017144   Anil Kumar;Brar N S;Pal S;Singh P (Farm Science Centre, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Tarn Taran, Punjab, Email: anilkumarhpkv@gmail.com) : Available soil macro and micro-nutrients under rice-wheat cropping system in District Tarn Taran of Punjab, India. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 201-6.

To assess the soil nutrient status under rice-wheat cropping system in district Tarn Taran of Punjab, soil samples were collected from different blocks after the harvest of wheat crop during 2014-15. The soil samples were collected from 0-15 cm depth and analysed for soil reaction, electrical conductivity, organic matter, available P, K and micronutrients viz. Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn following standard procedures. Overall, data revealed that soils mostly have loamy texture with normal to moderately alkaline reaction (pH 6.9 to 10.0). The soil electrical conductivity ranged from 0.09 to 0.85 dS m^-1, with an average value of 0.26 dS m^-1. Overall, 25.1% soil samples were found deficient in organic matter status, whereas, 66.7% were registered with moderate and 8.17% with high organic matter status. Similarly, available P was found deficient in 22.6% samples, 32.1% falls under medium, 35.2% in high and 10.1% in very high range. The available K was registered very high than desired level in the soils of all the blocks under study (high in 98.7% samples). The available Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu in district soils as a shole, varies from 0.08-4.68, 1.36-40.92, 0.54-12.4 and 0.24-21.0 mg kg^-1, respectively. About 12.6, 4.4 and 6.9% soil samples were registered low in available Zn, Fe and Mn, respectively. In general, soils in blocks under study were registered slightly to moderately alkaline with low to medium organic carbon status, fairly good P and rich in available K. The micronutrients availability viz. Fe, Mn and Cu was observed optimum in most of the samples except Zn, which was deficient in 12.6% samples.

3 tables, 20 ref

017143   Angelin Silviya R;Stalin P (Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry Dep, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univ, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu) : Response of irrigated rice to applied zinc under varying available zinc status of rice soils in Tamil Nadu. Int J chem Stud 2017, 5(4), 27-31.

Field experiments were conducted in the major rice growing tracts having varied soil Zn status to study the effect of Zn fertilization - 318 - in irrigated rice. The treatments consisted of six levels of Zn (0 1.25, 2.50, 5.00, 7.50 and 10.0 kg ha^-1) in a Randomized block design. The results revealed that the growth and yield were higher in location 4 where the soil Zn content was minimum (0.87 mg kg^-1), compared to locations 6 to 12 where the soil Zn content was comparatively high (0.98 to 2.99 mg kg^-1). Averaged for all locations, the application of Zn @ 7.5 kg ha^-1 recorded significantly the highest yield of grain (6.81 t ha^-1) and straw (8.09 t ha^-1). Hence, application of Zn significantly increased the growth and yield of rice in Zn deficient soils, while higher Zn levels showed a decline or no response in soils having high zinc status.

4 tables, 22 ref

017142   Anbarasan R;Srimathi P;Vijayakumar A (Seed Science and Technology Dep, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univ, Coimbatore-641 003, Email: anbu107@yahoo.com) : Influence of seed pelleting on sed quality improvement in redgram (Cajanus cajan L.). Legume Res 2016, 39(4), 584-9.

Redgram is a protein rich staple food and contains about 22 per cent protein, which is almost three times that of cereals. Pelleting is a presowing physical seed management technique, in which growth promotive substances with protective, nutritive and invigourative function are applied on the seed to enhance the seed-soil relationship. To evaluate the efficacy of herbal powders for seed pelleting, studies were initiated with redgram cv. CO 7 with Carboxy methyl cellulose adhesive @ 200 ml per kilogram of seed and were coated with the herbal powders viz., noni (Morinda citrifolia), tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) and gallnut (Terminalia chebula) @ 200 g kg^-1 of seed. The pelleted seed evaluated for the effect of seed invigouration, nursery emergence and storability along with unpelleted reviled that tulasi leaf powder followed by noni improved the seedling vigour and field emergence. At field pelleted seed has enhanced chlorophyll index highlighting the efficacy of the treatment. The treated seed also stored well upto one month with restoration of all evaluated seed quality characters.

4 illus, 2 tables, 34 ref

017141   Alqarawi A B;Hashem A;Abd-Allah E F;Al-Huqail A A;Alshahrani T S;Alshalawi S A R;Egamberdieva D (Plant Production Dep, Faculty of Food & Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box. 2460 Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia, Email: eabdallah@ksu.edu.sa) : Protective role of gamma amminobutyric acid on Cassia italica mill under salt stress. Legume Res 2016, 39(3), 396-404.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of salinity stress on growth of Cassia italica and role of gamma amminobutyric acid (GABA) in mitigating the salt stress induced damaging effects. Antioxidant activity, level of endogenous growth hormones and other biochemical parameters were evaluated. Salt stress enhanced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting in the enhanced lipid peroxidation which was however reduced by application of GABA. Increased lipid peroxidation in salt stressed plants caused an obvious reduction in the total lipid content as compared to GABA treated plants. The antioxidant enzymes were higher in GABA treated plants which indicated a reduction of oxidative damage. The concentrations of growth hormones like indole acetic acid (IAA), indole butyric acid (IBA), gibberellic acid-1 (GA₁), and gibberellic acid-4 (GA₄) were reduced by salt stress, while enhanced by GABA treatment. In addition GABA treated plants maintained lower levels of sodium and chloride ions as compared to salt stressed plants. It could be concluded that toxic effects of salt stress on growth, antioxidant system, hormones and mineral nutrients in Cassia italica could be alleviated by exogenous application of GABA.

2 illus, 4 tables, 45 ref

017140   Ali H H A;Al-Faragi J K A (Pathology Dep, College of Veterinary Medicine, Baghdad Univ, Baghdad, Iraq) : Efficiency of betaine and β-glucan as feed additives on the growth performance and survival rate of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) fingerlings. J Ent Zool Stud 2017, 5(4), 27-31.

The present study was aimed to evaluate the efficiency of betaine and 0.2% β-glucan on growth performance and survival rate of common carp. 120 fingerlings of Cyprinus carpio weight ranged between 46-46.5g were randomly distributed into six treatment groups. Fish were fed different betaine concentration: 0.15% (T1), 0.2% (T2), 0.25% (T3) and 0.3% (T4). The fifth group (T5) was fed 0.2% β-glucan, control group was fed 0% of betaine and β-glucan in the diet. All treatments fed twice a day at rate 3% B.W for 56 days. The study was conducted at College of Veterinary Medicine/ University of Baghdad, Ichthyology laboratory, Baghdad, Iraq, from 27/4/ to 21/6/2016. Results of feeding trail in treated groups with betaine supplementation showed significant increase (P<60> 0.05) in all growth parameters (i.e:final weight, DWG, RGR, SGR(%), FCR, FCE) compared with the control group, and the highest values were recorded in T4 supplemented with betaine 0.3%. Also, survival rate recorded highest value (100%) in treatment groups supplemented with betaine 0.3% and β-glucan 0.2% in comparison with control group (80%), suggesting that the high level of betaine (0.3%) improve growth rate and survival rate in common carp

5 tables, 31 ref

017139   Ajay Kumar;Harikrishna V;Reddy A K;Chadha N K;Babitha Rani A M (Aquaculture Div, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai-400 061, Email: ajaycofs@gmail.com) : Salinity tolerance of Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in Inland saline water: effect on growth, survival and haematological parameters. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 567-74.

The present study was carried out to find the suitable salinity for growth performance and survival of Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878) in inland saline water. P. hypophthalmus (0.41±0.03g) 225 fishes were stocked in five treatments in triplicate for 60 days. The experimental design consisted of freshwater as control and inland ground saline water with salinities 5,10,15,20 and 25 ppt as treatment groups T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. The results indicate that P. hypophthalmus can tolerate the salinities up to 15 ppt in inland saline water where as 100% mortality was observed treatments (20 ppt) and (25 ppt) after 48 hours and 18 hours respectively. Osmotic study using serum osmolality, water osmolality, and osmoregulatory capacity indicated tha, P. hypophthalmus cannot survive at higher salinities. The stress level in the animals at higher salinities is indicated by higher blook urea level, reduction in total serum protein, variable calcium and magnesium concentration in serum and histological studies. Though P. hypophthalmus survived up to 15 ppt but the optimum salinity for culture is 10 ppt in inland saline water.

1 illus, 3 tables, 40 ref

017138   Ahirwar S;Vipinvyas (Zoology Dep, Barkatullah Univ, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Email: shivlal30177@gmail.com) : Status of notopterus chitala (hamilton) inhalali reservoir of Madhya Radesh, India. Ultra Scient phys Sci-Sect B 2017, 29(1-4), 8-11.

This paper deal with the study of status of Notopterus Chital in Halali reservoir of Madhya Pradesh. Halali Reservoir is one of the most important reservoirs which is about 40 km away from the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal. It is built on Halali river which is a tributary of Betwa river. River Betwa or Vetravati, river in northern India, rising in the Vindhya Range just north of Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh. The primary objective of this study is to provide a base line assessment of the present state of the Halali reservoir. The major objective of the study is to study the water quality parameters of Halali reservoir well as to document the zooplankton diversity of the reservoir. Another important objective of the study is to explore the macroinvertebrate community of the reservoir. The fourth objective of the research is to explore the fish diversity of the reservoir with special emphasis to - 316 - Notopterus chitala with its biometric study.

3 illus, 10 ref

017137   Agrawal S B;Singh S;Tiwari A;Rawat A K;Sharma A (Agronomy Dep, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidhyalaya, Jabalpur-482 004, Email: tiwari_ashish1105@yahoo.com) : Efficiency of earthworm to convert poultry wastes into vermicompost with different additives under change of seasons. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 311-15.

A pot experiment was conducted during 2007-08 & 2008-09 in order to study the efficiency of earthworm species Eisenia fetida to convert poultry - waste alone and in combination with different additives under various seasons, into vermicompost. A total of 18 treatment combinations, consists of 2 substrata Poultry litter (PL), and poultry excreta (PE), 3 additives (without additive (A₀), cowdung (A₁) and Trichoderma viridi (A₂) and 3 seasons (Rainy, Winter and Summer). These treatments were arranged in a Randomized Block Design (Factorial) replicated thrice. Dry weight of substrata recorded after 30 days of partial decomposition reveal higher reduction (17.40%) in weight of poultry excreta as compared to (%) poultry litter. Weight grin by earthworms (119.59 g) with multiplication ratio of 1.58 were noted with poultry excreta. Cow dung used as additive proved to be more effective with respect to reduce dry weight, over Trichoderma, weight gain as well as multiplication ratio. Rainy season favoured these parameters followed by summer and winter. The highest production (6.08 kg) as well as recovery of vermicompost (60.85<37) was noted during rainy season which was markedly higher over summer and winter season.

1 illus, 3 tables, 11 ref

017136   Agrawal R S;Syed H M;Satwadhar P N (Food Chemistry and Nutrition Dep, College of Food Technology, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Vidyapeeth, Parbhani-431 402, Email: agarwalrinku01@gmail.com) : Impact of soaking, roasting and germination on quality parameters of fenugreek seeds (Trigonella foenum - Graecum L.). J Envir Biosci 2016, 30(2), 433-6.

The present study was conducted to study the impact of pretreatment such as soaking, roasting and germination on quality parameters of fenugreek seeds. Raw and processed fenugreek seed flours were analyzed for nutritional composition, in-vitro - 315 - protein digestibility, and functional as well as sensorial properties. The crude fiber content of soaked, germinated and roasted fenugreek seed flours 6.63, 9.04 and 6.75% in contrast to raw fenugreek seed flour (6.33%). Processing of fenugreek seeds improved in-vitro protein digestibility and availability of minerals as compared to raw fenugreek seed flour. In-vitro protein digestibility and availability of Ca, Fe and Mg know also increased appreciably due to reduction in antinutrient contents at 24 h germination. Processing of fenugreek seeds also enhanced functional properties and reduced its bitterness. Germination of fenugreek seeds was found to improve quality parameters as well as reduced its bitterness.

4 tables, 13 ref

017135   Aduov M A;Kapov S N;Nukusheva S A;Kaspakov E Z;Tarabaev B K;Isenov K G;Volodya K (NO, Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical University, prosp. Zhenis 62, Astana, Kazakhstan, Email: nukusheva60@mail.ru) : Influence of random technological and control impacts on the process of seed sowing and mineral fertilizers. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 267-77.

The article discuss functional analysis of complex multilevel system of seed sowing and fertilizer distribution into soil. Susceptibility to the influence of random technological and control impacts on the process has been determined. Functional flowchart has been developed illustrating general approach to analysis of seed sowing comprised of agrobiological (ABS), mechanical-technological (MTS), technical (TS), and agrotechnological (ATS) systems which sometimes cannot be fit into single procedure and, in terms of specific targets, can be either simplified or complicated. Thus, it is recommended to analyze performances characterizing efficiency of seed sowing and fertilizer distribution into soil and then to perform functional analysis. Random impacts will characterize the efficiency, such impacts are classified as inputs. In addition, technological impacts include those which are related with peculiar features of technological procedures and classified as output performances. Control impacts are those which enables control of technological processes, determining design variables of sowing machinery U_c(t) and fertilizer distributing facilities U_c(t), as well as possibility to modify them U(t) using control (CU).

4 illus, 37 ref

017134   Aditya K;Biswas A;Gupta A K;Chandra H (NO, Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, Email: katu4493@gmail.com) : District-level crop yield estimation using calibration approach. Curr Sci 2017, 112(9), 1927-31.

Estimation of major crop yield rates at the district level using calibration estimation technique is re-ported here when auxiliary information is available at the unit level only for the selected villages within each district and when the sampling design under consid-eration is two-stage equal probability without replace-ment. An estimator was developed for the complex sampling design under consideration using the cali-bration approach. Through evaluation using real data collected from a pilot survey, we found that the pro-posed calibration estimator performs better than the usual design-based Horvitz-Thompson estimator un-der two-stage sampling design.

3 tables, 17 ref

017133   Adak S;Adhikari K;Brahmachari K (NO, Agricultural Training Centre and State Agricultural Management and Ex, Ramakrishna Mission Asharama, Kolkata-700 103, Email: subhas.adak@rediffmail.com) : GIS based evaluation of crop suitability for agricultural sustainability around kolaghat thermal power plant, India. J envir Biol 2016, 37(5), 905-12.

Fly ash exhaust from Kolaghat thermal power plant, West Bengal, India, affects the areas within the radius of 3 - 4 km. Land information system indicated that surface texture within 4 km was silty loam and clay content increased with increase of distance. Soil pH was alkaline (7.58-8.01) in affected circles, whereas soil was acidic (5.95-6.41) in rest of block. Organic carbon (OC) is roving from 0.36 to 0.64% in the nearer circles which is lesser from others. The present Crop suitability analysis revealed that 96.98% area was suitable (S1) for maize, sesame, jute, whereas these were cultivated in less than 1% of land. Flowers are the best suitable (S1) in 88.9% but it was grown in 6.02% area. The present rice area within 4 km of KTPP is showing moderately suitable (S2) and S1 for the rest. Wheat is moderately suitable (S2) in the almost all the circles. Cultivation of vegetable crops is limited in the affected circles while the highly suitable (S1) comprises 67.49% for the remaining areas though it covered only 6.01% of the block. This evaluation precisely improves more than 300% from the earlier cropping intensity of 177.95%. Suitability based land use allocation serves - 314 - as stepping stone to promote agricultural sustainability. Geographic information system (GIS) model has been developed to assess site specific crop suitability for sustainable agricultural planning.

4 illus, 5 tables, 42 ref

017132   Abdullah;Dirawan G D;Pertiwi N (Faculty of Agriculture, University of Muslim Indonesia, Indonesia, Email: abdullahsituru@ymail.com) : Sustainability of ecology and economics of urban farming development: case study in Makassar city, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. Ecol Envir Conserv 2017, 23(1), 106-11.

Cities of Makassar, South Sulawesi, experiencing environmental problems as a result of urbanization and physical development of the city. Ecological functions of open space are on the wane as a result of increasingly expansive and spread of the region wokr up. Urban farming system can be an alternative to improvement the balance of the urban environmental and social-economic of urban communities. This study aimed to analyze the level of ecological and economic sustainability as well as to determine the factors sensitive determinant of sustainability of development urban farming in the city of Makassar. This research uses MDS method called Rap-Maks-Urfarm to analyze the index and status of urban farming sustainability. Data were collected from interview with relevant experts and stakeholders. The results of multidimensional analysis shows that sustainability index value of urban farming is 48.52% which is less sustainable status, but partially the index value of ecologic and economic dimensions respectively 42.66% with a status less sustainable and 50.69% with a fairly sustainable status. The average analysis of attributes the ecological dimension shows the sensitive attribute are the condition of irrigation, use of fertilizers and pesticides, organic waste treatment, and the dominant plant species used in urban farming systems. Attributes of the economic dimension was discovered seven attributes sensitive. Analysis of Rap-Maks-Urfarm appropriate and valid (R²<62>0.90 and S <60> 0.25) to evaluate the level of sustainability of urban farming in the city of Makassar.

2 illus, 1 table, 24 ref

016357   Zote V K;Naragalkar A L;Salvi S P;Gajbhyie R C;Desai V S (Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli) : Management of cashew stem and root borer in Konkan region of Maharashtra. Pestology 2016, 40(4), 11-14.

The studies were undertaken at Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle during 2010-11 to 2012-13 for integrated management of cashew stem and root borer. The various methods applied were removal ofthe bark from the infested portion and chemical control to check cashew stem and root borer infestation. The results revealed that, it is necessary to remove the bark from the infested portion of the tree up to 26-50 per cent. In chemical control measures chlorpyriphos 0.2 per cent was found to be most effective against cashew stem and root borer which showed no re-infestation. The observations recorded with respect to age group revealed that the older trees are more attacked by the pest. Whereas, young cashew trees were found to be free from attack. Similarly, under Maharashtra conditions the attack was found to be more at collar + stem region and less at upper branches.

3 tables, 10 ref

016356   Zote V K;Gajbhiye R C;Salvi S P (NO, Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle, Dist. Sindhudurg (MS)-416 516) : Predatory spider of cashew tea mosquito bug (Helopitis antonii) observed in coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra. Pestology 2016, 40(4), 45-8.

A field survey was carried out to find out the predatory species of spider of cashew tea mosquito bug (Helopiltis antonii) during the year 2014-15at AICRP - cashew Regional Fruit Research Station Vengurle. The data revealed that total 18 species of 6 six different - 351 - family observed in cashew orchard during the year 2014-15.The family oxyopidae (269 individual), salticidae (160 individual) are the most pre dominate spider family observed in cashew however the family Clubionidae and Gnaphosidae recorded less than five individual. The spider Telamonia dimididata (Salticidae) and Oxyopes shweta (Oxyopidae) was the major predator of cashew tea mosquito bug. The season of occurrence the spider of 9 species collected during summer season, 15 species collected during monsoon season and 9 species during winter season, while six species collected throughout the year.

1 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

016355   Yuvaraj E;Dharanirajan K;Jayakumar S; Saravanan;Balasubramaniam J (Disaster Management Dep, Pondicherry Univ, Port Blair, Email: yuvaerd22@gmail.com) : Distribution and zonation pattern of mangrove forest in Shoal Bay creek, Andaman Islands, India. Indian J Geomar Sci 2017, 46(3), 597-604.

Mangrove forest distributed throughout the coast of South Andaman Island varies from small patches to dense forest. In the field survey the various species of mangroves dominated in appropriate zones were identified. The coordinates of field survey were used to perform the supervised classification. Zones are classified from seaward to landward end and they are distributed as Seaward fringes, Tall Dense Rhizophora, Rhizophora-Ceriops dense, Xylocarpus mixed, Bruguiera Clumps and Landward Back mangroves. Total area of mangroves in Shoal Bay creek was estimated around 2912.97ha out of this 1688.72 ha of forest occupies by the Dense Rhizophora community and forms strong zonation in the entire creek. In the spices point of view Rhizophora mucronata and R. apiculata are the most dominant species of the creek which present in all the zones in all sub-tidal creeks of Shoal Bay.

6 illus, 1 table, 29 ref

016354   Yoon J S;Park B S (Applied Animal Science Div, Kangwon National Univ, Chuncheon 200-701, South Korea, Email: bspark@kangwon.ac.kr) : Effect of fermented earthworm cast on egg production and egg quality as well as removal of odor in feces from - 350 - egg laying hens. J envir Biol 2016, 37(4), 591-6.

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of feeding fermented earthworm casts (EEC) to layers on egg-laying performance, blood lipid profiles, cecal microflora, and fecal odor removing performance. A total of 200 Hyline Brown layer chicks at 33-week-old were used in this study. They were randomly assigned to two numerically equal groups with 100 replications per treatment for 10 weeks. All the birds were caged individually. The control group was not treated with EEC. The EEC group was treated with top dressing containing 3.5% EEC. The present study revealed that egg production and egg weight were increased after feeding diet containing EEC at the top dressing level. Haugh unit, eggshell thickness, and eggshell breaking strength of EEC group were higher than those of control group. Egg yolk was determined for fatty acid profiling. It was found that EEC group had higher ratio of unsaturated- to saturated fatty acid as compared to control group. Lower ratios of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids were found in the egg yolk of EEC group. Plasma triglyceride and total cholesterol contents were lower in the EEC group. However, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol content was higher in the EEC group as compared to that in control group. The number of cecal Lactobacillus was increased while the population of Escherichia coli and coliform bacteria decreased in the EEC group. Fecal ammonia and hydrogen sulfide contents were lower in the EEC group as compared to those in control group. Taken together, these results suggested that EEC could improve egg production and egg quality. In addition, it could remove odour from laying-hen manure.

2 illus, 5 tables, 27 ref

016353   Yogesh Kumar J S;Satyanarayana C;Venkataraman K;Beleem I B;Arun G;Chandran R;Ramkumaran K;Kamboj R D (Zoological Survey of India, Coral Transplantation and Restoration project - Gulf of Kachchh, CCF Office Complex, Vansankul, Jamnagar-361 001, Email: coralyogesh@yahoo.co.in) : Coral reefs transplantation and restoration experience in Pirotan island, marine national park, Gulf of Kachchh, India. Indian J Geomar Sci 2017, 46(2), 299-303.

Massive corals planted over long lasting artificial reefs like concrete triangles have proven to be useful for the transplantation and restoration. A total of 215 artificial triangles were deployed with 1569 coral fragments at a small tide drain channel in Pirotan Island, Marine National Park, Gulf of Kachchh. The overall survival rate of transplanted corals was 77.57%, 7.84% of corals found detached from the triangles, 12.17% of corals bleached and 2.42% of corals dead. In addition, coral fragments overcame the impairment of the water current, sedimentation, algae cover and wave actions. Present preliminary study evident this transplantation methodology as a successful way for coral restoration in a most stressful ecosystem like the Gulf of Kuchchh.

3 illus, 2 tables, 23 ref

016352   Vimal Kumar;Panneerselvam S;Soni J K; Lakshmanan A;Arun Kumar P (Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univ, Coimbatore-641 003) : Responce of blue green algae on rice (Oryza sativa) crop production at elevated temperature. Pharma Innovation 2017, 6(8), 26-8.

An investigation to "Assess the crop productivity of rice crop under current and elevated temperature with application of Blue Green Algae" was carried out at Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, during Rabi season (November 2014 - March 2015). This experimentation was carried out with two temperature levels viz., current temperature at open environment and +2°C elevated temperature at temperature controlled chamber. During the experimentation, crop productivity, and yield potentials of rice crop were evaluated. The impact of photosynthetic diazotroph, Blue Green Algae on enhancing the crop yield under different temperature level of rice soil ecosystem was evaluated. The study revealed that crop raised under ambient temperature showed superior performance on growth parameters and yield. Blue green algal inoculation also promoted crop growth and yield under both environmental conditions. With enhancement in temperature, the photosynthetic rate of plants reduced gradually. The photosynthetic rate of plant increased due to the application of Blue Green Algae at both temperature levels and algal inoculation favored the photosynthetic rate at all the stages of crop growth.

3 illus, 1 table, 5 ref

016351   Vadlamani S K;Basuri C K;Yalapragada P R (Zoology Dep, Maharajah's Autonomous College, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh) : Carotenoid accumulation againts cadmium toxicity in fry of Labeo rohita and Cyprinus carpio. Int J Fish aqua Stud 2017, 5(4), 54-8.

Although many papers dealing with the cadmium toxicity in aquatic organisms, the expression of oxidative stress induced by heavy metals is still due in most common freshwater fishes. The present study deals with the toxicity of cadmium in fry of Labeo rohita and Cyprinus carpio. Preliminary toxicity tests results the sub-lethal concentration of cadmium for Labeo rohita and Cyprinus carpio were observed as 0.1998 ppm and 4.938 ppm respectively. It was noteworthy that 96h exposed fish fry recorded highest value of carotenoids such as - 349 - 1.259±0.208mg/100 mg body weight and 1.291±0.079 mg body weight in Labeo rohita and Cyprinus carpio respectively. The percent increase in exposed fry against to control was observed high at 10th day (61.65%) in Labeo rohita while in Cyprinus carpio, 32.29% at 24h.

2 illus, 1 table, 32 ref

016350   Usman B I;Amin S M N;Arshad A;Kamarudin M S (Aquaculture Dep, Faculty of Agriculture, Putra Malaysia Univ, UPM Serdang-43400, Selangor, Malaysia, Email: sm_nurul@upm.edu.my) : Morphometric relations in the grey eel catfish Plotosus canius in the coastal waters of port dickson, peninsular Malaysia. J envir Biol 2016, 37(4), 573-8.

Samples of grey eel catfish Plotosus canius were collected from the coastal waters of Port Dickson, Malaysia from January to December, 2012. A total of 341 specimens (172 males and 169 females) were used to estimate the length-weight relationship parameters. Mean population size of females were 0.72 cm taller than the males, however difference was not significant (t-test, P > 0.05). The overall relationship equations between total length (TL) and body weight (BW) were established for males as Log TW = 2.71 Log TL - 1.85 (R² = 0.95) and for females as Log TW = 2.88 Log TL - 2.10 (R² = 0.95). The estimated relative growth co-efficient (b) values were 2.71 for males and 2.88 for females. It is revealed that growth pattern of the species showed negative allometry. In both males and females, relationship between TL and SL gave highest regression coefficient (0.99). While relationship between TL and EL gave lowest regression coefficient in both males and females (0.87 and 0.81 respectively). The findings from this study contributed first information on morphometric relations of the fish from Malaysian coastal waters and could be useful for sustainable management options of P. canius in Malaysia.

3 illus, 4 tables, 24 ref

016349   Ugamoorthi R;Kiruthika S D;Nanthagopal V; Ramarethinam S (NO, Independent Researcher, Tamil Nadu, Email: ugamoorthi@livemail.com) : Influence of dye concentration on various properties of RIB fabric. Pestology 2016, 40(4), 24-33.

In the current scenario, controlling the properties of same (knitted) fabric dyed with different colours is a major issue. It is understood that individual colour and the processing parameters affects the fabric properties. Therefore, various properties of six different colour dyed knitted fabrics were examined to determine the effect of dye concentration. 1*1 rib knitted fabric has been dye with 3 dark colours namely dark navy blue, dark blue & dark red and 3 light colours namely yellow, - 348 - light blue & orange. Pre treatment, dyeing and after treatment process were same for all the colours. Only the salt and soda concentration were varied based on the dye concentration (as recommended for the particular dye %). Finally the fabric is finished with the softner and tested for various properties. Physical properties like fabric weight, Stitch length, Course per inch, Wales per inch, Tightness factor, bursting strength and spectral variables (L*,a*,b*,C*, h° & CV SUM); Dimensional properties like- dimensional stability and Spirality; Colour fastness properties like colour fastness to laundering, water, perspiration, non- chlorine bleach, Saliva, light and crocking were analysed. From the obtained results, it is clear that, when all the process parameters and auxiliaries were kept constant, the physical, dimensional and colourfastness properties of the cotton knitted fabric is affected based on the dye concentration percentage, amount of salt and soda used for dyeing, in addition to the anisotropic swelling behaviour of the cotton fibers.

4 illus, 12 tables, 25 ref

016348   Thoithoi Devi M;Singh V K (Agronomy Dep, G.B. Pant Univ of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar-263 145, Email: thoiagri@gmail.com) : Growth, development and yield as affected by planting patgtern and weed management in field pea and baby corn intercropping system. Legume Res 2017, 40(1), 105-16.

A field experiment was conducted during two consecutive seasons of rabi 2011-13 at Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar to find out the effect of planting pattern and weed management practices on growth, development and yield of field pea and baby corn in field pea (Pant P-13) + baby corn (Surya) intercropping system. The experiment was laid out in split plot design keeping four planting patterns as main plot and four weed management practices as sub plot with three replications. Most of the growth parameters viz. number of branches per plant, dry matter accumulation (g/plant), crop growth rate and relative growth rate of field pea were comparatively higher under sole planting of field pea as compared to intercropping systems. Sole planting of field pea recorded significantly higher grain (2264 and 1434 kg ha^-1) and straw yields (3263 and 2540 kg ha^-1) during 2011-12 and 2012-2013 than yield obtained as a component crop in paired planting of maize (30/60 cm) + field pea (2:2) and planting of maize + field pea (1:1). Baby corn yield was similar in sole, paired (2:2) and 1:1 planting but significantly higher stover yield of baby corn (3576 kg ha^-1 and 3533 kg ha^-1, during 2011-12 and 2012-2013 respectively) was obtained from sole crop than other planting methods during both the years. Hand weeding at 30 days after sowing, pre emergence application of pendimethalin 1 kg ha^-1 and post emergence application of imazethapyr 50 g ha^-1 30 days after sowing improved all the growth and yield parameters of field pea and baby corn than weedy check.

5 illus, 8 tables, 30 ref

016347   Thirumalaikumar R;Kalpana R (Pulses Dep, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univ, Coimbatore-641 003, Email: thiruhid@gmail.com) : Efficacy of flumioxazine 50% SC for weed control in soybean. Legume Res 2017, 40(1), 200-2.

The experimental research was conducted to study efficacy of flumioxazine 50% SC at various dosage for weed control in soybean over Pendimethalin 30% EC, Oxyflourfen 23.5 % EC and - 347 - Chlorimuron Ethyl 25% WP. Weed control efficiency, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, grain yield, haulm yield, harvest index, net return and BC ratio were evaluated. The results revealed that pre-emergence application of flumioxazine at 250 g/ha recorded higher weed control efficiency at all stages of crop growth followed by pre-emergence application of flumioxazine at 150 g/ ha. Pre-emergence application of flumioxazine at 112.5 g/ ha recorded increased yield and economic returns in soybean. Pre-emergence application of flumioxazine at 112.5 g/ ha can reduce the weed growth below the economic threshold level and increase the yield and net return and hence it provides an option to farmers to manage weeds effectively along with improved growth leading to higher productivity of soybean.

2 tables, 8 ref

016346   Tarun Kumar;Samaiya R K;Singh Y;Meena K C; Dwivedi S K (Plant Physiology Dep, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Email: yogendrasinghbt@gmail.com) : Studies of effect of foliar application of plant growth retardants on physiological growth determinants and biochemical estimation of soybean (Glycine max (L.) merrill) quality. Life Sci Bull 2016, 13(2), 135-9.

The experiments were conducted at the Research Farm of Dusty Acre, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur during kharif 2013. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The experiment consisted of 7 treatments comprised to different concentration of plant growth retardants viz., Paclobutrazol (40 SC 60 ml, 75 ml, 90 ml and 23 SC 105.6 ml, 132 ml) and Chlormequat chloride (50% SL 500 ml). Observation on various physiological growth determinants and biochemical estimation of soybean were recorded. The leaf area index significantly increased up to 75 DAS and decline steadily towards maturity. The LAI and LAD were found to be maximum in Chlormequat chloride and were recorded to be lower in paclobutrazol. CGR and RGR were significantly influenced by the application of Chlormequat chloride. The minimum CGR and RGR were noted under treatment Paclobutrazol (40 SC @75 ml/ha). The highest protein content (%) was obtained in Chlormequat Chloride 50% SL 508 ml/ha (35.22), while, the lowest protein content (%) was estimated in control (34.37). The maximum oil (%) was noted in Chlormequat Chloride 50% SL 500 ml/ha (16.02) and control (14.40) had the lowest value as compared to all others. Significantly maximum seed oil yield was exhibited by Paclobutrazol (40SC @75 ml/ha) (1.16) while, minimum Seed oil yield was observed in control (0.87).

7 tables, 15 ref

016345   Tabassum S;Hossen M A;Yousuf F;Elahi N; Hossain M Y;Pramanik M N U;Nawer F;Yahya K;Bahkali A H;Elgorban A M (Zoology Dep, Federal Urdu Univ of Arts, Science and Technology, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus, Karachi 75300, Pakistan, Email: yeamin.fish@ru.ac.bd) : Temporal variations of condition and prey-predator status for two halfbeaks (Hemiramphus archipelagicus and H. lutkei) in the Karachi coast of Pakistan through multi-model inference. Indian J Geomar Sci 2017, 46(3), 562-8.

The study focuses on the temporal variations of condition through multiple functions (allometric, K_A; Fulton's, K_F; relative, K_R) and prey-predator status through relative weight (W_R) for two halfbeaks, Hemiramphus archipelagicus (Collette & Parin, 1978) and Hemiramphus lutkei (Valenciennes, 1847) using the monthly samples from the Karachi Coast of Pakistan during January to December 2014. The smallest individual was 14.0 cm in TL for both species, but the largest individuals were 23.5 in TL for H. archipelagicus and 27.8 cm in TL for H. lutkei. The BW ranged from 8.0-27.4 g for H. archipelagicus and 7.0-37.4 g for H. - 346 - lutkei. There was significant differences in length-frequency distributions (LFDs) between two species (p<60>0.001). The K_F was highly correlated with TL for both species (Spearman rank test, p<60>0.001). Therefore, it is suggested that K_F is the best condition factor for assessing the wellbeing of this two Halfbeaks in the Karachi Coast of Pakistan. There was no significant relationships between TL vs. K_A (r_s=-0.0264, P=0.056 for H. archipelagicus and r_s=-0.0883, P=0.855), TL vs. K_R (r_s=-0.0108, P=0.813 for H. archipelagicus and r_s= 0.0235, P=0.608) and TL vs. W_R (r_s=-0.0099, P=0.828 for H. archipelagicus and r_s=0.0235, P=0.608 for H. lutkei), but significant relationships were found in TL vs. K_F, BW vs. K_A,BW vs. K_F, BW vs. K_R and BW vs. W_R (p<60>0.001) for both species. In addition, the W_R was not significantly different from 100 (Wilcoxon signed rank test, P=0.654 for H. archipelagicus and P=0.405 for H. lutkei) for both Halfbeaks in the Karachi Coast of Pakistan, indicating the habitat is still in balance condition with the good combination of prey and predators.

12 illus, 6 tables, 30 ref

016344   Subahm S;Derminder S;Sanjeev C (School of Electrical Engineering and Technology, Punjab Agricultural Univ, Ludhiana-141 004, Email: subah.coaeseeit@pau.edu) : Interactive computer vision system for tree ring analysis. Curr Sci 2017, 112(6), 1262-5.

Tree rings (growthing) analysis provides useful information about the age of a tree and the past climatic conditions. Analysis of tree rings manually is a herculean task and requires a domain area expert. The present work proposes a soft technique to analyse tree rings. Effective canny edge detection approach was utilized to process high-quality digital images of tree rings. The developed program successfully performs interactive tree-ring image analysis with MATLAB Image Processing Toolbox. It generates information about the width of earlywood and latewood of the growth ring. The information generated may be further utilized by domain area expert to deduce the age of a tree. The development of such a system will ease the human analysis efforts.

2 illus, 1 table, 15 ref

016343   Srivastava A K;Chaturvedi S K;Singh N P (NO, ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur-208 024, Email: bhu.avinash@gmail.com) : Genetic base of Indian chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) varieties revealed by pedigree analysis. Legume Res 2017, 40(1), 22-6.

In the study an attempt has been made to determine the genetic base of 138 Indian - 345 - chickpea varieties through pedigree analysis. The genetic base of 138 varieties can be traced to 160 ancestors utilised to bring genes in development of varieties. Among these, 118 ancestors were used only once or twice. The most frequently used parent included Rabat (37), Pb 7 (36), IP 58 (32), C 1234 (32) and S 26 (27). Rabat and Pb7 are present in the pedigree of more than 26% of varieties followed by C 1234 (23.29%), IP 58 (23.29%) and S 26 (19.57%). Most of the frequently used parents have been used indirectly in the crossing programme. Only 28 parents could represent 50% of total genetic base of chickpea varieties developed in the country. Although conscious efforts have been made to include diverse parents in the chickpea breeding leading to broad genetic base of the varieties yet a huge arsenal of germplasm lines remains unutilised or not resulted in varieties. There is a need to utilise the germplasm resources as well as modern techniques of breeding to incorporate multiple biotic and abiotic stress resistance for yield improvement and stabilization as well as improvement in market driven traits like extra-large seed sized kabuli lines. The present article describes the results of pedigree analyses to determine the genetic base of the released cultivars, reasons for narrow genetic base and possible approaches and strategies for its widening in chickpea.

3 tables, 25 ref

016342   Sreekanth G B;Manju Lekshmi N;Singh N P; Chakraborty S K;Reddy V (NO, ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Old Goa, Goa-403 402, Email: gbsree@gmail.com) : Evaluation of economic performance of small scale fisheries in a tropical coastal ecosystem in southwest coast of India.. Indian J Geomar Sci 2017, 46(3), 485-92.

Techno-economic data were collected from a representative sample of fishermen of covering both these fleets from Zuari estuary during 2014. Using this data, a group of economic indicators was determined separately for GN and AS fleets. The comparison of these indicators showed that both GN and AS fleets contributed significantly to the socio-economics of the fisherfolk in Zuari. Both the fleets were found to be economically profitable though GN showed comparatively higher profitability. After validating the results obtained from this study, it can be used as an input for constructing an ecosystem model for the estuary.

1 illus, 4 tables, 30 ref

016341   Som R S C;Pillai P;Lekshmi S;Radhakrishnan C K (Marine Biology Dep, Micobiology and Biochemistry, Cochin Univ of Science and Technology, Kochi-682 016, Email: chitramarine@gmail.com) : Anticancer effect of polyunsaturated fatty acid extracts from sardine fishes on human cancer cell lines. Indian J Geomar Sci 2017, 46(2), 290-4.

Cytotoxic activity of polyunsaturated fatty acid extracts from two species of fishes, Sardinella longiceps and Sardinella fimbriata, were examined and compared. Cell lines of MCF-7 (breast cancer) and DU-145 (prostate cancer) were used to analyze the cytotoxicity of the PUFA extracts. Both cell lines were subjected to MTT Assay with extracts at working concentrations of 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000 μg/ml. Both extracts showed significant cytotoxic effects against both cell lines and a peak cytotoxicity of 85-90% was apparent. IC-50 values were calculated from the graphs and it was found that S. longiceps extracts had a slightly lower IC-50 value indicating that it is more potent even at a lower concentration as compared to extracts from S. fimbriata.

2 illus, 3 tables, 31 ref

016340   Sivakumar R;Nandhitha G K (Crop Physiology Dep, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Univ, Coimbatore-641 003, Email: sivatnau5@gmail.com) : Impact of PGRS and nutrients pre-soaking on seed germination and seedling characters of mung bean under salt stress. Legume Res 2017, 40(1), 125-31.

An experiment was conducted to study the impact of seed soaking with plant growth regulators (gibberellic acid, indole acetic acid, kinetin, salicylic acid and ascorbic acid) and nutrients (potassium chloride and calcium chloride) on mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) variety Co (Gg) 8 under salt stress condition. The seed and seedling growth under normal and saline (150 mM NaCl) conditions were studied to determine their usefulness in increasing relative salt tolerance by using PGRs and nutrients. Under salt stress, seedling characters were significantly affected compared to normal condition. Seed treatments with gibberellic acid (1mM), salicylic acid (2 mM), ascorbic acid (50 ppm) and kinetin (50 ppm) drastically increased the - 344 - morphological and biochemical parameters of seedling under saline conditions. All pre-soaking seed treatments increased the germination percentage, shoot and root length, vigour index and stress tolerance index over control. Among the treatments, gibberellic acid, salicylic acid and ascorbic acid showed their supremacy compared to other treatments. Na+ / K+ ratio was decreased by gibberellic acid, CaCl₂ (0.5%) and KCl (1%) treatments. It is concluded that treatments with hormones and nutrients have reduced the severity of the salinity effect and the amelioration was observed in all the treatments compare to control. Gibberellic acid and salicylic acid and ascorbic acid showed best results on seedling growth and biochemical characters whereas seed soaking with gibberellic acid, CaCl₂ (0.5%) and KCl (1%) were showed its effect on decreased Na+ / K+ ratio under present experimental material and saline conditions.

3 illus, 2 tables, 54 ref

016339   Sharma S K;Singh V P;Chouhan N;Sikarwar R (Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry Dep, RVSKVV, College of Agriculture, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Email: narendragujar17@gmail.com) : Response of rainfed soybean to application of micronutrients in vertisols. Life Sci Bull 2016, 13(2), 121-4.

A field experiment under rainfed conditions was laid to evaluate the response of Zn, Fe, Mo and B application and also to compare the method of application of micronutrients i.e., soil and foliar application in soybean grown in Vertisols. The experiment was conducted at the research farm of College of Agriculture, Indore. The micronutrient application when applied with RDF gave the higher seed yield (2471 kg/ha^-1), net return (30040 Rs/ha.) and B: C ratio (4.16) as compared to RDF (2034 kg/ha^-1) without micronutrient application, FYM, 101 ha^-1 (1973 kg/ha^-1), Farmers practice (1831 kg/ha^-1) and control (1731 kg/ha^-1) treatments. When we compared the method of micronutrient application, soil application of micro nutrient gave higher seed yield than foliar application of micronutrient Soil and folior application of Mo along with soil application of recommended dose of NPKS enhanced chlorophylls content and nutrient uptake in soybean. In general, the application of micronutriments enhanced uptake of N, P, K, S, Zn, Fe, Mo and B in soybean when grown in Vertisols. Soil application of micronutrient was found more economical than foliar application of micro nutrient.

1 illus, 3 tables, 23 ref

016338   Sharma P;Sardana V (Plant Breeding and Genetics Dep, Punjab Agricultural Univ, Ludhiana-141 004, Email: pushp20@yahoo.com) : Evaluating morpho-physiological and quality traits to compliment seed yield under changing climatic conditions in Brassicas. J envir Biol 2016, 37(4), 493-502.

Study was conducted under irrigated conditions to test the performance of improved cultivars of Indian mustard (B. juncea), Gobhi sarson (B. napus) and African sarson (B. carinata) under changing climatic conditions. The effect of cultivar, environment and their interactions were significant in mustard and - 343 - canola gobhi sarson. Environment had significant impact on all the studied traits except for leaf area index (LAI). Cultivar x Year (G x Y) interaction was significant for flowering behavior, days to maturity, SPAD, photosynthetic active radiations (PAR), growth parameters, yield components and yield except photosynthesis photochemical efficiency, relative water content (RWC) and LAI. Cultivar RLC1 surpassed other B. juncea cultivars for yield and had low erucic acid ('0') while GSL1 (non canola), Hyola PAC401 (hybrid canola) and GSC6 (canola) of B. napus were superior in performance for seed yield and possessed low erucic and glucosinolate content ('00'). Higher seed yield was associated with more number of total siliquae/plant, seed weight, biomass, seeds/siliqua, SPAD and RWC. Correlation coefficient revealed high positive association for seed yield with days to maturity (0.639**), plant height (0.982**), secondary branches (0.826**), total siliquae/plant (0.913**), seed weight (0.761**) and biomass (0.891**).

3 illus, 5 tables, 34 ref

016337   Shahi N;Sarma D;Pandey J;Das P;Sarma D;Mallik S K (NO, ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research, Bhimtal-263 136, Email: sumanta1@rediffmail.com) : Impact of acid mine drainage on haematological, histopathological and genotoxic effects in golden mahaseer, Tor putitora. J envir Biol 2016, 37(4), 509-15.

The present study was carried out to evaluate sub-lethal mechanism of acid mine drainage toxicity in fingerlings (9.5 ± 2.4 cm) of golden mahseer, Tor putitora. Exposed fingerlings showed significant reduction (P <60> 0.01) in blood erythrocytes, neutrophils, thrombocytes, lymphocytes and leukocytes in contrast to increase in number of immature circulating cells. Hyperplasia, degeneration of glomeruli, presence of inflammatory cells and increased number of melanomacrophage aggregates, vacuolization of cell cytoplasm, hepatocyte swelling were marked in kidney and liver of fish. Ladder in, an increment of 180-200 bp of hepatic and kidney DNA, by electrophoresis were consistent with DNA damage. 10 day exposure to acid mine drainage resulted in reduction of double stranded DNA to 46.0 and 48.0 in hepatocytes and kidney cells respectively. Significant increase (P <60> 0.01) in tail length and percent tail DNA was evident by comet assay. The results suggest that exposure to acid mine drainage might cause irreversible damage to immune cells, tissue and DNA of fish, and this model of DNA damage may contribute in identifying novel molecular mechanism of interest for bioremediation application.

4 illus, 2 tables, 24 ref

016336   Sen M;De D K (Plant Breeding and Genetics Dep, BCKV, Mohanpur-741 252, Email: sen.madhuparni@gmail.com) : Genetic divergence in mung bean. Legume Res 2017, 40(1), 16-21.

The study was undertaken to provide information on the nature and magnitude of genetic diversity among 30 mung bean genotypes for yield traits by using Mahalanobis's D2 statistics. Thirty genotypes could be grouped in 6 clusters, cluster VI showed maximum intra-cluster distance while the highest inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster III and VI. Cluster II recorded highest means for seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, seed yield per plant and shelling %. The percent contribution towards genetic diversity was highest for shelling percentage (17.70) followed by seed yield per plant (16.55) and number of clusters per plant (14.71). From the divergence analysis, it may be concluded that the genotypes belonging to different clusters separated by high estimated statistical distance may be used in the hybridization programme for developing high yielding mung bean varieties. Five genotypes viz., PDM-11, TARM-2, TM-98-50, PDM 54 and Basanti could be identified as most useful in the future breeding programme.

2 illus, 4 tables, 13 ref

016335   Sekhar L;Khadi B M;Patil R S;Katageri I S; Mukri G (Genetics and Plant Breeding Dep, Agricultural Sciences Univ, Dharwad-580 005, Email: sekhargpb@gmail.com) : Biochemical and molecular dissection of thermo-sensitive genetic male sterility in diploid cotton (Gossypium arboreum L.). J envir Biol 2016, 37(4), 579-83.

Diploid cotton, due to its inherent problem of stamen brittleness, its found unsuitable for traditional method of hybrid seed production which involves hand emasculation followed by pollination. Due to shortfall in other methods viz., Genetic Male Sterility (GMS), as well as, Cytoplasmic Genetic Male Sterility (CGMS), hybrid seed production in diploid cotton becomes costly and thereby, covers less area among the total cotton grown area. Thermo-sensitive genetic male sterility, which overcomes the drawbacks of both GMS and CGMS can be an effective tool in coming years for hybrid cotton research. Understanding fertility and sterility variations, their relation with biochemical changes in plant is important before its application in plant breeding. Hence, the available TGMS line, Ga TGMS-3 obtained at Cotton Research Centre, UAS, Dharwad was studied for callase activity and markers associated with TGMS. The line Ga TGMS-3 had fertile anthers and showed less callase enzyme activity at pre-meiosis stage, high enzyme activity at tetrad releasing microspore stage and no callase activity during other stages. The counterpart TGMS sterile anthers displayed little higher callase activity at pre-meiosis stage, high activity at tetrad stage, but poor activity at tetrad releasing microspore stage. During tetrad stage, TGMS sterile anthers showed high callase enzyme activity giving every chance for early release of poorly developed microspores as compared to fertile anthers. At tetrad releasing microspores stage during which fertile anthers had strong callase enzyme activity led to microspores being released normally and developed normal pollen grains as compared to sterile anthers. The present investigation revealed that NAU2176, NAU2096 and BNL1227 primers can be used as tightly linked markers for TGMS trait, as evident from their differential expression in fertile and sterile anthers.

3 illus, 3 tables, 19 ref

016334   Satish N;Rajesh D P;Anjanayppa H N;Benakappa S;Somashekara S R;Naveen Kumar B T;Prakash D P (Fisheries Resources and Management Dep, Karnataka Vet., Ani. and Fisheries Sci. Uni., Mangalore, Karnataka, Email: d.prajesh@yahoo.com) : Spawning frequencies and breeding seasons of Paraplagusia bilineata from Mangalore coast. Life Sci Bull 2016, 13(2), 211-15.

Maturation studies carried out on Paraplagusia bilineata samples collected from commercial landings from November, 2006 to June, 2007 showed the dominance of female with male to female ratio of 1:1.78. The Gonado Somatic Index values ranged between 0.2014-03416 in male and in case of female, it fluctuated between 0.4997-2.8641. The fecundity ranged from 54,356-2,96,996 eggs with an average of 1,42,053 eggs. Analysis of size at first maturity of Paraplagusia bilineata, using cumulative frequency method showed that female attained first maturity at 173 mm (TL) while the male at 156 mm (TL). The logarithm relationship between fecundity, total length, body weight and ovary weight were also calculated.

4 illus, 2 tables, 14 ref

016333   Satish N;Rajesh D P;Anjanayappa H N;Benakappa S;Somashekara S R;Naveen Kumar B T;Prakash D P (Fisheries Resources and Management Dep, Karnataka Vet., Ani. and Fisheries Sci. Univ. Mangalore, Karnataka, Email: d.prajesh@yahoo.com) : Food and feeding habits of Paraplagusia bilineata from Mangalore coast. Life Sci Bull 2016, 13(2), 173-5.

The study deals with nature and composition of food items, feeding habits, intensity of feeding of Paraplagusia bilineata from Mangalore region. The gut contents comprised of Molluscs 7.51%, Polychaetes 11.521%, Crustaceans 10%, Diatoms 4.67%, Fish scales 6.69%, Plant material 5.28%, Unidentified 7.88% and Semidigested 46.43%. The present study indicates that Paraplagusia bilineata is a - 341 - carnivorous feeder. The active feeding during ail the months except during January and February in female and February, March and April in male.

2 tables, 10 ref

016332   Sankanal A R;Kalmath B (NO, College of Bheemarayanagudi, Yadgiri, Shahapur-585 287, Email: bskalmath@gmail.com) : Investigation on feeding inhibition properties of homogenized bacillus thuringiensis delta endotoxins againts Plutella xylostella in laboratory. J appl Zool Res 2017, 28(1), 101-9.

Authors attempted to find out the feeding inhibition of downsized Bacillus thuringiensis against Plutella xylostella (L). High pressure homogenizer was used to downsize the B. thuringiensis delta endotoxin. Different binders viz., starch, chitosan, corn flour + citric acid, gum arabica were used with delta endotoxin of B. thuringiensis to maintain the stability of protein complex and were bio-assayed against P. xylostella and in order to check the efficacy of downsized B. thuringiensis. Feeding inhibition study was conducted against P. xylostella by recording leaf area consumption at different intervals. Leaf area consumption studied with homogenised B. thuringiensis revealed that lowest leaf area consumption was registered in B. thuringiensis + 5% starch combination with 1.10 cm², whereas the highest leaf area consumption was registered by B. thuringiensis alone with 1.63 cm².

7 table, 13 ref

016331   Sankanal A;Kalmath B (NO, College of Bheemarayanagudi, Yadgiri-585 287, Shahapur, Email: bskalmath@gmail.com) : Leaf feeding bioassay of spray dried bacillus thuringiensis againts Plutella xylostella in laboratory. J appl Zool Res 2017, 28(1), 111-18.

The major disadvantages with Bacillus thuringiensis are its persistence in filed condition. To improve the bioefficacy of Bacillus thuringiensis, endotoxins were downsized by spray drier method with different adjuvants viz., starch, chitosan, corn flour + citric acid, gum arabica and leaf feeding bioassay was done against P. xylostella in the laboratory. Normal B. thuringiensis endotoxins recorded lowest leaf area consumption of 0.9 cm² (5000 ppm) 48 h after the treatment. Whereas leaf area consumption was lowest with 1.78 cm² in spray dried B. thuringiensis endotoxins without any adjuvants, indicated the reduction in the efficacy. Among the different adjuvants used, B. thuringiensis + 5 per cent chitosan combination recorded lowest area consumption with 1.34 cm². The study concluded that chitosan could be used a best adjuvant for spray drying B. thuringiensis endotoxins.

7 table, 8 ref

016330   Salvi S P;Sawant B N;Mule R S (Regional Fruit Research Station, , Vengurle Dist. Sindhuurg-416 516, Email: salvisidhesh@rediffmail.com) : Awareness of recommended crop protection practices in cashew growing areas of South West coast of Maharashtra. Pestology 2016, 40(5), 61-3.

Maharashtra state is nowadays known as the economic power of the country. State government had launched an ambitious horticulture development programme linked to EGS and NHM. With the inception of Horticultural Development Scheme so the farmer's tendency is being changed. Area under cashew is increasing but the production is not increasing at faster rate. Non adoption of crop protection practices by majority of farmers might be one of the reasons for this. Hence present study was conducted at RFRS, Vengurle to analyze the adoption of recommended package of practices approved by Dr. B.S.K.K.V., Dapoli for cashew growers. The data regarding awareness level of recommended crop protection practices for cashew crop revealed that majority of the respondents for the year 2013-14 and 2014-15 were 'high' with 53.33 and 69.17 per cent, respectively. However, the adoption level of recommended crop protection practices for the year 2013-14 and 2014-15 revealed that, the 'high' adaptation with 48.33 and 64.17 per cent, respectively. The large majority of the respondents had high to medium adoption of recommendations pertaining to crop protection practices in cashew production and quite a considerable number of respondents had not undertaken any control measures against pests and diseases of cashew. Only supplying the inputs may not solve the problems of non-adoption of plant protection practices. Educating the farmers is the prime importance rather than providing them inputs. Training-cum-demonstration activities by the Agril. University with the help of State Agriculture Department to elevate the awareness level of cashew - 340 - growers about recommended crop protection practices. These activities would lead in increasing both the rate of awareness and adoption level of recommended crop protection practices in cashew.

2 tables, 2 ref

016329   Salvi S P;Mule R S;Gawankar M S (NO, Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle Dist. Sindhudurg (MS)-416 516, Email: salvisidhesh@rediffmail.com) : Estimation on trend on hyield of cashew nut influence with weather parameters under South Konkan region of Maharashtra. Pestology 2016, 40(4), 40-4.

Maharashtra state is nowadays known as the economic power of the country. Climate change makes agriculture more difficult to sustain with higher frequencies of changing temperature, erratic rainfall, increased salinity as well as a rise in sea level. These phenomena have direct impact on crop yield and quality of produce also. The various weather parameters effect on cashew nut yield. So far few studies were conducted in this direction and none of them indicated that critical periods of nut development during which weather factors play a critical role. A survey was conducted under South konkan region of Maharashtra for the year 2006-07 to 2014-15 with an objective to find out the relationship between the total yield of cashew nut influenced by various weather parameters viz., temperature, relative humidity, rainfall received and number of rainy days. The present study on weather parameters indicated that the rainy days in preceding rainy season proved the immediate determinant of yield in cashew production. The rainy days during May are considerably low and moderately high during June. This situation provides a scope of studies to the role of irrigation to cashew orchard during this particular period by modern methods such as drip irrigation.

1 illus, 6 tables, 12 ref

016328   Salvi S P;Gajbhiye R C;Salvi V G;Zote V K; Pawar S N (NO, Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle Dist. Sindhudurg-416 516) : Performance of cashew cv. vengurla-4 under organic management in south coastal conditions of Konkan. Pestology 2016, 40(6), 40-5.

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle during the year 2012-2015 to study the nutrient management in cashew orchard through organic and inorganic manures. There were eight treatment combinations of different sources. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The analysis of four years pooled data revealed that, the treatment T₈ receiving recommended dose of fertilizer + 10 kg FYM recorded significantly superior nut yield (4.83 kg/tree) as compared to all other treatments. The apple weights as well as shelling percentage were also improved due to T₈ treatment but showed non-significant results. As far as the chemical analysis of soil was concerned, the significantly highest soil pH was observed due to T₈ treatment. However, T₄ treatment receiving 100 per cent N through vermicompost + biofertilizer showed significantly highest available nitrogen content but it was at par with the T₈ treatment consisting recommended dose of NPK fertilizers + 10 kg FYM application, indicating that the both treatments were equally effective in improving the content of available nitrogen in soil. On the basis of results obtained during present investigation, it was observed that the integrated use of organic manures, chemical fertilizers and biofertilizers is essential for improving soil health thereby enhancing yield of cashew in lateritic soil for South Coastal - 339 - conditions of Konkan.

3 tables, 19 ref

016327   Sajjan A S;Dhanelappagol M S;Jolli R B (NO, Regional Agricultural Research Station, UAS Campus, PB No 18, Vijayapur-586 101, Email: assajjan@gmail.com) : Seed quality enhancement through seed priming in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]. Legume Res 2017, 40(1), 173-7.

Experiment was conducted in the Seed Testing Laboratory during 2013 and 2014 at RARS, UAS Campus, Vijayapur, Karnataka State. The seeds were primed by soaking in different leaf extracts and chemical solution for one hour and then decanted the extracts and seeds were air dried under the shade to bring back to their original moisture content and used for seed quality studies. Seed germination was significantly influenced by age of the seeds and its interaction with botanicals and chemicals. Among the treatments, botanicals viz., Prosopis leaf extracts @ 2per cent recorded higher seed germination followed by Pongamia leaf extract @ 2per cent. Whereas, in chemicals higher germination was seen in KNO₃ @ 0.5 per cent but at par with CaCl₂.2H₂O @ 2 per cent. Lower seed germination was obtained with water soaked and control. The present investigation indicate that, seed priming with 2.0 per cent Prosopis leaf extract for one hours soaking enhanced the seed and seedling quality characters, and hence it could be adopted as a pre-sowing seed priming treatment in pigeon pea.

4 tables, 14 ref

016326   Sajeevan M K;Kurup B M (School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin Univ of Science and Technology, Kochi-682 016, Email: sajeevanfsi@gmail.com) : Live collection of cobia Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus, 1766), and assessment of its culture prospects in indian water. Indian J Geomar Sci 2017, 46(2), 295-8.

An attempt has been made to collect cobia seeds onboard trawler attached to the Fishery Survey of India. Gene banking techniques of - 338 - cobia has been elucidated and survival rate of juveniles in the culture system was estimated as 86.1%. Present study estimated the stock of juvenile cobia and facilities available in India for the development of cobia culture. India possesses 0.219 million sq.km of sea area in her Exclusive Economic Zone, which is suitable for setting up of marine cage culture farms for cobia.

1 table, 22 ref

016325   Sahoo G;Sahoo B K (Entomology Dep, Orissa Univ of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar-751 003, Email: gayatreesahoo777@gmail.com) : Toxicity of certain inorganic inhert materials againts rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae Linn.(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in milled rice grains. J appl Zool Res 2017, 28(1), 95-9.

A study was carried out to find out the repellency action of certain inorganic inert materials against rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae L. in milled rice during 2015-16 in the Dept of Entomology, OUAT, Bhubaneswar. Seven different inorganic inert materials were taken at three different doses i.e 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.15% and was reported that the average mortality rate of S. oryzae at 24, 48 and 72 HAT indicated highest toxic effect of 75.19 per cent mortality with diatomaceous earth followed by 69.27 per cent mortality in camphor. The lowest mortality rate of 12.22 per cent and 3.32 per cent were observed with ash and sand respectively. The probit analysis revealed that the LC₅₀ value of camphor was lowest with 0.03% and 0.01% at 24 and 72 HAT, respectively. The diatomaceous earth treatment caused the LC₅₀ value of 0.04%, 0.01% and 0.03% at 24, 48 and 72 HAT, respectively. Boric acid treatment also showed the lowest LC₅₀ value 0.01% at 72 HAT which is same as that of the LC₅₀ value of camphor treatment. However the sand treatment indicated highest LC₅₀ value of 1.91%, 1.02% and 1.15% at 24, 48 and 72 HAT, respectively. The result concluded that the diatomaceous earth, camphor and boric acid treatments were relatively more toxic than other inorganic inert materials against S. oryzae.

3 illus, 2 table, 15 ref

016324   Sahoo B K;Sahoo G (Entomology Dep, College of Agriculture, O.U.A.T. Bhubaneswar-751 003, Email: bkshoo12@yahoo.com) : Bioefficacy of bifenthrin 8SC againts MITE, Tetranychus Sp.in Okra. J appl Zool Res 2017, 28(1), 73-6.

Field studies were conducted during Rabi-12-13 and Kharif-13 at the Central Research Station, OUAT, Bhubaneswar to evaluate the bio-efficacy of Bifenthrin 8 SC at five doses (60, 80, 100, 120 and 140g a.i./ha) along with standard checks, cypermethrin 10 EC and dicofol 18.5 EC at 70 and 500g a.i./ha respectively, against mites in okra. Among the treatments significantly minimum number of 2.3- 5.1 mites per sq cm. were recorded in Bifenthrin 8SC @ 100, 120 and 140 g a.i./ha during Rabi-12-13 and 3.3-5.8 mites per sq cm. during Kharif-13 which were at par with each other. The highest fruit yield was recorded in the treatments of Bifenthrin 8 SC @ 100, 120 and 140 g a.i/ ha during both Rabi-12-13 (85.53-90.67 q/ha) and Kharif-13 (97.9-105.33 q/ha) which were at par with each other and superior to other treatments.

2 table, 5 ref

016323   Sahoo B K;Sahoo G (Entomology Dep, College of Agriculture, O.U.A.T. Bhubaneswar-751 003, Email: bkshoo12@gmail.com) : Bio-efficacy of ememectin benzoate (5%SG) againts POD borers in redgram. J appl Zool Res 2017, 28(1), 69-72.

Field studies were conducted during Rabi 2011-2012 at the Central Research Station, OUAT, Bhubaneswar to evaluate the bio-efficacy of emamectin benzoate 5% SG against pod borers in redgram. The results revealed that the pod borer larval population(5.2/plant) & damage potential having pod damage of 13.5%, seed damage of 8.6% and seed loss of 4.6% by borers remained significantly low with the treatments of Emamectin benzoate 5%SG @ 260 gm/ha as compared to other treatments. The yield - 337 - recorded significantly high in the plots receiving Emamectin benzoate 5% SG @ 260 gm/ha as compared to other treatments with 848.0 kg/ha yield and 72.86% increase in yield over untreated check.

2 table, 7 ref

016322   Reddy Y S;Talukdar A;Dikshit H K;Singh V P; Rana M;Anju P (NO, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, Email: akshay.talukdar1@gmail.com) : Response of different yield components as selection criteria for yield and yield components in early generations of lentil (Lens culinaris L.). Legume Res 2017, 40(1), 160-4.

Selected forty F2 single plant progenies of a lentil cross viz., L-830 x MC-6 and bulked seeds were evaluated in a randomized block design with two replications for secondary branches per plant, pods per plant, seed yield per plant and seed index as independent selection criteria. Out of the four selection criterion, highest realized selection response in percentage was recorded for pods per plant (37.42 %), and was followed by secondary branches per plant (28.5 %). The realized correlated response to selection for seed yield per plant was significant under the selection criteria number of pods per plant. Thus the selection criteria pods per plant was more effective than other selection criterion.

4 tables, 15 ref

016321   Rawat R K;Raghuraman M;Mishra V K (Entomology and Agricultural Zoology Dep, Institue of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu Univ, Varanasi-221 005, Email: raghu_iari@yahoo.com) : Studies on the seasonal incidence of major sucking insect pests of okra crop agro-ecosystem in Varanasi region. J appl Zool Res 2017, 28(1), 77-83.

Field experiments were carried out to study the population dynamics of jassid, Amrasca biguttula bigutulla; whitefly, Bemisia tabaci; red spider mite, Tetranychus urticae in okra and its relation with different weather parameters during 2015 kharif season under unprotected conditions of Varanasi region. The population of jassid ranged from 1.70 to 11.12 /leaves, whitefly population ranged from 2.11 to 12.03/3 leaves. The mite population was considerably high and ranged from 5.03 to 22.05/leaf. Correlation studies revealed that the maximum temperature, maximum relative humidity and rainfall had an influence on their incidence and showed a significant and positive correlation with the jassid and whitefly populations, while the mite population exhibited a positive correlation with temperature, relative humidity and negative correlation with rainfall. The population of A. biguttula bigutulla, B. tabaci and, Tetranychus urticae (Koch) increased with maximum temperature and bright sunshine hours.

1 illus, 2 table, 25 ref