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This paper highlights the importance of sunflower, and its current status, giving the prospects of improving its production through intercropping it with sunn hemp legume. The review focuses on Tanzania, where smallholder farmers mainly produce sunflower as a cash crop and a source of vegetable oil. The crop’s production is threatened by decreased soil fertility, attack by pests and disease, limited rainfall, and the high cost of inputs like fertilizers and chemicals. This calls for adopting farming systems that can meet the increasing demand for sunflowers. Intercropping sunflower with a legume such as sunn hemp is an environmentally friendly technique for increasing and sustaining the productivity of the farmland.

Maize, an essential food item in Kenya, is grown in soils characterized by low pH and low plant-available phosphorus (P), particularly in the Western part of the nation. Low available P and soil acidity are the fundamental causes of low soil fertility in many cropped soils. Such farms are also characterized by low soil nitrogen (N) and inadequate use of inputs such as mineral fertilizers. Deficient use of agronomic inputs, especially phosphorus and nitrogen, has not only led to low yields but also has resulted in poor product quality in terms of nutritional content and yield, in addition to soil fertility degradation. Enhanced use efficiency and access to nitrate fertilizers and soil amendments such as MRP and lime will be most crucial to improving growth, grain yield, nutritional quality, and economic returns, thus reducing poverty and hunger as well as improving good health in the country.

Rice husk is one of lignocellulosic biomass wastes. In this study, effects of hydrolysis condition with dilute acid and mechanochemical treatment on xylose production from rice husk were investigated. The xylan content in the rice husk used in this study was 11.3%, and assuming that this was completely hydrolyzed, 128 g of xylose can be obtained per kg of rice husks. When the hydrolysis of rice husk was conducted for 4 hours with the nitric acid (0.01-0.10 mol/L) at 70-100°C, the highest xylose yield (64.5%) could be obtained with 0.10 mol/L nitric acid at 100°C. By mechanochemical treatment in a planetary ball mill, microfibril structure of rice husk collapsed and became amorphous. The xylose yield reached 93.1%, when the mechanochemically treated rice husk was hydrolyzed with 0.10 mol/L nitric acid at 100°C for 4 hours.

Potential impacts of climate change on grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolar) productivity were investigated using the CERES-sorghum model in Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) v4.7. The model was first calibrated for two sorghum hybrids (CSH-16 and CSH-23) for two consecutive years, 2011 and 2012, by Manjangouda et al. (2019) under the Northern Transitional Zone of Karnataka. In this study validated and calibrated DSSAT CERES model for both the hybrids was used to simulate the effect of dry spells – 2 weeks and 4 weeks before panicle initiation and end of grain filling stages across 3 dates of sowing (1st fortnight of June, 2nd fortnight of June and 1st fortnight of July) and model was run for the two consecutive years 2011 and 2012. Pooled data of two years, simulated outputs showed that irrespective of hybrids, date of sowing, and phase of the crop, withdrawal of rainfall for 4W resulted in a higher grain yield reduction (48.27 %) as compared to withdrawal of rainfall for only 2W (23.96 %). Among the two crop phases tested the crop phase before PI was found to be more sensitive to dry spells as the model simulated 38.90 and 71.46 Percent reduction in grain yield with 2W and 4W skipping of rainfall, respectively. At the same time, only 9.02 and 25.09 percent reduction in yield was observed with skipping of rainfall for 2 W and 4W prior to EGF. Similar trend was observed for top weight and root weight. We conclude that crop simulation models are applicable to assessing possible impacts of climate change on Kharif sorghum. This study concludes that exposure of crop to low moisture stress at peak vegetative phase, i.e., 2W to 4W before PI, results in a higher reduction of the grain yield. Hence, if a dry spell occurs at this phase, supplemental irrigation should be provided to realize a higher grain yield.

Production and productivity of maize may be increased with the hybridization. Assessing maize hybrids in the particular climatic condition is one of the most important key tasks for producing hybrid maize. The current study was conducted to identify the most suitable hybrid maize for climatic zone three of Karnataka. The field trial was conducted during the Kharif Season of 2021-2022 at Agricultural Research Station, Arabhavi field of University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. The statistical design adopted for the study was eight hybrids in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results suggested that among tested hybrids, NMH 36 (12.60 tons ha−1) of UPL Limited (Advanta Limited), Hyderabad, followed by NMH 777(11.10 tons ha−1) of UPL Limited (Advanta Limited), Hyderbad, compared with the National Check, NK 6240 (11.30 tons ha−1) and private check 900M-Gold (11.20 tons ha−1). Hence, the study suggested that NMH 36 and NMH 777 of UPL Limited (Advanta Limited) could be chosen as promising hybrids for the maize growers in zone 3 of Karnataka.

Adoption of an intensive cropping system to meet the food demand of the increasing population requires high input energy. The indiscriminate and imbalanced use of these inorganic fertilizers adversely affected soil health and human well-being besides reduced factor productivity. To overcome this, an experiment was conducted under assured irrigated conditions of humid eco-region of Western Himalayas at Research Farm, Chatha, SKUAST, Jammu, India, during the winter (rabi) season of 2017-18 to study the efficacy of coated urea, including neem coated, zinc coated and neem + zinc coated on growth and productivity of wheat. The soil of the experimental field was sandy clay loam in texture slightly alkaline in reaction (7.42), low in organic carbon, available N, but medium in available P and K. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with eleven treatment combinations, replicated thrice. Different doses of coated urea fertilizers showed a significant effect on the yield of the wheat crop. Application of 100% of Rec. N through ZnCU + Rec. P, K & Zn) showed significantly better growth measured in terms of plant height, dry matter production, leaf area index, crop growth rate, grain, and straw yield, during the study and found at par with an application of 85% of Rec. N through ZnCU + Rec. P, K & Zn, 100% of Rec. N through NCU + ZnCU+ Rec. P, K & Zn, 85% of Rec. N through NCU + ZnCU+ Rec. P, K & Zn and 100% of Rec. N through NCU + Rec. P, K & Zn than other treatments in comparison.

An experiment was conducted at Breeder Seed Production Centre (BSPC), Debiganj, Panchagarh, during the rabi season of 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 to study the response of nitrogen levels on the growth, yield, and quality of wide yielding potato varieties in Tista Meander Floodplain Soil of Bangladesh. There were five treatments comprising different levels of nitrogen such as T1 (100% RDN), T2 (125% RDN), T3 (150% RDN), T4 (175% RDN), and T5 (75% RDN). Three newly released potato varieties such as BARI Alu 31 (Sagitta), BARI Alu 41 (5.183), and BARI Alu 45 (Steffi) were used in this experiment. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The tuber yield and yield contributing characters were significantly influenced by the application of nitrogen. The highest tuber yield (47.71 t/ha) was recorded in T3 (150% RDN) treatment, which was statistically identical to T4 (175% RDN) treatments. In the case of variety, there were no significant variations in the tuber yield of potato. On the other hand significant variation was observed in different potato varieties for quality attributes. Highest dry matter content, starch content, lowest number of scab-infected tuber, and senescence% were found in BARI Alu41 (5.183), which was followed by BARI Alu31 (Sagita). Nitrogen application in potato varieties showed an insignificant influence on quality attributes. Combined effect showed insignificant influences between varieties and nitrogen levels. BARI Alu41 (5.183) was found superior over other varieties regarding quality attributes. Treatment T3 (150% RDN) was found superior over other treatments in terms of yield. The storage performance of potato tuber under T3 (150% RDN) treatment was also found to be encouraging having the minimum weight loss. Bari Alu41 (5.183) showed minimum weight loss among three varieties at different days after storing.

The field experiment was conducted at District Seed Farm, ‘A-B’ block, of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India, during two subsequent rabi (winter) seasons (November – March) of 2018-19 and 2019-20, to evaluate the growth rate and seed yield of field pea genotypes under varying seed rates at New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with two different seed rates (80 kg ha-1 & 100 kg ha-1) and five different genotypes (HUDP 15, SKNP 04-09, IPF 16-13, VL 42, TRCP 8) as primary and subplot factors respectively. Based on pooled data of two-year investigations, higher seed rate treatment (seed rate 100 kg/ha) always recorded a superior growth rate compared to lower seed rate treatment (seed rate 80 kg/ha). Still, contradictorily, lower seed rate recorded higher seed yields. This implies optimum plant population is a crucial practice to obtaining higher seed yield. In the case of variable genotypes, the highest CGR has been observed in SKNP 04-09 genotype during the interval of 60-90 DAS, and the highest seed yield was recorded in the case of IPF 16-13 genotype. The combination of genotype IPF 16-13 and HUDP 15 along with a seed rate of 80 kg/ha are economically profitable options for better production in terms of quality and quantity for cultivation in the New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal.

The field experiment was carried out at the Instructional Farm, Jaguli, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia (W.B.) to study the effect of irrigation and mulching on yield attributes and yield of safflower chickpea intercropping system during two consecutive winters of 2010-11 and 2011-12. The soil was sandy loam in texture with medium fertility status. The soil pH was 6.85, organic carbon (%) and total N (%) were 0.58 and 0.07, and available P2O5 and available K2O were 25.45 and 178.95 kg ha-1, respectively. The experiment was laid out in a split-split plot design, replicated thrice, having 3 irrigation treatments as main plots, viz., I1 - rainfed, I2 - Irrigation at 0.5 IW: CPE ratio, I3 - irrigation at 0.75 IW: CPE ratio and 2 cropping system in sub-plots viz. C1 - Sole safflower, C2 - Safflower-chickpea has grown as 3:2 row ratio, respectively, and 2 sub-sub plot treatments, viz., M0 - No mulching, M1 - Straw mulching. The results showed that irrigation at 0.75 IW: CPE ratio i.e., I3 recorded higher values of plant height, final dry matter accumulation (g m-2), leaf area index, and crop growth rate (g m-2 day-1) of safflower. Safflower-chickpea grew a 3:2 row ratio, i.e., C2 gave the highest values of all growth attributes of safflower, and straw mulching gave a better result than no mulching. The highest values of seed yield (1159 kg ha-1), oil content (28.17 %), and oil yield (326.8 kg ha-1) of safflower were obtained under irrigation at IW: CPE of 0.75, i.e., I3. Among the cropping systems, intercropping safflower gave a better result than sole safflower, and straw mulching gave a better result than no mulching.

A 9-year-old male Labrador retriever was presented with a history of weakness, lethargy, inappetence, yellowish urine, and blackish stool. The body temperature was found to be within the normal range (101.1°F) with pale mucous membrane and swelling of the forelimb showing gangrene formation. A blood biochemical test was done in which SGPT, SGOT, BUN, creatine, albumin, glucose, and total protein were significantly higher than the normal range. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed degenerative changes in both the kidneys with significant loss of cortico-medullary junction differentiation, cystitis, hepatomegaly, hepatitis, and ascites were noticed. The overall findings indicated chronic kidney disease with multiple complications. Treatment was initiated with Mannitol (20%), Lasix, Glutamax Forte, Erythropoietin Injection, Renodyl capsule, and other supportive drugs. Blood biochemical tests were done every week for monitoring which showed considerable improvement in the condition of the animal with the ongoing treatment.