Conventional agricultural practices and rising energy crisis create a question about the sustainability of the present-day food production system. Nutrient exhaustive crops can have a severe impact on native soil fertility by causing nutrient mining. In this backdrop, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of bio-priming intervention in red cabbage production considering nutrient uptake, the annual change in soil fertility, nutrient use efficiency, energy budgeting, and economic benefits for its sustainable intensification, among resource-poor farmers of Middle Gangetic Plains. The compatible microbial agents used in the study include Trichoderma harzianum, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Bacillus subtilis. Field assays (2016–2017 and 2017–2018) of the present study revealed supplementing 75% of recommended NPK fertilizer with dual inoculation of T. harzianum and P. fluorescens increased macronutrient uptake (N, P, and K), root length, heading percentage, head diameter, head weight, and the total weight of red cabbage along with a positive annual change in soil organic carbon. Maximum positive annual change in available N and available P was recorded under 75% RDF + P. fluorescens + B. subtilis and 75% RDF + T. harzianum + B. subtilis, respectively. Bio-primed plants were also higher in terms of growth and nutrient use efficiency (agronomic efficiency, physiological efficiency, apparent recovery efficiency, partial factor productivity). Energy output (26,370 and 26,630 MJ ha−1), energy balance (13,643 and 13,903 MJ ha−1), maximum gross return (US $ 16,030 and 13,877 ha−1), and net return (US $ 15,966 and 13,813 ha−1) were considerably higher in T. harzianum, and P. fluorescens treated plants. The results suggest the significance of the bio-priming approach under existing integrated nutrient management strategies and the role of dual inoculations in producing synergistic effects on plant growth and maintaining the soil, food, and energy nexus.

<p>Priming techniques are gaining importance in agriculture with the increase in environmental stresses. Resource-poor farmers are in urgent need of such techniques as they are simple, economical, and value-added intervention associated with low-risk bearing factors. Seed enhancement methods are key to improve seed performance and achieve a good stand establishment. Worldwide beneficial effects of priming are recorded. But these technologies have still not reached most farmers. This review highlights the importance of on-farm priming strategies in modern crop production system to yield better productivity and obtain higher economic returns. Stimulation of the pre-germination metabolic changes by priming is necessary to overcome the environmental challenges that a plant can encounter. Thus, the study also focuses on mechanisms associated with priming-induced stress tolerance of crops. Various safe practical methods of seed priming can be easily adopted by the farming community to alleviate the levels of different stresses which can hamper productivity. Simultaneously they can produce good quality seeds and use them further for the next crop cycle cutting the costs of seed purchase.</p>

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) a chief non-edible oilseed crop has numerous industrial applications. Systematic genetic diversity analysis utilizing DNA based markers has been quick and reliable method that ensures selection of diverse parents for exploitation of higher levels of heterosis in breeding programs. From NCBI database, 63,852 EST sequences of castor were mined. One thousand one hundred and five (1105) EST-SSRs and 1652 repeat motifs sequences were identified from 20,495 non-redundant unigene sequences. Repeat motifs consisted of 29.7 % mono nucleotide repeats, 24.8 % di nucleotide repeats, 27.27 % tri nucleotide repeats and 3.94 % tetra nucleotide repeats. Twenty eight primer pairs were chosen from SSRcontaining ESTs to determine genetic diversity among 27 castor accessions. Twelve EST-SSRs showed polymorphism. Number of alleles detected were 2-3 with an average of 2.33 per locus. 150-400 bp was the size of an allele. Dendrogram analysis grouped the 27 accessions into two separate clusters. Genetic similarity coefficient of dendrogram ranged from 0.24 to 0.83. The polymorphic information content value of 0.28-0.49 revealed medium level of diversity in castor. Results of present study indicated that EST-SSRs to be efficient markers for genetic diversity studies. Knowledge on level of diversity existing in castor genotypes would be useful for breeders to plan efficient hybrid breeding programme.

A simple one-step synthesis was accomplished for the preparation of N-phosphoramidophosphonates by a direct reaction of phosphoramidate (1) with heterocyclic aldehydes (2a-j) and dialkyl phosphites at 60-70 degrees C in the presence of tetramethylguanidine. The tetramethylguanidine not only catalyses this reaction but also helps to form pure products in high yields in lesser time. They exhibited good insecticidal and antioxidant properties.

Excessive use of synthetic chemicals in conventional agriculture largely degraded the agroecosystems that constitute approximately 40% of the global terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, changing climate resulted in a substantial loss in agricultural productivity (both in quantity and in quality) mainly due to diverse abiotic and biotic stresses. This draws public awareness about depleting natural resources, viz., soil, land, and water due to unsustainable agricultural practices and equivalently concerns for food-related animal and human health risks. Modern organic agriculture has shown positive impacts in terms of food/biomass production, climate resilience, soil health, biodiversity, nutritional security, and good quality of life; and is of prodigious demand for nutrient-rich organic food products. In the ensuing decade, owing to the principal focus for the quality aspects or health benefits of organic agriculture, this review explores how organic interventions affect the nutritional value and yield quality in a production system; enable plants to adapt to adverse futuristic environmental conditions, and address the global food and nutritional security challenges. The chronological emergence, current global status, public perceptions, and key components of organic agriculture with their attached health benefits are inextricably synthesized herein. Fostering the ethos of organic agriculture under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) is highly imperative for agroecosystem restoration and its sustainable management. Moreover, the multidimensional paybacks of organic agriculture help in attaining important global goals and targets such as the Bonn Challenge and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) by the year 2030. Therefore, invigorating the escalation of organic farming as a concurrent strategy of soil, land, and ecosystem restoration is the need of the hour.