Agricultural Research最新文献

Ectoparasites, including Gyrodactylus and Argulus, belong to the monogenean and crustacean groups and are essential pathogenic parasites infecting diverse freshwater fish species. High parasitic loads affect growth and immune parameters, and severe infections often cause high mortality in fish. The present study identified the emerging parasites, including Gyrodactylus kobayashi and Argulus japonicus, in infected Carassius auratus, using morphological characterization and molecular tools. The morphological results highlighted that the Gyrodactylus parasite had an opisthohaptor consisting of 16 marginal hooks, dorsal bar and hamulus point curve angle (HPCA). Moreover, Argulus contained the proboscis, antennule, compound eye, sucker, maxilla, antennae, thorax, and abdomen. Molecular characterization, including DNA extraction, 18S rRNA amplification, and Sanger sequencing, demonstrated that the parasite specimens (PP922389 and OQ660496) have higher sequence similarity with other reported Gyrodactylus and Argulus species. A prevalence study was investigated, and month-by-month analysis revealed that Gyrodactylus kobayashi infection was highest in July and December in male and female goldfish, respectively. Similarly, for both male and female goldfish, Argulus japonicus infection was higher in June and July. Furthermore, the sex-wise comparative study showed that the mean intensity and mean abundance rates of Gyrodactylus and Argulus were prone in the female fish. Taking together, the study highlights the prevalence of two economically essential parasite groups, Gyrodactylus and Argulus. Further studies are needed to develop suitable management strategies to control the infection of parasites in fish species.

Crop varieties are being disseminated to the farmers through public private partnership models. These models along with non-exclusive licensing policy allow faster and wider dissemination followed by adoption. Appropriate valuation technique for valuation of crop varieties is seminal in facilitating technology transfer deals for Public Research Institutions. In this article, we seek to identify appropriate valuation technique for crop varieties from the licensing perspective and tested the technique on Pusa Basmati 1718 rice variety in India. Black Scholes method of real options valuation was identified and adapted from the perspective of crop variety valuation. The value of the variety was estimated at ₹ 11.65 Crores to ₹ 33.24 Crores at a technology contribution ratio of 30–70%, respectively. To avoid undervaluation, cost of development of the variety was also calculated and was found ₹ 1.33 Crores. Seed industry in India, is governed by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the above figures provide the potential of the technology to generate returns for the licensees which, if licensed to more SMEs, enhances regional and economic development apart from enhancing food security. At the same time, the licensing fee and royalty rates shall be derived in such a manner that by non-exclusive licensing, the developmental costs shall be covered.

The açaí production chain (Euterpe oleraceae Mart.) has been expanding and bringing with it several innovations and initiatives for the cultivation. Remote sensing technologies allow obtaining multispectral images of the açaí tree, which can be applied in the reproductive phenological determination of the crop, being an effective tool for agricultural management. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between the reproductive development of the açaí tree and the vegetation indices obtained by RPAS (remotely piloted aircraft system) images. The work was carried out in a commercial plantation of açaí, with 7 years old, located in Fazenda Ornela LTDA, municipality of Capitão Poço, state of Pará, Brazil. The experiment was carried out in random blocks, with 8 plots containing 6 clumps each. Each clump consists of 2 stems, totaling 12 stems per plot. All plots received the same cultural treatments. The variables were analyzed: number of spathes, number of inflorescence, number of green bunch, number of black bunch and number of leaves. To obtain orthophotos and assess the NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) and SAVI (soil-adjusted vegetation index) of the açaí grove, a DJI Mavic 2 Pro RPA equipped with a Mapir Survey 3 multispectral camera was used. The results show that the NDVI and SAVI are correlated with the variable number of black bunch. An estimation model was built to determine the number of black bunches based on NDVI and SAVI. The model explains 47.05% of the variation for NDVI and 30.5% for SAVI, indicating it can predict the reproductive phenological variables and approximate production values of the açaí tree, aiding producers in agricultural management.

In commercial broiler poultry units, the farmers are required to stir the litter at least twice or thrice per week during the stay of birds until they are disposed.The manual method of stirring is laborious, time consuming and drudgery prone activity. So, a portable battery-operated poultry litter agitator has been developed and an artificial intelligence-controlled obstacle avoidance robot with sensors was also installed to get the ammonia and air quality data from the poultry farms. Performance evaluation of the agitator was done at 550–650 rpm and 800–900 rpm. A comparative study between manual and mechanical method of litter stirring was done by recording different parameters such as body weight of broiler birds, moisture content and bulk density at 2 cm and 4 cm litter depth. Apart from the reduction in drudgery, the time required for agitating poultry farm of area 220 m² with 2000 bird capacity was found to be 58 min, while manual method of agitation by using bamboo stick was found to be 2–2.5 h. At 2 cm litter depth, there was no considerable difference in litter bulk density and moisture content with mechanical agitation at 550–650 rpm and 800–900 rpm. At 4 cm litter depth, mechanical agitation with 800–900 rpm of element was found effective to reduce bulk density and moisture content which helps to maintain litter quality during grow out period. In mechanical agitation at 4 cm litter depth 59 g per day growth in body weight of broilers were observed at 550–650 rpm and 62 g per day growth in body weight was seen at 800–900 rpm. The cost of operation of litter agitation was reduced by 60% along with the drudgery compared to manual method by bamboo stick.

A study was conducted to compare the histological and histomorphometric observations of thigh muscle and the effects of thermal exposure on rectal temperature and plasma hormone levels in three different broiler strains i.e. white broilers, coloured broilers and native × coloured broilers. Experimental birds were reared up to the target body weight of 1700 g. Histomorphometry of meat samples were studied at the target body weight of experimental birds. The effect of thermal exposure on rectal temperature, plasma cortisol and triiodothyroinine (T₃) levels of experimental birds were studied at 5th week of age. The Iliotibialis lateralis muscle study revealed that native × coloured broilers have larger fascicles (429.38 ± 26.22 µm) with more numbers of muscle fibres (40.90 ± 1.21) and each muscle fibre with a small diameter (24.57 ± 0.69 µm) when compared to the other two broiler strains. The birds were exposed to temperature-humidity index (THI) value of 39.69 °C for 50 min. Thermal exposure did not alter the rectal temperature, plasma cortisol and T₃ levels in native × coloured broilers. On the contrary, there was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in rectal temperature and plasma cortisol level in white broilers (41.31 ± 0.05 to 42.38 ± 0.13 °C and 1.11 ± 0.08 to 1.62 ± 0.09 ng/ml, respectively) and coloured broilers (from 41.18 ± 0.02 to 41.65 ± 0.06 °C and 1.19 ± 0.15 to 1.53 ± 0.05 ng/ml, respectively). The plasma T₃ level was significantly (P ≤ 0.01) decreased after thermal exposure in white broilers (from 2.08 ± 0.07 to 1.54 ± 0.03 ng/ml) and coloured broilers (from 1.66 ± 0.04 to 1.04 ± 0.09 ng/ml). From the present study, it was concluded that native × coloured broilers have higher muscular mass as well as higher metabolic rate rendering these cross broilers to be physically more active and also have better heat tolerance than the other two broiler strains which can be considered as a favourable trait in backyard system of rearing.

Poultry industry is one of the prime agricultural sectors that not only contributes to Global economy but also supports livelihood sustainability of the poultry farmers. However, this sector often faces severe economic losses due to various infectious diseases. Marek’s disease (MD) is one of the common viral diseases of poultry, caused by Marek’s disease virus (MDV). In spite of routine vaccination, events of vaccine failure as well as disease outbreaks are often seen in the field conditions. Several methods including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based techniques are available for diagnosis of MD. Nested PCR (nPCR) is one of the highly sensitive and specific techniques used for disease diagnosis. Present study reports a highly sensitive glycoprotein E (gE) gene based nPCR for MDV detection. The outer set of primers amplified 567 base pair (bp), while inner set of primers amplified 230 bp of the of the MDV genome. The minimum detection limit was 17.6 picogram of genomic material in clinical sample. It was also shown as highly specific for the detection of field MDV and did not amplify one of the commercial vaccine strains, mostly used for vaccination against MD in chickens i.e., Turkey Herpes virus (HVT) FC 126 strain. It also did not amplify the fowl pox virus (FPV) genome. The applicability of the technique was assessed with the field tissue (liver) samples (n = 22), comprising of eleven (n = 11) samples collected during post-mortem examination of birds suspected of MD and eleven (n = 11) samples from apparently healthy birds collected from commercial retail poultry outlets. It was found positive in eight out of eleven clinical samples in nPCR; while, all samples from healthy birds were tested negative. The developed assay was found highly sensitive and specific. The developed nPCR technique could be used for diagnosis of MD infection caused by the field strains in the vaccinated as well as non-vaccinated poultry flocks.

In northwestern Argentina, goat milk producers feed animals with corn and alfalfa, which implies high costs. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of feeding dairy goats with cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Miller) cladodes as a substitute for corn on the quality of spreadable cheese and analyze it as a productive alternative in arid and semiarid areas. To this end, twenty Anglo-Nubian–Criolla goats were randomly divided into two groups of 10 animals each: One fed with a mix of corn (Zea mays L.), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and pasture, and the other fed with cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Miller) cladodes, alfalfa, corn and pasture. Milk collected at the end of the experiment was used to make spreadable cheese. The cheese obtained from animals fed with the mix of cactus cladodes, alfalfa, corn and pasture showed no significant differences in fat or protein content. In addition, this cheese was whiter and brighter and showed significantly higher values of vitamin C than the cheese obtained from animals fed with corn, alfalfa and pasture. No significant differences were observed in the content of short-chain fatty acids or linoleic acid between samples. The cheeses obtained from both groups were rheologically similar. These results suggest that feeding dairy goats with opuntia cladodes as a substitute for corn represents an inexpensive alternative that allows obtaining cheese with characteristics and composition similar to that obtained from animals fed conventionally. This strategy would be especially useful in arid and semiarid areas.

A power operated fenugreek thresher consists of threshing cylinder, concave, feeding chute, blower, sieve assembly, power transmission unit, and mainframe, operated by 2 hp motor was developed to separate the fenugreek seeds from pods and clean the seeds. The threshing cylinder was provided with spike tooth to apply impact force and detach pods from plants and split to obtain seeds from pods. The threshed seed passed through concave and cleaned by a set of sieves and blower. Performance evaluation of the developed thresher was conducted at various cylinder speeds (12, 13.51, and 15.94 m/s), feed rates (40, 50, and 60 kg/h) and number of spikes (35, 40, and 45), for the threshing efficiency and percent broken seed. Employing the hybrid artificial neural network–multi-objective particle swarm optimization (ANN-MOPSO) approach, the operational parameters were optimized to maximize threshing efficiency and minimize percent broken seed. The operational parameters and interactions had significant effect (p < 0.05) on threshing efficiency and percent broken seed. The ANN-MOPSO model yielded cylinder speed of 13.83 m/s, feed rate of 41.51 kg/h, and 40 number of spikes on threshing cylinder as optimum parameters with threshing efficiency of 99.6% and broken seed of 0.08% with validation results showed a variation of − 0.06% and + 12.5%, respectively. The cleaning efficiency and energy consumption of the fenugreek thresher were found to be 99.92% and 1.68 kWh, respectively.

The viral strains of the Newcastle disease virus have exhibited genetic and pathogenic diversity since their discovery, which is mainly influenced by mutations in the Fusion gene. This study focussed on describing the circulating Newcastle disease virus strain based on the Fusion gene sequencing of three isolates: JKND01, JKND02, and JKND03, which were isolated from commercial poultry in Kashmir. Phylogenetic analysis identified the isolates as Genotype VIIi with the virulent fusion cleavage site motif (¹¹³RQKRF¹¹⁷). Homology analysis of amino acid sequences identified amino acid substitutions in the Fusion protein of the isolates compared to the reference strains. In silico mutational analysis revealed that the amino acid changes impact the structure of the protein, potentially affecting the functional behaviour of the virus. Moreover, predictive analysis of potential post-translational modification motifs showed a loss of an N-glycosylation site and the acquisition of a phosphorylation site in JKND02 compared to the reference Fusion glycoprotein. This study reports the first presence of the fifth panzootic vNDV genotype VIIi in Kashmir, highlighting the need for further epidemiological and surveillance studies to better understand the distribution and spread of the virus and to develop effective control measures.

Plant rhizosphere is an important ecological niche in which complex plant–microbe interactions occur. The rhizosphere microbial community has high genetic diversity, acting as an important regulator of plant productivity and growth, especially under stress conditions. This study reports the investigation of the rhizosphere community and their interactions under drought conditions in Theobroma cacao (cocoa), an important cash crop and commodity worldwide. We compared the active microbial community of the dead and survived cocoa plants under drought conditions using a metatranscriptomic approach. The metatranscriptome of four rhizosphere samples (two from drought plants and two from dead plants) was analysed. Based on mRNA annotation, the dominant taxa in the rhizosphere revealed Proteobacteria as the major phyla in all rhizosphere samples. The order of the top abundant phyla in rhizosphere of the surviving cocoa plant was Proteobacteria (42–49%), Firmicutes (0.4–2%), Actinobacteria (0.8–1.3%) and Acidobacteria (0.3–0.4%) whereas the rhizosphere of the dead plant revealed Proteobacteria (38–46%), Firmicutes (0.1–1.5%), Acidobacteria (0.7–0.9%) and Thaumarchaeota (0.3–0.5%). The microbial profiles of both rhizosphere samples were similar at the phylum level. Further analysis at the genus level revealed 1712 classified genera in the rhizosphere samples, at which all rhizosphere samples shared 739 genera. The most dominant genus identified was Pseudomonas, followed by Bacillus and Thiocapsa in rhizospheres of the surviving cocoa plants and Pseudomonas, followed by Aeromonas and Klebsiella in rhizospheres of the dead cocoa plants, respectively. Our results suggested changes in the microbial composition and structure in the rhizosphere of the cocoa plant, which might play important roles in the plant’s survival due to drought.