Influence of Abiotic Stresses on Seed Production and Quality

Climate change is exerting detrimental impacts on agriculture through various biotic and abiotic stresses. Abiotic stresses such as drought, flood, temperature extremes, salinity, chemicals, heavy metals, nutrient scarcity/toxicity, wind and light in combination more adversely affect the seed production and quality by hampering plant’s morphological, physiological, cellular, biochemical and molecular activities than alone, resulting in poor production of high-quality seeds. Deterioration of yield and quality arises also under abiotic stresses. Under abiotic stresses, plant activates its own defensive mechanisms by escaping, avoiding and tolerating stresses. Some of the plant’s defensive mechanisms include plant’s morphological, cellular, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes to adapt the stresses, synthesis of compounds such as ABA, proline, polyamines increasing the activities of ROS quenchers, expression of stress-resisting genes and activation of enzymes. Further, exogenous application of phytohormones, stress-alleviating compounds, modification of agronomic management, modern breeding strategies such as development of resistant varieties can also help to cope up with stresses and produce quality seeds. Financial and policy support of government or NGOs regarding development of infrastructure, research technologies and thereby, multi-locational trials as well as technology transfusion through extension activities are needed to curtail down the devastating impact of abiotic stresses on quality seed production

Organic Farming to Mitigate Abiotic Stresses under Climate Change Scenario

Climate change is resultant from modern-day chemical agriculture, which is creating negative impacts on crop production. Global agriculture is now facing various problems arising due to abiotic stresses such as flood, drought, temperature extremes, light extremes, salinity, heavy metal stress, nutrient toxicity/deficiency. These stresses not only hamper the growth and production but also reduce the quality of crops through morphological, physiological, biochemical changes and synthesis of ROS. Further, they negatively impact on entire environment specially soil health. Deterioration of yield and quality often occurs due to lack of essential inputs to plants under abiotic stresses. Although plants adopt defensive mechanisms, such abiotic stresses need to be addressed properly with various eco-friendly organic farming approaches. Different organic inputs like organic manures, biofertilizers, bio-priming with micro-organisms, bio-stimulants (seaweed extracts, humic acid, micro-organisms, etc.), mulches, biochar are known to alleviate abiotic stresses under climate change scenario. Further, various organic agronomic practices viz. crop rotation, intercropping, tillage, sowing methods and time, nutrient, water and intercultural operations, use of PGPB, organic formulations, grafting, selection of resistant/tolerant varieties and other scientific/wise uses of organic inputs can mitigate/escape the negative impacts of abiotic stresses resulting in upliftment in crop production as well as the quality of produce

Proficiency Testfor Proximate Analysis of Coal: Determination of Moisture, Ash, Volatile Matter and Total Sulfur

Proficiency test (PT) is an important way of meeting the requirements of NABL accreditation (ISO/IEC 17025) in the areas of chemical testing. It provides laboratories with an objective means of assessing and demonstrating the reliability of data they produce. In this study, 18 laboratories interested in the ultimate analysis of coal participated in a proficiency test conducted by CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur in collaboration with CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi in 2011-12. The participating Iaboratories used classical and instrumental methods of analysis to determine moisture, ash, volatile matter and total sulfur in a homogenized coal sample. This paper reports the analytical results and statistical evaluation of the results using z-score

International Consensus Statement on Rhinology and Allergy: Rhinosinusitis

Background: The 5 years since the publication of the first International Consensus Statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Rhinosinusitis (ICAR‐RS) has witnessed foundational progress in our understanding and treatment of rhinologic disease. These advances are reflected within the more than 40 new topics covered within the ICAR‐RS‐2021 as well as updates to the original 140 topics. This executive summary consolidates the evidence‐based findings of the document. Methods: ICAR‐RS presents over 180 topics in the forms of evidence‐based reviews with recommendations (EBRRs), evidence‐based reviews, and literature reviews. The highest grade structured recommendations of the EBRR sections are summarized in this executive summary. Results: ICAR‐RS‐2021 covers 22 topics regarding the medical management of RS, which are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Additionally, 4 topics regarding the surgical management of RS are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Finally, a comprehensive evidence‐based management algorithm is provided. Conclusion: This ICAR‐RS‐2021 executive summary provides a compilation of the evidence‐based recommendations for medical and surgical treatment of the most common forms of RS

Growth, Yield, Seed and Seedling Quality Parameters of Rapeseed-mustard Varieties under Different Seed Priming Options

Rationale: Crop production and quality of produce get affected by drought, stand establishment and low availability of nutrients. Apart from various prevailing methods, seed treatment through priming now-a-days has been found to noticeably improve crop establishment for increasing seed yield and quality. Aim: To study the effect of various seed priming options on rapeseed-mustard varieties. Place of Study: A field experiment was conducted at AB Block Farm, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India during winter season of 2017-2018. Methodology: Experiment comprised six rapeseed-mustard varieties (Anushka, Sanchita, TBM-143,TBM-204, Kranti and Pusa Bold) in main plot and five seed priming options (KH2PO4 @ 0.15 mol 100 ml water-1 5 g seeds-1, KNO3 @ 0.1 mol 100 ml water-1 5 g seeds-1, PEG 6000 @ -0.3 MPa 100 ml water-1 5 g seeds-1, hydro priming @ 100 ml 5 g seeds-1 and control) in subplot, replicated thrice in a split plot design. Observations on growth and yield contributing parameters were recorded from the field. Further, various quality parameters of seed and seedlings were evaluated in the laboratory. Data on all the parameters were finally statistically analyzed. Results: Among the varieties, Pusa Bold performed better in terms of growth, yield contributing parameters and seed yield under seed priming through either KH2PO4 @ 0.15 mol 100 ml water-1 5 g seeds-1 or PEG 6000 @ -0.3 MPa 100 ml water-1 5 g seeds-1. Seed and seedling quality parameters such as root and shoot lengths, seedling fresh and dry weights, germination % and vigour index were also improved under the same. Conclusion: Cultivation of mustard variety, Pusa Bold by seed priming through any of those two chemicals (KH2PO4 or PEG 6000) can be recommended for New alluvial zone of West Bengal, India

Effect of Corm and Soil Treatments with Organic Liquid Formulations on Performance of Elephant Foot Yam in Jharkhand, India

A field experiment was carried out at the farm of Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Morabadi, Ranchi during kharif season of 2022 with 10 treatments (T1: control or no treatment, T2:  Corm treatment with Beej Sanjeevani, T3:  Corm treatment with Beejamrit, T4: Soil application of Jiwamrit, T5: Soil application of Panchagavya, T6: Soil application of Jiwamrit + Panchagavya, T7: Corm treatment with Beej Sanjeevani + soil application of Jiwamrit, T8: Corm treatment with Beej Sanjeevani + soil application of Panchagavya, T9: Corm treatment with Beejamrit + soil application of Jiwamrit, T10: Corm treatment with Beejamrit + soil application of Panchagavya) placed in three times replicated randomized block design to study the growth, yield and production economics of elephant foot yam under uses of organic corm and soil treatments. Results revealed that corm treatment with Beejamrit + soil application of Jiwamrit resulted in higher growth attributes, corm length (23.3 cm), dimeter (26.9 cm) and yield (32.8 t/ha). This corm + soil treatment also recorded the highest gross return (INR.2,62,400/ha), net return (INR.1,69,189/ha) and B:C (2.82). It also increased soil microbial population dynamics especially total bacteria (69.7 CFU × 106/g of soil)

Laboratory-Scale Tests for the Utilization of High Ash Non-Coking coal in Coke-Making Process

India has vast coal resources all over the country; however, the presence of high ash content makes them invulnerable for industrial usage. To compensate for the rapid depletion of high-quality coking coals and to compensate for the demand for coal in iron and steel sectors, coal cleaning or beneficiation and blending techniques have come into limelight for the usage of low-quality coal. In this paper, laboratory-scale experiments were performed on the utilization of Indian high ash non-coking coal (NCC) and imported semi-coking coal (SCC) for the coke preparation. At first, washability characteristics of Indian high ash coal were investigated by using jigging, spiral concentration, and sink and float density separation methods. The optimum cut-off density NCC and SCC coals were blended and sent for the caking properties analysis. Proximate and ultimate analysis, vitrinite reflectance, crucible swelling number, and caking index or roga index have been taken as the measure for the caking ability of coal blends

Distribution of mineral species in different coal seams of Talcher coalfield and its transformation behavior at varying temperatures

Mineral phase characterization and thorough understanding of its transformation behavior during combustion are imperative to know the potential utilization of coal in the thermal industries. The primary objective of this work is to analyze the quality of Indian Coals and obtain their mineral species-specific information at different depths. The samples were obtained from Talcher Coalfield, Odisha, India. Coal from four seam sections in the Talcher coalfield, India are mainly high ash coal (>50 %) and volatile matter deceases along with the seam depth. XRD results show that the major mineral phases present in the coal are quartz and kaolinite. Siderite, illite, and anatase were found in minor quantities. It has been observed that the clay minerals (kaolinite, silimanite, illite) decompose at higher temperature and traces of dolomite, mullite, hematite etc. are formed during the process of combustion. Among the four seams (M2, M12, M24 and M43) studied, ash of M43 has high Al2O3%, TiO2% and K2O% content and low SiO2%, CaO% and MgO% content. High acid-to-base ratios contributed to high ash fusion temperatures (IDT > 1500 °C) and low slagging potential of the coals studied. Relatively low fouling index (<0.3) was estimated for all the coal seams studied. Furthermore, thermodynamic modeling software, FactSage, have been used to envision the mineral phase transformations that take place between 800 and 1500 °C during coal combustion

Uncertainty of measurement for determination of major elements in iron ore using ICP-OES

Quality of analytical results (chemical metrology) is a major issue in industry as important decisions are often made based on these results which affect production process, trade, healthcare, and societal problems. For a long time it is observed that chemical analysis provided by different organizations for the same sample vary significantly. The variation is also observed within the same organization when the analysis is performed by different people, leading to ambiguity of the produced values. The uncertainty of a measurement is a parameter, associated with the result of a measurement that characterizes the dispersion of true values, which could reasonably be attributed to the measurand. The parameter may be the standard deviation (or a given multiple of it) or the half width of an interval having stated level of confidence. Efforts have been made to evaluate the uncertainty arising from the iron ore during the process of sample preparation and analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Quantitative analysis of ICP-OES results of iron ore comprises influence of all possible sources and factors of uncertainty including sample preparation technique, measurement principle, analyte concentration, matrix properties etc. Uncertainty evaluation is not a simple task because of peculiarities of chemical measurement. The chemical parameters always are transformed into physical parameters (intensity measurement) and only then this value is measured. The present paper discusses quantitative evaluation of chemical analysis of major elements in iron ore and its impact on uncertainty of measurement results in ICP-OES