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To combat the shortage of single agro-residue and overcome the problem of seasonal availability, it is beneficial to use mixture of lignocellulosic biomasses. In the present study, efforts were made to use mixed lignocellulosic biomass for production of bioethanol, along with microbial lipids and lactic acid. Upon enzymatic hydrolysis of mixed biomass at varied proportions it was observed that mixture of paddy straw and jute in the ratio 3:1 resulted in best sugar yield (41.50 g/L) at 10% substrate loading. Ethanolic fermentation of mixed substrate hydrolysate by thermotolerant yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae JRC6 resulted in 8.39 g/L of ethanol. To maintain sustainability and economic impact, oleaginous yeast (Trichosporon mycotoxinivorans S2) and lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum LP-9) were used for lipid production (14.5 g/L) and lactic acid production (11.08 g/L), respectively. Therefore, this study explored the potential of mixed lignocellulosic biomass to be exploited for production of various value-added products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yield limitation and widespread sulphur (S) deficiency in pearl-millet-nurturing dryland soils has emerged as a serious threat to crop productivity and quality. Among diverse pathways to tackle moisture and nutrient stress in rainfed ecologies, conservation agriculture (CA) and foliar nutrition have the greatest potential due to their economic and environmentally friendly nature. Therefore, to understand ammonium thiosulphate (ATS)-mediated foliar S nutrition effects on yield, protein content, mineral biofortification, and sulphur economy of rainfed pearl millet under diverse crop establishment systems, a field study was undertaken. The results highlighted that pearl millet grain and protein yield was significantly higher under no-tillage +3 t/ha crop residue mulching (NTCRM) as compared to no-tillage without mulch (NoTill) and conventional tillage (ConvTill), whereas the stover yield under NTCRM and ConvTill remained at par. Likewise, grain and stover yield in foliar S application using ATS 10 mL/L_twice was 19.5% and 13.2% greater over no S application. The sulphur management strategy of foliar-applied ATS 10 mL/L_twice resulted in significant improvement in grain protein content, protein yield, micronutrient fortification, and net returns (₹ 54.6 × 1000) over the control. Overall, ATS-mediated foliar S nutrition can be an alternate pathway to S management in pearl millet for yield enhancement, micronutrient biofortification and grain protein content increase under ConvTill, as well as under the new NTCRM systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants respond to abiotic stresses through a series of molecular, cellular and physiological changes. These responses are further influenced by the interactions between host plant and the associated rhizospheric and endophytic microorganisms. The endophytic microorganisms, due to their intimate proximity with the host plant, are considered to have major influence on plant's physiological responses. In the present study, three drought tolerant and plant growth promoting maize seed endophytic bacteria, Bacillus sp. MSEB 17, Bacillus sp. MSEB 72 and Bacillus sp. MSEB 78 were used as seed inoculants in maize (var Bioseed 9681) under drought stress conditions in a growth chamber pot study and their influence on four drought responsive genes (Zmdhn1, GRMZM2G055844, GRMZM2G467339 and GRMZM2G109448) in maize leaves was studied by real time PCR using specific primers. The influence of inoculation on host plant's response to drought was evident from altered expression of target genes when compared with uninoculated plants. Notably, inoculation with MSEB 17 increased the expression of three target genes, Zmdhn1 (dehydrin) gene, GRMZM2G467339 gene and GRMZM2G109448 gene by several folds. This study revealed the role of endophytic in alleviating the effect of drought stress in maize plants through regulating plant growth and physiological response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of chemical fertilizer, organic manure and two cropping systems viz., pearlmillet - clusterbean - castor rotation and upland rice - lentil sequence on microbial quotient (MQ), metabolic quotient, specific enzyme activity (dehydrogenase, arylsulfatase and urease) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in long-term (18-21 years) field experiments in Entisols of semi-arid region of Gujarat and Inceptisols of sub-humid region of Varanasi. Higher MQ values were recorded in Entisols than Inceptisols. MQ ranged from 4.00-5.08 and 1.00-1.85 % across soil layers in Entisols and Inceptisols, respectively. Metabolic quotient values ranged from 0.11-0.23 and 0.04-0.07 across soil layers in Entisols and Inceptisols respectively. The specific enzyme activity of dehydrogenase was maximum in Entisols, whereas, arylsulfatase and urease activity was recorded more in Inceptisols. Higher specific enzyme activity reflects greater microbial activity and microbial biomass turnover. Agroecosystem in sub-humid region resulted in 1.5 fold higher geometric mean of enzymes (GMea) than in semi-arid region. The application of 50% RDNF (recommended dose of N-fertilizer) + 50% RDN FYM (farm yard manure) in Entisols and 50% N (FYM) + 50% RDF in Inceptisols improved microbiological activities (GMea) at both the sites. The concentration of soil organic carbon (SOC) and MBC were significantly correlated with GMea in both agro-ecosystems. In conclusion, integrated sources of nutrients with inclusion of FYM and 50 % reduction of fertilizers improved the microbiological activities in both Inceptisols and Entisols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]