Plant growth retardants have great potential to maintain a balance between vegetative and reproductive growth of the plants. Prohexadione-calcium is reported as a novel plant growth retardant that inhibits late stages of gibberellins (GAs) biosynthesis in plants. It is emerged as one of an important management tool that an orchardist has available to control vegetative growth in plants and can enhance flowering and fruit quality. Currently, prohexadione-calcium is considered as a reduced risk compound, since it exhibits negligible toxicological effects and has been reported to degrade in higher plants with a halflife of a few weeks and in soil with a halflife of less than a week. The available literature on the effect of prohexadionecalcium on vegetative growth, fruit set, fruit yield, fruit quality and return bloom have been reviewed in this paper.

Background: Chickpea is a cool season legume crop and is grown in several countries worldwide as a food source. Seed is the main edible part of the plant and is a rich source of protein, carbohydrates and minerals especially for the vegetarian population. The current study aimed to study the effect of seed rate and seed spacing on yield attributes of chickpea. Methods: The research was carried out at Research Farm, Department of Agriculture, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Sadopur, Ambala during Rabi season in 2020-2021. The experiment was laid out in split plot design (SPD), with three replication and 9 treatments with two conditions i.e. three different seed rate (60, 75 and 90 kg/ha) and seed rate were design in main plot, where as in sub-plot three spacing (20, 30 and 40 cm) were tested. Result: The result revealed that seed rate of 75 kg/ha with row spacing of 30 cm in chickpea crop recorded maximum seed index (21.70 g), seed yield (23.26 q/ha), straw yield (26 q/ha), biological yield (49.16 q/ha) and harvest index (47%). The maximum number of pods per plant (107.63) and seeds per pod (2.13) were observed when the seed rate of 60 kg/ha and row spacing of 40 cm was used.

It is very important to adopt new technology for agricultural productivity and development. Farmers' socioeconomic status influenced their decision to adopt the technology. It is therefore important to study the social status of the farmer. The analysis was based on data based on a survey of 60 farm households. sample was drawn by using a simple random technique from the list of mushroom growers. A complete list of mushroom growers was prepared with the help of the Department of Horticulture, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh and from the supplier of spawn. the analysis of data all the mushroom growers were classified into three categories based on the number of bags, viz., Small Category (≤ 600), Medium Category (601-1200) and Large Category (>1200).  Results of the study revealed all of the farmers and most of their families were literate. The literacy status of studied households revealed that 88.25 per cent of family members were literates at an overall level and the literacy index was found 2.69. Among all the three categories all the farmers were small farmers based on landholding. So mushroom farming was preferred by only small farmers. and most of the farmers had an orchard. It is concluded that the main source of income for the farmer is mushroom production. Mushroom contributed maximum in total farm income in case of medium and large category i.e., 43.44 per cent and 72.18 per cent respectively. Overall, its contribution was found 49.42 per cent to the total farm income. Mushroom producer earns more than 52 thousand every month from mushrooms with less than 1200 bags, which is much higher than the average of an Indian.

The research experiment comprising of three levels of seed rate, i.e., 60, 75 and 90 kg/ha and three line spacing, i.e., 20, 30 and 40 cm was conducted at Research Farm of the Department of Agriculture, Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Sadopur, Ambala during winter season of 2020-21 to study the effect of seed rate and spacing on uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash in chickpea. The seed rate was kept in main plot and spacing in sub-plot. The total nine treatment combinations of seed rate and line spacing were laid out in Split Plot Design (SPD) and replicated thrice. The interaction between seed rate and line spacing significantly influenced the uptake of N, P and K in plants and their status in soil. The maximum available NPK was registered with seed rate 75 kg/ha. Irrespective of the seed rate, the maximum NPK content was recorded under line spacing of 30 cm. Similar observations were also recorded for NPK content (%) in seed and straw of chickpea. The maximum NPK uptake and protein content was also observed when the crop was sown at row spacing of 30 cm using a seed rate 75 kg/ha.