Issue 03

EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLICATION OF RED LARGE ONION (Allium cepa L.) PEEL SOLUTION ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L. WALP)

2024-10-15T10:15:24Z

EFFECT OF FOLIAR APPLICATION OF RED LARGE ONION (Allium cepa L.) PEEL SOLUTION ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L. WALP) Dananjana, G.A.N.; Thayamini, H. Seran Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is a significant food and grain legume in the semi-arid tropic. Red onion peels are utilized to produce organic potassium rich fertilizer for the cultivation of crops. Hence, this experiment was carried out to study the effect of red large onion (Allium cepa L.) peel solution as a foliar application on the growth and yield of cowpea. It was designed in a randomized complete block design with six treatments (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% onion peel solution and control with water). In this experiment, the red large onion peels (100 g) from kitchen waste were added to one litre of water and then kept at room temperature for 48 hours. Thereafter, the liquid solution was filtered using a 1 mm-sized mesh sieve and filtered solution was considered as 100% onion peel solution. The treatments were applied at two weeks intervals starting from two weeks after planting seeds The results revealed that foliar application of onion peel solutions led to significant (P<0.05) effects on tested parameters over the control. The application of 40% concentration onion peel solution increased the plant height, number of leaves and number of branches per plant, at 9th week after planting and also number of nodules was recorded after harvesting pods. Among the treatments, the application of 100% concentration onion peel solution gave the highest values in many measured yield parameters. There were no significant differences in these parameters between plants applied with 80% and 100% onion peel solutions. Further, significantly (P<0.05) highest yield was obtained in plants treated with 100% onion peel solution (403.64 g/m2 ) followed by 80% solution application (342.17 g/m2 ) compared to the control treatment (112.41 g/m2 ). Therefore, it could conclude that 80% - 100% concentrations of onion peel solution could be used to enhance the seed yield of Vigna ungiculata L.

ANTHER CULTURE PERFORMANCES OF SELECTED Indica RICE VARIETIES IN SRI LANKA: ABILITY OF CALLUS INDUCTION AND PLANT REGENERATION

2024-11-01T09:55:58Z

ANTHER CULTURE PERFORMANCES OF SELECTED Indica RICE VARIETIES IN SRI LANKA: ABILITY OF CALLUS INDUCTION AND PLANT REGENERATION Sandaruvini, P.L.P.S.; Ratnasekera, D. Doubled-haploid plant production through anther culture provides an efficient and appropriate system for rapid production of homozygous lines. Various culture conditions influence callus induction and plant regeneration efficiency. In this study, the optimization of media requirements and culture conditions for high-frequency callus induction and plant regeneration for selected indica rice varieties were evaluated using improved anther culture media. Panicles of ten selected rice cultivars (Bg 358, Bg 379-2, Bw 361, At 362, Bw, 364, Bw267-3, Bw 272-6b, At 306, Bg 357 and Kahata wee) were cold pre-treated at 10ºC for 7-10 days. After that anthers were cultured in agar solidified N6 and L8 media where hormonal combinations were modified. Calli were transferred to three different Murasinge and Skoog media for plant regeneration. Green and Albino shoots were observed. Best callus induction frequencies (6.9-11.1%) were acquired in the L8 medium containing 6% (w/v) maltose, over the N6 (3.6—5.7%) medium. Highly responsive genotypes for callus initiation were AT362, BG 379-2, BW 267-3 and AT 306. BG357 and BW 364 were the least responsive genotypes. The best callus induction frequency of 11.1% was observed in the L8 medium supplemented with 2.0mgl-1 2, 4-D and 0.5mgl-1Kinetin (KN) for AT 362. Maximum green plant regeneration could be observed in Kahata wee (29.2%) and AT362 (18.27%) varieties in MS media supplemented with 2mg/l BAP, 1mg/l NAA and 0.5mg/l KN. After 7-10days of callus initiation, they were transferred to MS medium to regenerate plants. Plant regeneration was observed after two weeks after the transfer. This information could be used in the development of homozygous plants with high yields and good grain quality from the best hybrid varieties.

FISHER RELEVANT WELLBEING INDICATORS OF MIGRANT FISHERS IN SRI LANKA

2024-10-24T06:56:01Z

FISHER RELEVANT WELLBEING INDICATORS OF MIGRANT FISHERS IN SRI LANKA Koralagama, D.N. Wellbeing is a person-centered and community-specific concept thus unique for the considered community. Identification of wellbeing priorities is a pre-requisite for any development programs and policies to uplift the living standard of the populace. This paper explores gendered wellbeing indicators of small-scale migrant fishers in Negombo and Chilaw in the West coast, who are migrating to Mannar, Sri Lanka. Three-dimensional wellbeing approach was adopted to assess; material, relational, and subjective dimensions of wellbeing, considering objective and subjective aspects together with relationships. Mixed method approach was employed to glean data administering a questionnaire survey (n=142) and in-depth interviews (n= 15). Ranked wellbeing factors were analysed using weighted frequencies. Remarkably 14 out of 25 factors belong to material wellbeing; six relational; and five are subjective. Most of these material wellbeing factors (8/14) namely financial stability, sustainable fishing methods, lower operational costs are livelihood-related. Being a collective and community-based occupation, fishing households value social cohesion and collaboration within their communities in relation to relational wellbeing. Women perceived access to sea (weighted mean (wm) 0.4), children’s education (wm= 0.32), and children’s future (wm= 0.48) than fishermen (0.16, 0.24, and 0.27 respectively). Despite fishermen and women value family relationships (wm = 0.82 and 0.88) and peaceful environment for fishing (wm = 0.38 and 0.27) as important relational wellbeing factors, fishermen also value good relationships within their own society (wm= 0.17) and harmony with local fishers at the migratory site (wm= 0.17). Religious activities, a subjective wellbeing factor has been valued by women (25%) than men (7%). Thus, most of the wellbeing indicators are occupation specific and gendered. The 4Cs-catch, community, children and church have been recognized as fisher-relevant gender-responsive indicators for migrant fishers in the west coast, Sri Lanka.

EFFECT OF ADDITION OF Withania somnifera (ASHWAGANDHA) ROOT POWDER ON SELECTED PROPERTIES OF COW MILK

2024-10-21T10:28:50Z

EFFECT OF ADDITION OF Withania somnifera (ASHWAGANDHA) ROOT POWDER ON SELECTED PROPERTIES OF COW MILK Narayana, N.M.N.K.; Feros, A.M. Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) is an important tropical herb with proven health benefits which has an enormous potential to be used in functional food applications. The present study aimed to find out the effect of the addition of W. somnifera root powder (WSRP) on the compositional, physicochemical, physical, functional and sensory properties of cow milk. Skimmed and standardized (3% fat) milk were separately fortified with WSRP at the rate of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2 percent levels, well mixed and pasteurized (63°C for 30 min) ending up in 10 treatments. 2 x 5 (milk type x WSRP level) factorial arrangement of treatments in a completely randomized design was used with 3 replicates and SPSS (ver. 20) was used for the data analysis. Significant (p<0.05) reduction of rennet coagulation time (RCT) was observed with increasing WSRP percentage irrespective of the type of milk. Standardized milk had significantly (p<0.05) lower RCT than skimmed milk. Instrumental colour values were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the added WSRP in both milk types while fermentation characteristics were not affected. Sensory scores were decreased with increasing levels of WSRP in both milk types due mainly to the sedimentation effect. From the above results, it is concluded that a possibility exists to fortify milk with WSRP and produce functional fermented dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt. Nevertheless, studies are needed with other forms of W. somnifera such as root powder extract to reduce the impact of sedimentation.