Dr. KK Shivakumar

Agriculture Letters A monthly peer reviewed newsletter for agriculture and allied sciences

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Volume 02, Issue 07 IN THIS ISSUE Publishing date: July, 2021 Use of Entomopathogens in Insect Pest Management Use of Entomopathogens in 1. 3 ISSN: 2582 -6522 Insect Pest Management

Editor-in-Chief Dr. K. K. Shivakumar Climate Change and Global Scenario of 2. 7 (Emirates NBDB, UAE) Invasive Insects International Advisory Prof. B. Subramanyam ( KSU, USA) Dr. A. K. Passari (UNAM. Mexico) Antimicrobial resistance against zoonotic 3. 11 Associate Editors Microorganisms Prof. P. D. Sharma (Dr. RPCAU, Pusa) Dr. S. S. Rana (CSKHPKV, Palampur) Prof. P. Sood (COVAS, Palampur) 4. Hydroponics: The Future of Farming 15 Executive Editor Mr. Bishvajit B. (IIM -Ahmedabad) Improvement of vegetable crops using 5. 18 CRISPR/Cas9 technology Editorial office 74/1 RH No. 2, Jawalgera, RH Colony, Raichur- 584143, Karnataka, India Different techniques and tools in Preci- 6. 21 [email protected], [email protected], sion Nutrient Management Phone +91 7760370314 Log on to https://agletters.in/

Diabetes? No worries, Ragi can do won- Disclaimer 7. 25 ders The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily represent those of editorial board or publishers. Although every care has been taken to avoid errors or omission, this magazine is being published on the condition and under- A comparative study between recommend- taking that all the information given in this magazine is ed practices and farmers’ 8. 30 merely for reference and must not be taken as having au- practices on Boro rice cultivation in thority of or binding in any way on the authors, editors Birbhum, West Bengal and publishers who do not owe any responsibility for any damage or loss to any person, for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. The Publishers shall be obliged if mistakes brought to their notice. Microalgae for Aquaculture: the Current 33 9. Situation and Future Trends Copyright ©All rights reserved with “Agriculture Letters”

Agriculture Letters A monthly peer reviewed newsletter for agriculture and allied sciences

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ISSN: 2582 -6522 10. Biological Process in Submerged Soil 37

Editor-in-Chief Dr. K. K. Shivakumar (Emirates NBDB, UAE) 11. Can Vitmin ‘C’ Prevent COVID-19 41 International Advisory Prof. B. Subramanyam ( KSU, USA) Dr. A. K. Passari (UNAM. Mexico) Role of Zinc, Protein and Their Supple- 12. mentation in Chronic Liver 44 Associate Editors Disease Prof. P. D. Sharma (Dr. RPCAU, Pusa) Dr. S. S. Rana (CSKHPKV, Palampur) Prof. P. Sood (COVAS, Palampur) 13. Does β-glucan keep Cholesterol at bay? 49

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Article ID: 21/07/0207327 Bhoomika H. R. Tamanna Arif Praveenkumar G. K.

Use of Entomopathogens in Insect Pest Management Use of Ento- mopathogens in Insect Pest Management

Dept. of Plantation, Spices, Medicinal & Aromatic Crops. College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Chickmagalur Dist. Karnataka, 577 132

India is known as ‘The Home of Spices’ since from ancient times is renowned worldwide for its diverse and quality spices. Around 25 different spices are grown in India, which has happened due to diverse agroclimatic situations prevailing in the country. Ginger is one of the major spice crops grown in India in almost all the states. However, the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat are contributing much to the total national production of ginger. Average annual production of rhizomes in the country is about 1.74 lakh tonnes from an area of 18.46 lakh hectares (NHB – 2018-19). Botanically known as Zingiber officinale Rosc., ginger belongs to family Zingiberaceae- com- prising of about 50 genera of aromatic and perennial plants. Ginger is one such perennial under- ground rhizomatous crop but under commercial cultivation it is grown as an annual for the rhizomes that are esteemed for its aroma, pungency and medicinal properties. The pungent rhizomes are used either in fresh or dried from in culinary as well as for therapeutic needs. Aroma, Pungency and fibre content are the major quality determining factors of the rhizomes. Principle bioactive components responsible for aroma and flavour are gingerol, shagoal as well as unstable oils like sesquiterpenes ( β- bisabolene, zingiberene) and monoterpenes (geranial and neral). Soil borne diseases are one of the major production constraints in ginger cultivation. Soft rot caused by Pythium aphanidermatum, leaf spot caused by Phyllosticta zingiberi, Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum are some of the dreaded diseases of ginger which are primarily soil and seed borne in nature. The avoidance as well as control of these diseases is a challenging task so as the availability of disease free planting material to the growers. Several studies have been done in varied parts of the country and elsewhere as well, to tackle these problems from agronomic perspectives (including modification in growing methods, growing seasons, cultural practices, crop rotations, soil soarization etc) as well as from pathological perspective (prophylactic treatments, seed treatment, chemical and biological means of disease control etc.).

Ginger is cultivated both as rainfed (hilly regions) and irrigated crop (plains) in Indian situation. In both the cases the main cropping season is from March-April to November- December in Southern India. As a result, year round availability of fresh ginger is in scarce supply (though the rhizomes can be stored and traded in the form of dry ginger). Delayed monsoon, and uneven distribution of precipitation also results in poor establishment of the crop in field apart from making the crop prone to disease attack. Ginger is propagated through rhizomes and the seed rhizomes of 2-2.5cm having one or two eye buds weighing 20-25g are standardized as ideal propagating material for conventional cultiva-

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tion. The seed requirement varies from 1500-1800kg/ha and hence the investment on seed rhizomes is huge. More over the economic part itself is the seed material in ginger. Hence production of healthy/ disease free seed rhizomes and reducing the seed rate in ginger is of utmost importance. In this context various production methods of ginger rhizomes are presented briefly below with the pros and cons of each method:

CONVENTIONAL METHOD It includes cultivating the crop either by making ridges and furrows, beds and channels or the raised beds. Seed rate required varies between 1000-1500kg/ha with an ideal weight ranging from 25 to 50g. Prior to sowing the seed rhizomes need to be treated with mancozeb 0.3% (3 g/l of water) for 30 minutes, shade dried for 3 - 4 hours and planted at a spacing of 20 - 25 cm along the rows and 20 - 25 cm between the rows at a depth of 5cm. Earthing up in ginger is an important practice which is then followed by mulching the beds with green leaves/organic wastes that prevents soil splashing and erosion of soil due to heavy rain. 2-3 hand weedings are carried out depending on the intensity of weed growth. The crop attains full maturity in 210-240 days after planting. However for vegetable purpose harvesting can be done 180 days after planting. Ginger that is raised using the conventional method under open field conditions is prone to a number of pests and diseases and also hamper the quality.

Fig. 1 Ginger sprout in coco peat media Fig. 2 Ginger plants in soilless media

TRANSPLANTING METHOD To overcome the disadvantages of conventional planting system, a technique called ‘Rapid multiplication of ginger through single bud rhizome technology’ has been standardized by Indi- an Institute of Spices Research, Calicut. It involves treating the selected rhizomes with mancozeb (0.3%) and quinolphos (0.075%) for 30 min and storing in well ventilated place, rhizomes are cut along with a single bud weighing 4-6 g. Seed requirement varies from 500-750 kg per ha which is almost one third of that required in conventional method and hence reduces the cost on seed rhizomes. Protrays are used for raising the transplants that are filled with nursery medium contain-

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ing partially decomposed coir pith and vermicompost (75:25), enriched with PGPR/Trichoderma 10g/kg of mixture. Protrays planted with single bud rhizome pieces are maintained under shade and are irrigated using rose cans. After about 30-40 days, the plantlets are ready for field planting. Another advantage of the method is better field establishment of the crop. 98-100% field establishment is recorded as rhizomes with good root system are used for planting. This technique can be effectively employed for multiplication of germplasm or new variety which is not available in sufficient quantity.

HYDROPONICS/ SOILLESS CULTURE SYSTEM Hydroponics is a technique growing crops without soil, using liquid nutrients. It can be an alternative horticultural system for crops susceptible to soil-borne diseases that utilize an aggre- gate growing medium, such as perlite, rock wool, coco peat contained in a plastic wrap or bag. Ginger from a piece of rhizome with a visible bud is the ideal planting material. There are many models/ systems of hydroponic cultivation of ginger. One such method is growing the rhizomes in soil less media (Cocopeat, perlite, vermiculite etc) and fertilizers are applied through drip irrigation. Since the growing media is inert devoid of any nutrients as well as prior contamination, monitoring of the crop in disease free condition is This system provides sufficient aeration for the roots while physically supporting the plants . Suhaimi et al . (2012) reported one such method wherein ginger was grown using media like burnt paddy husk and coco peat in various proportions. They concuded that the media containing high amount of coir dust (70-100%) showed good growth and increased rhizome yield upto 36% compared to those containing high amount of burnt paddy husks. Soil less cultivation of ginger under cover will make sure the availability of fresh rhizomes round the year as it is not season dependent.

TISSUE CULTURE The cell and tissue culture techniques have immense advantage in raising disease free plantlets. As pathogenic fungi, bacteria or viruses are readily transmitted through traditional practices, it was deemed important to develop in vitro propagation techniques and to make available for commercial use the pathogen free rhizomes in ginger. Micropropagation of ginger using rhizome bud explants has been reported by several researchers ( Rout et al ., 2001 ; Kavyashree, 2009 ; Sathyagowri and Seran, 2011; Mohtar and Avin, 2018; Gruyter, 2020). Aerial stem explants have also been used for in vitro plant regeneration ( Lincy and Sasikumar, 2010 ). Vegetative buds are commonly used as the explants however rhizome explants often transmit soil-borne diseases and they are not available during the crop season ( Lincy and Sasikumar, 2010 ). In conventional vegetative propagation, multiplication rate is slow and it limits the availability of good quality superior planting materials for ginger cultivation. As a result in vitro micropropagation technique is the best method to supply disease free plant propa- gules continuously for commercial use (Thayamini, 2013). Conventional propagation methods of rhizomes being slow due to a dormancy period, rapid method of multiplication is needed especially for newly developed high yielding varieties, which are available in small quantities. Production of pathogen free seed rhizome by tissue culture/ soilless culture can be capitalized to ensure healthy crop. Thus various methods of rhizome production system has to be strengthened further for quality rhizome production.

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REFERENCES

GRUYTER DE, 2020, Micro propagation, callus induction and regeneration of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.). Open Agriculture, 5: 75-84 NIRMALBABU, K., SAMSUDEEN, K., MINOO, D., GEETHA., S. PILLAI AND RAVINDRAN, P.N., 2005, Tissue culture and Biotechnology of Ginger. Ginger – The genus Zingiber :181-210 . SUHAIMI, Y. M., MOHAMAD, A. M., MAHAMUD, S. AND KHADZIR, D., 2012, E f - fects of substrates on growth and yield of ginger cultivation using soilless culture. J. Trop. Agric. and Food. Sc., 40 (2): 159 -168. THAYAMINI H. SERAN, 2013, In vitro Propagation of Ginger ( Zingiber officinale Rosc.) through Direct Organogenesis: A Review. Pakistan J. Biol. Sci., 16: 1826-1835.

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Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207328 Sanjay Kumar Pradhan 1* Sangeeta Dash 2

Climate Change and Global Scenario of Invasive Insects

1 Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Agricultural Entomology, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru 2 M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Agricultural Entomology, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru

Climate change is a long term change (ranging from decades to millions of years) in the average weather conditions. It is commonly known as "global warming" or "anthropogenic global warming" (AGW). Changes in climate greatly affect agricultural ecosystems directly or indirectly. Physi- ology of plants are affected directly whereas interactions between plants and herbivores are affected indirectly, which leads to severe and frequent outbreaks of pests. In 20 th Century, there was an increase of average surface temperature by 0.74 ± 0.18°C globally. Over the last 50 years, world has witnessed hotter days and nights and more heat waves as compared to less cold days and nights and frosts. As predicted, by the end of 2100, average precipitation and water vapour concentration will increase globally with increase in the global average surface temperature by 1.1- 6.4°C. If no climate policy interventions are made, the concentration of atmos- pheric CO 2 may increase up to 405- 460ppm by 2025, 445-640ppm by 2050 and 540-970 ppm by 2100 (IPCC). Climate change and invasive insects affects production landscapes, reducing crop yields and the provision of ecosystem services. Introduced species are a well-recognized component of global environnemental change (Vitousek et al ., 1997) and may be favored by climate change (Dukes and Mooney, 1999). Introduced insects are often agricultural, forestry, household and storage pests and can be parasites or vectors of diseases. The adverse impact of invasive species can have significant effect on economic growth and poverty alleviation, as well as threaten food security and biodiversity. Insect pest populations are greatly affected by changes in the climate and global warming in terms of- wider habitat range, increased population growth with increased over-wintering stage, changes in insect - host plant interactions, potential risk of migration of invasive pests, impact on diversity of arthropods and extinction of vulnerable species, potential changes in the synchronisation pattern between insect pests and their host plants, reduced effectiveness of crop protection technologies (Sharma, 2010). Climate change also affect insect populations by- Extending the growing season, altering timing of emergence, rapid growth and development rates, shortening generation times, prolonged overwin- tering, shorten predation window, altering geographic distribution (Porter et al ., 1991)

INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES Invasive Alien Species are non-native species which are introduced deliberately or uninten- tionally in natural or semi natural ecosystems, which have the ability to establish, invade and outcompete native species and pose threat to native biological diversity (IUCN, Raghuvanshi et al., 2005).  Features of invasive species are- high fecundity, fast development period, wide dispersal, adaptability to wide range of environmental conditions and the ability to feed on alternate host (host range) etc.

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 Pathways for transmission of invasive pests are- long distance migration or movements, transportation, human activity, ornamental plants etc.

PATHWAYS OF INVASION  Introduction Rising levels of globalization, world trade, tourism, and travel have resulted in an ever- increasing introduction of alien insect species. Introduction describes the transport of invaders from their native to exotic range. Types of Introduction:  Intentional  Productive insects. Eg: European honey bee  Biological control agents. Eg: Predators and Parasitoids, Rodolia cardinalis , Acer- ophagous papayae  Unintentional  Global trading  Shipping containers (Ash borer in USA)  Lurking under the bark of log imports (Bark beetle in Britain)  Tourism (Fruit fly in Japan)

 Establishment It is the process of development of population of invasive insects that may persist for many generations from the founder population. Founder population is usually small and consequently under high risk of environmental factors. Smaller the founder population, establishment is likely less.

 Spread It is through movement of infested planting material, dispersion of invasive species through wind currents.

 Naturalization It is the process of adaption of invasive insect to the new environment and interaction with local biota. During the process of naturalization interaction with local biota will takes place casu- ally but adaption needs some time and it increases with time (Richardson et al., 2000).

RECENT REPORT ON INVASIVE INSECTS  Tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) They are native to South America and were initially observed in Pune on tomato plants during October 2014 (Shashank et al., 2015). They damage leaf and fruit of tomato and causing 0.5-70% loss in India. Due to worldwide invasion of T. absoluta , the tomato pest management cost will go up by $500 M per year. Probable entry of this pest might be transport, packing materials, wind currents (for short range dispersal).  Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Thripidae: Thysanoptera) They are native to Southwestern United States. First report of this pest in India was on tomato from Bengaluru (Tyagi and Kumar, 2015). WFT is the vector of tomato spotted wilt virus (Jones et al ., 2010). Probable entry of this pest might be through

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transport: import and export of flowers.

IMPACT OF INVASIVE INSECTS  Ecological impacts

 Increase in their population size  Increases the resource utilization Ultimately they outcompete the native biota and leads in the alteration of structure and species composition of new ecosystem by  Displacement of native species Chilo partellus is an Asian stem borer on maize and sorghum and it was accidentally introduced into Africa, caused the partial displacement of native stem borers Chilo orchalocociliellus and Sesamia calamitis (Mathez, 1972), which causes the extinction of native species.  Species extinction due to invasive insect In UK a scale insect Orthizia insignis appeared on a tree species Gumwood Commiden- drum robusrum and attacked wide range of plants along with Gumwood. Now population of gumwood is under the risk of extinction. Now plant density is less than 2000 (Booth, 1995).

 Economic impacts  Due to the attack of mealybug in cotton, farmers in Punjab suffer estimated loss of Rs. 159 Crores during kharif season 2007 (Anonymous, 2008).

 Annual management of Coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei was estimated to be more than Rs.20 Crores.

 Annual management of coconut eriophid mite, Aceria gurrreronis was estimated to be more than Rs.100 Crores.

EFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON INVASION PATHWAY

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FUTURE PROSPECTS With global warming and climate change on the table, there is a need to understand its impact on global fauna and predict and map trends of potential changes in geographical distribution, development, incidence, population dynamics of insect pests and natural enemies, impact on species diversity and cropping patterns. There is need to understand the development of resistance in insect pests against agrochemicals. So there is a need to identify different stable resistant genes and develop new commercial cultivars by gene pyramiding. We need to assess the effect of global warming on the efficacy of transgenic crops in pest management and efficacy of various pest management tools under diverse environmental conditions, and devise situation based applicable strategies for insect pest management to overcome impact of effects of climate change.

CONCLUSION Global warming and climate change virtually affects all the possible changes in insect pests in one way or other. Pest numbers will undoubtedly continue to fluctuate from season-to- season, depending on the particular combination of weather condition that occurs each year. The exact impact of climate change on invasive insects is uncertain. Understanding how climate change will impact on various insects especially crop pests will help us in various future possibili- ties of mitigating and adopting to menace of climate change. Predicting the impact of climate change on insects is a very complex exercise and involves a great deal of modeling. Climate change being a gradual process will give us opportunities to take measures.

SELECTED REFERENCES Richardson, D.M., Py šek, P., Rejmánek, M., Barbour, M.G., Panetta, F.D. and West, C.J., 2000. Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity and distributions , 6(2), 93-107. Sharma, H.C., 2010. Global warming and climate change: Impact on arthropod biodiversity, pest management, and food security. Shashank, P.R., Chandrashekar, K., Meshram, N.M. and Sreedevi, K., 2015. Occurrence of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) an invasive pest from India. Indian Journal of Ento- mology , 77(4), 323-329. Tyagi, K. and Kumar, V., 2015. First report of Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thripidae: Thysanoptera) from India – A Potential havoc to Indian agriculture, Halters , 6: 1-3.

Agriculture Letters 10 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207330 Jyoti Prakash Sahoo 1* Ambika Prasad Mishra 2 Kailash Chandra Samal 1

Antimicrobial resistance against zoonotic Microorganisms

1Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar – 751003, India 2Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Sri Sri University, Cuttack – 754006, India

ABSTRACT The advent, where growing percentages of the bacterial species now exhibit multidrug tolerance, of antibiotic resistant organisms is a major problem. There are global incentives for alternative therapeutic solutions, but there will certainly be the proliferation of susceptibility to antibiotic compounds following the introduction of new agents, suggesting an inefficient use of antibiotics. A shortage of new antibiotic solutions for use against gram negative bacteria is currently open. Consequent- ly, a reduction in antibiotic and infection control can prove to be the most useful way to combat this problem. The existence by agriculture and aquaculture of sub-therapeutic antibiotic amounts in water promotes the expression of drug resistance. Moreover, their high water solubility, large half-lives and continuous usage ensures that they continue to have an effect on the atmosphere and on human and ecological health.

INTRODUCTION One of the greatest problems facing contemporary medicine is the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and their relationship to human and animal disease. The scale of the issue is now so great that there is a priority list of antibiotically resistant pathogens focused on critical, medium and high risk issued by the World Health Organization (WHO). Antimicrobial tolerance is a process that has been propagated by the unsuitable use and overuse of medicinal agents in bacterial organisms. Both of the main contributors to AMR are counter-purchasing and administering antibiotic products that do not cause bacterial species. The veterinary medicine also contributes greatly to the use of antimicrobials for disease management and preventative care of both domestic and non-domestic animals. Antibiot- ics (ABs) are often used as growth promoters in aquaculture and for faster livestock growth in agriculture (Le Page et al. 2017); Martinez, 2009). A number of methods, such as mutational modifications of antibiotic targets, cell permeability changes, drug efflux and lateral transmission gene coding for resistance, enhance bacterial species' antibiotic resistance (MacGowan and Macnaughton, 2017). The sustained infection in non-therapy patients poses a significant health risk and leads to prolonged hospitalisation while at the same time increasing the scope of resistance, given that ever more forms of drugs are administered. Studies have shown that nearly 80% of categorised nosocomial infections with several strains of multi-drug resistance (MDR) are immune to one or more clinically important antibiotics (Done et al., 2015) of many types of antibiotics. So, it is essential to examine how certain pathogens can be controlled and reduced where appropriate. Zoonotic disease and dissemination is an environment which will allow the rate of evolving resistant species to increase or decrease. There- fore, this paper attempts to describe the prevalent resistant species in veterinary clinics.

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AGRICULTURE AND AQUACULTURE UTILITY OF ANTIBIOTICS Tetracyclines as growth promoters and medicines for livestock, beta-lactams, chepalospor- ines and macrolides for the treatment of diseases and growth, and peptidomimetics as growth promoteurs in poultry are the widely used antibiotics in veterinary medicines (Tasho et al., 2016). In the 1980s, Oxolinic acid and flumequine quinolones were approved in food-processed animals and fluorosinolones in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This use of antibiotics means that the animals excrete vast quantities of antibiotics and their active metabolites on a daily basis (Jechalke et al., 2014). The existence of these active antibacterial agents will then impact the soil's microbiological activity, penetrate the soil, be reconsumed by animals and/or obtain access to water. The dissemination of animal waste as a fertiliser also leads to this antibiotic runoff, which contains many bacteria which are potentially immune and is vulnerable to farming out into the rivers around it. In addition, the nutrients used in manure promote microbial development and transmission of horizontal genes among the present species (Jechalke et al., 2014). Antibiotics are used to prevent and enhance infections, in aquaculture, where FDA medications such as sulfadi- methoxine, ormetoprime and oxytetracycline have been approved for Salmonids, catfish and lob- sters (Hollis et al., 2014). These antibiotics are often found to be subtherapeutic in aquaculture after their prophylactic application (Done et al., 2015). This sub-therapeutic concentration helps fish feed and faeces found in the aquatic ecosystem to promote AMR by exposing bacteria to low resistance levels. In addition, fish do not effectively metabolise antibiotics and instead excrete them into the water in their active form. The prevalence of antibiotic agents in the meat from harvested fish and other field animals is now a reality that drug residues remain in animal tissue (Pikkemaat et al., 2013).

EMERGENCE OF AMR IN VETERINARY Campylobacter jejuni , Salmonella enterica , Typhimurium spp. DT104 and E. coli O157:H7 are bacterial species associated with food-producing animals in agriculture (Done et al., 2015). Sal- monella and Vibrio are possible pathogens associated with aquaculture and identified as emerg- ing threats with Listeria monocytogenes, Aeromonas and Clostridium spp (Martinez, 2009). In poultry processing, fluoroquinolones have been used in particular for ciprofloxacin since 1995 leading to the emergence, in the breast meat of the animals, of ciprofloxacin-proof bacteria called Camylobacter. The modes of resistance (Meade et al., 2017) for the most relevant zoonotic species are outlined in Table 1 for antibiotics commonly employed for veterinary uses. AGP antibiotic avoparcin is supposed to also enhance vancomycin resistance, with the same impact on Streptogram used by human drugs as AGP antibiotic vinginicmycin (McKellar et al., 1998). This is where a single drug affects bacterial tolerance and susceptibility to other antibiotics and regularly exists between the same-class antibiotics such as resistance to cross- resistance among the extended spectrums of beta-lactamases (ESBL) in the penicillins and cephalosporins family (Theuretzbacher et al., 2017). Resistance action modes based on altered efflux pumps and enzymatic degradation by gene sharing allow for resistance to cross-border diseases over different classes of antibiotics that activate antibiotics resistance mechanisms established exclusively in veterinary applications to propagate AMR to other classes of antibiotics. Ceftiofur and cefquinome are cephalosporins from the third and fourth generations used exclusively as veterinary drugs (Xiong et al. 2016), which have been used in the treatment of mastitis due to Staphylococcus aureus (Cavaco et al., 2008). These cephalosporins have led to the appearance, through excretion into the atmosphere of ESBL containing E. coli that is transferable to human hosts. Colistin, also known as polymyxin E is a non-MDR gramme therapy antibiotic used since the 1990s for carbapenemase, Enterobacteriaceae producing in particular. Due to the nephrotoxic

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effect on the kidneys of colistin, but continued in use as prophylactic and as a stimulator of development in swine in the 1970s (Rhouma et al., 2016).

Table 1: Modes of resistance of species relevant to zoonosis Mode of Resistance Resistance strains Antibiotic Inhibition of Cell Wall Klebsiella pneumoniae , Acinetobacter baumanii, Beta-lactams (Penicillin, Synthesis Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Salmonella Typhimuri- Cephalosporins, Car- um DT 104, Enterococcus faecium , Pasteurella bapenems, Beta-lactamase spp., Brucella spp., Staphylococcus aureus , Clos- inhibitors ) tridium difficile, Campylobacter spp. Inhibition of cell Enterobacteriaceae spp.; Pseudomonas Colistin, Polymixin B membrane function aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Salmonella enterica, Acinetobacter baumannii Inhibition of Protein Enterococci spp. (E. faecalis, E. faecium), Erythromycin, Synthesis Campylobacter spp , M. Bovis, Pasteurella multo- Tylosin and spiramycin, cida, Mannheimia haemolytica Campylobacter spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Lincomycin, Acinetobacter, Staphylococci, Mannheimia haemo- Clindamycin and Pirlimy- lytica, Escherichia coli, cin Salmonella Typhimurium DT 104, Klebsiella Gentamicin, Streptomycin, spp., Acinetobacter baumanii, Escherichia coli, Neomycin, Kanamycin,, Pasteurella spp. Tobramycin S. aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium DT Chloramphenicol 104, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus spp., Klebsiella spp, Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Enterococci spp. (E. faecalis) Pasteurella spp., Pseudomonas spp., S. aureus Chlortetracycline Salmonella Typhimurium DT 104, Brucella spp., Doxycycline Campylobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Escherichia Oxytetracycline coli, Acinetobacter baumanii, Tetracycline Escherichia coli, E. faecium, Neisseria Ciprofloxacin, Danofloxa- gonorrhoeae, Campylobacter spp (C. jejuni and C. cin, Difloxacin, coli), Pasteurella spp. Salmonella Typhimurium DT 104 Sulfadiazine, Sulfameth- Neisseria meningitidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, oxazole, Campylobacter spp., Bacillus spp., Escherichia coli Sulfadoxine

CONCLUSIONS In recent decades, excessive use and misuse of antibiotics have created a significant crisis that cannot be resolved immediately. Human bacterial antibiotic resistance infections have boost- ed hospital morbidity and death rates worldwide. The fact that these drug compounds are present in rivers and foodstuffs has led to water and food pollution at unexplained amounts. The effect of this pollution on human morbidity and safety in public health is very important to assess. Measures must be taken to slow the emergence rate of bacterial species currently being treated. AMR has proliferate considerably with the application of antibiotics to treat infections that are not of bacterial nature or where there is little to no proof of efficacy. Steps need to be taken to restrict the use of antibiotics as a human and veterinary therapy to control the rising rate of resistance of bacterial organisms. This is significant, not only from an AMR point of view but also to ensure protection as antibiotics are increasingly associated with human morbidity in infants in particular. Several experiments have demonstrated a dangerous human illness in terms of the zoonotic spread of bacterial pathogenic microbial bacteria. In addition, both animal and public health issues have an important challenge in terms of the effects of bacterial tolerance and the

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lack of antibiotic efficacy. In order to reduce AMR in 2006, the EU introduced a ban on antibiotics growth promoters; other countries such as China and the United States, however, have not enforced this ban.

REFERENCES Le Page, G., Gunnarsson, L., Snape, J., & Tyler, C. R. (2017). Integrating human and environmental health in antibiotic risk assessment: a critical analysis of protection goals, species sensitivity and antimicrobial resistance. Environment international , 109 , 155-169. Martinez, J. L. (2009). Environmental pollution by antibiotics and by antibiotic resistance deter- minants. Environmental pollution , 157 (11), 2893-2902. Macgowan, Alasdair & Macnaughton, Emily. (2017). Antibiotic resistance. Medicine. 45. 10.1016/j.mpmed.2017.07.006. Done, H. Y., Venkatesan, A. K., & Halden, R. U. (2015). Does the recent growth of aquaculture create antibiotic resistance threats different from those associated with land animal production in agriculture?. The AAPS journal , 17 (3), 513-524. Hollis, A., & Ahmed, Z. (2014). The path of least resistance: Paying for antibiotics in non-human uses. Health Policy , 118 (2), 264-270. Tasho, R. P., & Cho, J. Y. (2016). Veterinary antibiotics in animal waste, its distribution in soil and uptake by plants: a review. Science of the Total Environment , 563 , 366-376. Jechalke S, Heuer H, Siemens J, et al. Fate and effects of veterinary antibiotics in soil. Trends in Microbiology 2014;22. Pikkemaat, M. G. (2009). Microbial screening methods for detection of antibiotic residues in slaughter animals. Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry , 395 (4), 893-905. McKellar, Q. A. (1998). Antimicrobial resistance: a veterinary perspective. Theuretzbacher, U. (2017). Antibiotic innovation for future public health needs. Clinical Microbi- ology and Infection , 23 (10), 713-717. Xiong, M., Wu, X., Ye, X., Zhang, L., Zeng, S., Huang, Z., ... & Ding, H. (2016). Relationship between cefquinome PK/PD parameters and emergence of resistance of Staphylococcus aureus in rabbit tissue-cage infection model. Frontiers in microbiology , 7, 874. Cavaco, L. M., Abatih, E., Aarestrup, F. M., & Guardabassi, L. (2008). Selection and persistence of CTX-M-producing Escherichia coli in the intestinal flora of pigs treated with amoxicil- lin, ceftiofur, or cefquinome. Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy , 52 (10), 3612-3616. Rhouma, M., Beaudry, F., & Letellier, A. (2016). Resistance to colistin: what is the fate for this antibiotic in pig production?. International journal of antimicrobial agents , 48 (2), 119-126. Meade, E., Slattery, M. A., & Garvey, M. (2017). Antimicrobial resistance: an agent in zoonotic disease and increased morbidity. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Toxicology , 1(1), 30- 37.

Agriculture Letters 14 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207332 Mude Ramesh Naik Hydroponics: The Future of Farming

ICAR-NAARM, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500030

INTRODUCTION Term hydroponics derived from the Greek words ‘hydro’ means water and ‘ponos’ means labour. The word 'hydroponics' coined by Dr. W.F. Gericke in 1936 and he has introduced commercial hydroponics and it is defined as growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil and it is an eco-friendly and lucrative technology. In this technology yield of different crops can be aug- mented by growing crops throughout the year, because in which climatic changes doesn’t show any significant effects owing to controlled environmental conditions It has been reported by UN global population report that these plants under hydrophonics has yielded 20-25% more than traditional system of agriculture. In India hydroponics was started in the year 1946 by W.J. ShaltoDuglas in West Bengal and he developed laboratory for hydroponics (Radhakrishnan et al., 2019).

INDIAN AND GLOBAL SCENARIO OF HYDROPONICS Europe has a major share and has the largest geographical segment of the hydroponics with more than 47% overall market as of 2018. However, Indian hydrophoics market has a potential of higher growth and is expected attain CAGR of 13.35 by the year 2027, when the global market is predicted to attain a CAGR of 11.3%. (https://www.marketsandmarkets.com).

WHY HYDROPONICS GAINING IMPORTANT The pressure on the land is increasing with the increasing population and decreasing per capita land availability. In the year 1960 with over 3 billion world populations , per capita land availability was 0.5 ha but presently, with 6 billion people per capita available land has decreased to only 0.25 ha and 2050, with 9 billion people it is further expected to come down to 0.16 ha per capita ( https:// www.usaid.gov 2004). Because of anthropogenic factors such as overwhelming population, rapid ur- banization and industrialization, per capita availability of land is diminishing and it causing several problems to soil based agriculture. Soil fertility has attained a saturation level and productivity has stagnated owing to drought, unpredictable climate, river pollution, depleting ground water, poor water management. Soil less culture is ray of under such circumstance as the dependence only the soil based cropping may not help to feed the ever-increasing population. Soil-less culture assumes significance and relevant in the present day scenario of agriculture as improved space and water conserving methods of food production under soil-less culture have shown some promising results all over the world.

CROPS TO BE GROWN ON HYDROPONICS According to Singh and Singh, (2012) and Das et al., (2012) crops commonly grown in hydroponics are vegetables (cauliflower, cucumbers, tomato, chilli, brinjal, potato green bean, winged bean, bell pepper, cabbage, onion and radish etc.), leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach and celery), cereals (rice), fruits (strawberry, melons), ornamental crops (marigold, rose, carnation, lily, tulip, begonia and chrysanthemum), condiments (mint, sweet basil and coriander leave) and fodder crops (sorghum, al-

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phalfa, barley, bermuda grass, and carpet grass).

NUTRIENT ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR HYDROPONICS Various sources nutrient elements required are potassium nitrate (source of element N and K), potassium phosphate monobasic (element P and K), magnesium sulphate (element Mg and S), iron chelate (element Fe), boric acid (element B) and calcium nitrate (element N and Ca).

ADVANTAGE OF HYDROPONICS It is an eco-friendly practice and requires less labour. However, in this system water can be saved more, as only 10 −20% water is required for growing crops compared to soil based culture. For instance, to produce 1 kilogram of tomatoes in soil based culture requires 400 litre of water, whereas in hydroponics it can be curtailed to only 70 litres. Also it produces quality & longer shelf life crops. It gives high yield and high income as it makes use of off season for growing crops when market prices are highest. It was found that 30 % more yield in hydroponics than soil based culture (Gruda, 2009). Yield comparison between soil based culture and hydroponics are given in Table 1.

Table 1: Yield comparison between two growing methods (Source: Gowda N, 2018) Crop No. of crops per Yield in soil based cul- Yield in hydroponics year ture (t ha -1) (t ha -1) Lettuce 10 52 300-330 Tomato 2 80-100 350-400 Cucumber 3 10-30 700-800 carrot 1 15-20 55-75 Potato tuberlets 6-8 20-40 120 pepper 3 20-30 85-105 cabbage 3 20-40 180-190

PROBLEMS OF HYDROPONICS Major drawback is that growing of crops in hydroponics requires technical knowledge & skills, higher level of monitoring, electrical power and more initial investment. Continuous su- pervision, is required in this system with respect to different water borne diseases and if water- borne disease arises it can fully damage all the plants within hours. Also lack of government support, incentives and policies. To prevent clogging, nutrient solution needs to be flushed and replaced regularly.

FUTURE SCOPE OF HYDROPONICS In numerous agricultural sectors, hydroponics is one of the most important and fast growing sector. In future it can be well dominate food production system in India because of surging population due to which there is more pressure on arable land. Also recent changes in weather and climate patterns warrant adoption of hydroponics. Few countries like Japan and Israel are growing crops in large scale under hydroponics. Several countries in the Africa and Asia are going to get benefitted from hydroponics in the near future as the arable land is shrinking every year. But there is need have several research activities directed at developing and standardizing the hydroponic technologies and refining them to suit to local conditions. Hence, lot of scope for research and developmental activities on standardization of techniques and nutrient element re-

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quirements for different crops along with simplification of procedures to reach every corner of the country.

CONCLUSION In India usage of synthetically prepared fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are more and which leads to depletion of the soil fertility and enhance ground water contamination. Conse- quently, decreasing food quality and increasing malnutrion. Also in the nation natural calamities like flood, drought, erosion are the most common incidents. Through this technology, growing crops on non-arable land and also roof tops in urban areas are possible to feed the overwhelming population. Therefore, this technology is now gaining more important to cultivate various crops. Though it requires initial establishment which is bit expensive, nevertheless, increase in yields higher economic growth outweigh the establishment costs.

REFERENCES

Das. A., Bhui, S. and Chakraborty, D. (2012). Growth Behaviour of Rose Plants in Low Cost Hy- droponics Culture. Journal of Horticultural Science & Ornamental Plants 4(1): 01-06 Gowda, N. (2018). National Seminar on Futuristic Agriculture for Sustainable Productivity, held at Tirupati, A.P on 21-23 February. Gruda, N., (2009). Do Soil-less Culture Systems Have an Influence on Product Quality of Vege- tables? Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality 82(2):141–147. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com,2021 https://www.usaid.gov , 2004. Radhakrishna. G., Upadhyay, T.K., Singh, P. and Sharma, S.K. (2019). Impact of hydroponics: Present and future perspective for farmer’s welfare. Journal of Environment Science and Technology, 5(1):19-26. Singh, S. and Singh, B.S. (2012). Hydroponics – A technique for cultivation of vegetables and medicinal plants. In.: Proceedings of 4th Global Conference on Horticulture for Food, Nutri- tion and Livelihood Options. Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India. p.220

Agriculture Letters 17 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207333 Saipayan Ghosh Udit Kumar*

Improvement of vegetable crops using CRISPR/Cas9 technology

Department of Horticulture, PG College of Agriculture Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur

INTRODUCTION Gene or genome editing can be referred to as alterations in an organism’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), either by addition, replacement or modification of the genetic material. Gene editing involves the use of SDN through transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and CRISPR/Cas9. Genome editing tools include mega nucleases, ZFNs, CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs are based on artificially engineered SDN and have been used for inducing mutations through DNA modification in many plant species along with food crops. DNA modifications could be in the form of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs), insertions, substitutions or deletions. All these gene-editing tools are based on the double-strand breaks (DSBs), which can be repaired by the cell’s repair mechanism.

CRISPR/Cas9 Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) /CRISPR-associated protein-9 (Cas9) technique (CRISPR/Cas9) is one of the latest and widely accepted gene-editing techniques. This is a family of DNA sequences found in the prokaryotic genomes such as bacteria and archaea . Although it has been first reported in the 1980s, the utilization of this gene editing technique has been harnessed with full potential since last decade. They are used to destroy and detect DNA from same type of bacteriophages during following infections. These sequences have an important role in the antiviral ( i.e . anti-phage) defense system. Cas9 (or "CRISPR-associated protein 9") is an enzyme which utilizes CRISPR sequences as a guide for recognition and cleavage of specific strands of DNA that are complementary to the CRISPR sequence. Cas9 enzymes along with CRISPR sequences form the basis of a technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 that can be used for editing genes within organisms. This editing process has many applications which include basic research in biological sciences, invention of biotechnological products and curing of diseases. The development of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technique was recognized by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 which was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.

MECHANISM OF ACTION OF CRISPR/Cas9 During the process of immunization followed by exposure to invading genetic elements from phage or plasmids, short fragments of foreign DNA are integrated into the CRISPR repeat-spacer array within the host chromosome as new spacers. This helps in providing a genetic record of prior infection thereby enabling the host for preventing future invasion of the same invader. Subsequent transcription of the CRISPR array and enzymatic processing of precursor-CRISPR transcripts through endonucleolytic cleavage yield short mature CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs). At the 5’ end, the crRNA has the spacer, a short segment of RNA which is complementary to a sequence from a foreign

Agriculture Letters Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021) Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 agletters.in/archi ve s

genetic element, and the 3’ end contains a piece of the CRISPR repeat sequence. Hybridization of the crRNA spacer and a complementary foreign target sequence (protospacer) leads to triggeren- ing of sequence-specific destruction of invading DNA or RNA by Cas nucleases upon a second infection. The recently inferred nomenclature and classification of CRISPR/Cas systems utilize the information obtained from phylogeny and comparative genomic analyses. Based on the related unique signature Cas proteins (endonucleases or cleaving proteins), there are 2 important classes of CRISPR/Cas systems. Among these CRISPR systems, the type II system from Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria has been immensely utilized for gene targeting purposes because of a single, unique effector protein. The CRISPR/Cas9 system utilizes a 20-bp DNA target (guide RNA or gRNA or spacer), which is followed by a short, trinucleotide (5’-NGG-3’ or 5’-NAG-3’) protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) in the host DNA. It is profusely effective in gene silencing by blocking transcription and can serve as an effective tool for targetting gene regulation without changing the target Sequence.

APPLICATIONS OF CRISPR/Cas9 IN IMPROVEMENT OF VEGETABLE CROPS The different applications of CRISPR/Cas9 technology include:  CRISPR is used for genome editing.  CRISPR libraries are used for screening.  CRISPR/Cas9-mediated chromatin immunoprecipitation is highly applicable.  It has relevant role in transcriptional activation and repression.  Epigenetic editing can be done using CRISPR/Cas9.  Live imaging of DNA/mRNA is possible using CRISPR/Cas9. .  Besides there are many Therapeutic Applications of CRISPR/Cas9.  Examples of vegetable crops where CRISPR/Cas9 technology was used to meet research objectives.

Name of Vegetable Targetted character/trait of study using CRISPR /Cas9 Confirmation of function of a gene involved in Fusarium wilt toler-

Tomato Improvement of lycopene content Development of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus resistance Development of day-neutral and early yielding plants Reduction of enzymatic browning Potato Development of amylopectin starch cultivars Obtaining gynoecious genotypes Watermelon Herbicide resistance Cucumber Broad virus resistance Targeting flowering-time regulator gene Cabbage Generation of early flowering phenotype Generation of seedlings capable of germinating at higher tempera- Lettuce

Cassava Brown streak resistance

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Pumpkin Understanding the role of root apex in salt tolerance Sweet potato Enhancement of Fusarium wilt resistance Carrot Generation of haploid plants

ADVANTAGES OF CRISPR/Cas9 AND FUTURE PROSPECTS There is immense potential for genome editing techniques which also include novel plant breeding tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 for the enhancement of production, productivity, quality, and nutritional characteristics of vegetable crops. This technology has been expected for contri- bution to resolve the food scarcity issues prevailing in the world. There will still be differing per- ceptions of gene-edited products, specifically due to the varying regulatory provisions in different countries. A worldwide scientific consensus and uniform regulatory measures globally might add to the utility of gene-editing technology beyond the domain of research.

REFERENCES

Bertier, L. D., Ron, M., Huo, H., Bradford, K. J., Britt, A. B., & Michelmore, R. W. (2018). High- resolution analysis of the efficiency, heritability, and editing outcomes of CRISPR/Cas9- induced modifications of NCED4 in lettuce ( Lactuca sativa ). G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics , 8 (5), 1513-1521. González, M. N., Massa, G. A., Andersson, M., Turesson, H., Olsson, N., Fält, A. S., & Feingold, S. E. (2020). Reduced enzymatic browning in potato tubers by specific editing of a polyphenol oxidase gene via ribonucleoprotein complexes delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Frontiers in plant science , 10 , 1649. Ortigosa, A., Gimenez ‐Ibanez, S., Leonhardt, N., & Solano, R. (2019). Design of a bacterial speck resistant tomato by CRISPR/Cas9 ‐mediated editing of Sl JAZ 2. Plant biotechnology journal , 17 (3), 665-673. Park, S. C., Park, S., Jeong, Y. J., Lee, S. B., Pyun, J. W., Kim, S., & Kim, C. Y. (2019). DNA-free mutagenesis of GIGANTEA in Brassica oleracea var. capitata using CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes. Plant Biotechnology Reports , 13 (5), 483-489. Ren, Y., Sun, H., Zong, M., Guo, S., Ren, Z., Zhao, J., & Xu, Y. (2020). Localization shift of a sugar transporter contributes to phloem unloading in sweet watermelons. New Phytolo- gist , 227 (6), 1858-1871.

Agriculture Letters 20 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207334 Arakanti chaitanya 1* G. Adilakshmi 2

Different techniques and tools in Precision Nutrient Management

1Ph. D Scholar, Department of Agronomy, University of Agricultural sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560065 2Ph. D Scholar, Department of Agronomy, S.V Agricultural College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh

INTRODUCTION Recommending fertilizers with the aid of soil testing favored improving food grain production but not nutrient use efficiency by crop plants. Precision nutrient management (PNM) is basically the science of using site-specific advanced technologies to deal the temporal and spatial variability of inherent supply of nutrient from soil to increase the productivity and profitability of agricultural production systems. PNM governs the problems of increasing productivity by synchronizing supply of nutrients with demand of plants at different stages. Diagnosing the nutrient demand of plant through, the plants is an efficient approach and ensures better synchrony between the supply of nutrients and plant demand which is a trustworthy indicator of nutrient availability.

CONCEPT OF PRECISION NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT: Precision nutrient management is a field-specific nutrient management in any cropping system to balance the supply and demand of soil nutrient’s relating to the differences in cycling through soil-plant systems. PNM is a 5-R concept of applying ‘right input at ‘right time’ in ‘right amount at ‘right place’ and in ‘right manner’ for improving productivity, conserving resources with out any ecological issues. PNM includes three main pillars. First pillar depends on the spatial variation of soil nutrients which helps to implement the accurate soil nutrient testing and diagnosis of crop nutrients. Secondly, a proper fertilization model has to be choosed to implement the precision of fertilizer amount. Thirdly, good machines for fertilization should be selected to implement variable rate fertilization.

DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES FOR PRECISION NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT a) Soil test based nutrient management: Soil nutrient analysis through soil testing is a tool to evaluate soil fertility and restoring de- pleted soil nutrients by recommending various fertilizers and amendments. Digital soil testing kits with Pusa Soil Testing and Fertilizer Recommendation Meter (Pusa STFR Meter) is a recent initia- tive that would promote PNM. Pusa STFR Meter quantitatively determines 12 important soil parameters. b) Soil Test Crop Response (STCR) STCR is plant need based approach with specific yield target. It is cost effective tool for supplying crop nutrient as and when needed to achieve higher yield and increase system nutrient use efficiency.

c) Omission Plot Technique In this method all the nutrients preferably ma- Fig. 1: Pusa soil testing and fertilizer recom- jor are applied except the nutrient of interest (omitted mendation meter

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nutrient). This method help us to estimate insitu and inherent nutrient supply of the soil. The yield gap between the maximum yield that could be achieved and the yield which is obtained from the omission plot technique is used to calculate the fertilizer requirement.

d) Decision support system (DSS) DSS is a software which collects, process and provides information based on data. Exam- ples: Nutrient Expert, Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4ag) , Quantitative Evalua- tion of the Fertility of Tropical Soils (QUEFTS) and Crop manager.

e) Nutrient Expert The International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) has come up with a PNM support tool called “Nutrient expert.” The interactive computer-based decision tool, that provides field- specific fertilizer recommendation to smallholder farmers based on the principle of SSNM with or without soil testing data. It has been developed for specific crops and geographies.

DIFFERENT TOOLS FOR PRECISION NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Real time nitrogen (N) management tools This approach monitors the in situ N status of crop which helps to take a decision on N application in synchrony with demand of crop. The following tools can be used.

a) Leaf Colour Chart (LCC): LCC is a high quality plastic strip for diagnosing nitrogen deficiency. It has different shades of green colour ranging from light yellowish green to dark green. It is a visual indicator of nitrogen deficiency in plants. Colour panels of LCC are matched with the leaf colour of crop to know whether plants are hungry or over-fed by N fertilizer.

b) Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) /Chlorophyll meter : The SPAD/ chlorophyll meter is a simple, portable, diagnostic and non-destructive device that could be used to estimate the leaf chlorophyll content. The readings show a posi- Fig. 2: Leaf colour chart tive correlation with destructive chlorophyll amount and N topdressing demand in plants during crop growth. A higher SPAD value means a healthier plant.

c) Fieldscout CM 1000 chlorophyll meter :- The principle involved is point and shoot technology to instantly estimate relative chlorophyll content. Nutrient recommendations are based on the values.

d) Optical Sensors Optical sensors are used to describe nitrogen, biomass variation, and leaf area index. Ex- amples: - Green seeker, Yara N-Sensor, Optical soil sensors, Crop Circle, ASD Field Spec and Crop Scan. Fig. 3: Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD)

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Fig. 4: Fields cout CM 1000 chlorophyll meter Fig. 5: Green seeker

i) Green Seeker Green seeker is an integrated optical sensing, variable rate application and mapping system that can measures crop N demand yield potential for a crop is identified using a vegetative index known as NDVI (Normalized difference vegetative index) and an environmental factor. NDVI readings range from 0 – 0.99. The higher the reading, the healthier the plant.

ii) Yara N-Sensor The sensor can seeks the nutrient variability of crop with high spatial resolution and performs large number of readings per unit time.

iii) Optical soil sensors These sensors have high potential to an- alyze the soil organic matter content on the basis of soil colour. In optical soil sensing, the visual and near-infrared spectral reflectance can potentially estimate texture, moisture, CEC and other soil parameters.

Fig. 6: Yara N-Sensor

ADVANTAGES  Precision nutrient management techniques and tools could be used for need based precise nutrient applications and improving nutrient use efficiencies which results in profitable yields.  These practices govern spatial and temporal variability in nutrient supply and facilitate synchronization in plant demand and soil supply.  The optical sensors are quick and reliable tools to guide real time need based fertilizer N applications, especially in cereal crops.  LCC and Nutrient Expert are the cheapest tools Indian farmers can easily use for the precise application of nutrients in their field.

DISADVANTAGES  Complexity in the usage of technology by farmers  High initial cost of the instruments  Lack of awareness among farmers  Lack of training to the farmers  Rigidity to adopt changes  Lack of success stories

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CONCLUSION In the present global scenario of the use of blanket nutrient management recommendations in India which resulted in increasing multi-nutrient deficiencies in soils, environmental problems and low profits. In this regard, PNM assumes special significance in Indian agriculture. There is a need to improve awareness and encourage the participation of farmers which leads to large scale adoption of PNM under different crops and soils.

REFERENCES

Singh, V., Kaur, S. K., Singh, B., Brar, B. S. and Kaur, A. (2016). Precision Nutrient Management -A Review. Indian Journal of Fertilizers . 12(11): 1-15. Kapri, M. and Ksarwani, A. (2019). Implementation of improved nitrogen management strategies under intense wheat cultivation. International Journal of Advanced Research in Agriculture and Allied Sciences. 1(2): 32-38. Kim, Y. Glenn, D. M., Park, J., Ngugi, H.K. and Lehman, B. L. (2016). Characteristics of active spectral sensor for plant sensing. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. 55(1): 293-301.

Agriculture Letters 24 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207336 Sushma Mongbijam 1 Hemlata Singh 2

Diabetes? No worries, Ragi can do wonders

1Department of Food & Nutrition, Collegeof Community Science, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Sa- mastipur, Bihar -848125 2Department of Soil Science, Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural Universi- ty,Samastipur, Bihar-843121

DIABETES MELLITUS Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that prevents the body to utilize glucose completely or partially. It is characterized by raised glucose concentration in blood & alteration in carbohydrates, protein & fat metabolism. It can be due to failure in the formation of insulin or libera- tion or action (Srilakshmi,2015). Diabetes can be kept under control by eating healthy diet, drugs & exercise. Healthy diet helps in maintaining normal blood sugar level in diabetes (Saraniyaand Jeevaratnam,2014).While planning the diet for diabetic people the food should be low in Glycaemic index (Quiroz et al.,2012). Glycaemic Index helps to slow down the digestion, absorption of carbohydrates, lowering of insulin demand, helping in blood glucose control & blood lipids (Villegas et al.,2007).

TYPES OF DIABETES MELLITUS  Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus It is referred to as childhood onset diabetes/ Juvenile Diabetes & Insulin Dependent Diabetes. The symptoms of type 1 diabetes mellitus usually appear before 30years of age. The disease is characterized by loss or inability to produce insulin from pancreas. It may lead to vascular complicationsin- cluding atherosclerosis, stroke, heart attack, renal shutdown, gangrene (death of tissue due to lack of blood supply) & blindness (Raghuvanshi and Mittal, 2018).

 Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus It is referred to as adult onset diabetes, obesity related diabetes & non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. It usually occurs after 40 years of age. Obese person are more prone to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Type 2 diabetes mellitus may go unnoticed for years because visible symptoms are mild (Raghuvanshi and Mittal, 2018).

 Gestational Diabetes mellitus Insulin requirement rise up during pregnancy due to Ovarian & placental hormones reduce insulin sensitivity (Raghuvanshi and Mittal, 2018).

RAGI/FINGER MILLET ‘Millet’ is derived from the French word, meaning thousand, containing up to 1000grains, be- longing to the small seeded species of cereal crops or grains of annual plants. Due to its growth form of panicles which takes in the form of finger, it is called as Finger millets or Ragi or tamba. Ragi belongs to Poaceae family. Ragi has different varieties with different grain color and uses: which it exist in brown, light brown and white. Of which the white variety have been used mainly in baking indus-

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try, the brown and the light brown types are used for porridge and the brown Ragi are used in brewing traditional beer in South Africa (Sood et al.,2017).

Table 1: Diabetes Diagnostic Criteria

Condition 2 hour plasma glucose (mg/dl) Fasting plasma glucose(mg/ dl) Normal <140 <110

Impaired fasting glucose <140 <126

Impaired glucose tolerance ≥140 <126

Diabetes Mellitus ≥200 ≥126

The grain is cultivated in semi arid region cultivated in dry areas with limited rainfall. It is cultivated between February-August and harvested between June-January. Finger millet is gluten free & non acid forming (Muthamlarassan et al., 2016). Ragi is nutrient riched millets which is an underutilized and an inexpensive grain. Cereals are the main staple food for Indians providing about 70-80% of their total energy intake (Gopalan et al., 2009). Recent studies on dietary profile on urban Indians from Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES) show that the consumption of millet is very low as compared to rice(Radhika et al., 2011).

NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION OF RAGI As compared to rice, Ragi is a coarse grain because of its fibrous seed coat. Ragi contents 0.3g to 0.4g being the richest source of calcium compared to other minerals like phosphorus, iron, magnesium and fiber. The protein content in Ragi is of good quality as it contents more enzymes like lysine, threonine and valine a good quality protein (Ravindran, 1991). Essential minerals such as calcium, phosphorus are present in Ragi with the highest amount of 162-358mg/100g (Roopa and Premavalli,2008).Calcium plays as essential role in growing children, pregnant women, and elderly as well as to those people who are suffering from obesity, diabetes & malnutrition(Jayasingheet et al.,2013). High amount of phenolic compound are present in Ragi (Chethanand Malleshi,2007). There is a report that caffeic acid present in Ragi helps to decrease the fasting glycaemia and helps reduce from increase in plasma glucose when tested in rats. Catechins present in Ragi helps to improve the glucose tolerance in rats & querctin inhibited glucose transport in transfected oo- cyte model & glucose absorption in rats (Remesy et al.,2005).

GLYCAEMIC RESPONSE STUDIES ON FINGER MILLET (HUMAN STUDIES) Low Glycaemic response to cooked finger millet compared to milled rice, parboiled rice & wheat diet ( Shuklaand Srivastava,2011).Malting and fermentation processes increase the carbo- hydrate digestibility of finger millet, lowers Glycaemic response of germinated finger millet Dosa (fermented) & germinated finger millet roti compared to normal whole finger millet Dosa due to the conversion of starch to low molecular weight dextrin& maltose during germination (Lakhsmi and Sumathi, 2002).

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PROCESSED RAGI PRODUCTS Ragi Mudda is one of the healthiest & most popularized traditional & healthy foods in Karnataka & Rayalaseema region in India (Eswarisai et al., 2018).Two types of low Glycaemic index recipes i.e., Ragi curd rice & Bengal gram Uttapam recipes were developed and sensory evaluation was taken. The study concluded that the formulated product can be effective in formulating diabetic diet (Gitanjali and Vishakha,2020).

Table 2: Potential Health Benefits of Finger Millet Health Functions References Com- pounds Ferulic acid Prevent tissue damage & stimulates wound healing process Sarita and Singh, 2016 Phytic acid Lowering blood cholesterol Amadou et al., 2013, Sarita and Singh, 2016and Chandra et al., 2018

Phytates, Healing, aging and metabolic syndrome. Prevents deterioration of Siwela et al., 2007and phenols & human, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Thilagavathi et al.,2015. tannins Lowering of blood pressure and diabetes. Decreases tumor. Dietary Essential for hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect as well as Thilagavathi et al., 2015 fiber lowering of serum and Udeh et al., 2017. cholesterol. Prevents atherosclerosis, antitoxic and anti cancerous effect. Nutraceuti- Promotes better health by reducing the risk of chronic disease such Sarita and Singh, 2016. cals foods as obesity. Lowers blood pressure, cancer and diabetes. Magnesium Reduces the risk of heart attack. Chandra et al., 2018. Phosphorus Essential for the development of body tissue and energy metabo- Chandraet al.,2018. lism.

Ready to cook millet flakes contains many health benefits like fiber and minerals as compared to rice flakes and oats (Takhellambam and Chimmad, 2015). Ragi Mudda made from a combination of pre-gelatinized Ragi& rice flours reduced cooking time (Eswarisai et al., 2018). Karnika and Chopra (2016)stated that Malted Ragi muffins made with malted Ragi instead of wheat flour was accepted by the panel members.

CONCLUSION Cereals are the main staple foods for Indians. Ragi /finger millet, being packed with nutrients with a low Glycaemic index have many health benefits like lowering insulin needs, coronary heart disease. Antinutrients such as lectin, saponins & tannins, influence the Glycaemic response (Mani et al., 1993).Since, Ragi is also known as poor man’s grain besides with many potential health benefits. Therefore, it can be concluded that Ragi can be used in different food preparation & can be included regularly in our diet.

REFERENCES Amadou, I., Mahamadou, E.G., and Le, G.W. (2013), Millets, nutritional composition,some health benefits and processing-Review. Food Science and Technology (Campinas) , 25(7) : 501 -508.

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Chandra, A., Singh, A.K. and Mahto, B. (2018). Processing and value addition of finger millet to achieve nutritional and financial security-case study. International Journal of current Micro- biology and Applied Science , 7: 2901-2910. Chethan, S. and Malleshi, N.G. (2007), Finger millet polyphenols: Characterization and their nu- taceutical potential. American Journal of food Technology , 27(7): 582-592. Eswarisai, K.P., Maheswari,U., Jessie SuneethaW, K.B. and Suneetha ,D. (2018), Development And Evaluation Of Finger Millet Based Ragi Ball (Ragi Mudda) Mix. https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/324262499 .Publication. Gitanjali and Vishakha, S. (2020), Development and Nutritional Evaluation of Low Glycaemic Index Recipe from Ragi and Pulses for Diabetes. International Journal of Chemical Studies , 2737-2741. Gopalan, C., Rama Sastri, B.V. and Balasubramanian, S.C. (2009), Nutritive value of Indian foods. Hyderabad, India: National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, 27. Jayasinghe, M.A., Ekanayake, S. and Nugegoda, D.B. (2013), Effect of different milling methods on glycemic response of foods made with finger millet ( Eleusine coracana ) flour. The Ceylon Medical Journal , 58 (4) : 148-152. Karnika, P. and Chopra, R. (2016), Development of Healthy Snacks from Finger Millet ( Eleusine Coracana ) Malt: An Alternative Approach to Functional Foods. International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology , 122-131. Lakshmi Kumari, P., and Sumathi, S. (2002), Effect of consumption of finger millet on hypergly- cemia in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) subjects. Plant Foods for Hu- man Nutrition , 57 : 205-213. Mani, U.V., Prabhu , B.M. and Damle, I.M. (1993), Glycaemic Index of Some Commonly Con- sumed Foods in Western India. Asia Pacific Clin Jr Of Nutrition , 111-114. Muthamilarasan, M., Dhaka, A., Yadav, R. and Prasad, M. (2016), Exploration of millet models for developing nutrients rich graminaceous crops. Plant Science , 242 : 89-97. Queiroz, KC., Novato Silva I, de, and Cassia Goncalves Alfenas, R. (2012), Influence of the glycemic index and glycemic load of the diet in the glycemic control of diabetic children and teenagers. Nutrition Hospitalaria , 27 : 510-515. Radhika, G., Sathya, R.M., Ganesan, A., Saroja, R., Vijayalakshmi, P.,Sudha, A., et al. (2011), dietary profile of urban adult population in South India in the context of chronic disease epidemiology (CURES-68). Journal of Public Health Nutrition , 14 (4) : 591-598. Raghuvanshi, R.S. and Mittal, M.(2018),Diet & Diabetes, Food Nutrition & Diet Therapy, Westville Publishing House, New Delhi,230-231. Ravindran, G. (1991), Studies on millets: Proximate composition, mineral composition, and phyt- ate and oxalate contents. Food Chemistry , 39: 99-107. Roopa, S., and Premavalli, K.S. (2008), Effect of processing on starch fraction in different varieties of finger millet, Food Chemistry , 106 (3): 875-882. Saraniya, A. and Jeevaratnam, K. (2014), Purification and mode of action of antilisterial bacteri- ocins produced by Lactobacillus pentous SJ65 isolated from uttapam batter. J Food of Bio- chem ,38 :612. Sarita, E.S. and Singh, E. (2016), Potential of millets: nutrients composition and health benefits.

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Journal scientific and Innovative Research , 5(2) : 46-50. Shukla, K. and Srivastava, S. (2011). Evaluation of finger millet incorporated noodles for nutritive value and glycemic index. Journal of Food Science and Technology , http:// dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13197-011-0530-x. Siwela, M., Taylor, J.R.N., de Milliano, W.A.J. and duodu, K.G. (2007), Occurrence and location of tannins in finger millet grain and antioxidant activity of different grain type. Cereal Chemistry , 84(2) : 169-174. Srilakshmi, B. (2015), Diet In Diabetes Mellitus, Dietetics, New Age International, New Del- hi,320-321. Sood, S., Kant, L. and Pattnayak, A. (2017), Finger millet [ Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.]: a mi- nor crop for sustainable food and nutrition. Mini Review. Asian Journal of Chemistry , 29 (4): 707-710. Takhellambam, R. and Chimmad, B.V. (2015),Study on Physico Functional and Nutrient Compo- sition of Ready-To-Cook (RTC) Millet Flakes. Asian Journal Of Home Science , 111-115. Thilagavathi, T., Banumathi, P., Kanchana, S. and Ilamaran, M. (2015), Effect of heat moisture treatment on functional and phytochemical properties of native and modified millet flours. Plant Archives , 15 (1) : 15-20. Udeh, H.O., Doudu, K.G. and Jideani, A.I.O. (2017), Finger millet bioactive compounds, bioacces- sibility, and potential health effects-a review. Czech Journal of Food Sciences , 35 (1) : 7-17. Villegas, R., Liu, S., Gao, YT., Yang, G., Li, H., Zheng, W., et al. (2007), Prospective study of dietary Carbohydrates, glycemic Index, glycemic Load, and incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in middle-aged chinese women. Archives of Internal Medicine , 167 : 2310-2316. www.who.int

Agriculture Letters 29 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207339 Sourajit Dey 1* Somdatta Achar 1 Ahana Dey 2

A comparative study between recommended practices and farmers’ practices on Boro rice cultivation in Birbhum, West Bengal

1Department of Agronomy, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal- 741252 2Department of Agril. Chemistry and Soil Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal- 741252

INTRODUCTION

Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food for people residing in South-Eastern parts of Asia including India. There are three rice growing seasons in different parts of India, depending upon temperature, rainfall, and other climatic conditions. These are- Kharif (Aus), Rabi (Aman or Aghani) , and Summer or Spring ( Boro ) [2]. The sowing time of summer ( boro ) rice is October – November and harvesting time is March – April. Boro rice is cultivated in waterlogged low lands or medium lands with irrigation scheduled from November to March. Bengali word “ Boro ” is derived from the Sanskrit word “ BOROB ” which means a special type of rice cultivation on residual or stored water in low- lying areas or deeply flooded areas after the harvest of Kharif rice. Boro is a winter season, photo- insensitive, transplanted rice. Its cultivation is totally dependent on supplemental irrigation. Boro rice growing season is the most productive of all three seasons. The reasons for the higher productivity of boro rice are- absorption of higher solar radiation, lower temperature at night during early crop growth stages, less incidence of insect pests and diseases, the favorable temperature during grain fill- ing and ripening. In recent years, boro rice cultivation increased in West Bengal, Bihar, adjoining parts of Assam, parts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, coastal areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The major districts where boro rice is cultivated in West Bengal are Burdwan, 24-Parganas, Nadia, Midna- pur, Bankura.

SUSTAINABLE AGRO-TECHNOLOGY ON BORO RICE As a marginal increase in the productivity of boro rice in Eastern India can significantly boost rice production in India, sustainable agro-technology for boro rice is obligate [3]. Keeping in mind this, the improved cultivars with the characteristics- 1. Dwarfness and sturdiness, 2. Early to mid- early in maturity, 3. Photo-insensitivity 4. Fetching high yield, 5. Better grain quality and quantity; should be used by farmers for sustainable agriculture.

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COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FARMERS’ PRACTICES AND RECOMMENDED PRACTICES IN BIRBHUM, WEST BENGAL

Table 1: Table showing the comparison between the farmers’ practices and recommended practices. Particulars Recommended practice Farmers’ practice 1.Nursery management

a) Sowing time at nursery Last week of October to the The first week of November middle of September before bed the onset of the winter season. b) Source of irrigation Prepare in low-lying areas Prepare in low-lying areas near the source of irrigation. near the source of irrigation. c) Frequently irrigation Required Frequently irrigation is done. d) Special practice Periodically dusting with Dusting the seedlings peri- fuelwood ash, straw ash, cat- odically with straw ash. tle dung ash, etc. over the seedlings. Covering the seedlings with Plastic sheets are not used. a plastic sheet at night to avoid yellowing of seedlings. 2.Transplanting

a) Transplanting time Mid-January to February 1st week of February

The transplanting is suitable when the minimum temperature of February becomes equal to 10 oC. b) Height of standing wa- 5-6 cm 5 cm ter c) No. of seedlings with Place the seedlings 4-5 per 5 seedlings per hill at a spac- spacing hill at a spacing of 20x10-15 ing of 20×10cm. cm. 3.Nutrient Management Depending upon the soil 10:26:26 and urea applied at condition, apply 120-150 kg the rate of 250 kg/ha and N, 60-75 kg P 2O5, and 50-80 200 kg/ha respectively. So, kg K 2O along with 20kg/ha the total applied nutrients of ZnSO 4 for optimum yield are 117kg N, 65kg P 2O5, and of boro rice. 65kg K 2O. 20kg/ha ZnSO 4 is also applied. 4.Water management Need-based irrigations are Need-based irrigations are given from groundwater given from groundwater sources/canals/low-lying sources. catchments. On average 12- 15 irrigations are necessary during the crop period. 5.Harvesting time March-April 1st week of April

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MEASURES TO REDUCE THE YIELD GAP IN BIRBHUM, WEST BENGAL 1. Identify appropriate cultivars: Identification may be done through the collection, evaluation, and selection of germplasm, and testing of cultivars in field conditions. 2. Characterize Boro rice agro-ecosystem: Agro-ecosystem analysis could be done through rapid rural appraisal (RRA) or participatory rural appraisal (PRA), system diagnosis, re- mote sensing, and geographic information system (GIS) to highlight the problems faced by farmers and finding out possible solutions of those problems. 3. Development of appropriate crop management practices: Nursery management, optimum planting time, optimum plant population, planting geometry, an appropriate dose of fertilizer application, proper irrigation scheduling, weed management, and integrated pest management- this package of practices should be followed for the reduction in yield gap. 4. Development of appropriate water management techniques: Proper draining out of the water from the central portion of the field establishes the crop and reduces the menace of aquatic weeds. This is a very effective measure that should be followed for better land utilization in low-lying lands.

5. Development of viable rice-fish culture: In deep water/ low-lying waterlogged areas rice-fish culture can increase the income of the farmers.

6. Encourage Farmers’ Participatory Research approach: Technologies after trials in farmers’ fields should be adopted by other farmers through the transfer of technology (ToT). Through farmers’ participatory approach with the inclusion of on-farm trials and demonstrations test the technology’s adaptability, compatibility and feedback should be noted for refinement of technology as per the farmers’ needs [1].

CONCLUSION Boro rice utilizes soil moisture at its best in low-lying areas which provides an additional crop to farmers. As the source of irrigation, exploitation of groundwater by farmers to cultivate Boro rice and extreme depletion of this water increases arsenic contamination in fresh groundwater where arsenic is embedded in bedrocks. So, in the summer season pulses could be an alternative where the groundwater table is low. The use of polythene sheets can avoid the yellowing of rice seedling which couldn’t be adopted as economic constraints of the farmer. Although, adopting the improved package of practices and suitable variety should be the priority of boro rice cultivation for maximizing the production with the efficient utilization of the soil moisture.

REFERENCES

Lal, B., Panda, B.B., Gautam, P. and Raja, R. (2013). Boro Rice: A way to crop intensification in Eastern India. Popular Kheti, 1(1): 5-9.

Singh, C., Singh, P. and Singh, R. (2018). Modern techniques of raising field crops 2nd edition, CBS Publishers & Distributors Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

Singh, U.P. (2002). Boro Rice in Eastern India. Rice-Wheat Consortium Regional Technical Co- ordination Committee Meeting. 10-14 February 2002. Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains, New Delhi, India.

Agriculture Letters 32 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207340 Subam Debroy * N. K. Chadha Ramjanul Haque

Microalgae for Aquaculture: the Current Situation and Future Trends

ICAR- Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai-400061

INTRODUCTION Aquaculture is the farming of commercially important aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants etc. In the year 2000 aquaculture is already contributed 40% of the total production and it is expected to surpass the production of wild fisheries by 2020-2025 (Tacon, 2003).Increased in the aquaculture production is mainly dependent upon better management practices starting with overall economic management, good water quality management, better feeding practices, more environment friendly feeds, genetically improved stocks and finally finish with overall health management of stock(New andWagner2000).Almost 40% of all aquaculture production is now mainly dependent on commercial feed. This is especially true for high value fishes such as shrimp, salmon and trout, whose feed contains large portions of marine inputs in the form of fish meal (Alvarez et al. , 2007). The percentage of farms using commercial feeds varies from 100% for salmon and trout, 83% in marine shrimp to 38% in carp farms. The excessive use of fish meal are causing threat to overfishing in fish population stock and also deteriorate the aquatic ecosystem by leaching of excessive nutrients. In the context we have to search for some alternative feed ingredient with having a good source of proteins, amino acids, lipids and carotenoid compounds as well. Algae are a diverse group of aquatic, photo synthetically active organisms, which primarily needs sunlight, car- bondioxide and other nutrients for growth (Rosenberg et al., 2008). Algae generally classified as either macro algae (i.e. seaweed) or microalgae (unicellular). Worldwide annual micro algae production is around 5 million kg/year with a market value of about 330 US$/kg. Approximately one-fifth of these micro algae biomass is generally used as a feed for different aquaculture hatchery management practices (Muller-Feuga2004). The most commonly used micro alga species for aquaculture are Chlo- rella, Tetraselmis, Isochrysis, Pavlova, Phaeodactylum, Chaetoceros, Nannochloropsis, Skeletonema and Thalassiosira. These kinds’ microalgae are generally rich in nutrients and gives better nutrition and growth, when they used in a combination instead of alone (Spolaore et al.2006).

ROLE OF MICROALGAE IN AQUACULTURE A microalga is an important source of nutrition and widely used in aquaculture industry as a live-food for commercially important organisms such as molluscs, fish and crustaceans etc. Microal- gae can be serving as a biological starting point of aquatic food chain and energy flow in the marine ecosystem. For example, microalgae are used as a food source for Artemia culture and this brine shrimp produce dormant eggs in adverse environmental condition, which is also called as a cyst. That can be stored for long periods and hatched on demand to provide a convenient from of live food source for aquaculture. Microalgae can be used as a biofertilizers and it also has Phycoremediation

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potential, by which it can detoxify and transform the various pollutants or nutrients from aquatic environment and in near future this water is less or no longer be considered as harmful for aquatic organisms and surrounding environment (Oswald, 1988).Other than that microalga has several potential in aquaculture practices such as it can increase the aesthetic beauty of finfish bred in captivity. One such example can be noted in the aquaculture of salmon, where a microalga is used as an additive for salmon flesh pinker. This can be achieved by the addition of natural pigments (astaxanthin, produced from microalgae Haematococcus ) with fish diet.

ISOLATION OF MICROALGAE i. Micropipette method : Micropipette method is the most suitable method for single-cell isolation of microalgae. In this method large organisms can be pipette out by using a micro -pipette under microscope and finally transferred to culture tubes which are having enriched culture media. ii. Washing method or centrifugation : By repeated washing or centrifugation method, larger organisms can be isolated from the water sample. iii. Phototactic method : By this method, most of the phytoflagellates can be isolated. iv. By agar-plating method : Agar-medium is prepared (1.5% agar is added to 1 litter of suitable medium) and this agar solution is sterilized with the help of autoclave (for 15 minutes under 150 lbs pressure and 120°C temperature). After that Agar-medium is poured in sterilized Petri dishes and kept for 24hrs. The agar plate is then incubated at the proper temperature and light conditions until colony formation occurs. v. Micromanipulation: A colonal uni-algal culture can be isolated by using this method. vi. Serial dilution culture technique: It is effective for organisms that are rather abundant in the sample but largely ineffective for rare organisms. In this method, 5 dilution steps (the inoculate corresponding to 1, 10 -1, 10 -2, 10 -3and 10 -4) are involved for the isolation of the required species. The tubes are kept under sufficient light (1000 lux) and uniform temperature (25°C). Table 1: Microalgae culture terms/conditions

Sl no Parameters Optimum range References 1 Light 1,000 for Erlenmeyer Perumal et al.2012 flasks 2 Temperature 20-24°C Perumal et al.2012 3 Salinity 20-24ppt FAO, Perumal et al.2012 4 pH 8.2-8.7 Perumal et al.2012 5 Aeration Uniform mixing FAO, Perumal et al.2012

ALGAL CULTURE TECHNIQUES i. Batch culture: The batch culture is generally consisting of a single inoculation of cells into a container of fertilized seawater. In this method algal cells are allowed to grow and ab- ruptly multiply in a closed container (i.e. closed system) and the beauty of this batch culture method is that there is no input or output of materials from outside for maintaining the culture medium. Followed by a growing period of several days, algal cell density reach- es its maximum or near-maximum density level and finally harvests the culture prior to reaching the stationary phase. Batch culture systems are widely used because it is easy to operate and flexible in nature and allow us for changing species over a period of time. ii. Continuous culture: In this culture methodfertilized seawater is continuously pumped in-

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to a growth chamber and side by side wash out the excess culture and that maintains the algal density in a chamber very close to the maximum density level. Continuous culture generally categorized as Turbidostat culture and Chemostat culture. iii. Turbidostat culture : - In which the algal cell density is generally kept at a constant level by diluting the culture with fresh medium with the help of automatic system. iv. Chemostat culture : - In Chemostat culture, fresh medium is supplied into the culture medium at a steady, predetermined rate. In this system we need to add some concentration of limiting nutrient at a fixed rate and in this way the growth rate is kept constant but not the cell density. v. Algal production in outdoor ponds: Large outdoor ponds with a depth of 0.25-1 m are used for algal culture in outdoor. In these system agro- fertilizers is used instead of laboratory-grade reagents as a nutrient medium. vi. Harvest of the culture and preservation: Harvesting of microalgae should be done during the exponential stages of growth because in these stage algae concentration found to be maximum compared to other stages. If we not harvested the culture during exponential stage, then microalgae will entered into the declining or stationary phase and these stages microalgae culture contains high amount of metabolites which is harmful, when it is used in larvae culture unit. Preservation of microalgae can be done either by freezing or drying.

Table 2: Commercial algal culture and its applications Algae/Genus Morphology Purpose References Nannochlo- Small green Generally it is rich in EPA and side Raja et al.,2013 ropsis algae by side it used as a enrichment agent for Brachionus culture unit. Pavlova Small golden- Used to raise the DHA/EPA levels Raja et al.,2013 brown flagel- in broodstock of oysters, clams, late mussels and scallops. Isochrysis Golden- Helps in bio encapsulation for dif- Raja et al.,2013 brown algae ferent kinds of zooplankton culture unit such as Artemia Tetraselmis Large green Excellent feed for increasing Raja et al.,2013 flagellate growth rates and fighting zoea syndrome in shellfish larvae culture unit.

Thalassiosira Large diatom Generally, considered as a single Raja et al.,2013 best alga for larval shrimps, also good for feeding copepods and brine shrimps, post-set oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops for broodstock conditioning

Dunaliella Small green Supplementation not only acceler- Arredondo flagellate ates the growth, but it also en- Figueroa et hanced health, immunity and dis- al.,2003 ease resistant in tiger shrimp. Chaetoceros Diatom Used to increase vitamin levels in Naorbe et some shrimp hatcheries al.,2015

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MICROALGAE AND AQUATIC ORGANISMS Shrimp production in aquaculture reached 4,267,500 metric tons in 2017, an increase of 5% from 2016.Asian countries contributes almost 80.1 percent of global production in 2017 followed America 17.7 percent and the rest of the world contributes about 2 percent of the total shrimp production (Darryl, 2018).For sustain the culture and attain maximum production microalgae is necessary because it is used as a feed from the second stage of shrimp larval development (zoea) and in case of mysis stage, along with different zooplankton, microalgae is also used as a combination. Intensive rearing of bivalves also need broad range of algal species such as Chaetoceros, Chlorella , Gomphonema , Isochrysis , Nitzchia s , Pavlova s, Phaeodactylum, Skeletonema sp, Thalassiosira and Tetraselmis . Microalgae have an important role in aquaculture as a means of enriching zooplankton for feeding to shellfish larvae and other zooplankton (Chakra borty et al., 2007). CONCLUSION In aquaculture, application of non-living microalgae has provided mitigated or unsuccessful results, on the other way intensification of aquaculture needs commercial feed as well as alternative source of nutrients such as microalgae. Only partial replacement for live microalgae is suc- cessful in studies using preserved non-living algae, microencapsulated diets, or spray-dried algae. So far, no complete replacement of microalgae has been achieved despite intensive research ef- forts. According to the available literature, live microalgae along with appropriate water quality management can provide a healthy environment to the aquaculture system. REFERENCES Alvarez, J. S., Hernández ‐Llamas, A., Galindo, J., Fraga, I., García, T., & Villarreal, H. (2007). Substitution of fishmeal with soybean meal in practical diets for juvenile white shrimp Litopenaeus schmitti (Pérez ‐Farfante & Kensley 1997). Aquaculture research, 38(7), 689- 695. Arredondo-Figueroa, J. L., Pedroza-Islas, R., Ponce-Palafox, J. T., & Vernon-Carter, E. J. (2003). Pigmentation of pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei, Boone 1931) with esterified and saponified carotenoids from red chili Capsicum annuum) in comparison to astaxanthin. Revista Mexicana de Ingeniería Química , 2(2), 101-108. Chakraborty, R. D., Chakraborty, K., & Radhakrishnan, E. V. (2007). Variation in fatty acid composition of Artemia salina nauplii enriched with microalgae and baker's yeast for use in larviculture. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry , 55 (10), 4043-405.

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Article ID: 21/07/0207341 Swati Dash *

Biological Process in Submerged Soil

Dept: Agronomy,UAS,GKVK,Bengaluru

INTRODUCTION Submerged soils are predominantly oxygen-free includes swamps, marshes, coastal wetlands, floodplains, etc. and globally crucial for rice cultivation. Major redox reactions happen in these oxygen deficit conditions. The chemical changes happen due to changing electrochemical properties and also by anaerobic micro-organisms. Anaerobic micro-organisms play a key role in bringing about nutrient transformations with a general trend of increase in soil pH, electrical conductivity, and ionic strength but a decrease in redox potential in waterlogged soils. The biogeochemical cycling of nutrients (C, N, P, S) by facultative and obligate anaerobes help to sustain life in submerged conditions. Moreover, fermentative bacteria decompose organic matter into CO 2, H 2, acetate, propionate, butyr- ate, fatty acids, amino acids, alcohols, etc. with a terminal step of methane formation by methanogens. Thus, anaerobic soils play a major role in maintaining fertility, ecosystem productivity, and functions. Prolonged waterlogging results in several physical, chemical and biological changes in the soil. The chemical and biological processes in flooded soils are intricately linked and largely occur due to the biogeochemical transformations carried out by facultative and obligate anaerobic microorganisms. Along with that many biological processes happen in the plants growing in submerged conditions, ensuring their sustainability.

Biological activities in submerged soil:  Role of microbes in redox reactions.  Role of macro-organisms in submerged soil.  Submergence tolerance by plants.

ROLE OF MICROBES IN REDOX REACTIONS In submerged conditions, anaerobic micro-organism transfer electrons to chemical compounds and enable the reduction. The principal process we are going to see here are: Organic matter decomposition: Maintaining the organic matter and fertility is more feasible in submerged soil conditions than aerobic soil conditions due slow oxidation process. Anaerobic microbial catabolism preliminarily involves the hydrolysis of organic polymers (lignin, polysaccharides, lipids, proteins and some other complex compounds), followed by the oxidation of the monomers produced. The monomers produced like sugar/fatty acids/amino acids are subjected to acidogenesis by bacterias like Clostridium and Enterobacteria. The products of these reaction i.e alcohols and organic acids are further metabolised by acetogenesis by bacteria like Clostridium aceticum to form acetate, formate or methanol. The last step is methanogenesis in which methanogenic bacterium like Methano- sarcina barkeri produces methane from the above substrate.

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Methanogenesis and methanotrophy : The complete mineralisation of organic matter in anaerobic environments where sulphate and nitrate concentrations are low occurs through methanogenic fermentation, which produces methane and carbon dioxide according to the reaction:

C6H12 O6 → 3CO 2 + 3CH 4

Methanogens have a limited number of simple substrates those are H 2+CO 2, acetate, formate, methylated compounds (methanol, methylamines, dimethylsulphur), and primary and secondary alcohols. Methanogens belong to the genera Methanobacterium, Methanosarcina, Methanobrevibac- ter, Methanoculleus etc. Methanotrophy : When methane concentration is higher than 40 ppm, oxidation is performed by bacteria called methanotrophs and considered as methanotrophic activity. It generally occurs in all soils with a pH higher than 4.4. Methanotrophs use CH4 as an energy source. Unlike methanogenesis oxygen availability is a must for their activity. In wetlands, methanotrophs develop in the oxidized soil layer, in the aerobic rhizosphere of plants possessing aerenchyma, and inside the roots and the submerged part of the leaf sheaths of the rice plants. Methanotrophs belong to the genera Methylocystis and Methylosinus . In rice fields, they produce soluble methane-mono- oxygenase, which avoid the accumulation of NO2 toxic to methanotrophs. Denitrification: The anaerobic conversion of nitrate into molecular nitrogen occurs in the following pathway

3- 2- NO → NO → NO → N2O → N2 . The process is mediated by several facultative bacteria such Pseudomonas, Achromobacter, Bacillus and Micrococcus . Iron and manganese reduction: Fe is reduced from Fe 3+ to Fe 2+ with the help of certain bacterium like Geothrix fermentans, which is found in the Fe(III) reduction zone of anoxic sedi- ments.Another Fe reducer is Geobacter metallireductans . Bacterium Alteromonas putrefaciens reduces manganese only in anaerobic condition. Sulphate reduction: Reduction of oxidized sulphur compound is performed mainly by Desul- phovibrio desulfuricans ; this respiration leads to H 2S and CO 2 production. The other genera of sulphur reducer include Desulfomaculum and Desulfobacter . These bacteria are obligate anaerobes, and heterotrophs.

ROLE OF MACRO-ORGANISMS IN SUBMERGED SOIL Macro-flora: The photosynthetic aquatic biomass comprises cyanobacteria planktonic, filamentous and macrophytic algae, and vascular macrophytes.The cyanobacteria and algae are confined to the water and upper few mm of soil, whereas the macrophytes may be either floating like in ricefields the water fern Azolla or rooted in the soil to depth . Planktonic and filamentous algae move up and down in the water column over the day as their buoyancy changes with photosynthetic O 2 production . One of the major function carried out by these macro flora is biological nitrogen fixation. In wetlands N 2 fixation can occur in the water column, in the aerobic water–soil interface, in the anaerobic soil bulk, in the rhizosphere, and on the leaves and stems of plants. Phototrophic bacteria in the water and at the water–soil interface are generally more important than non- photosynthetic, heterotrophic bacteria in the soil and on plant roots .The phototrophs comprise bacteria that are epiphytic on plants and cyanobacteria that are both free-living and epiphytic. A particularly favourable site for cyanobacteria is below the leaf surface of the water fern Azolla, which forms a very efficient symbiosis with the cyanobacterium Anabaena azollae. Estimates show

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that biological nitrogen fixation by various macroflora can range from 1 to 50kg N/Ha/crop season. Macro-fauna: It includes organisms like - insect larvae, molluscs and, particularly, oligochaete worms of the order Tubificidae. The dominant species of oligochaete were Limnodrilus hoffmeiste and Branchiura sowerbyi. Their distribution within fields was contagious and ranged from 0 to 35 000m −2, averages 5000 to 10000/m 2. The fresh weight ranged from 0 to 630 kg ha −1. Some of the macro fauna functions include, manipulation of particle, increased mineralization; excretion of substrate and nutrients, construction of burrows, transport of particles i.e transfer between major redox zones and increased re-oxidation and mineralization.

SUBMERGENCE TOLERANCE BY PLANTS Oxygen deficit condition in the soil promotes shifting the energy metabolism from aerobic mode to anaerobic mode. Thus plants tend to shift to alternate respiratory pathways like fermentation (lactic acid or alcoholic) or other plant- specific anaerobic energy regaining mechanism . Plants do have some in-built mechanism to adjust the ill-effects of submergence, like: Ethylene production: It promotes the production of adventitious roots that grow horizontally which serve as a new roots system replacing the old primary roots under severe flooding stress. It also plays a crucial role in the formation of aerenchyma cells to supply oxygen to roots from their aerial parts. Anaerobiosis induced proteins (ANPs) : the proteins produced by plants in anaerobic stress conditions. It helps plants to survive, especially the seedlings in these conditions. Hemoglobin : Plants often produce several classes of hemoglobin that have oxygen binding properties and are capable of transporting oxygen to the root system in cases of hypoxia/anoxia. Such stress-induced expression of haemoglobins had been reported in callus, cell suspension, seed, root and stem tissue of both dicot and monocot plants. Other features like aerenchyma formation, abundance of soluble sugars, increased activity of glycolytic pathway, fermentation enzymes and involvement of antioxidant defense mechanism, which individually or collectively help plants to cope with the anoxia stress. Taken together there is more than one mechanism that operates in plants which act as an adaptive response to hypoxic condition which singly or in combination act to impart waterlogging stress tolerance in plant.

CONCLUSION Submerged soils have huge biological diversity and contain more biological species than above-ground habitats and aquatic systems. These microbes are a consortium of both aerobic and anaerobic microbes. Their role in a redox reaction is quite indispensable. We can observe quite a large variation in the distribution of microbes, this heterogeneity is due to variation in substrate availability, oxygen and light penetration and habitat of respective biotic species. The role of micro-organisms is quite important in maintaining the balance of the submerged ecosystem. More- over, the plants growing in these oxygen limiting conditions have evovlved to survive in such conditions. Further studies in these area can help us in increase our understanding of diverse biological process in submerged conditions.

REFERENCES

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Bhaduri, D; Mandal, A; Chakraborty, K; Chatterjee, D and Dey,D.2017. Interlinked chemical- biological processes in anoxic waterlogged soil – A review. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 87 (12): 1587–99.

Patrick, W. H. and Reddy, C. N. 1978. Chemical changes in rice soil. ( In ) Soil and Rice ; 361–79 p. International Rice Research Institute: Manila, Philippines.

Ponnamperuma F. N. 1972. The chemistry of submerged soils. Advances in Agronomy 24 : 29–96.

Wang, Y; Uchida, Y; Shimomura, Y; Akiyama, H and Hayatsu, M. 2017. Responses of denitrify- ing bacterial communities to short-term waterlogging of soils. Science Reporter 7(1): 1–13.

Agriculture Letters 40 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

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Article ID: 21/07/0207342 Mamali Sethi 1* Teikur Majaw 2 Hemlata Singh 3 Sushree Sangita Choudhry 1 Sushma Mongbijam 1

Can Vitmin ‘C’ Prevent COVID-19

1Department of Food & Nutrition, College of Community Science, RPCAU, Samastipur, Bihar – 848125 2Department of biochemistry, College of basic science and humanities, RPCAU, Samastipur, Bihar – 848125 3Deparment of soil science, Trhiut College of Agriculutre, RPCAU, Samastipur, Bihar – 848125

COVID 19, an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus (SARS-CoV- 2) which causes extensive lung injury, is due to excessive free radicals, oxidative stress and dysfunctional immune system in an effort to kill the virus but end up harming the patient instead. Can vitamin C prevent COVID 19? As we know vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, can neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative damage to lungs. Then, how to take vitamin C? May me in form of diet or supplements in form of tablets to treat COVID 19.

Vitamin C Vitamin C also known as ascorbic acid is a essential nutrient widely recognized for its antioxidant properties. So what this actually mean, oxidation is a normal process in the body it occurs as a result of day to day cellular activities including normal metabolism, immune function and many other things having too many oxidized molecule hanging around promotes oxidative stress which is a key driver of many chronic disease, vitamin C can donate electrons to oxidize them known as reduction in chemical terms. Vitamin C also plays a role of cofactor, cofactor are the molecules that help enzymes involved in chemical reactions, this means vitamin C supports a number of physiological processes including immune function, wound healing & other metabolic pathways. An interesting thing about vitamin C is that most animals can synthesize their own vitamin C but humans can’t. We have to get it from our diet or from supplements. So dietary sources of vitamin C are citrus fruit like oranges, lemons, guava, kiwi and vegetables like tomato, brocoli,bell peppers but cooking and exposure to oxygen can destroy 25% or more vitamin c in foods so it’s best to eat vitamin C foods raw and immediately after cutting and peeling. One medium sized orange has 77% of the daily need in it so we can easily get vitamin C daily need from the food that we eat. When we intake vitamin C it absorbed in the small intestine primarily by Na dependent vitamin C transporters & to lesser extent by glucose transporters. There are certain genes responsible for Na dependent vitamin C absorption so genetic variations can affect vitamin C absorption. After vitamin C absorbed it gets distributed throughout the body’s tissues, the concentration of different tissues varies. Lowest amount in muscle, heart & kidney and highest amounts in brain and adrenal glands. Vitamin C is broken down in the liver into various intermediate molecules and in the end metabolites accumulates in kidney and excreted in urine. How much vitamin C do we actually need that depends on lot of factors such as age, sex, and life stages. Needs are fairly high in infancy, slightly decreased during childhood and then peak in ear-

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ly adulthood, pregnancy increases a women’s vitamin C needs. The daily need for vitamin C is 90 g for adult men, 75 mg for women and extra 30 gm for pregnant women that are 105 mg. The smokers require extra 35 mg to protect lungs.

WHY VITAMIN C COMES TO ROLE IN COVID Hundreds of clinical studies have shown that vitamin C has a positive impact on many infections caused by bacteria, virus etc. With COVID 19, we know that the extensive lung injury is due to excessive free radicals, oxidative stress and dysfunctional immune system in an effort to kill the virus but end up harming the patient instead. Vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant, can neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative damage to lungs & the reason that people looked into it was that the people with vitamin C deficiency had more occurrences of pneumonia.

WHAT DIFFERENT STUDIES ARE SAYING…. There was a study in china for covoid19 where they are giving mega doses of vitamin C Intravenous of 1 gram may improve lung function in the hospitalized people with COVID. Ac- cording to their study there is difference between Intravenous and taking oral supplements. If we are taking mega doses of vitamin C orally, it will go through GIT and pull water with it and causes diarrhea. If we take vitamin C through IV, our blood will absorb vitamin C and excess come out through urine.

Another study by U.S. National institutes of health trials shows that the military people, athlet- ics, bodybuilders like people who are engaged in physical activities which is strenuous they are producing more free radicals because they are making lot of ATP, required more of vitamin C than normal people to reduce oxidative damage.

CONCLUSION Having larger doses of oral supplements do not have any effect for normal healthy individ- uals. If we become sick or in hospitals, it is better to take IV mega doses of vitamin C.As vitamin C helps with the immune system cells activity so it seems to help with the phagocytes activity and help with natural killer cell functions. It also helps with the epithelial cells of lung and makes it stronger. We should take vitamin C as oral doses as 90 mg needed daily, it can be ful- filled by taking two medium size oranges in a day or in tablet form so that our immune system and our cells always have the right amount of vitamin C available because the studies also found that when the infection starts the need for vitamin C to help in neutralize free radicals during increasing infection. But vitamin C cannot prevent or it cannot cure COVID 19 but to stay our-

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selves healthy and able to fight better we should take vitamin C either from food or from supplements which will make us stronger and better.

REFERENCES Yang X., Yu Y., Xu J., Shu H., Xia J., Liu H. Clinical course and outcomes of critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a single-centered, retrospective, observa- tional study. Lancet Respir Med. 2020;8:475–481. Bharara A., Grossman C., Grinnan D. Intravenous vitamin C administered as adjunctive therapy for recurrent acute respiratory distress syndrome. Case Rep Crit Care. 2016;2016 World Health Organization (WHO) WHO; Geneva, Switzerland: 2020. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) weekly epidemiological update and weekly operational update. Carr A.C., Maggini S. Vitamin C and immune function. Nutrients. 2017;9:1211. Hemilä H. Vitamin C and community-acquired pneumonia. Am J Respir Crit Care Med.

Agriculture Letters 43 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

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Article ID: 21/07/0207343 Seema 1* Ayushi Koranga 1 Hemlata Singh 2 Teikur Majaw 3

Role of Zinc, Protein and Their Supplementation in Chronic Liver Disease

1Department of food and nutrition, College of Community Science, RPCAU, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125 2Department of Soil Science, Trihut College of Agriculture, RPCAU, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-848125 3University Department of Biochemistry, College of Basic Science & Humanities, RPCAU, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar-843121

INTRODUCTION Liver is obligatory to metabolize nutrients, digest food and relieve our body from toxic stuff. Cirrhosis is unrecoverable phase of the chronic liver disease. Cirrhosis is a condition that brings out a hazardous state as a result of liver tissue scars. It affects the nutrients metabolism, which results in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) . (Kazuhiro Katayamaa et al, 2018) Cirrhosis is usually result of the progression of previous chronic liver disease, namely autoimmune hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis B or C viral infections . (Safaei A et al, 2016). According to WHO, about 46% of global diseases and 59% of the mortality the because of chronic diseases and almost 35 million people in the world die of chronic diseases (Vijaylaxmi Nangliya et al, 2015) Protein metabolism plays important role in synthesize of albumin, prothrombin and ammonia detoxification . (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020) Formation of plasma proteins, urea synthesis, amino acid interconversion, and deamina- tion of amino acids, are the four main functions of protein metabolism that performs by the liver . Di- minished serum ratio of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) to aromatic amino acids (AAAs) is the indication of liver cirrhosis and is promoted by many of aspects, like nutritional deficiency, hyperme- tabolism and ammonia detoxification in skeletal muscles. Secretion on albumin is altered due to diminished BCAA/AAA ratio. (Takumi Kawaguchi et al., 2011) The important character play in cellular metabolism is perform by essential trace element, zinc. Largely by binding an extensive variety of proteins . (Kurt Grüngreiff et al, 2016) As greater than 300 protein composed of domains having zinc ions. (Kazuhiro Katayamaa et al, 2018) Near 10% of the human proteome illustrate by the zinc-binding protein . (Kurt Grüngreiff et al., 2016) Zn homeostasis is monitored in the liver. Consequently, chronic liver damage introduces the impairment of zinc homeostasis, and in the end zinc deficiency. Patients having chronic liver disease, some metabolic abnormalities occur as a result of zinc deficiency, such as insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, iron over- load and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Administration of Zinc supplements has revealed favorable outcomes on these abnormalities of metabolism in models of experiments and confirmed chronic liver disease patients. (Takashi Himoto et al, 2018) Treatment of nutritional deficiency in liver cirrhosis with branched-chain amino acid supplements builds the amino acid balance by synthesize of sufficient albumin. Directly after, treatment with zinc supplements promotes the range of ammonia metabolism in the liver. (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020). In our body, inconsistency of interrelation between the concentration of serum trace element and metallo protein plays a considerable performance in liver disease. (Vijaylaxmi Nangliya et al, 2015)

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ZINC METABOLISM IN LIVER CIRRHOSIS The world health organization (WHO) has noticed zinc deficiency as the 5 th major cause for morbidity and mortality in developing countries . (Kurt Grüngreiff et al, 2016) Zinc from food, near about 20% - 80% absorbed by the duodenum and upper small intestine and about 2% is se- creted in the urine. (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020) Zinc is a trace element which plays a significant role in our life and practicing important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and apoptotic effects. Zn homeostasis is monitored in the liver. Consequently, chronic liver damage introduces the impairment of zinc homeostasis, and in the end zinc deficiency. Some common symptoms occur in patient with chronic liver disease, particularly in cirrhosis such as loss of body hair, poor appetite, altered smell and taste, slow wound healing, testicular atrophy, immune malfunction, cell damaging oxidative stress and altered drug elimination ability . (Kurt Grüngreiff et al, 2016) Reduced zinc intake and absorption takes place as the disease progress; and as well the lower serum albumin leads to reduced combination with zinc and due to dispersion characteristics of blood zinc, it is simply pass out through urine and sweat. (Vijaylaxmi Nangliya et al, 2015) Impairment of nitrogen metabolism occurs due to diminished activities of ornithine trans- carbamylase (urea cycle enzyme in the liver) and glutamine synthetase in the muscles. Addition- ally, zinc is an essential intracellular second messenger. Metallothioneins and zinc transporter are the chief elements. Metallothioneins are required for the absorption and storage of zinc. A well-defined bundle of zinc transporters manages the inflow and outflow of zinc over the cell membrane. Till the present, about 10 zinc transporters (ZnTs, SLC30 family) and 14 Zip transporters (Zip, SLC39 family) have been detected in human body . (Kurt Grüngreiff et al, 2016) ZnTs reduces cytoplasmic zinc by passing zinc continuous to cell-surface membranes and intracellular organelles, on the other hand Zips boosts cytoplasmic zinc. (Takashi Himoto et al, 2018) The most important Zip transporter are Zip4, In pancreas and gastrointestinal tract, Zip5, Zip14, ZnT1, ZnT2, ZnT4, ZnT5, ZnT6 and ZnT7 are found. Zinc absorption and secretion is held by these transporters. Therefore, study behind the mechanism of these transporter how they do zinc metabolism remains to be conducted. Many researchers have shown in their studies, strength of zinc supplements to treat the hyperammonemia and hepatic encephalopathy in liver disease. Marchesini et al showed growth in capacity to metabolize the nitrogen after having zinc supplements. Capacity of nitrogen metabolism decrease by about 50% in liver cirrhosis but with the help of zinc supplement treatment it is cured. In a freshly, double-blinded, controlled study, they found notable improvement in nitrogen metabolism and reduction in high ammonia level in blood (Hyperammonemia) after the zinc supplements treatment, which usually occurs in liver disease because of zinc deficiency. In the recent past, Hosui et al showed improvement in liver function and it also lowers the threat of hepatocarcinogenesis by the long lasting use of zinc supplements. Despite the fact, the mechanism is remains to be study on how zinc lowers the threat of hepatocarcinogenesis. (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020).

BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO ACIDS (BCAA) METABOLISM IN LIVER CIRRHOSIS The most important function of branched-chain amino acids is protein synthesis as well as act as a second messenger to transmit the signal to the cell through mTOR for protein synthesis. Otherwise if shortage in branched-chain amino acids is found in the body then it leads to the less protein synthesis and diminished function in signal transmitting for protein synthesis. (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020) Diminished serum ratio of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) to aromatic amino acids (AAAs) is the indication of liver cirrhosis . (Takumi Kawaguchi et al, 2011) Means it is shows the less albumin synthesis capacity in chronic liver disease patients. (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020) Branched-chain amino acids detoxifies the ammonia through the gluta-

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mine synthesis system in skeletal muscles because they apart being composite of protein components but also a good derivation of glutamate. Clinical researches have showed that despite of, vegetable foods and dairy product foods having a good amount of branched-chain amino acids, it will not boost the level of branched-chain amino acid in plasma. So, having branched-chain amino acids through intravenously boosts the plasma branched-chain amino acids level more rapidly and heal the hyperammonemia and hepatic encephalopathy. Suggestion for branched-chain amino acids supplement is only for hepatic encephalopathy patients given by American Society for Parenteral and Eternal Nutrition and the European Societies for Clinical Nutrition and Metabo- lism. In progression of hepatic encephalopathy, hypoalbuminemia with edema and insulin resistance role played by the disturbed amino acid metabolism. Muto et al organized a controlled study on 622 patients having cirrhosis, they treated with branched-chain amino acids supplements for period of 2 years with 12g/day dose, and they found that patients were treated with supplements significantly increased the serum level of albumin as compare to the patients having nutrient intake. But, Marchesini et al conducted a controlled study and did not found that much boost up in serum level of albumin. Additionally, most of the studies showed that branched-chain amino acids supplements increase the serum level of albumin. (Takumi Kawaguchi et al, 2011) Nel and Terblanche et al also found that branched-chain amino acid supplementation is beneficial in improvement nitrogen balance and muscle mass gain that is lost by branched-chain amino acids deficiency . (Beatriz Polisel Mazzonia et al, 2020) In study of Kawaguchi et al with 299 liver cirrhosis patients, after branched-chain amino acid supplementation it prevents from the cancer and mortality in patients, it enhances the immunity, oxidative stress and insulin resistance. In patients having liver cirrhosis, to rectify the metabolism of nitrogen branched-chain amino acid supplementation is suggested for hypoalbuminemia and for hyperammonemia synthetic disaccharide and less absorbable antibacterial agents to lower the ammonia level. (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020)

Fig. 1: Progression and development of depletion in albumin production in chronic liver disease

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COMPENSATED AND DECOMPENSATED LIVER CIRRHOSIS When in the primitive stage of cirrhosis, diminish the detoxification of ammonia by the liver and after that it is detoxify by the glutamine synthesis system in muscle mass, this mechanism is called as compensated liver cirrhosis. In compensated liver cirrhosis, no occurrence of symptoms like hyperammonemia and hypoalbuminemia. On the other, when liver and glutamine synthesis system in muscle mass both are incapable to detoxify the ammonia is called as decompensated liver cirrhosis, hyperammonemia and hypoalbuminemia also occurs. In this phase, sarcope- nia also develops means depletion of skeletal muscle mass (Kazuhiro Katayama et al., 2020).

TREATMENT WITH COMBINED ZINC AND BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO ACIDS SUPPLEMENTATION AND ITS BENEFITS Albumin is synthesizing by branched-chain amino acids. Allocation of hormones, drugs, metabolites, zinc ions and copper ions are the functions of albumin. Near about 80% of albumin is bind with plasma zinc and It is the main carrier of zinc in the plasma. Zinc plays a significant role in metabolism of nitrogen in liver through urea cycle. After diminished ammonia detoxification capacity in liver is cause of zinc deficiency in liver cirrhosis. Many researchers in their studies found that combined zinc and branched-chain amino acids supplementation is more beneficial in hypoalbuminemia improvement and in ascites as compare to only branched-chain amino acids supplementation. (Kurt Grüngreiff et al, 2016) In Japan, two studies were conducted on liver cirrhosis patients (zinc deficiency ≤ 70 μg/ dL and hypoalbuminemia ≤ 3.5 g/dL) with combined zinc and branched-chain amino acids supplementation. In first research, a group of 40 patients with liver cirrhosis were distributed in 2 groups. To the First group only branched-chain amino acids supplements was given and to the second group they gave combined zinc and branched-chain amino acids supplements for six months’ duration. After that they discriminate the results of both group, they saw a good risen up in the ammonia level with only branched chain amino acids supplementation as compare to combined with zinc supplementation. Therefore, with combined zinc supplementation fisher ratio is increased. In second research, a group of 37 patients with type C liver cirrhosis were distributed in 2 groups. To the First group only branched-chain amino acids supplements was given and to the second group they gave combined zinc and branched-chain amino acids supplements for 3.2 years’ duration. They observed that patients with 80 μg/dL zinc level positively showed the rates of cancer-free survival. This means nitrogen metabolism is not the function performed by zinc supplementation but it also prevents from carcinogenesis. However, in both researches they defined how combined zinc and branched-chain amino acids supplementation is beneficial in liver cirrhosis. (Kazuhiro Katayama et al, 2020).

CONCLUSION In liver cirrhosis disease, branched-chain amino acids deficiency causes hypoalbuminemia and zinc deficiency leads to the diminished function of liver to metabolise the nitrogen, it can be preventing with branched-chain amino acids supplementation and zinc supplementation, respectively. (Kurt Grüngreiff et al, 2016) The things which are leftover to be further study are functions of zinc in mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis prevention and progression of disease and its complications.

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REFERENCES Beatriz Polisel Mazzonia, Bruna Volta Lessab, Patricia Zamberlana. Metabolic and nutritional repercussions of liver disease on children: how to minimize them? Rev Paul Pediatr. 2020;40:e2020149. Kazuhiro Katayamaa, Takumi Kawaguchib, Koichi Shiraishic , Toshifumi Itod, Kazutomo Suzu- kie , Chizu Koreedaf , Takaaki Ohtakeg, Motoh Iwasah, Yoshio Tokumotoi , Ryujin En- doj , Naohiro Kawamurak, Makoto Shirakil , Tatsunori Hanail , Daiki Habum, Satoru Tsurutan, Hironori Sakain, Yoshiyuki Miwao, Norifumi Kawadap, Akinobu Katoq, Yoshi- yuki Takeih, Tetsuya Minec , Yutaka Kohgog, Toshihito Sekif , Michio Satab, Yuri Itos , Keisuke Fukuis, Shuhei Nishiguchit , Hisataka Moriwakil , Kazuyuki Suzukiu. The Preva- lence and Implication of Zinc Deficiency in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease. J Clin Med Res. 2018;10(5):437-444. Kurt Grüngreiff, Dirk Reinhold, Heiner Wedemeyer. The role of zinc in liver cirrhosis. AN- NALS of Hepatology 2016; 15 (1): 7-16. Vijaylaxmi Nangliya & Anjali Sharma & Dharamveer Yadav & Shyam Sunder & Sandeep Nijha- wan & Sandhya Mishra. Study of Trace Elements in Liver Cirrhosis Patients and Their Role in Prognosis of Disease. Biol Trace Elem Res (2015) 165:35–40. Safaei A, Rezaei Tavirani M, Arefi Oskouei A, Zamanian Azodi M, Mohebbi SR, Nikzamir AR. Protein-protein interaction network analysis of cirrhosis liver disease. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench 2016;9(2):114-123). Takumi Kawaguchi, Namiki Izumi, Michael R. Charlton, and Michio Sata. Branched-Chain Ami- no Acids as Pharmacological Nutrients in Chronic Liver Disease. HEPATOLOGY 2011; 54:1063-1070. Takashi Himoto and Tsutomu Masaki. Associations between Zinc Deficiency and Metabolic Ab- normalities in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease. Nutrients 2018, 10, 88; doi:10.3390/ nu10010088. Kazuhiro Katayama. Zinc and protein metabolism in chronic liver disease. NUTRITION RE- SEARCH 74 (2020) 1 – 9.

Agriculture Letters 48 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207344 Sushree Sangita Choudhury 1* Hemlata Singh 2 Teikur Majaw 3

Does β-glucan keep Cholesterol at bay?

1Department of Food & Nutrition, College of community Science, RPCAU, Samastipur , Bihar -848125 2Department of Soil Science, Tirhut College of Agriculture, RPCAU,Samstipur, Bihar-843121 3Department of biochemistry, College of basic science & humanities, RPCAU, Samastipur, Bihar – 848125

CHOLESTEROL Cholesterol comes from two Greek words chole means bile and stereos means solid. This yellowish crystalline solid is a type of lipid. Because of lipophilic nature, cholesterol is transported through the blood along with triglycerides inside the lipoprotein particles. Lipoproteins are the mixtures of lipids and proteins. Different varieties of lipoproteins are present in the blood possessing different purposes namely High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL), Intermediate Density Lipoproteins (IDL) and Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL). But low HDL and high LDL imposes a risk factor for atheroscle- rotic patients. Functionally LDL delivers cholesterol to the peripheral tissues and HDL transfers free cholesterol from the tissues to the liver for catabolism and excretion. Cholesterol, a major component of the cell membrane and lipoprotein acts as a precursor of vitamin-D, useful for the synthesis of steroid hormones (e. g cortisol, adrenal androgen, aldosterone) and sex hormones (e. g testosterone, estrogen, progesterone). Being a component of bile salt it aids in absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and also helps in intracellular transportation. Main site for cholesterol synthesis is liver. The risk of elevation of cholesterol occurs generally due to race, old age, family history and obesity. Principally cardiac related issues occur due to the hypercholester- olemia such as coronary heart disease, heart failure, peripheral arterial disease, angina etc. because of the accumulation of the plaque (mainly due to cholesterol) in arteries which prevents oxygen rich blood to the cardiac muscle results angina or a heart attack. A lipid profile (blood test) is used to reg- ulate the cholesterol concentrations in the blood. Dietary intake of cholesterol is not mandatory because it can be synthesized in our body. Specifically present in animal food so it is only found in ghee, butter, cheese, milk, curd, egg, flesh foods, organ meats, fish, prawn like animal products. Hypercho- lesterolemia can be kept under control by healthy lifestyle including heart healthy diet, medication, exercise, weight and stress management.

OATS Cereals are the crucial source of nutrients in both developed and developing countries because of its low cost and availability. The name is obtained from ceres , the roman goddess of grain and agriculture. Oats, chiefly a European and North American crop, specifically Russia, Canada, the United States, Finland and Poland are the most significant oat producing countries as they have cool and moist climate. These are an annual harvest and plantation occurs either in autumn (for late summer harvest) or in the spring (for early autumn harvest). Temperate regions are suitable for oats production as they have greater tolerance of rain as compared to other cereals. This cereal grain belongs to Poaceae family scientifically named Avena sativa usually grown for human consumption also for livestock fodder. Common spring or white oats are mostly cultivated among all varieties. Oat products

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Table 1: Cholesterol Chart for Adults Total Cho- HDL Cholesterol LDL Cholesterol Triglycerides lesterol Good Less than 200 Ideal is 60 or high- Less than 100; below 70 if Less than 149; ( but lower er; 40 or higher for coronary artery disease is ideal is <100 the better) men and 50 or present higher for women is acceptable Border- 200-239 n/a 130- 159 150-199 line to moder- ately ele- vated High 240 or higher 60 or higher 160 or higher; 190 consid- 200 or higher; ered very high 500 considered very high Low n/a Less than 40 n/a n/a

like oatmeal & rolled oats are generally used for porridge; for ready – to – eat foods & baby foods oat flour is used.

Nutritional Composition of Oats Oat is considered as an ideal cereal replacement for celiac patient. It contains more or less 7% Rapidly Digestible Starch, 22% Slowly Digestible Starch and 25% Resistant Starch of the Table 2: Nutritional Components of Oats

Component of Availability in Oat (%) References oat Starch 60% Berski et al. (2011)

Protein Total: 11-15% Robert et at. (1985) Globulins: 80% of total protein Lasztity (1996) Prolamins: 15% of total protein Klose et al. (2009) Glutelin: 5-66% of total protein Albumin: 1-12% of total protein Lipid 5-9% Flander et al. (2007) Keying et al. (2009) Dietary Fibres β-glucan: 2.3-8.5% Flander et al. (2007) α-Tocotrienols and α-tocopherols Peterson (2001) Trace Minerals Calcium: 0.54% Chavan and Kadam Iron: 0.047% (1989) Vitamins Thiamine: 0.002% Chavan and Kadam Riboflavin: 0.001% (1989) Niacin:0.032%

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total starch. Being a vital source of qualitative protein with good amino acid balance provides ample nutrients. It is also rich in lipids packed with energy and unsaturated fatty acid, essential source of trace minerals like calcium, iron and different vitamins such as thiamine, niacin, riboflavin and vitamin E. Major dietary fibre present in oats is β-glucan. Antioxidant capacity of oats is mainly due to the availability of α-tocopherol, tocotrienols, phytic acid, flavonoids, avenan- thramide (unique group of antioxidants). The crucial phenolic acid in oats is ferulic, ρ-coumaric, caffeic, vanillic, hydroxybenzoic acid and their derivatives.

Table 3: Potential Health Benefits of Oats

Nutrients Functions Dietary Fibre Essential for lowering LDL cholesterol level thus prevents atherosclerosis. Useful for hypoglycemic and anticancer effect. Protein Regarded safe for people with gluten intolerance. Manganese Important for development, growth and metabolism. Phosphorus Helpful for bone health and tissue maintenance. Copper This antioxidant mineral helps in lowering heart risk. Magnesium Reduce the risk of heart attack. Selenium Important for immune and mental function. Decreases the risk of premature death Iron Responsible for transporting O 2 in the blood.

Vitamin B 12 Plays a major role in the energy metabolism. Avenanthramides Unique, low molecular weight this soluble phenolic compound called avenanthramides reveal potent antioxidant properties, decrease inflammation in arteries and leads to the reduction of cardiac heart disease risk and normalize blood pressure. Ferulic Acid Prevents tissue damage and stimulates wound healing process. Phytic Acid Aids in lowering blood pressure, blood sugar, useful for cancer and Coronary Heart disease. Polyphenol Anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, anti-itching activity that sup- plies protection against Coronary Heart disease , Colon cancer, skin irritation. Functional Foods Promotes positive health due to protection against chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and cancer.

Hypocholesterolemic Studies on Oat β-glucan ( Human Studies ) The impact of consumption of Oat β-glucan (OBG) 3g/day in the diet reduces LDL and total cholesterol without having any notable effect on HDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Mini- mum amount of 0.75g Beta-glucan per serving should be present in food. Suggested Mechanism on Hypocholesterolemic Effect of Oat β-glucan A highly viscous soluble fiber made up of d-glucose monomers linked by a mixture of β (1,4) and β(1,3) glyocosidic bonds named as β-glucan present in the endosperm cell wall of the oats is important for lowering blood cholesterol level. Proposed mechanism includes increased viscosity in the gastrointestinal tract decreases intestinal uptake of dietary cholesterol in addition to the reabsorption of bile acid to enhance excretion and productivity of Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) from fermentation of undigested carbohydrates in the large intestine that

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impede cholesterol synthesis.

CONCLUSION Cereals are known as the major staple food for Indians. But overall consumption of oats has enhanced because functional food like oats is regarded as the whole grain food as there are rich source of complex carbohydrates, qualitative proteins, good cholesterols, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants like avenanthramides and the richest dietary sources of the soluble fiber β-glucan. In- corporation of oat β-glucan 3g/day in our daily diet have positive effect on blood cholesterol level, coronary heart diseases, post prandial glucose and insulin response, cancer, weight management by extending satiety. So it can be concluded that β-glucan (along with avenanthramides and Vitamin-E (tocotrienols and tocopherols) plays the vital bioactive ingredients responsible for all physiological and nutritional benefits of oats. Currently cardiovascular disorders, obesity, diabetes is being predicted as a global concern so we need to be developed various oat- based food products such as bread, biscuit, cookies, probiotic drinks, breakfast cereals, infant foods to fulfill the nutritional and health needs of growing population.

REFERENCES Rasane, P., Jha, A., Sabikhi, L., Kumar, A., & Unnikrishnan, V. S. (2015). Nutritional advantages of oats and opportunities for its processing as value added foods-a review. Journal of food science and technology , 52 (2): 662-675. Huff, T., Boyd, B., & Jialal, I. (2020). Physiology, cholesterol. StatPearls [Internet] . Ahmad, M., Dar, Z. A., & Habib, M. (2014). A review on oat (Avena sativa L.) as a dual-purpose crop. Scientific Research and Essays , 9(4): 52-59. Wani, S.A., Shah, T.R., Bazaria, B., Nayik, G. A., Gull, A., Muzaffar, K. & Kumar, P. (2014). Oats as a functional food: a review . Universal Journal of Pharmacy, 3(1): 14-20. Varma, P., Bhankharia, H., Bhatia, S. (2016). Oats: A multi-functional grain. J Clin Prev Cardiol. 5 (1): 9-17. Tiwari, P.K., Sahu, R.K., Sandey, K.K., & Tiwari, R.K. (2017). Importance of Oats in Human Diet: A Review. Bull. Env. Pharmacol. Life Sci , 7(1): 125-130. Othman, R. A., Moghadasian, M. H., & Jones, P. J. (2011). Cholesterol-lowering effects of oat β- glucan. Nutrition reviews, 69(6), 299-309. Srilakshmi, B. (2006). Nutrition Science. New Age International. Avantina, S. (2006). Textbook of Food science and technology.

Agriculture Letters 52 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207345 Tamilarasi Murugesh 1* Hemlata Singh 2 Teikur Majaw 3

Chekurmanis- A Multi-Vitamin Leafy Vegetable

1Dept. of Agricultural Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, College of Basic Sciences, rpcau, Samastipur, Bihar– 848125 2Dept. of soil science, Tirhut College of Agriculture, RPCAU, Samastipur, Bihar– 848125 3Dept. of Biochemistry, College of Basic Sciences, RPCAU, Bihar– 848125

INTRODUCTION Chekurmanis ( Sauropus androgynus L.) of family Euphorbiaceae, is a perennial, shrubby, highly nutritious green leafy vegetable, grown extensively in the South and Southeast Asian counties, mainly Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Consumption of this leafy vegetable is not very common in India, chiefly limited to some parts of Southern India. Chekurmanis is indigenous to the Indo-Burma region. Later, in 1953, this leafy vegetable was introduced into Kerala from Malaysia. In India, Che- kurmanis is found to be widely distributed in the Western Ghats of Kerala, Himalayas, Sikkim, Khasi, and Agra hills. Chekurmanis also being called sweet leaf bush, katuk , or star gooseberry. This plant is known as Madhurakeera and Thavarai Muringai in Malayalam and Tamil, respectively. A warm hu- mid tropical climate with abundant rainfall is more suitable for the cultivation of Chekurmanis. Data on the area and production of this plant is not available as this plant has not been cultivated for commercial purposes on a large scale. But in Kerala, this vegetable prominently occupies almost all household kitchen gardens. Like spinach, the succulent young tips and leaves of this plant are eaten either raw in the form of salads or cooked. In addition, the flowers and the young berries of the plant are also reported to be eaten. The extract from this leafy vegetable is being used as a light green food coloring dye.

Chekurmanis

NUTRITIONAL PROFILE OF CHEKURMANIS Fresh leaves of Chekurmanis consist of moisture (70%-90%), protein (6%-8%), fat (1%-4%), fiber (1%-2%), ash (2%), and the remaining percentage were carbohydrates. Leaves of this vegetable contain a relatively high amount of proteins (6%-8%), carbohydrates, phenolic compounds, carote-

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noids, anthocyanins, vitamin A, vitamin B, Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin F, vitamin K, and mineral elements mainly Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn). It is the major reason for which this leafy vegetable is locally being called “Multi-vitamin Green” or “Muti-mineral packed leafy vegetable” in most of India.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF CHEKURMANIS Conventionally, the leaves and roots of this plant are used in medicine to boost immunity and treat fever, genitourinary diseases, cardiovascular diseases, micronutrient deficiencies, and other ailments like earache, eye, and skin diseases. Bioactive compounds extracted from Chekur- manis possess antitumor and antimicrobial properties. This leafy vegetable has strong antioxidant properties, likely because of the presence of an adequate amount of anti-oxidant vitamins such as Vitamin E and Vitamin C, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. The antioxidant activity of this plant reduces oxidative stress, which can prevent the onset of chronic diseases and inflammation. Overconsumption of Chekurmanis leaves reported increasing the level of Vitamin-A content in the breast milk of breastfeeding mothers in Indonesia. This vegetable consumption also reported increasing milk production in mammals. Despite all the health benefits, ingestion of fresh leaves of Chekurmanis, known to cause obstructive ventilatory impairment and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. In addition, this leafy vegetable reported causing respiratory disorder and drowsiness when consumed in excess amount as it contains a considerable amount of alkaloid named papaverine. Therefore, fresh or over-consumption leaves of Chekurmanis is not advisable as they may cause lungs disease or toxicity.

CONCLUSION In India, malnutrition has been a major problem among the vulnerable sections of the population. So, there is a need to explore natural resources rich in essential nutrients which can be grown in all household kitchen gardens. This easily available, less explored leafy vegetable can be exploited for the development of inexpensive, nutrient-rich food products to alleviate malnutrition in India.

REFERENCES De, L. C., & De, T. (2020). Indigenous Horticultural Crops of India for Immunity Develop- ment. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci , 9(6), 3068-3089. De, L. C., & De, T. (2021). Nutrient-rich foods in the human diet as immunity boosters. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry , 10 (3), 197-206. Eng Khoo, H., Azlan, A., & Ismaila, A. (2015). Sauropus androgynus leaves for health benefits: Hype and the science. The Natural Products Journal , 5(2), 115-123. Nahak, G., & Sahu, R. K. (2010). Free radical scavenging activity of multi-vitamin plant (Sauropus androgynus L. Merr). Researcher , 2(11), 6-14. Sankari, A, Anand, M and Arulmozhiyan, R. (2012). Multivitamin greens- Chekurmanis. Rashtri- ya Krishi , 7(2), 77-77.

Agriculture Letters 54 Vol. II, Issue 07 (July, 2021)

Agriculture Letters 2(7):2021 ISSN: 2582-6522 Agriculture Letters Visit us at agletters.in

Article ID: 21/07/0207346 Ayushi Koranga 1* Hemlata Singh 2 Seema 1

Giloy: The Magic Herb

1Department of Food &Nutrition, College Of Community Science, Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Sa- mastipur, Bihar -848125 2Department of Soil Science,Trihut College Of Agriculture, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Samastipur, Bihar – 848125

INTRODUCTION “Tinospora Cordifolia” is the scientific name of the GILOY. it is a climbing shrub belongs to family Menispermaceae. Giloy is also known as Guduchi, Amrita, galo, amrutavali, Gurach and Tino- spora. The plant has branches with downward aerial roots and its bark is gray brown and watery. The leaves are simple, membranous and alternatively present. It also known as its name “Heart- leaved” because of its heart shaped leaves and “moonseed” because of its reddish fruit. The flowers are small and greenish yellow in which male flowers are found in clustered and female are found in solitary. The fruits are found in bunches. after ripening the fruits develop red colour. The size of seeds are small like pea .This herb is found throughout tropical Asia ascending to a height of 300 meter.

PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION Alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, sesquiterpenoid, aliphatic compound, essential oils, mixture of fatty acids and polysaccharides are main component of the giloy. Berberine, bitter gilonin, non- glycoside gilonin gilosterol comes under alkaloids that are present in the plant. Other component include tinosporine, tinosporide , tinosporaside , cordifolide, cordifol, heptacosanol, clerodane furano diterpene, diterpenoid furano lactone, tinosporidine, tembertarine, magniflorine, choline columbin, b- sitosterol, palmatine and tinosporin .

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES Giloy mainly have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, anti- nephritic, anti-arthritic, anti-allergic and anti-diabetic properties. It also has immune stimulating, nerve cell protecting, cholesterol-lowering , liver-protective and anti-cancer actions. It also shows antifungal , antimicrobial , antibacterial , anti-stress, antiosteoporotic , anti-malarial, anticancer, Anti HIV potential, Wound healing, hypolipidaemic and Antitoxic effects.

USES AND BENEFITS OF GILOY Giloy is used to improve and boost our the immune system. it removes the free radicals present in the cells of our body and protects them from infection because of its anti oxidant nature. Due to its anti inflammatory property ,it cures many diseases caused by various infection like cold ,cough, tonsillitis etc. and it helps to clear air passage of trachea and strengthen lungs. it smoothens breath- ing and prevent from dyspnoea. It also helps in expectoration to eliminate phlegm that’s why it is very helpful for the asthma patients. It is helpful in treating digestive problems such as hyperacidity, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, worm infestations, excessive thirst, vomiting, peptic ulcer , hepatitis and stimulates bile secretion . It lowers blood sugar level because of its anti diabetic property. it also

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controls blood circulation to prevent hypertension ,helps to improve blood platelets and strengthen the heart functioning. It helps in reduces blood urea level, cures dribbling of urine, scanty flow of urine and burning sensation while passing urine. it purify blood by detoxifying toxic substances .due to its antipyretic properties it cures prolonged and persistent fever and also works on malarial symptoms. skin problems can cure by the use of giloy. It is also work for healing the tissue damage caused by radiation. it is effective in reducing pain and edema.

PRECAUTIONS Giloy can make the immune system more active and thus increase the symptoms of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA). During pregnancy avoid consumption of giloy and also during breast feeding . it lowers blood sugar levels, hence there is a concern that it can interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery so avoid consumption of giloy during and after of any surgery.

CONCLUSION Giloy is a medicinal plant having different bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, steroids, glycosides etc . it shows different medicinal properties like, antioxidant, anti- inflammatory, antipyretic, anti-arthritic and immune modulating activities. This is really a mi- raculous herb that is used in each and every ailment like for circulatory problems ,respiratory problems ,skin problems ,immunity enhancement and for digestive problems . it may sometimes produce some side effects such as constipation but its benefits outweigh its drawbacks.

REFERENCES

THE AYURVEDIC PHARMACOPOEIA OF INDIA . New Delhi: Department Of AYUSH, Ministry of Health . Rana V, Thakur K, Sood R, Sharma V, Sharma TR.[ Genetic diversity analysis of Tinospora cordifolia germplasm] collected from northwestern Himalayan region of India. J Genet. 2012;91:99–103 Manjrekar PN, Jolly CI, Narayanan S. Comparative studies of the (immunomodulatory activity of Tinospora cordifolia) and Tinospora sinensis. Fitoterapia. Nair PK, Rodriguez S, Ramachandran R, et al.[ Immune stimulating properties of a novel polysaccharide from the medicinal plant Tinospora cordifolia]. Int Immunopharmacol.

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