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In terms of both acreage and productivity, lentil is India's second most important pulse crop. Stemphylium blight, caused by Stemphylium botrysum Wallr., is a serious economic problem in eastern parts of India including West Bengal. As most of the cultivated lentil are susceptible to Stemphylium blight disease, the main alternatives for the control of the disease is to use highly toxic fungicides. The objective of this work is to evaluate the responses of 210 numbers of genotype collected from International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in order to support the alternative disease management strategy. The qualitative attributes like days to flowering, height of the plant and leaf area were taken into consideration which were converted to qualitative attributes by using cluster analysis. Along with that branching pattern and canopy types was also recorded as qualitative parameters. The result clearly indicated that days to flowering, leaf area, branching habit and canopy temperature significantly influence the disease development.

Biocontrol agents including microbials and macrobials are being used against several crop pests and diseases. The microbial bioagents should be formulated properly for making the product stable, effective, safer and obviously economic in case of storage and field level application. Several workers reported that amendments like chitin and ammonium sulphate will enhance the bioefficacy of Trichoderma isolates and shows positive effect on multiplication and storage of Trichoderma sp. In the present studies, an attempt was made to develop the Trichoderma sp. formulations in form of talc, sago, dalia and pellets using bentonite and wheat flour. Ammonium sulphate (0.5% and 1%) and chitin (01%) was used to increase the storage life and multiplication of the Trichoderma sp. Sago and dalia proved to be a good substrate of the bioagent under study in comparison to the conventional substrate talc. Among the amendments in the growth media, 1% chitin may be an effective supplement to the growth media for increasing its survival in storage. The interaction studies between different substrates and amendments selected to increase the shelf life, a combination of sago and 1% chitin was found to be effective for rapid multiplication of Trichoderma isolate. The rate of decline in population was found low in alginate prills both in bentonite and wheat and higher in organic substrates as vermicompost, sago and dalia with highest rate in dalia.

Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) is a package of practices that could improve the sustainability of smallholder farm productivity and profitability. However, existing extension systems are unable to facilitate widespread adoption to have the impact necessary to meet food security and livelihood requirements. This paper examines the utility of ‘Innovation Platforms’ (IPs) as a tool to catalyse adoption of CASI for smallholder farmers in South Asia and generate opportunities for rural micro-entrepreneurship in areas with high rates of poverty, small farm sizes and complex labour markets. We established 37 village-level and five District-level IPs across the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Nepal, Bangladesh, and India. IPs allowed widespread uptake of CASI with benefits to smallholder farmers, input and output suppliers, and enabled extension systems to be more efficient. There was variability across locations with different modes of IPs established, building on existing farmer or community youth groups, and enabling micro-entrepreneur business opportunities. IPs were effective in developing trust in communities, among stakeholders, empowering rural youth and women through direct engagement. Ensuring strong ownership was key. Further work is needed to provide opportunities for high-level policy support to assist IPs to have a wider impact in supporting large-scale adoption of CASI.

Spot blotch, an important foliar fungal disease caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sacc.) Shoemaker [stat. anam.], is the influential production restraint over the global wheat-growing regions. A set of eight diverse wheat genotypes including a few breeding lines from Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya and commonly accepted susceptible cultivars were screened for spot blotch disease and grain yield across five different locations in West Bengal, India, under environments for natural disease infestation in post-rainy seasons of 2018–2019 and 2019–2020. The present investigation revealed significant variation among the genotypes for spot blotch resistance in different environments as a result of genotype main effect and genotype environment interaction. This study also recorded two genotypes as resistant against spot blotch disease over the five locations. Identified resistant genotypes increased grain yield as a consequence of resistance offered against spot blotch disease suggesting the possibility of considering disease resistance as a must-have trait in all the wheat cultivars that could be identified for cultivation in the North-Eastern Plain Zone of India. Two genotypes resistant to spot blotch recorded 1.26–1.46 times higher grain yield over control under disease pressure that can be recommended for identification and exploited in a resistance breeding program for wheat spot blotch disease-prone region.

Indigenous folk rice cultivars often possess remarkable but unrevealed potential in terms of nutritional attributes and biotic stress tolerance. The unique cooking qualities and blissful aroma of many of these landraces make it an attractive low-cost alternative to high priced Basmati rice. Sub-Himalayan Terai region is bestowed with great agrobiodiversity in traditional heirloom rice cultivars. In the present study, ninety-nine folk rice cultivars from these regions were collected, purified and characterized for morphological and yield traits. Based on traditional importance and presence of aroma, thirty-five genotypes were selected and analyzed for genetic diversity using micro-satellite marker system. The genotypes were found to be genetically distinct and of high nutritive value. The resistant starch content, amylose content, glycemic index and antioxidant potential of these genotypes represented wide variability and ‘Kataribhog’, ‘Sadanunia’, ‘Chakhao’ etc. were identified as promising genotypes in terms of different nutritional attributes. These cultivars were screened further for resistance against blast disease in field trials and cultivars like ‘Sadanunia’, ‘T4M-3-5’, ‘Chakhao Sampark’ were found to be highly resistant to the blast disease whereas ‘Kalonunia’, ‘Gobindabhog’, ‘Konkanijoha’ were found to be highly susceptible. Principal Component analysis divided the genotypes in distinct groups for nutritional potential and blast tolerance. The resistant and susceptible genotypes were screened for the presence of the blast resistant pi genes and association analysis was performed with disease tolerance. Finally, a logistic model based on phenotypic traits for prediction of the blast susceptibility of the genotypes is proposed with more than 80% accuracy.

Improvement of physicochemical status of soil always should be of major concern before adopting any practices. In the present investigation, we assessed tillage, crop residue and biofertilizer on some physicochemical properties of soil.Results revealed that pH and bulk density both observed to get higher in their level proportionally with depths. Residue and biofertilizers application significantly (p less than 0.05) improved organic carbon contentirrespective of the tillage practice.Higher available nitrogen content observed with the application of residue and biofertilizer in both zero-tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT)at surface layer (0-5 cm). ZT with residue application recorded highest phosphorus (P) at 0-5 cm depth. Residue and biofertilizer both increased the P at 0-10 cm layer; however,biofertilizer involving PSB had better effect in CT than the ZT. Residue application increased the K availability in the plough layer but the effect of biofertilizer found to be restricted to top layer.

In the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) region of South Asia cropping systems are predominantly rice-based and comprise rice and non-rice crops (e.g. maize, wheat, lentil, mungbean, jute) in rotation. There are large gaps between potential crop yields and those achieved in farmers’ fields, primarily due to poor crop and soil management practices. Increasing climate variability and injudicious use of natural resources, particularly water and soil, mean that cropping systems have little resilience and are showing signs of being unsustainable. We hypothesized that replacing traditional crop rotations, grown under conventional tillage (CT) and with full residue removal, with crops grown under zero tillage (ZT) and with partial or full residue retention would improve both crop and cropping system yields, and reduce crop water demand, thus increasing the water productivity of cropping systems across the EGP. We evaluated four tillage-and-crop-establishment scenarios in three major cropping systems (rice-wheat, RW; rice-maize, RM; rice-lentil, RL) across eight districts of the EGP in 433 farmers’ fields between 2015 and 2017. We compared farmers’ traditional crop establishment practices (T1) against three scenarios based on the principles of conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification (CASI) and comprising a “partial CASI” option (T2: only non-rice crops grown under CASI management) and two “full CASI” options in which both crops were grown under CASI management; in T3 rice was direct seeded rice (DSR) and in T4 rice was transplanted without prior land preparation such as puddling (UPTR). Rice yields under all systems were not significantly different between CT (PTR) and CASI (ZTDSR and UTPR) but there was a significant yield gain of around 5% in both full and partial CASI on the yield of wheat and maize in the RW and RM systems. There were significant spatial trends in rice yields across all cropping systems. Total in-crop water (irrigation plus rainfall) usage was similar for the rainfed PTR, DSR and UTPR in all cropping systems as rice was primarily a rainfed crop grown during the wet season, however CASI practices reduced the required irrigation water, and thus the total in-crop water, to the dry season wheat or maize (but not to lentil) crops, compared to CT. This resulted in increased irrigation water productivity (greater than 27%) and total water productivity (greater than 26%) in both the wheat and maize crops. In the RW and RM systems irrigation water productivity was increased by over 25% and total water productivity by around 10%. These results indicate that the uptake of full or partial CASI practices, particularly in RM and RW systems, can lead to improvements in both cropping system and water productivity for smallholder farmers in the EGP.

Traditional rice-based crop production in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) region of South Asia are energy, water, and labor intensive and inefficient, with relatively low productivity and profitability. Additionally, crop management in these systems typically does not consider the emission of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases, which is often relatively high. The EGP is currently a highly impoverished region, but it has natural resources sufficient to become a leading food-producing region in South Asia. Conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification (CASI) crop management practices improve crop productivity and profitability while reducing energy, water and labor requirements, and greenhouse gas emissions. The introduction of CASI practices within villages and districts of the EGP provides opportunities for farming households to sustainably diversify and/or intensify their crop production. It also enables the micro-entrepreneurship and employment opportunities within rural communities.

Wheat is one of the most nutritious, proteinaceous and basic stable food crop is attacked by several factors. Among the biotic factors, the most notorious disease of wheat is spot blotch caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana. The behaviour of the pathogen with different combinations of weather regimes were studied in-vitro, in the dark at different temperatures. Maximum conidial germination (92.04%) was observed at 30 °C followed by 91.69% at 25 °C temperature after 4 h of incubation. Lowest germination was recorded at 10 °C. Maximum length of unipolar germ tube (26.28 µm) was recorded at 15 °C which was statistically superior than other treatments. Whereas, maximum width of unipolar germinated germ tube (4.49 µm) was observed at 25 °C followed by 15 °C. The length and width of germ tubes of the two poles of bipolar germinated B. sorokiniana spores were 19.74, 22.61 and 3.92, 4.11 µm, respectively at 15 °C followed by 20 °C temperature. Significantly lowest time required for secondary conidiophore formation (25 h) and conidia formation (39 h) was recorded at 25 °C. Highest time required for formation of secondary conidiophore (35 h) at 20 °C, conidia at 30 °C (80 h) but at 10 and 35 °C temperature secondary conidiophore and conidia formation was not observed within 80 h of incubation. Higher mycelial growth and no sporulation were observed under continuous light condition.

This study was done with an objective to attempt to pool together in wheat, the three most important traits (spot blotch resistance, high yield and earliness) for warm humid Eastern Gangetic plains (EGP) of South Asia. A Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL) population, developed from two contrasting parents (YS#58 × YS#24) for spot blotch resistance, was tested in seven environments falling under three locations of EGP. Most of the components of variation for three traits were highly significant for each environment as well as in pooled analysis. In general, phenotypic correlation for Area Under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) among centers was high and positive. Out of 214 genotypes (211 RILs along with their parents YS#24, YS#58 and Sonalika, check for spot blotch susceptibility and earliness) tested, 15 RILs showed better resistance than the resistant parent. Measured over seven environments, six lines were significantly superior to best check for spot blotch resistance while two for grain yield, four for earliness and two for 1000-grain weight. However, only one line (#94) was found significantly superior for all four traits compared to the best check. Genotype × Environment (G × E) interaction was significant but Genotype × Year (G × Y) was non-significant which indicated the importance of locations for spot blotch. To support this fact, lines superior in one location did not perform well in the other. For resistance, line #174 performed most consistently over 7 environments. Although there was negative correlation between AUDPC and days to heading, low AUDPC was observed in two early maturing RILs (#94 and #1). The study demonstrated that through appropriate crossing and evaluation, it is possible to pool together spot blotch resistance in to high yield back ground of wheat with early maturity.

In the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia current agronomic practices are energy-intensive, and this contributes to higher cropping system production costs and CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. Increasingly uncertain and scarce resources, together with an increasingly variable and changing climate, make conventional crop production vulnerable and unsustainable. We hypothesized that replacing traditional crop management with conservation agriculture based-sustainable intensification practices would reduce energy requirements and CO2-equivalent emissions while increasing energy use efficiency. Across three major cropping systems (rice-wheat, rice-maize and rice-lentil) we tested improved management practices against a conventional baseline on over 400 on-farm trials. Improved management practices significantly reduced the total energy used in rice-wheat cropping systems, from 30,045 MJ ha−1 under traditional baseline practice to around 26,500 MJ ha−1. Similar savings in total energy used were observed in rice-maize and rice-lentil cropping systems; additionally, energy use was significantly more efficient under improved management in all three cropping systems. CO2-equivalent emissions were reduced by around 10% under cropping systems with improved management compared to emissions from baseline systems. For all cropping systems the rice-equivalent yield and net income were inversely proportional to the specific energy of the system under improved management but not under traditional practice. This study demonstrated that high cropping system yields under improved management practices increased energy use efficiency while reducing CO2-equivalent emissions. Our research enables farmers in the Eastern Gangetic Plains to produce more food, more sustainably, under increasing climate variability and change. These results are applicable across the Eastern Gangetic Plains region of over 450 million people and also have broader application for smallholder cropping systems in developing and emerging-economy countries globally.

Mungbean Vigna radiata (L.) Wilzeck suffers from poor productivity due to infestation of wide array of insect pests among which the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) and aphid Aphis craccivora (Koch) are important. The present study evaluates the impact of seed biopriming with plant growth promoting soil beneficial microbes along with spray of three biopesticides against B. tabaci and A. craccivora. Seed biopriming with Rhizobium, phosphate solubilising bacteria, Pseudomonas fluorescens (Migula) and Trichoderma viride (Pers.) along with one spray of Verticillium lecanii (Zimmermann) was found to be the most effective treatment against B. tabaci and A. craccivora recording maximum up to 87.63% and 81.02% reduction in population, respectively. Therefore, integration of seed biopriming with plant growth promoting beneficial soil microbes and application of biopesticides is suggested.

The present investigation was carried out during 2015 – 2017, where 22 lentil genotypes grown under bio inoculation treated and non treated conditions in multi location for two consecutive seasons, in order to identify bio inoculants responsive and suitable varieties. The trial was conducted in two district of West Bengal i.e. Malda and Coochbehar. The results indicated that genotypes responded differentially to bio inoculants. Six genotypes ILL-2-8, PL-406, Subrata, ILL-2-14, L-4076 and ILL-10951 performed well with higher inoculation efficiency. There was a positive relation between inoculation efficiency and change in harvest index due to bio inoculation and a negative relationship was found between percent incremental dry matter accumulated in the shoot and change in harvest index due to bio-inoculation. Five lentil genotypes which are responsive to bio inoculants were selected and its assessment was done in order to select the most suitable genotypes in specific environments. From the results, it was evident that significant differences were found among 5 lentil genotypes. In Coochbehar district the highest yield was recorded in K 75 (1.83t/ha). In Malda district, the same variety yielded significantly higher than all other varieties with 2.47 t/ha. Out of the selected varieties for multilocational trial, which performed better than the popular variety Maitree with a potential yield of 1.16 and 1.76 t/ha in Coochbehar and Malda tested under different projects, K-75 and BM-6 may be selected for further exploitation in the region with good adaptability and yield potential.

In recent trends Ultra wide-band Wireless Body Area Networks have rapidly progressed in biotelemetry system which is most dominant field in today's research work. In hyperthermia and biotelemetry needs the concept of implemented antenna in human body. To construct practical use of antennas inside a human body, resonance characteristics of the implanted antennas and their radiation pattern at receiver end which is located outside the body must be evaluate through numerical analysis and measurement set up. The antenna design parameter has to consider on surrounding environment. Radiating pattern of the antenna should be analyzed carefully. In this paper, Green's function and finite deference time domain (FDTD) technique has been mentioned. Also we concentrate on the type of antenna being used to implement in human body. This paper provides the clear idea in Dipole antenna and different low profile antenna with their frequency dependent character.

Data Security is very much important in every aspect of data collection as well as data storage. Hardware device like USB is very much useful worldwide in order to store real time confidential data. So it is necessary to provide hardware level security to every small storage device like pen drive, external hard disk etc. In this context cryptography is one of the most promising technique to encrypt the actual data in other form. In this paper, we propose a robust encryption technique in hardware level which will keep the data safe from external theft. Our proposed algorithm is associated with hardware storage like pen drive and external hard disk.

Spot blotch (SB) caused by Cochliobolus sativus is a serious biotic stress to wheat in warm and humid areas, particularly South Asia (SA). In order to support South Asian farmers to combat SB, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) established an efficient SB screening system at Agua Fria, Mexico and developed a nursery under the project - Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). The materials used to form CSISA-SB nursery were selected from advanced breeding lines from different wheat breeding programs at CIMMYT. Seed of CSISA-SB nursery was produced at disease-free plots at El Batan and Mexicali, and distributed to SA after rigorous seed health checks. The 4th CSISA-SB, made available in 2012, comprised 50 entries including two resistant and two susceptible checks. The nursery was evaluated in seven locations in Mexico, India, and Bangladesh in the 2012–13 cropping season. The results indicated that although few lines exhibited stable resistance across locations due to strong G × E interaction, promising lines with SB resistance and good agronomy can still be identified in each location. The two most promising lines showing consistent spot blotch resistance across the regions were CHUKUI#1 (CIMMYT germplasm bank identification number, GID 6178575) and VAYI#1 (GID 6279248). These lines could be promoted as sources of SB resistance or directly released as cultivars in SA.

Key soil parameters, organic matter, soil pH and plant nutrients determine the capacity of a soil to sustain plant and animal productivity. Conservation agriculture (CA) and crop diversification or intensification may change these soil parameters positively or negatively, which eventually affect long-term sustainability. We monitored these key soil properties (at depths of 0–15 and 15–30 cm) under CA-based sustainable intensification practices: zero-till (ZT), and crop residue retention, and crop rotations on Inceptisols and Entisols in the Eastern Ganga Alluvial Plains from 2014 to 2017. The rainfall of this sub-tropical region is 1273–3201 mm. Soil organic carbon (C) ranged within 0.46–1.13% and generally followed (positive) rainfall gradients. At all sites, the soil under ZT tended to have higher organic C than conventional tillage (CT). Soil pHH2O ranged within 5.7–7.8 across the region. At all sites, soil pH generally decreased under ZT compared to CT. This was most marked at some acidic soil sites where pH decreased by up to 0.4 units; the lower the initial soil pH, the higher was the decrease in pH under ZT practice. In contrast, the reverse trend was observed for soil organic C. Partial nutrient balances for N, P and K in rice–wheat and rice–maize systems were positive for N and P (

A comprehensive germplasm evaluation study of wheat accessions conserved in the Indian National Genebank was conducted to identify sources of rust and spot blotch resistance. Genebank accessions comprising three species of wheat-Triticum aestivum, T. durum and T. dicoccum were screened sequentially at multiple disease hotspots, during the 2011-14 crop seasons, carrying only resistant accessions to the next step of evaluation. Wheat accessions which were found to be resistant in the field were then assayed for seedling resistance and profiled using molecular markers. In the primary evaluation, 19,460 accessions were screened at Wellington (Tamil Nadu), a hotspot for wheat rusts. We identified 4925 accessions to be resistant and these were further evaluated at Gurdaspur (Punjab), a hotspot for stripe rust and at Cooch Behar (West Bengal), a hotspot for spot blotch. The second round evaluation identified 498 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts and 868 accessions potentially resistant to spot blotch. Evaluation of rust resistant accessions for seedling resistance against seven virulent pathotypes of three rusts under artificial epiphytotic conditions identified 137 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts. Molecular analysis to identify different combinations of genetic loci imparting resistance to leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust and spot blotch using linked molecular markers, identified 45 wheat accessions containing known resistance genes against all three rusts as well as a QTL for spot blotch resistance. The resistant germplasm accessions, particularly against stripe rust, identified in this study can be excellent potential candidates to be employed for breeding resistance into the background of high yielding wheat cultivars through conventional or molecular breeding approaches, and are expected to contribute toward food security at national and global levels.

A comprehensive germplasm evaluation study of wheat accessions conserved in the Indian National Genebank was conducted to identify sources of rust and spot blotch resistance. Genebank accessions comprising three species of wheat-Triticum aestivum, T. durum and T. dicoccum were screened sequentially at multiple disease hotspots, during the 2011-14 crop seasons, carrying only resistant accessions to the next step of evaluation. Wheat accessions which were found to be resistant in the field were then assayed for seedling resistance and profiled using molecular markers. In the primary evaluation, 19,460 accessions were screened at Wellington (Tamil Nadu), a hotspot for wheat rusts. We identified 4925 accessions to be resistant and these were further evaluated at Gurdaspur (Punjab), a hotspot for stripe rust and at Cooch Behar (West Bengal), a hotspot for spot blotch. The second round evaluation identified 498 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts and 868 accessions potentially resistant to spot blotch. Evaluation of rust resistant accessions for seedling resistance against seven virulent pathotypes of three rusts under artificial epiphytotic conditions identified 137 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts. Molecular analysis to identify different combinations of genetic loci imparting resistance to leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust and spot blotch using linked molecular markers, identified 45 wheat accessions containing known resistance genes against all three rusts as well as a QTL for spot blotch resistance. The resistant germplasm accessions, particularly against stripe rust, identified in this study can be excellent potential candidates to be employed for breeding resistance into the background of high yielding wheat cultivars through conventional or molecular breeding approaches, and are expected to contribute toward food security at national and global levels.