Visualizing Components of Seed Yield to Identify Plant Ideotype in Field Pea (Pisum sativum L.)

The yields of pulse crops in general and fieldpea in particular have stagnated hence a study was undertaken to suggest a model plant type in fieldpea utilizing F4 populations of six crosses. Observations were recorded for nine traits on 120 randomly selected plants in each cross to work out genetic variability and phenotypic correlations which were further utilized for drawing the inferences to shape out an ideal plant type. Based on these, the model fieldpea plant with a combination of characteristics such as leafiness more number of primary branches and pods per plant, longer pods, with higher number of seeds per pod, round and large seed size was envisaged. The effect of different qualitative traits on yield contributing characters revealed that leafy and round seeded plants could be favorable components of high yield

A study on innovativeness and regulating conflicts between the fishers and farmers in the Balua wetland

Wetlands store ground and surface water even when the rainfall is erratic. However, the rising demand for water and land to sustain the ever increasing population has manifested in many kinds of conflicts in wetlands. In the study area, Balua Chaur (wetland) in Bihar state of India, 16 conflicts emerged when the flooded lands offarmers was accessed by the fishers to fish. Such conflicts had further marginalized the already indigent fishers. Factor analysis, to reduce the socioeconomic and psychological variables of the fishers that were associated with innovativeness and further analysis of ANOVA and regression was used. In case of fishers, two major groups of interrelated variables that accounted for 60.6 % of the total variance were identified through this method. Factor 1 accounted for 34.8 % of the total variance that included innovativeness, income, education, mass media exposure, extension contact, livestock ownership, land ownership, mobile use collaborating and competing style of conflict management and named as innovative factors. The ANOVA table and stepwise multiple regression model exhibited that the nuclear family type and livestock have significant impact on the innovativeness of fishers with R2 value 0.255. In this paper, peace and prosperity model based upon the analysis of primary information collected from the fishers, farmers and key informants is proposed to foster innovativeness to enhance the productivity of wetland and resolve conflict to mobilize the resources in efficient and judicial manner

Green Lean Six Sigma for sustainability improvement: a systematic review and future research agenda

Design/ Methodology/ Approach: To do a systematic analysis of the literature, a systematic literature review methodology has been used in this research work. 140 articles from the reputed databases were identified to explore hidden aspects of GLSS. Exploration of articles in different continents, year-wise, approach-wise, and journal-wise, were also done to find the execution status of GLSS. Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to explore different aspects of the Green Lean Six Sigma approach, application status, and potential benefits from a comprehensive review of the literature and provides an avenue for future research work. The study also provides a conceptual framework for GLSS. Findings: The study depicts that GLSS implementation is increasing year by year, and it leads to considerable improvement in all dimensions of sustainability. Enablers, barriers, tools, and potential benefits that foster the execution of GLSS in industrial organizations are also identified based on a systematic review of the literature. Originality: The study's uniqueness lies in that study is the first of its kind that depicts the execution status of GLSS, and its different facets, explores different available frameworks and provides avenues for potential research in this area for potential researchers and practitioners

Differential physio-biochemical and metabolic responses of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) under multiple abiotic stress conditions

The frequency and severity of extreme climatic conditions such as drought, salinity, cold, and heat are increasing due to climate change. Moreover, in the field, plants are affected by multiple abiotic stresses simultaneously or sequentially. Thus, it is imperative to compare the effects of stress combinations on crop plants relative to individual stresses. This study investigated the differential regulation of physio-biochemical and metabolomics parameters in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) under individual (salt, drought, cold, and heat) and combined stress treatments using multivariate correlation analysis. The results showed that combined heat, salt, and drought stress compounds the stress effect of individual stresses. Combined stresses that included heat had the highest electrolyte leakage and lowest relative water content. Lipid peroxidation and chlorophyll contents did not significantly change under combined stresses. Biochemical parameters, such as free amino acids, polyphenol, starch, and sugars, significantly changed under combined stresses compared to individual stresses. Free amino acids increased under combined stresses that included heat; starch, sugars, and polyphenols increased under combined stresses that included drought; proline concentration increased under combined stresses that included salt. Metabolomics data that were obtained under different individual and combined stresses can be used to identify molecular phenotypes that are involved in the acclimation response of plants under changing abiotic stress conditions. Peanut metabolomics identified 160 metabolites, including amino acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, organic acids, fatty acids, sugar acids, and other organic compounds. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that abiotic stresses significantly affected amino acid, amino sugar, and sugar metabolism. The stress treatments affected the metabolites that were associated with the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) and urea cycles and associated amino acid biosynthesis pathway intermediates. Principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and heatmap analysis identified potential marker metabolites (pinitol, malic acid, and xylopyranose) that were associated with abiotic stress combinations, which could be used in breeding efforts to develop peanut cultivars that are resilient to climate change. The study will also facilitate researchers to explore different stress indicators to identify resistant cultivars for future crop improvement programs

Biofortification of Millets: A Way to Ensure Nutritional Security

Malnutrition poses significant socioeconomic challenges worldwide, with its most acute impact felt in developing and impoverished nations. This issue is exacerbated by the reliance on cereal-based diets, which often lack essential micronutrients, as the world’s population continues to grow. Millets and whole grains emerge as promising solutions to this dilemma. Although millets have historically served as a primary energy source in regions like Asia, Africa, and other semi-arid tropical areas, their nutritional value has been underrated. Beyond their carbohydrate content, millets are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, and crucial amino acids. Biofortification, the practice of enhancing the nutrient content of staple crops, offers a cost-effective approach to address micronutrient deficiencies. Initiatives like Harvest Plus in India have introduced biofortified millets to combat widespread deficiency disorders. The global distribution of biofortified millets is supported by non-governmental organisations, the business sector, and government regulatory bodies. This book chapter delves into these critical efforts, emphasising their role in ensuring nutritional security and effectively tackling malnutrition on a global scale

Anomalous Cosmic Rays and their Ionization States

Ionization states of 16 individual anomalous cosmic ray events have been determined in the anuradha cosmic ray experiment conducted onboard Spacelab-3. The geomagnetic field was used as a rigidity filter for the energetic charged particles, and the upper limit on their ionization states is obtained by using the relation Z <= M.p.c/R/sub c/. Out of 16 events, 11 are found to be singly ionized and the other five events are consistent with their being in singly ionized states. The singly ionized nature of the anomalous cosmic ray particles suggests neutrals in the local interstellar space as their source

Breeding Drought-Tolerant Pearl Millet using conventional and genomic approaches: Achievements and prospects

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is a C4 crop cultivated for its grain and stover in crop-livestock-based rain-fed farming systems of tropics and subtropics in the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa. The intensity of drought is predicted to further exacerbate because of looming climate change, necessitating greater focus on pearl millet breeding for drought tolerance. The nature of drought in different target populations of pearl millet-growing environments (TPEs) is highly variable in its timing, intensity, and duration. Pearl millet response to drought in various growth stages has been studied comprehensively. Dissection of drought tolerance physiology and phenology has helped in understanding the yield formation process under drought conditions. The overall understanding of TPEs and differential sensitivity of various growth stages to water stress helped to identify target traits for manipulation through breeding for drought tolerance. Recent advancement in high-throughput phenotyping platforms has made it more realistic to screen large populations/germplasm for drought-adaptive traits. The role of adapted germplasm has been emphasized for drought breeding, as the measured performance under drought stress is largely an outcome of adaptation to stress environments. Hybridization of adapted landraces with selected elite genetic material has been stated to amalgamate adaptation and productivity. Substantial progress has been made in the development of genomic resources that have been used to explore genetic diversity, linkage mapping (QTLs), marker-trait association (MTA), and genomic selection (GS) in pearl millet. High-throughput genotyping (HTPG) platforms are now available at a low cost, offering enormous opportunities to apply markers assisted selection (MAS) in conventional breeding programs targeting drought tolerance. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, micro-environmental modeling, and pearl millet whole genome re-sequence information covering circa 1,000 wild and cultivated accessions have helped to greater understand germplasm, genomes, candidate genes, and markers. Their application in molecular breeding would lead to the development of high-yielding and drought-tolerant pearl millet cultivars. This review examines how the strategic use of genetic resources, modern genomics, molecular biology, and shuttle breeding can further enhance the development and delivery of drought-tolerant cultivars