022812   Bhat S A;Pandit B;Dar M U D;Ali S R;Rehanajan A;Khan S (Agricultural Engineering Div, SKUAST, Kashmir, Email: wakeelbhat@gmail.com) : Comparative study of different methods of evapotranspiration estimation in Kashmir Valley. J Agrometeorol 2017, 19(4), 383-4.

2 tables, 3 ref

022811   Beniwal B S;Sheoran S;Dalal R P S;Gulia R (Horticulture Dep, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004, Email: beniwalbs@gmail.com) : Assessment of French marigold genotypes for different biochemical constituents. Crop Res 2017, 52(1-3), 55-60.

Ten genotypes of French marigold were evaluated for extraction of pigments like carotenes, xanthophylls and chlorophylls at Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. This study was aimed at finding out some suitable genotypes of French marigold having higher recovery of carotenoid and chlorophyll pigments. Flowers were plucked at full bloom stage and kept in open space at ambient conditions. Column chromatography method was employed to extract natural pigments. Maximum total carotenes (69.83 mg/100 g), xanthophylls (305.48 mg/100 g) and di-hydroxy pigments (171.55 mg/100 g) were recorded in genotype 109-1-2, while maximum mono-hydroxy pigments were reported in genotype 26-3-1 (107.82 mg/100 g) followed by genotype 8-2 (104.99 mg/100 g). Chlorophyll 'a' was found higher in genotype 26-2-2 (3.68 mg/100 g) followed by genotype 26-3-1 (3.39 mg/100 g), while chlorophyll 'b' (6.16 mg/100 g) and total chlorophyll (9.48 mg/100 g) were recorded higher in genotype 26-2-2-1.

1 table, 18 ref

022810   Begum M;Bordoloi B C;Singla D D (Sugarcane Research Station, Assam Agricultural Univ, Buralikson-785 618, Email: mahimabegum25@rediffmail.com) : Response of sugarcane genotypes to different levels of feritilizers under rainfed condition of Assam, India. Agric Sci Dig 2017, 37(1), 83-4.

A field experiment was conducted in spring planted sugarcane at Sugarcane Research Station, Buralikson, Assam, India during 2014-15 and 2015-16 to evaluate the response of promising mid-late maturing sugarcane genotypes under three levels of fertilizers. Three mid-late maturing promising genotypes, viz. CoBln 14504, CoBln 14505, CoBln 14506 along with a recommended variety CoBln 94063 as check were tested under three levels of NPK fertilizers i.e. 75% RD of NPK, 100%RD of NPK and 125% RD of NPK (135:70:60). Result revealed that among the tested genotypes, CoBln 14505 recorded significantly the higher cane yield (66.50t/ha), NMC (68.10 thousand/ha) over the check as well as other two genotypes. In case of fertilizer, 125% recommended dose of NPK recorded significantly higher cane yield (62.91 t/ha) than the both 75% and 100% recommended dose of NPK.

1 table, 8 ref

022809   Begum G;Debnath R;Ray M N;Payeng S;Islam N (NO, Lakhipur College, Lakhipur Goalpara and PhD Scholar Bodoland Universit, Kokrajhar, Assam) : Differential knowledge level of tribal and non-tribal farm women in improved animal husbandry in Goalpara district of Assam. Indian J soc Res 2017, 58(3), 375-9.

Study on the knowledge level of the tribal and non-tribal farm women in the Goalpara district of Assam was conducted in order to find if there was any difference in knowledge level between the two. A total 40 tribal and 40 non tribal farm women were randomly selected from two blocks of the aforesaid district. The mean knowledge level of the non-tribal farmer women was significantly higher than their tribal counterparts. Moreover knowledge level of the farm women was significantly related with their land holding and number of livestock. It was also revealed that land holding, number of livestock. It was also revealed that land holding, number of livestock, family size and age had significant influence on the level of knowledge of the form women in improved - 230 - animal husbandry.

2 tables, 4 ref

022808   Baskaran V;Abirami K (NO, ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair-744 101, Email: vbaski01@gmail.com) : Effect of pinching on yield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa narangi gainda under Andaman conditions. Agric Sci Dig 2017, 37(2), 148-50.

An experiment was carried out to study the effect of pinching on flower yield of African marigold cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda at ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair during 2012 and 2013. The experiment consisted of three treatments T1 (Control)-no pinching, T2-Single pinching 20 days after transplanting and T3-double pinching 15 days after single pinching. The results showed that maximum plant spread (47.2 cm), number of branches (13.7), duration of flowering (36.7 days), number of flowers per plant (56.6), size of flower (6.18 cm), weight of single flower (7.08g), flower yield per plant (347.8 g) and seed yield per plant (20.23g) were observed in the double pinching treatment. The flower yield was maximum in double pinching with three times more yield than the control.

4 table, 10 ref

022807   Bashir B P;Triupathy Venkatachalapathy R (AICRP on Malabari Goat Improvement, Centre for Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics and Breeding, College o, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala-680 651) : Gender perspective study on role performance among goat keepers in northern region of Kerala. Indian J soc Res 2017, 58(3), 381-8.

Present study was conducted to evaluate the role performance in goat farming activities among goat keepers of Northern region of Kerala. The study was conducted at six centers of the All India Coordinated Research Project for the improvement of Malabari - 229 - goat viz. Thaliparamba and Thalassery, Perambra and Vadakara, Kottakal and Tanur which belongs to Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram district of Northern region respectively. A well structured pre-tested interview schedule wasdeveloped at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics and Breedings, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Kerala. From a total of 360 randomly selected goat keepers 60 each from all the six centres were selected for the study. In goat farming, independent participation of women was noticed in the practices of colostrums feeding, grazing of animals, collection and disposal of pellets, feedings, watering, care of pregnant animals, care at kidding time, providing special feed to kidded animals and cleaning of pens. Joint participation with the spouse, however was found in the activities like cleaning and grooming of animals, chaffing of fodder, care of young one immediately after birth, providing special feed and medicine to sick and deworming of animals. Males were more involved in health care, decision making and marketing related activities. It was concluded that goat keeping was an integral part of livelihood of rural families. Rural males were engaged more in outdoor activities. Both men and women were managing the activities of goat farming. Thus they may be encouraged to take goat farming as entrepreneurial activity for better earning and sustainable livelihood.

1 table, 10 ref

022806   Basavaraja P K;Saqeebulla H M;Dey P; Nethradhani Raj C R (Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry Dep, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru-560 065, Email: pujarikbraj@gmail.com) : Geo-reference based soil fertility status in Tumkur district of Karnataka, India. Envir Ecol 2016, 34(4B), 2120-8.

Soil testing provides the information about the nutrient availability from the soil upon which the fertilizer recommendation for maximizing crop yields. Generally, soil testing is followed by collecting composite soil sample in the field without geographic reference, such soil testing results are not useful for site specific recommendation and subsequent monitoring. Hence, the study was conducted to evaluate the nutrient status of an area using GPS and their relation with other properties of soil. For this purpose, 1332 geo-referenced surface soil samples from 0-15 cm depth using GPS were collected from ten taluks of Tumkur district in southern Karnataka. The results showed that soil reaction was acidic to alkalinein nature. Available nitrogen status was low (66.16%), available phosphorus was low (55.00%) and available potassium status was highest (42.50 g). Available sulfur content in soil varied from 2.08 to 98.76 mg kg^-1 however, majority of soils were sufficient in sulfur status. Zinc (51.04%) and boron (94.74 mg kg^-1) deficiency was pronounced in most of the villages of ten taluks of Tumkur district which ranged from 0.08 to 5.98 and 0.04 to 1.94 mg kg^-1, respectively. Other micronutrients like Fe, Cu and Mn were sufficient. Analytical data clearly indicated that all the nutrients were significantly correlated with each other suggesting a dynamic equilibrium existed among these nutrients.

4 tables, 16 ref

022805   Baruah M;Medhi A K;Dey P C (Regional Agricultural Research Station, Assam Agricultural University, Titabar-785 630, Email: baruahmayuri634@gmail.com) : Field evaluation of new insecticide molecules against certain major insect pests in rice ecosystem of Assam. Envir Ecol 2016, 34(4B), 2217-20.

The rice crop has had to face the destructive activities of numerous pests like fungi, weeds and insects from time - 228 - immemorial, leading to radical decrease in yields. But the over dependence on chemical pesticides and eventual uninhibited use of them has necessitated to lessen the use of insecticides mainly for environmental concerns. The efficacy of eight different treatments including Monocrotophos 36% SC as standard check and untreated control (water spray) were evaluated against insect pests like, stem borer, leaf folder, gall midge, gundhi bugs and impacts of the insecticidal treatments on the population of natural enemies like spider, gound beetle, lady bird beetle in the rice fields during kharif season of the three consecutive years. The objective of the present study was to find out most effective insecticide molecule which can control insect pests effectively even at very lower doses and at the same time conserve the natural enemies in the rice ecosystem. The insect pests can be controlled effectively by using Monocrotophos, but it is not safer to the beneficial arthropod community in the rice agro ecosystem. The new insecticide molecule, i.e. Rynaxypyr was found to be most effective against these insect pests as well as safer to natural enemies.

2 tables, 6 ref

022804   Bansod S K;Katole R T;More G B (Extension Education Dep, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, Maharashtra) : Extent of adoption of integrated pest management practices by the brinjal growers and its correlates. Agric Update 2016, 11(4), 390-3.

The present research study was conducted on 120 brinjal growers from 12 villages comprising 6 villages each from Saoner and Katol tahasils of Nagpur district of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state to ascertain the adoption level of farmers about integrated pest management practices by the brinjal growers. The results revealed that more than half of the respondents (64.14%) were included under medium category of adoption level of integrated pest management practices. As regards to the finding of relational analysis revealed that, among the selected variables education, land holding, area under brinjal, experiences in cultivation of brinjal crop, annual income, sources of information, social participation, risk preference, economic motivation and innovativeness were positively and significantly correlated with adoption of integrated pest management practices of brinjal. Whereas, variable like age did not show any significant relation with adoption by brinjal growers.

3 tables, 7 ref

022803   Bansal P;Kochhar A (Food and Nutrition Dep, Punjab Agricultural Univ, Ludhiana, Email: bansal.payal19@gmail.com) : Organoleptic and nutritional evaluation of peanut flour supplemented food products. J Ecofriendly Agric 2017, 12(1), 87-91.

Partially defatted peanut flour evaluated for its sensory quality and nutritional composition revealed that the acceptable percentage of peanut flour was 10.0 per cent for mathi, tikki, biscuits and 20.0 per cent for seviyan and burfi. Overall acceptability score was 7.56, 8.47, 7.86, 8.18 and 8.08. The developed products were observed to be highly nutritious. Mathi provided 506.67 Kcal of energy, 14.45 per cent protein, 28.10 mg calcium arid 4.10 mg of iron, tikki 466.53 Kcal of energy, 6.57 per cent of protein, 15.41 mg calcium and iron 0.62 mg 100^-1 g, biscuits 570.90 Kcal of energy, 16.16 per cent of protein, 26.50 mg of calcium and 4.00 mg iron 100^-1 g iron; seviyan 439.68 Kcal, 27.19 per cent of protein, 58.50 mg of calcium and 4.80 mg of iron while burfi provided 64.28 Kcal of energy, 24.25 g of protein, 57.00 mg of calcium and 4.50 mg of iron. The microbial estimation showed that the partially defatted peanut flour could safely be stored in polythene bags for use beyond 3 months.

1 illus, 2 tables, 21 ref

022802   Banday M;Gatoo A A;Raja R;Wani A A (Faculty of Forestry, Sher-e-Kashmir Univ of Agicultural Sciences & Technology, Kashmir-191 201, Email: 13forestry08@gmail.com) : Biofuels : Family salicaceae as a sustainable choice for biofuel feedstock. Ann Agri Bio Res 2017, 22(1), 1-8.

Recently, several global phenomena have sparked a rise in interest for biofuels. One of them is the rise of oil prices. Due to several reasons-large increases in demand from China and India, political instability in several oil producers and various other factors, oil prices have risen almost continuously from early 2002 to 2008. Biomass as a fuel for energy requirements is a better choice as it is renewable and is also low on GHG emissions. Biofuels primarily include bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. With advanced technology being developed, cellulosic biomass such as trees is also used as fuel stock for ethanol production. The UN International Biofuel Forum formed by Brazil, China, India, South Africa, United States and European Union, which derive biofuel mainly from agricultural feedstock e. g. corn, wheat etc. but there are various current issues with biofuels production from agricultural feedstock which are presently being discussed in the popular media and scientific journals. These include the food v/s fuel debate, carbon emission levels, sustainable biofuel production, deforestation and soil erosion, and impact on water resources, human right issues, biofuel prices, energy balance and efficiency. On the other hand, biofuels from forest biomass (cellulosic ethanol) have the advantage of reducing GHG emissions by 85% over reformulated gasoline. Among the various forest species desirable for biofuels production, a lot of research has been done on the Salix spp. and Populus spp. - 227 - belonging to the Salicaceae family. These trees can be grown in climatically challenging conditions where the options for growing food crops are limited, therefore, minimising conflicts of food versus fuel. Thus, more work, coupled with the detailed understanding of their genetics in future will allow scientists to provide novel means for improved uses of biomass for biofuel production rather than just limit the use of their wood for timber purpose only.

2 tables, 46 ref

022801   Bala S;Jitender Kumar;Beniwal B S (Botany & Plant Physiology Dep, CCS Haryana Agricultural Univ, Hisar-125 004, Email: sumanmalika14@gmail.com) : Effect of sapota (Manilkara zapota L.) pieces dried by different methods on biochemical constituents during storage. Ann Agri Bio Res 2017, 22(2), 170-3.

Sapota (Manilkara zapota L.) is an climacteric fruit and ripened quickly after harvest. Once ripe, it needs to be consumed within a couple of days due to the highly perishable nature of this exquisite fruit variety. Drying is old and easy method to convert the perishable fruit into stabilised dehydrated products that can be stored for an extended period of time. In this study, effect of sapota pieces dried by solar and oven drying on the quality of sapota fruit was investigated. Ascorbic acid, total phenols and total sugars decreased in sapota powder during storage up to 90 days. Sapota powder prepared in solar dryer had maximum ascorbic acid (10.90 mg/100 g) and total sugars (33.20%), whereas maximum total phenols (4.62 mg/g) were observed in oven-dried powder on all periods of storage. Sapota dried after cutting in 5 mm pieces had maximum ascorbic acid (10.95 mg/100 g), total sugars (32.94%) and total phenols (4.44 mg/g) in both the methods of drying.

3 tables, 13 ref

022800   Baksh H;Singh R P;Pandey S K;Yadav J N;Deswal A K;Chandra S (Horticulture Dep, Narendra Dev Univ of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad-224 229, Email: haribaksh2007@gmail.com) : Seasonal variation and retranslocation of nutrients in certain agroforestry species. Ann Agri Bio Res 2017, 22(2), 228-32.

Sustainable land management by adopting suitable agroforestry system is a wise decision in the present context of growing population and shrinking of natural resources. The present investigation was conducted to study the seasonal variation of growth parameters (height, canopy diameter and collar diameter/dbh) and leaf nutrient concentration and its retranslocation from senescing leaves to woody parts of tree species in six selected agroforestry species comprising three fruit and three forest species. The maximum increments in growth parameters were recorded in rainy season followed by summer. The nutrients (NPK) concentrations were recorded at peak level during summer in all the fruit and forest species except in Ziziphus mauritiana which showed maximum concentration during rainy season. A declining trend of nutrients was observed with increasing leaf age and steep decline of nutrients was recorded - 226 - during senescence. Maximum dry mass loss was observed in Ziziphus mauritiana and minimum in Casuarina equisetifolia. The per cent nutrient retranslocation was more of phosphorus followed by nitrogen and potassium. After attaining peak values of leaf weight and nutrient concentration at a steady state, a rapid decline occurred during senescence stage, due to the nutrients transmittance phenomenon of leaves to the woody parts.

4 tables, 14 ref

022799   Bajiya R;Yadav R K (Agronomy Dep, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110 012, Email: bajiyarohitash@gmail.com) : Bio-fortification for enhancing nutritional quality of pulses under climate change. Ann Agri Bio Res 2017, 22(2), 174-6.

Nutrition security implies physical, economic and social access to balanced diet, clean drinking water, safe environment and health care. Pulses occupy an important place in the human diet as a rich source of protein, vitamins and minerals. The lack of micronutrients in pulses affects billions of global populations, causing serious health hazards. Although pulses contributes significantly to human daily energy and nutritional requirements, but its amino acid profile shows that it lacks some essential amino acids. Bio-fortification is an important approach towards increasing the nutritional value in edible parts of pulse crops. Any approach which could increase root growth and result in a high transfer of micronutrients from the soil to the plant is crucial for bio-fortification. The current strategies for the bio-fortification of pulses include mineral fertilization, conventional breeding and transgenic approaches. Therefore, bio-fortified pulse crops can reduce the problem of micronutrient malnutrition in a cost-effective way as well as contribute to healthy soils and climate change mitigation and improve productivity.

15 ref

022798   Baishya A;Gogoi B;Bora A S;Hazarika J;Borah M;Das A K;Sutradhar P (Integrated Farming System, Assam Agricultural Univ, Jorhat, Assam-785 013, Email: baishya.ajit@gmail.com) : Soil fertility and on-farm crop response to NPK and Zn fertilization in rice-rice cropping sequence of lower Brahmaputra valley zone of Assam. Agric Sci Dig 2017, 37(2), 87-93.

Despite being a major source of livelihood, rice cultivation in the plains of the north-east region of India is under stress due to depletion of native nutrient reserves, emergence of multi-nutrient deficiencies and consequent decline in factor productivity of applied nutrients. With the aim to enhance productivity and to develop efficient fertilizer management strategies for the region, the authors discuss the status of post harvest soil properties and on-farm crop response to plant nutrients in rice-rice sequence under the climatic situation of Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone of Assam. Results revealed that the recommended dose of NPK fertilizers along with 5 Kg ZnSO₄ application not only increases the yield of rice-rice sequence but also enhances the post harvest fertility status of soil.

1 illus, 7 - 225 -

022797   Bagenia P S;Lakhera J P (NO, College of Agriculture, Bharatpur, Rajasthan) : Adoption behaviour of small farmers about mustard production technology in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. Agric Update 2017, 12(1), 89-94.

The study was conducted in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan during of the year 2011-12 covering 3 Panchayat Samities and 108 small farmers. The main emphasis was laid on to know the level of adoption of mustard technology among the small farmers and the possible factors responsible for promoting the adoption. The study highlights that of the total 50 per cent respondents had adopted the mustard technology to medium extent. The small farmers were found very conscious about the adoption of high yielding varieties of rapeseed-mustard followed by time of sowing, seed rate and spacing whereas less bothered about the soil treatment and weed management and least adoption was found in case of plant protection measures regarding wheat production technology. The important variable which promoted the adoption were; the higher education, farm power, caste, occupation, social participation, family type, income and housing pattern. The study further revealed that several constraints faced by the small farmers in adoption of mustard production technology viz., unavailability of fertilizers at peak season, weed control through herbicide as technically complex method, unavailability of improved seed at the time of sowing, high cost involved in inputs purchasing and harmful residual effect of pesticides on main crops and application of weedicide the reduced the availability of fodder were the main problems which affected the adoption of rapeseed and mustard production technology among the farmers.

4 tables, 17 ref

022796   Badhala B S;Kanojia Y (NO, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Pratapgarh-312 605, Email: badhalaskn@gmail.com) : Extent of adoption of improved practices of gram production technology by gram growers in tribal district of Pratapgarh, India. Agric Sci Dig 2017, 37(2), 163-5.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Pratapgarh has conducted 88 front line demonstrations on gram in 35.2 ha. area under real farming situations in 2012 in the farmer's fields of six adopted villages (Avleshwar, Basad, Dalmu, Dhamotar, Manohargarh & Kherot) of Pratapgarh (Raj). All the 6 villages where FLDs were conducted by KVKs were included in the study. The total sample size was 176 consisting of 88 beneficiary and 88 non-beneficiary farmer's. Gram is called Chickpea or Gram (Cicer aritinum L.) in South Asia and Garbanzo bean in most of the developed world. Gram is a major pulse crop in India; Gram is widely appreciated as health food. It is a protein-rich supplement to cereal-based diets, especially to the poor in developing countries, where people are vegetarians or cannot afford animal protein. There was significant difference in the extent of adoption of gram production technology between beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers.

2 tables, 3 ref

022795   Babu M R;Reddy R V S K (NO, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University, Venkatarammannagudem, West Godavari Dist., Andhra Pradesh) : Performance of sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) under different growing conditions. J Ecofriendly Agric 2017, 12(2), 44-6.

A field experiment was conducted to study the performance of sprouting brocolli cv. Green Magic under polyhouse, 50 per cent shadenet and open field conditions during winter season of 2012-13 at Horticultural Research Station, Aswaraopeta, Khammam district, Telangana state (earstwhile Andhra Pradesh). The experiment was laid out in RBD with three treatments and seven replications. Among the three different conditions naturally ventilated polyhouse (NVPH) with retractable shadenet recorded highest head diameter (9.29 cm), head weight (265.0 g) and marketable yield (7.95 t ha^-1), which was at par with open field conditions in case of head diameter (9.22 cm), head weight (234.34 g) and marketable yield (7.03 t ha^-1). Number of days for head initiation was lowest in open field conditions (61.34 days), which was at par with NVPH (62.14 days) and number of days for head development was lowest in open field conditions (26.71 days) followed by NVPH (29.86), which was at par with 50 per cent shadenet (30.14 days).

2 tables, 5 ref

022794   Autade C D;Rajput S N;Chinchmalatpure U R; Thakare U G (Extension Education Dep, Post Graduate Institute, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, Maharashtra, Email: charudattautade@gmail.com) : Impact of pumpset supply scheme on tribal farmers. Agric Update 2017, 12(1), 161-5.

Tribal population in India is generally designated as Adivasi/Advibasis, implying original inhabitants. The ancient and medieval source of information including the Vedic and Epic literature mentions various tribes namely the Bharat, the Bhills, the Kholas, the Nisadas and the Banars prior to introduction of the caste system during Brahmanic age, people were divided into various tribes was a homogenous and self-contained unit without only hierarchical discrimination. Tribes are also identified as 'indigenous people' Dhebar Commission in an attempt to define the word tribe ultimately said that information labour organization has called such people indigenous. The tribal constitute a small bit an important element in India`s population. The tribal situation in India present varied and complex picture. Most of these constitute separate socio-culture group having distinct customs, traditions, marriage system. The needs of the tribal people are very few and limited. The majority of the tribal population is engaged in agriculture. In order to bring about a change in the prevalent conditions of tribals, the State and Central Government has implemented the various agricultural development schemes. The schemes in operation at Akola district under MADA pocket/Block, since the year of inception and has benefited a large number of tribal farmers from the area. The present study "Impact of pumpset supply scheme on tribal farmers" has been undertaken in order to determine the effect of pumpset supply schemes (i.e. Electric motor and Oil engines). As a result of actual utilization of pumpset supply scheme the changes regarding production, productivity, annual income and cropping intensity were studied by the present investigation. Majority (58.33 %) of per cent change in production, about 53.79 per cent increase in per cent change in productivity while 52.35 per cent increase in per cent change in annual income as well as only 18.63 per cent mean per cent change in cropping intensity changes.

3 tables, 19 ref

022793   Autade C D;Rajput S N;Chinchmalatpure U R; Thakare U G (Extension Education Dep, Post Graduate Institute, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, Maharashtra, Email: charudattautade@gmail.com) : Correlates of impact of pumpset supply scheme on tribal farmers. Agric Update 2017, 12(1), 101-4.

Agriculture is the main base of Indian economy. The agriculture development is depend on development of all sectors of farming community may be poor or rich, educated or illiterate, tribal or non-tribal. As tribal villages are located in the forest and hills, they remain more or less cut off from the main stream of national development. Extension education is equally important in tribal communities as it is in the rural communities. It has widely been accepted by the Government that the tribal people must be brought the main stream of Indian life. The tribals are exploited through and alienation, indebtedness, bounded labour, malpractices in exchange of agricultural and forest produce, etc. To overcome in this developmental programme priority was given to agriculture and allied sectors, irrigation facilities and forest and mineral based industries. Efforts were also made to include a change in the traditional ways of agriculture. So as to provide increased income to the tribal cultivators even though they have small holdings. At national and state level various agriculture development schemes are implemented with a view to bring the development in tribal farming. Tribal beneficiaries of pumpset supply scheme largely belonged to middle age group i.e. 36 to 51 year (51.33 %), illiterate (26.00 %), belonged to farming community. Majority of them i.e. 83.33 per cent doing subsidiary occupation as farm labour, had medium 1.01 to 2 ha hand holding (46.67 %), had medium socio-economic status (40.00 %), 66.67 per cent tribal beneficiaries had utilized the medium level information sources, had medium degree of proneness to change (56.67 %), had low extension contact (86.67%) and majority tribals had moderately favourable attitude towards scheme (48.00%).

2 tables, 14 ref

022792   Ashfaque M;Solomon S (Biosciences Dep, Integral Univ, Lucknow, India and Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, PO Dilkusha, Lucknow-226 002, Email: mohdashfaquekhan@rediffmail.com) : Exploitation of pretreated sugarcane bagasse as inexpensive substrate for enhanced protein production by Saccaromyces cerevisae. Int J agric biol Res 2017, 33(2), 128-41.

Sugarcane is backbone of Indian agriculture. The sugarcane is used for sugar production and in the process a large amount of bagasse is generated. The bagasse is either burnt in the sugar mills for energy requirement or used as landfill. This lignocellulosic waste could be converted in the value added Single Cell Protein (SCP) after pretreating the substrate with alkali. Pretreatment with 2% NaOH, increased the reducing sugar (10.81 mg/g) content in the medium. After inoculation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for five days, increased the mineral content from 2 to more than 9 folds. The SCB in the medium was found to be adequate to support 5.21%, 2.76%, 6.01%, 50.13% and 7.2% production of crude protein, true protein, lipid, crude fiber and crude ash.

2 illus, 2 tables, 21 ref

022791   Arya S R;Ameena M (Agronomy Dep, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala-695 522, Email: drameenaubaid@gmail.com) : Efficacy of new generation herbicides for weed management in dry direct seeded system of rice. Ann agric Res 2017, 38(2), 149-54.

The present study was conducted during kharif season of May to September 2014 to evaluate the weed control efficiency of low dose new generation herbicides in semi dry system of ricecultivation. Results of the study revealed substantial reduction in weed population and biomass in all the herbicide treated plots compared to weedy check. Pre-emergent herbicide application followed by either hand weeding at 40 DAS or application of post emergent herbicides recorded higher weed control efficiency in comparison with hand weeding twice (20 and 40 DAS). Bensulfuron methyl + pretilachlor @ 60 + 600 g ha^-1 and pyrazosulfuron ethyl @ 25 g ha^-1 were found promising broad spectrum herbicides for early season weed control in semi dry system of rice cultivation. Hand weeding at 20 and 40 DAS (T₁₀) recorded lowest weed density, weed dry weight and highest weed control efficiency. Hence pre-emergence application of either bensulfuron methyl + pretilachlor @ 60 + 600 g ha^-1 or pyrazosulfuron ethyl @ 25 g ha^-1 on the next day of sowing followed by post emergence application of azimsulfuron @ 30 g ha^-1 at 25 DAS could be recommended as the most effective weed - 222 - management practice for dry direct seeded system of rice.

4 tables, 12 ref

022790   Arvind Kumar;Tripathi S K;Tripathi P (NO, N.D. University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad-224 229, Email: arvindmausam@gmail.com) : Impact of climatic parameters on simulated yield of rice at Faizabad of U.P.. J Agrometeorol 2017, 19(4), 363-5.

Impact of climatic parameters on grain yield of rice cultivars under three dates of transplanting (30th June, 15th July and 30th July) was assessed at Faizabad Uttar Pradesh using calibrated and validated CERES-Rice model by incremental change in climatic parameters. The increase in sunshine duration and solar radiation caused increase in the yield and vice versa, while increase in maximum and minimum temperatures caused decrease in the yield. Among the sowing dates, the impact of sunshine duration under early transplanted rice (30th June) was higher than late transplanted rice (30th July). While the reverse trend was observed in case of solar radiation. The effect of maximum and minimum temperatures under early transplanted rice was also higher than that of late transplanted rice.

4 tables, 6 ref

022789   Archana K A;Prasanna K P;George T E (College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur-680 656, Email: treesaarchanavimal@gmail.com) : Evaluation of spine gourd genotypes for variability. J trop Agric 2016, 54(2), 159-63.

Thirty one accessions of spine gourd collected from different parts of Kerala were grown with objectives of genetically cataloguing the germplasm and to assessing genetic variability, heritability, genetic gain and correlating different traits with yield. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for days from flowering to vegetable maturity, total number of harvests and fruit length. Yield exhibited genotypic correlation with number of branches per plant, total number of harvests, fruit length and number of fruits per plant. In path coefficient analysis the highest positive direct effect on yield was exhibited by total number of harvests followed by fruit girth.

^ssc3 illus, 3 tables, 9 ref

022788   Archana C R;Lalitha Bai E K (College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur-680 656, Email: archanacrthenur@gmail.com) : Influence of varieties and spacing on yield of dual purpose baby corn (Zea mays L.) in summer rice fallows of Kerala. J trop Agric 2016, 54(2), 190-3.

A field experiment was conducted from February to April 2015 at College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara to identify suitable varieties and optimum plant spacing of baby corn (Zea mays L.) in summer rice fallows of Kerala, to be used as vegetable and fodder. The treatments included planting of three baby corn varieties viz., G 5414, CO 6 and NSC 1009 B under four different plant densities viz., 60 cm x 15 cm, 50 cm x 15 cm, 40 cm x 15 cm and 30 cm x 15 cm. Green cob and baby corn yield were similar among the varieties, whereas green fodder yield was highest for CO 6 (32 Mg ha^-1). Among different spacing levels, 30 x 15 cm spacing gave higher green cob (12.48 Mg ha^-1), baby corn (3.22 Mg ha^-1) and green fodder yield (34 Mg ha^-1). The variety NSC 1009 B was superior in terms of least number of days for tasseling and silking. The variety G 5414 produced highest number of three cobs per plant. The variety CO 6 at 30 x 15 cm resulted in the highest B:C ratio.

^ssc4 tables, 5 ref

022787   Anusree A S P;Karunakaran P V;Parthasarathy N (NO, National Centre for Biological Science (NCBS), Bangalore-560 065, Email: karunakaran.pv@gmail.com) : Effect of adult tree density and nearness to the natural forest on the restoration of degraded deciduous forests of attappady, western ghats, Kerala. Indian J For 2016, 39(4), 309-15.

Studied on the effect of adult tree density and the proximity to the natural forest on restoration success in one of the most exploited tropical deciduous forests, Attappady, Western Ghats. Random quadrats were laid and surveyed for trees and saplings in remnant tropical deciduous forest patches (hereafter called as fragmented forest and the sites being restored here after called as restoration patches) to determine floristic composition, species turnover among sites and the influence of adult tree density on sapling density. Forests composed of deciduous and evergreen trees with an average species richness of 28 and alpha diversity of 2.671 in a 0.2 ha plot. Similarity of restoration patches with natural forest increased as distance between them decreased and regeneration of native species were more efficient in sites with more number of adult trees. Local (adult tree density) and landscape level (isolation of patches) factors are both important in determining the restoration success of deciduous forests of Attappady.

7 illus, 3 tables, 31 ref

022786   Ankita;Saharan B S (Microbial Resource Technology Lab, Microbiology Dep, Kurukshetra Univ, Kurukshetra-136 119, Email: ankita.mic@gmail.com) : Exploration of PGP traits using Psuedomonas otitidis isolated from tannery effluent. Ann Agri Bio Res 2017, 22(2), 136-9.

PGPR serve several functions for plants. They fix atmospheric nitrogen and supply it to plants, or they synthesize siderophores that can solubilize and - 220 - sequester iron from the soil and provide it to plant cells. PGPR also synthesize several different phytohormones, including auxins (IAA) and cytokinins, which enhance plant growth. In the present study, efficient PGPR strains with multiple plant growth promoting activities belonging to Pseudomonas sp. were isolated from tannery effluent treatment plant. These test isolates were biochemically characterized and screened in vitro for their plant growth promoting traits like production of indole acetic acid (IAA), nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization and ammonia production.

1 illus, 14 ref

022785   Anith K N;Vyshakhi A S;Viswanathan A;Varkey S;Aswini S (Agricultural Microbiology Dep, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram-695 522, Email: anith.kn@kau.in) : Population dynamics and efficiency of coconut water based liquid formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens AMB-8. J trop Agric 2016, 54(2), 184-9.

Liquid bio-formulations are more acceptable than solid bioformulations as they have improved shelf life and better field performance. Among the limited choice of naturally available liquid carriers, coconut water stands out as an efficient one. The population dynamics of Pseudomonas fluorescens AMB-8 in a coconut water based liquid formulation along with nutrient broth (NB) and King's B broth (KB) in the presence of different preservatives, and their effect on the seedling growth of chilli and tomato were studied. It was observed that the rate of decline in population was less in coconut water amended with PVP (2% w/v) and glycerol (2% v/v) during six months of storage. Even in the raw autoclaved coconut water. (ACW), the maintenance of the population of the bacterial strain was significantly higher than in all the synthetic media except nutrient broth amended with glycerol (2% v/v). In the plant growth promotion experiments, all biometric parameters had higher values when freshly grown bacterial strain in KB with population density of 10⁹ cfu ml^-1 was used for seed bacterization. High bacterial population density in the formulations had a positive effect on the chilli and tomato seedlings. The results of our study showed that a liquid formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens AMB-8 could easily be made from an agricultural waste product, coconut water.

^ssc3 tables, 14 ref

022784   Anil Kumar;Naresh;Vinod Kumar;Vijaya Rani; Mukesh S;Poonia R (Farm Machinery & Power Engineering Dep, CCS Haryana Agricultural Univ, Hisar-125 004, Email: anil_saroha@rediffmail.com) : Comparative performance of paddy straw chopper-cum spreaders of different designs. Ann Agri Bio Res 2017, 22(1), 60-3.

A huge amount of paddy straw is wasted annually either by burning in the fields or due to poor utilization. Burning not only creates environmental pollution - 219 - but also results in the loss of organic matter and other nutrients available in straw. Bacterial and fungal populations are decreased immediately and substantially in top 2.5 cm soil upon burning. So, paddy straw chopper-cum-spreaders of different designs were evaluated for their field performance at farmer's field in village Lalvas, tehsil Ratia, district Fatehabad of Haryana state during October-November, 2015. Straw chopper-cum-spreader is a straw management machinery. The actual field capacity was found to be 0.34, 0.32 and 0.30 ha/h with field efficiency of 62.96, 71.11 and 68.18% for Bhaike, Gobind and Standard, respectively. The average length of chopped and spreaded straw was maximum in Bhaike model (10.20 cm) followed by Gobind (8.82 cm) and Standard model (0.5 cm). The straw recovery was maximum in Bhaike model (83.14%) followed by Standard (81.57%) and Gobind model (77.33%). The labour requirement was 2.94, 3.13 and 3.33 man-h/ha and cost of operation was Rs. 1694.70, Rs. 2012.84 and Rs. 2774.62/ha for Bhaike, Gobind and Standard models, respectively. The break-even point for Bhaike, Gobind and Standard models was 78.91, 135.29 and 851.63 hours per year. The payback period was 1.50, 2.58 and 16.22 years for Bhaike, Gobind and Standard models. The benefit: cost ratio was 1.77, 1.49 and 1.08 for Bhaike, Gobind and Standard, respectively.

1 illus, 3 tables, 4 ref

022783   Anil Kumar;Godara A K (Extension Education Dep, CCS Haryana Agricultural Univ, Hisar-125 004, Email: anilkhas1974@gmail.com) : Attitude of farmers' towards photovoltaic water pumping system in Haryana. Agric Sci Dig 2017, 37(2), 127-31.

The study was conducted in purposively selected Hisar, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts of Haryana state with selected 61, 47 and 33 number of Photovoltaic Water Pumping System (PWPS) adopted farmers from each district, respectively and an equal number of non beneficiaries adjoining to the beneficiaries 'farm were also selected randomly. In this way a total number of 282 respondents i.e. 141 beneficiaries and 141 non-beneficiaries were included in the sample for the study. Majority of (58.16%) adopted and (47.52%) non adopted respondents had favourable attitude towards PWPS. Land holding, education, farm power, socio-economic status, extension contact, source of income, risk orientation, change proneness and fatalism/scienticism were found to be positive and significant correlation of adopted respondents. However, in case of non adopted farmers only three variables viz., extension contact, source of income and change proneness were found to be positive and significant correlation with the farmers attitude towards PWPS. The study revealed that education, farm power, socio-economic status, extension contact, source of income, and risk orientation were found to have positive and significant regression coefficient. In case of non adopted farmers, education, socio-economic status and source of income were found to have positive and significant relationship with the attitude towards PWPS.

4 tables, 25 ref

022782   Alse U N;Deshmukh P R;Kulkarni M V;Patait D D;Dhakne V B (Agricultural Technology Information Centre, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani, Maharashtra) : Analysis of krushi sanjwahini of agriculture technology information centre (ATIC). Agric Update 2016, 11(4), 411-5.

The Agricultural Technology Information Centre is a single window delivery, dissemination and supporting system for various innovative and farm worthy techniques, technical advice, diagnostic services, input supply. To fulfil objectives of ATIC one of the important service offered to farmers is, information or technical knowhow is given on telephone (02452-229000) to farmers as per their demand in the form of questions/ doubts/ problems/queries. From the inception i.e. 1st July 2014 this service is offered to farmers on every Tuesday 06.00 to 08.00 pm, all subject experts sit around the telephone and farmers calls are attended in the evening hours. The total questions received are 365, maximum question were received from the Parbhani district followed by Hingoli, major questions were belong to Agronomy discipline followed by Horticulture and Entomology. The results were discussed in detail in the paper.

4 tables, 6 ref

022781   Alam M I (Agronomy Dep, Rajendra Agricultural Univ, Pusa, Bihar-848 125, Email: alamirshadin@gmail.com) : Growth, nodulation and nutrient uptake as influenced by chickpea based intercropping systems under rainfed conditions. Ann agric Res 2017, 38(2), 176-84.

An experiment to study the "Spatial arrangement and fertility levels in chickpea (Cicer arietinum) based intercropping system under rainfed condition" was carried out during rabi-seasons of 2009-10 and 2010-11 at Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dholi Farm of Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, (Samastipur), Bihar. Sole chickpea recorded higher number of branches/plant, dry matter accumulation root length, root dry weight, number and dry weight of nodules/plant than 6:1 and 6:2 row ratios of chickpea + mustard and chickpea + linseed. Among the row ratio in intercropping systems, chickpea + linseed (6:1) expressed better growth and dry matter accumulation than chickpea + mustard in 6:1 and 6:2 ratio. The growth parameters of chickpea did not vary significantly due to fertility levels. Number of branches and dry matter accumulation of mustard and linseed were higher in 6:1 row ratio of chickpea + mustard and chickpea + linseed than sole crops. As growth parameters of mustard and linseed were significantly higher at 100% RDF than 50% RDF except plant height of mustard and linseed. Nutrient uptake by chickpea did not vary significantly among the intercropping systems. However sole chickpea recorded significantly higher uptake of phosphorus and potassium than chickpea + mustard and chickpea + linseed in both the row ratio * while nitrogen uptake in sole chickpea significantly higher over 6:2 row ratio of chickpea + mustard and chickpea + linseed at both the row ratio of chickpea + mustard. Nutrients uptake by chickpea did not vary significantly due to different levels of fertilizers. Total uptake of N, P and K by mustard and linseed in both the years were significantly higher in sole stand than their intercropping system. Among the row ratio in intercropping systems, 6:2 row ratio of both the intercropping systems recorded significantly higher uptake of these nutrients by mustard and linseed than 6:1 row ratio. The nutrients uptake recorded at 100% and 75% RDF were at par with each other and significantly higher over 50% RDF. Land equivalent ratio (LER) did not vary significantly among the row ratio in intercropping systems, only 6:1 row ratio of chickpea + mustard recorded significantly higher LER (1.2) over sole chickpea. LER did not vary significantly among different fertilizer levels. Chickpea + mustard in 6:1 row ratio altogether recorded maximum chickpea equivalent yield (2367 kg ha^-1) and net return (Rs. 44.8 Thousands ha^-1) however, B:C ratio was higher under 6:2 row ratio of chickpea + mustard (2.10) which was at par with 6:1 row ratio of chickpea + mustard (2.08). Chickpea + mustard in both the row ratio recorded significantly higher chickpea equivalent yield, net return and B:C ratio over chickpea + linseed in both the row ratio and sole chickpea, chickpea equivalent yield, gross return, net return, B:C ratio and LER did not varied significantly among the fertilizer levels.

1 table, 12 ref

022780   Ahmad L;Parvaze S;Parvaze S;Kanth R H (Agromet Field Unit, Agronomy Div, Faculty of Agriculture, Shere-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of K, Shalimar, J & K-190 025, Email: drlatief_skuastk@hotmail.com) : Crop water requirement of saffron (Crocus sativus) in Kashmir valley. J Agrometeorol 2017, 19(4), 380-81.

1 illus, 6 ref

022779   Ahmad F;Goparaju L (NO, Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, Email: goparajulaxmi@yahoo.com) : Geospatial approach for agroforestry suitability mapping: To enhance livelihood and reduce proverty, FAO based documented procedure (case study of Dumka district, Jharkhand, India). Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2017, 14(2), 651-65.

Agroforestry has the capacity to reduce the poverty, enhance livelihood, improve food security and mitigate the climate change impact. The agroforestry suitability mapping is performed using geospatial technology based on similar guideline documented by FAO for Land suitability mapping. The study aims for applying remote sensing and GIS technology towards various spatial (soil and environmental) datasets in Dumka district of Jharkhand, India to achieve a nutrient availability and agroforestry suitability map. The Landsat satellite data, ASTER DEM and decadal annual rainfall datasets were utilized to generate wetness, landuse/ land cover (LULC), elevation, slope, and rainfall map. LULC map was utilized to identify the open area land in which agroforestry suitability was evaluated. Various thematic layers such as soil nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), organic carbon (C), pH and sulphur (S) were used for generating nutrient availability map. The agroforestry suitability map was generated utilizing the layers viz. nutrient availability, slope, wetness, rainfall and elevation by GIS integration/modeling in ArcGIS 10.1 software by providing different weight to each thematic layer as per its importance in the study area. The thematic layer weight was calculated based on pairwise comparisons (a standard statistical procedure). Finally agroforestry suitability maps were generated in the form of high, medium and low grid with spacing (1km x 1km). We also generated poverty map, one of the complete watersheds in the part of the study area and drainage map in whole study area to understand its proximity toward high agroforestry suitability grid. The study shows that the total open area land grids were 3421 out of which 50% of grid was found to be highly suitable towards agroforestry. Furthermore a watershed, drainage pattern and poverty map were analyzed based on its proximity toward high agroforestry suitability. The study reveals high agroforestry suitability land grid proximity towards high poverty grid was approximately more than 70%, whereas the proximity to the drainage pattern was roughly 60%. One of the completed watershed in the part of the study area evaluation reveals approximately 50% of the watershed area grid has the proximity of high agroforestry suitable land grid. The high agroforestry suitability and its proximity/relationship with high poverty, drainage pattern and in watershed based analysis provides golden opportunity to the local poor people to harness agroforestry practices by adopting intensive soil and water conservation measures if supported by sufficient funds/technology will largely help in mitigating poverty and enhancing the livelihood. The ongoing agroforestry projects can be further extended in the open areas of high agroforestry suitability grid for long term benefits of diversified output.

9 illus, 6 tables, 48 ref

022778   Agrawal K K;Rai R K;Shah M S (Physics and Agrometeorology Dep, JNKVV, Jabalpur-482 004) : Growth and yield response of soybean (Glycine max L.) in relation to agro-meteorological indices in Madhya Pradesh. J Ecofriendly Agric 2017, 12(2), 28-30.

The field experiment conducted to study the heat units required during different phenophases in soybean (JS 335, JS 93-05 and 97-52), sown at different times (first and third week of July and first week of August) during 2008 and 2009 showed that the crop sown early (first week of July) accumulated higher GDD, HTU, PTU and resulted in maximum HUE. Among the varieties, highest value of heat units and HUE was found in cv. JS 97-52 at Jabalpur. The growing degree days (GDD), - 216 - heliothermal units (HTU), photo thermal unit (PTU) and heat use efficiency (HUE) were worked out for different phenophase.

2 tables, 12 ref

022777   Abutama T A M;Bashir N H H;Assad Y O H (NO, Ministry of Health, West Kordofan, Sudan) : Insecticides susceptibility status in Anopheles arabiensis Patton (Diptera: Culicidae) in ghebeish locality, west korodfan state, Sudan. Int J Mosquito Res 2018, 5(1), 41-5.

Resistance to insecticides is a limiting factor in the use of insecticides in controlling mosquitoes. This cross-sectional study aimed to monitor insecticide susceptibility of Anopheles arabiensis Patton (Diptera: Culicidae) adults to four commonly used insecticides for indoor residual spraying (deltamethrin 0.05%, bendiocarb 0.1%, DDT 4% and fenitrothion 1%), following WHO protocols. This is one of a series of studies aiming at mapping the resistance of this vector in the Sudan. Two areas (urban and rural) in Ghebeish locality were selected to represent West Kordofan State during the period, July - October 2014. A total of 1,200 females were tested as non-blood-fed using the diagnostic concentrations of the insecticides. The results revealed that the adults were susceptible to bendiocarb 0.1% and fenitrothion 1% in both areas, with mortality rate 100% for bendiocarb, and 100% in rural Ghebeish and 98% in urban Ghebeish for fenitrothion. The adults were also found to be resistant to deltamethrin 0.05% in urban Ghebeish and rural Ghebeish, with 77 and 84% mortalities, respectively. With regard to DDT 4% in the rural Ghebeish 68%mortality was registered, i.e. resistant, and 96% (tolerant) in urban Ghebeish. DDT was not used in the Sudan since 1996.

8 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

022776   Abidi I;Ali G;Dar Z A;Dar S A;Wani S H;Gazal A;Lone A A;Wani M A (Genetics and Plant Breeding Div, SKUAST-Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar, J & K-190 025, Email: shabirhussainwani@gmail.com) : Genetic studies in temperate maize (Zea mays L.) involving an indigenously identified cytosterile source. Envir Ecol 2016, 34(4B), 2197-202.

The present investigation was undertaken to generate information on variability and correlation coefficient in maize involving indigenously identified cytosterile source. Analysis was carried out in two crosses viz., 15C (A) x I-318 (R) and I-401 (A) x I-319 (R) for all six generations with P₁, P₂ and F₁ having 30 plants each and F₂ (300 plants), BC₁ (180 plants) and BC₂ (180 plants) for yield, yield attributing traits and protein content. Variances arising due to differences among various generations of both crosses were highly significant for almost all characters. Components of phenotypic variability estimated for all the traits indicated that wide range of variability existed for the traits under study suggesting possibility of isolating superior heterotic cross combinations. The estimates of phenotypic variance were higher than the corresponding estimates of genotypes variance for all the traits probably due to influence of environment in expression of these traits. Heritability broad sense (b.s.) values in general were higher than heritability narrow sense (n.s.) except low values observed for days to 75% husk browning, stalk lodging and - 215 - root lodging suggesting a large participation of genetic effects on phenotypic expression of the traits and that selection for these traits would be expected to be highly efficient. For protein content significant differences between generations suggested sufficient variability in the genetic material for the trait. High heritability (b.s.) in cross I-401 (A) x I-31 (R) as compared to cross I-15C (A) x I-318 (R) coupled with very low GCV values for both the crosses was revealed. The estimates of genotypic correlation coefficient between grain protein, yield and yield component traits were mostly found to be higher in magnitude though similar in direction than their estimates at phenotypic level but non-significant association was found between protein, yield and yield contributing traits although significant and positive correlations were exhibited by kernel rows ear^-1, kernel row^-1, 250 grain weight, dry ear weight and shelling percentage with grain yield plant^-1 in both the crosses. The higher magnitude of genotypic coefficients in the present study will be beneficial in selection of genetically controlled characters.

4 tables, 16 ref

022235   Zhao G C;Xie M X;Yu F Y;Hu D M;Zhang T;Li J Y (Development Center of Plant Germplasm Resources, College of Life and Environment Sciences, Shanghai Normal Univ, 100 Guilin Road, Shanghai 200234, P. R. China, Email: lijianyue01@shnu.edu.cn) : Development of a new fragrant and good eating quality rice variety with stripe virus disease resistance by molecular marker-assisted gene pyramiding. Indian J Genet Pl Breed 2017, 77(2), 221-7.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important staple crops providing near half of the global population. With the advance of living standards, people demand for novel rice varieties with better quality of eating and fragrance. Unfortunately, the practical application of pesticides to control rice stripe disease results a significant deterioration of rice quality and nutrition. Therefore, it is an urgent need to develop disease resistant rice varieties with good eating quality and fragrance. Here, we present the strategy and practical development of a new rice variety, Shangshida No. 15, by molecular markerassisted gene pyramiding. 'Shangshida No. 15' displayed the aroma trait and the same good eating quality phenotypes as that of Jinfeng rice, a famous rice variety for its good eating quality and high yield in the Yangtze River region of China. Shangshida No. 15 exhibited significantly higher average plant height and 1000-grain weight, while its growth duration was approximately 2 weeks shorter than those of Jinfeng. In conclusion, our study demonstrated a breeding strategy for obtaining high quality rice through molecular marker-assisted gene pyramiding, and the resulting new variety could facilitate further attempts to develop more high eating quality rice varieties together with stripe disease-resistant traits without affecting yields.

3 illus, 3 tables, 31 ref

022234   Yadawad A;Gadpale A;Hanchinal R R;Nadaf H L; Desai S A;Biradar S;Naik V R (Sanjaya Rajaram Wheat Laboratory, Main Agricultural Research Station, Univ of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005, Email: aratiyadawad@gmail.com) : Pyramiding of leaf rust resistance genes in bread wheat variety DWR 162 through marker assisted backcrossing. Indian J Genet Pl Breed 2017, 77(2), 251-7.

A popular widely grown but leaf rust susceptible Indian bread wheat variety was pyramided with two leaf rust resistance genes, Lr24 and Lr28 by Marker Assisted Backcrossing (MABC). The near isogenic line of PBW 343 introgressed with Lr24 and Lr28 was used as a donor. The MABC approach employed one SSR marker, Xwmc313 and one SCAR marker SCS421 with its locus linked to Lr28 and two SCAR markers, SCS719 and SCS 1302 linked to Lr24 for foreground selection to select plants carrying Lr24 and Lr28 genes. Marker assisted background selection in BC₂F₂ to recover the genome of recipient parent involving 42 polymorphic SSR markers dispersed throughout the genome facilitated mean recurrent parent genome (RPG) recovery of 80.3% with a range from 67.5-94.7%. BC₂F₂ plants were characterized for DUS (Distinctiveness Uniformity Stability) for phenotypic identification of plants that mostly resemble DWR 162 variety. Field evaluation of BC₂F₂ plants for yield and its component traits to assess the effect of these two genes in the background of DWR 162 revealed high yield potential of selected plants along with leaf rust resistance and no yield penalty was apparent. This study successfully demonstrate the practical utility of MABC in wheat rust resistance breeding for developing resistant lines in the background of any - 417 - elite and popular wheat cultivar with relatively higher speed and precision.

2 illus, 6 tables, 30 ref

022233   Yadav R;Gaikwad K B;Bhattacharyya R (Genetics Div, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, Email: rajbiryadav@yahoo.com) : Breeding wheat for yield maximization under conservation agriculture. Indian J Genet Pl Breed 2017, 77(2), 185-98.

Wheat based food security is being challenged due to declining profit, deteriorating production environment and changing climatic conditions. Conservation agriculture (CA) imbibing some components of the natural ecosystem can address some of these issues quite effectively. Wheat breeding so far, has managed to increase grain yield mainly by improving harvest index (HI) and adaptation through phenological manipulation. With limited scope for further increase in HI, an increase in biomass appears inevitable for wheat yield consolidation. The conflict between increased biomass and lodging that imposes a limitation to higher grain yield may have an answer in CA. The production environment under CA is much more congenial than conventional and hence offers an opportunity for identification of higher yielding genotypes. The article discusses the breeding issues and key traits for selection for yield maximization under CA. Integrating agronomic perspectives including cropping system, countering the tradeoff between stress adaptation and yield enhancement through management has been proposed. Selection indices build around increased coleoptile length, weed competitiveness, mild vernalization, increased duration and higher biomass could facilitate the development of CA adapted genotypes. These traits can be further fine-tuned according to different cropping and management practices.

9 illus, 2 tables, 124 ref

022232   Yadav P;Joshi A;Talukdar A (Genetics Div, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, Email: pallu.prachi@gmail.com) : Identification of functions of DWnt4 gene in ventral epidermis of embryos and abdomen of adult Drosophila during development. Indian J Genet Pl Breed 2017, 77(2), 304-11.

Wnt protein forms a multigenic family secreting signaling molecules important for various key developmental events in animals. Wingless (wg) is the prototype member of Wnt gene family, while DWnt4 has been identified recently from a clonal library of proteins associated in vivo with Ubx protein. DWnt4 has been reported to function in embryo epidermis patterning, female gonade development, motor neuron axon guidance. In this study, validation was done for some reported functions of DWnt4 with ectopic expression and identified some novel functions using RNA interference. Knockdown of DWnt4 caused in ventral ectoderm reduced denticles with loss of one or two rows or entire denticle belt. Loss of DWnt4 also loss of polarity of wing hairs, loss of wing veins and notched wing phenotype. All the bristles from adult abdomen were lost when DWnt4 was driven with ubiquitous driver actineGal4. Tissue specific drivers enGal4 caused loss of polarity of dorsal tergite bristles and patches of tergites from adult abdomen. Thus, the DWnt4 - 416 - seems to function in the cuticular differentiation of adult abdomen polarity of tergites bristles in Drosophila.

6 illus, 1 table, 29 ref

022231   Yadav M R;Rakesh Kumar;Parihar C M;Yadav R K; Jat S L;Ram H;Meena R K;Singh M;Birbal;Verma A P;Kumar U;Ghosh A;Jat M L (NO, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal-132 001, Email: raomaluydv@gmail.com) : Strategies for improving nitrogen use efficiency. Agric Rev 2017, 38(1), 29-40.

Nitrogen (N) is the most critical externally added input for any crop production system. The half of the global population directly or indirectly depends on nitrogenous fertilizers for food supply. Today, Rice, wheat, and maize are consuming more than 90% of total nitrogenous fertilizer used in cereals. Underuse of nitrogen is associated with lower crop production while overuse leads to several soil and environmental related consequences. Therefore, response to applied nitrogen and its use efficiency have to be monitored properly for obtaining the maximum potential and sustainable yield. Efficiency of applied nitrogenous fertilizers is very low due to its various losses i.e. volatilization, leaching, surface runoff and denitrification from soil-plant system. Therefore, the proper understanding of advanced soil and plant management practices which helps in enhancement of nitrogen recovery efficiency is one of the key factors to enhance crop output, decreasing cost of cultivation, and to maintain environmental quality which ultimately adds towards the goal of achieving long term sustainable production system. In this review, an attempt has been made summarize the locally as well as scientific soil and crop management technologies used for improving use efficiency of applied N. This paper also discusses nitrogen cycling in soil-plant systems, various N losses pathways, present status and most possible management options at the farm level for enhancing nitrogen use in crop production system.

^iia5 tables, 76 ref

022230   Yadav M K;Chandra R;Yadav S K;Dhakad P K;Naik S;Usha (NO, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural Univ, Jhansi-284 003, Email: manojbhu87@gmail.com) : Morphological characterization, identification and edibility test of edible mushrooms from vindhya forest of Northern India. Res Envir Life Sci 2017, 10(3), 246-8.

In the present investigation that was studies the collection of 25 edible mushrooms from different localities of Vindhya forest were observed and other phenotypic parameter noted in fresh form. The fruiting structures like cap, stalk, gills, volva and annulus were observed as present / absent during collection. The shape and colour of fruit bodies was also recorded. The edibility test of collected edible mushrooms was also ascertained by obtaining information from local and tribal's consuming the same. This information noted as fruiting stage and edible part of mushroom at the time of consumption and as well as their taste flavor and chewing nature. 12 collected edible mushroom - 415 - out of 25 that C. indica, P. flabellatus, P. ostreatus, P. florida-, P. eryngii, P. sajor-caju, A. bisporus, P. pulmonarius, P. porrigens, P. onesti, A. polytricha and H. lactifluorum have excellent edibility. The flavor of collected edible mushroom were having different flavor such as cheese, vegetable, fish, chicken.

2 tables, 11 ref

022229   Yadav G R;Srivastava P;Mishra V K;Chauhan D; Rajveer (Entomology Dep, College of Agiculture, Govind Ballabh Pant Univ of Agriculture and Tec, Pantnagar-263 145, Email: premvijaybhu@gmail.com) : Impact of various insecticides on natural enemies in cowpea ecosystem. J ent Res 2017, 41(1), 57-62.

Studies on the impact of various insecticides on natural enemies in cowpea crop revealed that all the insecticides caused harmful effect on the population of coccinellid beetles and spiders. Bio-rationals, Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki and azadirachtin were found comparatively safe. The population of coccinellid beetles gradually decreased in all treatments whereas untreated check recorded significantly more number of beetles/plant/plot while the population of spiders gradually increased in all treatments.

2 tables, 19 ref

022228   Wright M S;Duplantis B H;Ingber B F;Lax A R (Agriculture Dep, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Regional Research Center, 1100 Robert E Lee Blvd, New Orleans LA 70122 USA, Email: maureen.wright@ars.usda.gov) : Infection of the formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus shiraki, by the entomopathogenic fungus Isaria fumosorosea. J ent Res 2017, 41(1), 7-11.

This study investigates Isaria fumosorosea (Ifr) infection of and transfer among Formosan subterranean termites (FST). Prior to fungal exposure nestmates were fed Nile Blue, dye or Neutral Red dye. Blue FST were exposed to 6.3 x 10⁹ fungal spores and mixed with red nestmates. At timepoints up to 168 h, termites were removed from each dyed group and fixed with osmium tetroxide. SEM observation at 24 h post-exposure showed most fungal conidia ungerminated and on the external cuticle of blue FST. At 48 h, germ tubes had formed on blue FST and penetrated the cuticle. Hyphae were observed externally at 96 h post-exposure. Fungal spores were visible on red FSt 96 h after placement with blue FSt, and hyphae were abundant at 168 h post-exposure. Blue FST were fixed, dehydrated, then embedded with a low viscosity epoxy. Embedded FST were sectioned with a microtome and visualized via light microscopy. Ifr penetrated the cuticle of blue FST at 48 h and were found on the interior of termites after 72 h. Transfer to red FST was confirmed 96 h post-exposure through visualization of spores.

5 illus, 15 ref

022227   Vora Z N;Patel J B;Pansuriya A G;Yusufzai S A (NO, Junagadh Agricultural Univ, Junagarh-362 001, Email: jbpatelvasai38@gmail.com) : Genetic divergence analysis in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Res Envir Life Sci 2017, 10(3), 291-4.

The study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity among 40 genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The genetic diversity analysis revealed the formation of 13 clusters suggesting the presence of wide genetic diversity. The clustering pattern indicated that geographic diversity was not associated with genetic diversity. The analysis of per cent contribution of various characters towards the expression of total genetic divergence indicated that grain yield per plant followed by length of main spike, number of effective tillers per plant, plant height, number of grains per main spike and grain filling period contributed maximum towards total genetic divergence. Based on the maximum genetic distance, it is advisable to attempt crossing of the genotypes from cluster XII with the genotypes of cluster X, which may lead to the generation of broad spectrum of favourable genetic variability for - 414 - yield improvement in bread wheat.

3 tables, 26 ref

022226   Vishwakarma S K;Ashok Kumar (Floriculture and Landscape Dep, College of Horticulture of Forestry, N.D. U.A. & T., Faizabad-224 229, Email: akmnduat@yahoo.com) : Effect of nitrogen, planting distance and bulb size on flowering attributes and yield of tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) cv. Hyderabad double. Res Envir Life Sci 2017, 10(1), 22-4.

A field experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design (factorial) with 16 treatment combinations, comprising of four levels of nitrogen (0, 100, 200 and 300 kg/ha), two levels of planting distance (30 x 20 and 30 x 30 cm) and two level of size of bulb (1.00-2.00 and 2.00-3.00 cm) in two successive years 2012-13 and 2013-14 at Main Experiment Station, Department of Floriculture and Landscape, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology, Narendra Nagar (Kumarganj), Faizabad (U.P.). Results revealed that higher levels of nitrogen, higher spacing and bigger size of bulbs reduced days taken for initiation of spike and opening of first floret and increased length and diameter of spike, number of spikes per clump, number of florets per spike, weight of florets per spike, increased duration of flowering and number of spikes per hectare. However higher spacing was decreased number of spikes per hectare in both the year of experiments.

3 tables, 16 ref

022225   Umesh M R;Chittapur B M;Jagadeesha N (NO, Horticultural Sciences Univ, Bagalkot-583 234, Email: mrumeshagri@gmail.com) : Solar radiation utilization efficiency in cereal-legume intercropping system. Agric Rev 2017, 38(1), 72-5.

Growing two or more crops together with close proximity has the challenge of utilizing the available resources. Crop yields need to be increased by improving the use efficiency of resources such as water, nutrients and solar energy. Intercropping is often a means to better use of land and other resources. Success of cereal-legume intercropping will depend on extent of harnessing solar radiation by the canopy profile. Several field experiments conducted in southern Great Plains have indicated radiation use efficiency has a means to evaluate efficiency. In this paper, the growth and utilization of annual legumes as intercrops is reviewed with particular reference to resource use and their feasible with cereals.

^iia32 ref

022224   Thaneshwari;Aswath C (Division of Floriculture and Medicinal Crops, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka) : Effect of plant growth regulators and sucrose concentration on callus induction and shoot differentiation from ovary culture of marigold (Tagetes spp).. Int J chem Stud 2018, 6(1), 618-23.

Marigold (Tagetes spp) an important ornamental plant, is also recognized as potential source of carotenoids and currently being used as nutritional supplements, food colorants and poultry feed additives. Most of the hybrids and varieties of marigold have been developed by conventional method of breeding. In vitro androgenesis and gynogenesis is a rapid and efficient method for developing new varieties in a relatively short time. The present paper reports the effect of growth regulators and the level of sucrose on callus induction from ovary culture of marigold cultivar 'Arka Agni'. Ovaries were cultured on a MS medium supplemented with seventeen different combinations of plant growth regulators. Seven levels of sucrose were evaluated. Variable callogenic responses were expressed on induction media supplemented with varying concentration of growth hormones. Pale green colour compact calli with 89.66% callus induction rate has been reported in MS media supplemented with 4.44 μM BAP and 4.52 μM 2,4-D. 10.08% shoot differentiation rate has been reported when calluses were sub cultured on MS media supplemented with 4.44 μM BAP and 1.07 μM NAA. MS media without plant growth regulator was found to be the best rooting medium. 4% sucrose concentration on MS media was found to be optimum for callus induction. In summary, the present study shows positive result in terms of regenerating marigold plantlets from ovary culture. There is a need for testing of the plantlets produced in terms of genetic variation as well as the ploidy level. Since there is a high genotypic dependence of the ability for gynogenesis, more studies involving different marigold cultivars are required.

1 illus, 3 tables, 26 ref

022223   Tekam D S;Tigga B;Upadhyay Y K (Entomology Dep, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh) : Study on morphometric parameters of the blue bug, Chrysocoris purpureus. Int J Fauna biol Stud 2018, 5(1), 37-8.

The blue bug, C. purpureus attacked mainly the tender shoots and fruits of Jatropha. It was found sucking the sap from fruits, due to which the color of fruits changed from green to yellow. In case of severe infestation the fruits turned brown. The infestation adversely affected the quality of seed and oil and ultimately reduced the fruit and oil yield.

1 table, 6 ref