Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) roots (tubers) are used as staple food. Starch extracted from tubers is widely utilized as raw materials in industries. Dry matter (DM) content, starch and flour extraction and proximate composition were investigated in seven cassava accessions (Coc-A 1, Kh-A 2, Cow-A 3, Sa-A 4, Me-A 5, Va-A 6 and Sy-A 8. ) in 2010-2011. Leaf DM varied from 20.51% in Me-A 5 to 29.01% in Sy-A 8 ; that of stem from 27.24% in Va-A 6 to 32.10% (average of Sy-A 8 , Me-A 5 and Sa-A 4 ); and that of tuber from 37.30% in Kh-A 2 to 45.26% in Sy-A 8 . Starch was extracted by blending chopped tuber followed by decantation. Tubers were sliced, sun dried and milled into flour. Tuber starch content (fresh wt. basis) varied between 15.04% in Sy-A 8 and 24.97% (average of Coc-A 1 and Me-A 5 ); that of peel from 4.54% in Va-A 6 to 5.85% in Coc-A 1 . Crude protein varied from 1.80% (average of Kh-A 2 , Cow-A 3 and Sy-A 8 ) to 4.53% in Va-A 6 . Crude fiber content varied from 1.95% (average of Sa-A 4 and Coc-A 1 ) to 4.27% in Cow-A 3 . Cyanogens present in cassava plant escape as hydrogen cyanide (HCN) during harvesting and processing. Variation for HCN existed and it was 140.95 mg/kg fresh tuber (average of Sy-A 8 and Coc-A 1 ) to 546.0 mg/kg fresh tuber in Va-A 6 . There was no detectable HCN in the extracted flour and starch. It may be concluded that genetic variation for DM, starch, protein and HCN existed in seven cassava accessions, and Coc-A 1 may be a better one due to its lower HCN, higher DM and starch content.

Drought stress is one of the limiting factors for grain filling and yield in wheat. The grain filling and determinants of individual grain weight depend on current assimilation and extent of remobilization of culm reserves to grains. A pot experiment was conducted with eight wheat cultivars at the Pot House to study the grain filling and the contributions of reserves in culm, including the sheath to grain yield under drought stress. Drought stress was enforced by restricting irrigation during the grain-filling period. The plants (tillers) were harvested at anthesis, milk-ripe, and maturity. The changes in dry weights of leaves, culm with sheath, spikes, and grains; and the contribution of culm reserves to grain yield were determined. Results revealed that drought stress considerably decreased the grain filling duration by 15–24% and grain yield by 11–34%. Further, drought-induced early leaf senescence and reduced total dry matter production indicate the minimum contribution of current assimilation to grain yield. The stress reduced the contribution of culm reserves, the water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs), to the grains. The accumulation of culm WSCs reached peak at milk ripe stage in control, varied from 28.6 to 84 mg culm−1 and that significantly reduced in the range from 14.9 to 40.6 mg culm−1 in stressed plants. The residual culm WSCs in control and stressed plants varied from 1.23 to 8.12 and 1.00 to 3.40 mg g−1 culm dry mass, respectively. BARI Gom 24 exhibited a higher contribution of culm WSCs to grain yield under drought, while the lowest contribution was found in Kanchan. Considering culm reserves WSCs and their remobilization along with other studied traits, BARI Gom 24 showed greater drought tolerance and revealed potential to grow under water deficit conditions in comparison to other cultivars.

Bean sprout is used as vegetables. The present study investigated the effect of temperature and light on seed germination and sprout yield, and proximate (crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, nitrogen free extract and ash) composition of sprout in Lignosus (Dipogon lignosus (L.) Verdc.) and Mung (Vigna radiata Wilczek) beans. Three temperatures (ambient, 25 o and 30 o C) and two light regimes; continuous dark, (CD) and continuous dark alternated by ½ hour light daily, (DAL) were used for seed germination and bean sprout yield. Data were collected 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after setting the presoaked seeds in the petri dishes. Of the temperature regimes, generally better seed germination and sprout fresh weight (yield) were observed at 25 o C in Mung bean and 30 o C in Lignosus bean. Germination and sprout yield were similar under CD and DAL. Both under CD and DAL, sprout yield was higher after 120 hours compared to 96 hrs after germination in both the beans. Proximate composition of dry seeds and their sprouts was also determined. Irrespective of species, crude protein content was significantly higher in sprout (average of 29.33%) than dry seed (average of 24.33%).Vitamin C was significantly higher in Lignosus bean sprout (20.93 mg 100g -1 ) compared to Mung bean sprout (9.52 mg 100g). This is the first world report on Lignosus bean sprout. It may be concluded that better sprout yield and good protein content were obtained at 25

Growth rate of mungbean was very slow during the vegetative phase in all the four genotypes. A relatively smaller portion of total dry matter (TDM) was produced before flower initiation and the bulk of it after anthesis. The maximum crop growth rate (CGR) was observed due to maximum leaf area (LA) development during the pod filling stage in all the genotypes. LA and CGR contributed to the superior TDM production. It appeared that a high yielding mungbean genotype should possess larger LA, high TDM production ability, superior CGR at all the growth stages, high relative growth rate and net assimilation rate at the vegetative stage as superior yield components. Key words: Seed yield; Mungbean; Growth; Dry matter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v40i2.9768   Bangladesh J. Bot. 40(2): 133-138, 2011 (December)

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Phenology, floral and pollen morphological features and seed yield were studied in Indigofera tinctoria L. and I. suffruticosa Mill. Indigofera tinctoria bloomed three times i.e., mid-July, mid-August and early October during the study period. But I. suffruticosa bloomed only once i.e., in early September. The number of flowers/raceme and pods/raceme were higher in I. suffruticosa than those in I. tinctoria. However, the number of seeds/pod, seed size, 1000-seed weight and seed yield were higher in I. tinctoria. Pollen with auriculae near the aperture in Indigofera is being reported here for the first time. Size and exine thickness of pollen grains were higher in I. tinctoria than in I. suffruticosa. The highest number of flowers/raceme and seeds/plant were produced at the second flush in I. tinctoria. Therefore, I. tinctoria plants may be harvested after the maturity of pods from second flush for higher seed yield. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v42i2.18024 Bangladesh J. Bot. 42(2): 231-237, 2013 (December

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Field experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of source (leaf) and sink (flower and pod) removal on some morphological characters, and yield and its attributes in high and low yielding mungbean genotypes grown under sub-tropical condition. Four levels of defoliation (0, 8, 16 and 33%), four levels of deflowering (no deflowering, deflowering of all opened flowers borne up to 10th or 15th or 20th nodes in a raceme), and four levels of depodding (no depodding, depodding of all pods for 5 or 10 or 15 days after anthesis) were employed. The results showed that defoliation had no significant effect on seed yield in high yielding genotype, while it reduced the yield in low yielding one under 16 and 33% defoliation. Deflowering up to 10th nodes had no significant effect on seed yield though deflowering beyond 10th nodes in a raceme reduced the seed yield in high yielding mungbean genotype; low yielding genotype exhibited reduced seed yield under any level of deflowering. Depodding up to five days from anthesis had no negative effect on seed yield though depodding beyond this period reduced the yield depending upon the magnitude of depodding. Pod number per plant, number of seeds per pod and 1000-seed weight were the yield attributes sensitive to deflowering and depodding. The results suggest that mungbean plant, especially high yielding genotypes, can compensate seed yield to moderate source loss and partial sink loss.