Search

Field experiments were conducted on the lateritic sandy loam soils of Kharagpur, India during June to August for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. Supplemental irrigation supplied through subsurface drip and conventional furrow irrigation to evaluate green gram crop response under raised bed with and without plastic mulch and conventional ridge-and-furrow system. Lysimetric studies were conducted for two years (2016–2017) with and without plastic mulch for crop coefficient development. The yield response of green gram crop under raised bed with plastic mulch treatment was 36.20% and 19.90% higher than conventional ridge-and-furrow and raised bed without mulch treatment. Water use efficiency and N-uptake under raised bed with plastic mulch treatment was 6.57 kg ha−1 mm−1 and 80.22 kg ha−1. Crop evapotranspiration (ETC) under plastic mulch was 192.12 mm which was 7.17% less than non-plastic mulch condition. Crop coefficient (KC) values for green gram crop during initial, crop development, mid-season and late season stages were 0.37, 0.76, 0.83 and 0.43 under plastic mulch, whereas 0.40, 0.82, 0.89 and 0.49 under non-plastic mulch. Overall study indicated that raised bed with plastic mulch can be used for green gram crop during rainy days with supplemental irrigation through subsurface drip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of productive and nonproductive water loss of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench] is essential during water scarcity, and for assessing links between yield and water use. The study was conducted using subsurface drip irrigation to evaluate okra transpiration and evaporation using the SIMDualKc Model. The model computed soil evaporation was 132.89 and 157.84 mm, respectively, whereas transpiration was 381.22 and 340.36 mm in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Pod yield of okra was 12.1 and 12.5 t∙ha−1; dry biomass above ground was 5.7 and 4.9 t∙ha−1 in 2016 and 2017. Biomass above ground and fresh pod yield of okra indicates that high water deficit before harvesting pods causes a depression in fresh fruit yield and decreases total pod yield. Several water deficit occurrences during the growing period lowers total transpiration and adversely impacts okra dry biomass above ground. The SIMDualKc Model is capable of quantifying evaporation, transpiration and other water balance components. It is an effective tool for assessing and predicting the impact of water deficit on plant development and yield and can be used to identify the correct irrigation strategy for maximizing crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing concern about excessive use of nitrogen (N) and water in agricultural system with unscientific management in Indian and developing countries of the world. Field experiments were conducted on the lateritic sandy loam soils of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, during spring-summer (February-June) seasons for three years (2015-2017) to evaluate okra crop response under subsurface drip and conventional furrow irrigation with varying amount of nitrogen treatments. Irrigation treatments had three levels of soil water depletion from field capacity (i.e., 20%, 35%, and 50%) under subsurface drip system. There was no soil water depletion under conventional furrow irrigation system. There were four levels of nitrogen fertilizer treatments (i.e., 0, 80, 100, and 120 kg ha-1). This was supplied using urea as a nitrogenous fertilizer. The yield response of okra crop under subsurface drip was found to be 56.4% higher than that of the furrow irrigation treatment. Best yield response and maximum water use efficiency and nitrogen use efficiency were recorded under 20% soil water depletion with 100 kg ha-1 of nitrogen fertigation. Among the various soil moisture depletions, subsurface drip at 20% soil water depletion treatment responded least quantity of water lost through deep drainage and nitrogen loss beyond the root zone as compared to other irrigation treatments. The water loss through subsurface drainage was observed as 33.11 mm lesser under subsurface drip as compared to that of the furrow irrigation, and this may due to low-volume and frequent irrigation water application with subsurface drip. Hence, irrigation through subsurface drip should be used for improving water and nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency of okra crop cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stability-indicating high-performance thin-layer chromatography method for determination of benazepril both in bulk and pharmaceutical formulation has been developed and validated as per ICH guidelines. The benazepril was analyzed on pre-coated silica gel GF254 plates using Carbon tetrachloride: Methanol: Triethylamine (7.6: 2.4: 0.1 v/v) as the mobile phase. The concentration of benazepril was determined by densitometry at 240 nm. The method was found to be linear, with r2 = 0.998±0.3347 in the concentration range 200 - 1200 ng per spot. The LOD and LOQ were 19.48 ng and 59.03 ng per spot respectively. Benazepril was subjected to forced degradation like acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation, photo and thermal degradation. The drug was found to degrade under acidic, basic, oxidative and thermal conditions. The degraded product was well resolved from the pure drug with significantly different Rf value. In validation, it was found that the method is repeatable, selective and accurate for the estimation of benazepril. The proposed developed stability-indicating HPTLC method can be applied for identification and quantitative determination of benazepril in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]