The Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) (Nepali: कृषि तथा वन विश्वविद्यालय) is a public agricultural university with central offices in Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. It was created by the Parliament of Nepal through a bill passed in June 2010 merging two constituent campuses of Tribhuvan University: the Rampur Agriculture Campus of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science and the Forestry Campus, Hetauda of the Institute of Forestry in Hetauda, Makwanpur. The university offers agricultural workforce development and promotes research in agriculture, forestry, and allied disciplines through teaching, research, and extension programs across the country. . The Main Features of AFU is to produce mainpower for agriculture and forest industry.
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food for more than half of the global population but faces escalating yield losses from abiotic stresses, notably submergence, drought, salinity, heavy metals, cold, and heat. These stresses act at different developmental stages, altering growth, physiology, and grain quality through common bottlenecks in photosynthesis, water and ion balance, and reproductive development. This review provides a consolidated stress-wise synthesis of morpho-physiological injury and adaptive traits, associated biochemical responses (ROS dynamics, antioxidant enzymes, osmolyte accumulation, carbohydrate metabolism), and molecular regulation (ABA/ethylene/GA/BR crosstalk, Ca2+ signaling, and transcriptional networks including DREB, NAC, MYB, and WRKY). The key genetic hubs such as SUB1A (submergence), qDTY1.1 (drought), Saltol (salinity), COLD1 (cold), HSF-HSP (heat), and HMA3/ZIP1/NIP2 (heavy metals) are highlighted as central to stress tolerance. This review emphasizes integrated management approaches, nutrient and water regimes, post-stress recovery inputs, seed priming, soil amendments, microbial interventions, and nano-enabled solutions that align with physiological and molecular responses to enhance stress resilience. This article provides a comprehensive framework to guide breeding, agronomic management, and future research toward multi-stress tolerance and yield stability in rice under climate change by linking stage specific injury with mechanistic pathways and actionable strategies.
Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. is a destructive soil-borne pathogen causing collar rot in chili (Capsicum spp.) and several other diseases in many economically important crops. This study evaluated the efficacy of nine fungicides representing different chemical classes (triazoles, strobilurins, benzimidazoles, dithiocarbamates, and contact fungicides) against S. rolfsii using the poisoned food technique under in vitro conditions at 25, 50, and 100 parts per million (ppm) concentrations. Most systemic fungicides significantly inhibited mycelial growth compared to the untreated control, whereas captan, copper oxychloride, and mancozeb showed poor inhibition at lower concentrations. The highest inhibition of mycelial growth over control was observed with carboxin + thiram (91.25
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a key role in influencing the environmental behavior of heavy metals in lake ecosystems. Through mechanisms such as complexation, ion exchange, and physical adsorption, DOM regulates the speciation, transport, and bioavailability of heavy metals, thereby shaping their ecological risks and fate. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the sources and molecular composition of lake DOM, with particular attention to humic substances, proteins, and polysaccharides, and highlight the importance of functional groups such as carboxyl group and phenolic hydroxyl group in metal binding. The mechanisms of DOM-heavy metal interactions are discussed in detail. These include σ-ligand bonding, which relies on the donation of lone pair electrons from O/N-containing functional groups to metal orbitals. Also covered are π–d electron interactions, often initiated by photoexcitation of aromatic moieties in DOM to facilitate electron transfer, and multi-site adsorption, a process governed by the combined effects of electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding, and the porous structure of DOM. Additionally, the effects of environmental factors (temperature, pH, and light) and biological factors (microbial activity and aquatic plant decomposition) on DOM-heavy metal dynamics are examined. Although substantial progress has been made, key challenges remain in understanding the microscale mechanisms, capturing real-time changes in natural waters, and assessing long-term ecological impacts. Future research should prioritize multi-scale approaches. This entails employing advanced techniques like Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to elucidate molecular mechanisms, while also advancing in situ monitoring technologies and establishing long-term observation networks to resolve real-time dynamics and assess cumulative ecological impacts. This review provides a theoretical basis for understanding DOM-heavy metal interactions and supports future efforts in ecological risk assessment and the sustainable management of lake environments.
Climate change has been a significant concern for the production and productivity of wheat throughout the world, including Nepal due to an increasing frequency of heat, drought, and erratic rainfall. The study evaluated the stability and adaptability of twenty elite wheat genotypes across irrigated, heat stress, rainfed, and drought environments across two growing season (2022–2024). In addition, the study evaluated the suitability of 11 stress tolerance indices (STIs) across varying stress levels. The additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model revealed that environment was the primary source of yield variation, while which-won-where (WWW) model identified, G6 (NL 1402) as the most stable genotype across all eight test environments, with the lowest AMMI stability value (ASV) of 0.34. Similarly, G18 (NL 1512), G16 (NL 1501), G9 (NL 1492), and G6 (NL 1402) showed high adaptability under combined irrigated, heat stress, rainfed, and drought environments, respectively. Genotypes G17 (RR21) and G18 (NL 1512) had the least G × E interaction across combined environments (df = 7), where G10 (NL 1488), G13 (NL 1506), G14 (NL 1504), and G8 (BL 5116) under combined irrigated, heat stress, rainfed, and drought (df = 1), respectively. Stress tolerance indices dynamics revealed the predictive power of many indices declined with increasing stress severity, with mean stable yield (MSY), modified stress tolerance index 2 (MSTI2), and harmonic mean productivity (HMP) emerging as the most reliable indicators under rainfed and drought environments. Under severe drought, MSY consistently explained the highest proportion of the yield variation, with the coefficient of determination (R2) reaching 1.000. These findings provides both promising genotypes and validated tolerance indices that suggest valuable tool for breeding climate-resilient wheat for Nepal and similar South Asian agro-ecologies.
Soil biodiversity remains one of the least systematically studied components of global biodiversity, largely invisible in policy agendas. A coordinated soil biodiversity monitoring approach is urgently needed to enable national‐level action.
