A study was made on the effect of arsenic (As) and As X P interaction in Boro rice and its residual effect in succeeding T. Aman rice. Arsenic was added to soil (having 2.6 ppm initial As) @ 0, 15 and 30 mg As kg -1 from Na 2 HAsO 4 .7H 2 O and phosphorus @ 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 mg P kg -1 from KH 2 PO 4 . Each pot had received 100 ppm N, 40 ppm K and 25 ppm S from urea, MoP and gypsum, respectively. The grain yield of Boro rice was reduced by 20.6 % for 15 ppm As treatment and 63.8 % due to 30 ppm As. Such reductions for straw yield were 21.0 and 65.2 % with these two As treatments, respectively. Residual effect of arsenic was also significant and negative in T. Aman rice. The grain-As concentration in all cases was below 1 ppm, and the straw-As content was well above 1 ppm. The arsenic concentrations of both grain and straw were lower in T. Aman rice than in Boro rice. The adverse effect of arsenic was further enhanced by P addition. This reaction has an implication to P fertilizer management in rice.

Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation protocol was established for two chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) varieties, namely Barichhola-4 (Bch-4) and . Transformation ability of different explants such as decapitated embryo with single cotyledon disc (DEC), decapitated embryo (DE) and slice embryo decapitated at shoot end with single cotyledon disc (SEC) were tested using Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harbouring binary plasmid pBI121, containing the GUS and nptII genes. Maximum transformation ability was exhibited by explants of decapitated embryo (DE) from Barichhola-5 (Bch-5). The optimum regeneration from the transformed tissue was achieved on MS supplemented with 0.5 mg/l BAP, 0.5 mg/l Kn and 0.2 mg/l NAA along with double the amount of CaCl2 and KNO3. Selection of the transformed shoots was carried out by gradually increasing the concentration of kanamycin to 150 mg/l. Stable expression of the GUS gene was detected in various parts of the transformed shoots through GUS histochemical assay. Stable integration of nptII gene within the genomic DNA from these transformed shoots was confirmed through PCR analysis.

To regenerate plantlets both directly and indirectly, different explants (cotyledon, hypocotyl, root tip and shoot tip) of sweet gourd (Cucurbita moschata) were cultured on medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of NAA (0.

This study was conducted in order to investigate the effect of scion defoliation period and methods of grafting on the success and survivability of mango (var. Amrapali) at Bangladesh Agricultural University Germplasm Centre (BAU-GPC) of Fruit Tree Improvement Program (FTIP) of the Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. The experiment consisted of four scion defoliation periods, viz., defoliation before 9, 6, 3 days of grafting and defoliation on the day of grafting and two grafting methods namely cleft grafting and whip grafting. The study was laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed that scions defoliated 9 days before grafting showed the highest success (91.59%) and survivability (88.75%) and took the lowest time for bud breaking  and first leaf opening (11.10 days and 14.22 days, respectively)whereas the lowest success rate (85.82% ) and survivability (83.60%) were observed when scion defoliation was performed on the day of grafting. In respect of grafting methods, higher graft success and survivability (89.68% and 86.89%, respectively) were found in cleft method, however, this method took longer time for bud breaking (11.92 days) and first leaf opening (15.90 days). The combined influence of scion defoliation period and grafting method exhibited the best performance on graft success and survivability when cleft grafting method was used with scion defoliated 9 days before grafting operation. Therefore the results of this investigation suggested that scions defoliated 9 days before grafting operation and cleft grafting method would be better for propagation of mango, yet the performance of cleft grafting with scion defoliated 6 days before grafting was also good with the hope of getting 85% success and survivability.Progressive Agriculture 27 (3): 242-248, 2016