Cadmium (Cd) contamination in plant-derived food is a big concern. This study examines whether and how Ar/O 2 and Ar/Air plasma techniques lead to Cd detoxification in wheat. Treatment with Ar/O 2 and Ar/Air changed the seed surface and decreased the pH of seeds as well as the cultivation media. Generally, plants subjected to Cd treatment from seeds treated with Ar/O 2 and Ar/Air plasma showed considerable progress in morphology and total chlorophyll synthesis compared to Cd-treated wheat, suggesting that plasma technology is effective for Cd detoxification. Furthermore, Ar/O 2 and Ar/Air plasma treated plants showed a significant decrease in root and shoot Cd concentration, which is consistent with the reduced expression of Cd transporters in the root ( TaLCT1 and TaHMA2 ) compared with the plants not treated with plasma in response to Cd stress. This Cd inhibition is possibly accomplished by the decrease of pH reducing the bioavailability of Cd in the rhizosphere. These observations are in line with maintenance of total soluble protein along with reduced electrolyte leakage and cell death (%) in root and shoot due to Ar/O 2 and Ar/Air treatments. Further, Cd-induced elevated H 2 O 2 or oxidative damage in tissues was mainly diminished through the upregulation of antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT) and their corresponding genes ( TaSOD and TaCAT ) induced by Ar/O 2 and Ar/Air plasma. Grafting results suggest that root originating nitric oxide signal possibly drives the mechanisms of Cd detoxification due to plasma treatment in wheat. These findings provide a novel and eco-friendly use of plasma technology for the mitigation of Cd toxicity in wheat plants.

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Determining the extent of adoption of modern variety potato production technologies by the potato growers was the main focus of the study. The study was conducted in the Rajshahi district. Out of 1547 potato growers, 232 respondents were randomly selected as a sample for data collection from twenty villages. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents during July 2010 to February 2011. For measuring the adoption of modern variety potato production technologies by the potato growers, 11 technologies on modern potato production were considered. Majority (46.55%) of the growers had medium adoption compared to high (29.74%) and low (23.71%) adoption. Among the extent of adoption of eleven selected technologies recommended 'irrigation' was at top highest ranking as indicated by the adoption index where as plant spacing was bottom lowest. The adoption variations in different technologies will not be improved unless effective steps are taken to increase growers' exposure to get benefits of using such technologies as per recommendations.

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