During the pod growth stage, soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) are very susceptible to drought. The research was carried out to investigate the extent of damages by different durations of drought on soybean plants during pod growth, and the capabilities of different plant growth regulators (PGRs) to mitigate these damages. The two-factor experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, including 12 treatments with 3 replications. Factor A was the drought durations: 0 days (D0), 4 days without irrigation (D4), 8 days without irrigation (D8); and factor R was the PGR treatments: water (W), salicylic acid (SA), brassinolide (BR), and gibberellic acid GA3 (GA). Results showed that no differences in plant growth and development due to drought durations or PGRs were observed. However, longer drought durations severely reduced the yield by about 83.8% compared with control. Among the three PGRs used, brassinolide was most effective in mitigating drought stress effects on soybean plants, improving the total number of firm pods (35.0 pods), firm seeds (70.8 seeds), the weight of 100 seeds (16.6 g), and productivity (195.9 g). However, spraying brassinolide did not affect the protein, proline, and pigment contents.

Saltwater intrusion has posed a complex and detrimental impact on rice cultivation in the Mekong Delta. The ST24 is the rice variety with prominent quality, which is being admired by both domestic and international markets. The assessment of salt tolerance at various growth stages aids farmers in minimizing losses during cultivation. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of salinity concentrations and stages on growth, yield and rice quality of ST24 rice variety in the Summer-Autumn crop in 2023. The rice plants were grown in pots and placed in a greenhouse throughout the experiment. A two-factor experiment was arranged in a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The first factor included three salinity concentrations: 2‰, 4‰, and 6‰, while the second factor comprised three growth stages: the seedling stage, tillering stage, and heading stage. The results indicated that the concentrations and stages of salinization significantly affected the growth, yield and grain quality of ST24 rice variety. The growth parameters tended to decrease as the salinity concentrations increased. The actual yield reached 220.1, 113.5, 46.2 g/plot at salinity concentrations of 2‰, 4‰ and 6‰, respectively. The yield of rice plants was least affected by salinity at the seedling stage (252.8 g/plot) and were most severely affected by salinity at the heading stage (46.8 g/plot). Increasing salinity from 2‰ to 6‰ did not affect gelatinization (at level 2.0), but reduced the size of grains.

The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of injectable toltrazuril and gleptoferron (combined in one injectable product) in controlling coccidiosis and iron deficiency anemia in piglets. A total of 16 farrowing litters were assigned to 2 treatment groups, 8 litters per group. The piglets in the control group (conventional treatment) were injected with 1 mL of iron dextran (200 mg) and orally administered 1 mL of 5% toltrazuril at 2 days of age (DOA). In the treatment group, the piglets were injected with 1.5 mL of combined product (containing 200 mg of iron and 45 mg of toltrazuril), also at 2 DOA. The mean hemoglobin concentration of 2 DOA piglets in the control group (110.00 ± 17.20 g/L) was similar to that of the treatment group (104.60 ± 15.40 g/L) (P > 0.05). However, the mean hemoglobin concentration of the control group (103.30 ± 15.80 g/L) was lower than that of the treatment group (111.60 ± 16.00 g/L) at weaning (P < 0.05). Real-time PCR results did not detect oocysts in fecal samples except at 15 DOA. The threshold cycle (Ct) index in the control group at 15 DOA (34.36 - 34.79) was lower than that of the treatment group (35.07 - 36.98). Futhermore, the treatment group had a higher mean body weight at weaning and average daily gain (7.98 kg and 265.20 g/day) than that of the control group (7.40 kg and 225.60 g/day) (P < 0.001). In conclusion, combination product provided more benefits for suckling piglets, including controlling coccidiosis and significantly improving weight gain.

The research aimed to evaluate the application of MB-1 vaccine at the hatchery to prevent Gumboro disease in commercial broilers. One hundred serum samples were randomly collected from commercial white broilers to examine infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) antibody titers. The surveyed chickens exhibited an average maternally derived antibody (MDA) level of 3,258 ± 1,551 (titers). At 36 and 42 days of age, IBDV antibody titers exceeded the protection level, with very high uniformity: 4,217 ± 911 and 4,413 ± 1,153 (titers), respectively. In addition, the humoral immune response to the ND vaccine is good with antibody titers of 3,180 ± 2,103 at 42 days of age. IBDV of MB-1 vaccine was detected in bursa from 15 days of age and persisted until the last sample was taken at 36 days of age. The bursa lesion scores (BLS) were at normal ranges, gradually increasing from 1 to 2.8 between 18 and 36 days of age. The bursa index (BI) was highest when the chicken was at 15 days old (0.23%) and decreased to the lowest (0.06%) when the chicken was at 36 days old. In summary, the use of MB-1 vaccine in the hatchery has shown early localization of the MB-1 vaccine virus in the bursa, provided a strong immune response to IBDV without affecting the humoral immune response to the ND killed vaccine, and was safe for the bursa when applied to commercial broilers at the hatchery.

Ngoc Linh ginseng is a valuable medicinal crop recognized for its anti-amnesia, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and anti-cancer properties. This study was to investigate the variation effect of growth regulators and culture conditions for micropropagation of Ngoc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv.) on a temporary immersion system. After ten weeks of cultivation, the best callus induction rate in a solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) 1.5 mg/L was 90%. Callus cultured on MS medium (indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) 0.7 mg/L) supplemented with Thidiazuron (TDZ) 0.8 mg/L resulted in the highest embryogenesis rate, reaching 69.29%, with an average of 11.25 embryos per explant. The MS medium supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) 1 mg/L and α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) 1 mg/L was shown to be appropriate for shoot growth from Ngoc Linh ginseng embryos. The temporary immersion system showed that with a 6-benzyladenine acid (BA) concentration of 1.5 mg/L for 3 min of immersion, the greatest value for shoot number was 6.00 shoots/explant, and the height was 2.70 cm. Roots developed best at a treatment with a 5 min of immersion and NAA 1 mg/L concentration, root formation frequency, and root length reaching values of (71.25%; 1.61 cm). As a result, the temporary immersion system (TIS) system can be used for high-efficiency in vitro propagation of Ngoc Linh ginseng plants.