Pankaj Kumar

Bio: Pankaj Kumar is an academic researcher from Bihar Agricultural University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sentiment analysis & Illumina dye sequencing. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 12 publications receiving 19 citations.

Effect of Crop Residues Management on Soil Properties and Crop Productivity of Rice-wheat System in Inceptisols of Seemanchal Region of Bihar

Abstract: A field experiment was carried out at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Katihar, Bihar in jurisdiction of Bihar Agricultural University Sabour, Bhagalpur during 2014 to 2018 with the objective to find out suitable crop residue management option under rice- wheat cropping system in Inceptisols of Seemanchal area of Bihar. The results after four years clearly indicates that the crop residue management practices involving incorporation of residues improved favorably and significantly the soil properties such as bulk density, infiltration rate, mean weight diameter, aggregate stability, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, bacterial and fungal population, enzyme dehydrogenase and phosphatase activity in the soil and increased the grain yields of rice and wheat crop in the system over removal or burning of crop residue practices. Due to increased availability of readily decomposable organic matter in the form of crop residue and freshly incorporated green manure, the microbial population increased dramatically when crop residues are incorporated in the soil which might be responsible for increased enzyme phosphatase and dehydrogenase activity, decrease in bulk density, increase in granulation and aggregation and thus infiltration rate. The incorporation of crop residues with or without green manuring found promising for the environmental friendly and effective utilization of the crop residues under prevailing rice wheat system in this area.

Assessing Fungal Biodiversity Using Molecular Markers

Abstract: With an advent of modern molecular markers technology, it has become easier for the rapid identification, characterization and detection of important plant fungus that were previously a major bottleneck to detect by traditional microbiological methods. Present molecular tools in fungal biodiversity can have potential to characterize in very rapid manner by small quantity of DNA/RNA of fungal pathogens in short period. Different molecular markers viz.; RFLP, RAPD, SSR, AFLP, ITS, IGS and other markers have accelerated the identification and characterization of important plant fungus since previous decades. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal RNA genes is widely accepted technique for explanation of the diversity among fungal communities due to its utility for the identification of fungi to genus/ species taxonomic levels, due to its several important including its high representation in public sequence databases. Investigation of fungal diversity has also promoted since introduction of next-generation DNA sequencing technologies. Presently, high-throughput sequencing techniques are widely adopted by the several researchers for the detection of biodiversity of fungal populations. At present, construction of sequence databases of different fungal species that have broaden the representation across fungal population by bioinformatics and taxonomic experts is a critical next step towards the assessments of fungal diversity.

Studies on the molecular variability in Indian isolates of Papaya ringspot virus

Abstract: Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV), Potyvirus is an important pathogen of papaya that causes severe losses in papaya production globally. The coat protein (CP) genes of four PRSV isolates originating from different locations in India, were cloned and sequenced. The band was observed at 840 bp in PRSV-FZD isolates of Uttar Pradesh. The isolates of PRSV have been characterized as papaya-infecting (PRSV-P). The PRSV-FZD sequence has made cluster with PRSV-Lucknow (AY458620). While sequences from Himanchal Pradesh (AY458617), Sikkim (DQ354072) clustered in another group with Jharkhand isolates (AY458619). Sequences from Karnataka (AY458618), Tamilnadu (DQ077175) and West Bengal (AY238885) have clustered in other group. The cluster analysis of the PRSV-FZD sequences and other Indian isolate has further done with PRSV sequences from different geographical regions. The results showed that PRSV-FZD had aligned in a cluster with other Indian sequences except sequences from Varanasi (AY238882), Maharashtra (AY238881), Madhya Pradesh (DQ650651) and Andhra Pradesh (AY903266) which clustered in separate groups. The sequences from Vietnam, China, Australia and Japan form a separate cluster. Brazil and USA sequences clustered in separate group along with the divergent Indian group.

Effect of Foliar Spray of Primary Nutrients and their Frequency on Anthurium (Anthurium andreanum L.) var. Xavia under Protected Condition

Abstract: The experiment was conducted under protected conditions at the Polyhouse Complex, Department of Horticulture (Veg. and Flori.), Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar during the year 2016-2017. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Completely Randomized Design with three replication and 10 treatment combinations, comprising five levels of water soluble fertilizer (1 g/l, 2 g/l, 3 g/l, 4 g/l and 5 g/l) and two frequencies of spray (once a week and twice a week). Plants were maintained in net house conditions (75% shade). The result indicated that among all treatment combinations, D5F2 (NPK 19:19:19 @ 5 g/l twice a week) found to be best in terms of vegetative growth, flowering and productivity of anthurium var. Xavia as it recorded maximum values for all the characters. The treatment combination D5F2 (NPK 19:19:19 @ 5 g/l twice a week) recorded maximum length and breadth of leaf (26.02 cm and 15.48 cm, respectively), plant spread east to west and north to south (62.67 cm and 62.37 cm, respectively), petiole length (36.76 cm), flower Original Research Article Kumar et al.; CJAST, 38(6): 1-7, 2019; Article no.CJAST.53377 2 stalk length (29.17 cm), spathe length and breadth (9.61 cm and 8.30 cm, respectively) and higher yield of flowers per plant (4.13). It required minimum days (90.93 days) for first flower opening. Hence considering the positive effects on growth, flowering, yield and quality, the treatment combination D5F2 (NPK 19:19:19 @ 5 g/l twice a week) can be considered for adopting at the field level to get better qualitative and quantitative yield.

Current status of viral diseases of potato and their ecofriendly management -A critical review

Abstract: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) belongs to family solanaceae of dicotyledons and well known as the king of vegetables. Potatoes are acclaimed around the globe as the power house of energy. It is known for sustaining millions of lives by providing food and nutrition during the war and hunger. This crop has special significance to the developing countries as it has high production potential per unit area and time with high nutritional value. At global level about 328.87 million tons of potato is produced from 19.13 million hectare land with an average productivity of about 17.19 tonnes/ha. In India, potato is cultivated from about 1.4-million-hectare land with production of about 25 million tones and 17.86 tonnes/ha productivity [1]. It is an alien crop to India, produces about 23.6 mt of potato from 1.31 million hectares with average yield of 17.9 t/ha [2]. Due to its diversified uses in developed countries as food, feed and raw material for producing starch and alcohol, potato is generally thought to be a crop providing staple food in several countries of the world. The high production potential per unit area, high nutritional value and great taste make potato as one of the most important food crop in the world.

Tillage, crop rotation and crop residue management effects on nutrient availability in a sweet sorghum-based cropping system in marginal soils of South Africa.

Abstract: The low soil fertility status of South African marginal soils threatens sustainable production of biofuel feedstock in smallholder farmers. It is therefore imperative to development sustainable and optimal management practices that improve soil fertility. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of tillage, rotation and crop residue management on nutrient availability in a bioenergy sweet sorghum-based cropping system in marginal soils. Two tillage levels, no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT); two crop rotations, sweet sorghum–grazing vetch–sweet sorghum (SVS) and sweet sorghum–fallow–sweet sorghum (SFS); and three crop residue retention levels, 0%, 15% and 30%, were tested. No-till enhanced total nitrogen, total organic nitrogen (TON), magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) by 3.19% to 45% compared to CT. SVS rotation increased ammonium (NH4+-N) and nitrate (NO3−-N) by 3.42% to 5.98% compared to SFS. A 30% crop residue retention increased NH4+-N, NO3−-N, available phosphorus (Available P), cation exchange capacity (CEC), calcium (Ca), Mg and potassium (K) by 3.58% to 31.94% compared to crop residue removal. In the short term, a 30% crop residue retention was the main treatment that enhanced soil fertility. The application of NT−30% was a better practice to enhance soil fertility. However, research on inclusion of crop diversity/intercropping can add more value to the NT–30% practice in enhancing soil fertility.

Chaetomorpha antennina (Bory) Kützing derived seaweed liquid fertilizers as prospective bio-stimulant for Lycopersicon esculentum (Mill)

Abstract: Plant nutrition serve as critical factors that influences plant growth and yield. Global fertilizer production and application is growing in surplus amounts, increasing the agricultural expenses and damaging the environment. Organic fertilizers, obtained from natural sources, encompass all essential plant nutrients. Application of aqueous seaweed extracts are regarded as potential plant biostimulant agents. The liquid seaweed extract of green seaweed Chaetomorpha antennina (CA-LSE) were evaluated for their biostimulant activity on seed germination and growth of tomato. The CA-LSEs were able to stimulate early emergence of tomato seeds, in addition to increasing their germination percentage and energy. They also exerted a positive influence on the vegetative growth, resulting in increased plant height, leaf-branch number and yield. The CA-LSEs were influence the plant's biochemical profile and displayed a linear increase in pigment contents (chlorophyll a & b and carotenoids), total soluble solids (TSS), phenols as well as ascorbic acid contents. The bio-stimulant potential was attributed to the elements present in CA-LSEs, elucidated by EDX analysis that revealed the presence of six elements (O, Na, Mg, S, Cl and Ca), that were essentially plant nutrients. These results support the bio-stimulant potential of C. antennina, which can be applied as a prospective bio-fertilizer that is economic, renewable, efficient and eco-friendly, and also can be regarded as a potential catalyst for the betterment of sustainable agricultural food production.

Genetic diversity of Alternaria species associated with black point in wheat grains

Abstract: The genus Alternaria is a widely distributed major plant pathogen that can act as a saprophyte in plant debris. Fungi of this genus frequently infect cereal crops and cause such diseases as black point and wheat leaf blight, which decrease the yield and quality of cereal products. A total of 25 Alternaria sp. isolates were collected from germ grains of various wheat cultivars from different geographic regions in Kazakhstan. We investigated the genetic relationships of the main Alternaria species related to black point disease of wheat in Kazakhstan, using the inter-primer binding site (iPBS) DNA profiling technique. We used 25 retrotransposon-based iPBS primers to identify the differences among and within Alternaria species populations, and analyzed the variation using clustering (UPGMA) and statistical approaches (AMOVA). Isolates of Alternaria species clustered into two main genetic groups, with species of A.alternata and A.tennuissima forming one cluster, and isolates of A. infectoria forming another. The genetic diversity found using retrotransposon profiles was strongly correlated with geographic data. Overall, the iPBS fingerprinting technique is highly informative and useful for the evaluation of genetic diversity and relationships of Alternaria species.

Metadata Analysis to Evaluate Environmental Impacts of Wheat Residues Burning on Soil Quality in Developing and Developed Countries

Abstract: Crop residues are widely considered as a biofuel source and used in livestock feeding, or are burned off to clean the field for tillage and planting. Nonetheless, crop residue burning poses serious threats to the soil stability and sustainability of the food chain. This study aimed to investigate the potential environmental impacts of wheat residues burning on declines in soil quality in developing (Iran) and developed (Italy) countries by analyzing metadata of the last 50 years. All metadata were provided from the ‘Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) including wheat harvested area, annual production, and biomass burning, to assess the potential impact of crop residue burning on soil quality. In detail, the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission, and energy and nutrient losses by the wheat residues burning were estimated. Our results showed a robust interdependence between wheat residues burning and environmental effects in both developed and developing systems. Accordingly, the global warming potential increased in Iran (4286 to 5604 kg CO2eq) and decreased in Italy (3528 to 1524 kg CO2eq) over the last 50 years. Amongst all nutrient losses, nitrogen represents the higher lost value in both countries, followed by potassium, sulfur, and phosphorus.