Evaluation of antibacterial efficacy of Ocimum sanctum L. against certain bacterial species and phytochemical analysis

In the present study antibacterial efficacy of aqueous and methanol extract obtained from leaves and stem of Ocimum sanctum L. was evaluated against certain test bacterial species viz. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus. It is a traditional medicinal herb, commonly used for the treatment of various human health disorders. The antibacterial activity was determined by using agar well diffusion method. Among the solvent extracts tested, aqueous extract of leaves exhibited higher antibacterial activity as compared to methanolic extract of leaves. Maximum antibacterial activity was recorded 17.6 mm against Bacillus cereus and minimum value was recorded 14 mm against S. aureus. Maximum antibacterial efficacy of O. sanctum leaves was found 7.3mm against P. aeruginosa and minimum value was 5mm against B. cereus in methanolic extract. Similar trend has been observed in extract of stem of O. sanctum in aqueous and methanolic solvent. The antibacterial efficacy has been found nil in methanolic extract. However in aqueous extract moderate activity has been recorded i.e. 9.3 mm against E.coli and minimum 7.3 mm against K. pneumoniae. The trend of phytochemicals revealed non significant variation. Phytochemical analysis of leaves and stem extracts of O. sanctum revealed the presence of various phytoconstituents i.e. alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tanins, glycosides.

A novel soil quality assessment method for sustainable soil management and enhancing crop productivity in tribal areas of central India

Soil quality degradation is a major threat to any agricultural production system. Therefore periodical monitoring of soil quality status is inevitable for sustainable management of agricultural production systems. Though there are various methods available to assess the soil quality, simple and management oriented methods are necessary. The current investigation aimed to evaluate soil quality of tribal areas of central India adopting minimum dataset of 15 soil physical, chemical and biological parameters. A novel scoring technique was followed to score soil quality indicators based on its relation with crop yield, degree of variation and percent deficiency. Relative soil quality index (RSQI) was calculated and was correlated with crop productivity. Most of the soils in the region had poor soil quality (77.2% in Jhabua, 85.4% in Alirajpur and 67.2% in Dhar) with low crop yield. The major constraints of crop production in these areas were low soil organic carbon (<0.5%), available N (<280 kg ha-1), S (<10 mg kg-1), P (<10 kg ha-1), Zn (<0.5 mg kg-1), dehydogenase activity (10 ?g TPF g-1 24 h-1) and soil depth (<1 m). Adopting sustainable management practices could improve soil quality and crop productivity. This new approach is simple and systematic; this principle can be easily adoptable to other locations, and principally focuses on management related and soil parameters that constraint to production and ecological functions.

Role analysis of women in electricity consumption at domestic level

Women play an especial prominent role in buying things that provide sustenance for home and family. Therefore, this study was under taken to see how women play their role with special reference to electricity consumption and what can be done to improve it. ‘Awareness,’ ‘opinion’ and ‘practice’ of respondents regarding issues related to electricity consumption for household use revealed that ‘Awareness’, ‘Opinion’ and ‘Practices’ of the respondents were of ‘medium’ level. Looking at the women’s prominent role in household energy consumption they can be given some awareness programs to further play active role as consumer and conserve electricity.

Comparative analysis of phenolic content in Solanum indicum L. harvested from different locations of Madhya Pradesh state of India

Phenolics are well distributed secondary metabolites in the plant kingdom and cure various ailments in human beings. In the present study, total phenolic (TP) and caffeic acid (CA) contents in fruits, leaves and stem of Solanum indicum species collected from different locations of Madhya Pradesh state of India were studied. Results showed the following trend for TP and CA contents; fruits> leaves> stem. Fruits (28.52±0.29) from Chhindwara & Betul area (Satpura plateau agroclimatic region) contained maximum TP content trailed by leaves (16.29±0.07) and stem (11.79±0.03) belonging to Amarkantak area (Northern Hill’s Zone of Chhattisgarh agroclimatic region). CA content was observed maximum in fruits (0.0192±0.00) followed by leaves (0.0187±0.01) and stem (0.0154±0.01) of Seoni area (Kymore Plateau & Satpura Hills agroclimatic region). The variation in the populations will be helpful for in-situ as well as ex-situ conservation of this reagionally threatened dashmool species and its further utilization in Ayurvedic formulations.

Sulphur Dynamics under different land uses of Outer Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh

The knowledge of different sulphur (S) forms and their relationship with soil properties is of much relevance in assessing the short- and long-term availability of the nutrients to crops and in formulating sound fertilizer recommendations. For this purpose one hundred and one representative soil samples were collected from the study area and analyzed for various physicochemical properties and forms of sulphur (water soluble, exchangeable, available, organic, non-sulphate and total S) using standard methods. The different forms of sulphur viz., water soluble, exchangeable, available, organic, non-sulphate and total sulphur ranged from 1.1 to 7.0, 1.9 to 10.9, 3.1 to 21.1, 75.9 to 316.1, 8.0 to 41.5 and 75.5 to 372.5 mg kg-1, respectively in soils of Outer Himalayas under different land uses. The content of different forms of sulphur present in these soils were in the order of total sulphur, organic sulphur, non-sulphate sulphur, available sulphur, exchangeable sulphur and water soluble sulphur. All the forms of S correlated positively and significantly with organic carbon and clay content of soils. A negative and significant relationship was also observed between all forms of sulphur and sand content of soils. In the present study, it was also found that all forms of S present in soils were significantly and positively correlated with each other. The knowledge regarding different forms of S in soils and their availability controlled by different soil properties will be helpful for its management to optimize crop yields in the Outer Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh.

Analysis of combining ability and gene action studies for grain yield and its component traits in bread wheat utilizing line x tester mating design

The present research investigation was conducted in order to analyze combining ability and nature of gene actions in 33 F1s of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell) developed by crossing eleven lines with three testers in a line x tester mating design in terms of grain yield and associated traits. The hybrids along with the parental lines and two check varieties were planted in a randomized block design in three replications. Variance ratio between general and specific combining ability was found to be less than unity which indicated the prevalence of non-additive gene actions involved in the inheritance of these characters. Parental lines QLD 75 (3.164), followed by SOKOLL (2.888) and QLD 65 (2.819) exhibited significant GCA for grain yield, while another line PRL/2*PASTOR*2//FH6-1-7/3/KINGBIRD#1//… was observed to be the better general combiner for most other traits including maturity. Among the hybrids cross combination NAC/TH.AC//3*PVN/3/MIRLO/BUC/4/2*PASTOR/5/…x HD 3237 showed significant higher positive SCA for grain yield and biological yield per plant, whereas, F1 QLD 75 x HI 1621was a good specific combiner for harvest index (%) and number of grains per spike. The cross combination VORB/4/D67.2/PARANA66.270 x PBW 725 was observed with significant higher positive SCA for days to 75% heading, days to maturity and plant height, and another hybrid VORB/4/D67.2/PARANA 66.270 x HI 1621 exhibited significant positive SCA for 1000 grain weight and spike length.

Influence of sulphur aerosols on physiological, yield and yield attributing of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using principal component analysis

Among several constrains curtailing the yield potential of a crop, lack of proper mineral nutrition in particular sulphur management, a nutrient that is needed in trace amount but essential for plant growth is more alarming. Sulphur is the main source of protein particularly for cereal crop. An experiment was conducted to find out influence of sulphur aerosols on morpho-physiological, yield, and yield traits of wheat. S-aerosols viz., (NH4)2SO4, CaSO4, and K2SO4: @ 300 ppm each (?30 kg N ha-1) along with a control were misted on the plants, on sunny days in the afternoon (after 2–3 P.M.) at three different growth stages i.e. seedling, maximum tillering and spike initiation stages. Therefore, a total concentration of each S-aerosols was 900 ppm ? 0.9%.Genotypes (viz., GW-322, GW-366, GW-273, GW-173, JW-336) were raised both under Pot culture (Expt.1) and field (Expt.2) observations recorded are : LA, LAI, SLW, Tiller numbers, No. of seed per spike, length of spike, spike weight, TW, BY, EY, HI. The investigation was carried out aiming to test the hypothesis that foliar fed Sulphur aerosols influence economic yield of wheat crop positively. The genotype GW-366 was the most responsive in physiological traits and GW-273 for yield traits under the influence of foliar fertilization with S-aerosols. Among the S-aerosols, (NH4)2SO4 was the most effective in the work. The results in this experiment are contribution of Sulphur aerosols using PCA towards total diversity.

Biocontrol of Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid causing charcoal rot disease in Lycopersicon esculentum L. by using multi species bacterial consortia

Plant growth-promoting bacterial strains (LEP1-LEP31) were isolated from rhizosphere of Lycopersicon esculentum L. (Tomato) and screened for their plant growth promoting (PGP) activities. On the basis of morphological, physiological, biochemical, carbon source utilization and molecular characterization, these strains were identified as Pseudomonas sp., Azotobacter sp. and Bacillus sp. For antagonistic activities all the strains were subject to the chitinase activities by the development of clear halo around the inoculated bacterial spots when loaded on chitin (0.2%) supplemented mediumBased on pot and field trial results of individual strains and consortium application, it may be concluded that all the three strains i.e. Pseudomonas sp. LEP17, Azotobacter sp. strain LEP21 and Bacillus sp. strain LEP25 showed plant growth promoting effects. The growth promotion provided by these strains was apparently related to improve shoot and root development, which resulted in better nutrient uptake capability and suppression of plant pathogen. All these three strains were superior in this regard because they provided the best and most consistent effects on growth and yield of L. esculentum. All these strains Pseudomonas sp. LEP17, Azotobacter sp. strain LEP21, Bacillus sp. strain LEP25 and their consortium seems to be suitable for use as a plant growth promoting and improvement of growth and yield

Fatty acid profiling in gobhi sarson (Brassica napus)

An experiment was carried out during 2017-2018 to estimate fatty acids and the oil content (OC) in fifteen Brassica napus genotypes. The quality parameters of oil include fatty acids (FA) and the oil content (OC), important trait differed significantly (p?0.05) amongst the Brassica species genotype. Among the genotypes, significant differences were noted for the fatty acids and the oil content (OC). In Brassica napus seeds oil content varies in between the range of 37.45–41.86% respectively. The saturated fatty acid (SFA) includes the Palmitic acid (PA) varied in between the range of 2.68–4.43% and oleic acid (OA) content results lied between 8.88-56.18% respectively. In linoleic acid (LA) and linolenic acid (LNA), presence of significant differences (p?0.05) was there. The content of linoleic acid (LA) lies in the range between 12.97- 17.98% respectively and linolenic acid (LNA) content varied from 13.41-23.42% respectively. The stearic acid (SA) content varied from1.20-1.66 respectively. Erucic acid, another essential trait, significant differences were noted amongst the Brassica species genotypes i.e. 12.96-48.80%. The minimum erucic acid (EA) content was noted in GSL-1 genotype and the genotypes namely RSPN-28 and CNH-13-2, EC552608, GSC-6 have also low EA content and the rest of the genotypes namely, RSPN-29, DGS-1, RSPN-25, CNH-11-7, CNH-11-13, RL-1359, HNS-1101, GSC-101, CNH-11-2, HNS-1102 have high erucic content. In fatty acids (FA) content, significant differences were observed in rapeseed-mustard. Desirable cultivars with higher yield and oil content are the chief objective of this concerned study to be further employed in the breeding program.

Tree species diversity in Kalidhar forest of western Shiwaliks, Jammu, JK (UT)

The present study was conducted in Kalidhar forest of western Shiwaliks, Jammu, JK (UT), to assess the tree diversity and undertake phytosociological analysis in three major land use (LU) classes i.e. Forest, Agriculture and Scrub area. A total of 70, 50 and 50 sample plots of 0.1 ha were laid respectively in forests, scrub and agriculture LU classes. The study revealed that in forests possess a total 39 tree species belonging to 19 families and 31 genera, whereas, in scrub and agriculture lands a total of 9 tree species (8 families and 9 genera) and 60 tree species (26 families and 46 genera) were recorded respectively. Mallotus philippensis was the most dense tree species with 2.85 individuals per ha in forests followed by Pinus roxburghii 2.06 per hectare. In scrub and agriculture land Acacia modesta and Grewia optiva were found the densest species respectively. The value of Importance value index (IVI) was found highest for Pinus roxburhii (44.63) in forests, whereas, respective values were recorded highest for Syzygium cumini (82.64) and Grewia optiva (29.0) in scrub and agriculture lands. Flacourtia indica and Pinus roxburghii showed random distribution in forest and Syzygium cumini was also found to have random distribution in the scrub lands. Contiguous distribution was found for all tree species encountered in agriculture (LU) class. The diversity values of Shannon Wiener and Simpson indices showed highest tree diversity in agriculture lands with the values of 3.19 and 0.07 respectively followed by that in forests (2.47 and 0.14). Tree species richness was found high in agriculture area with Margalef’s (59.86) and Menhinick’s (1.80).