After the Green Revolution, the increase in the choice of modern varieties at the expense of landraces has become a major cause of varietal loss. The preference, choice, and the economy of rice (Oryza sativa L.) largely depend on its physicochemical and cooking properties, which are found to be superior for landraces than modern varieties. In this study, we assessed and evaluated milled rice of 30 rice landraces on their physicochemical and cooking characteristics which aim to promote the revival of old landraces. Six parameters of physical properties, four parameters of chemical properties, and five parameters of cooking properties were evaluated based on the standard protocols. Significant variations (p<0.05) were found in all the properties that were evaluated. The result showed that the highest milling recovery was found in Indrabeli (75.55%) whereas the lowest was found in Kalo Masino (66.98%) and bulk density ranged from 0.81 g/cm3 to 0.88 g/cm3 showing not much variability. Although most of them were of medium grain type, their 1000 kernel weight varied between 12.62 g and 25.65 g. From the observed chemical properties, Pahelo Anadi (9.73±0.55 mm) showed the highest gel consistency and lowest apparent amylose content (7.23±0.36%). Also, 13% of landraces possessed strong aroma while noble cooking properties were showed by Thakali Lahare Marsi with the highest elongation ratio (2.41±0.05) and by Chiniya with the lowest gruel solid loss (0.033±0.03%) and minimum optimum cooking time (23.45±0.03 min). In the principal component analysis, the first four principal components retained 73.8% of the variance. The first and second principal components were mostly related with the physical and chemical characteristics while the third and fourth principal components were concerned with cooking characters. Superior characters possessed by rice landraces can be further assessed for the breeding programs so that the cultivation of these cherished rice landraces can be enhanced.

The magnitude and nature of genetic divergence play a vital role in the selection of the desirable landraces for its utilization in the breeding program. A study was carried out with 30 rice landraces at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Lamjung Campus, during June–November 2018 to determine relation among individuals, estimate the relative contribution of various traits of rice using principal component analysis, and identify the potential parents for hybridization using Mahalanobis distance (D2). The principal component analysis revealed that five among the thirteen principal components were significant (eigenvalue >1) and contributed to 29.96%, 20.26%, 13.56%, 11.68%, and 9.22% of the total variance, respectively. PC1 included the traits that were related mostly to the yield, yield attributing, and grain characteristics. Landraces from Anadi group, Jetho Budo, Jarneli, and Rato Masino performed well in PC1 while landraces such as Mansara, Pakhe Sali, and Aanga performed well in PC2. The landraces were grouped into six clusters where 12 landraces were grouped into cluster I. Cluster analysis showed maximum and minimum intracluster distance in cluster VI (D2 = 35.77) and cluster I (D2 = 18.59), respectively. The maximum intercluster distance was obtained between clusters V and VI (D2 = 40.18) followed by clusters III and VI (D2 = 36.17) and clusters IV and VI (D2 = 35.74). Cluster III showed the highest mean value for grain width, flag leaf breadth, yield, and minimum mean value for plant height while mean values of total grain per panicle, filled grain percentage, and thousand-grain weight were maximum in cluster IV. Mean values of effective tiller and kernel width were found maximum in clusters V and VI, respectively. Landraces from clusters V and VI or clusters III and VI or clusters IV and VI can be used in the hybridization program to develop the superior hybrids by exploiting heterosis in segregating generation.

A study was conducted to identify the immunomodulatory effect of Stinging nettle ( Urtica dioica ) and Aloe vera ( Al oe barbadensis ) in broiler chicken. A total of 240 birds were divided into 4 treatment groups with 4 replications in each group, each replication containing 15 birds. Treatments were comprised of no Nettle and Aloe vera (T 0 ); Nettle 5% (T 1 ), Aloe vera @5 ml/lit drinking water (T 2 ) and Nettle 5% and Aloe vera @5 ml/lit drinking water (T 3 ). The study was conducted under a randomized design. The immunomodulating effect was evaluated by measuring antibody titer against NDV vaccine; and by estimating the albumin, globulin and total protein upto 40 days of age. The effect on liver was estimated by measuring liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The hypoglycemic effect was estimated by measuring glucose level in the serum, and morphological changes in the spleen and bursa were estimated by measuring the ratio score of the respective organs to the body weight. Throughout the experiment, the value for HI titer, albumin, globulin, total protein, spleen weight ratio score, bursa weight ratio score, liver function test and blood glucose of all treatment group were non significant ( p > 0.05) except for albumin on 10th day, globulin on 0th day, total protein on 0th day and ratio score of spleen were found to be significant ( p ≤ 0.05) at 30 days in all treatment compared to control group. Histopathology of spleen and bursa appeared normal in all treatment and control groups. Result thus suggests that nettle and Aloe vera have non-significant immunomodulatory effects.

Aims Drought is the major constraint to rainfed rice productivity in South Asia, but few reports provide detailed characterization of the soil properties related to drought stress severity in the region. The aim of the study was to provide a compilation of drought breeding network sites and their respective levels of drought stress, and to relate soil parameters with yield reduction by drought. Methods This study characterized levels of drought stress and soil nutrient and physical properties at 18 geographically distributed research station sites Plant Soil (2017) 417:377-392 DOI 10.1007 Responsible Editor: Martin Weih. involved in rice varietal screening in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, as well as at farmers' fields located near the research stations. Results Based on soil resistance to penetration profiles, a hardpan was surprisingly absent at about half of the sites characterized. Significant relationships of depth of compaction and yield reduction by drought indicated the effects of soil puddling on susceptibility to cracking, rather than water retention by hardpans, on plant water availability in this region. The main difference between research stations and nearby farmers' fields was in terms of soil compaction.Conclusions These results present an initiative for understanding the range of severities of reproductive-stage drought stress in drought-prone rainfed lowland ricegrowing areas in South Asia.

The variability in the rice landraces is the source of variation and offers substantial opportunity for the development of new varieties through the selection. Exploring diversity and variability of landraces is utmost for rice improvement. The objective of the study was to assess diversity indices, magnitude of genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance for the yield, and yield contributing traits. An experiment was carried out in alpha-lattice with 30 landraces, two replications in the Agronomy farm of IAAS, Lamjung Campus, during June-November, 2018. Shannon and Simpson's indices were calculated for 18 qualitative traits. The value of the Shannon and Simpson index ranged 0.15-1.41 and 0.07- 0.75, respectively. Landraces showed significant variations (p<0.001) for all 13 qualitative traits studied. The higher value of the phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) compared to the corresponding genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the studied traits indicated the influence of the environment. The filled-grain per panicle exhibited a high estimate of PCV and GCV, followed by the effective tiller and filled grain percentage. High heritability, along with high genetic advance was found in 10 traits, including 1000 grain weight, grain length, and filled grain per panicle indicated the presence of additive gene action. Direct selection of characters of these traits based on phenotypic expression by a selection method will be more reliable for yield improvement. The study suggests that the existence of diversity and estimated genetic parameters among landraces of rice that can be exploited in future rice breeding programs.