No abstract

Plants nutrients are necessary in increasing production and productivity of crops and healthy food for the world’s ever increasing population. Today, soil management strategies are mainly dependent on inorganic chemical-based fertilizers, which cause a serious threat to human health and the environment. Bio-fertilizer has been identified as an alternative for increasing soil fertility and crop production in sustainable farming. The exploitation of beneficial microbes as bio-fertilizers has become of paramount importance in agricultural sector due to their potential role in food safety and sustainable crop production. Bio-fertilizer can be an important component of integrated nutrients management. Microorganisms that are commonly used as bio-fertilizer components include; nitrogen fixers (N-fixer), potassium and phosphorus solubilizers, growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs), endo and ecto mycorrhizal fungi, cyanobacteria and other useful microscopic organisms. The use of bio-fertilizers leads to improved nutrients and water uptake, plant growth and plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic factors. In wheat, non-symbiotic spp. like Azotobacter and streptomyces may be used as a potential source of plant growth promoter and also can reduce chemical fertilizer up to 25% with compromising yield. Thus, these potential biological fertilizers would play a key role in productivity and sustainability of soil and also in protecting the environment as eco-friendly and cost effective inputs for the farmers. This review will overview the importance of biofertilizers with different sources of chemical fertilizers in wheat.

Summary This first comprehensive report from Punjab province of India relates to patho-physiological alterations alongwith morpho-molecular characterisation and risk assessment of natural infections of Hymenolepis diminuta and Hymenolepis nana in 291commensal rodents including house rat, Rattus rattus (n=201) and lesser bandicoot rat, Bandicota bangalensis (n=90). Small intestine of 53.61 and 64.95 % rats was found infected with H. diminuta and H. nana, respectively with a concurrent infection rate of 50.86 %. There was no association between male and female rats and H. diminuta and H. nana infections (ᵡ2 = 0.016 and 0.08, respectively, d.f.= 1, P>0.05), while the host age had significant effect on prevalence of H. diminuta and H. nana (ᵡ2 = 28.12 and 7.18, respectively, d.f.= 1, P≤0.05) infection. Examination of faecal samples and intestinal contents revealed globular shaped eggs of H. diminuta without polar filaments (76.50 ± 3.01μm x 67.62 ± 2.42 μm), while smaller sized oval eggs of H. nana were with 4 – 8 polar filaments (47.87 ± 1.95 μm x 36.12 ± 3.05 μm). Cestode infection caused enteritis, sloughing of intestinal mucosa, necrosis of villi and inflammatory reaction with infiltration of mononuclear cells in the mucosa and submucosa. Morphometric identification of the adult cestodes recovered from the intestinal lumen was confirmed by molecular characterisation based on nuclear ITS-2 loci which showed a single band of 269 bp and 242 bp for H. diminuta and H. nana, respectively. Pairwise alignment of the ITS-2 regions showed 99.46 % similarity with sequences of H. diminuta from USA and 100 % similarity with sequences of H. nana from Slovakia, Kosice.

In northwest India Japanese mint is being cultivated during spring season and faces both the extremes of temperature. The present investigation was planned to find out the optimum time of planting and harvesting with and without application of mulch to realize high quality essential oil. The experiment was laid out in split plot design keeping combinations of four date of planting (Jan 1, Jan 15, Jan 30 and Feb 15) and two straw mulch levels (No mulch and mulch @ 6 t/ha) in main plots and three harvesting schedules (120, 135 and 150 days after planting) in sub plots. Japanese mint planted on Feb 15 recorded maximum fresh herb, dry herb and oil yield, which were statistically at par with that planted on Jan 30 but were significantly higher than Jan 15 and Jan 1 plantings. Application of straw mulch resulted in significant improvement in fresh herb, dry herb and oil yield of Japanese mint. Fresh herb, dry herb and oil yield were significantly higher in crop harvested at 150 DAP than 135 and 120 DAP. Menthol content in mint oil did not influence with change in planting date or harvesting schedules while, menthone content decreased significantly with delay in harvesting from 120 to 150 DAP. A strong positive and linear relation was observed between emergence count and delay in planting of Japanese mint. Oil yield was positively correlated with plant height, stools count and fresh herbage production, while leaf to stem ratio has positive relation with oil content.

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Station, PAU, Bathinda, to investigate the impact of dual inoculation with N fixing and phosphorous solublizing bacteria with different fertility levels on performance of cluster bean cultivars during Kharif 2013 and 2014. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design, keeping combination of four cultivars (RGC 936, HG 563, RGC 1003 and RGC 1066) and three fertility levels (Recommended inorganic nutrition 20 kg N and 47.5 kg P 2 O 5 /ha, 75 % recommended inorganic nutrition + Rhizobium + phosphorous solublizing bacteria inoculation and 50 % recommended inorganic nutrition + 50 % N through farm yard manure). Guar cultivar RGC 1066 produced maximum seed and dry fodder yield which was statistically at par with RGC 1003 and HG 363 but significantly superior than RGC 936. Plant height and pods/plant were also maximum in RGC 1066 and at par with RGC 1003 and HG 563 but significantly superior over RGC 936. Among the fertility levels, yield attributes and seed yield did not differ significantly except the 50 % flowering and dry fodder yield. Dry fodder yield was significantly higher in plots where 50 % N was substituted with farm yard manure than 25 % inorganic nutrition substituted with inoculation with Rhizobium + PSB and 100 % recommended inorganic fertilized plots. Path coefficient analysis revealed that days to 50 % flowering (DTFF) and pods/plant (PPP) had positive direct effect on Seed yield (SY) with path coefficient of 2.270 and 1.119 at contribution of 38.48 and 19.77 per cent of the total effects, respectively. The direct effect of plant height (PH) on seed yield (SY) was comparatively larger but negative at coefficient value of -2.459 with 41.66 per cent contribution which resulted in significant correlation (r=0.985).