Summer Drought in 2019 on Polish Territory—A Case Study

The summer 2019 drought in Poland, i.e., the warmest year in observation history, was characterized. Meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and hydrogeological aspects were taken into account. Meteorological drought in the light of regionally differentiated days of low precipitation frequency lasted the longest, i.e., over 3 months in central-western Poland. In the period between June–August 2019, in the belt of South Baltic Lakes and Central Polish Lowlands, the lowest precipitation sums of 30–60% of the norm were recorded. The values of the climatic water balance (CWB) calculated by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation (IUNG) method for individual months of June–August for the Polish area were −129, −64, and −53 mm, respectively. The most threatened were fruit bushes, spring cereals, maize for grain and silage, and leguminous plants. In central-western and south-western Poland, the drought accelerated the date of the lowest flows by two months on average from the turn of September and October to the turn of July and August. In the lowland belt, where the drought was the most intensive, the average monthly groundwater level, both of free and tight groundwater table, was lower than the monthly averages for the whole hydrological year.

Shrub legume green manure intercropped with maize preceding organic snap bean cultivation

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate strategies for growing pigeon pea and tephrosia intercropped with maize in different spatial arrangements for green manure in organic snap bean farming in succession. The experimental design was a randomized block, in a 2x3 + 1 factorial scheme, corresponding to the two species and the cropping system (monocropping; intercropping with sowing in the same row or between rows). The treatments consisted of pigeon pea and tephrosia monocropping, pigeon pea or tephrosia intercropped with maize in the same planting furrow, pigeon pea or tephrosia intercropped with maize between rows, and maize monocropping (control). After cutting the pre-crops, snap beans were sown. The authors verified that the introduction of shrub leguminous plants in intercropping did not interfere with the phytotechnical characteristics of maize. The tephrosia monocropping and the intercropping of this species with maize, regardless of sowing location, provided, respectively, the highest productivities of pods and dry beans of snap beans, compared with pigeon pea pre-cropping.

Glutathione Status in the Roots of Tomato Plants Transgenic by Genes psl and rapA1 in the Presence of Rhizobium leguminosarum

The level of glutathione was investigated in the roots of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants transgenic by genes psl and rapA1 in the presence of a microsymbiont of leguminous plants Rhizobium leguminosarum VSy3. The plants transformed with gene psl showed a greater bacterial adhesion than the plants transformed with gene rapA1, which positively correlated with growth parameters of plants. Treatment with rhizobia elevated the content of glutathione in the roots of wild type plants three times, 4.7 times in the roots of plants transformed with gene rapA1, and more than five times in the plants transgenic by gene psl. The obtained results suggest that the level of glutathione in the roots may serve as a marker of efficiency of artificial symbiotic systems produced de novo.

Determinación de micotoxinas presentes en alimentos de consumo infantil comercializados en México

Los cereales y sus subproductos son la base de la alimentación en México y en países en desarrollo. El cereal seco es un alimento basado en granos de cereales y/o leguminosas que se elaboran para lograr un escaso contenido de humedad y se fragmentan para permitir su dilución con agua, leche y otro líquido conveniente para niños y lactantes. Los efectos adversos de las micotoxinas incluyen problemas en el crecimiento infantil, defectos en el desarrollo del tubo neural, daños al sistema inmunológico, enfermedades renales, y mayores probabilidades de desarrollar cáncer de hígado y esófago. Por lo cual, su estudio es de gran importancia en lo que respecta a la salud pública. Las aflatoxinas son carcinógenos potentes que pueden afectar especialmente al hígado y al riñón; son causa de cáncer hepático y se han relacionado con otros tipos de cáncer. El presente trabajo consistió en determinar la cantidad de aflatoxinas (AF) totales en alimentos de consumo infantil, extrayéndose de éstos mediante columnas de anticuerpos monoclonales para conocer sus niveles de concentración con el método "Aflatest - Vicam". Las muestras analizadas fueron principalmente cereales para consumo infantil entre otros productos como avenas, galletas y frituras. Los resultados reportaron que el 83.3% de los productos analizados se encontraban libres de aflatoxinas, mientras que el 16.7% arrojaron concentraciones mínimas que no rebasaron los límites máximos permisibles por la NOM-187-SSAI/SCFI-2002, la cual establece 20 µg/kg de concentración máxima en harinas y cereales. Cereals and their by-products are the basis of food in Mexico and developing countries. Dry cereal is a food based on grains of cereals and/or leguminous plants which are made to achieve a low moisture content and are fragmented to allow dilution with water, milk and other liquid liquid suitable for infants and infants. Adverse effects of mycotoxins include problems in childhood growth, defects in the development of the neuronal tube, damage to the immune system kidney diseases, and more likely to develop liver cancer and esophageal cancer. Therefore, his study is of great importance in regards to public health. Aflatoxins are potent carcinogens that can affect any organ or system, and especially to the liver and kidney; they cause liver cancer and have been linked to other types of cancer. The present work consisted of determining the amount of total aflatoxins (AF) in infant foods by monoclonal antibodies to know their concentration levels by the "aflatest - vicam" method, the samples analysed were mainly cereals for infant consumption among other products such as oats, biscuits and fritters. The results reported that 83.3% of the products analysed were free of aflatoxins, while 16.7% reported minimal concentrations, thus not exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of the NOM-187-SSAI/SCFI-2002 which sets 20 µg/kg maximum concentration in flour and cereals.

EFFECTS OF SALINITY ON GROWTH AND PROLINE CONTENT ON BEAN AND ALFALFA

Soil salinity is a major agricultural constraint in many countries. Plants’ response to salinity depends on the species and the salt concentration in the soil. The objective of this study was to test the resistance of three leguminous plants - common bean (variety ‘El-Jadida’), broad bean (variety ‘Claro de Luna’), and alfalfa (variety ‘Diamon’) - to several salinity rates and to show which one was more resistant to salt stress. This study was carried out under controlled conditions, with six NaCl concentrations (0, 1, 3, 6, and 9 g/kg) added to a mixture of potting soil and sand. A completely randomised design was used, where the three legumes were cultivated with different salt concentrations to determine the effect of these doses on fresh biomass, dry mass, and physiological parameters (sodium and proline content). The results showed the negative effect of salinity on fresh biomass and dry mass of shoots and roots. Claro de Luna, the broad bean variety, was more adapted to salinity than alfalfa and common bean. The amount of sodium in the shoots and roots of the three species increased with increasing salinity. Alfalfa may play a role in soil desalination; at 53.33 mM NaCl, 100 mg alfalfa dry mass absorbed 4.5 mg Na per pot, which corresponded to the uptake of about 0.6 kg Na per hectare of soil. Proline content increased with increasing salt concentrations.