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Shoot flies (Atherigona spp.) are the members of muscidae family which have got economic importance as pest of several crops of Gramineae family mostly cereals and millets. One of the most effective management strategies for controlling shoot fly is the use of novel insecticides either as seed dressers, soil applicators or as foliar treatment. Under the field condition, seed treatment with thiamethoxam 30 FS @ 5 ml/kg seed followed by a spray of cypermethrin 10 EC @ 0.5 ml/l has recorded least shoot fly oviposition (0.84 and 0.94 eggs/plant), dead heart (8.90% and 9.96%), more per cent productive tillers (79.68% and 79.50%), grain yield (32.22 and 31.27 q/ha) and BC ratio (2.05 and 1.99) as compared to the rest of the combinations during the investigation in rabi, 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively. Under the changing climate where, the minor insect pests attaining major pest status, the present investigation would help the policy makers to reduce the losses caused by shoot fly infestation significantly by using the above combination and can be integrated in future IPM modules.

Assessment of the potential effects of insecticides on the natural enemies is an important part of IPM. The use of natural enemies in combination with selected insecticides which have no effect on them is effective in depressing the population density of the insect pest. In this context, an effort was made to know the diversity of predatory fauna and effect of seed dressers, soil applied chemicals and foliar spraying insecticides on their abundance in wheat during rabi, 2019-20. The investigation registered the activity of green lacewing (Chrysoperla sp.), coccinellids (Coccinella transversalis, Cheilomenes sexmaculata, Illeis cincta), syrphids and spider (Oxyopes sp.). Meanwhile, the results also revealed the peak activity of green lacewing, coccinellids, syrphids and spiders in seed treatment with thiamethoxam 30 FS @ 5 ml/kg seeds (1.20, 1.40, 0.73 and 0.67 per meter square area, respectively) followed by soil application of carbofuran 3G @ 30 kg/ha (1.17, 1.37, 0.70 and 0.62 per meter square, respectively) and both were found on par with untreated check (1.39, 1.51, 0.81 and 0.78 per meter square, respectively). Whereas, the least population was recorded in soil application of carbofuran 3G @ 30 kg/ha followed by a foliar application of cypermethrin 10 EC @ 0.5 ml/l (0.22, 0.24, 0.14 and 0.12 per meter square, respectively) over rest of the treatments. These results endorsed the biocompatibility of seed dressers (Thiamethoxam 30 FS), soil applied chemicals (Carbofuran 3G) and detrimental effects of foliar spraying insecticides (Cypermethrin 10 EC, Emamectin benzoate 5SG and Nimbecidine 1500 ppm) on population dynamics of natural enemy.

Fifty wheat lines targeting semi-arid locations in India and Bangladesh were investigated for grain and straw yield and straw fodder quality traits for two consecutive years at two locations in India and one in Bangladesh. Fodder traits investigated were nitrogen (N), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), and metabolizable energy content (ME). Highly significant (P

A field experiment was conducted to know the influence of nipping and hormonal sprays on growth and seed yield of field bean genotypes at the Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. The treatments include two genotypes (G1: DA-8, G2: HA-3), two nipping operations (N1: No nipping, N2: Nipping), hormonal sprays (S1: Water spray as control, S2: GA3 @ 50 ppm and S3: MH @ 50 ppm) and their interactions. Genotype HA-3 recorded higher number of branches (13.27), dry matter (266.34 g plant−1) and seed yield (1966 kg ha−1) at harvest as compared to genotype DA-8. Nipping of plants at 55 DAS lead to decrease in plant height but increased the number of branches (14.20), dry matter (283.02 g plant−1) and seed yield (2166 kg ha−1). Among hormonal sprays, plants sprayed with GA3 recorded higher plant height (136.77 cm) while, the other growth parameters recorded were higher with MH application and also registered higher seed yield (1953 kg ha−1). The interaction effect between G ´ N, G ´ S, N ´ S and G ´ N ´ S were non significant for majority of the characters studied. However, in both the genotypes nipped plants sprayed with MH recorded higher growth and yield parameters compared to either GA3 or water sprays and also with no nipping.

Grain quality is an important determinant of market value of wheat. Identification of the genes that influence grain quality traits and estimation of effects of alleles of these genes can improve the effectiveness of wheat breeding. Sixty-four bread wheat cultivars from six different agro-climatic zones of India and eleven Australian cultivars were analyzed for the prevalence of Puroindoline (Pin) hardness mutations and Storage Protein Activator (SPA) alleles for detecting allelic diversity among these varieties. Most of the Australian genotypes had soft or semi hard textured grains and amplified both Pina and Pinb genes. In Indian genotypes, most of the genotypes had hard grain texture and the null mutation of Pina and the wild type Pinb allele (Pina-D1b/Pinb-D1a) was the most frequent combination in the Indian wheat germplasm. Predominance of Spa gene was observed in both Australian and Indian genotypes and all these genotypes recorded high grain protein content as compared to genotypes which are having null allele for SpaB gene. This study can provide useful information for the improvement of wheat quality in selecting parental lines for crossing to maximize diversity at these loci and enhance the effectiveness of molecular marker assisted crop breeding.

Three biocontrol agents such as Trichoderma harizianum, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis were isolated from safflower rhizosphere soil and tested individually for their effectiveness in controlling root-rot of safflower. Talc based formulations were prepared and treated the seeds at different concentrations for assessing their ability to induce plant growth and in turn control root-rot disease. Among bioagents, P. fluorescens and T. harzianum (10 g/kg) proved to be effective in controlling disease under laboratory, greenhouse and field conditions. The efficacy of these biocontrol agents are equivalent to the standard fungicide Bavistin (Carbedazim). Other than direct action of these biocontrol agents triggered defense related enzymes involved in phenyl proponoid pathways and phenols. Higher activity of peroxidase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, chitinase, polyphenol oxidase and β-1,3-glucanase was observed in P. fluorescens and T. harzianum treated safflower plants after challenge inoculation w...

A popular widely grown but leaf rust susceptible Indian bread wheat variety was pyramided with two leaf rust resistance genes, Lr24 and Lr28 by Marker Assisted Backcrossing (MABC). The near isogenic line of PBW 343 introgressed with Lr24 and Lr28 was used as a donor. The MABC approach employed one SSR marker, Xwmc313 and one SCAR marker SCS421 with its locus linked to Lr28 and two SCAR markers, SCS719 and SCS 1302 linked to Lr24 for foreground selection to select plants carrying Lr24 and Lr28 genes. Marker assisted background selection in BC2F2 to recover the genome of recipient parent involving 42 polymorphic SSR markers dispersed throughout the genome facilitated mean recurrent parent genome (RPG) recovery of 80.3% with a range from 67.5–94.7%. BC2F2 plants were characterized for DUS (Distinctiveness Uniformity Stability) for phenotypic identification of plants that mostly resemble DWR 162 variety. Field evaluation of BC2F2 plants for yield and its component traits to assess the effect of these two genes in the background of DWR 162 revealed high yield potential of selected plants along with leaf rust resistance and no yield penalty was apparent. This study successfully demonstrate the practical utility of MABC in wheat rust resistance breeding for developing resistant lines in the background of any elite and popular wheat cultivar with relatively higher speed and precision.