining the optimum crop N and irrigation requirements under varied soil and climatic conditions. In this context, two dynamic mechanistic models (CERES (Crop Environment REsource Synthesis)-Wheat and CropSyst (Cropping Systems Simulation Model)) were validated for predicting growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L) under different nitrogen and water management conditions. Their potential as N and water management tool was evaluated for New Delhi representing semi-arid irrigated ecosystems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The field experiment was carried out on a silty clay loam soil at the Research Farm of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India during 2000–2001 to collect the input data for the calibration and validation of both the models on wheat crop (variety HD 2687). The models were evaluated for three water regimes [I4 (4 irrigations within the growing season), I3 (3 irrigations within the growing season) and I2 (2 irrigations within the growing season)] and five N treatments (N₀, N₆₀, N₉₀, N₁₂₀ and N₁₅₀). Both the models were calibrated using data obtained from the treatments receiving maximum nitrogen and irrigations, i.e., N₁₅₀ and I4 treatments. The models were then validated against other water and nitrogen treatments. For performance evaluation, in addition to coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and Wilmot's index of agreement (IoA) were estimated. Both CERES-Wheat and CropSyst provided very satisfactory estimates for the emergence, flowering and physiological maturity dates. For CERES-Wheat overall prediction (pooled result of the three water regimes) of grain yield was satisfactory with significant R² values (0.88). The model, however, under estimated the biomass under all water regimes and N levels except for N₀ level, under which biomass was overpredicted. CropSyst predicted yield and biomass of wheat more closely than CERES-Wheat. The combined RMSE for the three water regimes between predicted and observed grain yield was 0.36 Mg ha⁻¹ for CropSyst as compared to 0.63 Mg ha⁻¹ for CERES-Wheat. Similarly, RMSE between observed and predicted biomass by CropSyst was 1.27 Mg ha⁻¹ as compared to 1.94 Mg ha⁻¹ between observed and predicted biomass by CERES-Wheat. Wilmot's index of agreement (IoA) also indicated that CropSyst model is more appropriate than CERES-Wheat in predicting growth and yield of wheat under different N and irrigation application situations in this study.  相似文献   

In vitro Screening of 75 Essential Oils Against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides: A Causal Agent of Anthracnose Disease of Mango     

Vijya P. Rabari  Kiran S. Chudashama 《International Journal of Fruit Science》2018,18(1):1-13

ABSTRACT

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a major plant pathogen worldwide. It is known to cause anthracnose in many crop plants, which ultimately leads to significant yield loss. In the present study, a fungus was isolated from the infected mango leaf and identified by 28S rDNA sequencing as C. gloeosporioides. Seventy-five different essential oils (EOs) were tested against C. gloeosporioides to evaluate the antifungal activities. Fungal suspension was spread on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and tested with 5 µL of different EOs on disc. The tested EOs against C. gloeosporioides showed various ranges of inhibitory activity. Amongst the tested 75 EOs, four EOs showed remarkably higher antifungal activities. Considering the promising utilities of these EOs, gas chromatography–mass spectral (GC-MS) analysis was performed and the probable role of the key components of the EOs in antifungal activities is discussed. The potential of these EOs as ecofriendly and economical biocontrol in agriculture is reported.  相似文献   

Productivity and carbon storage in silvopastoral systems with Pinus ponderosa and Trifolium spp., plantations and pasture on an Andisol in Patagonia, Chile     

Francis Dube  Miguel Espinosa  Neal B. Stolpe  Erick Zagal  Naresh V. Thevathasan  Andrew M. Gordon 《Agroforestry Systems》2012,86(2):113-128

No information is available about carbon (C) sequestration potentials in ecosystems on Andisols of the Chilean Patagonia. This study was undertaken to measure the size of C stocks in three predominant ecosystems: Pinus ponderosa-based silvopastoral systems (SPS), pine plantations (PPP) and natural pasture (PST), and examine how clover affect tree growth and stocks of soil C. The C contents of trees and pasture were determined by destructive sampling and dry combustion. Soil samples were taken at 0?C5, 5?C20, 20?C40?cm depths in order to determine soil C and N. For PPP and SPS total aboveground tree C was 38.4 and 53.1?kg tree^?1 and belowground was 21.3 and 23.4?kg tree^?1, respectively. Annual diameter increment at breast height was 1 and 2?cm in PPP and SPS, respectively, and was significantly higher in SPS. Trees in SPS, due to lower density and the presence of leguminous pasture, demonstrated enhanced growth and C sequestration. Soil organic C (SOC) stocks at 0?C40?cm depth were 193.76, 177.10 and 149.25?Mg?ha^?1 in SPS, PST and PPP, respectively. The conversion of PPP to SPS and PST to PPP resulted in an increase of 44.51?Mg?ha^?1 and a decrease of 27.85?Mg?ha^?1 in SOC, respectively. Favorable microclimatic conditions in relation to air temperature and soil moisture were observed in SPS as well as a synergy between trees and pasture.  相似文献