Boron is considered important to improve the drought resistance, yield and protein contents of pulses. Two years of field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of boron application and water stress given at vegetative and flowering stages on growth, yield and protein contents of mungbean during spring 2014 and 2015. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with split-plot arrangement giving more emphasis to boron. The experiment comprised three water stress levels (normal irrigation, water stress at vegetative stage and water stress at reproductive phase) and four boron levels (0, 2, 4 and 6 kg ha-1). Final seed yield was significantly increased by different levels of boron application both under normal and water stressed conditions. The increase in yield was mainly due to greater plant height, number of pods bearing branches, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and 1000-grain weight. Boron application at 4 kg ha-1 caused 17%, 10% and 4% increase in grain yield under normal irrigation, stress at vegetative stage and water stress at reproductive phase, respectively. Protein contents were also increased (9-16%) at same boron treatment. Most parameters showed a marked decrease at higher dose (6 kg ha-1) of boron. In conclusion, the boron application at rate of 4 kg ha-1 in clay-loam soil performed the best to enhance mungbean growth, yield and seed protein both under normal and water stressed conditions.
Hypertension is a major risk factor for a number of cardiovascular diseases. Proper management of hypertension may require both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. Non-pharmacological interventions help reduce the daily dose of antihypertensive medication and delay the progression from prehypertension to hypertension stage. Non-pharmacological interventions include lifestyle modifications like dietary modifications, exercise, avoiding stress, and minimizing alcohol consumption. Nutritional requirements of hypertensive individuals can be addressed through adopting either the DASH diet or through traditional Mediterranean diet. These dietary guidelines promote the consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products, and food rich in K+, Mg+2, Ca+2, and phosphorus. Restriction of Na+ intake has the greatest role in lowering the blood pressure. The DASH diet alone has the effect equal to that of a single drug therapy. After dietary modifications, exercise and weight loss are the second major intervention for hypertension management. Avoiding stressful lifestyle, depression, and anxiety also help to reduce elevated blood pressure. Minimizing alcohol intake also favors the blood pressure reduction. However, lifestyle modification is a dynamic process and requires continuous adherence. It is a multi-factorial approach targeting more than one intervention. However, 6-12-month lifestyle modifications can be attempted in stage-1 hypertensive patients without any cardiovascular complication, in the hope that they may be sufficiently effective to make it unnecessary to use medicines.