The capture and utilization of rainwater by crops under various mulching conditions have great importance in agriculture production systems, especially in dry-prone regions. Understanding the effect of mulching on rainwater use efficiency growth and yield of a crop is very important. For this purpose, field experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 to evaluate the potential of ridge-furrow mulching on maize growth and development under rain-fed conditions. The field study compared four treatments, i.e., ridge-furrow without mulch (WM), black plastic mulch (BM), transparent plastic mulch (TM) and grass mulch (GM). The BM treatment consistently increased the soil moisture and temperature, resulting in earlier emergence, as well as increased plant height and plant biomass, compared to the WM treatment. Compared to WM, the two-years mean yield of maize with BM, TM and GM were recorded to be increased by 33.6%, 28.1% and 10.8%, respectively. The BM produced a maximal crop growth rate at 90 days after sowing (DAS) as specified by a greater leaf area index. Transpiration rate and leaf stomatal conductance were significantly higher with BM and TM than with WM, however, the BM treatment showed the highest net photosynthetic rate in both years. Net income for the BM treatment was the highest (USD 1226 ha⁻¹) of all the treatments and USD 335 ha⁻¹ greater than WM. As growth, yield and net income of maize were improved with BM, therefore this treatment was found to be the most effective for maize production in rain-fed conditions. This system is evaluated at a small scale, hence to maximize its effectiveness on a large scale, a simulation design needs to be developed.

Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important staple food crop worldwide, especially in east and southeast Asia. About one-third of rice cultivated area is under saline soil, either natural saline soils or irrigation with brackish water. Salinity stress is among the devastating abiotic stresses that not only affect rice growth and crop productivity but also limit its cultivation area globally. Plants adopt multiple tolerance mechanisms at the morphological, physiological, and biochemical levels to tackle salinity stress. To identify these tolerance mechanisms, this study was carried out under both a controlled glass house as well as natural saline field conditions using 22 green super rice (GSR) lines along with two local varieties (“IRRI 6 and Kissan Basmati”). Several morpho-physiological and biochemical parameters along with stress-responsive genes were used as evaluation criteria under normal and salinity stress conditions. Correlation and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) suggested that shoot-related parameters and the salt susceptible index (SSI) can be used for the identification of salt-tolerant genotypes. Based on Agglomerative Hierarchical Cluster (AHC) analysis, two saline-tolerant (“S19 and S20”) and saline-susceptible (“S3 and S24”) lines were selected for further molecular evaluation. Quantitative RT-PCR was performed, and results showed that expression of 1-5-phosphoribosyl -5-5-phosphoribosyl amino methylidene amino imidazole-4-carboxamide isomerase, DNA repair protein recA, and peptide transporter PTR2 related genes were upregulated in salt-tolerant genotypes, suggesting their potential role in salinity tolerance. However, additional validation using reverse genetics approaches will further confirm their specific role in salt tolerance. Identified saline-tolerant lines in this study will be useful genetic resources for future salinity breeding programs.