Edamame (Glycine max L. Merr.) is a high-value crop and an export commodity with very high environmental qualification standards. Spodoptera litura and Bemisia tabaci reduce both the quantity and quality of production. Therefore, more environmentally friendly pest control methods are needed. This study evaluated several biological control agents. A field experiment was conducted using a Randomized Block Design with eleven treatments across three locations. The treatments included entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae), Bacillus thuringiensis, Trichogramma sp., a botanical pesticide (1% azadirachtin), and light traps. All treatments were applied during the flowering stage. Spraying was carried out once a week, and parasitoids were released every two weeks. The results showed that pest populations changed over the observation period. The population of B. tabaci decreased from week 4 to week 7, along with increased rainfall and enhanced effectiveness of the fungus. Treatments with combined biological agents with light traps produced highly consistent reductions in pest populations. This suggests that multiple integration of biological agents and physical traps provides stable pest suppression. Future optimization is more promising in terms of timing and long-term validation related to edamame management.
Endophytic fungi have the potential for antagonistic activity against plant pathogens and can be utilized to prevent the decline in dragon fruit production caused by stem canker disease. This study aims to assess the diversity of endophytic fungi in highland and lowland areas and to evaluate their potential against dragon fruit stem canker disease. Research has been conducted using several methods, i.e., isolation of endophytic fungi from dragon fruit, biosafety assay, potential assay, and semi-in vivo assay. Banyuwangi and Bukittinggi have moderate diversity, relatively even species distributions, and low-to-moderate dominance of particular isolates. Isolates Trichoderma sp. C6 and Trichoderma sp. C13 are able to inhibit the development of N. dimidiatum on wounded cladodes. Molecular identification showed that Trichoderma sp. C13 has a close phylogenetic relationship with T. hamatum T311. Endophytic fungi from dragon fruit plants may serve as potential biocontrol agents against N. dimidiatum. However, the mechanism by which these endophytic fungi induce resistance in dragon fruit plants against N. dimidiatum remains unclear and warrants further investigation.
National melon production remains suboptimal due to the crop's sensitivity to the environment and lack of management practices. This study analyzed the interaction between GA(3) concentration (0, 50, 100, 150 ppm) and application timing (pre-anthesis, anthesis, post-anthesis) on growth, yield, and fruit quality of Fujisawa melon in an NFT hydroponic system. Significant concentration & times; timing interactions (p<0.05) optimized fruit traits at 100 ppm + anthesis: weight increased by 0.49 kg (24.1%) to 2.03 kg, flesh thickness by 1.33 cm (25.7%) to 5.17 cm, diameter by 1.79 cm (10.9%) to 16.38 cm, and volume by 413 cm(3 )(21.2%) to 1,950 cm & sup3; vs. control. Regardless of timing, 100 ppm GA(3) accelerated flowering (2.71 days) and harvest (3.87 days) vs. control and increased total soluble solids by 2.33 to 16.33 degrees Brix. Pre-anthesis application enhanced plant length by 8.57-9.41 cm and hastened flowering by 0.87-0.99 days compared to other timings. Leaf number and fruit cavity were unaffected by either treatment (p>0.05). The regression for fruit traits at anthesis (R-2=0.74-0.85) confirmed optimum concentrations of 67.50-138.50 ppm; >= 150 ppm diminished benefits. These findings provide recommendations: 100 ppm GA(3) at anthesis maximizes yield components, 75 ppm at flexible times increases sweetness levels.
Rice straw burning in the open field remains a dominant activity in negative impacts on environmental quality and organism health, yet the implementation continues due to its perceived cost-effectiveness. The results and relevance of this article are based on findings from research conducted using a mixed-method design, including surveys, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic fieldwork. The result also shows that most smallholders (58.1%) still burned rice straw, but most of them (96.8%) would adopt green technology if they received sufficient support and facilitation. The research also indicates that farmers employing alternative methods to burning receive a 10-14% boost in yields, a good sign of what sustainability can do for food production. The major barriers to the adoption of green technology were: ignorance and lack of training (67.7%), cost of equipment (16.1%), non-availability of appropriate technology (9.7%), time constraints (6.5%), and lack of policy implementation. This study suggests that rice straw could be used as animal feed, compost, and biomass energy to mitigate pollution and meet productivity demands.
The constraints in the generative propagation of stevia include a limited supply of fertile seeds, suboptimal germination rates, and significant phenotypic variability, all of which hinder conventional breeding efforts. Vegetative propagation causes genetic uniformity but limits genetic diversity. Another method for breeding stevia is by inducing polyploidy with colchicine. The main goals of polyploidy induction are to enhance diversity, improve agronomic traits, and achieve ploidy higher than diploid. This study evaluated the ploidy levels and morphological responses of two accessions (SR16 and SR17) to five colchicine doses (0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2%) and three soaking periods (8, 16, and 24 hours). The accession SR16 showed the best response to 0.1% colchicine for 8 hours and to 0.15% for 12 hours, causing ploidy levels to shift from diploid to tetraploid and mixoploid. SR17, on the other hand, needed higher concentrations and longer immersion times (0.2% for 12 hours) to show the same range of variability. The changes in shape depended on the genotype. SR16 needed low to moderate levels of immersion for short periods, while SR17 needed high levels for long periods. These results endorse the utilization of polyploidy induction techniques in stevia breeding to enhance production and sweetness quality.
