No abstract

Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) originated from Mexico and Central America and grew worldwide for food, feed and industrial products components. It possesses ten chromosomes with a genome size of 2.3 gigabases. Teosinte (Z. mays ssp. parviglumis) is the probable progenitor of the modern-day maize. The maize domestication favored standing gain of function and regulatory variations acquired the convergent phenotypes. The genomic loci teosinte branched 1 (tb1) and teosinte glume architecture 1 (tga1) played a central role in transforming teosinte to modern-day maize. Under domestication and crop improvement, only 2% (~1200) genes were undergone selection, out of ~60000 genes. Around ~98% of the genes have not experienced selection; there is enormous variation present in the diverse inbred lines that can be potentially utilized to identify QTLs and crop improvement through plant breeding. The genomic resources of wild relatives and landraces harbor the unexplored genes/alleles for biotic/abiotic tolerance, productivity and nutritional quality. The human-made evolution led to the transformation of wild relatives/landraces to the modern-day maize. This chapter summarized the maize’s wild relatives/landraces and the genetic gain over time in biotic/abiotic, productivity, and nutritional quality traits.

Farm yard manure has a great diversity characterized for storage and application. Moisture content, bulk density, dry matter content, angle of repose and angle of friction are the major characteristics which are related to the performance of manure spreader. A study was carried out to determine different frictional as well as physical attributes of farm yard manure at laboratory of MCAT at Maya Group of colleges, Dehradun. The Physical attributes of farm yard manure were determined at different depth of manure pit. The size of pit was calculated as 300 cm × 90 cm × 75 cm. The different depths were taken as 0-18, 18-36, 36-54, 54-72, 72-90 cm respectively. The moisture content was obtained 27.96, 35.47, 38.46, 45.05 and 46.94 % at different depths and bulk density was observed as 1.66, 1.72, 1.80, 1.80 and 1.89 kg/m3 respectively. The dry matter content measured for farm yard manure was 72.04, 64.54, 61.54, 54.95 and 53.11 % at different depth of manure pit. The angle of repose was found to be 35.062°, 39.193°, 39.869°, 47.478° and 53.737° at different depths of manure pit.

The field experiment was carried out at agricultural research farm of IFTM University Moradabad (U.P.), India during rabi season 2018-19 to study the effect of sowing methods and irrigation levels on wheat. Sowing method and irrigation being a major constraint to reduces the potential of wheat yield. The treatments were arranged in split plot design in three replications, sowing methods in main plots and irrigation levels in sub-plots. The experiment treatments included two sowing methods, i.e. [S1 – conventional sowing method and S2 - furrow irrigated raised bed (FIRB) system] in main plots and six irrigation levels [I0 – (control), I1 – (one irrigation at CRI stage), I2 – (two irrigation at CRI and tillering stage), I3 – (three irrigations at CRI, tillering and late jointing stage), I4 – (four irrigations at CRI, tillering, late jointing and milking stage) and I5 – (five irrigations at CRI, tillering, late jointing, milking and dough stage). Wheat crop was sown by traditional method and furrow irrigated raised beds (FIRB) method. Raised beds were accommodating 3 rows of wheat at 20 cm wide. Furrows that are in between the beds are used for irrigation. This system permits adequate saving of irrigation water. Results indicated that sowing of wheat on FIRB system surpassed the conventional method of sowing for plant height, number of tillers plant-1, dry weight (g plant-1), number of effective tillers plant-1, spike length, number of grain spike-1, 1000 grain weight, grain yield, straw yield and biological yield followed by conventional sowing method. On the other hand irrigation levels I5 - (five irrigations at CRI, tillering, late jointing, milking and doughing stage) recorded the highest values for most of growth, yield components and yield of wheat. In FIRB system beds gave the opportunity for mechanical weeding and fertilizer placement and also improved the fertilizer and water use efficiencies. The role of sowing methods and level of irrigation in plant health and growth has been investigated in crop and it seemed significantly affecting with treatment.

A 53-year-old male presented with complaints of dry cough, hoarseness and breathlessness for two months. He has been working in an electrical switch manufacturing unit for 25 years with history of exposure to Bakelite fumes and dust. Otorhinolaryngology examination revealed left-sided vocal cord palsy. Chest radiograph showed bronchiectasis. Other investigations like computed tomography of neck and chest, bronchoscopy with lung biopsy and magnetic resonance imaging of vagus nerve did not reveal any pathology for the cause of vocal cord palsy. We considered occupational exposure to Bakelite as the cause of vocal cord palsy and the patient was counselled to refrain from the occupational exposure to Bakelite. Subsequently, on regular follow-up, no further deterioration of the symptoms was observed. [Indian