Search

Present investigation was carried out to elucidate the extracts of botanicals i.e., Cichorium intybus, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Trachyspermum ammi and Terminalia chebula, for their possible toxic effect against C. chinensis population. The results revealed that mortality was highest (94.649%) in case of T. ammi treatment, followed by T. chebula with mortality value 56.929%. Mortality was 52.363% where application of C. intybus was carried out. Minimum mortality (34.500%) was observed in G. glabra treated grains. A natural ecto-parasitoid, Anisopteromalus calandrae was used to manage C. chinensis population. A. calandrae male and female adults (5, 10 and 15 pairs) were released to analyze the parasitism efficiency. A. calandrae was reared in the laboratory on C. chinensis larvae. Honey was offered as a suitable food to parasitoid. The parasitism data was recorded after the adult emergence of brunchid beetles. The experiment conducted under Completely Randomized Design and results statistically evaluated using statistical software at 5% level of significance. A. calandrae parasitized both larval and pupal stages of C. chinensis and preferred 4th instar larvae of C. chinensis. Large amount of A. calandrae may efficiently control the C. chinensis population. As compared to control (1558.7 host adult), the minimum host emergence (699.00 host adult) was observed with high population density of A. calandrae. It was also obvious from the results, that mortality was increased with the increase in concentration so, a direct dosemortality response was observed.

Present study was designed to investigate the effects of different combinations of three temperatures (20, 25 and 30℃) and three relative humidity levels (55, 65 and 75%) on the efficacy of three synthetic IGRs i.e., pyriproxyfen, lufenuron and buprofezin at concentrations of 1, 5 and 10ppm on fecundity and adult emergence inhibition of T. granarium under controlled laboratory conditions. This study was conducted at Grain Research Training and Storage management Cell, Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. All the treatments were replicated three times using Completely Randomized Design. Larvae of T. granariumwere exposed to IGRs at different levels of temperature and relative humidity. F1 adult emergence results showed that at temperature 20ᵒC, the highest percent reduction in adult emergence (84.38, 70.65 and 79.94%) was recorded after exposure to lufenuron, buprofezin and pyriproxyfen treated diet, respectively. At 75% relative humidity, lufenuron, buprofezin and pyriproxyfen caused 77.53, 80.00 and 80.32% reduction in adult emergence, respectively. Adults were exposed to IGRs at different temperature and relative humidity to evaluate the oviposition inhibition. The results revealed that at temperature 20℃, maximum percent reduction in fecundity (87.95, 80.45 and 70.55%) was recorded after exposure to buprofezin, pyriproxyfen and lufenuron treated diet, respectively. At 75% relative humidity buprofezin, pyriproxyfen and lufenuron caused 86.73, 83.72 and 69.11% reduction in fecundity, respectively. It is concluded that temperature and relative humidity play an important role in the effectiveness of insect growth regulators.

Despite the critical role of balanced nutrition in crop productivity, the use of potash (K) and zinc (Zn) is not much practiced by Pakistani farmers. The reduced nutrient uptake and crop productivity together increase the costs associated with fertilization and revisit farmers' confidence in the efficacy and profitability of fertilizers. To address this problem, a field study was conducted in the research area of the MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, in collaboration with Engro Fertilizers Limited. The research plan consisted of five treatments, including T1 = control (without N, P, K, and Zn fertilizers), T2 = NP in practice (NP at 32-23-0 kg acre-1), T3 = recommended NP (NP at 48-34.5 kg acre-1), T4 = balanced NPK (NP +K at 48-34.5-30 kg acre-1), and T5 = balanced NPK + Zn (NPK+Zn at 48-34.5- 30 + 7.5 kg acre-1). Wheat was used as a test crop, and its growth, yield, and physiological and nutritional parameters were studied. The results indicated that NPK+Zn balanced nutrition increased plant height, spike length, photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and grain yield by 13%, 15%, 44%, 60%, 63%, 39%, and 78%, respectively, compared with the control. It was found that the combined application of NP, K, and Zn improved the recovery efficiency of applied nutrients, i.e., nitrogen recovery efficiency (NRE) by 230%, phosphorus recovery efficiency (PRE) by 136%, potassium recovery efficiency (KRE) by 135%, and zinc recovery efficiency (ZnRE) by 136% compared to NP-alone application. Agronomic use efficiency of applied fertilizers, such as potassium agronomic use efficiency (KAUE) by 71%, phosphorus agronomic use efficiency (PAUE) by 72%, nitrogen agronomic use efficiency (NAUE) by 70%, and zinc agronomic use efficiency (ZnAUE) by 72%, was observed compared to NP-alone application. The results showed that NPUE, PPUE, NPUE, and ZnPUE were reduced by 5%, 3%, 3%, and 5%, respectively, compared to NP-alone application. Our findings suggest that K and Zn should be made an essential part of wheat nutrition management for higher yield and better quality of produce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work is to analyze the boundary layer flow in the vicinity of a stagnation point on a linearly stretched isothermal flat surface. The ambient fluid temperature is considered different than that of the sheet. The streaming fluid rheological behavior is approximated via the Williamson fluid model. The normalized partial differential equations based on the balances of mass, momentum, and energy are simulated numerically via the symbolic and numeric computing software Maple for two entirely different scenarios. In the first scenario, the outer potential flow velocity dominates the sheet velocity whilst it is the other way round for the second scenario. The plots showing the behaviors of velocity and temperature are presented at various streamwise locations. The skin friction and Nusselt number are also visualized graphically and listed in tabular forms. The analysis reveals that all quantities including velocity and temperature show a strong dependence on the streamwise co-ordinate. In general, velocity distribution and temperature rise with a gradual march along the streamwise direction. The heat transfer coefficient also elevates upon an increase in the streamwise co-ordinate. This contradicts several previously published results on the boundary layer flow of Williamson fluid where no such dependence is seen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underlying intention of the present work is to elaborate the boundary layer flow of Carreau fluid over a non‐linear stretching curved surface. Firstly, we derived the equation of motion for a two‐dimensional curved surface using the Carreau constitutive relation. Employing the well‐known approximations of the boundary layer theory (order of magnitude analysis), the terms of higher and next order have been neglected. We developed an appropriate similarity transformation that reduced the considered partial differential equation into an ordinary differential equation (self‐similar formulation). The MATLAB built‐in function usually known as bvp5c is utilized to get the numerical solution of the considered problem. The impact of the power‐law index (n), Weissenberg number (We)$({We})$ and curvature parameter (k) on velocity profile and skin friction are analyzed through several graphs and tables. The obtained results are also verified by employing the shooting method through Maple software. The results reveal that both boundary layer thickness and velocity profile increase by enlarging the dimensionless curvature parameter of the curved surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Greenhouse cultivation of vegetables, especially cucumber in hydroponic/soilless culture, has been developed in different parts of the world. There is an expanding interest in hydroponics because they can produce fresh food closer to urban areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the biopesticides: matrine (extract from Sophora flavescens), spintoram (derived from soil bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa), azadirachtin (neem extract), and Annona squamosa (custard apple extract) against the cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii Glov.) and the two-spotted spider mite, (Tetranychus urticae Koch.). A drip-irrigation hydroponics system (DIHS) was designed and used for this study. Fourteen-day-old seedlings of cucumber plants were shifted in DIHS, and nutrient requirements were maintained during the period of experiment. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used for this experiment with 3 replicates and with 5 treatments. Data were collected 24 h pre-treatment and 1, 3, 7, and 14 days post-treatment. Results revealed that the custard apple extract showed the highest efficiency (80 and 76%) reduction against the aphid and the mite, respectively, followed by matrine (legend) and neem extract (73%), and spintoram (radiant) (69%) in case of the aphid, while it was followed by matrine (legend) (75%), spintoram (radiant), (66%), and neem extract (56%) in the case of the mite.