Assessment of management practices, awareness on safe use of pesticides and perception on integrated management of pests and diseases of chilli and tomato grown by small-scale farmers in selected districts of Sri Lanka.

Background: In this study, we surveyed through a structured and pilot-tested questionnaire, the practices of pesticide usage by small-scale (< 1.25 ha) chilli and tomato farmers from four districts of Sri Lanka and their perceptions on the effectiveness of pesticides and willingness to adopt integrated pest management (IPM).

Results: We found significant (P < 0.

Assessing the Carboxymethylcellulose Copper-Montmorillonite Nanocomposite for Controlling the Infection of in Potato ( L.).

A novel antimicrobial formulation based on carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) spray-coated Cu intercalated montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposite material was prepared and its morphology, internal structure, and bonding interactions were studied. Meanwhile, the antibacterial efficacy and release behavior of Cu was also determined. PXRD patterns indicated the intercalation of Cu, while FTIR spectra and TGA traces confirmed the association of Cu-MMT with CMC.

Structural and functional analysis of a putative gene cluster for palatinose transport on the linear chromosome of Agrobacterium tumefaciens MAFF301001.

We identified a putative pal gene cluster (palR, palE, palF, palG, palK, palA, and palB) in the plant-tumorigenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens MAFF301001; by sequencing analyses, this cluster was found to be involved in palatinose transport, and its functional importance was revealed by mutational analyses. The pal gene products were highly homologous to those of putative trehalose/maltose ABC-type transport systems but were not essential to bacterial growth on trehalose. Insertion mutations in the palK and palE genes showed the necessity of these genes for bacterial growth and chemotaxis with palatinose as the carbon source, but no inhibition of tumorigenesis was observed.