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Phosphorous (P) is an essential macronutrient and most soils contain high levels of P. However, its availability to plant is limited by rapid immobilization of phosphorous compounds to insoluble forms and hence plant available forms of P in soils are found in low amounts. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria provide an eco-friendly alternative to convert insoluble phosphates into plant available forms. In the present study, three phosphate solubilizing bacterial isolates (PB-1, PB-4 and VC-01) with visually significant phosphate solubilizing abilities were isolated from tomato rhizosphere soil. In-vitro study in pikovskaya’s agar revealed that isolate PB-1 had the highest phosphate solubilizing ability with a phosphate solubilizing index of 2.08±0.07 followed by isolate VC-01 (1.31±0.09) and PB-4 (1.24±0.08). Isolates were used as bacterial inoculum to assess their ability to promote tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum var. Srijana) seedling and plant growth in in-vitro and greenhouse experiment respectively. Isolate PB-4 showed best growth promotion in seedling assay whereas isolate PB-1 and VC-01 also promoted seedling growth compared to control. In greenhouse experiment however, isolates VC-01 and PB-1 significantly enhanced all parameters (shoot length, root length, shoot and root dry weight) compared to uninoculated control whereas isolate PB-4 had a positive effect on all parameters except root length.Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyVol. 13, No. 2, 2017, page: 61-70

Microbial isolates from plant associated habitats are being considered as valid alternatives to synthetic pesticides. The aim of the study was to select beneficial fungi belonging to Trichoderma genus, to be added as soil inoculants, in order to develop an innovative, economic and suitable alternative to synthetic fertilizers for growth promotion of plants. The isolated Trichoderma were characterized and identified by morphological and microscopic analysis. The antagonistic effects of these Trichoderma isolates were tested against three pathogenic fungi; Sclerotinia minor, Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium solani. Dual culture technique was employed and percentage of inhibition (I %) on mycelial growth of pathogenic fungi was calculated. Isolates BC and KB, showed the highest antagonistic effect against S. minor by 100%. Isolate DH and TH showed partial suppression of F. solani y 64.74% and 70.94% respectively. Isolates HA and Y restrain F. oxysporum by 85.12% and 85.90% respectively. Hence, BC, KB, DH, TH, HA, and Y could be a potential bio-control agent, BCA. In vitro and in vivogrowth promotion study was carried out by seed treatment method.Isolate EO revealed highest growth promotion activity in all parameters. In vitro studies of seedling assay indicated that isolate EO exhibited best effect on almost all the parameters; root length, shoot length, plant wet weight, plant dry weight, germination percentage and seedling vigour index in in vitro condition. However, greenhouse studies indicated that GS showed highest shoot length, TH promoted highest root length and HA showed maximum number of leaves. Significant difference was observed inroot length in greenhouse experiment and plant wet weight in seedling assay at p≤0.05. The results presented in this study further reinforce the concept of biological control and plant growth promotion by Trichoderma as an alternative disease control strategy.

In this article an attempt has been made to cover all the aspects of cut flower business including the present scenario, prospects and different factors which need to be improved in order to meet the expected standards. This report offers the information regarding the status of current market, area of production and demands of different cut flowers such as carnation, gerbera, gladiolus and rose in Nepalese market, which facilitates persons to make up their mind to figure out the floriculture business in Nepal. Cut flower business has flourished in Nepal compared to yesteryears, but the development is not sufficient to fulfill the demand of consumers. The production decreases during the winter season in comparison to summer season. This article also includes list of numbers of producers, their position in the market and the situation of consumer. The export and import data of few years has also been illustrated. It gives the brief information regarding annual production of these flowers, present price per stick and its demand in domestic and international market.

Micropropagation is an alternative technique to propagate at large scale plants to meet global plant demand. Various researchers have worked on the micropropagation technique to regenerate bamboo species by using nodal segments from years. Contamination, browning, necrosis, and acclimatization with physiological stress are the extreme problems of the micropropagation technique. But, many numbers of papers have been published on micropropagation of the bamboo species through nodal segments as explants. The proliferation of the bamboo shoots is dependent on the season of collection, size of explants, the position of explants, diversity of plants, concentration and combination of plant growth regulators, most adequate culture medium, environmental condition of the equipment, handling, and individual species. Bamboo is a monocarpic fast-growing, tall perennial grass and having the high potential to generate economic and social benefits. It helps to maintain land patterns and control soil erosion.  The long life cycle of the bamboo produces a huge amount of seeds but unfortunately, mostly, they are non-viable. So, bamboos are propagated from vegetative by cutting and air layering. However, these methods are only for a small scale and they also tend to destroy large mother plant stocks and difficult to be transported. So, the in vitro propagation technique is useful to obtain large progenies from desired genotypes. Mostly, BAP and TDZ growth hormones are widely used for shoot multiplication and IBA, NAA and IAA are used for root initiation as per developed protocols in tissue culture for large scale production. This review intends to explore an overview of the recent literature reports to summarize the importance of micropropagation by using nodal segments of bamboo species and factors influencing it.

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The most promising earthworm species used for vermicomposting is Eisenia foetida for their tolerance in wide range of moisture levels and temperatures. The earthworms (E. foetida) were grown in cow dung wastes and cow dung wastes supplemented with plant materials of banana pseudo-stem, leaf litter and sawdust respectively. The earthworm population, cocoon number, vermicompost amount, macronutrient contents (N, P, and K), microbial population, pH and electrical conductivity were examined to assess the effect of animal waste (cow dung) and plant material mix on multiplication, reproduction, yield and vermicompost qualities of E. foetida. The multiplication and reproduction were achieved highest in the mixture of cow dung and sawdust vermicompost and lowest in the mixture of cow dung and banana pseudo-stem vermicompost. But the amount of vermicompost was found to be highest in cow dung as sole source of feeding material as compared to the cow dung mixed with plant materials. High quality vermicompost containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and greater microbial population was produced from the mixture of cow dung and banana pseudostem vermicompost as compared to other mixtures. All these vermicomposts showed acceptable level of pH and electrical conductivity values.Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyVol. 13, No. 2, 2017, page: 15-25