<p><strong>Background:</strong> Feeding high nutrient density best prelay diet (BPD) 2-3 weeks before egg production is beneficial and may allow to reduce layer diet nutrient density.</p>

<p><strong>Methods</strong>: Total 180, 16-week-old White Leghorn pullets were assigned to six-layer feeding strategies (kcal ME per kg/%CP/%Ca) during 19-40 weeks. Treatments were T0 (BIS control-2600/18.0/3.0), T1 (2500/18.0/3.0), T2 (2500/18.0/4.0), T3 (2500/17.0/4.0), T4 (2500/16.0/4.0) and T5 (2500/15.0/4.0). These layers were fed with same BPD (2700/18.0/2.5) during 16-18 weeks. Performance parameters were recorded during the study.</p>

<p><strong>Result</strong>: Feeding BPD did not influence pullets (16-18 woa) CaI, PI and MEI. The 3.0% layer Ca (T0 and T1) decreased (p&lt;0.01) CaI than 4.0% (T2 to T5) and layer diet CP reduction from 18.0 to 15.0% decreased PI but 2500 or 2700 kcal ME/kg layer diet did not affect MEI (19-40 woa). BPD did not support 16 or15% layer diet CP (T4 and T5) but allowed to reduce CP (T3) by 1.0% (18.0 to 17.0%) to support production. BPD (2700/18.0/2.5) with BIS (2007) layer diet in T0 (2600/18.0/3.0) is the best combination for supporting BWG without affecting FC and improving EN, HDEP, FCDE, EFPR and PEI in layers.</p>

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<p>Efficacy of Best Prelay Diet on Production Performance of White Leghorn Layers Fed with Different Layer Diets</p>


<p>Protein is an important part of our diet and legumes viz., pigeonpea, chickpea, groundnut, cowpea, blackgram, greengram, etc are very rich source of protein. Among them, pigeonpea consists of about 20 to 22% of seed protein. Minicore collection set is consisted of approximately 10 % of core collection and 1% of entire collection with lot of diversity present in it. Nitrogen content of pigeonpea minicore collection set was estimated using Micro-Kjeldhal method and was ranged from 9.82 to 21.45 %. Based on per cent seed protein, twelve accessions of high and twelve accessions of low seed protein were selected for molecular characterization using 23 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The PowerMarker result depicted that, among twenty three amplified markers, twenty markers generated polymorphism with mean polymorphic information content (PIC), major allele frequency (MAF) and genetic diversity of 0.479, 0.589 and 0.525 respectively. Based on molecular characterization, the dendrogram was constructed using DARwin 5.0 software distinguished the selected accessions of both high and low seed protein separately into different clusters showing diversity The results illustrate the potential of marker systems to distinguish the content of seed protein in pulses crop at genus level. Use of these markers also offers an efficient system for the assessment of genetic diversity within minicore set of pigeonpea.</p>


<p>Genetic diversity of selected accessions for seed protein among&nbsp;pigeonpea minicore collection</p>


<div><strong>Background:</strong> Pulikulam cattle is an indigenous cattle breed native to south India, Understanding the rumen microbiome is an important step to develop effective strategies to minimize their enteric methane emission. The rumen microbiome of this breed has not been documented.&nbsp; Hence, a study was executed in Pulikulam cattle, fed different diets, to investigate the diversity of rumen methanogens using metagenomic techniques.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> Twenty recently calved Pulikulam cattle with mean body weight of 200 Kg were randomly distributed into four treatments, with five animals per treatment. The animals were fed their respective diets as per their treatment for 30 days, after which the rumen liquor was collected.&nbsp; DNA from the samples were extracted and subjected for 16s rRNA gene amplification using region specific primers.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Result:</strong> Methanogens belonging to five orders, four classes and eleven families were identified. Order Methanomassiliicoccales was not present in treatment group fed with high energy diet. The methanogens affiliated to the order Methanomicrobiales were predominant in treatment 1 (14%) and treatment 2 (16.30%). Order methanococcales (15%) was predominant in treatment 3 and order Methanosarcinales (18%) was predominant in treatment 4. Archaeal order belonging to Thermoplasmatales were also identified in Pulikulam cattle fed different dietary regimen except in treatment 3. Archaeal family Methanothermaceae belonging to the order Methanobacteriales was identified in Pulikulam cattle. Methanocorpusculum labreanum was the predominant species in all the treatment groups. Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, Sulfolobus islandicus, Sulfolobus solfataricus, Sulfolobus sp. A20 and Sulfolobus tokodaii were identified in treatment 1, which had higher dietary crude protein. It was concluded that methanogen diversity varied under different feeding regimen and predominant methanogen is varied in Pulikulam breed of cattle.&nbsp; M. labreanum was the predominant methanogen in Pulikulam cattle fed with different dietary regimen.</div>


<p>Rumen Methanogens Diversity in Native Cattle under Different Feeding Regimen using 16s Metagenomic Techniques</p>


<div style="text-align: justify;">This trial was conducted to investigate the adhesion of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens to Caco-2 cells, the effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on the mucosal immunity, cecal volatile fatty acids and microbial diversity in broiler chickens. Three hundred and sixty 1-d-old Ross 308 chicks were randomly divided into 3 dietary treatments groups, which birds fed with basal diet, basal diet supplemented with colistine sulfate, and basal diet supplemented with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to analyze the change of cecal microflora, and Gas Chromatography was used to analyze the cecal volatile fatty acids. Data showed that: 1) Bacillus amyloliquefaciens had a good adhesion ability to epithelial cells; 2) the supplementation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens significantly increased the concentration of ileal mucosal secretory IgA and interleukin 6, decreased (P&lt;0.05) the concentration of tumor necrosis factor-a; 3) resulted in the change of cecal microbial community, higher levels of acetic acid, methylacetic and isovaleric acid in the birds. Thus, we considered that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens enhanced the mucosal immunity, increased the cecal concentration of major volatile fatty acids and the diversity microflora community in broilers.&nbsp;</div>

Effects of dietary <em>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</em> on mucosal immunity, cecal volatile fatty acids and microbial diversity in broiler chickens

<div style="text-align: justify;">Genetic diversity among 54 genotypes of field and garden pea of India were studied using 30 RAPD primers. A total of 168 amplicons were scored, of which 154 were polymorphic revealing 89.3% of polymophism. Out of 30 RAPD primers tested, 22 primers produced clear and reproducible bands. The number of products generated by these primers ranged from 04 to 14 with primer OPU-17 giving maximum (14) and primer OPC-08 giving minimum number of amplicons (04). Genetic similarity estimates based on the binomial data using Jaccard&rsquo;s coefficient ranged from 0.34 (Kaza-2/IC-218991) to 0.89 (IC-209118/IC-209123) with an average similarity index of 0.54 exhibiting considerable diversity among the pea genotypes studied. The dendrogram showed clear pattern of clustering according to the source of germplasm. This study indicated that Himalayan region germplasm exhibited higher diversity.&nbsp;</div>

Diversity analysis of pea genotypes using RAPD markers

<div><strong>Background: </strong>Intercropping and mixed cropping based on two or more different crops have been widely used in Insect Pest Management to manage the population density of insect pests in various crops like maize with soybean, sorghum with soybean and sunflower with soybean. Genotypic diversity is the mixture or combination of various varieties/lines/genotypes of a crop. It decreases the insect-pests population by unfitness of crop to them due to intraspecific diversity such as mixture of susceptible and resistant varieties. Also, it increases the natural enemy population more due to longer period of flowering, availability of wide diverse food, more movement of herbivores <em>etc</em>. This concept has also been used successfully to manage insect-pests in maize, wheat and potato. In India, this connect is used in very small scale in crop. The objective of this study was to determine effects of genotypic diversity by comparing the population densities of major insect pests between monoculture of single variety and mixture of varieties.<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>To test the effects of genotypic diversity on soybean insect-pest and their natural enemy population an experiment was laid in<em> kharif </em>2018 and 2019 at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore. All recommended agronomic package of practices were followed for raising of crop. Randomized block design with three replication having plot size of 9 rows of 5 meter row length was used. Totally 20 treatments were chosen for this experiment and out of 20 four treatments namely, T1, T6, T11 and T16 were the treatments of four varietal mixture treatments of almost similar maturity duration and agronomic traits and rest of treatments were of sole varietal treatments. Observations were made on insect-pests from 10 selected plants in each plot on three leaves selected at top, middle and lower portion of plant.<br />
<br />
<strong>Result: </strong>Effects of genotypic diversity in soybean revealed that for whitefly management T11 (NRC-86, JS-335, JS-2098 and RKS-45) was found most effective treatment. In case of mite, thrips and treehoppers management T1 (JS-9560, JS-20-34, MAUS-47 and MAUS-1460) was found most effective treatment. For leafhopper and mealy bug T6 (JS-9305, JS-2029, RVS-2001-4 and Dsb-28-3) was found most effective treatment. While for spittlebug T16 (NRC-37, JS-9752, RSC-1046 and RKS-113) was found most effective treatment. So, genotypic diverse treatments were found more effective than their respective sole varietal treatments.</div>

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<p>​Effects of Genotypic Diversity on Insect-pests of Soybean</p>


<div style="text-align:justify">Modern intensive monocropping system is becoming unproductive, pest ridden, loss incurring, and resource depleting and hence turning out to be untenable. Lack of discrimination in input use by farm managers and overall poor management are accelerating degradation and desertification processes, and loss of biodiversity particularly add in endangered regions. &nbsp;While, properly designed diverse and strategically located tree/seasonal crop based land use systems can contribute to ecologic services by mitigation land degradation, climate change and desertification, while conserving natural resources and biodiversity. Besides providing, diverse goods and services, on-farm diversity can be considered as an adoptive strategy in areas climatically and biologically vulnerable. Being a potential C sink, tree based land use systems can also mitigate negative impacts of CO2 emission. As green belt/bank these have an important role in maintaining air, water and soil quality in mining and industrial areas. The so-called cellulosic feedstocks can be grown on marginal land, enhance soil fertility by promoting the growth of various soil organisms, and provide a climate- friendly source of energy. There are plenty of underexploited but potential plant species which can find niche in the existing agroecosystems with substantial addition to total production while contributing sufficiently to ecological services. These needs to be identified and useful models are developed for specific situations.</div>

On-farm crop diversity for sustainability and resilience in farming - A review

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Malnutrition among school children is still a major public health problem, particularly in the state like Jharkhand. A diverse diet is important for ensuring adequate intake of all essential nutrients for physical and mental development. Information on the dietary diversity and nutritional status of the children is scanty concerning the tribal belt of Jharkhand. Therefore, a study was undertaken to assess the dietary diversity score and prevalence of malnutrition among school children.<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> The study was a cross-sectional survey involving 179 mothers and their 6 to 10 years old children covering 2 blocks and four villages of Ranchi district of Jharkhand. A pretested questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographics. The 24-hour dietary recall method was used to calculate individual dietary diversity score (DDS based on a scale of 12 food groups) and the scores were divided into low = &le; 4, medium = 5-8 and high = 9-12. Anthropometric measurements were taken following the standard techniques. The degree of malnutrition was calculated according to BMI in comparison with age/gender-specific centile values recommended by WHO.<br />
<br />
<strong>Result: </strong>Cereals (0.91&plusmn;0.38) and Roots and Tubers (0.60&plusmn;0.29) had higher mean DDS values, while fish (0.09&plusmn;0.17) and milk and milk products (0.21&plusmn;0.18) had the lowest value. While assessing the prevalence of malnutrition, 36.32% and 10.6% were found to be suffering from under nutrition and overweight, respectively.&nbsp;</p>


<p>Assessment of Dietary Diversity and Nutritional Status of School Children of Ranchi District of Jharkhand</p>


<div><strong>Background: </strong>This study was conducted to determine the effect of particles size of starter diet on growth performance of broiler chickens.</div>

<div><br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> A total of 384 Arbor Acres broiler chicks were usedin a completely randomized design with three treatments and four replicates of 32 birds each.Birds were fed diets with 3 particles sizes of starter diet (T1: 1.0 mm; T2: 0.8 mm; T3: 0.7 mm) during the first week of life. At 7 d, the same starter diet was offered in a crumbled form until 10 d of age. Then, common grower and finisher diets were provided in a pelleted form. Body weight (BW), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and mortality rate were evaluated at 7, 14 and 42 days of age.</div>

<div><br />
<strong>Result:</strong> The results showed thatchicks receiving diet with intermediate particles size (0.8 mm) had the higher BW at 7 and 14 d. The FCR was also improved (-6.25%; P&lt;0.01) with the same diet at 7 days of age. No feed particle size effect for FIand mortality was observed throughout the 42 d trial. In conclusion, birds fed intermediate particles size (0.8 mm) diet showed better FCR and BW at starter phase. However, no significant effect was observed at slaughter age.</div>


<p>Effect of Particle Size of Starter Diet on Broiler Chicken Performance</p>


<div><strong>Background: </strong>The variety of indigenous duck germplasm contribute maximum to the poultry industry in India, besides chicken population. In southern part of India, the available duck genetic resource, particularly Arni ducks (comprises of Sanyasi and Keeri ducks) of Tamil Nadu, has its own characteristics with innate potentiality of higher productivity without any input system of management. Genetic characterization and diversity of indigenous duck genetic resources has not been properly studied. In the present study, the genetic diversity of Arni ducks with other indigenous and exotic duck germplasm were analysed with microsatellite markers.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>Genomic DNA was isolated from the blood samples of six duck populations. Molecular characterization was carried out with duck specific FAO recommended microsatellite markers. The genotyping of ducks was done based on the size of 4324 PCR amplicons of 23 microsatellite loci, which were subjected to capillary electrophoresis using automatic sequencer.<br />
<br />
<strong>Result: </strong>A total of 222 alleles in six duck populations across 23 microsatellite loci with a mean of 9.65&plusmn;0.95 alleles were found. Kuttanad duck variety had the highest number of alleles (139) followed by Sanyasi (136), Keeri (129), Muscovy (118), Assam (91) and White Pekin (78) ducks. The mean observed number of alleles was 6.04&plusmn;0.59, 5.91&plusmn;0.76, 5.61&plusmn;3.17, 5.13&plusmn;0.44, 3.96&plusmn;0.76 and 3.39&plusmn;0.40 in Kuttanad, Sanyasi, Keeri, Muscovy, Assam and White Pekin ducks respectively. The overall mean polymorphism information content (PIC) values among the six duck populations was 0.6269. &nbsp;In most of the duck populations, the mean PIC value was more than 0.5 except in Assam (0.4815) and White Pekin (0.3725) ducks. The observed heterozygosity was the highest in Keeri ducks (0.5217) and lowest in White Pekin ducks (0.2766), while, the mean expected heterozygosity was the highest in Sanyasi (0.5628) and lowest in White Pekin (0.4038) ducks. The variations in the observed and expected number of alleles, differences in PIC of various microsatellite loci might be attributed to the genetic variability of the duck populations, number and type of microsatellite primers utilised for analysis and the genetic diversity of the duck breeds under study. Higher FST value indicates the substantial degree of breed differentiation among the studied duck populations.</div>


Efficacy of Best Prelay Diet on Production Performance of White Leghorn Layers Fed with Different Layer Diets

Genetic diversity of selected accessions for seed protein among pigeonpea minicore collection

Rumen Methanogens Diversity in Native Cattle under Different Feeding Regimen using 16s Metagenomic Techniques

Effects of dietary Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on mucosal immunity, cecal volatile fatty acids and microbial diversity in broiler chickens

Diversity analysis of pea genotypes using RAPD markers

Effects of Genotypic Diversity on Insect-pests of Soybean

On-farm crop diversity for sustainability and resilience in farming - A review

Assessment of Dietary Diversity and Nutritional Status of School Children of Ranchi District of Jharkhand

Effect of Particle Size of Starter Diet on Broiler Chicken Performance

Genetic Diversity of Six Duck Populations in India