Purpose Mulching is a practice recommended for soil moisture conservation in potato. The wheat straw and rice straw obtained as major crop residues were used as mulching materials to compare their effectiveness for soil moisture retention in potato crop. Methods The field experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design replicated thrice with three treatments viz. plots incorporated with wheat straw mulch, rice straw mulch at the rate of 10 tonnes per hectare each and no mulch serving as control. The soil moisture was determined using a soil moisture probe and data were recorded daily at 10 cm, 20 cm and 30 cm soil depths. The Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy was used to investigate moisture retention characteristics of the mulch materials. Results Soil moisture retention varied as wheat straw mulch > rice straw mulch > no mulch at 10 cm, 20 cm and 30 cm soil depths, respectively. Highest moisture retention in wheat straw mulch at 10 cm depth is attributed to better moisture absorption ability of wheat straw in comparison to rice straw. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope images indicated the presence of smaller sized micro tubes in wheat straw than rice straw, which resulted in more water retention, thereby substantiating the findings of the study. Conclusion Wheat straw mulch is more effective than rice straw mulch for shallow rooted crops like potato, due to better moisture absorption and retention in upper soil layer.
Near isogenic/substitution lines of stem rust resistance genes in different backgrounds of 'Marquis', 'Chinese Spring' and W 2691 and certain varieties with known genes for stem rust resistance were tested against each of 19 Indian cultures of stem rust races/biotypes (14, 15, 17, 21, 21A-1, 24, 34, 40, 40A, 42, 42B, 117, 117A, 117A-1, 122, 184, 194, 222 and 295). Sr 24 ('Sear's 3D/Ag'), Sr 24 (TR 380-27 4/3 Ag 14-White seeded recombinant with 'Agent' type resistance), Sr 25 ('Sear's 7D/Ag'), Sr 26 ('Eagle'), Sr 26 (Knott's 6A/Ag translocation), Sr 27 (WRT 238-5), Combination line (Sr Tt1 + Sr 9b) were observed to be completely effective against all the 19 cultures tested. In addition, a number of lines, such as TAF2d (Sr Agi), Line W(Sr Tt2) and Combination III (Sr Tt1 + Sr 9e), were found to be effective against at least three of the most prevalent races (21, 40A and 117A-1) and a virulent race 122 in Indian natural population. Lines carrying genes other than Sr 2, Sr 9a, Sr 9f ('Chinese Spring') and Sr 15 ('Norka'), and Line E were found to be resistant to one or more cultures of stem rust.The background effect upon the expression of a gene was observed by comparing the range of infection on single gene host lines in either different backgrounds and/or in cultivars with known genes for stem rust resistance against the 12 cultures of stem rust races found in India.
Present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different mulching materials on soil hydrothermal environment and plant growth parameters for potato crop at field experimental station of National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur in the humid sub-tropical agro climate of Western Himalayas. The field experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with four mulching treatments; wheat straw mulch, pine needle mulch, rice straw mulch and no mulch in three replications. An increase in soil moisture retention ranging from 5.14% to 42% was observed depending upon the mulch material and depth of the soil layer in root zone. Mulching also reduced the daily maximum soil temperature up to 3.5ºC with an average temperature reduction of 1-2ºC during the period of tuber formation. Mulching produced beneficial effects on root depth, plant height, leaf area index and tuber yield. Mulching helped to bring about a yield surplus of 1.7-4.4 tonnes ha-1 over unmulched conditions and an increase in water use efficiency which varied from 13.5% in rice straw mulch to 34.9 % inwheat straw mulch.
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