Current Status of Preprint Publications by Indian Researchers

Preprints are preliminary versions of research papers that have not yet undergone peer review. In recent years, preprint servers such as OSF Preprints and bioRxiv have witnessed a significant increase in their content. For instance, the arXiv preprint server, initially established by physicists in 1991, now contains over two million records. Since preprints do not undergo formal peer review, it is crucial to critically evaluate their content to ensure reliability and utilize validated information when available. Given this context, let's explore the status of preprint publications by Indian researchers

Studies on Endogenous Hormonal Changes during Grain Development in Wheat Genotypes (PhD Thesis)

Pot culture experiment was conducted in the Rabi seasons of 2001 and 2002 in order to study the genotypic differences in grain growth rates and endogenous hormonal contents in the developing grains. The hexaploid new plant types and extant variety and other tetraploids are taken up for the study. The data on yield and yield components show that the tetraploids had higher ear number per plant but lesser number of seeds per ear and lower seed weight per ear. The most important yield component 1000-grain yield was also possessed by hexaploids. The mean plant height was found to be higher in hexaploids over tetraploids in general, and among them DL- 1266-1 and DL-1266-2 (new plant types) recorded higher plant height. Similarly, the ear length was also higher in these new plant types. But, the tiller number/plant and ear number/plant were significantly higher in tetraploids. The new plant types (hexaploids) possessed maximum grain growth rate at 5–15 DAA. DL-1266-2 recorded highest grain growth rate 0.093 g/g/day. The photosynthetic rate values show that the hexaploids possessed higher rate than tetraploids. At 7 and 15 DAA, in general, photosynthetic rate was more when compared to 25 DAA and 35 DAA. The results showed that the endogenous hormonal contents in grains during grain development had changed in sequence. At 7 DAA, gibberellic acid (GA3) content was at maximum and at 15 DAA (rapid growth phase), indole-acetic acid (IAA) reached maximum and at 25 DAA (dough stage), ABA was at the maximum. At the 35 DAA, ABA reached all time high and GA3 the least, IAA being intermediate. Among the genotypes, hexaploids recorded higher concentrations of endogenous hormones. The total chlorophyll content in flag leaves of hexaploids was higher than tetraploids. The mean total chlorophyll had increased slightly at 20 DAA when compared to 10 DAA and it decreased at 30 DAA. It appears that the high yielding hexaploids (DL-1266-1 & Dl- 1266-2) by the virtue of possessing more 1000-grain weight and leaf area along with endogenous hormones might be responsible for higher yield as compared to tetraploids. It appears that better photosynthetic rate and better mobilization of photosynthates during grain filling stage contributes for higher yield in hexaploids

Transcriptome analysis and identification of leaf, tuberous root and fibrous root tissue-specific high temperature stress-responsive genes in sweet potato

Sweet Potato is an important food crop, and its production is affected by environmental stresses, including high temperature. The gene expression patterns and molecular responses in different tissues of sweet potato under high temperature stress were studied using microarray data sets. Analysis revealed that modulation in the expression of key genes and pathways associated with various proteins including enzymes under high temperature stress in leaf, fibrous root and storage root tissues. Tissue-specific responses, with both common and unique cellular responses were observed among the tissues. Pathway analysis revealed the differential regulation of genes involved in DNA replication, metabolism, transport, signaling, and stress response during high temperature stress. Six genes viz., DnaJ-domain protein (IpDnaJ), nuclear protein (IpELF5), heat shock protein 90.1 (IpHsp90.1), ABC   transporter   (IpABC)   hydrolase (IpNUDX1)   and alternative oxidase 1a (IpAO1a), were up-regulated in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues. These six genes might play an important role in imparting high temperature stress tolerance in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues of sweet potato. The information generated provides valuable insights on leaf, tuberous root and fibrous root tissue-specific high temperature stress-responsive genes in sweet potato. These datasets will be helpful in selecting candidate genes and pathways for further functional and genomic analyses, facilitating the genetic improvement of sweet potato with enhanced stress tolerance

Climate change impacts on tuber crops: vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies

Climate change poses significant challenges to root and tuber crops, requiring robust adaptation strategies to mitigate vulnerabilities. This review examines the impacts of climate change on root and tuber crops, including rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, extreme weather events, and changes in pest and disease dynamics. These changes significantly affect root and tuber crop production, leading to lower yields, compromised quality, increased susceptibility to pests and diseases, and limited access to water resources. Adaptation strategies encompass various approaches, such as agronomic practices, crop diversification, improved water management, breeding for climate resilience, and agroecological methods. However, addressing knowledge gaps and research needs is crucial for better-understanding climate change impacts and developing effective adaptation strategies for root and tuber crops. Future research should prioritize resilient cultivar identification, enhanced cropping systems, improved pest and disease management, and exploring socio-economic dimensions of adaptation. This review emphasizes the urgent need to address climate change impacts on tropical root and tuber crops. It highlights the critical role of adaptive measures in ensuring long-term sustainability and food security in a changing climat

Availability and Accessibility of Research Outputs in NARS: A case study with IARI

This article focuses on the trends in publication, authorship pattern, availability, and accessibility of articles during 2008–2010 from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), a constituent of the National Agricultural Research System in India. The data reveal that during the period of study, researchers from IARI produced 1,833 publications, most of which were jointly authored, and that the most preferred journal for publication by researchers is the Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, which is now an Open Access journal. While publications from IARI are available to subscribers of the Consortium for e-Resources in Agriculture (CeRA), public availability to IARI publications is very meager. Hence, in order to make their research output more accessible and available to a wider audience, IARI researchers should deposit their work in IARI’s Open Access repository Eprints@IARI. However, making such a deposit requires an Open Access policy, which IARI is yet to adopt

Standardisation of fertigation in papaya for higher productivity and profitability

A field experiment conducted to standardize the fertigation in papaya (Carica papaya L.) variety Arka Prabhat with 12 treatments in split plot design, indicated that fertigation with 75% recommended fertilizers (250:250:500 g NPK/plant/year) through water soluble fertilizers recorded significantly higher fruit yield (47.34 t/ha), fertilizer use efficiency (20.45 kg fruit yield/kg of nutrient applied) and increase in 31% higher yield over soil application. The TSS of papaya fruit was although not significantly influenced by both doses and sources of fertigation, significantly lower cavity index (3.12%) was observed when RDF was supplied with organics to the soil. Fertigation with 100% RDF through water soluble fertilizers recorded significantly higher soil organic carbon (1.16%). However, fertigation of 75% RDF with inorganic fertilizers was found more economical with higher gross returns (Rs.7.10 lakh/ha), net returns (Rs.4.7 lakh/ha) and benefit cost ratio (2.96

Disordered Type-II Superconductors: A Universal Phase Diagram for Low-Tc_c Systems

A universal phase diagram for weakly pinned low-T$_c$ type-II superconductors is revisited and extended with new proposals. The low-temperature ``Bragg glass'' phase is argued to transform first into a disordered, glassy phase upon heating. This glassy phase, a continuation of the high-field equilibrium vortex glass phase, then melts at higher temperatures into a liquid. This proposal provides an explanation for the anomalies observed in the peak effect regime of 2H-NbSe$_2$ and several other low-T$_c$ materials which is independent of the microscopic mechanisms of superconductivity in these systems.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure

Studies on High Density Planting and Nutrient Requirement of Banana in Different States of India

An experiment was conducted under the ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Fruits to study the high-density planting (HDP) and nutrient requirement of banana at six research centres across the country, including Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Gandevi (Gujarat), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Jorhat (Assam), Kannara (Kerala) and Mohanpur (West Bengal) to enable higher productivity of banana and profit to farmers. The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of increasing productivity through the intervention of only per unit plant population (through planting system) and level of nutrition, but without any interference to the regional choices of variety (eg., choice variety Nendran for Kerala or Martaman for West Bengal), production system (mono/poly- clone, single/multi-year plantation, and POP of respective states), for which national productivity ranges are much skewed also. Results indicated that intervention of only plant density could increase the productivity of banana within the existing system of production and choice of a variety of different regions or states. The experiment was laid out in RBD with four planting densities (S1P2, S1P3, S2P2 and S2P3, where S1=2m x 3m, S2=1.8m x 3.6m, P2=2 suckers/hill, P3=3 suckers/hill), three nutrition levels (F1, F2 and F3 , which is 100%, 75% and 50% of RDF) and one with region-specific conventional planting density and nutrition (100% of RDF) practices as control. The results of this experiment showed that HDP (S1P3, 5000 plants /ha) in banana, accommodating three suckers per hill at 2m x 3m spacing increased productivity over the conventional system at the Bhubaneswar, Gandevi, Jorhat, Kannara and Mohanpur centres. The increase in productivity due to HDP (5,000/ha) over control was 28.9% (RDF 25%) to 50.6% (RDF 100%) at Bhubaneswar, 15.2% (RDF 25%) to 21.9% (RDF 100%) at Gandevi, 4.0% (RDF 25%) to 7.4% (RDF 100%) at Jorhat, 33.5% (RDF 25%) to 43.5% (RDF 100%) at Kannara and 46.5% (RDF 25%) to 79.0% (RDF 100%) at Mohanpur centre. The nutrient requirement under HDP was 100% RDF at Kannara, 75% RDF at Bhubaneswar and Mohanpur and 50% RDF at Gandevi and Jorhat centres, which indicates a saving in cost of fertilizer input by 25% -50%. It is, therefore, recommended for HDP (5000 plants/ha) in banana, accommodating three suckers per hill at 2m x 3m (6.6 ft x 3.8 ft) spacing with 50% RDF in the agro-climatic regions of Gandevi and Jorhat, with 75% RDF in the agro-climatic regions of Bhubaneswar and Mohanpur and with 100% RDF in the agro-climatic region of Kannara in order to ensure higher productivity and profit to farmers

Impact of carbohydrate metabolism pathways on bearing habit of mango (Mangifera indica L.) genotypes

Heterozygosity is the major constraint in perennial fruit crop like mango for regular bearing breeding. Majority of the popular mango varieties have irregular bearing habit. Many external and internal factors affect the bearing habit of perennial fruit crops. Among internal factors, the level of carbohydrate reserves and phytohormones plays a major role on bearing habit of fruit crops like apple, citrus, mango, litchi etc., Therefore, present research work aimed to study the carbohydrate metabolism pathways in regular and irregular mango genotypes of varying origin. A total of 30 primers were designed using in silico mining of four key genes coding for citrate synthase, alcohol dehydrogenase, sucrose phosphate synthase and trehalose phosphate synthase. These genes play important role in sugar and starch metabolism in mango. Of these specific primers, 14 showed polymorphism among the genotypes studied. Gene diversity (GD), average number of alleles per locus (An), polymorphism information content (PIC) and major allele frequency (Maf) observed were 0.45, 2.14, 0.35, 0.59, respectively. Simple sequence repeats markers grouped 63.15% studied mango genotypes of regular bearers together. Further, these markers could be utilized in a greater number of genotypes for regularity

Analysis of Powder Rheometry of FT4: Effect of Air Flow

Understanding of particle flow behaviour as a function of strain rate is of great interest in many items of equipment of industrial processes, such as screw conveyors, impeller mixers, and feeders, etc. The traditional commercial instruments for bulk powder flow characterisation, such as shear cells, operate at low shear strain rates, and are not representative of unit operations under dynamic conditions. In recent years, the FT4 powder rheometer of Freeman Technology has emerged as a widely used technique for characterising particle flow under dynamic conditions of shear strain rate; yet little is known about its underlying powder mechanics. We analyse the effect of gas flow on the flow behaviour of cohesionless particles in FT4 both experimentally and by numerical simulations using the combined discrete element method (DEM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results show that the effect of gas flow on the flow energy could be described by the resultant fluid-induced drag on the particles above the blade position as the impeller penetrates the bed. The strain rate in front of the blade is mainly determined by the impeller tip speed, and is not sensitive to the gas flow and particle size. The flow energy correlates well with the shear stress in front of the blade. They both increase with the strain rate and are significantly reduced by the upward gas flow