Soil aggregation was studied in a 21-year experiment conducted on an Anthrosol. The soil management regimes consisted of cropland abandonment, bare fallow without vegetation and cropping system. The cropping system was combined with the following nutrient management treatments: control (CONTROL, no nutrient input); nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK); straw plus NPK (SNPK); and manure (M) ...

Peat moss (PM) is the most widely used growing substrate for the pot culture. Due to diminishing availability and increasing price of PM, researchers are looking for viable alternatives for peat as a growth media component for potted plants. A pot study was conducted with a view to investigate the possibility of using spent mushroom waste (SMW) for Kai-lan (Brassica oleracea var. Alboglabra) pr...

Salinity is an important abiotic stress that reduces growth and productivity of different crops. In many agricultural soils cyanobacteria or blue green algae are the prominent inhabitants, where they potentially contribute to improve soil fertility and crop productivity under normal and abiotic stress conditions. Glycinebetaine is an osmoprtectant compound improving plant tolerance to abiotic s...

Sweet-scented geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L'Hér), a plant belonging to the Geraniaceae family, has medicinal and aromatic properties and is widely used in the cosmetic, soap, perfume, aromatherapy, and food industries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of fertilization and the use of different colors of plastic mulch on sweet-scented geranium biomass and essential oil. Th...

Inorganic fertilization and mowing alter soil factors with subsequent effects-direct and indirect - on above- and below-ground communities. We explored direct and indirect effects of long-term fertilization (N, P, NPK, Liming) and twice yearly mowing on the plant, bacterial and fungal communities and soil factors. We analyzed co-variation using 16S and 18S rRNA genes surveys, and plant frequenc...

Mineral elements in soil solutions are thought to be the precursor of the formation of reactive minerals, which play an important role in global carbon (C) cycling. However, information regarding the regulation of mineral elements release in soil is scarce. Here, we examined the long-term (i.e., 23 yrs) effects of fertilisation practices on Fe minerals in a red soil in Southern China. The resul...

In this laboratory study, we investigated how the biological cycle of Anopheles gambiae s.s. (VKPR strain) would be like when grew in an environment containing more or less plant matter (2.5 or 5 g/l) and fertilizer (8-12-8 or 17-23-17 mg/l). Half of the environments studied were not exposed to insecticide (control) whereas the other half was submitted to deltamethrin treatment at the concentra...

In order to study the effect of phosphate solubilization microorganisms (PSM) and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on yield and yield components of corn Zea mays (L. cv. SC604) an experiment was conducted at research farm of Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Iran during 2007. Experiment laid out as split plot based on randomized complete block design with t...

An investigation of the proximate composition and antioxidant profile of pumpkin seeds obtained from different levels of NPK 15 : 15 : 15 compound fertilizer application at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria was carried out. Pumpkin seeds were grown in 2010 for two cropping seasons (May to August and August to November), and the following fertilizer rates were applied: 0, 50, 100,...