Ranunculus asiaticus characterizes colorful and attractive flower shapes that are related with the ornamental value of bulbous plants. Improving ornamental value of bulbous flowers has been the general goal of floricultural market. Gibberellic acid (GA3) and benzyladenine (BA) play an important role in growth and developmental processes in floriculture. Combinational treatments of these two hormones have been used in floriculture to improve flower quality. We assessed the effects of combined GA3 and BA, as well as the individual effects of each hormone, on growth characteristics using soil drench application to eight R. asiaticus cultivars, ‘Giallo Millepetali’, ‘Bianco Millepetali’, ‘Arancio Millepetali’, ‘Rosa SC’, ‘Arancio Pratolino’, ‘Giallo Pratolino’, ‘Bianco Pratolino’, and ‘Rosa Ch Pratolino’. GA3 treatments increased plant height and first flower size of R. asiaticus cultivars. Moreover, about 5 to 9 days to flowering were averagely shortened by GA3 treatments compared to controls. On the other hand, the opposites, including first flower size and days to flowering, were observed for cultivars treated with BA, compared with controls. Treatments of GA3 + BA generally affected growth traits, such as plant height, flower size, and the timing of flowering on some R. asiaticus cultivars. In particular, about 5 to 6 days to flowering were reduced on average by Treatments of GA3 + BA. Our results showed positive growth effects, including plant height, days to flowering, first flower height, number of flowers from the application of individual and combined hormones to R. asiaticus cultivars and demonstrate a role for these hormones in future bulbous floriculture.

In this study, a load duration curve was applied to the Jangseongcheon, one of the tributaries of the Yeongsan River, to assess whether the target water quality was achieved. In addition, pollution of the water body was investigated to develop and suggest the optimal management time with respect to polluted flow sections and monthly conditions. The average flow rates of sections JS1 and JS2 were 0.25 m3/s and 1.08 m3/s , respectively. The BOD and T-P for water-quality standards at JS1 were rated at II, whereas the COD and TOC were rated at III, thus indicating a fair level of water quality. By contrast, the BOD at JS2 was rated at III, the T-P at IV, and the TOC at V, indicating poor water quality in this section. The load duration curve was plotted using the actual flow data measured in eight-day intervals for eight years from 2011 to 2018 at locations JS1 and JS2 in the Jangsungcheon Basin. In an assessment using the load duration curve on whether the target water quality was met at location JS1, all of the water quality parameters (BOD, COD, TOC, T-N, T-P, and SS) satisfied the target water quality. By contrast, at location JS2, parameters COD, TOC, T-N, and T-P exceeded target values by more than 50%, indicating the target water quality was not met. The discharge loads of locations JS1 and JS2 were analyzed to identify the reasons the target water quality was exceeded. Results revealed that the land system contributed considerably. Furthermore, the discharge load of JS2 accounted for more than 80% of the load on the entire basin, excluding that of JS1. Therefore, the best method for restraining the inflow of pollutants into the stream near location JS2 must be applied to manage the water quality of the Jangsungcheon.

As part of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, multifunctional weirs have been constructed in the rivers and operated for river-level management. As the weirs play a role in draining water from tributaries, the aim of this study was to determine the influence of the weirs on the water level of the Nam River, which is one of the Nakdong River’s tributaries. Self-organizing maps (SOMs) and a locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) technique were applied to analyze the patterns and trends of water level and quality of the Nakdong River, considering the operation of the Changnyeong-Haman weir, which is located where the Nam River flows into the Nakdong River. The software program HEC-RAS was used to find the boundary points where the water is well drained. Per the study results at the monitoring points ranging between the junction of the two rivers and 17.5 km upstream toward the Nam River, the multifunctional weir influenced the water level at the Geoyrong and Daesan observation stations on the Nam River and the water quality based on automatic monitoring at the Chilseo station on the Nakdong River was affected strongly by the Nakdong River and partly by the Nam River.

A new malting barley cultivar, “Sinho”, with a resistant gene (rym5) to barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) was developed by the barley breeding team of National Crop Experiment Station (NCES), RDA in 1999. This cultivar was derived from the cross between