An efficient selection and plant regeneration protocol for biolistic gun transformation using leaf derived callus of Coleus forskohlii has been developed. Highest regeneration frequency 90% with 50 shoots per callus clump was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with benzylaminopurine (BAP) 2.0 mg L^-1 + naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) 0.5 mg L^-1 The rate of shoot multiplication was increased with each subculture. Rhizogenesis was obtained on the same media composition. The in vitro raised plants were established successfully in sand and cocopeat (1:1). Callus of C. forskohlii was bombarded using biolistic gun with pABC plasmid DNA which contains β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene and Arabidopsis thaliana white brown complex homologs (AtWBC19) as selectable marker gene. Kanamycin in the shoot induction medium was compared qualitatively and quantitatively for its efficiency as a selection agent for the selection and regeneration of transgenic plants after biolistic gun transformation. Kanamycin levels at or above 50mg L^-1 completely inhibited growth of untransformed shoots. The integration of selectable marker gene GUS and AtWBC 19 into the genome of transgenic plants was confirmed using isoenzymatic GUS assay and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) respectively. These results pave the way for the transformation of Coleus forskohlii with desirable genes.

Selection of appropriate genotypes based on characters that show good genetic strength is a very important tool in crop improvement since selection could not be carried out based on all characters. Study of interrelationship and association of characters is essential to identify the variables which show maximum relationship with others. Correlation analysis was carried out presently in the case of 12 morphometric characters in vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides) so as to study the relationship between them. The present study revealed varying degrees of interrelationship between the morphometric characters studied. Character association was also studied so as to group the characters based on gene sharing and to identify the lead characters that could be used in further breeding programmes. Plant height showed the highest factor loading followed by leaf breadth, root length, leaves per tiller and fresh root weight showing their higher contribution towards the variability of the population and their usability in breeding programmes as lead characters.

In the present study an attempt has been made to germplasm evaluation in 39 diverse genotypes of tomato at Vegetable Research Farm, Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) during the Rabi session of 2011. Analysis of variance showed significant variation among the genotypes for all evaluated traits. Number of fruits plant-1 showed the highest genotypic and phenotypic variance (1282.0 and 1287.6) whereas test weight showed the lowest (0.03 and 0.08). High genotypic variance was observed for most of the characters indicating more contribution of genetic components for the total variation. Genotypic coefficients of variations (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were highest for average fruit weight (48.85 and 48.87), number of seeds fruit-1 (44.54 and 45.29) whereas the lowest were recorded for days to 50% fruit setting (1.984 and 2.81). Higher GCV and PVC were recorded for most of the characters indicating higher magnitude of variability for these characters. The highest heritability (broad senses) estimates were observed for average fruit weight (99.92) number of secondary branches (99.65%), while the lowest was for the test weight (45.29%). Highest genetic advance as per cent of mean was recorded for average fruit weight (100.59%) and lowest for days to 50% fruit setting (2.89). The exploration of genetic variability in the available germplasm is a prerequisite in a breeding programme for effective selection of superior genotype of tomato.

Yellow seeded Brassica is one of the most important oilseed crop cultivated in many parts of the world. The oil is consumed predominantly as edible oil and the defatted meal cake is utilized as animal/poultry feed. In the present study, intact seeds and defatted meal of 12 yellow-seeded Brassica genotypes evaluated for the presence of anti-oxidative and anti-nutritive factors. The maximum phenolic, ortho-dihydroxy phenols, flavonoid contents observed for Bio 39(16.946 mg/g), Bio 30(2.38 mg/g) and Bio 39(8.282 mg/g) respectively. The crude fibre, phytic acid and glucosinolate contents were found to be minimum in Bio 21 (6.95%), Bio 2 (3.632%) and Bio 38 (54.324 µmole/g) respectively. Vitamin C content was maximum in Bio 36 and Bio 3. The α-tocopherol content was observed to be maximum Bio 2 (61.875 mg/100g). The total antioxidant activity varied from 5.95 mg AAE/g in Bio 28 to 14.395 mg AAE/g in Bio 39. The DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed to be maximum in Bio 30 and reducing power was found to be maximum in Bio 21(0.867 ± 0.023). The present findings may be utilized for determining the quality status to ascertain their potential for development of better cultivar.

A study was undertaken to estimate the heterotic, heterobeltiotic and standard heterotic effects of 11 characters of 45 maize hybrids developed by ten parents in maize during rabi, 2011-12 over three locations viz., College Farm, Rajendranagar (Hyderabad), Agricultural Research Station, Karimnagar and Agricultural Research Station, Kampasagar, Nalgonda District, T.S. The pooled analysis of variance (Diallel) revealed significant differences among locations and genotypes for all the characters studied. The crosses exhibited significant differences, indicating varying performance of cross combinations. The parent vs crosses which indicates average heterosis, for all the traits, thus considerable amount of average heterosis was reflected in hybrids. Negative standard heterosis was observed for days to 50 per cent tasseling, days to 50 per cent silking and days to maturity due to earliness in three hybrids over checks DHM-117 and 900 M Gold were BML-2782 X BML-5233-5, CM-211 X BML-5233-5 and BML-2486 X BML-2. Five crosses viz. BML-15 X BML-2910, BML-7 X BML-3044, CM-211 X BML-7, BML-6 X BML-2 and BML-2782 X BML-6 were identified as potential hybrids with more than 12% standard heterosis for grain yield over better yielding commercial hybrid check DHM-117. Testing of these hybrids in all India coordinated trials across the different states of the country may result in identification of better hybrids in the near future for commercial exploitation.

Iron tolerant callus lines of Indica rice Vars. Khandagiri and Jagannath has been achieved on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l Kinetin, 3.0 mg/l 2,4-D, 12 mM Fe. Somatic embryos derived from both tolerant non-tolerant calluses are germinated on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), 0.25 mg/l 1-napthalen-eacetic acid (NAA) and 12 mM Fe within four weeks of subculture. The growth parameters like fresh and dry weight of callus, growth tolerance index, enzyme activity (Catalase and Peroxidase) and biochemical markers were used as indicators of iron tolerance. Measurements as early as two weeks after the beginning of the treatments did not yield consistent results. However, the growth tolerance index in the four weeks after the beginning of treatments yielded significant differences among non-tolerant and tolerant calluses. The enzyme activity is enhanced in the tolerant calluses than non-tolerant one. The in vitro raised plantlets derived from tolerant callus lines are grown in vitro in the presence of BA, NAA and 12 mM iron. The tolerant plantlets are established in the pots with iron-rich soil. This study will help to develop iron tolerant rice plants for breeding program.

Arachis hypogaea L. (The peanut) is an important oilseed crop in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. This species belongs to the subfamily Fabaceae and family Leguminosae. Different parts of the plant such as leaves and seeds are used for many purposes in India. Next-generation sequencing technology (NGS) such as RNA-seq has provided a powerful approach for analyzing the Transcriptome accurately and cheaply. This study is focus on gene expression study of RNA-seq of Arachis hypogaea L. (The peanut); Three SRA files of BioProject ID 243319 downloaded from NCBI database and genome of Arabidopsis thaliana was considered as reference genome for gene expression study. Data analysis carried out with many Bioinformatics tools such as TopHat2, Cufflinks, Cuffmerge, Cuffcompare and Cuffdiff. CummeRbund tool was used to manage, visualize and integrate all of the data produced by a Cuffdiff tool for gene expression analysis. These data reported in the current study will serve as a valuable genetic resource of the Arachis hypogaea L..

Wheat is one of the most important staple food grains of human for centuries. It has a special place in the Indian  economy because of its significance in food security, trade and industry. This study made an attempt to model and forecast the production of wheat in India by using annual time series data from 1961-2013. Parametric regression, exponential smoothing and Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models were employed and compared for finding out an appropriate econometric model to capture the trend of wheat production of the country. The best fitted model was selected based on the performance of several goodness of fit criteria viz. Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Squared Error (MSE), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Schwarz’s Bayesian Information Criterion (SBC) and R-squared values. The assumptions of ‘Independence’ and ‘Normality’ of error terms were examined by using the ‘Run-test’ and ‘Shapiro-Wilk test’ respectively. This study found ARIMA (1,1,0) as most appropriate to model the wheat production of India. The forecasted value by using this model was obtained as 100.271 million tones (MT) by 2017-18.

Soil surveying, testing and mapping are important operations for knowing availability of nutrients and micronutrients in the soil and their optimum use for agricultural operation. The main objective of present study was to estimate the content of deficient micronutrients namely Zn, B and Fe in the soil of Kashi Vidyapeeth block of Varanasi District of Uttar Pradesh, (India) at different locations by using test results of sampled soils. The Kriging interpolation method (Krige, 1951) was used for preparing the maps to show spatial distribution of deficient micronutrients. The method can be used for recommending judicious applications of micronutrients for sustainable soil management.

Phosphorus availability is increased through the use of phosphate solubilizing bacteria for enhancing the forage yield and improving the quality of berseem fodder. A field experiment was conducted in the fodder farm of West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, Belgachia during rabi, season 2013-14. The crop was sown with inoculated (I1) and un-inoculated (I0) seeds of berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum  L.) of variety warden and was given phosphorus fertilizer at the levels 40 (P1), 60 (P2), 80 (P3) and 100 (P4) kg P2O5 ha-1 in the form of SSP in RCBD with three replications in plots of net size 6 m X 2 m. PSB inoculation significantly increases green forage and dry matter yield by increasing plant height, no. of branches, leaf-stem ratio, etc. All the quality traits except ash content and dry matter percentage were significantly affected by PSB inoculation. Higher green forage yield (320.4 qt ha-1), dry matter yield (39.2 qt ha-1), crude protein yield (7.89 qt ha-1), crude protein percentage (19.28%), ethyl extract (3.32%) and nitrogen free extract (41.75%) were recorded from the plots inoculated with PSB. Application of phosphorus fertilizers significantly influenced the green forage and dry matter yield of berseem, leaf-stem ratio, etc. though plant height and no. of branches were not-significant. All the quality parameters i.e. CP, CF, EE, NFE, except ash percentage were significantly influenced by phosphorus application. Best results were obtained with 80 kg P2O5 ha-1 in all the cases. Regarding interaction effect, higher yields of better quality green forage of berseem were obtained in I1P3 i.e. inoculation with PSB with phosphorus application of 80 kg P2O5 ha-1.

Field experiments were conducted during the wet season of 2012 and 2013 at farmer’s field of village Binuria, Sriniketan, Birbhum, West Bengal, India with rice variety ‘Swarna’ (MTU 7029) to study the effect of bensulfuron-methyl + pretilachlor and other herbicides on growth of different weed species and productivity of transplanted rice. Twelve treatments in the experiment were assigned in a randomized block design with three replications. Results revealed that rice was infested with three categories of weeds viz. grasses, broadleaved and sedges. Cynodon dactylon and Paspalum distichum among the grasses; Fimbristylis miliacea, among the sedges and Ludwigia parviflora and Commelina nudiflora among the broadleaved weeds were predominant throughout the cropping period. Bensulfuron-methyl 0.6%+ pretilachlor 6% at 60+600 g ha-1applied at 3 DAT completely controlled the grasses, broadleaved and sedges at 30 and 60 DAT except Cynodon dactylon and Paspalum distichum. However, the density, as well as dry weight of both the species were significantly reduced. Metsulfuron methyl + chlorimuron-ethyl (Almix) + azimsulfuron at 4+35 g ha-1 at 15 DAT was also quite effective in controlling broad spectrum weeds. Lower values of weed density, total weed dry weight and higher values of herbicide efficiency index and yield of rice were registered with application of bensulfuron-methyl 0.6%+ pretilachlor 6% at 60 + 600 g ha-1 at 3 DAT followed by metsulfuron methyl + chlorimuron-ethyl (Almix) + azimsulfuron at 4+35 g ha-1 at 15 DAT. Weed infestation resulted in grain yield reduction of rice to the tune of 40% Application of bensulfuron-methyl 0.6%+ pretilachlor 6% at 60+600 g ha-1 at 3 DAT or metsulfuron methyl + chlorimuron-ethyl (Almix) + azimsulfuron at 4 + 35 g ha-1 at 15 DAT appeared to be the most promising for managing mixed weed flora and obtaining higher yield of transplanted rice in the lateritic belt of West Bengal, India.

Castor is an important crop of arid and semi-arid regions of the country. The castor cultivation in India is increasing year after year. In India, Gujarat and Rajasthan are two major states producing more than 80% of total castor production. The castor seeds are crushed or expelled to get castor oil, which is further used to make many important derivatives for industrial purposes. Castor being more remunerative crop to farmers of arid and semi arid region and the adoption of castor cultivation has improved the livelihood of farmers. Due to non-perishable nature of castor seeds, sometimes farmers store castor for long times growing seasons without any reduction in marketable quality of castor seeds. Cellulose is the major component of castor plant and the paper is composed of cellulose fibers. Paper and pulp industry has found suitability of use of sugarcane bagasse as raw material for paper production. Castor GCH-7 hybrid plants attained an average height of 100-110 cm with 25-30 branches. The diameter of main spike branch and sub-spike branches were ranged between 3.0-5.0 cm and 2.0 to 3.0 cm, respectively. The cellulose content was observed to 45.7%. The present study showed that the cellulose content in castor stem was remarkably higher than the other agro waste, therefore have potential to be used in paper industry, which was around 11% more than sugarcane bagasse, 25% more than rice straw and 50% more than wheat straw. In the present study, the lignin content was found 17.2%. The present study showed that the lignin content in castor stem was less than the other agro waste used in paper industry, which was around 30% less than sugarcane bagasse, 40% less than rice straw while 7% more than wheat straw. The ash content of castor samples was observed to 2.3%.

Perchlorate is a significant environmental pollutant affecting public health. When entered in ecosystem it is highly toxic. Present investigation focused on the influence of perchlorate on physiological and biochemical parameters of Eucalyptus citriodora and also its accumulation in plant tissue and depletion from soil. Eucalyptus plants were treated with varying concentration of ammonium perchlorate from 1000ppm, 2000ppm, 5000ppm and 10000 ppm. Perchlorate inside the plant tissue and in soil was quantified at regular intervals. Amount of perchlorate inside plant tissue observed to increase with number of days after treatment and is proportional to concentration of perchlorate in soil. Morphological characters like shoot length, root length, number of leaf were observed to decrease with increasing concentration of perchlorate. The present study revealed decrease in chlorophyll and reducing sugar content in leaf tissue under varying concentration of perchlorate and is indirectly proportional to amount of perchlorate. While total protein, proline, and phenol content showed a gradual increase with increase in concentration of perchlorate and in different experimental set up, suggesting increase in non-enzymatic stress parameters with increased level of toxicity. An increased activity of peroxidase enzyme was observed with increased dose of ammonium perchlorate. It can be concluded that perchlorate related influence on plant are both qualitative and quantitative and depends upon its concentration and duration of exposure.

A study was conducted in some terai soils under subtropical zone of Eastern India considering some soil series and some benchmark sites to evaluate distribution of available sulphur status and important soil attributes on sulphur availability. The total S content was found to vary widely from 191.18 to 530.40 mg kg-1 with an average of 309.21 mg kg-1. The percentage contribution of organic S, sulphate S, adsorbed S, heat soluble S and water soluble S varied from 29.62 to 85.02, 7.85 to 9.94, 0.23 to 9.82, 5.97 to 17.59 and 1.77 to 6.80 per cent to total sulphur in soil samples. Available S was significantly and positively correlated to organic carbon, total N, clay and silt+clay, oxalate-Fe, CBD-Fe and only negative correlated with pH (r = -0.02). Organic S exhibited significant and positive correlations with sulphate, water soluble S, heat soluble S and adsorbed S and played major role in sulphur availability. Significantly positive correlations of sulphate S with water soluble (r = 0.80**), heat soluble (r = 0.70**) and adsorbed S (r = 0.46**) and organic form of S (r = 70**) were found. A significantly positive correlation was observed between water soluble and heat soluble S. Among the soil properties, organic carbon, total N, silt+ clay, CBD-extractable Al and Fe influenced mostly on variability of available S in these soils.

The effect of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton residues on soil microbiological activity was investigated. Greenhouse study was carried out during the 2011 wet season (March to August) at Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University. It was experimented on three different soil orders that included entisol, inceptisol and alfisol. Bt cotton (var.NCS-138) and its non-transgenic isoline (var.NCS-138) were grown until maturity along with one control treatment. Microbial population count, Dehydrogenage activity and Microbial Biomass Carbon (MBC) were estimated following standard protocols. The decomposition of cotton crop residues resulted increased micro-flora populations and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). When residue was retained, non- Bt cotton showed higher populations of micro-flora as well as MBC that of Bt-cotton. Results from the study revealed that a significant reduction (7.5%) of the dehydrogenase activity was there in case of Bt-cotton. The interaction effect between soil type and varieties was found to be non significant for the soil micro-flora populations for different sampling stages throughout the incorporation period.These results suggest that Bt-transgenic cotton tissues have no apparent effect on soil microbial activity.

A laboratory experiment was conducted to study the effect of pesticides of different biodegradability on changes in inorganic and organic forms of N in soil maintained under two different moisture regimes. Results revealed that irrespective of pesticides and N treatment, comparatively higher amount of available N is recorded in waterlogged then the soil kept at 60% MHC. Addition of pesticides at lower dose affects the transformation process of organic N in soil. Irrespective of pesticide treatment, in general, hydrolysable NH4+ -N decreased but on the other hand amino acid N increased in soil. Again, the intensity of decrease or increase is more in waterlogged than the soil maintained under 60% of the MHC.

The productivity of potato in hilly state of Himachal Pradesh is far below than the national average. Major reason is low adoption rate of improved varieties and technologies due to lack of knowledge. Present study was conducted in Shimla, Mandi and Kangra district of HP during year 2011-12 to find out the extent of knowledge of potato farmers about scientific potato production technology and knowledge gap in relation to different package of practices for potato cultivation. A total of 90 respondents, (30 from each district) constituted the sample of the present study. Data was collected by interview method using structured interview schedule and subjected to appropriate statistical analysis. The findings revealed that a majority of the respondents (78.8%) had medium to low knowledge level about scientific potato production technology. Maximum knowledge gap was found in practices like weed management (73.3%) followed by seed treatment before storage (70%) and insect-pest management (68.8%). Majority of farmers were having knowledge about improved varieties, method of fertilizer application, row to row and plant to plant spacing and planting operations. Socio-personal-economic variables like education, land holding and annual income were significantly and positively correlated with knowledge level of farmers.

The present study attempted to assess the contribution of NTFPs to income and employment by ensuring food and livelihood security for the tribal economy in Dang’s district of Gujarat. This indicates that most employment (42.51%) was generated by the wage sector followed by NTFPs collection (31.67%) and livestock rearing (15.85%) respectively. About 42 species of NTFPs were found to be collected and utilized for various purposes such as food, medicines, and raw materials for making implements and also as a source of income. It suggested that alternate sources of income to the villagers to improve their socio-economic conditions as well as increasing the income level and employment opportunities by effective collection and selling of Non-Timber Forest Products.

Aquaculture is one of the main sources of livelihood of the state of Assam in the northeast of India. In this study, Cachar district of Assam has been selected to study and assess the impact of various sizes of fish farm on the economic condition of farmers. The study was conducted in the villages of 5 blocks namely Borjalenga, Tapang, Narsingpur, Sonai and Palonghat with an objective to suggest optimum size of the pond and analyze the production rate of different type of fish farm. The data was collected from around 169 farmers by the principle of participatory rural appraisal a method used by non- governmental organizations. Most of the farmers are not much educated and most of them lived below poverty line. The number of medium size ponds (0.5 to 1 hectare), and small farm ponds (between 0.3 to 0.5 hectare) are highest followed by very small (less than 0.3 hectare) and then large size ponds (more than 1 hectare). In the study area, both excavated and embankment type pond exist. The results indicate that even with possession of small and medium size fish farms, better annual production rate of fish can be achieved by better management practices. 83% of all fish farms in Cachar district are very small, small or medium size fish farms. Only 17% of the farms are of large size. The annual production is remarkably good for small and medium size farms. The results indicate that small and medium farm sizes have better annual production rate than other farms. Thus, small to medium farms are economically more viable for the Cachar district.

Uniform and healthy corms of eight gladiolus varieties ( Yellow Golden, Nathan Red, White Friendship, American Beauty, Red Majesty, Purple Flora and Algarve) were irradiated with different doses (0, 25, 40, 55 and 70 Gy) of gamma rays from 60Co source and planted under open field condition in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with factorial concept. Each treatment was replicated thrice.Plants treated with higher doses (55 Gy and 70 Gy) showed deleterious effect of ionising radiations although at lowest dose (25 Gy) plants were not affected much. Plant height was reduced after irradiation as compare to untreated plants and was recorded minimum at highest doses. Number of shoots per plant was slightly increased at 25 Gy treatment (1.62) in vM2 as compare to untreated plants (1.42). Significant effect of gamma irradiation on corm and cormel characters was noticed. Maximum number of corms per plant was recorded in plants treated with 25 Gy and minimum at 70 Gy. Among all the varieties Nathan Red had maximum number (1.75, 1.97) and weight (73.29gm, 79.33gm) of corms per plant in vM1 as well as vM2 generation. Number of cormels per plant was also reduced with the increase in gamma rays dose. Maximum number of cormels per plant (227.83) was recorded in the interaction of Algarve variety with 25 Gy gamma ray dose in vM2. Homeotic mutants were isolated from all the varieties at 55 and 70 Gy except American Beauty and Red Majesty variety.

The present study was carried out for the assessment of heterotic performance of 44 hybrids and their parents including check under saline ecosystem at Vegetable Research Form, NDUAT Kumarganj Faizabad U.P. These F1s were produced by using Line x tester mating design. The crosses, which displayed superiority over better parent and standard variety for total yield per plants, also exhibited significant heterosis for some/most of the major component traits. The most worthy common crosses selected on the basis of per se performance, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis for different traits in both environments were Bilahi-2 x H-86 and Himlata x H-86 for total yield; MM x H-88 and KS-60 x H-24 for number of fruits plant-1 in E2, MM x H-86 and MM x H-88 for average fruit weight in E1 and EC 168282 x H-24 in E2 for length of fruits; Himlata x H-88 in both experiment and NDT-2 x H-88 in E2 for diameter of fruits and Himlata x H-86 in E1 and NDT-2 x H-86 in E2 for early yield plant-1. However, for agronomical traits, Bilahi-2xH-86 in both environments for plant height as well as number of primary branches plant-1 was observed as voluble cross combination. Promising hybrid identified for the characters important to processing and quality point of view, were MM x H-88 in both environments for total soluble solids; EC 2291-2 x H-88 in both environments for Ascorbic acid content and EC 7343 x H-24 in E1 and Bilahi-2 x H-88 in E2 for pericarp thickness. However, none of the crosses were common for titrable acidity in both the environments in relation to above three parameters i.e. per se performance, standard heterosis and heterobeltiosis.

Citrus is one of the most important fruit tree species in the world, as the fruits are a valuable source of nutrients, vitamins and other antioxidant compounds. The citrus productivity depends on various factors, among these the plant growth regulators holds a prime position. The use of plant growth regulators has become an important component in the field of citriculture because of the wide range of potential roles they play in increasing the productivity of crop per unit area. The plant growth regulating compounds actively regulate the growth and development by regulation of the endogenous processes and there exogenous applications have been exploited for modifying the growth response. Plant growth regulators have been used in citrus fruit production for influencing flowering, fruit set and fruit drop and play a major role in fruit growth and abscission. These regulators have also been used to influence fruit quality factors like peel quality and colour, fruit size, juice quality and to improve total soluble solids in different citrus species. This review may serve as a complete treatise on the possible roles of growth promoting substances on the physiological processes of citrus plant.

A field investigation was conducted to determine dissipation behaviour in soil and terminal residues of metribuzin in potato crop applied at half the recommended dose (0.25 kg. ha-1), recommended dose (0.50 kg. ha-1) and double the recommended dose (1.00 kg. ha-1). Soil samples at different time intervals after herbicide spray and potato tuber samples at the maturity of crop were collected, processed and subjected to metribuzin residue analysis by a validated gas chromatography method with an accepted recovery of above 80%. In all herbicide treatments, more than 90% of applied herbicide in soil dissipated within 45 days after herbicide application. Metribuzin residues in potato tubers at the time of harvest were below detectable levels. This indicated that the metribuzin did not leave any residues in potato tuber at any of the applied doses. From the study, it may be concluded that pre emergence application of metribuzin in potato for weed management could be considered safe, as its residues were below the prescribed MRL (0.05 mg. kg^-1).

Pesticide residues analysis in fruits and fresh vegetables is a challenge for food safety as the gap between pesticide sprays and harvests is very less in vegetables. A multi residue method was developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of 64 pesticides (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) using QuEChERS extraction method and GC-MS/MS (Triple Quadrupole) for analysis. Eight different concentrations of certified reference materials from 0.05 ppm to 0.30 ppm were injected in GC-MS/MS with MRM method, in six replications, and R2 ranged from 0.990-0.999 with RSD of 0.55 to 11.24. The sample preparation approach is through adoption of QuEChERS method, untreated control tomato samples were fortified with mixture of pesticides at 0.05, 0.25, 0.5 mg/kg, each is five replications, and the recovery of pesticides is in the range of 80-95%, and hence method can be used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of 64 pesticides in/on tomato for monitoring studies.

The effect of process conditions on the mass transfer during osmotic dehydration of coated pineapples was studied. Pineapple samples were coated with 0.5 to 5.0% (w/v) pectin solution prior to osmotic dehydration in sucrose solution. The time of dipping in the coating solution was kept at 60 and 120 s followed by oven drying time of 10 and 40 min to solidify the coating. Water loss, solid gain, performance ratio and weight reduction were measured during osmotic dehydration of both coated and uncoated samples. Water loss of coated samples was more than the uncoated samples in coating solution of 0.5 to 3% concentration whereas solid gain of coated samples was less than the uncoated samples at all the concentrations of coating solution. Increase in drying time led to decrease in both water loss and solid gain. PR values increased as the concentration of coating agent increased from 0.5 to 1% and further increase in the concentration above 1% resulted in decreased PR. The highest value of performance ratio of 5.89 was observed in samples dipped in coating solution of 1% concentration for 120 s followed by oven drying for 40 min.

Some mechanical properties of onion seeds were investigated in this study. These properties are often required for the design of transportation, storage and grading/sorting machines and other post harvest machines for onion seeds. The seeds were compressed along three mutually perpendicular axes and the properties studied were initial rupture force, rupture force, deformation at rupture and energy consumed at rupture. The ranges of moisture content investigated were 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15% (db), respectively. The tests were carried out at a deformation rate of 70% strain energy. Onion seeds were compressed along major axes (length), intermediate axes (Breadth) and minor axes (thickness), respectively. Physical properties like dimensions, geometric mean diameter, sphericity and mass were also evaluated. It was observed from the results that rupture force, Peak force and energy consumed at rupture decreased with increase in moisture content and the deformation at rupture increased with increase moisture content.