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Conventional agriculture plays a substantial role in meeting the food demands of a growing human population, which has led to an increased reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Chemical fertilizers are industrially manipulated substances and composed of known amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In appropriate and misuse use of chemical fertilizers causes air and ground water pollution by eutrophication of water bodies and causing health problem in human. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to emphasize the importance and use of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) as a gateway to sustainable agriculture that could ensure plant productivity and quality agricultural practices in an environment friendly manner. In this respect, efforts have been made to products of nutrient rich high-quality food in feasible way to ensure bio-safety. The innovative aspect of farm production attracts the need of biological based organic fertilizers, an exclusive alternative to agro-chemicals. Organic farming is one of such strategies that not only ensures food safety but also adds to the biodiversity of soil. The eco-friendly approaches trigger a wide range of application of PGPB that leads to improved plant growth, soil health, nutrient uptake and plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress. PGPB is an essential component of organic farming and play crucial role in maintaining long term soil fertility and sustainability and would be a viable alternative for farmers to increase productivity per unit area in organic farming for an era of prosperity and clean environment.

The genus Ceropegia L. is a highly diversified genus of the family Apocynaceae whose most of the species are facing threats. The species Ceropegia wallichii Wight is categorized under Data Deficient (DD) which is found between 2500 to 2900 m altitudes since till date according to available literature while this article first time mentioned its elevation in 1735 m altitude. Hence, in this scenario, its new elevation should be changed from 1700 to 2900 m. Owing to its poor abundance of sheets in Indian herbaria, this species also needs to be protected.

There are many medicinal plants that have various medicinal properties in their different parts. The medicinal plants are major backbone of pharmaceutical industries. In this article we compare the antioxidants properties from various plants parts (root, stem, leaf, flower and bark) of the most important medicinal plant, Justicia adhatoda L. Various plant parts showed the good amount of antioxidant properties. These results enhance the medicinal properties of this plant due to the presence of good amount of antioxidants; among all the plant parts leaves and flowers showed maximum natural antioxidants, hence the study could be saying that this plant has good efficacy of antioxidants.

Growing concern about climatic influence on plants reproductive biology leads to a recent surge. Climate affects directly floral morphology of plants on this basis current study summarizes climatic effects on floral or reproductive biology of Solanum nigrum L. Effect of summer, rainy and winter seasons were recorded on floral morphology, pollens viability & germination, pollen tube growth, fruit-set percentage during investigations which were subjected to one factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant differences at p < 0.05. Climatic conditions affect floral morphology and produce polymorphism in specific conditions. In rainy and winter seasons, polymorphism was recorded in petals, stamens and pistil which is a first record of climatic influence on polymorphism. Rainy season reported for their maximum flowers numbers which promote a huge fruit-set percentage in open pollination as compared with self and cross pollination. This study confirms the effect of various climates on different floral parts which produce polymorphism along with growth, germination, length, etc. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) study indicated the climatic variations on microscopic observations.

There are many medicinal plants that have various medicinal properties in their different parts. The medicinal plants are major backbone of pharmaceutical industries. In this article we compare the antioxidants properties from various plants parts (root, stem, leaf, flower and bark) of the most important medicinal plant, Justicia adhatoda L. Various plant parts showed the good amount of antioxidant properties. These results enhance the medicinal properties of this plant due to the presence of good amount of antioxidants; among all the plant parts leaves and flowers showed maximum natural antioxidants, hence the study could be saying that this plant has good efficacy of antioxidants.

Secondary metabolites have potential benefits to human being. They are used in the food, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. The secondary metabolite of furanocoumarins from different plant sources is essential in various skin-related ailments. Biologically, these chemicals are isolated from different plants in the Apiaceae, Fabaceae, Rutaceae and Moraceae families. Ammi majus L. is one of the most common plants in the family of Apiaceae with a large quantity of derivatives. The furanocoumarin derivatives defend the plant by fighting external enemies by Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR). Via suppressing or retarding microbial growth in infected parts, these derivatives, along with SAR, help to alleviate inflammation in the human body. Latest evidence of these compounds has been established in the treatment of cancer, but the mechanism that needs to be elaborated is not yet understood. Recent studies have shown that furanocoumarin derivatives bind to DNA base pairs and block DNA replication. This may be a potential pathway that helps to regulate the growth of cancerous cells. This article reflects on the pharmaceutical data of furanocoumarins and their different mechanisms in these cases.

Indigenous agricultural practices adopted by locals largely depend on traditional knowledge, common in agricultural system to preserve ecosystem, biodiversity, and useful in maintaining sustainable food and human health. Farmers possess a vast pool of indigenous knowledge in livestock management which reduces external input dependency by utilizing various renewable farm resources as agricultural practices. These practices address the rural development and nature conservation; contribute to maintaining ecosystem of particular area which leads to sustainable use of biodiversity conservation. This knowledge is not systematically recorded; therefore, it is not easily accessible to agricultural researchers; hence, these are valuable practices that provide farmer-to-farmer training or local technology transfer. Different governmental as well as non-governmental policies are designed to maintain biodiversity; hence, indigenous agriculture is one of the most important practices followed for biodiversity conservation. To change the people’s mind towards indigenous agriculture through spiritual education is one of the most important factors which could be focused on important ethics; hence, it can preserve both indigenous knowledge and biodiversity for achieving sustainable development.

In view of the overall health impact of NIDDM, inventers understand the necessity of improving glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. BGR-34 provides an effective treatment option for adults with type 2 diabetes who have been inadequately controlled on lifestyle with or without other oral hypoglycemic agents (OHGAs) such as metformin, sulfonylurea, or a glitazones. BGR-34 is an appropriate option to consider for addition to a managed care drug formulary. Treatment with BGR-34 produced clinically relevant and statistically significant reductions in all three key measures of glucose control studied —FPG, PPBG and HbA1c— when compared with placebo. BGR-34, showed the promising result with respect to glycemic parameters in NIDDM patient with a significant reduction in fasting blood sugar by 34.3%, postprandial blood sugar 35.5% & glycosylated haemoglobin by 20.31% as compared to placebo group showing a reduction by 13.2%, 10.9% & 10.87% respectively. The trial has also been registered to CTRI, India. This study has been registered in the clinical trial registry-India., Graphical abstract BGR 34, has been investigated to contain a number of active biomolecule molecules including the compound ‘berberine’ (source; Berberis aristata), a natural dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4) inhibitor, that act by increasing endogenous GLP-1 and GIP concentrations.Image 1

Chemical analysis of hexane and ethyl acetate soluble fractions obtained from the rhizobacteria Pseudomonas jessenii strain R62 and Pseudomonas synxantha strain R81 was carried out using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and their nematicidal activity was evaluated against root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita second stage juveniles (J2). Results showed that the hexane extract of both strains, together with mixed ethyl acetate extract, were found to have better nematicidal activity than their individual ethyl acetate fractions above 100 ppm. Some of the chemical compounds of these bioactive fractions were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) analysis. A total of sixteen and six similar compounds were detected in hexane and ethyl acetate fractions, respectively from both bacteria. The major compounds, namely hexadecenoic acid and hexadecanoic acid may be responsible for the nematicidal activity.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are important for controlling soil-borne diseases and could be important for managements of root-knot disease. Effective co-inoculation of mycorrhiza (Rhizophagus irregularis) and root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) on plant growth, physiological and biochemical changes during root-knot nematode infection into tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. PT-3) plants were studied. Experiments were conducted under controlled conditions and carried up to one month after nematode inoculation. Rhizophagus irregularis treated plants significantly enhanced plant growth and reduced nematode induced parameters. They also exhibited potent activity of phenolics and defensive enzymes i.e. peroxidase (PO), polyphenyloxidase (PPO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) while a significant reduction was recorded in malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content. Both physiological and biochemical parameters were significantly improved in response to Rhizophagus irregularis. These finding indicates the importance of Rhizophagus irregularis as a potential biocontrol tool for the management of root-knot disease.