Virus elimination in potato through meristem culture followed by thermotherapy and virus indexing was studied. Three levels of thermotherapy, viz.

No abstract

Chemical compositions of leaves of neem (Azadirachta indica), sajna (Moringa oleifera), arjun (Terminalia arjuna), tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), turmeric (Curcuma longa); rhizomes of ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric; fruits of amla (Emblica officinalis), haritaki (Terminalia chebula), bohera (Terminalia belerica) and bulbs of garlic (Allium sativum) of indigenous origin were determined. Proximate and mineral components [Calcium (Ca), Phosphorus (P), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn)] were determined. Dry matter (DM) varied from 964g/kg in arjun leaves to 892g/kg in tulsi leaves. Sajna leaves were high in protein (240g/kg), whereas haritaki fruits were low (34g/kg). Highest amount of ether extract (EE) was found in turmeric rhizomes and the lowest in amla fruits. The crude fibre (CF) ranged from 134 g/kg in turmeric leaves to 7g/kg in garlic bulbs. Highest amounts of ash were found in tulsi leaves (136g/kg), whereas haritaki had 42g/kg. All the plant products had high Nitrogen Free Extract (NFE) and haritaki ranked the highest. Neem leaves contained the highest amount of Ca and Mg. Fruits had lower amounts of P than other products. K content ranged between 8510 ppm in turmeric leaves and 4190 ppm in arjun leaves. Tulsi leaves contain higher amounts of Na, whereas arjun leaves contained less. Tulsi leaves contain higher amount of Cu and Zn than other plant products. The Mn content ranged from 17 ppm in ginger to 780 ppm in garlic bulbs. Only sajna and neem leaves are considered as fair sources of protein. Such ingredients may be considered as good sources

Pvlorphological characters of rice grains fO1yz.a. sotivu L.) talciug ~O L I~ cultivars each from each of modern and traditional cultivars, growl1 in Bolo season were studied. The length, breadth and thiclrness of grain !unhulled grain). length and breadth of lcernel (hulled grain), embryo length, embryo-endosperm ratio and 1000-grain weight, and their interrelationship were investigated. There were significant differences regarcling values of all parameters except g~.ain thiclcness and embryo len@h among the cultivars. Significant correlatio~is between grain length to kernel length (r=0.9655""'), grain breadth to grain thicltness (r=0.8938:":"), Icernel breadth (r=0.9783:"') and 1000-grain weight (1-=0,7727:~) were found. Embryo length dicl not show any relationship between ot;ber characteristics of grain or Icernel.

Leaf mosaic transmitted by whitefly is a devastating disease of jute. It is thought to be caused by a virus belonging to begomovirus genus under geminivirus family. To confirm the identity of the causal agent, infected and healthy leaves were studied using light microscope and by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique of DNA. The inclusion bodies were observed under light microscope as large, blue-violet, prominent inclusion bodies in the nucleus of the infected leaf tissues. In molecular detection technique DNA from infected and healthy plants was extracted and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using degenerate primers PALIv1978/PARIc496. PCR fragment of the expected size 1.2kb for the common region (CR) in the geminivirus were obtained from infected plants. DNA collected from healthy plant did not show any band during electrophoresis. Therefore, it can be concluded that leaf mosaic of jute is cause by a virus.