. 2010. Pattern of greenhouse gas emission from a Prairie Pothole agricultural landscape in Manitoba, Canada. Can. J. Soil Sci. 90: 243Á256. To obtain accurate N 2 O and CH 4 emission estimates from the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, knowledge of landscape pattern and soil factors is important. A field study was conducted investigating the temporal and spatial variation in N 2 O and CH 4 emissions from spring to fall 2005 and spring-thaw to post-fertilizer application period 2006 using static-vented chambers located at upper, middle and lower landscape elements planted to spring wheat in 2005 and flax in 2006 and riparian areas in an undulating terrain in southern Manitoba. N 2 O was emitted during spring-thaw and post-fertilizer application periods for cropped positions and CH 4 was emitted about 7 wk after soil thaw for lower and riparian elements. While there was no statististical difference in N 2 O emission from upper, middle and lower landscape elements, there was greater occurrence of N 2 O emission hotspots at the lower element, associated with its comparatively higher soil moisture and carbon availability. A location of intense CH 4 emission in a riparian area had considerably less soil sulfate compared with other riparian locations. We conclude that hotspots for N 2 O and CH 4 emission within the landscape are localized and driven by high soil moisture and C availability, and riparian areas should be identified separately from cropped areas, as their N 2 O and CH 4 emissions are lower and higher, respectively. Riparian areas having high sulfate concentrations do not seem to emit appreciable amounts of CH 4 .

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A recent outbreak of FAW (Spodoptera frugiperda) caused a substantial yield loss in corn was recorded in Sri Lanka especially from Uva, Eastern and North Central provinces. This was first reported in Sri Lanka in August 2018 and over the last six months, the livelihood of the majority of small-scale farming families was greatly affected. National mobilization of resources, agriculture related institutions together with university academia actively participated with the government campaign of combating the pest and improving the livelihood of affected people all over the country. The effort of this short communication is to describe the magnitude of FAW infestation, its implications in Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka and the contribution of the inter-institutional support towards the sustainable management of the Fall ArmyWorm epidemic in Sri Lanka. Amount of land extent used for corn cultivation in Ratnapura district was estimated as 292.65ha, while 32.95 ha were infected with the pest (11.3%). Highest provincial land extent use for corn in Sri Lanka was Uva province where considerable pest damage has been reported. In Uva, total 42436.7 ha were cultivated in maha season where 30998.3 ha has infected and destroyed (73%). Even though corn was cultivated in lower land extent in Ratnapura, effective and organized disaster management response in Ratnapura was able to minimize the pest impact to 11.3% from total losses.

The nutritional quality of the food has become a serious concern in existing agricultural system as the present world aims to enhance only the food production. A field experiment was carried out to study the effect of different fertilizers on growth, vitamin C and calcium content in yield of Capsicum chinense at Regional Agricultural Research and Development Center, Makandura consisting four treatments as without fertilizer (control/ T1), only compost (T2), compost + inorganic fertilizer (T3) and only inorganic fertilizer (T4) with a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicating four times. Vitamin C content was measured by Indophenol dye redox titration method and calcium content was analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Data was analyzed using analysis of variance. The highest growth was recorded in T3 and no significant differences between treatments in growth parameters at 50% flowering stage.The Vitamin C content was highest in treatment with only compost (T2) and the lowest in treatment compost + inorganic fertilizer (T3). The results indicated that yield from organically managed crops contain significantly higher amount of vitamin C (9.24±2.27 mg/100g, p= 0.0274). The highest calcium content was found in T1 (control) (1.1±0.05 %) and a significant difference (p= 0.0296) was observed between T1 (control) and T3 (calcium=0.75±0.12 %). Compost alone can be used to produce food with high amount of vitamin C. Use of inorganic fertilizer alone or integration of compost with inorganic fertilizer was less effective in producing high quality nutritious foods.

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