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The adverse impact of climate change on crop yield has accelerated the need for identification of crop cultivars resistant to abiotic stress. In the present study, a cultivar assortment index (CAI) was generated for the evaluation of forty Amaranthus hypochondriacus cultivars response to elevated ozone (EO) concentrations (AO + 30 ppb) in Free Air Ozone Enrichment (FAOE) facility using the parameters viz. foliar injury, gaseous exchange attributes, namely, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, intercellular carbon dioxide, and water use efficiency along with above ground biomass and grain yield attributes. The dataset was used to identify key indicator parameters responsive to EO through principal component analysis (PCA) and further transformed to obtain linear score and weighted score. The CAI varied from 70.49 to 193.43. Cultivars having CAI value less than 151 were ozone tolerant (OT) whereas cultivars with CAI values between 150 and 170 were moderately tolerant (MOT). The cultivars exhibiting CAI values above 170 were ozone sensitive (OS). The cultivars exhibited differential sensitivity to EO with IC-5994 (CAI = 187.26) being the most affected cultivar whereas IC-5576 (CAI = 83.38) and IC-5916 (CAI = 70.49) being the least affected ones. The CAI, based on linear score and weighted score, offers easy identification of ozone sensitive (OS) and ozone tolerant (OT) cultivars. This index could help researchers to define a clear and strong basis for identification of OT cultivars which will reduce the time required for preliminary screening and further evaluation of crop cultivars for the development of climate smart crops.

The impact of environmental pollution (such as air pollution) on agricultural costs has received a great deal of global attention in the last 20 years. In recent years, air pollution has received serious concerns from researchers, media and the public sectors, but air pollution from agricultural production activities has not received enough attention. Air pollution is considered to be one of the major reasons for the deterioration in crops growth and productivity. The present study was carried out to explore the effect of total suspended particulate matter (SPM) deposition prevailing in the air shed (10km radius) of Thermal Power Plant (TPP), Auraiya on yield of of rice cultivars (PB1509 and Arize6444). The rice cultivars were grown for two consecutive years on farmers field of selected 8 villages located within the air shed. The SPM deposition on rice cultivars flag leaves was maximum (3.1mgcm-2) at Singanpur within 2-4 km area on the leeward side from the TPP and less impact was seen on the windward side 7-9 km at Hajiyapur (1.7 mgcm-2). Leaf area index (LAI) range of both cultivars was from 1.3 to 3.9. Yield and LAI were adversely affected by SPM deposition. Among two cultivars, the yield of Arize6444 was more adversely affected than PB1509.

Air pollution is a serious concern with the developing economics in India and gets more severe when it has major cities ranked among the top 30 polluted cities worldwide. To find a solution, different programs and/or policies have been launched for air quality management country-wide. Unfortunately, no such plan could effectively solve the purpose rather than an unexpected COVID-19 pandemic situation in India. Our study focused on the air pollution status and air quality index (AQI) in 42 cities (that includes 6 metros) representing North, South, East, West, Central, and North-East region of India during the pre-lockdown, four lockdowns and unlock phases. The results depict most of the pollutants except ozone (O3) were significantly reduced in the lockdown-1, and marginally increased in subsequent lockdown phases. Regarding the average AQI, its value was highest in North Indian cities (227), followed by East India (172), Central India (141), North-East India (130), West India (124), and South India (83) during the pre-lockdown. Due to COVID-19 induced lockdown, North Indian cities observed the highest dip in average AQI (108), followed by Central India (113), East India (82), West India (73), South India (55), and North-East India (49) in the lockdown and unlock phases. Thus, the study gave a conspicuous vision on mitigation of air pollution under this pandemic; and, if strategic centralized policies are sensibly implemented and by involving the participation of people of India, then there is a feasibility of air pollution issue management. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41324-021-00426-1.

Homegarden, a type of agroforestry system, is one of the earliest thriving traditional food systems reported. Studying the contribution of homegardens in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is crucial when the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered the achievement of many of the crucial SDGs. In this review, we focused on 94 peer-reviewed papers on homegardens from 2010 to 2021 to interrelate them with the corresponding targets and indicators of each SDG. The SDGs were classified into five categories, each focusing on a specific aspect: Category 1 (SDGs 1-5, poverty dimension), Category 2 (SDGs 6-9, development infrastructures), Category 3 (SDGs 10-12, sustainable production and consumption), Category 4 (SDGs 13-15, green infrastructures), and Category 5 (SDGs 16-17, green institutions). The distribution of the 94 papers analyzed was 92%, 23%, 33%, 51%, and 50% in each of the SDG categories, respectively. Category 1 and SDG 2 were found to be most realized in the homegarden literature. Important observations were found that highlight homegardens' probable use in providing food security, nutritional needs, health and wellness, preservation of agrobiodiversity, and enduring sustainability. Homegardens appear to be an important strategy for attaining the SDGs and can be accomplished with proper planning, in addition to taking into consideration how the traditional societies have sustained it for long.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-022-00781-9.

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Tropospheric ozone stress adversely affects crop cultivars growth and productivity variably. The variable response of crop cultivars raised the need for identification of ozone (O3) stress-tolerant cultivars as an adaptive option. In the present study, forty cultivars of Amaranthus hypochondriacus were screened for susceptibility and tolerance to ozone stress. The cultivars were exposed to ambient (AO3) and elevated (EO3) ozone levels in free air ozone enrichment (FAOE) facility and monitored for foliar ozone injury symptoms appearance and yield attributes response. Foliar ozone injury symptoms on Amaranthus cultivars were interveinal yellow or black spots. Foliar ozone injury was observed in almost half of the cultivars and the maximum foliar injury (> 75%) was observed in cultivar IC-5527. The maximum yield reduction (> 90%) was observed in cultivars IC-4200 (94.9%) and IC-5569 (91.4%) compared to other cultivars. The results showed that Amaranthus cultivars exhibited variable response towards ozone stress where foliar ozone injury does not always correspond with grain yield reductions. Among the indices, Relative Yield Index (RYI), Stress tolerance (TOL), Abiotic Tolerance Index (ATI), Susceptibility Index (S) and Stress Susceptibility Index (SSSI) were positively correlated with relative yield loss in all the cultivars under ozone stress. With the help of cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA), the cultivars were categorized into ozone tolerant, moderately ozone tolerant and ozone susceptible category. The most tolerant cultivars were IC-5527 and IC-1733 which exhibited lower yield losses whereas the most susceptible cultivars were IC-3599 and IC-7924 having high foliar injury and maximum yield losses as compared to other cultivars. The most ozone tolerant cultivars of Amaranthus identified in this study may be recommended for cultivation to farmers in the areas experiencing EO3 during the Amaranthus crop growth period.

Soil is a natural resource providing numerous ecosystem services and provision of these services totally depends on soil health and its nutrient balance which is affected by different agricultural management practices. So it’s very important to understand the effect of these practices on soil functioning. In the present study the effect of different tillage and crop residue management practices on available soil macro and micronutrients have been evaluated.To conduct the study, two treatments of farmer’s practices have been taken. First is multiple tillage with complete burning of paddy residues (Conventional practice/T1) and second one is zero tillage with complete retention of paddy residues (Conservation practice/control).Samples were collected from two soil depths (0-5 and 5-15 cm) before and after burning of residues. Available soil phosphorous, available potassium, available SOC all were increased by 10%,14.85%, 2.4% respectively at 0-5 cm depth in after residue burning samples as compare to before burning samples whereas available soil nitrogen, available micronutrients (Cu, Zn, Mn, Ni and Fe)and microbial biomass carbon(MBC) were found to be decreased in after burning samples as compare to before burning samples at same 0-5cm depth. Available P, available SOC, MBC, available potassium all were found to be 13.89%,17.7%,6.9%and 0.5% higher in control treatment as compare to T1 however micronutrient concentrations were decreased in control. The increase in some nutrient concentration due to burning of residues may be attributed to sudden increase in ash content however decrease in some parameters like MBC may be attributed to decrease in microbial population.Also the results signifies the positive impacts of conservation practices over conventional one.Keywords: Residue management, Tillage, Available nutrients.

Microorganisms produce various secondary metabolites for growth and survival. During iron stress, they produce secondary metabolites termed siderophores. In the current investigation, antifungal activity of catecholate siderophore produced by Escherichia coli has been assessed against Aspergillus nidulans. Exogenous application of the bacterial siderophore to fungal cultures resulted in decreased colony size, increased filament length, and changes in hyphal branching pattern. Growth inhibition was accompanied with increased intracellular iron content. Scanning electron microscopy revealed dose-dependent alteration in fungal morphology. Fluorescent staining by propidium iodide revealed cell death in concert with growth inhibition with increasing siderophore concentration. Antioxidative enzyme activity was also compromised with significant increase in catalase activity and decrease in ascorbate peroxidase activity. Siderophore-treated cultures showed increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species as observed by fluorescence microscopy and enhanced membrane damage in terms of malondialdehyde content. Antifungal property might thus be attributed to xenosiderophore-mediated iron uptake leading to cell death. STRING analysis showed interaction of MirB (involved in transport of hydroxamate siderophore) and MirA (involved in transport of catecholate siderophore), confirming the possibility of uptake of iron–xenosiderophore complex through fungal transporters. MirA structure was modeled and validated with 95% residues occurring in the allowed region. In silico analysis revealed MirA–Enterobactin–Fe3+ complex formation. Thus, the present study reveals a promising antifungal agent in the form of catecholate siderophore and supports involvement of MirA fungal receptors in xenosiderophore uptake.

Rapid urbanization is one of the key factors that leads to defragmentation and the shrinking of agricultural land. It further leads to the generation of an ample amount of municipal waste. Several technologies have emerged in the past for its utilization, and in this regard, composting is one of the conventional approaches gaining popularity in modern agriculture. To overcome the possible criticality of intense urbanization, the concept of urban agriculture is taking shape. Municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) has been popularly explored for the soil amendments and nutritional requirements of crops. With this, the assessment of soil pollution (due to the heavy metals presently found in MSWC) is a required step for its safe application in agriculture. The present study aims at assessing the utilization of MSWC (in different ratios) to amend the soil and its impact on the growth and yield of brinjal (Solanum melongena), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus). The study also explored the uptake of heavy metals by plants and their risk to human consumption. The findings suggested that MSWC amendments upgraded the physio-chemical properties of soil, including organic matter (OM) and micronutrients, and increased the heavy metal concentrations in soil. Heavy metal analysis underlined the presence of several heavy metals both in soil and crops. Total metal concentration in soil increased with increased MSWC dosage. Concerning metal uptake by crop plants, 25% of MSWC was found to impart metal concentrations within permissible values in edible parts of crops. On the contrary, 50%, 75%, and 100% compost showed higher metal concentrations in the crops. A Health Risk Index (HRI) of less than 1 was found to be associated with soil amended with 25% MSWC. Our study implies that MSWC significantly improved the growth and yield of crops, and it can be considered an alternative to chemical fertilizer but only in a safer ratio (≤25%). However, further studies are required, especially on field conditions to validate the findings regarding metal accumulation.

With the changing climate, reliable climate projections are essential for agriculture risk management. The present study aims to explore the output of a regional climate model (RCM) at different climatic regimes and its applications in crop simulation models. Here, a comparative study of the cotton crop growth and yield response for Akola in the central and Hisar northern agroclimatic zone of India represents rainfed and irrigated growing regions of cotton, respectively. The RegCM4 projections and its bias-corrected values of temperature and precipitation data for the period 1971–2005 are compared with the observations to assess its reliability with the crop simulation models as weather inputs. The results signify that the RCM model is wet, which implies that, it shows high rainfall intensity in terms of frequency as a number of rainy days and amount. The model also shows night warming as there is a significant decline in maximum temperature and minimal decline in minimum temperature, thus there is a reduced diurnal temperature difference. Overall model highly underestimates temperature and overestimates rainfall. Strikingly reduced numbers of intense warm and cold events are simulated. Model is highly biased for rainfall events >0 mm/day and 5mm/day, and moderately biased for rainfall >5 mm/day. Precipitation bias-correction, using quantile mapping approach, shows excellent agreement at an annual scale. But precipitation variability could not be captured that well as it is a ‘distribution-based method'. However, it worked well in the irrigated Hisar region than the rainfed Akola region. The bias-corrected RegCM4 climate inputs are utilized in Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT) simulations for cotton yields, Leaf Area Index (LAI) and ball number at maturity/m2 (NM) for both regions. Bias-corrected outputs are in better agreement with corresponding observations than non-bias-corrected outputs in both regions. Future research could apply these simulated model data complemented with reliable bias correction techniques to explicitly study climate change's impact on crop productivity.

Reports on the adverse impacts of climate change on growth and productivity of crops due to elevated temperature and carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) is persistently raising the need for development of tools to assess response of crops to climate change factors. In the present study, Crop Health Index (CHI) was generated for response of maize genotypes under elevated temperature and [CO2]. Under field condition, in open top chambers PEHM 5 and CM 119 maize genotypes throughout their crop growth period were treated with two [CO2] levels: ambient (400 ppm) and elevated (550 ± 20 ppm) and three temperature levels: ambient, ambient +1.5 °C and ambient +3 °C. Response of maize genotypes to temperature and [CO2] was monitored through thirteen stress indicator parameters – morphological, physiological and biochemical at three growth stages – vegetative, tasselling and dent. Yield for both genotypes under each treatment was recorded at maturity. The data was used to delineate minimum dataset (MDS) responsive to combinations of temperature and [CO2] treatments through principal component analysis (PCA). Out of thirteen indicators, total dry biomass, total phenol content, relative leaf water content and photosynthetic rate was found to be having higher frequencies for MDS at all three stages. Parameters selected under MDS were transformed to get linear score (Si) using a linear scoring method and weighing factor (Wf) value. Then, average linear score ( S i ¯ ) [(Si)] and average weightage score ( W i ¯ ) were used to generate CHI. Results indicated that CHI for maize genotypes under different treatments varied between 0.14–0.93. Average CHI under different treatment was significantly related with yield of PEHM 5 and CM 119 and R2 was 0.82 and 0.90, respectively. It was observed that increase in temperature had detrimental effect on CM 119 and PEHM 5 genotypes with minimum average CHI of 0.20 and 0.53, respectively. On the contrary, elevated [CO2] was found to be having amelioration effect on CM 119 and PEHM 5 genotypes to adverse effect of elevated temperature with highest average CHI of 0.46 and 0.75, respectively.

Wheat productivity declines under agro-ecosystems and areas exposed to aerosols due to decline in quality and quantity of solar radiation. Identification of low light-tolerant wheat varieties (Triticum sps.) will help in enhancing the sustainability and productivity of the agroforestry systems as well as areas exposed to aerosol pollution. The field study was conducted to assess the effects of low intensity solar radiation (LR) on 20 wheat varieties in terms of growth, stay green, gaseous exchange, yield attributes, and tolerance indices. Results indicate the increase in plant height and leaf area, reduction in photosynthesis (Pn), stomatal conductance (gs), and transpiration (Tr) in all the varieties grown under LR compared to normal radiation. The varieties, K68 and HD2643, exhibited maximum stay green compared to other varieties. LR caused reduction in biological (35%) and economic (46%) yield of wheat. Among the indices, mean productivity (MP), geometric mean (GM), stress tolerance index (STI), and yield index (YI) were positively correlated (P ≤ 0.05) with grain yield under LR (Ys) and NR (Yp). Cluster analysis indicated that varieties–HD2643, K68, Kalyansona, and C306 varieties were most LR tolerant, while DL1266-1, DL1266-2, and Moti were moderately tolerant and rest of the varieties exhibited LR susceptibility.

Ozone (O3) is a major abiotic stress which severely affects the growth and development of plants. In order to cope up with ozone stress, plants exhibit a plethora of morphological, physiological and molecular changes. Various molecular studies have been performed and a variety of genes exhibiting expression in response to ozone stress have been identified. However, no existing database has been designed yet to present information on ozone stress responsive genes differentially expressed across different plant species. The lack of a curated database limits the research potential in the area and therefore a cohesive database should be designed as a data repository of the ozone responsive genes. OSRGD ver. 1.1 is a user friendly web interface to explore ozone stress specific transcriptome dataset of different plant species. It allows users to retrieve the ozone stress responsive gene data by keyword based search. Each entry upon keyword query contains detailed information about the specific species, its foliar injury symptoms, pattern of gene expression, and platform used for gene expression analysis with reference literature. This comprehensive biocuration will offer researchers a better biological insight into plants’ response to ozone stress which will focus on development of climate smart crops through crop breeding.

In the present study wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivar HD 2967 was exposed to ambient and elevated levels of O

The world at present is facing an unprecedented threat from the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID pandemic is not only a health crisis, its management options have unprecedented socio-economic crisis. COVID pandemic lockdown variably impacted the food security and food system (both production and non-production attributes) at various spatial and temporal scales. Agriculture comes under food system production attributes which not only substantially contribute to countries’ economy, but also play a key role in national food security sustainability. The pandemic has impacted Indian Agriculture multi-dimensionally, but it cannot be looked out separately from the food system. Both on-farm and off-farm activities were affected such as manual/ machine-based crop harvesting, perishable and non-perishable crops loss, transport and markets, seed availability for the next crop, etc., each with its own socio-economic implications. There was a shortage of labourers to harvest the rabi crop and inputs (seed, machinery, fertilizer etc required for crop sowing) due to disrupted transportation. Disturbances in the transportation of harvests from the farms to markets resulted in short supply. Food supply-chain disruption resulted in economic implications including selling price reduction of farm products for the farmers but the purchase price was increased at consumer level due to short supply. This resulted in loss of income for farmers and they were having problem of repaying their crop loans, gold loans, and other informal debts as most of the crop loans are repaid between April and May and a fresh loan is granted at the onset of a new season. These elements have prompted an emergency in the scope of yields as well. However, the impact of pandemic was variable among food systems. Less affected food systems attributes have more local community linkages as compared to more affected food systems. Food systems resilience plays a key role not only in its stability but also in ensuring food security. On the basis of lessons learned in COVID pandemic, resilient food system based policy interventions needs to be implemented by state and central Governments.

Climate change is one of the alarming environmental concerns in the twenty-first century and so on affecting diverse ecosystems at various scales. Diversified plant species provides food, energy, health and other ecosystem services to human livelihood. Severely affected plant diversity due to climate change is a matter of great concern among scientists, policy makers and rising population. Hence, assessment of climate change-associated threats and opportunities to plant diversity become utterly important. Climate change has notable impact on growth, development as well as the reproductive success of plants, majorly due to change in the micro- or macro climate conditions. It also depends on the plant life form or plant groups as per-intrinsic tolerance and adaptation capacity of diverse group of plants. Multiple stresses co-occurring together under climate change vary greatly within plant group or plant types. In this chapter, we highlighted the threat posed by climate change to the plant diversity as a whole categorised under group, namely, algae, bryophyta and pteridophyte extended to gymnosperms and to the advanced or higher groups of plants such as angiosperms. In the ms the adaptive response of plant species distributed among the above group’s opportunities available to ensure ecosystems structure, processes and services were also explored and documented.

The present study was conducted to assess the response of thermotolerant wheat cultivar (Triticum aestivum L. var. WR544) to individual and combination of ambient ground level ozone (AO3) and particulate matter (PM) air pollutants with ethylene diurea (EDU) used as an ozone stress mitigator. The four treatment combinations to which wheat cultivars were exposed are T1 (AO3 + PM), T2 (EDU + PM), T3 (AO3-PM), and T4 (EDU-PM). The effect of different treatments on morphological (foliar ozone injury, leaf area, shoot height, number of leaves, and total biomass), biochemical (leaf extract pH, electrical conductivity, relative water content, total chlorophyll, ascorbic acid content), nutritional (leaf carbohydrate content and leaf protein content), and yield (biological yield, economic yield, and harvest index) attributes of the cultivar were monitored. The plants under T1 experienced 20–30% foliar ozone injury and recorded lowest economic yield (0.58 g/plant). Plants under T2 and T3 showed visible foliar ozone injury range between 0 and 5% whereas plants under T4 exhibited negligible ozone injuries. EDU-treated plants without PM deposition (T4) exhibited better morphology, leaf protein content, leaf carbohydrate content, biological and economic yield as compared to T1-, T2-, and T3-treated plants but EDU was only partially effective. Despite being a thermotolerant variety, WR544 gets adversely affected by the individual and combined exposure of AO3 and PM air pollutants. These result findings highlighted the need for more detailed study of air quality impact on the thermotolerant cultivars of other key crops to individual and combined air pollutants.

The original article has been published inadvertently with some errors in Table 6—the last sentence of the abstract and the last sentence after Eq. (2) (581 mm). The corrected Table 6 is given below."

Wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum, sp. Ciceris (FOC) is an important disease causing losses up to 10% in chickpea yield. Experiments were conducted growing chickpea in free air ozone and carbon dioxide enrichment rings under four treatments of elevated ozone (O3) (EO:60 ± 10 ppb), elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) (ECO2:550 ± 25 ppm), combination of elevated CO2 and O3 (EO + ECO2) and ambient control for quantifying the effect on growth, yield, biochemical and nutrient content of chickpea. For studying the impact on wilt disease, chickpea was grown additionally in pots with soil containing FOC in these rings. The incidence of Fusarium wilt reduced significantly (p < 0.01) under EO as compared to ambient and ECO2. The activities of pathogenesis-related proteins chitinase and β-1,3- glucanase, involved in plant defense mechanism were enhanced under EO. The aboveground biomass and pod weight declined by 18.7 and 15.8% respectively in uninnoculated soils under EO, whereas, in FOC inoculated soil (diseased plants), the decline under EO was much less at 8.6 and 9.9% as compared to the ambient. Under EO, the activity of super oxide dismutase increased significantly (p < 0.5, 40%) as compared to catalase (12.5%) and peroxidase (17.5%) without any significant increase under EO + ECO2. The proline accumulation was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in EO as compared to EO + ECO2, and ECO2. The seed yield declined under EO due to significant reduction (p < 0.01) in the number of unproductive pods and seed weight. No change in the protein, total soluble sugars, calcium and phosphorus content was observed in any of the treatments, however, a significant decrease in potassium (K) content was observed under EO + ECO2. Elevated CO2 (554ppm) countered the impacts of 21.1 and 14.4 ppm h (AOT 40) O3 exposure on the seed yield and nutrient content (except K) in the EO + CO2 treatment and reduced the severity of wilt disease in the two years' study., Wilt; Elevated ozone; Elevated carbon dioxide; Chickpea; Fusarium oxysporium

Pollutants are important determinants of respiratory morbidity. This study endeavours to explore the roleof vegetation in air quality improvement. The 24 hour average of prevailed ambient levels of air pollutants,(PM2.5), (NO2) and (NO) at four sites of Delhi were recorded. The abundance, frequency and density ofvegetation was assessed using belt transect method. Software i- Tree Canopy was used to assess the amountof pollution removal and carbon sequestration potential by vegetation. Results indicate that Pusa hadhighest abundance (6.7), frequency (86%) and density (6.2) of vegetation as compared to Dwarka, Rohiniand ITO sites. ITO had minimum abundance (2.0), frequency (50%) and density (1.9) of vegetation. Thecorrelation between the abundance, frequency and density of vegetation and ambient levels of air pollutantswas negative. The i-tree software indicates that the potential of vegetation in removing the load of airpollutants was significant. The quantity NO2 and PM2.5 removed by vegetation of Pusa, Dwarka, Rohiniand ITO sites were 331.2g and 128.5g; 117.7g and 46.4g; 67.6g and 26.6g and 37.6g and 15g respectively.The carbon sequestration potential was maximum (520Kg in year) and minimum (60.2Kg in year) at Pusaand ITO respectively. Regression equations were accordingly computed, which could predict the potentialpollution removal with vegetation. Objective evidence based estimation of potential reduction of pollutantswith planting trees, has important implications on public health.

The study presents the first experimental evidence of the effects of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) deposition on two basmati (scented) rice varieties [Pusa Basmati-1509 (PB-1509) and Pusa Sugandh-5 (PS-5)] grown in Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India. Atmospheric PM load at the experimental site during rice crop growth period (August–November) was in the range of 162–660 μgm−3. The rice varieties growth, biochemical, physiological and yield attributes were monitored under three levels of PM deposition namely - low levels of PM deposition (LPM), ambient levels of PM deposition (APM) and elevated levels of PM deposition (EPM). PM deposition and PM flux on the canopy of rice varieties were 400–574 μgcm−2 and 24–58 μgcm−2day−1, respectively. PM deposition was 4.5% higher on the PS-5 than PB-1509 and among growth stages; it was the highest during the reproductive growth stage. Significant reduction in chlorophyll, leaf water and carotenoid content were observed in both varieties under EPM compared to APM. The air pollution tolerance index (APTI) also declined significantly. PM deposition enhanced leaf temperature (1–6%) of rice varieties under EPM compared to APM. The reduction in photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration of rice varieties under EPM were in the range of 9–52%; 6–40% and 8–46%, respectively compared to APM. PM deposition effects on plant height, the number of tillers and recoverable root biomass were found non-significant. PS-5 and PB-1509 exhibited 4–7% enhancement and 7.5–14% reduction in grain yield under LPM and EPM compared to APM, respectively. The results of the study indicate that increasing atmospheric PM pollution in IGP may adversely affect productivity and economic gains from scented basmati varieties of rice.

Particulate matter (PM) deposition on leaves adversely affects physical, chemical and biological nature of agricultural crops resulting in their loss of productivity and yield. Wheat being a staple food in major parts of Northern India and around the World, has been selected for research purpose by designing a study to explore the probable effects of PM deposition on wheat leaves and wheat crops to ensure the food security. PM5 (Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter 1.20–1.40) and CIR (>0.70–0.80) for both PM5 and leaf_DDPM were observed. The size distribution of individual particles for both PM5(#194 particles) and Leaf_DDPM(#657 particles) revealed that Surface Equivalent Radius (SER) and Volume Equivalent Radius (VER) of particles observed to be 0.40–0.80 μm while surface area to be 0–1 μm2. These particles may easily block stomatal openings (with typical diameter range: 42–51 μm) of wheat leaves and damage internal leaf tissues while particle VER determines the interaction of incoming solar radiation with leaf surfaces. Average PM5 concentrations ± Standard deviations (μg/m3) were reported to be 231.05 ± 113.03. The XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) spectrometer analysis of bulk PM5 revealed the concentrations of non-carbonaceous elements (μg/m3) as N (67.34 ± 16.09), Si (27.44 ± 11.01), Al (7.79 ± 3.37), S (3.88 ± 2.24), Na (2.29 ± 0.94), Mg (1.65 ± 0.62), K (0.51 ± 0.26), Ca (0.60 ± 0.26), Fe (0.54 ± 0.26), Cr (1.10 ± 0.70), Zn (0.05 ± 0.03), P (0.10 ± 0.03), Cu (0.07 ± 0.06). The dominant elemental oxides were calculated as SiO2, Al2O3, SO 4 2 − , Na2O, MgO, K2O, CaO, Fe2O3, Cr2O3, ZnO, P2O5, Cu2O with variable concentrations. In high humid conditions, with relative humidity (~85%) during the vegetative and flowering growth stages of wheat crops, presence of C and S rich acidic and hygroscopic particles may cause the corrosion of wheat leaves that ultimately affect the wheat crops.

The study was conducted with an aim to provide practical solution for the groundwater management in three villages namely Singhola, Ghoga and Dhirpur of the North-West Delhi, India. LANDSAT remote-sensing datasets for the last four decades (1977–2018) were assessed to determine changes in vegetation cover at the selected sites. The Google Earth Engine was used to determine how values of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were found to have varied spatially and over time for the selected sites. Strong correlations were found between the NDVI values of surface features including waterbodies, forest land, agricultural land and urban areas in Singhola, Ghoga and Dhirpur, respectively. The relative infiltration capacity of soils was highest (92.9%) and lowest (57%) for Singhola and Dhirpur, respectively, due to spatial differences in soil texture. In each village, locations exhibiting a higher soil infiltration capacity could be used for implementing managed aquifer recharge schemes using rainwater harvested from rooftops in the villages. This assessment indicated that the village of Ghoga has the highest potential (3,76,98,013.08 m3) for aquifer recharge through rooftop rainwater harvesting as compared to the other two villages.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is considered to be of great concern due to its adverse impact on the human health nowadays. The presence of different air pollutants along with noise may aggravate the IAQ. The present study attempts to examine IAQ in terms of major criteria air pollutants (O3, NOx=NO+NO2, CO and PM2.5) along with total volatile organic compound (TVOC), individual VOC and noise pollution in indoor and outdoor environment of a Commercial Shopping Complex (CSC) in Delhi. Real time measurements have been carried out for O3, NOx, CO, PM2.5, TVOC and noise while thirteen individual VOCs have been estimated using NIOSH method was performed using Gas Chromatograph. The study also aimed to find out the relationship among VOCs, source estimation using Principal Component Analysis. The observed results for the targeted pollutants were also compared with international and national recommended permissible values. The mean values of O3, NOx, CO, PM2.5 and TVOC are found to be 17.6/(15.0) ppb, 15.8/(14.1) ppb, 8.4/(1.9) ppm, 125.4/(74.6) μg/m3 and 412.5/(226.5) μg/m3 for indoor/(outdoor), respectively. Among the individual VOC, toluene was the most abundant followed by xylene-isomers and benzene. The noise pollution level in Indoor/outdoor were found to be 51.5/46.4dB which is below the guideline value (65dB) provided by the WHO. Most of the pollutants were found to have indoor sources. The different kinds of pollutants and noise may have synergistic effect and aggravate the health of the people working and visiting the CSC.

Tropospheric ozone (O3) adversely affects growth and productivity of crops and also influences crop–pathogen interactions. Adverse effects of O3 on crops can be mitigated by antioxidants application. In the present study through lab and field experiments impact of O3 and antioxidants treatment to wheat was assessed on growth of Bipolaris sorokiniana (BS-75 strain) pathogen responsible for Spot blotch disease, pathogenesis related (PR) proteins and chitinase content. Results showed that growth of Bipolaris was significantly higher in elevated ozone (EO3) exposed plants as compared to control plants. Antioxidants – ascorbic acid (AA), tagetes extract (T) and quercetin (Q) application on culture media and wheat plants, respectively, retarded the growth of Bipolaris sorokiniana. Among the three antioxidants minimum growth of Bipolaris was observed in AA-treated plants as compared to control plants. Reduction in chitinase activity and PR proteins content due to EO3 treatment in wheat plants was 18% and 78%, respectively, as compared to control plants. Increase in chitinase activity and PR proteins content due to antioxidants treatment in wheat plants was 45% and 60%, respectively, as compared to control plants.

In the present study, effect of elevated temperature and CO2 levels was assessed on maydis leaf blight (MLB) disease tolerance attributes of two maize genotypes PEHM 5 (moderately resistant) and CM 119 (highly susceptible). The maize genotypes were exposed to two CO2 levels: ambient (400 ppm) and elevated (550 ± 20 ppm) and three temperature levels: ambient, 1.5 °C higher than ambient and 3 °C higher than ambient temperature throughout crop growth periods. Disease severity in CM 119 was higher than PEHM 5 in all treatments. The disease severity increased when temperature was increased 3 °C higher than ambient temperature, but effect of temperature was subsided when CO2 concentration was increased from ambient to 550 ppm level. Maximum (76.5% and 95.4%) and minimum (61.7% and 78.7%) disease severity in PEHM 5 and CM 119 was observed in 3 °C elevated temperature and ambient CO2 level; and ambient temperature and elevated CO2 level, respectively. Six disease stress tolerance attributes were calculated based on yield under diseased (Ys) and without disease condition (Yp). Both Ys and Yp were positively correlated with disease stress tolerance index (DSTI), mean productivity (MP) and geometric mean productivity (GMP) and negatively correlated with disease tolerance (TOL) and disease stress susceptibility index (DSSI). Results showed that with the increase in ambient temperature, severity of MLB disease is likely to increase in future.

The present study deals with the concentrations of individual and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) present in the ambient atmosphere of Delhi. Sampling was done in four different zones, viz. residential, commercial, industrial and heavy traffic density area (HTDA) during rush and non-rush hours. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-1501 standard method was used for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) measurements while real-time monitoring was done for TVOC using a data-logging photoionization detector. Results showed that the mean concentrations of TVOC and ∑BTEX were found to be highest in HTDA as compared to those in other zones. Toluene contributed the most among BTEX as 28.5, 108.6, 129.6 and 104.5 μg/m3 at residential, commercial, industrial and HTDA, respectively. However, the concentrations of TVOC were found to be 518.9 μg/m3 in HTDA followed by industrial (511.3 μg/m3), commercial (429.6 μg/m3) and residential areas (199.5 μg/m3). It is noted that the concentrations of the pollutants were observed to be higher during rush hours in contrast to non-rush hours due to more number of vehicles plying the road. After examining the seasonal variability, the winter samples showed the highest concentrations of the pollutants which could be due to stable environment. In order to identify the sources, characteristic ratios and correlation analysis were also done. Cancer and non-cancer risks were estimated for BTEX using US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidelines. The estimated lifetime cancer risk (LCR) in this study exceeded the value of 1.0 × 10−6 recommended by the USEPA for adults and children in all zones. The population groups are in the category of “possible risk” after comparing with the Sexton’s classifications of cancer risk.

Water, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are important natural resources required for crop production. Footprints of these three natural resources are useful indicators of consumption and pollution. The present project is aimed to determine the water, carbon and nitrogen footprints of major crops of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGPs). Field experiments were conducted, and modelling tools were used to quantify water, C and N footprints of rice and wheat crops in IGP. Four locations (Karnal, Delhi, Varanasi and Kalyani) were selected for the study representing different transects of IGP. Carbon footprint (CFP) of rice crop in Karnal and Delhi was found to be higher than Varanasi and Kalyani due to application of more amounts of agri-inputs and more use of farm machineries leading to higher GHG emission. Although GHG emission in wheat is also more in Karnal, higher yield of wheat crop led to lower CFP than Varanasi. Water footprint (WFP) of rice production was higher in Karnal, Delhi and Varanasi than Kalyani region mainly due to higher evapotranspiration. QGIS software was used to prepare geospatial maps of carbon and water footprint for IGP. The study will help in identifying regions and crops having higher footprints and also select alternative management practices which will help in lowering water, C and N footprints of agricultural production.

A glasshouse pot culture study was carried out with the aim to assess the potential toxic effects of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cd, Hg, and Pb) on two rice varieties (Pusa 44 and PB1509). Heavy metals get accumulated in different parts of rice plant (Oryza sativa L.) including the grains. The highest concentration of heavy metals in this study was in the roots observed rather than shoots and grains in both the rice varieties. Soil-to-grain transfer factor for non basmati rice for Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr, and Hg was 0.070, 0.028, 0.079, 0.0058, and 0.0049, respectively, and for basmati rice for Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr, and Hg was 0.065, 0.023, 0.072, 0.0050, and 0.0038, respectively. Average microbial population was more in the rhizosphere of Pusa 44 as compared to PB1509 under control condition. The viable population of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes was adversely affected by increasing concentration of each heavy metal. Mycorrhizal colonization was low on roots of Pusa 44 and PB1509 under metal treatments as compared to control and was minimum (22–26%) under Hg treatment.

The present study endeavours to explore the role of vegetation in air quality improvement at selected sites of Delhi. The study was conducted at four sites of Delhi-Pusa in Central Delhi, ITO in East Delhi, Dwarka in South West Delhi and Rohini in North West Delhi. To monitor and quantify the abundance, frequency and density of vegetation of the sites,belt transect method (with 500m transect and 30 quadrats of 0.5 x 0.5m) was used. Results of the study indicate that Pusa had highest abundance(6.7), frequency(86%) and density(6.2) of vegetation as compared to Dwarka, Rohini and ITO. ITO site has minimum abundance (2.0), frequency (50%) and density (1.9) of vegetation. There was a statistically negative correlation between the abundance, frequency and density of vegetation and ambient levels of chemical air pollutants. Physical pollutant (PM 2.5 ), doesn’t seem to get affected by vegetation. The study indicates that the contribution of vegetation is significant in improving air quality of urban areas.

The objectives of the Winter Fog Experiment (WIFEX) over the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India are to develop better now-casting and forecasting of winter fog on various time-and spatial scales. Maximum fog occurrence over northwest India is about 48 days (visibility

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is considered to be of great concern due to its adverse impact on the human health nowadays. The presence of different air pollutants along with noise may aggravate the IAQ. The present study attempts to examine IAQ in terms of major criteria air pollutants (O