Chenopodium album L. and Chenopodium murale L. are two principal weed species, causing substantial damage to numerous winter crops across the globe. For sustainable and resource-efficient management strategies, it is important to understand weeds’ germination behaviour under diverse conditions. For the germination investigations, seeds of both species were incubated for 15 days under different temperatures (10–30 °C), salinity (0–260 mM NaCl), osmotic stress (0–1 MPa), pH (4–10), and heating magnitudes (50–200 °C). The results indicate that the germination rates of C. album and C. murale were 54–95% and 63–97%, respectively, under a temperature range of 10 to 30 °C. The salinity levels for a 50% reduction in the maximum germination (GR50) for C. album and C. murale were 139.9 and 146.3 mM NaCl, respectively. Regarding osmotic stress levels, the GR50 values for C. album and C. murale were 0.44 and 0.43 MPa, respectively. The two species showed >95% germination with exposure to an initial temperature of 75 °C for 5 min; however, seeds exposed to 100 °C and higher temperatures did not show any germination. Furthermore, a drastic reduction in germination was observed when the pH was less than 6.0 and greater than 8.0. The study generated information on the germination biology of two major weed species under diverse ecological scenarios, which may be useful in developing efficient weed management tactics for similar species in future agri-food systems.

Due to the increasing global population, advancement in farming techniques to meet the global food demand is the need of the hour. Conventional farming techniques have increased the yield over the past few decades, but those techniques also have adverse effects on natural resources. In this scenario, many other alternatives have emerged as a solution, natural farming being one among them. The presented article delivers crucial information regarding the targeted farming technique i.e., natural farming. Multiple scientifically-proven natural techniques and ecological approaches are discussed for different aspects of farming. In addition, criticisms related to Natural Farming are illustrated along with a basic introduction to zero budget natural farming (ZBNF). Furthermore, the article describes multiple proven technologies for weed, pest and disease management approaches through natural practices. Lastly, the article gives recommendations on implementing and introducing natural farming to the farming community.

The field experiment was carried out at Forage Block, Instructional Dairy Farm, Nagla, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) in spring 2019 to, study the effect of mulches and irrigation schedules on productivity and water use efficiency of spring sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in Mollisols of Uttarakhand (India). The experiment consisted of 03 levels of mulches i.e., control (no mulch), straw mulch @ 6t/ha and polythene mulch (black) in the main plot and 04 levels of irrigation schedules i.e., critical stages (button, flowering, and seed filling stage), 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 IW/CPE ratios in subplots, was laid out in split-plot design with three replications. Under the application of polythene mulch, significant seed output was observed that was statistically comparable to straw mulch. Under polythene mulch, seed yield was found to be 4.6% and 18.5% greater than under straw mulch and control, respectively. The polythene mulch produced significantly higher stover yield that was non-significant with straw mulch Polythene mulch produced 8.10% and 10.4 % higher stover than straw mulch and control, respectively. Sunflower seed yield differed significantly among irrigation schedules. Irrigation applied at 1.2 IW/CPE produced significantly the highest seed yield that was 5.4, 11.1, and 14.8% greater than irrigation scheduled at 1.0, 0.8 IW/CPE, and critical stages, respectively. Among the irrigation schedules, stover yield was recorded 5.8, 8.0, and 10.8% higher under the 1.2 IW/CPE ratio than 1.0, 0.8 IW/CPE ratio, and critical stages, respectively. Overall, it is highlighted that polythene mulch gives significantly higher productivity and quality parameters. 1.2 IW/CPE ratios give significantly the highest seed yield, higher protein content and oil content.

In the kharif season of 2020, an experimental trial was executed at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology which is situated in Pantnagar, India. The objective of this study was to evaluate how soybean's nutrient content and uptake responded to the application of thiourea through foliar means. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design and comprised of two soybean cultivars viz., PS 1347 and SL 958 and five foliar sprays viz., control, water spray, thiourea spray @ 250 ppm, 500 ppm, and 750 ppm which were replicated four times. This study demonstrates the potential of foliar thiourea application to enhance the sulfur content and uptake of soybean cultivars in the kharif season. The findings of the study indicated that the N, P, and K content of soybean were not impacted by the type of variety used or by the foliar sprays administered. However, it was observed that the highest S content in both seeds (0.375%) and haulm (0.179%) was recorded when thiourea was applied through foliar means at a rate of 750 ppm. This result was statistically equivalent (0.368% in seed and 0.173% in haulm) to the outcome obtained from a 500 ppm foliar spray and both of these treatments were found to be more effective than the other foliar spray methods tested. Regarding the uptake of nutrients, it was observed that the highest levels of N, P, K, and S uptake by both seed and haulm as well as the total uptake, were recorded when a foliar spray containing 750 ppm of thiourea was used.