Nutrient retention after crop harvest in a typic hapludults amended with biochar types under no-tillage system.

The utilization of biochar's as soil amendments for enhancing nutrient retention in subsoils present potential limitations. To address this issue, we conducted a greenhouse experiment to assess the effects of various biochar's derived from animal manures (swine manure, poultry litter, cattle manure) and plant residues (rice straw, soybean straw, corn straw) when applied to surface of an acidic soil. Our study focused on wheat crops under a no-tillage system, with a subsequent evaluation of the residual impacts on soybeans. The experimental design involved the application of biochar's at different rates i.e. 10 and 20 Mg ha-1, followed by the assessment of their influence on NPK levels, pH, and exchangeable Al in stratified soil layers (0-5, 5-10, 10-15, and 15-25 cm). Furthermore, we investigated the interplay between biochar doses and the application of nitrogen (N) in the top 5 cm of soil, specifically examining NO 3 - , NH 4 + , P and K levels. Our findings revealed that in the top 5 cm of soil, biochar doses and N application significantly affected NO 3 - , NH 4 + , P and K concentrations. However, in deeper soil layers, no significant differences were observed among biochar doses with or without N application. Interestingly, K levels were impacted throughout all soil depths, regardless of the presence or absence of N application. Moreover, biochar application up to a 5 cm depth induced favorable changes in soil pH and reduced exchangeable Al. In contrast, deeper layers experienced a decrease in soil pH and an increase in exchangeable Al following biochar treatment. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that biochar's can effectively retain NPK nutrients, enhance soil pH, and decrease exchangeable Al, independent of the type and dosage of application under a no-tillage system. Nonetheless, the efficacy of biochar amendments may vary with soil depth and type of nutrient, warranting careful consideration for maximizing their benefits in sustainable agricultural practices.

Impacts of sugarcane industrial effluent as an alternate source of irrigation on growth, chlorophyll contents and antioxidants of different canola varieties.

The sugarcane industry often utilizes effluent for irrigation purposes; however, its intricate composition and elevated metal contaminants pose a potential risk of soil and crop contamination. Consequently, it is imperative to employ effective strategies to ensure the safe utilization of this resource for crop cultivation. One such strategy involves the dilution of sugarcane industry effluent. Dilution is a practical approach to mitigate its toxicity, minimizing its adverse impact on soil and crop health. That's why the current study explored the best dilution of sugarcane industrial effluent (SW) for cultivating canola varieties. A total of 15 canola varieties were cultivated 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% SW. Results showed that 60% SW Faisalabad Canola and Punjab Canola improved germination, shoot length, root length, shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, and chlorophyll contents compared to other treatments and control. AARI Canola and CON-III showed poor growth and chlorophyll contents under 60%SW. Dunkled and Oscar cultivars showed moderate improvement in growth and chlorophyll contents under 60SW. The 60% SW can be recommended for maximum growth benefits in canola cultivars, specifically Faisalabad Canola and Punjab Canola. At 20SW, the root dry weight of Faisalabad Canola increased by 2.7%, while Punjab Canola increased by 3.4%. Canola showed the highest increase in POD activity compared to the control, with a 55.45% increase, followed by Sandal Canola, with a 43.26% increase. However, additional field-level experiments are needed to determine the best cultivars suitable for optimal growth under 80SW and 60SW irrigation conditions.

Genomic exploration of Sesuvium sesuvioides: comparative study and phylogenetic analysis within the order Caryophyllales from Cholistan desert, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: The Aizoaceae family's Sesuvium sesuvioides (Fenzl) Verdc is a medicinal species of the Cholistan desert, Pakistan. The purpose of this study was to determine the genomic features and phylogenetic position of the Sesuvium genus in the Aizoaceae family. We used the Illumina HiSeq2500 and paired-end sequencing to publish the complete chloroplast sequence of S. sesuvioides. RESULTS: The 155,849 bp length cp genome sequence of S. sesuvioides has a 36.8% GC content. The Leucine codon has the greatest codon use (10.6%), 81 simple sequence repetitions of 19 kinds, and 79 oligonucleotide repeats. We investigated the phylogeny of the order Caryophyllales' 27 species from 23 families and 25 distinct genera. The maximum likelihood tree indicated Sesuvium as a monophyletic genus, and sister to Tetragonia. A comparison of S. sesuvioides, with Sesuvium portulacastrum, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, Mesembryanthemum cordifolium, and Tetragonia tetragonoides was performed using the NCBI platform. In the comparative investigation of genomes, all five genera revealed comparable cp genome structure, gene number and composition. All five species lacked the rps15 gene and the rpl2 intron. In most comparisons with S. sesuvioides, transition substitutions (Ts) were more frequent than transversion substitutions (Tv), producing Ts/Tv ratios larger than one, and the Ka/Ks ratio was lower than one. We determined ten highly polymorphic regions, comprising rpl22, rpl32-trnL-UAG, trnD-GUC-trnY-GUA, trnE-UUC-trnT-GGU, trnK-UUU-rps16, trnM-CAU-atpE, trnH-GUG-psbA, psaJ-rpl33, rps4-trnT-UGU, and trnF-GAA-ndhJ. CONCLUSION: The whole S. sesuvioides chloroplast will be examined as a resource for in-depth taxonomic research of the genus when more Sesuvium and Aizoaceae species are sequenced in the future. The chloroplast genomes of the Aizoaceae family are well preserved, with little alterations, indicating the family's monophyletic origin. This study's highly polymorphic regions could be utilized to build realistic and low-cost molecular markers for resolving taxonomic discrepancies, new species identification, and finding evolutionary links among Aizoaceae species. To properly comprehend the evolution of the Aizoaceae family, further species need to be sequenced.