Search

Tomato is a most economic vegetable in India. Covers major area in its cultivation during crop production, it is threatened by major viral disease i.e tomato leaf curl disease, caused by begomovirus and transmitted by the vector. It causes yield loss up to 90-100 per cent, application of insecticide for the control of vector causes regular outbreak. Identification of resistant source from wild species and their introgression with susceptible source, development of lines/varieties, resistant/tolerant to Tomato leaf curl disease is the safest and long term alternative for solving this problem. This paper covers the major aspect related to virus, virus causing factors, vectors and sources of disease resistance and also breeding tools employed for its resistance and some of the barriers in breeding programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abiotic stresses adversely affect plant growth and ultimately crop productivity. Of these, water-logging is the most widespread and most commonly experienced stress factor. While water is essential for all plant growth and development processes, waterlogging is an obstacle to sustainable agriculture. Recent FAO reports indicate that universal crop production must be enhanced by 70% by 2050 in order to meet the growing demand for food by an estimated 2.3 billion people. As demand for food increases, there is an urgent need to identify environment-friendly strategies capable of being accepted and adopted widely to enhance crop yields and mitigate the effects of climate change. Nanotechnology as a science of manipulating materials at the nano-scale has significant potential to enhance agricultural productivity by nonconventional means. This technology has been gaining momentum lately as a possible solution to reduce the adverse effects associated with various stresses, particularly with waterlogging, to enhance future food security. This paper discusses the potential applications of nanoparticles to achieve sustainable crop productivity, together with their impact on the mechanism of tolerance to waterlogging stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial revolution and fast deforestation in 20th century pushes the earth to face climate change. Climate change became one of the most important global environmental challenges of the 21st century. Besides other weather abnormalities it is potential threat to world food security as agriculture production is directly dependent on various weather parameters. Even a small alteration in climate, adversely affects agriculture by decreasing the production. Global temperatures have already increased by 0.70°C over the past century and prediction of more rise of temperature is there. Possible changes in temperature, precipitation and CO2 concentration are expected to significantly impact crop growth. India could experience a 40% decline in agricultural productivity by the 2080s. Various food grain crops are going to affect badly under the temperature rise situation. It has been projected that under the scenario of a 2.50°C to 4.90°C temperature rise, rice yields will drop by 32% to 40% and wheat yields by 41% to 52%. This paper summarized study related to climate change projections and its impact on production of various crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the population of India is continuously rising so we have to adopt some means of sustaining our agricultural growth and it can be done through conservation farming. The best way out is the adoption of the age old practice of mulching in our agricultural fields. Mulching is an agricultural and horticultural technique in which the use of organic materials and synthetic materials for the purpose of increasing soil productivity is involved. In rainfed area, judicious use of water is essential for improving crop productivity. Therefore, mulching has been advocated as an effective means for conserving soil moisture. This technique is very useful in protecting the roots of the plants from heat, cold or drought or to keep fruit free from diseases and insect pests. Mulching is an old age technique to conserve soil moisture, checks evaporation, check the weed growth, moderate soil temperature and provide congenial microclimatic conditions for plant growth and development. This technology is a boon for the horticulture crops not only for increasing growth, development, yield but also a method for soil and water conservation. This review paper deals with the various effects of mulching on plants, soil as well as on soil microflora. This technology has brought a great revolution in the agriculture especially for water conservation and proves to be a fastest growing plasticultural technique in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State Agricultural Universities, (SAUs), in India, have adopted the U.S. land-grant model to meet its goals. They are autonomous organisations with state-wide responsibility for agricultural education, research and extension education. Through teaching, research and extension activities the 64 SAUs across 28 states of India are significantly contributing to agricultural production and productivity of their respective states directly and therefore to the rural development. SAUs rural development strategies include technologies and innovations, extension and human resource development. Regional Agricultural Research Stations in various agro-climatic zones have strengthened research-extension-farmer (REF) linkages. KVKs under administrative control of SAUs serve as farm science centres of their respective districts. In this paper, the rural development approaches of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh is detailed. Furthermore, strategic planning by the SAUs to increase their effectiveness for direct rural development should be sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil is a non-renewable or finite resource and is the bank of nutrients for plant growth. Most soils in the tropical region including Ethiopia are highly weathered and infertile due to lower organic matter content and open nutrient cycling systems. These led to soil fertility depletion and crop productivity reduction in the country by different soil degradation agents. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review soil fertility depletions and its management options under crop production perspectives in Ethiopia. The major drivers of soil fertility depletion are population pressure, land use pattern, free grazing of animals, lack of energy sources, land ownership and poor government policy problems. The major causes of soil fertility depletion are inadequate fertilizer use, complete removal of crop residues, continuous cropping systems, climate and soil types, lack of proper cropping systems and soil erosion and continuous cultivation. The promising technologies for improving soil fertility are integrated nutrient management, crop residue management, green manuring and cropping sequences, management of farmyard manure, applications of chemical fertilizers and soil amendments, agroforestry practices, applying conservation agriculture and application of soil-water conservation practices. Therefore, it needs a great attention by the community and the government to use innovative soil fertility management options to sustain soil fertility and crop productivity for the coming generations in the country forever enhancing nutrient input and recycling through following closed nutrient management systems in the cultivated lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a recent challenge on crop production and productivity in the world. The objective of this paper is to review the major effects of climate change on the production and productivity of wheat in the high lands of Ethiopia. Effects of climate change on wheat would be mainly through changes in [CO2], temperature, rainfall, length of growing period, actual growth rate and increased evapo-transpiration, which may lead to reduce yield or complete crop failure. Moreover, flower fertilization and grain set are highly sensitive to heat stress during mid-anthesis. In C3 crops like wheat, the elevated CO2 level is expected to increase productivity as a result of higher CO2 diffusion through stomata leading to a higher photosynthesis rate. But, elevated [CO2] may have negative effects on the grain-quality of wheat in terms of protein, lipids, number of mitochondria and nitrogen contents. Unlike CO2, elevated temperature affects crop production negatively by increasing rate of respiration; hastening plant growth and development; increasing photorespiration of wheat, reducing photosynthetic efficiency due to O2 interrupts the photosynthetic path way instead of CO2, increasing rate of water loss by increasing evapo-transpiration and decreasing nutrient use-efficiency through increased rate of decomposition and mineralization. As a result, wheat area is forecast to be displaced by other crop types. In order to tackle this issue, major mitigation and adaptation measures for example promoting area closures and conservation agriculture-based (CA), agroforestry practices, efficient use of energy sources, etc. should be practiced and given special attention by the communities as well as the government to solve the effects of climate change on wheat production and productivity in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivating black pepper in Malaysia started in early 10th to the 11th century when the South Indian Kings began to extend their empire. The crop was brought to East Malaysia in 1840 by Chinese settlers, actively planted until it was hit by the massive flood, fluctuation of the price and outbreak of foot rot. High yielding cultivars such as Kuching, Semenggok Emas and Semenggok Aman provided promise for better production, but resulted in increased soil degradation and reduced crop growth in Sarawak. The paper aims to discuss the black pepper industry in Sarawak and present scenario of its cultivation including future prospects. Cultivating on hilly topography with coarse textured dominant soil becomes one of the limiting factors. This factor is observed due to high rainfall intensity and steeper slopes. Neglected soil conservation also affects crop production and lead to a lower return on investments. Technologies such as land conservation and practising precision agriculture need to be adopted to reduce the impact of soil degradation and better production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seaweed and seaweed-derived products have been widely used as bio stimulants in crop production due to presence of multiple growth regulators such as cytokinin, auxins, gibberellins, betaines, as well as presence of macronutrients such as Ca, K, P, and micronutrients like Fe, Cu, Zn, B, Mn, Co and Mo, which are necessary for plant growth and development. Numerous studies have revealed a wide range of beneficial effects of seaweed extract on plants, such as early seed germination and establishment, better crop performance and yield, inducing resistance to biotic and abiotic stress and many more. This paper is an effort to review the importance of seaweed extract on germination, production, improvement of nutritional quality of agricultural crops which helps in further study of sea weed in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breeding for water stress tolerance is very difficult as the stress conditions created in experimental set up and actual field conditions, invariably, have poor correspondence. Direct selection for yield under stress holds promise but is slow on account of complexity of yield. Screening based on yield suffers from low heritability. Yield has been the primary breeding objective in production breeding and has been improved by targeting yield per se as well as yield components based on correlated response. Drought stress indices are quantitative measures that characterize water stress response by yield data from one or several environments based on timing, duration and intensity of stress. Such an index is more readily useable than raw yield data. Since drought resistance is a yield based trait, selection could vary depending on which index is chosen by the breeder. A major drawback of using these indices has been lack of correspondence in rankings across indices and their failure to discriminate overlapping responses in terms of yield under stress. There has been substantial effort on part of scientists to develop and validate different indices based on yield per se, index scores, regression analysis as well as various model based approaches. The major focus has been on identifying variables such as phenology, physiological traits, biomass partitioning or other parameters that influence crop performance under stress. The paper appraises the approaches from yield based indices to regression based as well as crop model based approaches that have been used to understand crop response to water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive alien weeds pose a serious threat to the biodiversity and are a significant constraint to agricultural production worldwide. Water cabbage (Limnocharis flava (L.) Buchenau), is one such aquatic weed, which was introduced in Asia as an ornamental species because of its attractive foliage and colorful flowers. It has subsequently naturalized and became a major weed in rice field, irrigation canals and wetlands in South-East Asia and has now attained the status as an alien invader. Developing an effective integrated management program requires a thorough understanding of the biology and ecology of the weed to identify the most vulnerable stages of its life cycle. Location-specific studies on the behavior of weeds, their population dynamics, seed bank and other features provide information on the positive or negative influence of biotic and abiotic factors on their growth and development which elaborates better control operations. Therefore literature regarding eco-biology, modes of propagation, dispersal and different methods for the sustainable management of water cabbage is reviewed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To full fill the demands of increasing population for agricultural products, increases pressure on land, water, and other natural resources, to fulfils this demands and to take decision about agricultural product requires information about production, productivity of crop also for proper management and carried out intercultural operations need advanced information about crop phenology, pest and diseases presently it is possible to generate such advanced information through well validated crop growth simulation models such as CERES, WOFOST, SUCROS, and APSIM. These models provided such advanced information based on integrate the effects of different factors viz., increasing temperature, soil productivity, also consider changes in climatic on productivity. The present paper describes the review of research work done on crop simulation model as well as covers detailed information about WOFOST model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Manures (FYM, vermicompost, edible oil cakes etc.) are important resources which provide nutrients that could reduce bagged fertilizer costs and improves the crop growth and performance. A well-managed manure is a valuable resource in providing nutrients for crop production. As manure dries, nutrients not only get concentrated on a weight basis, but also on a volume basis due to structural changes. Compared to fresh manure, it is easier to handle and transport because of decreased volume and weight. Hence, it is necessary to pulverize the manure when it is applied to the land. Methods: Various research works previously carried out on manure pulverizers and applicators have been considered in the study to come up with an idea of developing a tractor powered manure pulverizer cum applicator. Studies concluded the importance of manure pulverization, effect of wind, angle of repose and coefficient of friction in the designing and development of manure dispensing equipment. Result: Manure pulverizer integrated with tractor PTO along with an applicator was designed and developed. The machine consists of KAU manure pulverizer, feed chute, blower, frame and hitch, gearbox and extension shaft. Power to the gearbox was drawn from the tractor PTO. Dried manure was continuously fed through the feeding chute and rotating blade helps in pulverizing the manure until it achieves a size smaller than the sieve. The pulverized manure reaches the blower unit by means of a chute and gets discharged through the flexible pipes. Maximum field capacity was noted at a traveling speed of 3.0 km h-1. A larger application rate of 1387.1 kg ha-1 for cow dung, 1624.4 kg ha-1 for goat faecal pellets and 1618.6 kg ha-1 for neem cake was noted at an engine rpm of 2500, forward speed of 2 km h-1 with a field capacity of 0.31 ha h-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate and agriculture are intensely interrelated global processes and therefore a change in climate affects agricultural production. One such change is global warming which is projected to have significant impacts on environment affecting agriculture, including higher carbon dioxide emission, rise in atmospheric temperature, higher glacial run-off, changed precipitation and the interaction of these elements. These conditions determine the carrying capacity of the biosphere to produce enough food for the human population and domesticated animals. The present paper might help to anticipate and adapt farming to maximize agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen (N) is the most critical externally added input for any crop production system. The half of the global population directly or indirectly depends on nitrogenous fertilizers for food supply. Today, Rice, wheat, and maize are consuming more than 90% of total nitrogenous fertilizer used in cereals. Underuse of nitrogen is associated with lower crop production while overuse leads to several soil and environmental related consequences. Therefore, response to applied nitrogen and its use efficiency have to be monitored properly for obtaining the maximum potential and sustainable yield. Efficiency of applied nitrogenous fertilizers is very low due to its various losses i.e. volatilization, leaching, surface runoff and denitrification from soil-plant system. Therefore, the proper understanding of advanced soil and plant management practices which helps in enhancement of nitrogen recovery efficiency is one of the key factors to enhance crop output, decreasing cost of cultivation, and to maintain environmental quality which ultimately adds towards the goal of achieving long term sustainable production system. In this review, an attempt has been made summarize the locally as well as scientific soil and crop management technologies used for improving use efficiency of applied N. This paper also discusses nitrogen cycling in soil-plant systems, various N losses pathways, present status and most possible management options at the farm level for enhancing nitrogen use in crop production system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forage requirement of livestock is generally met through low quantity and quality of crop residues often not enough for maintenance of animal health and productivity in India. Cereal-legume intercropping has been recognized as a beneficial crop production system for higher fodder production per unit area per unit time, especially, under rainfed conditions. Sorghum sudan grass hybrid and cowpea are some of the potential fodder crops which can provide good nutrition to livestock with higher forage yields and improve the fertility status of soil when grown in association. This paper reviews all the literature on various aspects of intercropping of cereals and legumes, mainly sorghum and cowpea, for better understanding and future strategies for improved production as well as quality of fodder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bundelkhand region is far behind in the availability of soil and water both natural resources due to erratic rainfall and hard rock terrains (Tyagi, 1997). Conservation of such type of natural resources for livelihood security with a strong commitment would be the foremost challenge of the 21st century. The home of over 15.62 million humans and 8.36 million livestock, suffers from water scarcity, natural resource degradation, low crop productivity (1-1.5 Mg/ha), low rainwater use efficiency (35-45%), poor soil fertility, frequent droughts, poor irrigation facilities, inadequate vegetation cover and frequent crop failure resulting in scarcity of food, fodder and fuel (Palsaniya et al. 2008). Under such circumstances, the goal of doubling farmer's income by the year 2022 has been dubbed as impossible and unrealistic by some experts (Gulati and Saini, 2016). Hence, this study was conducted to assess the impact of agroforestry based crop production for provide an economic feasibility as well as perfect diet. Methods: The study was conducted at Garhkundar-Dabar (GKD) watershed located between 78° 52' 39" to 78° 54' 44" E longitude and 25° 26' 23" to 25° 28' 32" N latitude with an altitude varying from 208 to 285 m above mean sea level in Bundelkhand region of central India. The net return was calculated by subtracting the cost of cultivation incurred from sowing to harvesting, for each crop from the gross return and then benefit-cost ratio was estimated by dividing the net returns with cost of cultivation. Result: The study has revealed that after watershed interventions and agroforestry based Crop cultivation, the expenses on irrigation and labour will decrease, crop productivity will improve as well as benefit-cost ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower average rice yield in India and Tamil Nadu can be attributed to poor soil fertility, improper spacing and nursery management. Intensive research has been initiated to solve the problems related to soil fertility and crop management through coordinated net works of research all over the country. This review is focused to evaluate the response of hybrid rice under System of Rice Intensification (SRI) cultivation method. Relevant literature on this subject is reviewed under various headings in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) implies the most efficient use and management of organic, inorganic and biological sources of major nutrients as well as micronutrients to attain higher levels of crop productivity and to maintain the fertility of the soil. Brinjal is one of the most popular and commercially important vegetable crops of India. Research works on INM system for brinjal crop is scanty. This paper has reviewed the research work carried out by various scientists in India and abroad. The review deals with the effect of different INM components on growth, yield, fruit quality, nutrient content and uptake, incidence of brinjal shoot and fruit borer (BSFB) as well as economics of brinjal and other Solanaceous vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diseases are important production constraints in tobacco growing environments of the country. Management of these diseases help in both quantitative and qualitative enhancement of tobacco yields. In present paper, information has been reviewed on various aspects of different economically important diseases of tobacco in Karnataka and different management options including Integrated Disease Management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In a world facing climate change and associated environmental stresses that hamper agricultural productivity and food security, the requirement for more sustainable agriculture is on the rise. In this regard, there is a need to expand the area of cultivation of drought-resistant leguminous crops. The purpose of the research is to study the grass pea collection, to identify forms with economically valuable traits and to create on their basis a new highly productive, technologically advanced, valuable with its quality grass pea grain for a selection in the conditions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Methods: The studies were conducted in 2017-2020 at the Institute of Genetic Resources (IGR) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Azerbaijan. 75 samples were used as research material:25 of them were local forms and 50 were samples obtained from ICARDA. The productivity and structure of the harvest have been analyzed. Result: As a result of research, the most high-yielding and high-quality samples GP-58, GP-59, GP-65, GP-71, GP-73, İFLA-2973, İFLA-240, İFLA-479, İFLA-1795, İFLA-242, GP-56, GP-87. were revealed in the studied grass pea samples. During the implementation of the breeding program using the results, we have developed a new early ripe, drought-resistant, heat-resistant, disease-resistant and high-yielding variety Zirve by the method of repeated individual selection from the local forms. These studies are an important initial study for the subsequent production of new varieties. We hope that this will lead to an increase in the acreage of grass pea in the Republic of Azerbaijan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian agriculture is suffered with a number of problems for enhancing the productivity of grain crops to protect the food security by increasing the food production in India's green revolution to get self-sufficiency during 1970s leaving something for widespread scarcity of food. To secure the food self sufficiency caused so many problems despite the improved technologies, so there is need to address all the factors, which affecting on the Indian agriculture. Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is the largest source of livelihoods in India. Keeping in view the above, therefore tried to discuss the major problems in Indian agriculture in this article. The information related to the problems of agriculture were collected from internet and also taken from the previous work of different researchers in 2020 at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gurdaspur with the objectives to address the threats caused by agricultural intensification. Several problems as land holding, intensive cropping and excessive use of chemical, excessive irrigation, inadequate seed replacement and inadequate mechanization impact on soil productivity and caused degraded land. Other factors like lack of proper transport in rural areas, minimum support price, poor credit facility concern the economic conditions of the farmers and impact on Indian agriculture and also influence directly or indirectly on the food security of the country. As per the objectives the influence of agricultural intensification on productivity and production of food grains factors discussed all the factors with their solution in this article for the benefits of all the concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Seed is an important component and the quality seed plays a crucial role in agricultural production as well as in the national economy. Availability of viable and vigorous seeds at the planting time is important. Onion seeds have a short life span among the vegetable crops and lose viability rapidly after harvest. The main reason for the low quality of onion seeds includes a long flowering period resulting in different stages of seed maturity in the umbel, very fast reduction of viability if stored in suboptimal conditions and seed infestation with fungi. Seed priming is a widely used technique to enhance seed performance during storage. Methods: The seed was primed with Neem leaf powder (100 g/kg) after hydration and dehydration, hydration with KH2PO4 (2.0%), KNO3 (1.0%), K2SO4 (1.0%) and Captan (N-trichloromethylthio-4-cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboximide) at 2.5 g/kg and stored in polyethylene (100µ) bags under ambient conditions. After each treatment, seeds were dried back to their original moisture content under shade. Result: The results revealed that different priming treatments had a significant effect on germination percentage, seedling length and vigour index-I except for moisture percentage in both the years. The maximum germination (74.1 and 71.2%) was observed in seeds treated with Captan (2.5 g/kg) followed by Neem leaf powder 100 g/kg seed (71.1 and 69.72%) during 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively. The onion seeds primed with KH2PO4 (2.0%), KNO3 (1.0%) and K2SO4 (1.0%) had an adverse effect on seed germination. The germination decreased significantly with the increase in the storage period. The maximum seedling emergence (60.0%) was observed from the seed primed with Captan (2.5 g/kg) followed by Neem leaf powder 100 g/kg seed (56.1%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within West Africa (WA), poverty, population growth rate and food insecurity are high and most agriculture is conducted at an unmechanised level, reliant on rain-fed conditions. As with elsewhere around the world, there is a clear fingerprint of climate change on WA, with increasing temperatures and shifts in precipitation patterns. As the century progresses and climate change intensifies, so too will the impact on rain-fed horticulture. This creates an urgent need to understand and synthesis the responses of horticultural crops to climate change and identify adaptation options. This review provides an overview of climate change across WA and the impacts on key horticultural crop groups (vegetables, plantations, fruits and root and tubers) and identifies regions within WA where these crops may be more or less vulnerable to changing conditions. Adaptation actions and strategies-ranging from education, introduction of new cultivars and development of effective cropping systems, to transference of skills from other regions and expansion of farmer-government-NGO collaborations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture in Ethiopia is reliant on the poor farmer’s income. Crop production in the country is hampered by a variety of factors, among them subsistence farming, inefficient use of farm inputs, climate change, poor export performance, policy uncertainty and low interest in agricultural credit are the major ones. Plant pests also pose a threat to food crops, resulting in significant losses for smallholder farmers and jeopardizing food security. Thus, Ethiopian policymakers recently recognized genetically engineered crops as a viable method of increasing food productivity and quality. A thorough empirical review had conducted, focusing on the status, potential benefits and drawbacks of genetically modified crop production in Ethiopia. Descriptive statistics had used, followed by raw data interpretation. Genetically modified crop production is an option for addressing food insecurity, malnutrition and the production of low-cost feedstock. However, as genetically modified crops become more prevalent in Ethiopian agriculture, humans, wildlife and the environment must all be considered. As a result, GM crops can help poor farmers improve their agricultural livelihoods if better national biosafety regulations had implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Output is determined by the efficiency with which available technologies are used i.e. with the improvement in technical efficiency. There are extensive numbers of studies focusing on efficiency as a means of fostering agriculture production. The article reviews the literature devoted to technical efficiency analysis in various countries and its applications to agricultural production. The studies reviewed focused particularly on rice and wheat making them the most studied agricultural product by researchers. The review of efficiency analysis shows that agricultural output can be increased without additional inputs with given existing technology. Technical efficiency of agricultural crops like wheat, paddy, cotton etc grown in different countries of the world like India, Pakistan, Ethopia, Srilanka were reviewed and it was found that except for farm size, the variables like farmer education and experience, contacts with extension personnel and access to credit, tend to have a positive and statistically significant impact on technical efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 (Nfixer), 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security is one of the major concerns for all developing countries of the world. Even though we had attained the highest food production with the use of new technologies, we may not able to feed the burgeoning population adequately in coming years due to stagnant crop productivity. Natural source of nutrients like organic manures and external source of nutrients, viz. fertilizers, are considered as the two eyes in plant nutrient management. Nutrient use efficiency of fertilizer is very low due to numerous pathways of losses such as leaching, denitrification, microbial immobilization, fixation and runoff. It has been estimated that around 40-70% of nitrogen, 80-90% of phosphorus, 50-70% of potassium and more than 95% of micronutrient content of applied fertilizers are lost in to the environment and results in pollution (Kanjana, 2017). Smart fertilizers like slow and controlled release fertilizers, nanofertilizers and bioformulation fertilizers are the new technologies to enhance the nutrient use efficiency their by improving crop yield in sustainable manner. The use of slow and controlled release fertilizers increase nutrient use efficiency, minimize the risks like leaf burning, water contamination and eutrophication. Nano-fertilizers are the nano-particles-based fertilizers, where supply of the nutrients is made precisely for maximum plant growth, have higher use efficiency, exploiting plant unavailable nutrients in the rhizosphere and can be delivered on real time basis into the rhizosphere or by foliar spray (Priyanka Solangi et al., 2015). The small size, high specific surface area and reactivity of nano fertilizers increase the solubility, diffusion and availability of nutrients to plants and enhance crop productivity. Bioformulation is microbial preparations containing specific beneficial microorganisms which are capable of fixing or solubilizing or mobilizing plant nutrients for promoting plant growth and crop yield. Smart fertilizers are the better option for the farmers to increase their crop yield with low input cost in sustainable way without degrading natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage of fungicides to manage plant diseases in many crops is very significant. Reduced disease control with fungicides can result from several causes including application of insufficient quantity, low effectiveness of the fungicide on the target pathogen, improper timing or method of application and excessive rainfall. Resistance is the evolutionary response of a fungus to threat its survival by the fungicides. Fungicides with single site of action are more prone to develop resistance. The quicker development of resistance and the way to control its loss solely depends both on fungicide and the target fungus. The development of fungicide resistance is complex interactions of factors involving nature of fungicide and target pathogen. Thorough knowledge about the ecology of fungicide resistance pertaining to its development and its management is crucial for ensuring sustainable disease control with fungicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mustard and soybean are the most important edible oilseed crop of India. Oilseed crops like mustard and soybean in general have high sulphur requirement owing to higher seed and oil yield. Reports of sulphur (S) deficiency and consequent crop response, particularly in oilseed crops, are quite ostensible. Insufficient S can affect the yield and oil quality of oilseed crops. To overcome deficiency of S, gypsum is the cheapest and widely available source for correcting S deficiency and improving physico-chemical properties of the soil. Gypsum is a moderately soluble source of the essential plant nutrients, calcium and sulphur, and can improve overall plant growth. Gypsum also improves the physical and chemical properties of soils and reduces erosion losses of soils and nutrient concentrations (especially phosphorus) in surface water runoff. Gypsum in many studies are known to improve crop yield, which might be the result of synergistic effect of various parameters like crop, soil, climate and other parameters specific to a region. In oilseed crops, gypsum application is mostly confined to meet S requirements, but its effect on soil physical and chemical changes need to be evaluated for sustainable crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt has been made to analyze the literature on Total Factor Productivity analysis in the context of Indian agriculture without going much deeper into its empirical analysis and estimation. Among the vast analytical themes possible on Indian agriculture, this study has focused upon the literature pertaining to the contribution of the non-conventional factors such as skills and technical know-how, fertilizers, High Yielding Varieties, etc. in explaining the shifts in agricultural production which are condensed to compose the concept of total factor productivity. The studies on total factor productivity in the Indian context are neither exhaustive nor limited but there is considerable scope for more detailed investigations into the various dimensions of productivity measurement and policy analysis. It can be noticed throughout the present discussion that there are a good number of thought-provoking issues associated with Total Factor Productivity but evidences are conflicting, sometimes controversial and subjected to further detailed investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When water supplies are restricted, so that full evapotranspiration demands cannot be met, limited irrigation is practised. Management strategy of limited irrigation is to optimise production per unit of applied water rather than to maximise yield per unit of land. Principles that help to facilitate limited irrigation strategies can be broadly grouped into three: agricultural water management, crop considerations and agronomic options. When anticipating low water year, choose crops which maximise production with limited water. In decreasing order of efficiency, short season indeterminate and long season indeterminate crops should be chosen judiciously. Deficit irrigation practices, localised irrigation methods, reducing water losses, conjunctive use of water resources etc can help minimise yield losses due to soil moisture stress. Additional agronomic management options that can maximise production include conservation tillage, advancing or delaying planting dates in order to coincide the crop's critical period with water availability, decreasing plant competition byreducing seeding density and controlling weeds. Available options to address the challenge of limited irrigation have been briefly presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the many forms of above- and below-ground stresses facing agriculture production, physical soil limitations are generally among the most persistent and least amenable to amelioration. Fine textured heavy soils have physical constraints that severely affect soil and plant health and yield parameters and there is a need to study the problems of these type of soils and find possible measures to ameliorate these problems. Reasons for these problems along with possible preventing measures have been discussed. These soils have severe soil aeration problem due to restricted soil water movement within the profile. The affects of these constraints on crop growth and productivity were highlighted. For efficient crop production, it is important to understand the soil environment in which plants grow, to recognize the limitations of that environment and to ameliorate where possible without damaging the soil quality. For satisfactory plant growth, it is essential that the soil provides a favourable physical environment for root development that can exploit the soil sufficiently to provide the plants needs for water, nutrients and anchorage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of greenhouse gases has increased as a result of anthropogenic activities, which resulted in the warming of the earth atmosphere. The agriculture sector contributes to emission of greenhouse gases and is also worst affected from the global warming. The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide may have fertilization effect on the productivity of rice-wheat system, but this effect will be negated by the simultaneous increase of temperature. The rise in the day-time maximum temperature has positive effect on the rice yield but negatively affected the wheat yield. While rise in the nighttime minimum temperature decreased the yield of rice. Our goal here is to discuss the possible effects of shift in the climatic variables on the productivity of rice-wheat system that will provide important insights for adapting to it. Various options to mitigate the negative impacts of climatic shift on the productivity of rice-wheat system have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cocoa growing in West Africa has historically been dependent on the use of beans from "good-looking" open-pollinated pods in farmers' field; majority of whose yield, pest and disease tolerance/resistance are scientifically unproven. The low hectarage productivity of 0.3 - 0.5 tonnes/ha from individual farms across Nigeria has poorly supported the national cocoa production. Hybrid cocoa pods have very high breeding value for yield and other economic traits, their use for mass cultivation will increase cocoa productivity. Cocoa seed garden are hectares of established known parental clones of cocoa with an aim of generating hybrid pods through controlled cross pollination. Cocoa Seed garden sites are in fourteen states of Nigeria, Ondo state has the largest cumulative hectarage. By principle, the process of Cocoa Seed Garden entails, selection of parental stocks based on the result from routine test for combining ability among parents within the germplasm, clonal seedling production of selected parents, patterned field establishment of the parental clones and hand pollination of parents to generate hybrid pods. Details of the principle are well discussed and information on the effective Cocoa Seed garden sites in Nigeria is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micronutrients are essential for plant growth, but plants require relatively in smaller quantity. They include iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), boron (B), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo) chlorine (Cl). In oilseeds these micronutrients play a major role in translocation of photosynthates, increasing seed setting percentage, essential for translocation of sugar, germination of pollen grains, stigma receptivity, amino acid and protein synthesis which ultimately increase the productivity of oilseed crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C4 photosynthesis is the primary mode of carbon capture and drives productivity in several major food crops and bio- energy grasses. Gains in productivity associated with C4 photosynthesis include improved water and nitrogen use efficiencies. Within grasses rice and brachypodium are used as model species. Since these two crops are using C3 photosynthesis for their growth and development, it cannot be used as model for to study C4 photosynthesis. In order to characterize the evolutionary innovations and to provide genomic insight into crop improvement for the many important crop species, a new genomic and genetic model species is required. Minor millets have small diploid genomes, shorter life cycles, self pollination and prolific seed production. Due to these characteristics it gains importance over major C4 species which lack all of these traits. Within Minor millets, Setaria italica and Setaria viridis are used as model systems since these crops fulfils all the traits responsible to be a model species. Importantly, Setaria species uses NADP-Malic enzyme subtype C4 photosynthetic system to fix carbon and therefore is a potential powerful model system for dissecting C4 photosynthesis. C4 grasses have a shorter distance between longitudinal veins in the leaves than C3 grasses. The C4 grasses have denser transverse and small longitudinal veins than the C3 grasses. It indicates that C4 grasses have a structurally superior photosynthate translocation and water distribution system by developing denser networks of small longitudinal and transverse veins. Setaria has high vein density and kranz anatomy that helps to concentrate CO2 in the bundle sheath cells. This minimizes photorespiration thereby prevents the loss of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation agriculture is an important component of the overall strategy for enhancing productivity, improve environmental quality and preserve natural resources for food security and poverty alleviation. Soil tillage is one of the fundamental agrotechnical operations in agriculture because of its influence on soil properties, environment and crop growth. Since continuous soil tillage strongly influence the soil properties, it is important to apply appropriate tillage practices that avoid the degradation of soil structure, maintain crop yield as well as ecosystem stability. The efficiency of input use viz. water, fertilizers, herbicides and others depend on tillage and crop establishment practices. It is therefore, essential that the soil environment be manipulated suitably for ensuring a good crop stand and improve resource-use efficiency. Sustaining production and productivity of any system is of paramount importance by improving the soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. Conventional tillage operations will alter these properties in every cropping cycle thereby affecting the soil system. Resource conservation systems have drawn the attention of agronomists and other crop production scientists to devise innovative tillage and residue management techniques for efficient resource management and sustained productivity. To combat soil loss and preserve soil moisture soil conservation techniques were developed in USA known as conservation tillage (CT), this involves soil management practices that minimize the disruption of the soil's structure, composition and natural biodiversity, thereby minimizing erosion and degradation, control annual weed and seed bank but also water contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The area under rice crop is decreasing year by year due to various factors such as increased cost of inputs, labour shortage and less profitability. Transplanting of rice seedlings in the traditional way is a labourious, time consuming and causes drudgery. Non-availability of labourers for transplanting at appropriate time leads to late planting, which results in poor yields. In rice, planting methods have an impact on the growth, yield attributes and yield besides cost of cultivation and labour requirement. Rice transplanting is done manually and requires about 306 man-h ha"1, which is roughly 42 per cent of the total labor requirement of rice production. At transplanting time, acute labor shortage results in increased labor wages and delay in the transplanting operation. Manual transplanting also results in a non-uniform and inadequate seedling populations. These problems necessitated the introduction of mechanized rice transplanting to achieve timely planting and better crop stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Punjab made a spectacular progress and changed the agricultural scenario of the country from a stage of begging bowl to self reliance in food production associated with the well known "Green Revolution". The over intensification and monoculture over the years has led to overall degradation of the fragile agro ecosystem. With increase in developmental activities, more and more productive land is being brought under industry and housing complexes etc. The exploitive agricultural practices resulted in presence of residues of chemicals in food and feed products at levels which are dangerous for human and cattle health. Declining farm yield and income due to economic and ecological factors is pushing marginal and small farmers into vicious cycle of debt. Agricultural ecosystems have become incredibly good at producing food, but at cost of environment that cannot be ignored. It is critical that agricultural practices be modified by adoption of environment friendly practices like INM and IPM etc. to conserve and enhance the ecological foundations such as soil, water and biodiversity essential for sustained advances in agricultural productivity and profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mulching is an agricultural and horticultural technique in which the use of organic is involved. This technique is very useful in protecting the roots of the plants from heat, cold. Mulch is used to cover soil surface around the plants to create congenial condition for the growth. This may include temperature moderation, reduce salinity and weed control. It exerts decisive effects on earliness, yield and quality of the crop. Mulching is also applicable to most field crops. However, it is preferred in fruit orchard, flower and vegetable production, nurseries and forest where frequent cultivation is not required for raising the crops. Black plastic mulch is most commonly used in agriculture. Clear plastic mulch is used in some areas due to its increased soil warming characteristics. Research has shown that white or aluminum reflective mulch also repels aphids which spread some virus diseases in vine crops such as squash. So, mulching can be effective change in increasing horticultural crop production in water scarcity regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.), a major cash crop in India has a unique role in sustaining agro industrial economic growth. Sugarcane being a long duration crop produces huge amount of biomass, and requires large quantity of water (1100-2200 mm) and is mostly grown as an irrigated crop using surface irrigation. The drip irrigation adoption in --sugarcane increases water use efficiency (60-200%), saves water (20-60%) , reduces fertilization requirement (20-33%) through fertigation, produces better quality crop and increases yield (7-25%) as compared with conventional irrigation. However, if not installed properly, it may result in wastage of water, time, money and yield. The subsidy and technical support to farmers acts as an incentive to adopt this method on a large scale in India. Adoption of drip irrigation (surface or subsurface) system in sugarcane is technically feasible and economically viable and needs to be vigorously followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is the most important and critical input in man's life especially in agriculture. The pressure for the most efficient use of water for agriculture is intensifying with the increased competition for water resources among various sectors with mushrooming population. The need of the hour is therefore, maximising the production per unit drop of water. Hence in the present day context, lot of emphasis is being given in improving the irrigation practices to increase the crop production and to sustain the productivity levels. Micro-irrigation is introduced primarily to save water and increase the water use efficiency in agriculture. Reduction in water consumption due to drip method of irrigation over the surface method of irrigation varies from 30 to 70 per cent and productivity gain in the range of 20 to 90 per cent for different crops. By introducing drip irrigation, it is possible to increase the yield potential of crops by three fold with the same quantity of water. All these emphasize the need for water conservation and improvement in water-use efficiency to achieve "More Crop per Drop of water". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feeds requirement of increasing livestock population with the increasing demand of milk, meat and eggs by the ever increasing population, within a limited cultivated land could be met by introducing GM crops. The GM crops can potentially benefit the human as well as livestock sectors as these increase crop yields per hectare of cultivated land. As a matter of fact these may assist for improvement of various quality traits of animals, can be a safer fodder in terms of energy/protein source and further improvement of animal productivity as well as their overall performance. Thus the GM crops can ultimately pave a way to provide sufficient foods and feeds to the growing world human and livestock population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic concept of intercropping is that two or more crop species intercropped can exploit the environment better than each of the component species grown separately. Intercropping of French bean in maize did not affect the yield of maize significantly compared to sole maize. While French bean yield was reduced significantly in intercropping. French bean had greater radiation use efficiency in intercropping than in sole cropping. Here intercropping increased production per unit area per unit time without affecting the production of main crop to a greater extent. All the maize/legume intercroppings were having significantly higher LER (1.31 to 1.81), maize equivalent yield (67 to 140q/ha), net return (Rs10,000 to 17,000/ha) and B:C ratio than the sole maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]