In the present study, king oyster mushroom was cultivated on seven substrates like paddy
straw, wheat straw, soybean straw, finger millet straw, groundnut shells, sorghum straw and
maize straw which have economic approach in agro industries as the residues are readily
available. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using locally
available substrates for cultivation of king oyster mushroom. According to the results of this
investigation the maximum number of sporocarps (36.33), highest yield (870.67g per kg dry substrate), highest biological efficiency (87.07%) and maximum protein content (24.33%) was observed on treatment T 1 i.e paddy straw. In contrast the treatment T 5 supported the least number of sporocarps (12.33), lowest yield (249.33g per kg dry substrate), lowest biological efficiency (24.93%) and minimum protein content (17.67%).

The ORYZA2000 model, developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and
Wageningen University, is a sophisticated tool for accurately predicting rice growth cycles and
development under varying conditions. It excels in replicating field-level crop growth through
meticulous calibration and validation across different agroecological settings worldwide.
Operating on a daily time step, the model computes plant organ dynamics at different
phenological stages by calculating rate variables for each time step and integrating state variables
over the entire crop-growing period. ORYZA2000's applications extend to simulating agronomic
management practices such as optimal fertilizer application, water management, and crop
planning without the need for extensive field data. While it is commonly used to evaluate the
impact of changing climate factors on rice yields, such as future rainfall patterns, temperature
shifts, and elevated CO 2 levels, the model currently lacks flexibility in assessing factors like pest
and disease damage, remote sensing applications, extreme weather events, and diverse crop
varieties within a single simulation run. Despite these limitations, the ORYZA 2000 model
remains a valuable tool for assessing management practices and forecasting rice production under
evolving climatic conditions based on the latest CMIP6 climate model projections. Efforts to
enhance the model's versatility in handling a broader range of factors are essential for its
continued relevance and utility in rice crop research and planning.

High density orcharding and the quest for high quality produce is gaining day by day and extending its spread
into the dry temperate regions. Lahaul and Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh, India is known for its quality apple
production but is a quite fragile ecotype with high degree of vulnerability to the climatic changes. Agro-
ecologically the region is quite variable from wet temperate conditions to highly dry temperate dessert
conditions. Intensive apple cultivation therefore in the region needs critical prior assessment for its sustained
success. The studies presented in this research article discuss the expected performance score of different clonal
and seedling rootstocks, spur and high coloring cultivars in high densities of planting. Six apple varieties on
different rootstocks under high-density plantations were evaluated for growth, yield and quality parameters. The
experiment evaluated six apple varieties ‘Super Chief/MM 106’, ‘Red Velox/M9’, ‘Jeromine/M9’, ‘Gale
Gala/M9’,‘Redlum Gala/M9’ and ‘Auvial Early Fuji/M9’ planted at a spacing of 2.5×1.0 m2 in Randomized
Block Design, with three replications. From the evaluation of data on growth, yield and quality traits, it was
found that var. ‘Super Chief/MM 106’, followed by cultivars ‘Red Velox/M9’ and ‘Jeromine/M9’, has recorded
better horticultural performance than other varieties studied. Among different varieties ‘Super Chief/MM 106’
recorded maximum annual shoot extension growth (25.72 cm), trunk girth (45.16 mm) and tree height (290.20
cm), tree spread (322.31 E-W and 291.15 cm N-S), fruit Breadth (80.17 mm), fruit weight (213.08 g fruit-1),
TSS (12.60 °Brix), fruit length (72.82 mm), fruit yield (4.61 kg tree-1) and productivity (18.44 MT Hac-1).
Cultivar ‘Super Chief/MM 106’ was found to be superior for growth, flowering, yield and quality
characteristics.

A field study was conducted during the kharif seasons of 2021 and 2022 to evaluate the efficacy
of different pre and post emergence herbicides in dry direct seeded rice (DDSR) at the
Agricultural Research Station, Kunaram, Telangana state, India. This study highlights the
importance of effective weed management strategies in dry direct-seeded rice (DDSR),
particularly under the conditions of Telangana, India.Fourteen different treatments were tested,
including both pre-emergence (PE) and post-emergence (PoE) herbicides, along with manual
weeding and an untreated control. Pre-emergence herbicides included pendimethalin 38.7% CS,
pyrazosulfuron-ethyl 10% WP, and a ready-mix of pendimethalin 38.4% + pyrazosulfuron-ethyl
0.85% ZC (Ready mix). Post-emergence herbicides included triafamone 20% + ethoxysulfuron
10% WG (Ready mix), penoxsulam + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD (Ready mix), and metsulfuron-
methyl 10% + chlorimuron-ethyl 10% WP (Ready mix). The pooled data analysis revealed that
the application of pendimethalin 38.7% CS as a pre-emergence (PE) herbicide, followed by
penoxsulam 1.02% + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD (ready mix) as a post-emergence (PoE)
herbicide, was the most effective treatment against grasses, sedges, and broadleaved weeds. The
weed control efficiency at 15, 30, and 60 DAS was higher (55.79%, 79.52%, and 83.92%,
respectively) with the application of pendimethalin 38.7% CS (PE) followed by penoxsulam
1.02% + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD (ready mix) PoE compared to other chemical herbicides and
the untreated control. Similarly, higher rice grain and straw yields, along with maximum net
returns, were observed with these combinations. Therefore, it was concluded that the pre-
emergence application of pendimethalin 38.7% CS, followed by the post-emergence application
of penoxsulam 1.02% + cyhalofop-butyl 5.1% OD (ready mix) or triafamone 20% +
ethoxysulfuron 10% WG (ready mix), appeared to be a viable strategy for weed control in dry
direct-seeded rice, ensuring higher economic returns.

Legume-centric intercropping is a sustainable agricultural approach that significantly enhances
soil fertility and health. This method leverages the unique properties of legumes, which are
capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen, thereby enriching the soil with this essential nutrient.
Legumes contribute to improved soil quality through several mechanisms: they increase organic
matter levels, enhance soil structure, and stimulate microbial activity, optimizing resource useall
of which are crucial for maintaining long-term soil health. This agricultural practice involves
growing legumes alongside other crops, allowing for the biological fixation of nitrogen, which
enriches the soil and reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers. The integration of legumes not
only boosts nutrient availability but also enhances soil structure and microbial activity, leading to
improved overall soil fertility.adopting Adopting legume-based intercropping systems is a viable
pathway toward sustainable agricultural practices that enhance productivity while fostering long-
term soil health and ecological integrity.

Pea (Pisum sativum L) is a valuable crop all over the world, is also known as “Matar”. It
belongs to family Leguminosae and sub family Papilionaceae. It’s affected by various
Fungal, Bacterial and Viral diseases. Powdery mildew of pea is one of the major diseases of
pea incited by Erysiphe polygoni DC. Major symptoms of powdery mildew disease are the
presence of white floury patches appeared on the leaves as well as stems, tendrils, pods and in
the severe condition its cover whole plant parts except root region and finally plant become
older and later stage of the crop whole plant become comparatively greyish brown and the
infected parts convey dull appearance. In extreme condition infected pods and leaves fall
down from the plant. An experiment was conducted at farm of SKNCOA, Jobner during Rabi
season 2021. Plants respond to external stimuli by altering metabolic pathways, resulting in a
cascade of different interrelated changes in biochemical processes. The incidence of powdery
mildew in pea induces change in phenol, peroxidase and reducing sugar. Powdery mildew
resistant and susceptible pea genotypes respond differentially to these traits. Powdery mildew
resistant genotypes had comparatively less concentration of reducing sugar and high
concentration of phenol and peroxidase before and after infection. All the traits being
significantly correlated with disease severity can be an important component of an effective
powdery mildew screening procedure in pea.

Apple breeding is traditionally a lengthy process due to the prolonged juvenile phase, making the development of new cultivars time- consuming. However, the occurrence of bud sport (spontaneous mutations in speci ic branches) offers a more rapid alternative for variety development compared to conventional breeding. Bud sports allow for vegetative propagation of the mutated part and molecular approaches enable early detection of genetic variation during growth. The North Western Himalayan region, particularly in areas such as Shimla, Kinnaur and Lahaul & Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, is exposed to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sun, which increases the likelihood of bud sport formation. However, the study faced challenges, such as distinguishing true bud sports from environmental or developmental variations that can mimic mutations, complicating the identi ication process. Additionally, the high UV exposure, while promoting bud sport formation, also risks causing detrimental mutations that could affect fruit quality or tree health. A preliminary survey conducted in these orchards identi ied six bud sports. Samples were collected from these trees for both fruit characterization and molecular analysis of the leaves. Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) primers were employed for the molecular study. Among the six bud sports, two exhibited signi icant genetic variations, while the remaining four displayed morphological differences from the mother trees. The genetically distinct bud sports were vegetatively propagated and maintained under controlled conditions for further study. This approach highlights the potential of bud sport selection, combined with molecular techniques, to accelerate apple breeding.

An experimental trail was conducted at Bihar Agricultural College, Sabour,
Bhagalpur during 2021-22 to find the bio-efficacy of pre and post-emergency of herbicides
under rainfed conditions in north Bihar (India). The significantly higher chickpea seed yield
(1.74 t ha -l ) and net return (₹ 72564 ha -l ) were recorded with application of topramezone @
25 g ha -l at 25 DAS over unweeded check (0.98 t ha -l ₹ 33558 ha -l ) respectively and remained
at par with pendimethalin @ 1000 g ha -l as PE fb 1 hand weeding (HW) 30 DAS (1.73 t ha -l ,
₹ 69826 ha -l ), oxyfluorfen @ 100 g ha -l as PE fb 1 HW at 30 DAS (1.67 t ha -l , ₹ 67439 ha -l ),
topramezone @ 20 g ha -l at 25 DAS (1.66 t ha -l , ₹ 69306 ha -l ) and pendimethalin @ 1000 g
ha -l as PE fb quizalofop-ethyl @ 50 g ha -l at 25 DAS (1.58 t ha -l , ₹ 64859 ha -l ) respectively
whereas maximum plant height (21.70 cm) dry matter accumulation (42.24 g m -2 ) and no of
pods plant -l (25.16) were recorded with application of pendimethalin @ 1000 g ha -l as PE fb
1 HW at 30 DAS and seed index of chickpea was recorded non-significant.

The current investigation was undertaken during kharif-2023 at Bajra Research Scheme, College of Agriculture, Dhule. The experimental material for combining ability studies was developed during summer-2023 and evaluated for ten different characters in which twelve inbreds were used and crosses were made in a 12 X 12 half diallel mating design. The resulting sixty six
hybrids along with twelve parents and two checks were grown in randomized block design, with three replications during kharif 2023. The  2 GCA was higher than  2 SCA for all yield and yield contributing characters indicating the presence of additive and nonadditive gene action, and could be improved through recurrent selection for SCA, by the way of inter-mating. The parents
viz., DHLBI- 2201, DHLBI- 2212, DHLBI- 2210, and DHLBI- 967 possessed high concentrations of favorable genes for the respective traits as they are having good GCA and highmean performance which can be further utilized in crossing programs in order to generate wide genetic variability for developing high yielding, early maturing hybrids/ varieties/ populations of pearl millet. The cross combinations viz., DHLBI-2201 X DHLBI-1825, DHLBI-2201 X DHLBI-2210, and DHLBI-2205 X DHLBI-2208 were identified as best for SCA effects. GCA effect of both these parents involved in the above cross combination was also good x average combiner. Hence, these combinations can be suggested for future breeding strategies. Also, in pearl millet mostly CGMS system is used and there restorers play a major role. This research primarily focuses on the aspect of development of the restorer.

Sweet potatoes are most valuable food security and climate-resilient crops that sustain many livelihoods in the tropics and subtropics. Orange-leshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are rich in β-carotene and it is the cheapest staple food, an easily accessible and year-round source of vitamin A. The main objective of the study was to evaluate superior orange lesh sweet potato entries for yield and cooking quality. The experiment was conducted for two consecutive years 2017 and 2018 in randomized block design with ten sweet potato entries and three replications at Horticultural College and Research Institute, TNAU, Coimbatore. The sweet potato variety CO5 was used as a local check. Out of these local check CO 5 recorded signiicantly the highest yield (28.88t ha ) which was on par with TSp 16-2 (27.25 t ha ). The marketable tuber yield was signiicantly the highest in CO5 (20.94 t ha ) which was on par with-1 -1 TSp 16-10 (19.88 t ha ) TSp 16-10 (19.88 t ha ). Signiicantly maximum dry matter content (27.28 %), and starch content (20.03 %) was recorded in TSp16-7 and sugar content (2.74 %) in TSp-16-3. Among the entries TSp16-6 recorded the highest organoleptic-1score (8.13), and Tsp. 16-7 recorded the highestβ-content (8.62 mg 100g )