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Family poultry production is a low-input, sustainable enterprise that enhances nutritional security, livelihood opportunities, and women?s empowerment in rural areas. By providing eggs, meat, and supplementary income, it helps alleviate poverty and malnutrition among resource-poor households. Adoption of improved breeds, balanced feeding, healthcare, and capacity building can significantly increase productivity, profitability, and socio-economic well-being of rural women and their families.

India is among the leading producers of dry fish globally, yet the fishing communities that produce it remain among the most economically undervalued workers in the food system. This article draws from direct field observations among dry fish producer communities along the Odisha coast, where a compelling paradox was witnessed ? producers who have willingly adopted improved hygienic practices in dry fish preparation continue to receive the same low market price as those using traditional methods. The improved practices include elevated drying racks, insect-proof netting, clean water washing, proper salt management, and food-grade packaging. Despite this visible quality difference, the absence of consumer awareness, inadequate retail penetration, and limited market linkages prevent producers from earning a price premium for their efforts. The situation is further compounded by the selectively non-vegetarian food culture prevalent in Odisha, which makes mainstream retailers and supermarkets reluctant to stock dry fish prominently. As a result, hygienic dry fish reaches consumers only through select local shops, government exhibitions, and directsale events ? channels too limited to sustain livelihoods or drive lasting market change. This article argues that bridging the awareness gap between producers and consumers, through labeling, certification, market linkages, and community storytelling, is essential to making quality dry fish production economically rewarding and sustainable.

Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) is a widely used ornamental filler flower in floriculture, valued for its bright yellow inflorescences and long vase life. The plant plays a significant role in supporting pollinators due to its nectar rich flowers. Pollination in goldenrod is mainly insect mediated and involves complex floral interactions that ensure successful reproduction. Understanding these processes helps to improve seed production and supports sustainable floriculture practices (ICAR., 2020).

Paddy stubble management is essential for sustainable agriculture, particularly in rice?wheat systems where large amounts of residues are generated within a short period. Improper disposal, especially residue burning, causes environmental pollution, nutrient loss, and soil degradation, highlighting the need for sustainable management practices. Recent research investigates lignocellulolytic bacterial consortia as eco-friendly alternatives for in situ residue degradation. Paddy straw's complex cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin make microbial breakdown challenging; thus, microbial consortia with complementary bacteria are used. These produce enzymes like cellulases, xylanases, laccases, and peroxidases, facilitating the breakdown of plant polymers. Advances in metagenomics, enzyme profiling, and microbial engineering are enhancing consortia design. Challenges include environmental variability, microbial survival, formulation stability, and large-scale application. Ultimately, these consortia offer a sustainable solution for residue management, aiding climate change mitigation, soil health, and circular agriculture.

Conventional weed management relies on selective herbicides, biological control and allelopathy but faces limits from herbicide resistance, labour decline and climate change. Rapid advances in AI, UAVs, cameras and sensors drive Smart Weed Management (SWM) to map and target weed variability, cutting herbicide use and labour costs. SWM integrates organic bioherbicides, judicious organic or inorganic fertilizers and practices like alternate wetting and drying to reduce emissions and earn carbon credits. Computing, robotics and big data enhance precision control and decision making. Education of future weed scientists and farmer behaviour change are critical for adoption. Policy support, extension and research collaboration are needed to scale SWM. Together, conventional and smart methods offer resilient, low input weed control for diverse countries.

As a rapidly growing major economy, India faces a severe economic and environmental paradox driven by an over-reliance on imported crude oil and low-quality domestic coal. Traditional food-based crop biofuels trigger "food versus fuel" conflicts and seasonal distillery downtime, while green hydrogen production remains capital-intensive. To resolve these structural bottlenecks, energycane, a specialized high-biomass hybrid developed by the ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI), Coimbatore, through the hybridization and selection of commercial sugarcane with resilient wild relatives like Erianthus arundinaceus, offers a scalable, decentralized solution. Bred for ultra-high fiber accumulation rather than sucrose, energycane thrives on marginal, degraded lands. Elite Type II varieties, such as SBIEC 14006, achieve massive biomass yields exceeding 265 t/ha due to an efficient C4 photosynthetic engine and deep root systems. This article outlines the industrial conversion of energycane into second-generation (2G) bioethanol, bio-compressed natural gas (bio- CNG), pure green hydrogen, and premium torrefied bio-coal. Cultivating energycane on half of India?s marginal land could displace nearly 69% of baseline crude oil imports, saving $92.8 billion annually. Simultaneously, its aggressive root networks and microbial recruitment drive biological soil remediation, offering a circular, carbon-negative blueprint for India's energy self-reliance and rural prosperity.

Inflation is a major macroeconomic issue that affects the purchasing power of money and overall economic stability. It occurs when the general price level of goods and services rises continuously over time due to excessive money supply, rising production costs, and increasing demand. This article discusses the meaning, types, causes, and methods of measuring inflation in India using indicators such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Wholesale Price Index (WPI), and GDP Deflator. It also highlights the factors influencing inflation, measures adopted by the government and Reserve Bank of India to control inflation, and the positive and negative effects of inflation on different groups in society.

India?s important oil seed crop mustard contributes significantly to edible oil production. Athalia lugens proxima (Klug) or mustard sawfly is one of the major defoliating pests causing considered damage in the early stages of crop growth. Larval feeding causes leaf skeletonisation, reduce plant vigour and yield loss. Severe infestations may have adverse effect on seed yield and oil content. This article reviews the distribution, identification, damage symptoms and distribution and integrated pest management strategies of mustard sawfly. Integrated use of cultural, mechanical biological and need based chemical control measures is effective in pest management and sustainable mustard production.

Diapause is a remarkable survival strategy that enables insects to withstand unfavorable environmental conditions and synchronize their life cycles with seasonal changes. Traditionally, environmental factors such as photoperiod and temperature have been considered the primary cues regulating diapause. However, growing evidence indicates that host plants also play an important role in influencing whether insects continue development or enter dormancy. The quality, species, growth stage, and nutritional value of host plants can affect insect growth rate, body size, energy reserves, and physiological condition, all of which contribute to diapause decisions. The growing evidence shows that insects do not rely solely on temperature and day length to prepare for difficult times. The quality of the plants they feed on can also shape their survival strategies, highlighting the remarkable and often overlooked connections between insects and their host plants.