Nutrient systems

Abstract: Diet is a major focus of public health strategy aimed at maintaining optimum health throughout life thus preventing early onset of chronic diseases as well as promoting healthier ageing. Studies on the different properties of foods have shown that consumption of certain foods may provide greater health benefits. One such group of healthy food is the nutraceutical, which can be any substance that is a food or component of a food that provides medical, health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. They are often used in nutrient premixes or nutrient systems in food and pharmaceutical industries. Such foods items or food components that help in prevention or treatment of diseases are made from herbal/botanical raw materials. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is one of the oldest cereal grains in the Indian sub-continent having high nutraceutical value. It grows well in harsh environments and on poorly fertilized and dry soils where other crops give poor yield. It also grows well in hot climates with short rainfall periods and cool climates with warm summers. A multitude of small farmers grow finger millet with limited water resources and in many countries this crop is often referred as “poor people's crop”. Finger millet as compared to the other crops is a very rich source of calcium; the calcium content is thirty times more than that of rice and wheat. It is not only a rich source of calcium but contains also other micronutrients essential for good health. It can replace or complement traditional crops and, with vertical integration into agriculture and manufacturing, it will also have impact on rural economic development.

Abstract: The effect of selected agronomic practices on the incidence of sugarcane shoot borerChilo infuscatellus Snellen (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) was examined. In an experiment on critical periods of crop-weed competition, wherein sugarcane crop was maintained with different weed regimes, the incidence of borer was significantly lower in weedy crop than in weed-free crop. The study suggested that crop-weed vegetational diversity maintained up to 75DAP may reduce shoot borer populations. In the experiment on crop geometry - intercrop combinations with three planting patterns and four intercrops, shoot borer incidence showed non-significant differences. Similarly, in the trial on nutrient supply systems that included combinations of organic manure, green manure, sugarcane trash, biofertilizer and chemical fertilizer as sources of nutrients, shoot borer incidence showed non-significant differences.

Abstract: A method for enhancing the development of mycorrhizae in the root system of a plant. A quantity of a nutrient mixture is applied to the outside surfaces of the foliage of a plant rooted in a growth medium containing propagules of a fungus capable of mycorrhizal infection of the roots, the nutrient mixture containing a source of nitrogen and a source of at least one other element selected from among potassium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, boron, manganese, molybdenum, copper, and iron, in an aqueous vehicle. Such application is repeated at intervals over a period of time during which the supply of nutrients by fertilization is provided predominantly through such foliar application. The sugar content of the roots is thus increased by comparison to that obtained by application of the nutrient mixture to the growth medium during the aforesaid period in quantities sufficient to provide a fertilization nutrient supply at the surface of the roots equivalent to the supply effected by such repetitive applications to the foliage. The development of the mycorrhizae in the root system is thereby enhanced. The disclosure is further directed to novel compositions useful in foliar fertilization of plants and methods for the application of nutrient systems containing plant growth regulators to plant foliage.