An investigation was conducted to find out the effect of GABA (a mixture of Gibberellic acid (GA₃) and absicic acid (ABA)) on growth characters and yield of blackgram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper, sy. Phaseolus mungo L.). The crop was grown under field conditions and GABA was applied at 0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00 mgL^-1 as foliar spray at 18 days after sowing (DAS). It was found that the plant growth characters such as leaf area index, dry weight of leaf, shoot and root, and crop growth rate increased appreciably due to application of GABA as recorded at 40, 50, 60 and 70 DAS. Its effect was more prominent at 40 and 70 DAS than 50 and 60 DAS. At 80 DAS, dry matter of different plant parts and seed yield were greatly influenced by the plant growth regulator (PGR). Higher increase in all parameters was corroborated with higher concentration of the PGR up to 1.00 mg L^-1. The highest growth of leaf, shoot, root and pod and seed yield were achieved with 1.00 mg L^-1, which was followed by 2.00, 0.50 and 0.25 mg L^-1. So, GABA at 1.00 mg L^-1 was noted as the best treatment to increase growth characters and seed yield of blackgram.

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Field experiments were carried out between 2004-2006 at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute Farm in Grey Terrace Soils, Joydebpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh to determine the effects of seeds collected from different branches on growth, yield and yield attributes of chickpeas. Chickpea seeds of three varieties (BARI Chola-5, BARI Chola-6 and BARI Chola-8) were collected from different sites i.e., B₁: collection of pods from primary branches of chickpea plants, B₂: collection of pods from secondary branches of chickpea plants, B₃: collection of pods from tertiary branches of chickpea plants prior to harvesting. All the seeds were stored in earthen pots until conducting the laboratory and field studies. Significant variation was not observed between the three varieties of chickpea for most of the arameters studied. The maximum pods plant^-1, seeds pod^-1 and seed yield were observed in BARI Chola-5 and the lowest in BARI Chola-8, though 1000-seed weight was recorded from BARI Chola-8. Seeds were collected from primary branches of chickpea plants (B₁) recorded the highest pods plant^-1, seeds pod^-1 , 1000-seed weight and seed yield. Overall maximum seed yield was recorded from BARI Chola-5 when seeds were collected from primary branches.

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Field experiments were carried out at a Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Rahmatpur, Barisal, Bangladesh for two consecutive rabi seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04 with a view to assessing the effect of Rhizobium inoculation on four cultivars of chickpea. Four chickpea cultivars, namely BARI Chola-3, BARI Chola-4, BARI Chola-5 and BARI Chola-6, were used in these trials. Basic doses of phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and zinc were applied at the rate of 22 kg P, 42 kg K, 20 kg S and 5 kg Zn per ha without any nitrogen dose under both inoculated and uninoculated conditions. There were eight treatments and four replications. The experiment was designed in randomized complete block having 4 replications in each treatment. The Rhizobium strain used was BARI RCa-220. The variety BARI Chola-3 produced significantly higher nodule numbers and nodule weights, and BARI Chola-5 produced significantly higher seed yields. Inoculated plants gave significantly higher nodule number, nodule weight, root weight, shoot weight, stover yield and seed yield compared to non-inoculated plants. The seed yields of the BARI Chola-5 variety (1.80 t/ha and 1.85 t/ha) were increased by 20.0% and 19.4% over uninoculated treatments for two consecutive rabi seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Uninoculated BARI Chola-3 recorded the lowest yields in both these years.

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An experiment was carried out at Bangladesh Agricultural University Farm to find out the time of nodule initiation, nodulation pattern and their size distribution. Five mungbean varieties viz. Barimung-2, Barimung-4, Barimung-5, Binamung-2 and Barisal local, and rhizobial inoculum (Bradyrhizobium strain BAUR-604) were used in this experiment. The unit plot size was 5 m × 4 m. The experiment was designed in a randomized complete block design having four replications of each treatment. Each variety was tested with and without inoculation. For recording nodule initiation date, five randomly selected plants from each plot were uprooted at alternating days starting from 7 days after sowing (DAS). For recording nodule size, all the nodules were collected from roots. Nodules were grouped by grading them on the basis of their size in diameter (<1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 and >4 mm sizes). The nodules were first visible at 9 DAS, when only a few small nodules were observed. The number of nodules increased progressively through the increasing growth period and reached their peak at 42 DAS (i.e., at 50% flowering stage). The number of nodules (1-2, 2-3 mm) started to decline after 42 DAS sharply and in case of <1 mm size nodules and the declining was noticeable after 21 DAS, while the bigger nodules (3-4 and >4 mm) increased up to 56 DAS. No effective nodule of any size was found at 77 DAS. The results suggest that nodule initiation in the roots of mungbean varieties start at 9 days after sowing seeds (DAS), reached their peak at 42 DAS and thereafter started reducing in numbers until 70 DAS due to spontaneous degeneration. A higher number of nodules in different sizes were observed in Barimung-2 at different DAS. At 14 DAS, smaller size nodules were higher than the bigger nodules in all the varieties. At 42 DAS, the highest number of nodules 0.3 (<1 mm), 7.4 (1-2 mm), 4.4 (2-3 mm), 2.7 (3-4 mm) and 0.3 (>4 mm) per plant were found in Barimung-2, while the other varieties produced the nodules in the range of 0.2-0.3 (<1 mm), 5.6-7.0 (1-2 mm), 3.3-4.2 (2-3 mm), 2.0-2.5 (3-4 mm) and 0.2-0.3 (>4 mm) per plant. This indicates that Barimung-2 always produces larger size nodules at different sampling dates. Smallest size (<1 mm) nodules increased up to 21 DAS, whereas medium (1-2 and 2-3 mm) size nodules continued to increase up to 42 DAS and the larger (3-4 mm) to the largest (>4 mm) up to 56 DAS and then decreased. At the same DAS, Bradyrhizobium inoculation produced 0.3 (<1 mm), 7.8 (1-2 mm), 4.7 (2-3 mm), 2.8 (3-4 mm) and 0.3 (>4 mm) nodules per plant, while uninoculated plants produced 0.2 (<1 mm), 5.4 (1-2 mm), 3.2 (2-3 mm), 1.9 (3-4 mm) and 0.2 (>4 mm) nodules per plant. Inoculated Barimung-2 always produced a greater number and size of nodules at different sampling dates for uninoculated plants.

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The contribution of mungbean residue in green manuring (GM) for different fertilizer management treatments was assessed and reported in this paper. A cropping pattern based experiment was launched at the Bangladesh Agricultural University Farm, Mymensingh, Bangladesh in the rabi season of 1999 with wheat as its first crop. The study was continued in the same field having the same layout for three consecutive years. Mungbean residues were incorporated in different treatments and cow dung was also used in several of the treatments. The results revealed that mungbean residues accumulated 1.14 to 1.76 t of dry matter ha^-1 which added or recycled amounted to 14.6 to 43.1 kg N ha^-1, 1.26 to 3.66 kg P ha^-1, 16.3 to 35.9 kg K ha^-1, 1.24 to 3.64 kg S ha^-1, 31 to 80 g Zn ha^-1 and 5 to 13 g B ha^-1 over the course of the treatments and years. The highest amount of N, P, K, S, Zn and B accumulation was from mungbean residue incorporation plus a reduced dose of inorganic fertilizers for high yield goal (HYG) treatment. The application of 5 t ha^-1 of decomposed cowdung (wet weight basis) added 1.70 to 2.02 t ha^-1 of dry weight, which provided 18.7 to 27.0 kg N, 5.96 to 9.54 kg P, 15.5 to 21.6 kg K, 3.06 to 4.53 kg S, 0.13 to 0.18 kg Zn and 0.69 to 0.89 kg B ha^-1 over the years.

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A check list of the Asian species of the ant genus Crematogater is presented. The list covers the species-group names of the genus in Asia including the biogeographical areas of the eastern part of the Palearctic Region, the Oriental Region, and the western part of the Indo-Australian Region. A total of 206 names, comprising 145 species and 61 subspecies, is recognized. The list also provides information on the distribution.

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During the summer of 2009, a serious rice dwarf disease occurred in several provinces in North Vietnam. The appearance of white to black waxy galls along the veins of the leaves and culms on the diseased plants suggested the infection of a fijivirus like rice black-streaked dwarf virus (RBSDV) or a related virus, namely southern rice black streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) = rice blacked streaked virus 2 (RBSDV2), which was recently identified in South China in 2008. The universal primers specific for these viruses were designed based on the conserved regions of the S10 segment. RT-PCR tests on typical samples collected from different provinces gave specific products using these primers. Four RT-PCR products amplified from diseased plants that are representative for the four North Vietnam provinces, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Nam Dinh, and Son La, were directly sequenced. Blast searches and sequence analyses revealed that they showed all of the isolates of SRBSDV.

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The reuse of water treatment residue (WTR) as a soil substitute material instead of decomposed granite soil (DGS) on the growth of greening trees was evaluated. The pot experiment was performed on the trees (Acer palmatum, Cinnamomum camphora, Melia azedarach) to characterize the growth of the trees by using the WTR and DGS. In addition, physical properties of porosity, relative gas diffusivity (D/D₀), saturated hydraulic conductivities (K_S), plant-available water and bulk density (Bd), and chemical properties of pH, electrical conductivity, cation-exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable bases, total-C and N, and plant-available phosphorus were analyzed for the WTR and DGS. The growth of the trees was better in the WTR than in the DGS, which was recognized to be due to the finding that D/D₀, K_S, total-N and CEC were higher in the WTR than in the DGS. Therefor, WTR is considered to be suitable as a soil substitute material for growing greening trees.

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