Bihar Agricultural University

Bagging effectively improves fruit appearance, and reduces surface contamination across several fruit species by altering the fruit immediate microclimate, thereby influencing external quality and flavour characteristics. In view of increasing environmental concerns associated with plastic bags, horticulturists are seeking greener options like non-woven bags. To assess their effectiveness versus plastic bags for banana, bunches were covered at finger curling stage until harvesting using Blue, Silver, Transparent/White coloured plastic bags, as well as Non-woven bags, and were compared with an unbagged control. The objective was to asses different bagging treatments on fruit quality parameters. The results clearly revealed the superiority of non-woven bags over plastic bags as bunch cover for producing blemish-free and high quality banana fruits. Fruits covered with non-woven bags had enhanced dimensional qualities such as maximum fruit length, width, and weight. It also resulted in more compact fruits with highest value for fruit density, volume, and specific gravity. Bagging also retained maximum pulp weight, pulp: peel, and firmness in non-woven bagged fruits. Although all bagging treatments influenced the biochemical attributes of fruits compared to control, non-woven bagged fruits consistently recorded the highest total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, total phenol content, and free radical scavenging activity, along with the lowest chlorophyll content. In contrast, moisture content and titratable acidity did not differ significantly among the bagging treatments. The sensory attributes of fruits bagged with non-woven material were well retained, exhibiting the maximum overall acceptability for aroma, flavour, texture, and peel colour and minimum external abnormalities compared to other treatments.

Rice is one of the most widely cultivated crops globally, serving as a primary food source for more than half of the world’s population. However, Salt stress can significantly reduce rice yields, affecting grain quality and quantity. Developing salt-tolerant rice varieties is crucial to mitigate the adverse effects of soil salinization and ensure food security. The phenotypic screening and the application of molecular markers also offer great potential for genetic improvement in rice for salt tolerance. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to evaluate thirty selected rice genotypes for assessment of their salt tolerance at early seedling stage through in vitro seed germination and seedling growth at different salt levels (0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 dS m− 1) created by a salt mixture of NaCl, CaCl2, Na2SO4 in 7:2:1 ratio. The phenotypic evaluation revealed that out of 30 genotypes, 18 were highly tolerant, 7 genotypes were moderately tolerant, and 5 genotypes were highly susceptible to salt stress. The salinity tolerance index (STI), the value calculated based on seedlings growth parameters namely shoot and root fresh and dry weight revealed that the genotype Pokkali with a mean STI value of 85.11 was the most tolerant genotype, whereas the Kalinga-3 with a mean STI of 40.49 was the most susceptible genotype under different levels of salt stress. A dendrogram based on dissimilarity coefficient of salt tolerance indices in pair-wise combinations for 30 genotypes revealed 3 major clusters designated as A, B and C. Clusters A and B included the genotypes categorised as highly tolerant and moderately tolerant as per STI values, and Cluster C had genotypes having lower STI value which was considered as highly susceptible genotypes. From a total of 30 genotypes, 18 contrasting sets of genotypes comprising 10 highly tolerant, 5 highly susceptible, and 3 moderately tolerant genotypes were subjected to genotyping using reported salt-responsive EST-contigs-based markers. However, the agarose gel-based survey did not reveal an informative amplification pattern between the contrasting set of rice genotypes. Six, out of eight markers were completely monomorphic in all the 18 selected genotypes and 2 markers showed dominant type polymorphism where the amplification was absent in two genotypes namely CSR-36 (highly tolerant) and MTU-7029 (moderately tolerant). As the early-stage screening in rice for salt tolerance is an efficient and proven approach for the identification of tolerant genotypes, the present study was successful in the identification of contrasting sets of rice genotypes comprising highly tolerant and highly susceptible bulks which can be utilized in breeding programs of rice for salt tolerance. Our results demonstrated significant genetic diversity among the rice varieties for salt tolerance, which can be exploited for breeding programs.

A long-term experiment on integrated nutrient management in a rice-wheat cropping system, initiated in 1984 at Bihar Agricultural College, was used to assess the effect of nutrient management practices on the kinetics of soil dehydrogenase activity. The objective was to determine how combinations of inorganic fertilizers and organic amendments influence substrate affinity and catalytic efficiency of dehydrogenase. Soil samples collected after the thirty-fourth crop cycle were analyzed for Michaelis constant (Km) and maximum reaction velocity (Vmax) of dehydrogenase. The control had the highest Km, indicating the lowest enzyme–substrate affinity. In contrast, treatments with farmyard manure, wheat straw, or Sesbania manure reduced Km by 63–73

Soil degradation, declining resource-use efficiency, and increasing climate variability are major challenges to agri-food security and the sustainability of cereal-based cropping systems in South Asia. Conventional rice-wheat (R-W) systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP) of India are highly input-intensive, environmentally fragile, and nutritionally limited, making them vulnerable to climate-induced stresses. This study evaluates the potential of conservation agriculture (CA) interventions-namely zero tillage, direct-seeded rice, timely sowing, and legume integration to enhance productivity, profitability, resource-use efficiency, and overall sustainability of rice (Oryza sativa L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) Wilczek) production system across diverse agro-climatic zones (ACZs) of Bihar, India. From 2019 to 2022, large-scale on-farm demonstrations (44,476) were conducted across 38 project hubs representing four ACZs. System productivity across zones averaged 9.19-9.88 t ha-1, with the highest mean in Zone-IIIb, (9.88 t ha-1) followed by Zone-IIIa (9.81 ha-1), compared to Zone-I (9.48 ha-1) and Zone-II (9.19 ha-1). System profitability showed parallel trends, with mean values of $1584 ha-1 (Zone-I) to $1723 ha-1 (Zone-IIIa). Profitability peaked at $2490.65 ha-1 in Zone-IIIb, while the lowest return ($768.19 ha-1) was recorded in Zone-I, reflecting substantial economic gains in favorable zones. The highest nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium use efficiencies (37.28, 58.12, and 94.09 kg grain per kg nutrient, respectively) and water-use efficiency (0.470 kg ha-1 mm-1) were observed in agro-climatic zone IIIb. Protein yield peaked in agro-climatic zone IIIa, while zone IIIb achieved the highest economic sustainability index (0.875) and yield sustainability index (0.944). The CA-practices consistently enhanced resource-use efficiency, profitability, and sustainability across all ACZs, showcasing their effectiveness under variable environmental conditions. The integration of conservation tillage, timely planting, and legumes offers a scalable approach to sustainable intensification in cereal-based systems. These findings highlight the potential of CA as a climate-resilient strategy to address soil degradation, enhance agri-food security, and improve farm profitability in vulnerable regions of the eastern India.

Drought stress severely limits maize germination and early seedling growth by reducing germination percentage, seedling vigor, water uptake, and biomass, while prolonging mean germination time. This study evaluated the ameliorative effects of seed priming with gibberellic acid (GA3) and melatonin on 10 maize genotypes (CLO 2450, DHM 117, SML 1, VQL 1, SKM 1, SML 2, LM 13, SML 163, SML 165, and SML 28) under 10% PEG-induced osmotic stress. Germination traits, water relations, biomass accumulation, and biochemical parameters, including α-amylase activity, total soluble sugar, proline, total phenolic content, soluble protein, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage, were assessed at 1, 7, and 14 days. Drought stress markedly suppressed enzymatic activity, carbohydrate mobilization, osmolyte accumulation, and protein content, while increasing oxidative damage and membrane leakage. GA3 priming (100 ppm) partially restored germination and metabolic traits, whereas higher concentrations showed diminished recovery. Melatonin priming (200 µM) consistently improved germination (>92%), seedling length (~19–20 cm), water uptake (~88%–90%), biomass, and antioxidant defenses, while limiting lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage. Violin plot and heatmap analyses confirmed that melatonin treatments closely resembled control performance, whereas GA3 provided intermediate recovery.