The potato tuber moth (PTM; caused by Phthorimaea operculella) is one of the most serious insect pests that causes damage to crop production and storage of potatoes. It causes damage to the potato, while larvae of P. operculella feed on and grow in the leaves and tubers of potatoes, resulting in direct product losses. The larvae construct tunnels through tubers and mine leaves, stems, and petioles, resulting in uneven galleries. Foliar damage to the potato crop does not normally result in major output losses, although contaminated tubers may have lower marketability and storage losses of up to 100%. Light watering every 4 days and mulching with neem leaves during the last 4 weeks before the harvest was found to be a successful treatment. Spraying a thin layer of testing natural oils also acts as a defensive layer, which causes confusion or disturbance to the searching neonate larvae. The pest is tough to eradicate, so producers rely heavily on insecticides and biological approaches. Potato tuberworm damage was reduced by rotating esfenvalerate and indoxacarb treatments before and after vine kill. At 5 g/kg potato tuber in farmer rustic storage, Acorus calamus dust exhibited great efficiency in preventing PTM tuber damage. In different regions of the world, parasitoids such as Copidosoma spp. and Apanteles spp. are significant in PTM management. Pheromone traps are used for pest population monitoring as well as pest management in the field and during storage.

An experiment was conducted at NPI, Bharatpur-11 Bhojad, Chitwan to assess the effect of mulching materials on vegetative increase and yield of okra. The test turned into completed in Randomized Complete Block Design. There were 5 treatments comprising T1 (Control), T2 (Black plastic), T3 (Silver plastic), T4 (Rice straw), T5 (Rice husk) which was replicated four times. Mulching effect showed significant effect on all growth and yield parameters. The effects revealed that plant top, variety of leaves, plant spreading, total number of fruits, fruit length, fruit diameter, average number of fruit, average weight of fruit/plant, and total yield among the different treatments were statistically significant. Above all treatment silver plastic mulch treatment produced the maximum fruit yield(11.070 t/ha) and had better plant height (148.7 cm), spreading (67.2 cm), number of leaves (42.5), number of fruits per plant(39.2), average fruit length (12.54 cm), average fruit weight (17.93 gm), average diameter (17.73 mm). Thus, silver plastic mulch is better for okra production at Chitwan condition of Nepal.

The experiment was conducted during winter at the research field of National Maize Research Program (NMRP), Rampur, Chitwan situated in the inner-terai region of Nepal. Field experiment was conducted in the Completely Randomized Block Design (CRBD) with three replications. Three blocks was made on the field as local control to obtain more accurate data. Each block contains 14 experimental units. The collected data was recorded, entered and tabulated in Microsoft Excel and then analyzed by using R-software. Analysis showed non-significant variation for number of heads per meter square and significant variation for all other remaining traits. CHZ-NP-108-OY (111DAS) showed highest days to maturity and B86019-1K-2K-0K3 showed lowest. Days to booting, heading and anthesis were found highest in variety Bonus (std. check) with 81 DAS, 88 DAS and 98 DAS, respectively. Likewise, total quantity of tillers and number of effective tillers were highest in variety B90K-090-0K (2.9 and 2.4 respectively) and lowest in B86019-1K-2K-0K3 (1.9) and B86099-50K (1.6) respectively. Plant height was highest in variety B90K-024-1-1-2-0K (107cm) and lowest in . Xveola-38 showed highest result for seed length (11.2mm) and grain yield (1634 kg/ha). Correlation between most of the traits was significant. Plant height changed into vast and undoubtedly correlated with tiller range (0.3*), powerful tiller (0.44***), flag leaf width (0.41***) flag leaf period (0.35**). Grain yield in keeping with hectare changed into significantly and definitely correlated with days to maturity (0.07**), flag leaf width (0.41***) plant peak (0.45**) and grain yield according to spike (0.1**). B86019-1K-2K-0K3 showed better adaptability and results for phenotypic characters whereas Xveola-38 performed best for the yield and yield attributing traits. So these varieties have the possibilities and potential for further study in Rampur, Chitwan.

A field experiment on “Comparative Efficacy of Biological, Botanical and Chemical Seed Treatments against Damping Off Disease of Tomato in Bhojad, Chitwan” was conducted from 1st October to 1st November 2020. The test was placed on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five treatments and four responses. The treatments were included Trichoderma harzianium (107 cfu ml-1) as a bio control agent, Bavistin (2g/litre of water) as chemical treatments and Neem extract as botanical treatments. The germination percentage, pre, and post-emergence damping-off, plant height, root weight and shoot weight, dry root and dry shoot weight of tomato seedlings were recorded. There was a significant increment in germination percentage (86.25%), reduction in pre and post disease incidence (23% and 5.16%), highest plant height (41.20 cm), highest fresh root weight, and fresh shoot weight (0.9725g and 12.300g), highest dry root and dry shoot weight (0.1975g and 1.393g) respectively were found when the Bavistin treatment was given however Trichoderma harzianum (107 cfu ml-1) treatment was also found significantly effective for controlling damping-off of tomato as compared to control which is non-hazardous to environment and the human being so, is suggested to use for organic agriculture. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 9, Issue-2: 67-74.

The distribution of soil properties under different elevations and soil depths was evaluated by taking soil samples from peripheral agricultural land of Chitwan to the Mustang roadway track with the integrated use of the Geographical Information System (GIS). Soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorous (P2O5), available potassium (K2O), and soil ph. were determined on 10 samples each from 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm soil depths of each categorical elevation (194-604 masl, 604-1399 masl, 1300-2846 masl) were analyzed (Total 60 samples). The highest SOM (4.21%) was recorded at surface soil (0-15 cm) of elevation 1300-2846 masl. The highest total nitrogen (0.245%) was also found at the surface layer of elevation 1300-2846 masl. Phosphorous and Potassium were highest at the surface layer of elevation 1300-2846 masl. The available nutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium were medium in range and decrease with the increase in depth, which might be due to in-situ in a corporation of leaf litters, residue, etc. as well as applied manure on the surface. In general, the study result revealed altitude did not impose any significant effect in aggravating soil reaction and phosphorous. Whereas soil depth affected significantly not only ph. but also SOM and available potassium. Thus, the study concludes the increasing trend of primary nutrients with increasing elevation and decreases with increasing depth.