Background: Leaves are vital plant organs executing major physiological functions of plants. They act as a primary site for carbohydrate synthesis and transpiration. The leaf characteristics also readily affect the flowering. Chlorophyll in the leaves plays major role in photosynthesis. In pot plant industry, the size, shape and colour hold the commercial value. An experiment was carried out on tropical flowering Anthuriums for pot plant production in coastal Bhubaneswar area under AICRP floriculture to study effect of different nutrients and growth regulators/bio-stimulants on pot- Anthuriums leaves. 
&nbsp; 
Methods: The treatments include five types of nutrient solution sprayed with varying frequency of weekly once and twice and six types of growth regulators with varying forms and concentrations. Significant variation was observed in different leaf parameters obtained from different treatment combinations. 
&nbsp; 
Result: Among all the nutrient treatments, liquid MS medium resulted better leaf characteristics with once week spray and among different growth regulators, GA3&nbsp;@ 200 ppm resulted better leaf characteristics. Among the treatments, spraying of liquid MS medium once in week resulted in highest leaf breadth (1.93 cm), leaf area (8.20 cm2) and leaf chlorophyll content (0.87 mg/ cm2). Spraying liquid MS medium once in a week along with GA3&nbsp;@ 200ppm sprayed at two months interval resulted in largest leaf area (12.42 cm2). 
&nbsp;

Effect of Foliar Application of Chemical Nutrient Mixture and Growth Regulators on Different Leaf Parameters of Pot-Anthuriums

<div style="text-align: justify;">Anthurium belongs to family Araceae and is highly praised flowering plant for its colourful long lasting unique flower and shining foliage. It is also an excellent plant for interior and as cut flower, especially for flower arrangement. The most suitable part of anthurium is modification of the leaf and botanically known as &lsquo;spathe&rsquo;. Heart shaped spathe emerges on the long flower stalk with a spadix. This plant blooms almost continuously under suitable conditions. It is epiphytic in nature with climbing, creeping and arboreous stems including many aerial roots that aid in taping water and nourishment. Quality and productivity of anthurium flowers depends on the growing medium. Most of the anthurium growers prepare own their growing media, but they do not know that the low productivity and quality might come from an poor potting mixture that they are using. One of the most important components of anthurium cultivation is the choice of growing substrate or medium. It is known to grow best in a well aerated medium with good water retention capacity and drainage. A good medium needs to be able to anchor the roots and stems so that the plant will not topple over as it grows larger, yet it should provide sufficient moisture, nutrient and aeration to the plant. The objective of this review is to present a summary of the influence of various growing medium on the growth, flowering, productivity and quality of anthurium grown in protected conditions. The results from the literature prove that the productivity of anthurium tends to be more in those plants which grown in different growing medium compared to soil grown plants.</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Role of Growing Medium in Yield and Quality of Anthurium: A Review</div>

Background: Green gram (Vigna radiata L.) is one of the most important legume crops which is a rich source of protein (24.5%), fat (1.3%), Minerals (3.5%) and Carbohydrates (56.7%). Anthracnose disease of green gram caused by Colletotrichum truncatum is a major fungal disease causing serious loss of 24 to 67% both qualitative and quantitatively. Fungicide-resistant strains can develop due to excessive use of fungicides with similar actions. To avoid this, it is necessary to use fungicides having novel modes of action to lessen selection pressure, develop resistance and successfully manage infections over the long term. The current study aimed to test the efficacy of some fungicides against anthracnose of green gram under in vitro and pot conditions. 
 
Methods: A total of 10 different fungicides were tested at three different concentrations (0.10, 0.15 and 0.20%) against the pathogen by poisoned food technique and a pot culture experiment was also conducted in protected structure (poly house) on green gram susceptible variety &lsquo;MH-421&rsquo; against this disease during Kharif season of 2023 at Hi-Tech Nursery, S.K. Rajasthan Agricultural University Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. 
 
Result: Among 11 treatments of fungicides, propiconazole at all concentrations, tebuconazole at 0.15 and 0.20% and carbendazim+ mancozeb at 0.20% gave 100% inhibition of growth of the pathogen. In the pot culture experiment, the least disease incidence was recorded in the treatment sprayed with propiconazole (0.10%) among tested fungicides.

Evaluation of Fungicides against Anthracnose Disease in Green Gram under in vitro and Pot Conditions

<div style="text-align: justify;">A pot experiment was conducted at BAIF Development Research Foundation, Urulikanchan, Pune, India during 2014-2016 to study the biomass production performance of four cactus accessions as a source of fodder for livestock. Single matured cladodes of individual accessions were planted in plastic pots during August 2014 and were harvested 18 months after planting. The growth and yield observations were recorded during harvesting and fresh cladodes were analyzed for nutritional parameters in the laboratory. The study revealed that the highest green biomass yield per plant was recorded in accession 1270 (1.74 kg) followed by 1271 (1.45 kg), 1280 (1.39 kg) and the lowest was in accession 1308 (1.36 kg). The maximum fresh weight per cladode was observed in accession 1280 (448.84 g) followed by 1270 (436.75 g), 1271 (394.73 g) and the minimum was in accession 1308 (150.69 g). The more number of cladodes (9.0) were found in accession 1308 followed by 1270 (4.0), 1271 (3.69) and the least (3.10) was in accession 1280. The maximum cladodes area of 333.14 cm2 was recorded in accession 1270 followed by 1280 (310.84 cm2) and the lowest was in accession 1308 (95.61 cm2). The nutritional evaluation of fresh cladodes revealed dry matter in the range of 8.24 to 11.15 %, crude protein 4.00 to 6.03% and crude fiber 7.06 to 8.15%.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Assessment of Cactus (Opuntia Ficus-indica L. Mill) Accessions&nbsp;for Growth, Yield and Nutritional Parameters under Pot Culture</div>

<div>Background: Crop yields are limited by major biotic and abiotic stresses. Various studies had been suggested that abiotic stresses like drought, flood and salinity play a major role in limiting crop yield. Heavy metal contamination is also a major problem in the agriculture sector. 
 
Methods: A pot experiment was conducted to elucidate the effect of inoculating bacterial strains on the wheat plant under various stress conditions. The bacteria were isolated and screened from drought, flood and heavy metal stressed soil samples. The selected strains were identified by morphological, biochemical and molecular methods. The ability of Acinetobacter junni S1, Acinetobacter junni S2, Leclercia adecarboxylata and Klebsiella variicola to stimulate the growth of plants were determined by pot experiment using a completely randomized design. The positive effect of isolates on seed germination percent, shoot and root length of the treated wheat plant were recorded. Analysis of soil samples from pots was carried out for evaluation of the presence of macro and micronutrients.&nbsp; 
 
Result: The pots inoculated with selected isolates showed a significant increase in pH 7.77, EC 2.11, carbon 0.78, nitrogen 30.83 kg/ha, phosphorus 2.95 kg/ha, potassium 535.32 kg/ha, zinc 0.15 ppm, manganese 0.376 ppm, iron 0.53 ppm and copper 0.15 ppm as compared to control. The chlorophyll content estimation was carried out by using Arnon&rsquo;s method. The chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll was found to be 14.39, 39.74 and 38.75 respectively.</div>

<div>Microbes Mediated Mitigation of Abiotic Stresses in Agriculture</div>

<div>Background: Forages of high quality are the most valuable commodity of any livestock activity and they serve as the basis for most of the rations in a forage-based diet. The lack of good quality seedlings/seeds, notably improved varieties, is the primary reason for the slow adoption of improved forage production technologies. Traditional establishment of bajra napier forage incurs more labour costs, harvesting sett material, transporting, preparing two budded setts and carrying to the planting area. Nearly three to four tons of green leaves stem materials are wasted for planting one hectare of area. In this situation, an alternate method is required to produce high-quality seedlings in a short period. This research objective compared single node bud chip seedling in different protray cell cavities and pot mixtures. 
 
Methods: The green shade net field study was carried out between 2019 and 2020, the effect of different pro-tray sizes (50, 60 and 98 cell cavities) and potting mixture (red earth, cocopeat, farmyard manure, vermicompost and root growth promoters like phosphobacteria bio-fertilizer and indole acetic acid (IAA) was taken in different combination for the establishment of Bajra Napier hybrid variety Co (BN)-5 seedling by using single node bud chip technology. The observation was taken up to 30 days in related to seedling growth and development. The observed parameter was statistically analysed in SPSS software. 
 
Result: Among the three different protray cavities and five different pot mixtures, 60 cavity protray with red earth + cocopeat + vermicompost (2:1:1) results revealed significant differences (p&gt;0.05) in seedling growth parameters among the different protray and growing media. The maximum seedling growth parameters like germination, numbers of the leaf, plant height, leaf length, width and root length (94.4 per cent, 8.17, 39.12 cm, 38.14 cm, 2.5 cm and 30.8 cm) were observed at 30 days aged seedlings followed by red earth + cocopeat + farmyard manure (2:1:1 ratio) and treated with IAA substance in 60 cavity protray.</div>

Bud Chip Method: A Potential In vitro Technology for Bajra-napier Hybrid (Pennisetum glaucum L. X P. purpureum Schum.) for Sett Multiplication

Background: With the increase in population and number of industries in Sikkim, water scarcity is increasing day by day. Thus, water availability for agriculture purpose is a serious concern for the state, whose State&rsquo;s Gross Domestic Product (SGDP) depends up on agriculture. Therefore, a study was formulated with the possibility to mitigate the vulnerability of brown mustard towards water stress. 
 
Methods: The experiment was laid out as pot experiment in the rabi season, 2021-2022 under a CRD setup with 13 treatments replicated thrice. Pot capacity was measured and one seedling was planted per pot. Before planting, hydrogel was applied at recommended doses i.e., 40 g/pot and 20 g/pot. 
 
Result: The investigation concluded that the treatment T5&nbsp;(Vermicompost @ 250 g/pot + Irrigation water @ 100% pot capacity + Hydrogel @ 20 g/pot) was found superior in terms of growth and yield parameters. Vermicompost combined with hydrogel effectively enhanced growth and yield parameters under water stress condition in brown mustard, leading to increased yield. Therefore, treatment T5&nbsp;can be further scaled up as a standard practice for brown mustard. 
&nbsp;

Influence of Organic Manure and Hydrogel-based Irrigation Scheduling on Brown Mustard (Brassica juncea L.)

<div>Background: Raw palm oil mill effluent is toxic effluent capable of posing serious threat to plants when discharged to the environment. In developing countries, the untreated effluent is often discharged to the surrounding land due to high cost associated with its treatment. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of palm oil mill effluent treated with locally available material on the growth of maize. 
 
Methods: The bunch ash obtained from local material by burning de-fruited oil palm bunch was used for the treatment. The experiment was consisted of eight treatments of concentrations of palm oil mill effluent viz 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%, 4.0%, 5.0%, 6.0%, 7.0% and 8.0%. The treatment was carried out on potted maize plants with six replications. Four kilograms of soil was weighed into each pot. Six pots were labelled as control, with untreated palm oil mill effluent added to them. Eight other groups consisting of six pots each were treated with 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%, 4.0%, 5.0%, 6.0%, 7.0% and 8.0% concentrations of the effluent. The maize seeds were planted one in each pot to avoid overcrowding. The pots were transferred to greenhouse and each pot was moistened daily with the specified concentration of the palm oil mill effluent. The growth rate, plant height and leaf length of the maize plants were thereafter determined. 
 
Result: The 8.0% concentration of bunch ash in the effluent had the highest expected effect on all the parameters whereas the control gave the lowest expected effect. The effects increased as the concentration of bunch ash in the effluent increased, indicating that increased concentration of bunch ash recorded significant increase in growth rate, height and leaf length of maize. The analysis of variance for the obtained data showed that the effects of the different concentrations were significantly different. This study provides an alternative and cost effective method of ameliorating the toxicity of palm oil mill effluent to plants.</div>

​Effect of Palm Oil Mill Effluent on the Growth of Maize (Zea mays)

<div>Background: Agricultural chemicals, metals, industrial effluents, plastics, excessive dumping of unused and expired pharmaceutical chemicals etc. contaminate terrestrial, aquatic and aerial environment. The excessive usage of the unwanted chemicals elicits undesirable effects in the non target organism inhabited in the various environments. The soil biota like earthworm faces threats of the environmental contaminants. A number of research works has been carried out to study the impact of certain environmental pollutants on the terrestrial inhabitant like earthworms which are widely utilized in the waste disposal management. Tamarind shell waste is considered one of the unwanted materials dumped in the road side and being discharged from industry and from the houses. The bio waste is now a day&rsquo;s utilized for various purposes. The environmental contaminants such as diclofenac and bisphenol-A are discharged into the environment and finally reach the terrestrial environment where the inhabitants are adversely affected. Hence the study has been focused to analyze the efficiency of earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae in the conversion of tamarind shell waste mixed separately with Diclofenac and bisphenol-A.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Vermibed was prepared for the present work. The vermibed contains cow dung and garden soil which are common in all the pots. One pot was considered as control. The second pot was mixed with tamarind shell waste. The third pot was mixed with diclofenac and finally in the last pot bisphenol-A was taken. Healthy earworms were selected and released to the four pots. The experimental set up was maintained for 30 days. Correlation matrix and t-test was performed to understand the significance of the results. 
 
Result: The study revealed the impact of pollutants on the bioconversion of tamarind shell waste. The contaminants like diclofenac and bisphenol-A significantly decreased the micro and macro nutrient levels. The phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium level showed a decrease when compared to control on 30th day in the diclofenac treatment. The nitrogen value was also decreased in the bisphenol-A treated compost on 30th day and the value was statistically significant. The other nutrients, phosphorous and iron were also decreased significantly (P&lt;0.05) in the treatment and correlation matrix showed positive and negative correlation with micro and macro nutrients. The physico-chemical characters such as pH and electrical conductivity are also altered in the experimental conditions.</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Studies on the Efficiency of Eudrilus eugeniae in the Bioconversion of Tamarind Fruit Shell Waste Mixed with Diclofenac and Bisphenol-A</div>

Background: This study concerns a qualitative and quantitative inventory of fig tree (Ficus carica L.) invertebrates in the Tigzirt region (Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria), the aim of which is to identify the species associated with the fig tree, their abundance and their ecological role. 
&nbsp; 
Methods: Three sampling methods were used; Barber pots, yellow traps and the Japanese umbrella. The work is carried out over one year (October 2022 to September 2023). 
&nbsp; 
Result: 505 individuals were captured, divided into 78 species belonging to 4 zoological classes. A total richness of 58 species obtained with the Barber pots, 39 with the yellow traps and 15 with the Japanese umbrella. The Shannon indices obtained are 4.559 bits for Barber pots, 4.437 bits for the yellow traps and 3.584 bits for the Japanese umbrella. The equitability is 0.774 for Barber pots, 0.835 for aerial traps and 0.913 for the Japanese umbrella. 7 trophic behaviors were observed in invertebrates captured with the use of Barber pots where predators are best represented with 29%, with aerial traps and the Japanese umbrella, 6 trophic behaviors are noted for each where pollinators are best represented with 51% and 40% respectively.

Effect of Foliar Application of Chemical Nutrient Mixture and Growth Regulators on Different Leaf Parameters of Pot-Anthuriums

Role of Growing Medium in Yield and Quality of Anthurium: A Review

Evaluation of Fungicides against Anthracnose Disease in Green Gram under in vitro and Pot Conditions

Assessment of Cactus (Opuntia Ficus-indica L. Mill) Accessions for Growth, Yield and Nutritional Parameters under Pot Culture

Microbes Mediated Mitigation of Abiotic Stresses in Agriculture

Bud Chip Method: A Potential In vitro Technology for Bajra-napier Hybrid (Pennisetum glaucum L. X P. purpureum Schum.) for Sett Multiplication

Influence of Organic Manure and Hydrogel-based Irrigation Scheduling on Brown Mustard (Brassica juncea L.)

Effect of Palm Oil Mill Effluent on the Growth of Maize (Zea mays)

Studies on the Efficiency of Eudrilus eugeniae in the Bioconversion of Tamarind Fruit Shell Waste Mixed with Diclofenac and Bisphenol-A

Arthropods Diversity Associated with the Fig Tree (Ficus carica, Linnaeus, 1753) in Tigzirt (Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria)