Actinomycetes: an unexplored microorganisms for plant growth promotion and biocontrol in vegetable crops.

Actinomycetes, a Gram positive bacteria, well reported as a source of antibiotics, also possess potential to control various plant pathogens, besides acting as plant growth promoting agent. Chemicals in different forms are extensively being used in vegetable farming, adversely affecting the environment and consumer health. Microbial agent like actinomycetes can substantially replace these harmful chemicals, and have now started finding a place as an important input in to farming practices. Only selected vegetable crops belonging to 11 different families have been explored with use of actinomycetes as biocontrol and plant growth promoting agent till now. It provides ample opportunities to vegetable researchers, to further explore with use of this very important group of microorganisms, in order to achieve even higher production level of safe vegetables. Mycostop and Actinovate are two actinomycetes based formulations globally available for use in vegetable farming as a substitute for chemical formulations. Present review article has summarized the literature available on use of actinomycetes in vegetable farming. Existing wide gap in knowledge, and potential thrust areas for future research have also been projected.

Epidemiological & clinical profile of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus infections during 2015 epidemic in Rajasthan.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus emerged in 2009 and caused pandemic with high morbidity and mortality in India and worldwide. The number of H1N1-positive cases varied in different years in Rajasthan. The objective of the study was to present the epidemiological profile of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus cases in Rajasthan from January to March 2015. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive, record-based analysis of suspected and confirmed cases of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus infection in Rajasthan, India, from January to March 2015 was performed. Testing was done as per the Centers for Disease Control guidelines at nine laboratories approved by the Government of Rajasthan. Data were analyzed in terms of demographic characteristics, clinical presentation and outcome. RESULTS: Among 18,187 tested cases, 6203 (34.10%) were positive. Death occurred in 378 cases, with six per cent case fatality rate. Maximum number of cases (n=2801) and deaths (n=101) were from Jaipur zone. The highest number of cases, 47.60 per cent (2953/6203) and deaths, 52.11 per cent (197/378) were in the age group of 26-50 yr; 52.64 per cent (199/378) of deaths occurred in females. The highest number (63.5%) of deaths was from urban areas. Associated risk factors were observed in 59.44 per cent of the death cases, pregnancy being the predominant predisposing factor. In 61.92 per cent of patients, death occurred within three days of hospitalization. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: H1N1 epidemic caused high morbidity and mortality in early 2015, particularly in the younger and middle-aged population and pregnant women in Rajasthan State of India. The study highlights the regular surveillance of influenza like illness, early diagnosis and timely initiation of therapy in suspected cases.

Energy auditing and carbon footprint under long-term conservation agriculture-based intensive maize systems with diverse inorganic nitrogen management options.

A greater energy grant in diesel-fed machinery driven farming substantiate the higher GHGs emission along with improper input (fertilizer, pesticide and irrigation) use and intensive soil management. Practicing conservation tillage, residue retention and diversified crop rotations were advocated because of their multiple benefits. Hence we explored the energy requirement and carbon footprint of conservation agriculture (CA) based maize production systems. Coated N fertilizer [sulphur coated urea (SCU) and neem coated urea (NCU)] were compared with unfertilized and uncoated prilled urea (PU) in the scenario of with and without residue retention on permanent beds (PB) under diversified maize systems [MMuMb, maize-mustard-mungbean and MWMb, maize-wheat-mungbean] in search of a sustainable and energy efficient production system with lesser C-footprint. Results of the 4-year study showed that crops planted on permanent bed with crop residue (PB+R) registered 11.7% increase in system productivity compared to PB without residue (PB-R). N management through Neem coated urea (NCU) recorded 2.3 and 10.9% higher system productivity compared with non-coated prilled urea plot under PB-R and PB+R, respectively. MMuMb was marginally superior than MWMb system in terms of cropping sequence yield, profitability, and energy and carbon use efficiency. Crop residue retention in zero tilled PB increased cost of cultivation by 125 and 147 USD/ha in MMuMb and MWMb systems, respectively. The quantified carbon footprint value was higher in MWMb system. In CA-based practices, crop residues management contributed the highest energy input (61.5-68.4%) followed by fertilizer application (17-20%). Among N management practices, neem coated urea (NCU) significantly improved system productivity and profitability in all the residue applied plots compared to un-fertilized and prilled urea (PU) applied plots. Similarly, higher energy output was also observed in NCU treated plots. However, carbon footprint value was higher in PU (268-285 CO2-e kg/Mg) plots than NCU (259-264 CO2-e kg/Mg) treated plots. Thus, the study supports and recommends that the CA-based MMuMb system with efficient N management through NCU is an environmentally safe, clean and energy efficient one, hence can reduce carbon footprint, will ensure food security and will mitigate climate change.

Particle size distribution and its elemental composition in the ambient air of Delhi.

This study examines the chemical composition of PM10, the thoracic fraction of the atmospheric particulate matter. An eight-stage Anderson impactor is used to separate the PM10 from other fractions with different aerodynamic behaviour at three different area representative sites in Delhi from February to May 1998. PM10 particulate are subdivided into two fractions, coarse (> 2.1-10 microns) and fine (< 2.1 microns). The concentrations of major heavy metals such as Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, and Fe are determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The average concentration of coarse fraction of PM10 is found to be 68.3 +/- 17 micrograms/m3 while the fine fraction of PM10 is 71.3 +/- 15 micrograms/m3 for Delhi. Metal concentration (except Fe) in fine fraction exceeds by a factor of up to 6, as compared to that in the coarse fraction. In order to identify the major sources of fine and coarse fraction of PM10, principle component analysis (PCA) was undertaken and three major sources were identified, namely vehicular emissions, industrial emission, and soil resuspension.