Genome wide association study of MAGIC population reveals a novel QTL for salinity and sodicity tolerance in rice.

The present study was conducted to identify the novel QTLs controlling salinity and sodicity tolerance using indica MAGIC rice population. Phenotyping was carried out in salinity (EC ~ 10 dS/m) and sodicity (pH ~ 9.8) at the seedling stage. Among 391 lines, 43 and 98 lines were found tolerant and moderately tolerant to salinity. For sodicity condition, 2 and 45 lines were showed tolerance and moderately tolerance at seedling stage. MAGIC population was genotyped with the help of genotyping by sequencing (GBS) and filtered 27041SNPs were used for genome wide marker trait association studies. With respect to salinity tolerance, 25 SNPs were distributed on chromosomes 1, 5, 11 and 12, whereas 18 SNPs were mapped on chromosomes 6, 4 and 11 with LOD value of > 3.25 to sodicity tolerance in rice. The candidate gene analysis detected twelve causal genes including SKC1 gene at Saltol region for salinity and six associated genes for sodic stress tolerance. The significant haplotypes responsible for core histone protein coding gene (LOC_Os12g25120) and three uncharacterized protein coding genes (LOC_Os01g20710, LOC_Os01g20870 and LOC_Os12g22020) were identified under saline stress. Likewise, five significant haplotypes coding for ribose 5-phosphate isomerise (LOC_Os04g24140), aspartyl protease (LOC_Os06g15760), aluminum-activated malate transporter (LOC_Os06g15779), OsFBX421-Fbox domain containing protein (LOC_Os11g32940) and one uncharacterized protein (LOC_Os11g32930) were detected for sodic stress tolerance. The identified novel SNPs could be the potential candidates for functional characterization. These candidate genes aid to further understanding of genetic mechanism on salinity and sodicity stress tolerance in rice. The tolerant line could be used in future breeding programme to enhance the salinity and sodicity tolerance in rice. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-022-01174-8.

Transcriptome skimming of lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) cultivars with contrast reaction to salt stress.

Extensive transcriptomic skimming was conducted to decipher molecular, morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses in salt-tolerant (PDL-1) and salt-sensitive (L-4076) cultivars under control (0 mM NaCl) and salinity stress (120 mM NaCl) conditions at seedling stage. Morphological, physiological, and biochemical studies revealed that PDL-1 exhibited no salt injury and had higher K+/Na+ ratio, relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll, glycine betaine, and soluble sugars in leaves while lower H2O2 induced fluorescence signals in roots as compared to L-4076. Transcriptomic profile revealed a total of 17,433 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under different treatments and cultivar combinations that include 2557 upregulated and 1533 downregulated transcripts between contrasting cultivars under salt stress. Accuracy of transcriptomic analysis was validated through quantification of 10 DEGs via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). DEGs were functionally characterized by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and assigned to various metabolic pathways using MapMan. DEGs were found to be significantly associated with phytohormone-mediated signal transduction, cellular redox homoeostasis, secondary metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, and cellular stress signaling. The present study revealed putative molecular mechanism of salinity tolerance in lentil together with identification of 5643 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 176,433 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which can be utilized to enhance linkage maps density along with detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with traits of interests. Stress-related pathways identified in this study divulged plant functioning that can be targeted to improve salinity stress tolerance in crop species.

Soil enzymes activity: Effect of climate smart agriculture on rhizosphere and bulk soil under cereal based systems of north-west India.

In agriculture production system, soil enzymes are important indicators of soil quality. Measurements of soil quality parameter changes are essential for assessing the impact of soil and crop management practices. Keeping this in view, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the enzyme activities namely dehydrogenase (DHA), ß-glucosidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase (AcP & AlP), fluorescein diacetate hydrolases (FDH), cellulase, urease and aryl sulphatase in rhizosphere and bulk soil after 8 years of different management regimes. Soil organic carbon (SOC), moisture content and few enzyme indices such as enzymatic pH indicator (AcP/AlP), alteration index three (Al3) and geometric mean (GMea) were also measured. The treatments were conventional rice-wheat system (termed as scenario (Sc1), CT system), partial conservation agriculture (CA)-based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc2, PCA-RW), partial climate smart agriculture (CSA)-based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc3), partial CSA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system (Sc4), full CSA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc5), and full CSA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system (Sc6). Soil samples were collected from rhizosphere and away from roots (bulk soil) at 0-15 cm soil depth before sowing (from rhizosphere of previous crops), at maximum tillering, flowering, and after harvesting of wheat crop. Results showed that DHA activity was higher before sowing (59.8%), at maximum tillering (48.4%), flowering (8.6%) and after harvesting (19.1%) in rice based CSA systems (mean of Sc3 and Sc5) over maize based CSA systems (mean of Sc4 and Sc6) in rhizospheric soil. On average, ß-glucosidase activity was significantly higher in rhizospheric soils of rice based system over maize based CSA system. Before sowing of wheat, significantly higher (21.4%) acid phosphatase activity was observed in rhizosphere over bulk soils of maize based CSA system. Significantly higher alkaline phosphatase activity was observed before sowing of wheat in bulk soils of rice (25.3%) and maize (38.5%) based CSA systems over rhizospheric soils. Rice based CSA systems showed 27% higher FDH activity than maize based systems. Significant interaction effect was observed between the managements and enzymes. SOC played an important role in regulating the enzymes activity both in rhizosphere and bulk soil. Significant variation in AcP/AlP, Al3 and GMea was observed among the managements. Therefore, CSA managements are beneficial in improving enzyme activities not only in rhizosphere but also in bulk soil where residues are retained thereby may help in improving nutrient cycling.

Conservation Agriculture-based Sustainable Intensification of Cereal Systems Leads to Energy Conservation, Higher Productivity and Farm Profitability.

In the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia, the quadruple challenges of deteriorating soil quality, declining groundwater, energy shortages, and diminishing farm profitability threaten sustainability of conventional till (CT)-based cereal production systems. A 5-year study was conducted to evaluate the effect of conservation agriculture (CA)-based management (tillage, crop establishment, residue management, and system intensification through mungbean integration) on energy budget, water productivity, and economic profitability in cereal (rice-wheat, RW/maize-wheat, MW)-based systems compared with CT-based management. In CA systems, crop residues contributed the maximum (~76%) in total energy input (167,995 MJ ha-1); however, fertilizer application (nonrenewable energy source) contributed the maximum (43%) in total energy input (47,760 MJ ha-1) in CT-based systems. CA-based cereal (rice/maize) systems recorded higher net energy and energy-intensiveness (EI) levels of 251% and 300%, respectively, compared with those of the CT-based rice-wheat system (RW/CT) (295,217 MJ ha-1 and 46.05 MJ USD-1), irrespective of mungbean integration. MWMb/ZT+R utilized 204% more input energy, which resulted in 14% higher net energy and 229% higher EI compared with RW/CT. CA-based RW and MW systems enhanced the crop productivity by 10 and 16%, water productivity by 56 and 33%, and profitability by 34 and 36%, while saving in irrigation water by 38 and 32%, compared with their respective CT-based systems, respectively. CA-based system improved net energy, crop productivity, and profitability; therefore, it should be outscaled to improve the soil and environmental quality in north-west India.

Temporal changes in soil microbial properties and nutrient dynamics under climate smart agriculture practices.

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices are emerging as sustainable alternative to conventional rice-wheat system to pull up natural resources degradation across south Asia. After five years of continuous CSA based experiment, a two years study was conducted to evaluate changes in microbial biomasses (microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen), enzyme activities (alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase and ß-glucosidase), nutrient release and uptake (N, P and K) at different wheat crop growth stages. Effect of CSA practices was also studied for carbon mineralization in an incubation experiment. Four scenarios (Sc) were included in this study- conventional tillage (CT) based rice-wheat system (Sc1), partial CSA based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc2), full CSA based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc3), and full CSA based maize-wheat-mungbean system (Sc4). Soil samples were collected from scenarios at 0-15 and 15-30 cm depth at different growth stages of wheat crop namely sowing, crown root initiation (CRI), active tillering, panicle initiation, and harvesting. Analysis of soil was done for chemical properties viz. pH, electrical conductivity, available N, P, K, NPK uptake and mineralizable carbon and biological properties viz., microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), dehydrogenase activity (DHA), alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) and ß-glucosidase. Significantly higher microbial biomass carbon (42 %) and nitrogen (79 %) were found in surface soil (0-15 cm depth) under CSA based scenarios (Sc2, Sc3 and Sc4) at harvest stage of wheat over CT based/ conventional scenario (Sc1). At surface soil, alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase and ß-glucosidase activity was 58, 14 and 13 % higher in CSA based scenarios, respectively than CT based scenario. CSA based scenarios showed significantly higher C mineralization after 3 days of the incubation experiment at harvest. An increase of respectively 15, 48 and 17 % of N, P and K uptake was observed with CSA based scenarios than CT based scenario. At harvest stage, 7 % higher amount of dry matter was reported with full CSA based scenarios (mean of Sc2 to Sc4) compared to Sc1. Higher wheat grain yield of ∼10 % was recorded with CSA based scenarios over CT based scenario. Therefore, CSA based scenarios with improved biological properties and nutrient availability and uptake at different wheat growth stages resulted in higher yields and hence need to be popularized among the farmers.

Agricultural labor, COVID-19, and potential implications for food security and air quality in the breadbasket of India.

To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, India imposed a national lockdown at the end of March 2020, a decision that resulted in a massive reverse migration as many workers across economic sectors returned to their home regions. Migrants provide the foundations of the agricultural workforce in the 'breadbasket' states of Punjab and Haryana in Northwest India.There are mounting concerns that near and potentially longer-term reductions in labor availability may jeopardize agricultural production and consequently national food security. The timing of rice transplanting at the beginning of the summer monsoon season has a cascading influence on productivity of the entire rice-wheat cropping system. To assess the potential for COVID-related reductions in the agriculture workforce to disrupt production of the dominant rice-wheat cropping pattern in these states, we use a spatial ex ante modelling framework to evaluate four scenarios representing a range of plausible labor constraints on the timing of rice transplanting. Averaged over both states, results suggest that rice productivity losses under all delay scenarios would be low as compare to those for wheat, with total system productivity loss estimates ranging from 9%, to 21%, equivalent to economic losses of USD $674 m to $1.48 billion. Late rice transplanting and harvesting can also aggravate winter air pollution with concomitant health risks. Technological options such as direct seeded rice, staggered nursery transplanting, and crop diversification away from rice can help address these challenges but require new approaches to policy and incentives for change.

Effects of tillage, crop establishment and diversification on soil organic carbon, aggregation, aggregate associated carbon and productivity in cereal systems of semi-arid Northwest India.

Intensive tillage based management practices are threatening soil quality and systems sustainability in the rice-wheat belt of Northwest India. Furthermore, it is accentuated with puddling of soil, which disrupts soil aggregates. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices involving zero tillage, crop residue management and suitable crop rotation can serve as better alternative to conventional agriculture for maintaining soil quality. Soil organic carbon is an important determinant of soil quality, playing critical role in food production, mitigation and adaptation to climate change as well as performs many ecosystem functions. To understand the turnover of soil carbon in different forms (Total organic carbon-TOC; aggregate associated carbon-AAC; particulate organic carbon- POC), soil aggregation and crop productivity with different management practices, one conventional agriculture based scenario and three CA based crop management scenarios namely conventional rice-wheat system (Sc1), partial CA based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc2), full CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system (Sc3) and maize-wheat-mungbean system (Sc4) were evaluated. TOC was increased by 71%, 68% and 25% after 4 years of the experiment and 75%, 80% and 38% after 6 years of the experiment in Sc4, Sc3 and Sc2, respectively, over Sc1 at 0-15 cm soil depth. After 4 years of the experiment, 38.5% and 5.0% and after 6 years 50.8% and 24.4% improvement in total water stable aggregates at 0-15 and 15-30 cm soil depth, respectively was observed in CA-based scenarios over Sc1. Higher aggregate indices were associated with Sc3 at 0-15 cm soil depth than others. Among the size classes of aggregates, highest aggregate associated C (8.94 g kg-1) was retained in the 1-0.5 mm size class under CA-based scenarios. After 6 years, higher POC was associated with Sc4 (116%). CA-based rice/maize system (Sc3 and Sc4) showed higher productivity than Sc1. Therefore, CA could be a potential management practice in rice-wheat cropping system of Northwest India to improve the soil carbon pools through maintaining soil aggregation and productivity.

Elucidating the role of osmotic, ionic and major salt responsive transcript components towards salinity tolerance in contrasting chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes.

The growth of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is extremely hampered by salt stress. Understanding of physio-biochemical and molecular attributes along with morphological traits contributing to the salinity tolerance is important for developing salt tolerant chickpea varieties. To explore these facts, two genotypes CSG8962 and HC5 with contrasting salt tolerance were evaluated in the salinity stress (Control and 120 mM NaCl) conditions. CSG8962 maintained lower Na/K ratio in root and shoot, trammeled Na translocation to the shoots from roots compared to HC5 which ascribed to better exclusion of salt from its roots and compartmentation in the shoot. In chickpea, salt stress specifically induced genes/sequences involved at several levels in the salt stress signaling pathway. Higher induction of trehalose 6 phosphate synthase and protein kinase genes pertaining to the osmotic and signaling modules, respectively, were evident in CSG8962 compared to HC5. Further transcripts of late embryogenesis abundant, non-specific lipid transfer protein, HI and 219 genes/sequences were also highly induced in CSG8962 compared to HC5 which emphasizes the better protection of cellular membranous network and membrane-bound macromolecules under salt stress. This further suppressed the stress enhanced electrolyte leakage, loss of turgidity, promoted the higher compatible solute accumulation and maintained better cellular ion homoeostasis in CSG8962 compared to HC5. Our study further adds to the importance of these genes in salt tolerance by comparing their behavior in contrasting chickpea genotypes.

Development and use of molecular markers: past and present.

Molecular markers, due to their stability, cost-effectiveness and ease of use provide an immensely popular tool for a variety of applications including genome mapping, gene tagging, genetic diversity diversity, phylogenetic analysis and forensic investigations. In the last three decades, a number of molecular marker techniques have been developed and exploited worldwide in different systems. However, only a handful of these techniques, namely RFLPs, RAPDs, AFLPs, ISSRs, SSRs and SNPs have received global acceptance. A recent revolution in DNA sequencing techniques has taken the discovery and application of molecular markers to high-throughput and ultrahigh-throughput levels. Although, the choice of marker will obviously depend on the targeted use, microsatellites, SNPs and genotyping by sequencing (GBS) largely fulfill most of the user requirements. Further, modern transcriptomic and functional markers will lead the ventures onto high-density genetic map construction, identification of QTLs, breeding and conservation strategies in times to come in combination with other high throughput techniques. This review presents an overview of different marker technologies and their variants with a comparative account of their characteristic features and applications.

Effect of salinity and use of stress indices of morphological and physiological traits at the seedling stage in rice.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important cereal crop and a major staple food for majority of the human populations worldwide. Rice crop is sensitive to salinity. In spite of large number of studies on salinity tolerance of rice, our knowledge on the overall effect of salinity on rice seedling growth is limited. Improvement in salt tolerance of crop plants remains indescribable, largely due to the fact that salinity is a complex trait which affects almost every aspect of the physiology, biochemistry and genomics of plants. The present investigation was conducted to establish the relationship between various morphological, physiological traits and stress indices. A set of 131 rice accessions was evaluated in two levels namely, non-stress (EC ~ 1.2 dS/m) and saline stress (EC ~ 10 dS/m) in hydroponics at seedling stage. Root length and shoot lengths were reduced by 52 and 50%, respectively in saline stress compared to non-stress conditions. There was a significant correlation between various morphological and physiological parameters in non-saline in addition to saline stress as well as non-stress. The effect of the increased Na+ concentration in the medium is detrimental to root length and shoot length as observed by reduction in root length and a concomitant reduction in shoot length. Increased concentration of Na+ led to augmented Na+/K+ ratio with increased stress in the medium and decreased expression of traits. A significant positive correlation (r=0.60) was noticed between stress tolerance index (STI) of root and shoot length. The stress susceptibility index (SSI) for root length was expressed significant positive correlation with SSI for shoot length (r=0.43). SSI for K+ content was registered significant negative correlation with STI for Na+ content (r=-0.43). The three accessions namely, IC 545004, IC 545486 and IC 545215 were found to be the best performers adjudged on the morphological and physiological criteria in saline stress situation. These three rice accessions could be used as a donor parent or for genotypic studies in future breeding programs.

Degradation kinetics of bioactive components, antioxidant activity, colour and textural properties of selected vegetables during blanching.

Bioactive components of fruit and vegetables play an important role in scavenging free radicals and protect the body from degenerative diseases. A kinetic study was conducted to quantify the losses occurring in bioactive components, antioxidant activity and changes in colour and firmness of four commonly used vegetables (beetroot, green pea, eggplant and green pepper) during heat treatment (70-90 °C). The study revealed that logistic model can predict the variation in bioactive components and antioxidant activity with higher R2 and lower root mean square error (RMSE) as compared to first order model due to logarithmic reduction in these properties in the beginning of the process itself. However zero and first order kinetic models were found suitable to predict the changes occurring in colour and firmness respectively during blanching. D, z value, activation energy (Ea), activation enthalpy and entropy were calculated for all measured parameters for selected vegetables in the temperature range of 70-90 °C. These finding would be useful in designing thermal processes and related calculations for these vegetables.

Studies on Osmo-air dehydration of different Indian apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars.

Suitability of seven cultivars of apricot viz. New Castle, Kaisha, Royal, Suffaida, Nari, Kullu (Local) and Chulli (wild apricot) was evaluated for dehydration. Osmotic dehydration of fruits consisting of dipping prepared fruits in 70° Brix sucrose syrup containing 2,000 ppm potassium metabisulphite (KMS) for 24 h followed by cabinet air drying (55 °C) to desired moisture (20 ± 0.5 %) gave better dried product with good colour and appeal. Dried whole or halved fruits after removal of stones were preferred over whole fruits with stones with respect to appearance, texture and overall acceptability. Among different cultivars of apricot; cv. Kaisha followed by New Castle were found better with respect to yield as well as quality of dried product. Further, the quality of the osmo-air dried wild apricot fruits was found statistically at par with the quality of the osmo-air dried product obtained from cultivated apricots. Therefore, wild apricot fruits can also be utilized for preparation of acceptable quality of dried product.

Formulation and acceptability of foam mat dried seabuckthorn (Hippophae salicifolia) leather.

Technology for utilization of seabuckthorn berries for preparation of fruit leather/bar was optimized by modifying the foam mat drying technique. The conversion of seabuckthorn juice/pulp into foam was standardized by whipping the pulp after addition of CMC @ 0-3% at 5 °C and drying the resultant foam in dehydrator (55 ± 2 °C) to a moisture content of about 12-14%. The fruit bar prepared from sulphited juice/pulp wrapped in a butter paper followed by packing in polyethylene pouches (20 g) and stored at ambient temperature (14.6-26.1 °C) experienced least changes in quality attributes like ascorbic acid (1045.7 mg/100 g vs 997.5 mg/100 g) and carotenoids (80.4 mg/100 g vs 72.3 mg/100 g) as compared to the leather made from the unsulphited pulp. Storage studies indicate that fruit bars are mildly hygroscopic (0.46-0.65) and can be stored within the RH of 46-65% at room temperature.

The food-energy-water-carbon nexus of the rice-wheat production system in the western Indo-Gangetic Plain of India: An impact of irrigation system, conservational tillage and residue management.

The conventional rice-wheat system in the western Indo-Gangetic plain of India is energy and water intensive with high carbon footprint. The transition towards resource-efficient eco-friendly production technologies with lower footprint is required for inclusive ecological sustenance. A five-year (2016-17 to 2020-21) field experiment was conducted in RWS with hypothesis that pressurized irrigation systems [drip (DRIP) and mini-sprinkler (MSIS)] in conservation tillage [reduced (RT)/zero (ZT)] and crop residue management [incorporation (RI)/mulch (RM)] might result in higher resource use efficiency with lesser carbon footprint compared to conventional system. Experiment consisted five treatments namely (1) puddled transplanted rice followed by conventionally tilled wheat (PTR/CTW), (2) DRIP irrigated reduced till direct seeded rice (RTDSR) followed by zero-till wheat with 100 % rice residue mulching (ZTW + RM) (DRIP-RTDSR/ZTW + RM), (3) surface irrigated RTDSR followed by ZTW + RM (SIS-RTDSR/ZTW + RM), (4) MSIS irrigated RTDSR followed by ZTW + RM (MSIS-RTDSR/ZTW + RM), and (5) MSIS irrigated RTDSR with 1/3rd wheat residue incorporation followed by ZTW + RM (MSIS-RTDSR + RI/ZTW + RM). The pressurized irrigation system in RWS established under conservational tillage and residue management (DRIP-RTDSR/ZTW + RM and MSIS-DSR + RI/ZTW + RM) produced at par system productivity compared to PTR/CTW. Substantial nitrogen (79-114 ka ha-1) and irrigation water (536-680 mm) savings under pressurized irrigation systems resulted in 41-64 % higher partial factor productivity of nitrogen with 48-61 % lower water footprint. These systems had lower energy consumption attaining 15-21 % higher net energy, 44-61 % higher energy use efficiency, and 31-38 % lower specific energy. Efficient utilization of farm inputs caused lower greenhouse gas emission (39-44 %) and enhanced carbon sequestration (35-62 %) resulting 63-76 % lower carbon footprint over PTR/CTW. The information generated here might useful in developing policies for resource and climate-smart food production system aiming livelihood security and ecological sustainability in the region. Further, trials are needed for wider adaptability under different climate, soil and agronomic practices to develop site-specific climate smart practices.

Searching microsatellites in DNA sequences: approaches used and tools developed.

Microsatellite instability associated genomic activities and evolutionary changes have led to a renewed focus on microsatellite research. In last decade, a number of microsatellite mining tools have been introduced based on different computational approaches. The choice is generally made between slow but exhaustive dynamic programming based approaches, or fast and incomplete heuristic methods. Tools based on stochastic approaches are more popular due to their simplicity and added ornamental features. We have performed a comparative evaluation of the relative efficiency of some microsatellite search tools with their default settings. The graphical user interface, the statistical analysis of the output and ability to mine imperfect repeats are the most important criteria in selecting a tool for a particular investigation. However, none of the available tools alone provides complete and accurate information about microsatellites, and a lot depends on the discretion of the user.

Climate resilient integrated soil-crop management (CRISCM) for salt affected wheat agri-food production systems.

Maximizing opportunities for climate resilient agriculture is vital for global food security, and ecological sustainability. To explore the improvement potential of mitigation and adaptation strategies in stabilizing wheat production and increasing farm income in sodicity-prone Ghaghar Basin of Haryana, India, participatory research trials on land reclamation (gypsum/pressmud) and crop management (varieties, nutrient management and weed control) practices were undertaken during 2016-2020. Results indicated that combining gypsum and pressmud together accelerated the reclamation process (soil pH: -3.3% and ESP: -22.1%) and improved plant adaptability (RWC: 10%; MI: -15%; Pn: 40%; gS: 36%; NaK_S: -38% and NaK_R: -42%), which in turn increased wheat yield by 20% compared to unamended control. With increasing sodicity stress, salt tolerant wheat variety KRL 210 exhibited better morpho-physiological adaptation, lesser yield reduction (0.8-1.1 t ha-1) and attained 4.1% mean yield advantage compared to traditionally cultivated HD 2967. There were genotypic differences for N requirements in sodicity stressed wheat, with 173 kg ha-1 in KRL 210 and 188 kg ha-1 in HD 2967 as the economically optimum dose; further advocating for upward revision of current N recommendations beyond 150 kg N ha-1. Balanced nutrition through foliage applied K compensated the sodicity hazards with lower proportion of Na+/K+ in leaf tissues (13%), and attained higher grain yield (4%) and incremental income (34 US$ ha-1) compared to farmers' practice. Sequential use of herbicides provided affordable solution to check Phalaris minor infestation (84% WCE) and enhanced wheat productivity (5.7% higher) with incremental income of 48 US$ ha-1 compared to farmers' sole dependency on post-emergence herbicides. Synergistic integration of gypsum and pressmud-mediated sodic land reclamation, usage of stress tolerant wheat variety, 15% higher N application, foliar K-nutrition and effective P. minor control substantiate appreciable reduction in soil sodicity, improved crop resilience, and ultimately translated into 5% and 26% higher yields over the recommended and local farm practices, respectively. The key insights of this study suggest a range of opportunities wherein inputs of CRISCM could potentially stabilize the wheat production, improve farm economy and reduce environmental risks beyond what is currently being achieved with existing farm practices.

Energy and economic efficiency of climate-smart agriculture practices in a rice-wheat cropping system of India.

Intensive tillage operations, indiscriminate use of irrigation water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides and crop biomass burning have made the conventional rice-wheat (RW) system highly energy-intensive and inefficient. In the recent past, portfolios of climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAP) have been promoted as a potential alternative to improve the energy efficiency in conventional RW system. Therefore, to evaluate the energy input-output relation, energy flow and economic efficiency in various combinations of crop management options, a 3-year (2014-2017) on-farm study was conducted at Karnal, India. Various portfolio of management practices; Sc1-Business as usual (BAU) or Conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2-CT with residue, Sc3-Reduce tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), Sc4-RT/Zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, Sc5-ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer, Sc6-Sc5 + Nutrient expert were investigated. Present study results revealed that net energy, energy use efficiency and energy productivity were 11-18, 31-51 and 29-53% higher under CSAP (mean of Sc4, Sc5 and Sc6) in RW system than Sc1, respectively. However, renewable and non-renewable energy inputs were 14 and 33% higher in Sc1 compared to CSAP (4028 and 49,547 MJ ha-1), respectively, it showed that BAU practices mostly dependents on non-renewable energy sources whereas CSAP dependents on renewable energy sources. Similarly, the adoption of CSAP improved the biomass yield, net farm income and economic efficiency by 6-9, 18-23 and 42-58%, respectively compared to Sc1. Overall, the adoption of CSAP could be a viable alternative for improving energy use efficiency, farm profitability and eco-efficiency in the RW system.

Scalable diversification options delivers sustainable and nutritious food in Indo-Gangetic plains.

Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) of South Asia have supported bulk of human and bovine population in the region since ages, and a spectacular progress has been made in food production. However, malnutrition, diminishing total factor productivity, and natural resource degradation continue to plague this cereal-dominated region, which is also vulnerable to climate change. Addressing these challenges would require a transition towards diversifying cereal rotations with agroecological cropping systems. A study was, therefore, conducted at the experimental farm of ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal on crop diversification and sustainable intensification options using agro-ecological approaches such as Conservation Agriculture (CA) and diversified cropping systems to ensure food and nutritional security while sustaining the natural resources. On 2 years mean basis, CA-based cropping system management scenarios (mean of Sc2-Sc7) using diversified crop rotations; increased the system yield by 15.4%, net return by 28.7%, protein yield by 29.7%, while using 53.0% less irrigation water compared to conventional tillage (CT)-based rice-wheat system (Sc1). Maize-mustard-mungbean on permanent beds (PBs) (Sc4) recorded the highest productivity (+ 40.7%), profitability (+ 60.1%), and saved 81.8% irrigation water compared to Sc1 (11.8 Mg ha-1; 2190 USD ha-1; 2514 mm ha-1). Similarly, Sc5 (maize-wheat-mungbean on PBs) improved productivity (+ 32.2%), profitability (+ 57.4%) and saved irrigation water (75.5%) compared to Sc1. In terms of nutritional value, Sc5 was more balanced than other scenarios, and produced 43.8, 27.5 and 259.8% higher protein, carbohydrate and fat yields, respectively, compared to Sc1 (0.93, 8.55 and 0.14 Mg ha-1). Scenario 5 was able to meet the nutrient demand of 19, 23 and 32 additional persons ha-1 year-1 with respect to protein, carbohydrate and fat, respectively, compared to Sc1. The highest protein water productivity (~ 0.31 kg protein m-3 water) was recorded with CA-based soybean-wheat-mungbean (Sc6) system followed by maize-mustard-mungbean on PBs (Sc4) system (~ 0.29 kg protein m-3) and lowest under Sc1. Integration of short duration legume (mungbean) improved the system productivity by 17.2% and profitability by 32.1%, while triple gains in irrigation water productivity compared to CT-based systems. In western IGP, maize-wheat-mungbean on PBs was found most productive, profitable and nutritionally rich and efficient system compared to other systems. Therefore, diversification of water intensive cereal rotations with inclusion of legumes and CA-based management optimization can be potential option to ensure nutritious food for the dwelling communities and sustainability of natural resources in the region.

Effect of blending and storage on quality characteristics of blended sand pear-apple juice beverage.

Juice from sand pear and apple was extracted by grating the fruits following extraction using hydraulic press. The juice after extraction was filtered, heat pasteurized and packed in glass bottles followed by processing. Suitability of blending sand pear juice with apple juice was evaluated. Blending of sand pear juice (SPJ) with apple juice (AJ) in the proportion of 50:50 to 60:40 gave better quality with higher sensory score. With the increase in the level of SPJ in the AJ mix there was gradual increase in the level of polyphenols. Brix to acid ratio of the beverage was optimum when SPJ and AJ were blended in the ratio of 50:50 to 60:40. Storage of blended beverage containing 50-60% SPJ was found more shelf stable during 6 months storage.

Effect of cation exchange resin treatment and addition on sugar as anti-caking agent on retention of nutritional and sensory quality of lemon juice powder during storage.

Lemon juices clarified with enzymatic treatment with and without cation exchange resin treatment were concentrated to 60(o) Brix in a vacuum evaporator and converted into powders by foam mat drying technique. Powders obtained from cation exchange resin treated juice were better in quality with respect to acidity, glucose, fructose, sugars, and ascorbic acid contents as compared to those prepared form non treated juice. Further, during 9 months storage, the powders suffered slight loss of acidity, and increase in reducing sugars i.e. glucose and fructose and considerable loss (31-55%) in vitamin C contents. Storage conditions did not bring about any significant change in the ash and hesperidin content of the product. But some losses were registered in the total phenols (23.69%) and sensory quality (from 7.72 to 7.26) of the powders. Further, the powders prepared from cation exchange resin treated juice and those pulverized with cane sugar suffered overall lesser changes in most of the quality parameters during 9 months of storage, thus indicating that, the treatment of lemon juice with cation exchange resin is beneficial for better initial product quality and pulverization of prepared powder with cane sugar is beneficial in reducing the hygroscopicity and retention of quality in a better way.