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A field experiment was conducted for two cropping seasons during 2016–19 at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, with the objectives to study the effect of i) K nutrition and variable sources of K on growth analysis of sugarcane ratoon crop, ii) the response of K on the photosynthetic rate of crop and iii) contribution of K on yield attributes, sugarcane, and sugar yields. Mean results of two cropping seasons indicated that the application of potassium brought forth a 12.08% improvement in tiller population over no K (107.3 thousand/ha). Potassium application through K2SO4 (SOP) showed the highest net rate of photosynthesis (15.28 µmol/m2/s) which was about 30.71% higher than the control. Among the various sources of K, SOP was found the best in improving sugarcane and sugar yields. Application of SOP resulted in 18.69% ratoon cane yield improvement over the control. Application of 75% K through K2SO4 resulted in a higher sugar yield (12.01 t/ha) which was 25.76% higher than the control (9.55 t/ha). Potassium ammonium sulfate (PAS) and murate of potash could not produce better results as compared to K2SO4. Potassium application through SOP showed the highest net rate of photosynthesis (15.28 µmol/m2/s) during the grand growth phase. Application of 50.4 kg K/ha (75% more than recommended) through K2SO4 increased 18.69% sugarcane (106.7 t/ha) and 25.76% (12.01 t/ha) sugar yields over the control (no K) and was found to the best and could be recommended for improving sugarcane and sugar yields of ratoon in subtropical India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores 'Indicator Kriging' approach for assessment of health risk from exposure to trace elements concentration (δ t e ) in drinking water resources of the Central Ganga Alluvial Plain (CGAP), northern India. The estimates for δ t e were generated using analysis of groundwater samples (n = 100) collected from the Lucknow monitoring area to map the predicted area of health risk. The predicted probability maps have reclassified into a unified scale to generate Trace Element Risk Index (TERI), which has further integrated with human population count data to generate Health Risk Index of Lucknow. The results indicate that the risk is potentially alarming in urban areas as relatively high δ t e there are referring to the local (point) sources of contamination. Approximately 23.15% human population residing in about 69.77% of the total area is at moderate-to-high health risk probability. The findings of this study could help planning substantial remediation measures on long-term basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hitherto Alternaria species, viz., A. ashwinii and A. dilkushana causing leaf spot on the margins of flavescent and older leaves of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) are being reported for the first time from sub-tropical India. The new strain of fungi was isolated and morpho-taxonomic characters were studied in depth and compared to previous reported Alternaria strains on sugar beet crop in local cultivated field. The comparative analysis revealed variations within different fungal identification traits, viz., symptomatology, hyphae, conidiophore and conidial characteristics that differentiate from previous reported Alternaria strains on sugar beet crop in local area. The new taxon has been proposed as A. ashwinii Mall, Misra, Kumar and Pathak sp. nov. (MB 827099) and A. dilkushana Mall, Misra, Kumar and Pathak sp. nov. (MB 827096). This study will help in giving new direction to molecular diagnostics of these strains. The study also opens up path for future work on its ITS region (referred to as official DNA barcoding), in identifying the various protein coding genes used for boosting or replacing ITS region in species identification of fungi. Diseases are foremost restraint in attaining high sucrose content and yield in Sugar beet. Amongst the various diseases of Sugar beet, foliar diseases are the most common ones. Foliar diseases are often ignored though they cause substantial losses to yield and sucrose content. Identified two new fungal strains of Alternaria in sugar beet in sub-tropical India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorous (P) that upholds life become unattainable as most of them become unavailable due to the formation of insoluble complexes with cations such as Ca2+, Al3+ and Fe3+ forming a complex calcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2), aluminum phosphate (AlPO) and ferrous phosphate (FePO) that results in the decrease of soluble P to a greater extent. There are several reports stating that several rhizospheric fungal species play an important role in solubilizing these insoluble phosphates into a soluble form by the excretion of enzymes like phosphatase, phytase enzymes, and organic acids. In view of this, so we have collected twenty fungal isolates having probable phosphate solubilizing efficiency from different regions of Lucknow, India. Their morphological and biochemical characteristics were tested. Among all, six efficient fungal isolates were further checked at molecular level by using 18S rRNA universal primers and by RAPD means. A dendrogram indicated 40-90% homology i.e., highest similarity was found in between species of Aspergillus flavus and A. biplanus with 33.8% similarity while minimum similarity was observed among A. flavus and Fusarium oxysporum. These findings suggest RAPD proves as, a reliable molecular tool that helps in strain specific discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents disadvantaged households' ‘mental models’ about low‐fee private (LFP) schooling for their daughters in a study in Lucknow District, Uttar Pradesh. It argues that assumptions in the dominant discourse on girls' schooling in India obscure the complex negotiations and trade‐offs disadvantaged families make when considering schooling choices for their daughters. Furthermore, they obscure a focus on change resulting from and intertwined with changing socio‐economic structures and institutional contexts for schooling over time. The changing institutional context for education through increased LFP provision is the focus for analysis. Data show that participants were not selective in choosing the LFP sector by gender, and thought of it as representing the best chance for their daughters' livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]