Issue 01

Farmer perception on the effectiveness of integrated weed management methods in Punjab, Pakistan

2025-06-12T10:45:34Z

Farmer perception on the effectiveness of integrated weed management methods in Punjab, Pakistan Arshed, A.W.; Khalid Mahmood Ch.; Ashraf, I.; Iqbal, M. Weeds reduce crop yield up to a great extent. Farmers use Integrated Weed Management (IWM) to eradicate weeds. The present study was conducted to assess farmer’s perception regarding the effectiveness of various weed control methods utilized under the umbrella of IWM in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Information were collected from 150 randomly selected farmers from three divisions of Punjab viz Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Dera Ghazi Khan. The study revealed chemical methods as the most effective weed control tool followed by cultural methods and mechanical methods. Preventive measures were ranked as 4th and biological methods as the last.

Efficacy of selected granular insecticides for the control of maize-stem borer (chilo partellus) (lepidoptera: pyralidae)

2025-06-12T10:22:29Z

Efficacy of selected granular insecticides for the control of maize-stem borer (chilo partellus) (lepidoptera: pyralidae) Gunewardena, K.N.C.; Madugalla, S.R.K. Stem borer (Chilo partellus) is the most destructive pest of maize causing considerable yield losses especially during yala season. At present the pest is managed through whorl application of insecticide granules or foliar spraying of liquid formulations of insecticides. However, effective control of the pest cannot be expected from liquid formulations due to practical difficulties in the spraying especially at the mature stages of the crop. Hence, investigations were carried out in two consecutive yala seasons in 2008 and 2009 to study the efficacy of granular type insecticides against the stem borer. The maize hybrid variety Sampath was used. Four insecticides were tested along with an untreated control. Insecticides were applied twice as whorl applications at 2 week interval. The percentage stem borer damage in plots treated with Diazinon 5G, Fipronil 0.3G and Thiocyclam hydrogen oxalate 4G found to be < 8% as compared to > 35% damage in untreated control. Larval population and severity of stem borer damage were also significantly low in Diazinon 5G, Fipronil 0.3G and Thiocyclam hydrogen oxalate 4G treated plots during both seasons over the control. The percentage seed yield in Diazinon 5G, Fipronil 0.3G and Thiocyclam hydrogen oxalate 4G treated plots found to be 52-91% and 28-44% higher than the untreated control during yala 2008 and 2009 respectively. Therefore, Fipronil 0.3G and Thiocyclam hydrogen oxalate 0.4G can be recommended in addition to the present recommendation of Diazinon 5G for the control of stem borer in maize.

An assessment of morphology and yield characteristics of pumpkin (cucurbita moschata) genotypes in northern bangladesh

2025-06-12T09:47:48Z

An assessment of morphology and yield characteristics of pumpkin (cucurbita moschata) genotypes in northern bangladesh Ahamed, K.U.; Akhter, B.; Islam, M.R.; Ara, N.; Humauan, M.R. Twenty pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) genotypes were characterized for morphological and yield attributes in northern area of Bangladesh during kharif season of 2006. The range of first flowering was at 52.0-73.7 days. The early flowering and early maturity was observed in BD-227 genotype. The range of variability was distinct for vine length at harvest, leaf length, leaf diameter, number of branches per plant. The vine length was maximum (400cm) in BD-242 and minimum (169cm) in BD 255. Leaf length ranged from 30.6-47.2 cm in different genotypes and the number of branches per plant varied from 2.0-4.7. The number of branches per plant was maximum (4.7) in BD-270. Entry BD-268 produced maximum number of fruits (15.7) per plant and the minimum (2.0) was in BD-251. The maximum average fruit weight (4.2kg) was in BD-250 and minimum (1.5kg) in BD-257. There was significant variation with regards to yield of different pumpkin genotypes, which was varied from 5.9 - 36.0 kg. Among the twenty one pumpkin germplasm, the maximum fruit yield (36.1kg/plant) was recorded in BD-243 genotype which was closely related to BD-234 genotype (31.1kg/plant) and minimum (5.9kg/plant) was in BD-270. The qualitative characteristics of these pumpkin genotypes showed also variation in fruit colour and flesh colour. The over all performance among the genotypes, BD-243, BD-268, BD-242, BD-234, BD-288, BD-250 and BD-227 may be utilized in breeding program.

Hardseededness of local mungbean (vigna radiata) varieties

2025-06-12T08:53:07Z

Hardseededness of local mungbean (vigna radiata) varieties Wasala, S.K.; Fernando, W.D.S.L.; Narasinghe, I.S. Presence of hard seeds is an inferior character of some mungbean varieties. Hence efforts are made to identify factors affecting hard seed formation and to develop varieties with low percentage of hard seeds. This study aimed to determine the influence of seed size on seed hardness using three recommended local mungbean varieties, MI-5, Harsha and Ari. Seeds were categorized into three size groups; large, medium and small based on seed length and seed weight. MI-5 and Ari consisted with large and medium seeds while Harsha consisted of medium and small seeds. No significant differences of hardseededness were observed between different seed sizes within same variety. Seed hardness of medium seed category of three varieties found to be significantly different to each other. This experiment revealed that there is no significant effect of seed size on hardseededness and the high percentage of hard seeds is associated with variety Harsha is due to inherent character rather than seed size.