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ABSTRACT:The present study aimed to screen the effect of overuse of the insecticide Dimethoate and its residues within 0 -15 cm soil layer on the soil micro-arthropods population, which play a very important role in maintenance of the fertility of the soil. The valley of Zendan is located in Arhab Destrict, Sana'a Governorate, Yemen. The valley is about 50 km north-east of Sana'a city and this geographical area is a large producer of Qat (Catha edulis Forsk); the plant which most of the people in the country chew. In this study the valley divided into three stations, each station contained three treated substations and three control substations. The control substations selected from the farms, which are historically free from pesticides. Due care has been taken to insure that the treated sub-stations were from the closest area to the control substations. The average use of Dimethoate 40% E.C is 1-2 ml/L water. The treatment replication was 1-3 times within the period of 2-3 weeks. In this study also, we analyzed the total concentration of Dimethoate, and its metabolite; Omethoate in the soil layer of 0-15 cm. The analysis of Dimethoate and Omethoate residues from representative soil samples covered the major part of the Zendan valley was done by the technique of LC-MS, and the results revealed that the detected levels ranged from 0.914 to 5.180 mg/kg air-dried soil for Dimethoate residues and 0.001 to 0.067 mg/kg air-dried soil for Omethoate residues. For studying the effect of Dimethoate residues on the soil micro-arthropods population, soil samples from each substation were collected with core sampler. The soil micro-arthropods were extracted for 48 hours and collected in vials containing 70% alcohol by using the extraction funnels technique. The number and type of soil microarthropods extracted from each substation were separated and recorded and the data obtained was analyzed. The outcomes of the study revealed that Dimethoate and Omethoate residues are beyond the Total Threshold Limit Concentration (TTLC) and significantly reduced the population of the non-target soil micro-arthropods that included mainly mites, collembolans, beetle larvae, trips, cutworms, symphyla and seed corn maggot. Mites and collembolans were the most affected micro-arthropods by Dimethoate and Omethoate residues. The reduction in the soil microarthropods population varied from 59% to 69% as compared to its population in control substations. The maximum decline of soil microarthropods was found to be in substations where the highest residues of Dimethoate and Omethoate were recorded. Thus indiscriminate use of pesticides such as Dimethoate will definitely affect the soil fertility in the area and that will reduce the crop yield in future. @JASEM

Rhizoctonia solani is a most widely recognized strong saprophyte with a great diversity of host plants. It is a first ever case of extensive human mycosis caused by Rhizoctonia solani in a 65-year-old diabetic and hypertensive farmer, with a history of head injury caused by fall of mud wall. Necrotic material collected revealed septate fungal hyphae with bacterial co-infection. Fungal culture on SDA at 25°C showed cotton wooly growth progressing to greyish-white to shiny metallic black colonies and identified on basis of septate mycelial growth without conidia, right angle branching, presence of compact hyphal forms and anastomosis between branching hyphae on LPCB mount.

Lilium is one of the foremost cut flowers in the international market. The main problem is blockage of xylem vessels and insufficient water uptake takes part in the short vase life of cut flowers. An investigation was made to study the effect of preservative and biocides such as Sucrose (4 mg), Aluminum Sulfate (60 mg), CaCl2.2H2O (30 mg), CuSO4 (90 mg) and Ethanol (6 ml) on vase life of Oriental lily cv. 'Crystal Blanca'. Postharvest characteristics such as vase life, solution uptake and petal quality were evaluated. The experiment was laid out according to Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with six treatments and three replications and Tukey test was applied to check the differences among treatments. Maximum vase life in terms of days was observed in treatment Sucrose (9.33 days) followed by Aluminum Sulfate (7.00 days) and Ethanol (6.33 days). Maximum solution uptake was also recorded in CaCl2.2H20 (151.67 ml) followed by Ethanol (106.67 ml). In present context, sucrose treatment was distinctly able to enhance the vase life of Oriental Lilly and it could be a source to increase the value of this flower

Abstract. Oedema of pumpkin fruit, Cucurbita maxima cv. Queensland Blue, is reported from Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia. Symptoms were numerous raised, corky, often linear blisters over most of the fruit surface.