SRAVANTHI G., SAIDA NAIK V., GUPTA S. K., O. SHAILA, THULASI BAI V., MADHUDEEPIKA K., SRINIVAS A., VENKATESHWARULU. D., MUKUL KUMAR, A. JYOTHI, REETU AND SEVA NAYAK DHEERAVATHU
ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad-500 030 (Telangana), India
ANGRAU-Agricultural Research Station, Jangameswarapuram, Palnadu-522 415 (A.P.), India
PJTSAU- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Palem, Nagarkurnool Dist-509215
CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore (Karnataka), India
Department of Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour (Bihar) India Department of Microbiology, Visakha Government Degree College for Women (A), Visakhapatnam-530 020 (A.P.), India
ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan (HP)-173213, India
*(e-mail : sevanayak2005@gmail.com)
(Received : 15 May 2026; Accepted : 20 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Climate change threatens agricultural productivity, food security, and livestock sustainability through rising temperatures, irregular rainfall, droughts, and extreme weather events. El Niño conditions intensify these challenges by reducing rainfall, increasing moisture stress, and causing fodder shortages. Climate-resilient forage crops, especially C₄ grasses, offer solutions through high photosynthetic efficiency, water-use efficiency, deep roots, and rapid regrowth. Species such as Cenchrus ciliaris, Dichanthium annulatum, Chloris gayana, and Megathyrsus maximus support fodder security and sustainable livestock production. Forage legumes improve soil fertility, nutrition, and ecosystem resilience. Integrating drought-tolerant forages, improved varieties, and climate- smart management practices strengthens livestock systems against future climate uncertainties.

Key words: Climate change, El Niño; forage crops, C₄ plants, forage grasses, forage legumes

1-6

DIGVIJAY SINGH* AND AJOY KUMAR ROY
National Dairy Development Board, Anand-388001, India
ICAR-Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi-284003, India
*(e-mail: digvijaysingh858@gmail.com)
(Received: 26 May 2026; Accepted: 25 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is a popular multi-cut cereal crop among dairy farmers for green fodder in India. Every year, many new varieties of oats are released for cultivation purposes. However, limited information on their seed yield potential, yield attributes, mineral content and its uptake potentials are available. Hence, field experiments were conducted during the Rabi seasons of 2016- 17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to evaluate 18 oats varieties. Statistical analysis of three years pooled data revealed that there was significant difference among varieties for seed yield potential. The highest yielding variety JHO 822 (14.85 q/ha), at par with OS 346 (14.16 q/ha) and check variety Kent (12.14 q/ha), recorded significantly higher seed yield in comparison to remaining oats varieties. JHO 822 (14.10) variety recorded the highest harvest index and JHO 99-2 (47.67 g) recorded the highest 1000- seed weight. Amongst all oat varieties, non-significant differences were recorded for variation in straw yield, biological yield, plant height, panicle length, tillers/metre, seed weight/panicle and seed /panicle. Crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and acid insoluble content (%) in oats varieties varied non-significantly in seed; and in straw. NDO 1 recorded significantly higher N (2.81%) and P (0.57%) contents in seed. K content was found to be significantly higher in JHO 851 (0.73%), Mg content was recorded significantly higher in JHO 99-1 (0.24%) and JO 1 variety recorded significantly higher S content (0.23%). JHO 822 recorded significantly higher P₂O₅ (16.46 kg/ha), S (3.30 kg/ha) and Cu (12.59 g/ha) uptake for seed yield. N, K₂O, Ca, and Mg uptake (kg/ha) for seed yield in oats varieties varied non-significantly. Similarly, oat varieties differed non-significantly amongst themselves for Mn, Fe and Zn contents (ppm) in seed.

Key words: Harvest index, minerals, oats, seed yield, test weight, varieties

7-16

PRITI, RAM C. YADAV AND NEELAM R. YADAV*
Department of Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail: nryadav58@gmail.com)
(Received: 2 June 2026; Accepted: 26 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] is a cash crop as the presence of endospermic galactomannan gum in seeds. Hence yield improvement of this crop has been a prime objective for breeders worldwide. In the present study, correlation and path analysis was carried out to comprehend the true association of yield and yield attributing traits like, plant height, branches per plant, cluster per plant, pods per cluster, pods per plant, pod length, days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, 100 seed weight, seed yield per plant in 68 lines of F_4-5 intraspecific population (HG75×PNB) of cluster bean. Our study witnessed the maximum direct effect on seed yield per plant by pods per plant (0.612), followed by hundred seed weight (0.336) and clusters per plant (0.178). Thus, number of pods per plant, hundred seed weight and clusters per plant had the true positive association with seed yield per plant under BLB conditions and should be considered as selection criteria while selecting plants with improved yield.

Key words: Cluster bean, HG 75, PNB, galactomannan gum, path analysis

17-22

AJAY SINGH, GURDEEP SINGH MALHI, SATPAL, MEENA SEWHAG, ROHTASH AND JOGINDER
Regional Research Station of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Rohtak (Haryana), India
Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India Department of Soil Science, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
Central University of Haryana, Jant Pali, (Haryana), India
*(email: ajayyadavhau@gmail.com)
(Received: 10 May 2026; Accepted: 20 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Soil salinity and poor quality ground water are fast emerging major problems in India. The saline soils are generally inherently poor in nutrient content and applied nutrients are fixed in soil. It reduces their availability. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted during spring 2023 and 2024 to evaluate the effect of foliar application of nutrients on growth and yield of maize under saline ecosystem. Foliar application of 0.5% ZnSO4 and 3% NPK (19:19:19) at 45 days after sowing produced significantly taller plants, highest biomass per plant, dry weight per plant and green fodder yield as compared to control. The green fodder yield under this treatment (476 q/ha) was ~12% higher than control. This treatment also recorded maximum gross return (86910 Rs/ha), net return (23857 Rs/ha) and B:C (1.38).

Key words: Fodder maize, zinc sulphate, NPK, foliar spray, fodder yield and economics

23-27

PRAFULL KUMAR, P. S. NETAM AND NARENDRA KUMAR
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, C.G., India
ZARS, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, C.G., India
*(e-mail : prafull397@gmail.com)
(Received: 30 May 2026; Accepted: 28 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is an important climate-resilient cereal crop valued for its short duration, drought tolerance and suitability to rainfed production systems. The present investigation was conducted during Kharif 2025 at S.G. College of Agriculture and Research Station, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, to identify high-yielding and dual-purpose proso millet genotypes adapted to the Bastar Plateau agro-ecological region. Sixteen advanced genotypes, including standard checks, were evaluated in a randomized block design with three replications. Observations were recorded on phenological, morphological, grain yield and fodder yield traits. Analysis of variance revealed significant genotypic differences for days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, tillers per plant and panicle length, indicating substantial genetic variability among the tested entries. Days to flowering ranged from 37 to 43 days, while maturity varied from 70 to 79 days. Grain yield ranged from 653.7 to 1375.9 kg/ha and fodder yield from 1777.8 to 4711.1 kg/ha. SHPM-1 recorded the highest grain yield (1375.9 kg/ha) and fodder yield (4711.1 kg/ha), followed by RPCAU-PRM-5, SHPM-2 and KOPPM-23-26. Principal component analysis, heat map visualization and multi-trait selection index consistently identified SHPM-1, KOPPM-23-26, SHPM-2 and RPCAU-PRM-5 as superior genotypes possessing favourable combinations of productivity, biomass production and adaptive traits. SHPM- 1 achieved the highest multi-trait selection index score (6.60), followed by KOPPM-23-26 (6.14) and SHPM-2 (5.81). The study demonstrated the effectiveness of integrating conventional agronomic evaluation with multivariate analytical approaches for identifying climate-resilient and dual-purpose proso millet genotypes. The superior entries identified in this study represent valuable candidates for multilocation evaluation, varietal development and future breeding programmes targeting rainfed agro-ecosystems of central India.

Key words: Panicum miliaceum, Bastar Plateau, climate-resilient agriculture, dual-purpose genotype, grain yield, multi-trait selection index

28-39

P. KEERTHI*, MUSKAN YADAV, NEELAM AND EKTA KAMBOJ
Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture,
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : keerthi26@hau.ac.in)
(Received: 28 April 2026; Accepted: 29 May 2026)

SUMMARY

The present study was carried out during kharif season 2022-2025 at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar to evaluate the crop geometry and nitrogen levels on the productivity of barnyard millet. The experiment was laid out in split plot design taking three spacing levelsi.e.20cm×10cm,25cmx10cm,30cmx10cminmainplotsandfivenitrogendosesviz.0,20,30, 40 and 50 kg N/ha in sub- plots with three replications. Among spacing levels, 30 cm x 10 cm followed by 25 cm x 10 cm was recorded with highest grain yield (1657 kg/ha), biological yield (9950 kg/ha) and Harvest index (16.98%). The application of increased dose of N brought profound increase in yield significantly over control. Among nitrogen levels, higher grain yield was recorded with 50 kg N/ha. However, grain yield, biological yield and straw yield was comparable with 40 kg N/ha.

Key words: Barnyard millet, spacing levels, nitrogen doses, grain yield and harvest index

40-44

FATHIMA UMKHULZUM S.*, SHARU S. R. AND SHALINI PILLAI P.
Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram-695 522, Kerala Agricultural University (Kerala), India *(e-mail: fathimaummu93@gmail.com)
(Received: 12 June; Accepted: 28 June 2026)

SUMMARY

The study entitled ‘Production potential of row intercropping in palisade grass (Brachiaria brizantha) with fodder legumes in different ratios’ was conducted at the Instructional Farm at College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram during the Kharif 2023. The field experiment was conducted with the objective of assessing the fodder production potential of palisade grass intercropped with three fodder legumes viz. fodder cowpea, stylo and horse gram in two row ratios viz. 2:1 and 2:2. The experiments were laid out in randomized block design with 10 treatments in 4 replications. The treatments were: T₁ – palisade grass: fodder cowpea in 2:1 row ratio; T₂ – palisade grass: stylo in 2:1 row ratio; T₃ – palisade grass: horse gram in 2:1 row ratio; T₄ – palisade grass: fodder cowpea in 2:2 row ratio; T₅ – palisade grass: stylo in 2:2 row ratio; T₆ – palisade grass: horse gram in 2:2 row ratio; T₇ – sole crop of palisade grass; T₈ – sole crop of fodder cowpea; T₉ – sole crop of stylo and T₁₀ – sole crop of horse gram. Fertilizer recommendation of 300:75:75 kg NPK/ha for palisade grass; 25:60:30 kg NPK/ha for sole crops of fodder cowpea and horse gram and 20:80:30 kg NPK/ha for sole crop of stylo, were followed. Row intercropping with horse gram at a ratio of 2:2 was found to be superior in terms of plant height, number of tillers, green fodder yield and dry fodder yield of palisade grass.

Key words: Palisade grass, Fodder cowpea, Stylo, Horse gram, Intercropping, Row ratio

45-52

UMMAISA REHMAN, WASEEM RAJA AND MOOMIN HAMID
Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir,
Wadura, Sopore-193 201, India
*(e-mail: ummaisarehman93@gmail.com)
(Received: 7 June 2026; Accepted: 29 June 2026)

SUMMARY

The study was carried out during kharif season of 2018 at Faculty of Agriculture Wadura, SKUAST- Kashmir to evaluate the cropping system, nutrient content and uptake as influenced by different legume combination with sorghum. The experiment consisting of 10 treatments laid out in randomized completely block design with three replications. The soil of the experimental plot was sandy loam in texture, with low available nitrogen (175.2 kg/ha), medium in available phosphorus and potassium (11.2 kg/ha and 220.0 kg/ha) respectively, high in organic carbon (1.49%) and neutral pH (7.06). The result revealed that sorghum + soybean (2:1) intercropping system recorded the maximum relative yield total of 0.92 and relative crowding coefficient of 0.71 than rest of the cropping systems. Sole soybean recorded the highest nitrogen and potassium content (2.98%) which was at par with sole cowpea and sole sorghum recorded the highest phosphorus content (0.5%) while the maximum nitrogen uptake was observed in sorghum + soybean (2:1) and phosphorus and potassium uptake was observed highest in sole sorghum. Therefore, considering higher cropping system indices and N, P, K content and uptake, the sorghum + soybean (2:1) was superior than other legume combination with sorghum.

Key words: Forage, Nutrient content, Nutrient uptake, Relative crowding coefficient, Relative yield

53-56

KULDIP A. PATEL, RASIK K. KAPADIA, BIPIN VAHUNIA, MITAL I. PATEL AND DEVABHAI S. RABARI
Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, NAU, Bharuch-392 001 (Gujarat), India
Department of Plant Pathology, N.M.C.A., NAU, Navsari-396 421 (Gujarat), India
Krushi Vigyan Kendra, K. V. K., NAU, Waghai-394 730 (Gujarat), India
Department of Plant Pathology, N.M.C.A., NAU, Navsari-396 421 (Gujarat), India
Department of Entomology, N.M.C.A., NAU, Navsari-396 421 (Gujarat), India
*(e-mail : kuldeep22@nau.in)
(Received: 20 April 2026; Accepted: 21 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Sorghum anthracnose disease is one of the major fungal disease of sorghum. The variability of different three districts isolates (Nine-9) of C. graminicola were studied on different culture media viz., potato dextrose agar, Richard’s agar, Czapek’s agar, malt extract agar, oat meal agar and sorghum seed extract agar. Potato dextrose agar, oat meal agar and malt extract agar supported maximum growth for all isolates. Isolate ST-1 showed maximum growth of 88.75 mm diameter on PDA and least growth on sorghum seed extract agar with least growth of 33.00 mm diameter in ST-2 isolate. Isolate NRM-3 recorded maximum growth mycelial diameter of 89.80 mm on oat meal agar and least on Czapek’s agar with 36.00 mm. Isolate BH-2 recorded maximum growth of 89.20 mm mycelial diameter on PDA and least on sorghum seed extract agar with 35.00 mm in BH-3 isolate.

Key words: Colletotrichum graminicola, sorghum, anthracnose, isolates, media

57-62

ASHLESHA ATRI AND HARPREET KAUR CHEEMA
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics,
Department of Entomology Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004 (Punjab), India *(e-mail: ashlesha-atri@pau.edu)
(Received: 4 June 2026; Accepted : 28 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Foliar diseases (anthracnose, grey leaf spot, zonate leaf spot) and insect-pests (sorghum shoot fly, stem borer) are major restraints in the cultivation of forage sorghum. Host plant resistance is one of the alternative components to manage sorghum shoot fly, stem borer and foliar diseases. In the present study, sixty-one sorghum genotypes were screened for varied levels of resistance during Kharif 2021 to 2023. Eleven genotypes viz., SPH 1967, SPH 1993, SPH 1994, SPH 1996, SPV 2861, SPH 1997, SPH 2018, SPH 2042, SPH 2043, SPH 2045 and SPV 3045 showed highly resistant disease reaction against sorghum anthracnose and grey leaf spot. Multi-resistance to both shoot fly and stem borer as observed in the entries SPV 2861 and SPV 2955. Entries SPH 1997 and SPV 3046 were found promising against shoot fly, while SPH 1934 and SPH 2047 had least stem borer dead heart formation.

Key words: Sorghum, screening, resistance, foliar diseases, shoot fly, stem borer

63-69

SUSHIL KUMARI, K. S. AHLAWAT, K. K. BHARDWAJ, P. K. POONIA, S. ARYA AND SATPAL
Department of Forestry, CCS Haryana Agricultural University Hisar-125004 (Haryana), India
Department of Soil Science, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
Department of G&PB, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : sushil.punia100@gmail.com)
(Received : 2 June 2026; Accepted: 28 June 2026)

SUMMARY

The present study was carried out during the kharif season of 2019–20 at the Forestry Research Farm, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India. The experimental site is geographically located at 29°092 N latitude and 75°432 E longitude, with an elevation of 215.2 m above mean sea level, and falls within the semi-arid agro-climatic zone of north-western India, to evaluate the effect of Eucalyptus tereticornis planting geometry on growth and fodder productivity of cowpea. The study included two geometries (4×2 m and 5×2 m) along with a control (without trees) under a randomized block design with seven replications. Forage crop cowpea was sown during Kharif season. Results indicated that wider spacing (5×2 m) significantly improved tree growth parameters such as height and DBH. Among tree-based systems, 5×2 m spacing performed better than 4×2 m. The study highlights the importance of optimum spacing in agroforestry systems for balancing tree growth and crop productivity. The standard package and practices as recommended by university were followed for raising of fodder cowpea crop. The fertilizer and irrigation requirements of trees were fulfilled from the irrigation and fertilizers application to the fodder crop. Growth measures of eucalyptus clone P-23 height and diameter at breast height (DBH) at the end of the cropping season. Tree growth increased with wider spacing. Maximum height (9.2 m) and GBH (25.7 cm) were recorded under 5×2 m spacing. The higher growth at wider spacing may be attributed to reduced intra-specific competition for light, water, and nutrients. The data indicates that 5m x 2m spacing is more appropriate spacing of clonal Eucalyptus plantation from productivity and practically fruitful aspect.

Key words: Planting geometry, agroforestry, cowpea, fodder productivity, DBH, semi-arid region

70-76

BAJRANG LAL SHARMA*, SATPAL, PUMMY KUMARI, NEERAJ KHAROR AND DALWINDER PAL SINGH
Forage Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004 (Haryana), India *(e-mail: bl_antela@rediffmail.com)
(Received: 28 May 2026; Accepted 22 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Sixty-two forage sorghum genotypes were evaluated against shoot fly, Atherigona soccata Rondani and spotted stem borer Chilo partellus Swinhoe during Kharif 2021 at Forage Section Research Farm, CCS HAU, Hisar (India). The data on leaf glossiness was recorded on visual score basis and shoot fly and stem borer dead heart per cent was also worked out. Genotypes viz., SPH 1995, SPV 2705, SPV 2704, CSV 21F, SPV 2797 and SPV 2878 were recorded resistance to shoot fly, having less dead heart per centage. Genotypes viz., SPV 2861, SPH 1993, SPH 1967, SPV 2705, SPV 2801, SPV 2704, SPV 2800, CSV 30F, SPV 2886, SPV 2878, SPV 2881 & CSH 36F were reacting as resistance against stem borer.

Key words: Atherigona soccata, Chilo partellus dead heart, screening, sorghum

77-81

HARBIR SINGH, RAJ KUMAR AND SANGEET RANGUWAL
Department of Economics & Sociology, PAU, Ludhiana
*(e-mail: rajkumar@pau.edu)
(Received: 26 May 2026; Accepted: 11 June 2026)

SUMMARY

With commercialization of the dairy business, changing cattle rearing patterns, gap in supply and demand for green fodder, the strategic use of wheat straw fodder (toori) provides a vital supplement to livestock diets and offer economic benefits to farmers. The present study examined the production and marketing pattern of toori in Punjab. On an average, toori was produced from about 89 per cent area under wheat crop by about 86 per cent farmers in the state. The average per farm production of toori was about 156 quintals, with about 97.25 per cent being from farmers’ own fields and 2.75 per cent from the purchased standing wheat stubble. About 81 per cent toori was being stored in covered structures. The major cost in post handling of toori was of the covered storage (26.67%) followed by making Kupp (25.19%). About 59 per cent of toori was consumed at own dairy farms, and the remaining surplus (41%) was marketed to co-villagers, dairy farms, and traders at an average sale price Rs 543 per quintal. The Punjab state farmers have good prospects to sell the surplus wheat straw fodder to the fodder deficit neighbouring states. Need of the hour is to develop infrastructure and farmer-friendly policies to encourage intra and inter-state trade for optimal utilization of surplus wheat straw which will help in providing an additional income to the farmers.

Key words: Disposal, economics, fodder, sales, storage, wheat straw

82-89

ROHINI GUPTA AND TEJPAL DAHIYA*
Department of Zoology, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Chaudhary Charan Singh Agricultural University, Hisar-125001 Haryana, India
*(e-mail : dahiyahau@gmail.com)
(Received : 9 April 2026; Accepted : 19 June 2026)

SUMMARY

Earthworms play an important role in the ecosystem which can decompose any kind of biodegradable waste. A large amount of rice straw is generated every year which is usually burnt in the field and causes a lot of air pollution, climate change, loss of soil fertility and many health-related problems. Due to this reason, the present study was carried out to determine the nutrient status of vermicompost produced from rice straw using Eisenia fetida and its effect on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) crop. Rice straw was mixed with cow dung as: 10% rice straw + 90% cow dung, 20% rice straw + 80% cow dung, 30% rice straw + 70% cow dung and only cow dung. The maximum growth and reproduction of E. fetida occurred in 10% rice straw with 90% cow dung mixture. Hence, it can be concluded that vermicompost is an appropriate alternative to chemical fertilizers.

Key words: Eisenia fetida; rice straw; vermicomposting; Growth; fecundity; reproduction; population

90-98

NANCY SHEORAN, JYOTSANA, SAJJAN SIHAG, JYOTI SHUNTHWAL, SARITA AND POONAM RATWAN
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Sciences,
Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education, COVS,
Department of Animal Genetics and breeding, College of Veterinary Sciences,
Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar-125004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail: sheorannancy@gmail.com)
(Received: 02 May 2026; Accepted: 25 June 2026)

SUMMARY

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of organic zinc and manganese on growing White Leghorn pullet’s performance. One hundred-day old birds of White leghorn strain were randomly divided into two treatment groups with 5 replicates of 10 birds in each following completely randomized design (CRD). The experimental birds in treatment group T1 were fed basal diet supplemented with in organic salts of Zn and Mn while the birds in treatment T2 were fed basal diet supplemented with 100% organic salts of Zn and Mn. Basal diet was formulated as per BIS (2007) to meet energy and protein requirement. The experiment was conducted for a period of 18weeks till the laying phase started. Body weight and feed intake data were taken fortnightly and feed conversion ratio was calculated. A metabolic trial for duration of five days was conducted at the end of the experiment for evaluation of metabolizability of different nutrients. For this one bird per replicate was selected. For serum mineral profiling especially for Zn and Mn, blood samples were also collected at the end of the trail and further analyzed on Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer by following the standard protocol.

Key words: Organic zinc, organic manganese, pullets, performance

99-104