Effects of Alternaria triticina and foliar fly ash deposition on growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, protein and lysine contents of three cultivars of wheat.

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of Alternaria triticina with and without foliar dusting of fly ash (0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 g plant(-1)/day(-1)) on the growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, protein and lysine contents of three cultivars of wheat, Triticum aestivum. Dusting of 2.5 and 5.0 g fly ash caused a significant increase in growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, protein and lysine contents of all the three cultivars. Dusting of 5.0 g fly ash caused a higher increase in the parameters than the 2.5 g dusting. However, dusting of 7.5 g fly ash had an adverse effect on growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, protein and lysine contents. Cultivar HD-2009 suffered highest reductions in growth and yield and showed greater infected leaf area and disease symptoms from A. triticina followed by HD-2329 and Lok-1. Inoculation of A. triticina to plants dusted with 2.5/5.0 g fly ash gave higher reduction in growth and yield than did plants inoculated with A. triticina without fly ash. Cultivar Lok-1 showed highest growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, protein and lysine contents followed by HD-2329 and HD-2009.

Effects of fly ash and Helminthosporium oryzae on growth and yield of three cultivars of rice.

A 120-day greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of various fly ash concentrations (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% vol/vol) with normal field soil and Helminthosporium oryzae on the growth and yield of three cultivars (Pusa Basmati, Pant-4 and Pant-10) of rice, Oryza sativa L. Application of 20% and 40% fly ash with soil caused a significant increase in plant growth and yield of all the three cultivars. Forty percent fly ash caused a higher increase in growth and yield than did 20%. Sixty percent, 80% and 100% fly ash had an adverse effect on growth and yield of all the three cultivars, the maximum being with 100% fly ash. Inoculation of H. oryzae had an adverse effect on the growth and yield, Pant-10 suffered higher damage by H. oryzae than Pusa Basmati and Pant-4. Pant-10 also exhibited higher infected leaf area and greater disease symptoms of H. oryzae than did Pusa Basmati and Pant-4. Plants grown in 100% fly ash suffered higher reductions in growth and yield with H. oryzae than plants grown in pure soil or in 20% or 40% fly ash. In general, plant growth was best in Pusa Basmati followed by Pant-4 and Pant-10, while yield was higher in Pant-4 followed by Pant-10 and Pusa Basmati.