and for devising relevant soil management strategies. In view of this a study was conducted to characterize the landscape features and to identify the local soil management practices in agricultural lands of Konso woreda, Southern Ethiopia. Field survey was conducted and 225 geo-referenced surface soil samples were collected during the off-season of 2014/2015. Semi structured questionnaire was used to collect the required data at the filed level. For data analysis descriptive statics were employed. Results revealed that agriculture has been practiced on diverse slopes (0-95%). The soil fertility management practices indicated the presence of continues cultivation and low rate of nutrient replacement. The mean values of clay, silt and sand contents of the soil samples were 37.92, 24.47 and 37.60% respectively. In conclusion, most of the sampled cultivated fields were managed without fertilization and dominant agricultural land use types were rain-fed cultivation. The contents of silt in the soils were also very low compared to clay and sand separates in the study area. Finally the author recommend, environmentally and socially acceptable integrated nutrient management practices like agro-forestry systems, crop rotation, use of organic inputs, chemical fertilizers, and improved crop varieties that can be adapted to local farming situation should be implemented for sustainable agricultural development in the study area.

farm size (X2), Seeds (X3), Hire labour (X6), agro-chemicals (X5) and Farming experience (X8) contributed significantly to rice farmers’ output in the study area. High cost of inputs, lack of contact with extension agents, poor storage facilities and high cost of transportation were the major production challenges. The study recommended among others

The present research was carried out to standardize the method for mass culturing the green muscardin fungus, M. anisopliae under konkan conditions under laboratory conditions during 2015-17. Study indicated that the mass multiplication of M. anisopliae on liquid / broth medium showed that the T-6 Czeapeks broth medium was the most suitable medium for mass multiplication of M. anisopliae (average mat weight of dry fungus 1554 mg), after 20 days of inoculation which was at par with T5-corn flour medium (1545.67 mg)., which also supported good growth of the fungus.

Investigation was conducted on the effects of early weed removal on some yield attributes of Zea mays L. var. TZB (FARZ 34) cultivated in Owerri, Nigeria with the aim of evaluating the extent of reduction in total output occasioned by delays in weed removal following seed sprouting. Healthy seeds of this variety were obtained from State Agricultural Development Corporation. The seeds were sown onto manually prepared plots in a Completely Randomized Design. Weeds on treated subplots were removed ten day following germination while those growing on the other plots (untreated) were not removed until 30 days after germination. Data on yield attribute parameters such as number of marketable cobs per plant, green earlength of undehusked cob, thousand grain weight etc. were collected. Results showed that difference in number of cobs per plant between crops harvested from treated and untreated subplots was statistically significant p<0.01. Other yield attributes investigated gave similar results with varying degrees of percentage yield differences between crops from treated and untreated subplots. The implication of this is that Zea mays competitive capability with weeds at early vegetative stages was inadequate comparable to that of the weeds. Incorporating early weed removal in the total farming plan will result in substantial yield gain for growers.

A field survey was conducted during 2013-14 in sugarcane fields of Chodavaram Mandalam, Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh to study the weed flora. A total of 63 weed species were recorded, of these 63 species, 52 dicot families, 10 monocot families and 1 Pteridophyte. Asteraceae 9, Amaranthaceae 9, Poaceae 8, Euphorbiaceae 6, Aizoaceae 3, Capparaceae 3, Convolvulaceae 2, Fabaceae 2, Malvaceae 2, Portulacaceae 2, Solanaceae 2, Tiliaceae 2 species, remaining families each one had single species. Among the weeds, Panicum repens is the most dominant followed by Cyperus rotundus, Echinochloa colona, Ageratum conyzoides and Imperata cylindrica. The survey also revealed that creepers like Passiflora foetida, Ipomoea aquatica, Hemidesmus indicus, Tinospora cardifolia etc. are dominant.

Pleurotus Sajor-caju was cultivated on the sawdust of Ceiba pentandra and Gmelina arborea with the aim of comparing the nutritional values of the mushrooms cultivated. The sawdust substrates were inoculated with mushroom spawn and the analysis of the nutritional value was carried out using the AOAC 2005 method . The result showed that the pleurotus Sajor-caju grown on the sawdust substrates of Ceiba pentandra has 23.36% protein, 70.42% fat, 3.58% crude fibre, 9.12% nitrogen, 57.02% moisture content, 59.99% organic matter and 29.98% nitrogen. While the mushroom grown on Gmelina arborea has 23.43% protein, 65.06%fat, 2.73% crude fiber, 9.15% nitrogen, 67.76% moisture content, 65.84% organic matter and 24.13% nitrogen. The result indicated that there was no significant difference in the nutritional values of Pleurotus Sajor-caju grown on the sawdust from the selected species. Also, ceiba pentandra supports the growth of pleurotus Sajor-caju more than Gmelina arborea when the total number of days it took both substrates to ramified and emerge spores.

In the present study, PPFMs were isolated from phyllosphere of fourteen plants by leaf imprinting and serial dilution techniques. The fourteen isolates were characterized by morphological, biochemical and molecular methods. The PPFM isolates were screened based on the effect on germination and seedling characters of cowpea cv. CO(CP)7. PPFM inoculation enhanced the germination, seedling length, vigour index, biomass, chlorophyll and soluble protein content of cowpea. Based on this study, nine best isolates including the reference strain M. extorquens AM1 were selected for further studies. The selected PPFM isolates were screened based on plant growth hormone production. The isolates produced trans-zeatin in amounts ranging from 22.04 to 117.32 ng l-1 of culture filtrate. IAA production ranged from 0.14 to 4.69 µg ml-1 of culture filtrate in the absence of the precursor tryptophan and 0.97 to 8.32 µg ml-1 in the presence of tryptophan. All isolates could produce gibberellic acid in amounts ranging from 39.33 to 123.0 µg ml-1 of culture filtrate. The primers specific for ipt gene encoding isopentenyl transferase, the key enzyme in direct synthesis of cytokinins gave amplification in the isolate PPFM-Ph. The trans-zeatin riboside content of four best isolates (PPFM-As, PPFM-Ph, PPFM-Pt and M. extorquens AM1) as estimated by ELISA ranged from 11.22 to 37.07 ng l-1 of culture filtrate.

Heliconias (Heliconia spp.) are attractive tropical plants with banana-like leaves and beautiful, long lasting inflorescences. Each inflorescence is made up of several colorful bracts which enclose the true flowers. Heliconias are also valued as garden plants as their long lasting flowers stand out with striking visual effect on plants. Easiness in cultivation and hardy nature with tolerance to major pests and diseases make this crop more appealing for widespread cultivation. All species of heliconia do not set seeds. Moreover, seed is erratic to germinate and the seedlings may take 12 months or more to emerge. Propagation by rhizomes is the fastest and most reliable method of cultivation. Most of the present day heliconia varieties which are greatly in demand are exotic introductions. Hence, it is essential to evolve techniques for mass multiplication of such varieties making possible the production of large numbers of planting material in limited time. Standardization of faster multiplication techniques using growth regulators would serve as a means to bring down the cost of cultivation of elite varieties. Hence the study was aimed at the enhancement of propagation efficiency in three exotic varieties of heliconia viz., St. Vincent Red (H. psittacorum), Golden Torch Adrian (H. psittacorum x H. spathocircinata) and Sexy Pink (H. chartacea). with the objective of standardizing the growth regulators for in vivo propagation.

The Cytogenetic studies were carried out in two important coldwater fishes, Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii), by Giemsa staining. The diploid chromosome number (2n) in Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) the modal diploid number was found to be 2n = 60. The karyotype formula obtained consist of 38 metacentric (M), 6 submetacentric (Sm) and 16 telocentric chromosomes (24M + 20 Sm + 16 T). The fundamental arm number was derived to be 208 (FN = 208) and in Snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii), the modal diploid number was found to be 2n = 96. The karyotype formula obtained consist of 18 metacentric (M), 16 submetacentric (Sm) and 12 subtelocentric and 50 telocentric chromosomes (18 M + 28 Sm + 50 T). The fundamental arm number was derived to be 284 (FN = 284). This is the attempt to compare the wild snow trout obtained from Himalayan stream and farm raised Rainbow trout in these species using conventional staining.

A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural College and research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Killikulam, Tamil Nadu to standardize the vegetative propagation technique in vellerukku. Three types of cuttings viz., terminal, middle and basal cuttings and three types of growth regulators viz., IBA, NAA @ 500 ppm and 1000ppm alone and in combination and control were used. The result revealed that the terminal cuttings treated with IBA 500 ppm registered the highest rooting percent (86.66 percent and 90.00 percent), number of roots (11.21 and 11.47), root length (23.75 cm and 24.98 cm), shoot length (29.40 cm and 30.64 cm) and survival percentage in the main field (68.13 percent and 71.20 percent) under both the environment viz. open and mist condition were recorded by the terminal cuttings treated with IBA 500 ppm. It was followed by terminal cuttings treated with IBA 1000 ppm. Whereas control (basal cuttings dipped in distilled water) recorded the lowest values of 18.20 and 23.28 percent of rooting, 7.03 and 7.08 number of roots, 16.14 cm and 17.12 cm root length, 19.54 cm and 20.03 cm shoot length 11.62 and 12.47 percent survival in the mainfield under both open as well as mist condition