Bp Bhatt

Fuelwood characteristics of important trees and shrubs of Eastern Himalaya

ABSTRACT Quantitative analysis of 24 indigenous firewood tree/shrub species of Eastern Himalayan was carried out to identify those species with potential for firewood production. A fuelwood value index (FVI) was the criterion for screening of the species and is defined as the calorific value X density/ash content. The results showed that Camellia kissi Wall., Styrax serrulatum Roxb., Litsea lancifolia Roxb., Leea indica (Burm. F) Merr, and Maesa indica (Roxb.) Wall are suitable fuelwood species.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Idioscopus nitidulus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

Abstract The complete mitogenome of Idioscopus nitidulus (Cicadellidae) was sequenced. It comprises 15,287 base pairs (bp), including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and a control region. The phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated thirteen protein-coding genes of mitogenomes recover the monophyly of Auchenorrhyncha (Fulgoromorpha + Cicadomorpha) and Sternorrhyncha as a sister group to Auchenorrhyncha. The complete mitogenome sequence of Idioscopus nitidulusis available in the GenBank with accession number: KR024406.

Genetic analysis of Bactrocera zonata (Diptera: Tephritidae) populations from India based on cox1 and nad1 gene sequences

Abstract The peach fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata, is among the most serious and polyphagous insect pest of fruit crops in many parts of the world under genus Bactrocera. In the present study, the genetic structure, diversity and demographic history of B. zonata in India were inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (cox1) and NADH dehydrogenase 1 (nad1) sequences. The efficiency of DNA barcodes for identification of B. zonata was also tested. Genetic diversity indices [number of haplotypes (H), haplotype diversity (Hd), nucleotide diversity (π) and average number of nucleotide differences (k)] of B. zonata populations across India maintain high level of genetic diversity without isolation by distance among the geographic regions. Non-significant negative correlation between pairwise Fst and geographic distance suggests a high level of gene flow among studied populations of B. zonata. The possibility of sudden expansion of B. zonata revealed through mismatch distribution analysis as well as negative Tajima’s D and Fu’s Fs values further supported by star-like network of haplotypes. DNA barcoding analysis suggests that B. zonata specimens can be clearly differentiated from other species with 100% accuracy of identification. Therefore, cytochrome oxidase 1 (cox1) barcode sequences generated in the present study could be a valuable source for the rapid identification and global population genetic study of B. zonata.

Evaluation of Rice Varieties against Multiple Diseases Under Middle IGP of Bihar

An investigation was carried out to evaluate the susceptibility of rice cultivation to major field diseases like brown spot, sheath blight and bacterial leaf blight under middle Indo Gangetic Plain. The disease incidence and disease severity were observed at three different growth stages namely flowering, milk and maturity in boro seasons during 2015-16. The incidence of brown spot ranged from 8.93 to 17.83%, 16.67 to 25.67% and 18.33 to 28.33% at flowering, milk and maturity stages, respectively. The severity of brown spot in grade (0-9 scale) ranged from 5.13 to 10.33, 9.33 to 20.00 and 11.57 to 22.67, respectively at flowering, milk and maturity stages. The incidence of sheath blight of paddy ranged from 7. 03 to 16.50%, 13.13 to 22.67% and 19.67 to 35.67% at flowering, milk and maturity stages, respectively. The severity of sheath blight in grade (0-9 scale) ranged from 4.00 to 8.60, 8.33 to 13.93 and 18.33 to 34.33, respectively at flowering, milk and maturity stages. The incidence of bacterial leaf blight ranged from 5.00 to 14.00%, 11.43 to 21.00% and 17.00 to 34.00% at flowering, milk and maturity stages, respectively. The severity of bacterial leaf blight in grade (0-9 scale) ranged from 2.00 to 8.00%, 6.33 to 12.05% and 14.47 to 20.17%, respectively at flowering, milk and maturity stages. Among the varieties, the highest incidence and severity of Brown spot was recorded on Rajendra Bhagawati whereas it was lowest on 27P31 at all growth stages. In the case of Sheath blight, highest incidence and severity was recorded on Sambha Mahsuri whereas it was the lowest on CRL 193. Beside this in the case of Bacterial leaf blight, the highest incidence and severity was recorded on Kranti whereas the lowest was recorded on CRL 193. In general, it was observed that the incidence and severity of diseases increased gradually from flowering to maturity stage and the genotypes with the minimum incidence and severity of diseases gave the maximum yield.

Comparative performance of different weeding tools in maize

Maize is considered as the third most important food crop among the cereals in India and contributes to nearly 9% of the national food basket and 5% to world’s dietary energy supply. In Bihar, maize is grown in all three seasons with an area of 6.98 lakhs ha, producing 21.11 mt with an average productivity of 3.02 t/ha (Annual report 2012-13). The area under Rabi maize is gradually increasing in Bihar due to growing market demand by feed and starch industry and increase in minimum support price. Due to wider row spacing, winter maize suffers from severe competition of weeds resulting in 28-100% yield losses (Patel et al. 2006). Besides yield losses, weeds also deplete 30-40% of applied nutrients from soil (Mundra et al. 2003). The critical period for cropweed competition in winter maize varies from 15-60 days after sowing (DAS). Thus, it is imperative to eliminate weeds at proper time with appropriate methods. Manual weeding is one of the most important and highly labour intensive farm operations. Mechanical weeding in maize may minimize the loss from 30 to 10% (Shekhar et al. 2010). Now, energy efficient manually operated weeders have been introduced for control of weeds in maize (Tajuddin et al. 1991), which are cheaper, more efficient, farmers friendly. The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of different weeding tools and the energy embodied for inter-cultural operation in winter maize.