In industrialized countries petroleum effluents, oily sludge and oil spills are the biggest threat to the environment as they produce toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic substances and contaminating soil and groundwater affecting flora and fauna adversely. Management of this waste material is the biggest challenge to the petroleum industry through conventional methods (pit formation). Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and related compounds generally classified into four fractions: aliphatic, aromatic, polars or resins and asphaltenes. Aromatics and polars are considered as less degradable than aliphatics while asphaltene is classified as non biodegradable. Biodegradation is complete mineralization of organic constituents of wastes into harmless CO2, water and inorganic components through enzymatic action of microbial populations in environment friendly manner. Moving forward in this direction TERI (Tata Energy and Resources Institute) and IOCL (Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.) successfully invented a group of microbial consortia named “Oilzapper” and OiliVorous” respectively, which can degrade oily wastes completely. This paper will provide an overview of biodegradation of petroleum wastes by microbial consortia which can be proved beneficial for the students, researchers and industries for their respective innovations.

Currently, the water pollution has become menace across the globe due to anthropogenic activities. The present study was designed to overcome the problem of water pollution wherein free cells of Phanerochaete chrysosporium were coated with polyvinyl alcohol and activated for the removal of heavy metals, azo dyes and phenolic compounds. Individual metal removal study suggested that activated PVA@PC has the capacity to remove Pb (98.5%), Al (91.24%), As (82.78%), Cd (64.5%) and Cr (53.56%) metals within 24 h. Activated PVA@PC proved to be efficient in removing different reactive dyes and phenolic compounds within 24 h. Simulated water effluent was prepared to observe simultaneous removal of hazardous contaminants. Studies revealed that activated PVA@PC is efficient to remove these contaminants within 36 h and remains efficient till 5 cycles. Microbial toxicity drastically reduced in activated PVA@PC than simulated effluent, depicting the fungi used in the present study can be a potent option for the waste water treatment plant.

The effects of elicitors [methyl jasmonate (MeJ), salicylic acid (SA) and sodium nitropruside (SNP)] on expression of three MYB transcription factor genes (SbMYB1, SbMYB2 and SbMYB3) and flavonoid content was studied in Selaginella bryopteris. Gene expression analysis showed that SbMYB2 was responsive to MeJ as its expression increased (1.6-2.36 fold) as compared to control between 3 to 6h. The effect of SA was most prominent on SbMYB1 and SbMYB2 as their expression level increased (11-7.9 fold for SbMYB1 and 8.35 fold for SbMYB2) as compared to control between 3 to 6h. While the effect of SNP on expression SbMYB2 and SbMYB3 was prominent as compared to their respective control. The expression level increased (2.6-4 folds for SbMYB2 and 1.15-3.16 folds for SbMYB3) between 3 to 6h. The effect of elicitors on the flavonoid production was also evident in the present study. The content of flavonoid in methanolic extract of MeJ treated sample was found to be increased (1.2 fold) after 3h but declined at 6h and 9h as compared to control. Similarly, the content of flavonoid in methanolic extract of SA treated sample was found to be higher (1.85 fold) than control at 3h and later declined at 6h and 9h.The flavonoid content in methanolic extract of SNP treated sample was higher (1.84 fold) at 3h, 6h (2.13 fold) and at 9h (1.42 fold) as compared to control. The correlation was established between the gene expression and flavonoid content in response to elicitors. Out of three MYB genes studied only SbMYB2 was found to be most responsive to elicitors.

A field investigation was conducted on sandy loam soil of Agricultural Research Farm, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during kharif season of 2016, with an aim to study the effect of levels of improved sulphur (S) formulations on growth and productivity of rice grown in Gangetic alluvial of Uttar Pradesh. It was revealed that the growth parameters, yield attributes, yield, and nutrient uptake were significantly influenced by the application of improved S fertilizers. Application of improved S, Gromor Rapid Blue® @ 10 kg acre-1 produced the highest dry matter accumulation, grain weight panicle-1, test weight, and straw yield. Maximum grain yield (4.85 t ha-1) was obtained in 7.5 kg Gromor Rapid Blue® acre-1, which is about 18% higher than the control. In case of uptake of nutrients by grain, highest uptake of N and S was recorded with 10 kg Gromor Rapid Blue® acre-1, and highest uptake of P and K was obtained with 7.5 kg Gromor Rapid Blue® acre-1. According to the study, application of Gromor Rapid Blue® @ 7.5 kg acre-1 is recommended for better growth and yield of rice in soils of Varanasi.

Litter decomposition in shrubland ecosystems is relatively not well understood, yet they cover significant proportion of the earth surface. The aim of the study is to understand the litter decomposition process of shrubland leaf litter under controlled conditions using litter bag technique over 360 days period. Destructive sampling was done at 0, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 270 and 360 days after the incubation and accumulated mass loss (AML) was calculated. We also examined release, retention or accumulation of the various nutrients, change in soluble compound, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin concentrations in the residual litter. AML displayed a bi-phasic pattern with initial rapid phase, followed by a steady phase. AML best fitted to a double exponential decay model and decay constant for the rapid phase was approximately 130 times higher than the slower phase. Among the nutrients rapid release of P and K was observed. Soluble component concentrations decreased rapidly whereas hemicellulose concentrations slowly decreased. Conversely, lignin concentrations increased throughout the study; however cellulose concentrations are broadly stable. Litter AML best correlated to the temporal dynamics of Lignin-to-N ratio during the decomposition. Overall, 44% of the litter remain in the soil after 360 d of incubation period. Our results suggest that Cistus leaf litter contributes 8.3 kg ha-1d-1 C to below ground. However, details of Cistus species distribution and phenology need to be considered before these results are extrapolated to shrubland ecosystem.

Fly ash is considered as a good soil & source of secondary plant nutrients as well as micronutrients and can significantly improve the physio-chemical properties of the soil due to increase in porosity and water holding capacity. It can efficiently be used as a source of pesticide carrier, plant growth promoter etc. It has also been reported to be safe for agricultural application in context of toxicology & radioactivity. The poor infiltration and fine texture of clay soil causes water logging problem and reduces biological activities in soil. In contrast to this, loose particle and higher in filterability in sandy soil results in low water holding capacity and poor nutrient retention. Fly ash, a waste product of thermal power plants, causes environmental pollution and is hazardous to human health. Fly ash may be used as amendment to improve soil properties and plant growth in soils. The addition of 20% fly ash in decade soil and up to 30% in sandy soils improved the germination, plant height, biological and grain yield of wheat. The addition of fly-ash has also shown improvement in the soil properties viz. texture, structure and bulk density. Permeability of clay loam soil increased from 0.54cm/hr to 2.14cm/hr by the addition of 50% fly ash whereas it decreased from 23.80 cm/hr to 9.67 cm/hr in sandy soil by addition of 50% fly-ash. Water holding capacity of sandy soil also increased from 0.38 cm/cm to 0.53 cm/cm at 50% level. The agricultural productivity increased by addition up to 30% fly ash and 10% compost in different type of soil as experimented in the present study.

Ipomoea pes-caprae (L.) R. Br. is widely distributed as a beach plant and associated with mangroves. I. pes-caprae possesses ornamental and medicinal potential. This plant is used as folk and tribal medicine as well as in traditional system of medicine. Cuttings of I. pes-caprae were raised in different media combinations like soil, sand, cocopeat, soil+sand (1:1), soil+cocopeat (1:1) and soil+compost (1:1) under fresh water condition. Two replicates of each combination were prepared. One set of Ipomoea cuttings in each media was placed under direct sunlight condition and another set was placed under shadenet condition. Growth performance was studied by using various media. The cuttings of I. pes-caprae were found to be growing successfully in fresh water. Growth performance was better in soil+compost media in shadenet condition as compared to cuttings raised in direct sunlight condition. Increment in height (71.53 cm), number of leaves (27.67) and the survival percentage (96%) were observed. Ipomoea cuttings raised in soil +compost media under shade net condition. Similarly, increment in the height (49.2 cm), number of leaves (25.66) and survival percentage (88%) was observed for Ipomoea cuttings raised in soil +compost media under direct sunlight condition. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done (P≤0.05) and t-Test was used for comparing treatments.

Present study deals the effectiveness of traditional and recent techniques of seed treatment on germination of fresh and year old seed of Abelmoschus moschatus, Asparagus racemosus, Bixa orellana, Cassia angustifolia, Operculina turpethum and Psoralea corylifolia under in vitro and in vivo conditions. Result indicates that seed treatments had significant positive impact on germination; however the effectiveness of the treatments varied among different medicinal species. There was 3 to 15 folds increment in percent germination due to seed treatments. Seed treatment with H2SO4, seed coat scarification by sand paper and seed soaking in normal water for 24 h rendered maximum germination, both in in vitro and in vivo conditions in most of the species under studied. Mean seed germination increased maximum 64.28%, 1460.0%, 115.40% and 274.94% in A. moschatus, B. orellana, C. angustifolia and P. corylifolia respectively over control. Seeds treated with hot water at 70°C for 1 h rendered 365% more germination in A. racemosus under in vivo, while O. turpethum seeds germinated maximum with H2SO4 95% under both in vitro and in vivo conditions.

Indian cold arid region of Ladakh is one of the highest elevated inhabited places in the world, due to harsh environmental situation leads to low yield potential of crops and high risk of pest and pathogens which does not allow crop diversity. Total 138 fields were surveyed for assessment of disease severity, and incidence of various diseases of potato in Ladakh during two cropping seasons of 2016-2017. On the basis of visual symptoms, early blight, late blight, bacterial wilting and ring rot were found the most common prevalent diseases and leaf roll virus was uncommon except Hanley during the survey. A lot of variations were found in the percentage of diseases incidence and severity in different villages of Ladakh at different levels of altitude and humidity. Potential plant fungal pathogens Alternaria spp., Cochliobolus spp., Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp., Curvularia spp., and Phytophthora spp. were also identified on the basis of morphological characteristics. This study might be helpful for sound management strategies and evaluate the impact of climate changes on disease development in highly elevated regions of Ladakh.

Fruits are significant constituents of diet providing micronutrients and the knowledge of elemental composition of fruits is essential for the evaluation of consumption and development of new food products. The present study analysed the elemental composition of ten underutilized edible fruits viz., Aporosa cardiosperma (Gaertn.) Merr., Baccaurea courtallensis (Wight) Muell. Arg., Elaeocarpus serratus L., Flacourtia montana Graham., Phoenix pusilla Gaertn., Psidium guineense Sw., Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz., Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels, Syzygium gardneri Thwaites and Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC. from the Kerala part of Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve. Sodium, potassium and calcium were estimated flame photometrically while the remaining metals viz., magnesium, strontium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead by inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry and the results were recorded as mg 100g-1 fresh weight. All the fruits analysed are characterised by high nutritious metallic elements and very low concentrations of metallic contaminants and sufficient to fulfill the recommended dietary allowance by Indian Council of Medical Research. Hence, they are safe for human consumption and need to be popularised and recommended for commercial exploitation.

The present investigation entitled “Response of capsicum (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum) to different levels of spacing and training system under foot hills of Arunachal Pradesh”. The experiment was laid out in two factorial RBD using three replications with three levels of spacing and training. The standard cultural practices were done regular interval for better crop growth and good yields. The closer spacing resulted in maximum plant height, LAI, and total yield per plot and wider spacing recorded maximum number of branches, number of leaf, earliness in fruit flowering and fruit set and yield per plant. Among all levels, two shoot training showed maximum plant height, minimum days required to first flowering, first fruit set, days to first harvest and size of fruit and four shoots resulted in maximum number of branches, number of leaf, LAI, fruits per plant (10.06), yield per plant (0.54 kg) and yield (0.75 Kg/m2). Among all interactions, closer spacing with four shoot training produced more number of branches and leaves per plant resulted in maximum of per plant and per plot yield due to more number of shoots contributed in producing more number of fruits. In contrast, wider spacing with two shoot training produced highest plant height, early flowering and fruit set. The quality parameters and fruiting percentage had not significant to interaction of both training and spacing. It is concluded that for higher yield of capsicum under polyhouse conditions, the closer spacing with four shoots training maybe suggested for foot hills of Himalayas.

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is an important fibre crop and plays a vital role as a cash crop in commerce of many countries in the world. The development of cotton hybrids which can offer the great yields and quality fibre is the current research in cotton breeding. For the first time, here we investigated the mean performance and ratooning ability of thirty novel cotton hybrids. In addition, we also analyzed the expression of general combining ability (GCA) of the parents and specific combining ability (SCA) of hybrids in order to develop high yielding and better quality cotton cultivars in both first crop and ratoon crop. L × T analysis revealed that the significant GCA and SCA effects for all the studied traits. The significant range of variability was observed in all the traits except for boll weight and elongation percentage in parents and hybrids. Based on mean performance, the evaluated hybrids varied significantly (p ≤ 0.05) in first crop and ratoon crop for the all studied traits. The predominance of additive gene action was estimated for the number of bolls per plant and fibre bundle strength in first crop which were found to be controlled by additive gene action due to high GCA variance. In ratoon crop, the predominance of dominant gene action was estimated for all the studied traits which were found to be controlled by non-additive gene action due to high SCA variance. Among the parents, TCH 1819 was found to be a good combiner for all the investigated traits except for boll weight. The hybrids, MCU 13 × SUVIN and TCH 1819 × TCB 209 were found to be the best specific combinations for fibre bundle strength.

Blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae B.C. Couch is one of the major production constraints and main pathological threats to rice crop around the world. A total of 171 places were visited and samples were collected from 101 diseased plots from different geographical regions of Karnataka, India during 2012-2014. Different parameters like locations, variety name, age of the crop, type of infection and severity of the disease were recorded. Among the total infection types, leaf blast was found to dominate followed by neck, collar, node and panicle blast. Disease incidence of 64.44%, 68.75%, 60.71% and 55.55% was recorded from major rice growing districts of South Karnataka viz., Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Mandya and Mysuru districts respectively. Varieties MTU-1001, Jyothi and Sona Masuri remained highly susceptible in these four districts. This was followed by Minilong, IR64, Jaya, KCP-1, Rajamudi, Rajbhoga and KRH-4 varieties from different districts of Karnataka. Newly developed blast resistant varieties namely Rasi, KRH 4, Raksha and Mugad Siri 1253 were also found to be susceptible in some of the regions of Karnataka indicating breakdown of resistance. Thus, the emerging pathogenic variants among fungal populations trigger serious and incessant threat to the newly released resistant varieties. Seventy two monoconidial M. oryzae isolates were obtained and pure cultures were established for understanding molecular diversity of the pathogen.

The production of high value commodities in India is increasing day by day which helps in developing the Indian agriculture by producing the nutritive products and generate more income through diversification towards high value commodities than earlier. The information technology sector is too important for getting some good value for the produced commodities. Thus the study confirms the need of technology for dissemination of the future prices. The present study was conducted in Lucknow market of Uttar Pradesh as the state ranks first in terms of production of mango. Monthly price data was collected for 23 years from 1993 to 2015 and analysed with E-views 7 software. ARIMA (1, 0, 6) model was found to be best for forecasting the price of mango on the basis of minimum Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Schwarz Criterion (SBC). The forecasted value of mango showed an increasing trend of prices in selected market. For more increase in prices of mango in major market of the state, Government of Uttar Pradesh should take some initiative steps to disseminate it among the farmers and reduce post-harvest losses through adopting some good practices.

This study is to analyze the extent of efficiency in resource use of major crops cultivated in North-Eastern Dry Zone (NEDZ) of Karnataka. The study was conducted by selecting 30 farmers each under rainfed condition, borewell irrigation and canal irrigation in Manvi and Raichur taluks of Raichur district in NEDZ of Karnataka. The resource use efficiency of crops was estimated using Cobb- Douglas production function. The result shows that the ratio of MVP to MFC was away from one, in most of the crops highlighting the inefficiency in resource use. Resources were not economic optimally utilized in most of the crops. There is great scope for use of human labour (MVP to MFC ratio was 2.13) and nitrogen (10.39) in rainfed cotton, human labour (1.79) and groundwater (8.93) irrigation in cotton crop irrigated with groundwater. The human labour (0.945) was optimally utilized and there is great scope to use of machine labour (8.57) in canal paddy. There is scope for use of human labour (2.09), bullock labour (3.28), machine labour (4.44), nitrogen (0.29) and capital cost (2.51) in rainfed redgram.

Protease enzymes have immense commercial value and play a pivotal role in application of various industrial sectors. Microbial proteases are one of the important groups of industrially and commercially produced enzymes which have several applications. In this study 148 bacterial strains were isolated from 50 different soil samples of slaughter house, fish market and sewage wastes of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Out of which thirty eight strains competent of secreting extracellular alkaline protease. In preliminary screening the isolate SSB2 showed highest ability to hydrolyzed casein and skimmed milk which was done on skim milk agar media. Based on biochemical test the isolate showed positive for casein, starch, catalase and negative for gram staining, indole, methyl red, voges proskauer, gelatin, urea, oxidase, hemolysis and triple sugar iron test and found to be non motile. Strain SSB2 with the maximum yield alkaline protease was identified as Acinetobacter variabilis based on nucleotide homology and phylogenetic analysis (16S rDNA sequencing). Protease production was enhanced by optimizing the culture conditions. Many physical parameters were studied to optimize the maximum yield of alkaline protease. The maximum enzyme activity were observed with optimum incubation time, temperature, pH, carbon, nitrogen sources, NaCl and metallic ions were determined as 36 h, 37°C, pH 11.0, 1% glucose, 1% yeast extract, 1M NaCl, and 1mM Zn2+, respectively for protease production. The study revealed that the strain of A. variabilis is a potent source of alkaline protease. In consequence, such additions can supplement alkaline protease production and their application in various industries.

Salinity Stress is one of the most important environmental stresses that cause adverse effects on crop productivity and agricultural sustainability. The present experiment was carried out as a pot-culture in the poly-house and identified various physiological and biochemical attributes which progressively reduced with increase in salinity level due to formation of reactive oxygen species i.e. hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide radical (O2.-). Treatment of seeds with Trichoderma asperellum (T42) and exogenous application of salicylic acid (SA), singly and in combination, ameliorated salt stress induced responses reflected by detoxification of both reactive oxygen species, H2O2 and O2.- histochemically, and also changes in several growth phenotypes and physio-biochemical attributes in terms of shoot and root dry weight, chlorophyll content, protein content, sugar content and nitrate reductase activity as compared to control of respective salinity levels. Exogenous foliar application of SA (0.25 mM), singly and in combination of Trichoderma, ameliorated the hostile effects of salinity up to the level of 8 dSm-1 which showed a significant expansion of plant phenotype as compared to the untreated stressed plants.

Studies on reproductive biology of Mahaneem (Ailanthus excelsa) indicated that mild defoliation started in mid of March and continued up to end of February, majority being from May 13-28. Leaf promodial started appearing after all the leaves had shed off. Within a week of new foliage appearance, the panicle with small protruding buds appeared. The floral buds took 9-13 days to come to bloom. More than 80 per cent floral buds opened between 0800-0900 h. The number of days required from panicle initiation to fruit maturity ranged from 132-140. Fruit set under open-pollination was higher as compared to the fruit set in self-pollinated and a highly significant difference in growth characters of self versus open pollinated progenies formed a strong evidence for xenogamous behavior of mahaneem.

This study aims at documentation of Indigenous Knowledge of plant protection in paddy and their practice among the farmers in Mursidabad district of West Bengal. This study was conducted in sixteen Community Development Blocks in the said district. Old and experienced farmers from the villages were randomly selected and interviewed for data collection. The farmers and the villages were purposively and randomly selected and interviewed. A total number of 14 Indigenous Knowledge have been found. Mostly the old farmers still use their knowledge for pest control in paddy, while the young farmers generally rely on the chemical pesticides that are readily available in the market. They are more concerned with production and not the hazards caused by the use of pesticides. As the young generation of farmers are not interested in the traditional knowledge, they are likely to be forgotten very soon after the death of these old farmers. So, these traditional knowledge should be properly documented.

A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Farm of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during 2014-15 and 2015-16 to study different varieties/genotypes of brinjal to find out the role of physio-morphic characters of plant on the population fluctuation of sucking pests. The physio-morphic characters of brinjal plant were correlated with the population of sucking pests. The Moisture percentage, leaf area, hair density and length of hairs of different brinjal varieties/ genotypes influenced the population of sucking pests significantly. The moisture percentage in leaves and leaf area showed non-significant positive relation with the sucking insects like aphids, jassids and whiteflies. The hair density had significant negative correlation with the occurrences of jassids but non-significant negative correlation with the occurrences of aphids and whiteflies. The length of hairs had significant negative impact on jassid infestattion and non-significant negative impact on aphid and whitefly infestation.

The current study was carried out with an aim to determine the prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis in dairy buffaloes in both organized and unorganized farms of Jammu and RS Pura region. Screening was done on 150 and 500 randomly selected animals from organized and unorganized farms respectively. Today it can be estimated that nearly half of the dairy buffalo population is suffering from clinical and subclinical mastitis so considering its high prevalence and its economic importance, study was made with the objectives to study the prevalence of mastitis along different regions of Jammu using Modified California Mastitis test (mCMT). Overall prevalence of SCM in buffaloes on animal basis was 23.85% in buffaloes. Subclinical mastitis (SCM) prevalence on animal basis was higher in buffaloes i.e. 26.40%, in unorganized farms and 15.33%, in organized farms than clinical mastitis (CM) 8.67%, in organized farms and 9.60%, in unorganized farms. Prevalence of SCM on quarter basis in buffaloes was higher at unorganized farms (18.95%) than organized farms. Quarter-wise prevalence of SCM in buffaloes at organized dairy farms was 16.27% and 18.95% at unorganized farms with highest prevalence in RH (28.08%) followed by LH, RF and LF in organized farm and highest in RH (29.69%) followed by LH, RF and LF in unorganized farm respectively. However on the basis of severity, large number of quarters (7.80%) had 1+ mCMT score followed by 2+ and 3+ in both organized and unorganized farms