Plant Sciences Commons^™

Abundance, Diversity And Importance Of Some Insects In Grasslands Of Indian Arid Zone, Nisha Patel

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Grasslands in arid regions are home to a large number of species of insects, which are well adapted to living in this ecosystem. Insects constitute a major part of the total faunal biodiversity of these grasslands and provide valuable ecosystem services such as pollination, decomposition, nutrient recycling, being important links in the food chain, etc. Diversity of entomofauna is a good criteria for judging the health of a grassland. However this diversity has not yet been properly studied. In the present study, attempt was made to unravel the diversity of some groups of insects in the grasslands of Indian arid …

Influence Of Grass Species On The Mycotoxins Content, Jiri Skladanka, Daniela Knotova, Pavel Knot, Lucie Hodulikova, Jan Nedelnik, Iva Klusonova, Monika Novotna

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Clean and healthy phytomass is a prerequisite for producing high-quality forage. Development of microscopic fungi may lead to the formation of mycotoxins (Opitz von Boberfeld et al., 2006), which are secondary metabolites produced especially by the fungi Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium (Rodrigues and Naehrer, 2012). Mycotoxins are produced due to interactions and reactions of fungi to environmental conditions (Opitz von Boberfeld et al., 2002). Mycotoxins naturally have negative impacts upon livestock, causing alterations in hormonal functions, poor feed utilization, lower rates of body weight gain, and possibly death (Duarte et al., 2013).

Preventing the occurrence of mycotoxins …

Management Of Foliar Diseases Of Forage Sorghum, Ritu Mawar, D. P. Awasthi, Upasana Rani, D. K. Banyal

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench.) is an important food, feed, fodder and fuel crop grown in India. It forms staple food for poor class of people living in the dry tracts of the country. The crop is mostly grown during Kharif and Rabi seasons in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states. It is also very popular as green forage in most parts of north India and nearly 2.5 million ha area is planted during kharif. In summer, under irrigated conditions, multicut sorghum is very popular. Forage sorghum is characterized by quick growth, high biomass accumulation, dry …

Disease Control And Plant Growth Promotion Of Miscanthus × Giganteus With Trichoderma Bio-Inoculants, Diwakar R. W. Kandula, Janaki Kandula, Harmanjeet Kaur, Hossein Alizadeh, John G. Hampton

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The second-generation bioenergy crop Miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) is being assessed in New Zealand for its potential to provide shelter on irrigated dairy farms. Miscanthus is a perennial sterile hybrid vegetatively propagated rhizomatous C4 grass and the young rhizomes and roots are prone to infection by soil-borne fungal pathogens (Glynn et al., 2015) which can cause deleterious effects on plant establishment and growth. In Europe, several species of Fusarium such as F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. moniliforme and F. oxysporum have been implicated as causal agents of root and rhizome rot (Thinggaard, 1997; Covarelli et al., 2012) leading …

Cattle Fecal Decomposition On Pennisetum Purpureum Schum. Pastures Managed Under Different Post-Grazing Stubble Heights, José C. B. Dubeux Jr., Felipe M. Saraiva, Mércia V. F. Dos Santos, Alexandre C. L. De Mello, Vicente Imbrosi Teixeira, Erinaldo Viana De Freitas

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Pasture management may affect cattle diet. Post-grazing stubble height is a pasture structural characteristic intrinsically linked to forage quantity and quality. Stubble height also indicates forage utilization rate, and as a result, affects nutrient pathway return (excreta or litter) and ultimately, nutrient cycling. Cattle excreta deposition affects soil chemical and physical characteristics (Carran and Theobald 2000). Slow release of nutrients from cattle dung, however, delays nutrient bioavailability for subsequent forage growth (Haynes and Williams 1993). This study evaluated how different post-grazing stubble heights on elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) pastures may affect cattle dung decomposition and nutrient release.

Decomposition Of Cattle Dung On Mixed Grass-Legume Pastures, José C. B. Dubeux Jr., Carolina Câmara Lira, Erinaldo Viana De Freitas, Mércia V. F. Dos Santos, Mário De Andrade Lira, Caroline Dykstra, Erick Rodrigo Da Silva Santos, Fernando Tenório Filho

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Animal excreta contribute positively to nutrient cycling and can improve the quality of soil (Dubeux et al. 2009, Carvalho et al. 2010). Cattle excrement, when evenly distributed over a pasture, can help to maintain plant nutrition without the application of fertilizers. The introduction of legumes intercropped with grasses benefits the soil by means of nitrogen fixation. Also, when ruminant animals eat legumes, the excrement produced may have lower C:N, C:P, lignin:N and lignin:P ratios promoting better nutrient return to the soil compared to when cattle eat only grass. Given the importance of nutrient return and decomposition time of …

Parasitization Efficiency Of Kairomonal Dust Formulations Against Egg Parasitoid Trichogramma Spp (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), Madhulika Srivastava, A. K. Singh, Sudhida G. Parihar, R. D. Gautam

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Agriculture arose independently in many different regions, as people gradually lived closer together, became less nomadic, and focussed their food production on plants that were amenable to repeated sowing and harvesting. Historically, insects have been the most significant herbivores, and the evolution of plants is closely associated with the evolution of insects. The study of plant defences against herbivory is important, not only from an evolutionary view point, but also in the direct impact that these defences have on agriculture, including human and livestock. Success of natural enemies particularly well recognized egg parasitoid, Trichogrammatid (Balakrishnan et al., 2004) in …

Effect Of Diseases And Insect-Pests On Forage Quality Of Cowpea, D. K. Banyal, Jaya Chaudhary, Rajan Katoch

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) an important forage legume is mainly cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical regions of India for its food and fodder value. It is highly nutritive with 23.0, 67.0, 1.8 per cent protein, carbohydrate and fats respectively, and is also a rich source of calcium and iron. Cowpea is also prone to a number of diseases and inset-pests causing great losses in yield and quality of green fodder. High incidence of diseases profoundly reduces yield and quality, whereas insects typically reduce yield more than quality. Cowpea is grown globally in an area of 14 million hectares with …

Impact Of Chromolaena Odorata Invasion On Diversity, Dry Matter Yield And Soil Mineral Contents In Pasture Area, Muhammad Rusdy, Muhammad Riadi

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

A major constraint to livestock production in tropical countries is the scarcity and fluctuating quantity and quality of year around forage supply. During the rainy season, tropical forage species grow at very fast rates, with forage yields often exceeding animal requirements. If not cut or fed to animals, during the dry season such forage becomes fibrous and lack of most essential nutrients required by animals. In densely populated country like Indonesia, lacks of forage supply are aggravated by the high conversion of grassland to cash crop and invasion of alien weeds into pasture area.

Since introduced to Indonesia in the …

Pasture Larval Burden In A Grazing Land Of Subtropical Hill Region Of Meghalaya, R. Laha, M. Das, A. Goswami, A. Sen

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Gastrointestinal (GI) helminths infections are considered as one of the most devastating diseases of livestock as it causes mortality, morbidity and thereby economic losses to the livestock owners. Infective larvae of nematodes are the source of infection to the livestock and one of the ways of nematode infection to the livestock is the ingestion of infective larvae (L3) through contaminated pasture. The count of infective larvae could give an idea of infection in animals grazed in a particular pasture land. Management of pasture is an important component of nematode parasite control programs. In the present study, pasture larval burden (PLB) …

Fungal Endophytes From The Aerial Tissues Of Important Tropical Forage Grasses Brachiaria Spp. In Kenya, Sita R. Ghimire, Joyce Njuguna, Leah Kago, Monday Ahonsi, Donald M. G. Njarui

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Most, if not all plants in natural ecosystems are symbiotic with mycorrhizal fungi and/or fungal endophytes. This association between plant and fungi is believed to be over 400 million years old when plants first colonized the land (Redecker et al., 2000). These fungal symbionts play important roles on plant ecology, fitness, and evolution; shaping plant communities; and the community structure and diversity of associated organisms. The importance of fungal endophytes in cool season grasses production and effects of endophyte on the livestock health (Examples fescue toxicosis and ryegrass staggers) have been extensively investigated (Smith et al., 2009; di Menna …

Study On The Feeding Preference Of Asian Migratory Locust: Locusta Migratoria Migratoria Linnaeus (Orthoptera, Acridoidea) In Different Development Stages Of Hoppers, Zumrat, Sali, Yasin, Yasen

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The experiment aimed to clear the degree of eating for different host plants in 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th instars nymphs of Asian migratory locust: Locusta migratoria migratoria Linnaeus (Orthoptera, Acridoidea) respectively.

Study On The Community Structure And Diversity Of Spiders In Alfalfa Fields And Natural Grassland, Yi Wu, Yasen, Li Zhao, Shali Yasen

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Different regions, habitats spider community have different composition, quantity and dynamics. We selected alfalfa fields, forests grasslands and arid grasslands and where studied its spider community structure, characteristic parameters and dynamics by traps from April to October in 2012.

Leaf Blast Pyricularia Grisea Effects On Buffelgrass Forage And Seed Production In Northwestern Mexico, Martha Martin Rivera, Fernando Ibarra-Flores, Patricia Barrios Cardenas, Salomón M. Moreno, Fernando Ibarra Martin, Rafael Retes Lopez, Francisco Rivas Santoyo, Alfredo Aguilar Valdez

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Common buffelgrass Cenchrus ciliaris (T-4464) is an introduced species intensively planted in Mexico to increase productivity on rangelands. Studies have shown that the species produces 5 to 10 times more forage as compared to native species on rangelands (Martin et al., 1995). Previous studies in the Gulf of Mexico have shown that the fungus Pyricularia grisea causes a disease in buffelgrass known as "leaf blight" and induce serious damage to the plant affecting forage production and nutritive quality (Ocumpaugh and Rodríguez, 1998; González, 2002). Injuries begin in the inferior leafs as small dark stains that later are converted in injuries …

Vegetation Changes Ten Years After Catclaw Mimosa ( Mimosa Laxiflora ) Control With Tebuthiuron In A Short Grass Prairie At Northern Sonora, Mexico, Fernando Ibarra-Flores, Martha Martin Rivera, Salomón M. Moreno, Fernando Ibarra Martin, Rafael Retes Lopez, Alfredo Aguilar Valdez

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Catclaw mimosa (Mimosa laxiflora) is a native, perennial half-size brush, which invades short grass prairie and competes with desirable species for water, nutrients and light interferes with cattle grazing and reduces range productivity. Tebuthiuron [1-(5-tert-Butyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-1,3-dimethylurea; chemical formula C₉H₁₆N₄OS] is a granular herbicide used to control invasive shrubby species on rangelands with sustainable forage responses (McGinty et al., 2009). Research trials conducted in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts show that tebuthiuron at rates of 0.5 to 1.5 kg a.i./ha effectively controlled most shrubby species and significant increase forage in …

Studies On Insect Fauna Of Lucerne Medicago Sativa And Their Impact On Seed And Forage Yield In Lucerne Medicago Sativa , Narendra S. Kulkarni, Vinod Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Lucerne or Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L) is the world’s most important forage legume and a key component of many crop rotation systems (Osborn et. al., 1997). Alfalfa is considered an insectary due to the large number of insects it attracts. Some pests, such as alfalfa weevil, aphids, armyworms, and the potato leafhopper, can reduce alfalfa yields dramatically, particularly with the second cutting when weather is warmest. Chemical controls are sometimes used to prevent this. As a perennial crop, lucerne has a lifespan approaching 5 years, but in some areas of the world fields may remain productive for considerably longer. …

Performance Of Promising Forage In Eastern India And Their Nutritive Value, J. J. Gupta, A. Dey, B. P. Bhatt, S. K. Barari

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Eastern region of India possesses large number of ruminant population (162 million) that depend on available feed resources (GOI, 2014). But, at the same time, an acute shortage of green fodder prevails in the eastern part of India that varies from 82 to 89 per cent. The main reason behind this gap is low land holding and negligible area under fodder production. Shortage of quality feed and fodder resources and neglect of forage crops led to decline in the productivity of Indian livestock. However, as a whole, country having 8.30 million ha area under fodder production (Anon, 2013) and out …

The Effects Of Trichloroethylene On The Germination And Early Development Of Radish, Butternut Squash, Corn, And Soybean, Sarah Jaksich

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a small molecule used as a metal degreaser and as an extraction solvent for lipids. Historically, TCE has been used to clean missiles and rockets after testing at military sites. However, TCE has decreased in use due to its potential health hazards. TCE is particularly dangerous because it is soluble in water and easily seeps into ground water. As a result, TCE has contaminated groundwater in Mead, Nebraska. The town is near the formal Nebraska Ordnance Plant, a military factory specializing in bomb assembly, ammonium nitrate production, and explosives burning. Soil sampling in Mead indicated TCE levels …

Influence Of Cattle Grazing On Milkweed And Other Native Forbs, Karen Klug

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

One of the most identifiable plants of the Great Plains are milkweed species (Asclepias spp.), which are also the only food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars (Danaus plexippus). Conservation of the milkweed population has taken renewed importance as the population of eastern migratory monarchs has dropped by over 80% from 1996 to 2017, largely because of a loss of over 1.3 billion stems of milkweed. As a result of this monarch population decline, it has been petitioned to protect the monarch butterfly population under the US Endangered Species Act. To increase the population size of the …

Landscape Performance Of Buck Roses Under Minimal-Input Conditions In North-Central Texas, Derald A. Harp, Gaye Hammond, David C. Zlesak, Greg Church, Mark Chamblee, Steve George

Faculty Publications

Griffith Buck (Iowa State University) bred roses (Rosa sp.) to survive long, cold winters and hot, humid summers yet still retain their foliage without fungicides. Unfortunately, there is little known about the performance of Buck roses in the southern United States. Thirty-eight Buck rose cultivars were evaluated for flowering, disease resistance, drought tolerance, and overall landscape performance in alkaline soils with no fertilizer, no pesticides, and only limited irrigation. Flowering occurred on a bimodal basis, with the highest per plant mean bloom number (16.3 blooms) and bloom coverage (9.7%) in April, and a second flowering in the fall, with …