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Flacourtia montana J. Graham, commonly referred to as mountain sweet thorn, is an underutilized wild fruit species indigenous to the Western Ghats of India. Despite its rich nutritional profile, medicinal properties, and ecological importance, the species has not been fully explored for commercial utilization. Recent scientific studies highlight its potential in value addition, domestication, and sustainable livelihood enhancement. This article synthesizes existing literature on its taxonomy, distribution, morphology, phytochemistry, propagation, and broader socio-economic and ecological relevance, emphasizing the urgent need for conservation and mainstream integration.

The Namo Drone Didi scheme, launched by the Government of India in November 2023, has a budget of ?1,261 crore. It aims to deploy agricultural drones to 15,000 Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by 2025?26. This initiative addresses three key issues in Indian agriculture: health risks from manual pesticide use, crop yield losses of 20 to 40% due to imprecise spraying, and a shortage of rural labour caused by urban migration. Under a Drone-as-a- Service model, trained SHG members offer aerial spraying for ?350 to 450 per acre, with projected annual incomes of at least ?1 lakh. The field data show that Kisan drones can cover an acre in just seven to eight minutes. They also cut water use by 80 to 90% and reduce pesticide use by 30 to 40% compared to manual methods. Research indicates a 30% drop in production costs and a 41% rise in net farmer income. Beyond these benefits, the scheme empowers rural women as DGCA-certified agri-tech entrepreneurs, promoting economic participation and gender equity in Indian agriculture.

Increasing water scarcity and the increasing population of the world pose many challenges to sustainable agriculture practices. Hydrogel is a type of material that can be used due to its ability to absorb, retain, and slowly release nutrients and water. In regions where there is a scarcity of water, hydrogel helps crops withstand drought and facilitates growth by retaining soil moisture. Moreover, they play an important role in controlling release of nutrients in agriculture and thereby reducing pollution. Using hydrogels with seeds helps crops grow even in stress conditions. They are also beneficial in contemporary agricultural methods like hydroponics and improving soil properties. Nevertheless, several challenges are associated with synthetic hydrogels such as their exorbitant costs and lack of knowledge among farmers about them.

Fish is a highly nutritious and perishable food commodity, and its quality is greatly influenced by the biochemical and microbiological changes that occur after death. These changes, known as postmortem changes, play a critical role in determining the freshness, texture, flavour, and storage life of fish and fishery products. After death, the cessation of blood circulation and oxygen supply leads to a shift from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism in muscle tissues. This results in the depletion of energy reserves such as ATP, breakdown of glycogen into lactic acid, and subsequent alterations in muscle proteins. The process typically progresses through several stages including pre-rigor, rigor mortis, and post-rigor, followed by autolysis and microbial spoilage. These stages cause significant changes in muscle structure, biochemical composition, and sensory characteristics of fish. Factors such as temperature, handling stress, species, and storage conditions strongly influence the rate of these changes. Understanding postmortem changes is essential for the fish processing industry because proper handling, chilling, and preservation techniques can effectively slow down deterioration and maintain product quality.

India?s rapidly growing livestock population places immense pressure on limited fodder resources, resulting in significant deficits in green fodder, dry fodder, and concentrate feeds. Fodder trees offer a sustainable and efficient solution to this challenge by providing nutrientrich biomass, particularly in semi-arid and marginal environments. These multipurpose species contribute not only to livestock nutrition but also to soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and overall ecosystem stability. This paper reviews the importance, advantages, and major species of fodder trees in India, highlighting their role in enhancing land-use efficiency and supporting agroforestry systems. Additionally, it outlines future prospects, strategies for large-scale adoption, and the development of fodder banks to ensure year-round feed availability. Promoting fodder tree-based systems can significantly improve livestock productivity while fostering environmental sustainability and resilience in Indian agriculture.

Rural women play a crucial role in agriculture, household management and community development, yet their contributions often remain unrecognized due to persistent social barriers. Gender discrimination, limited access to education, economic dependence, restricted mobility and exclusion from decision-making processes continue to hinder their empowerment. These challenges not only affect women?s well-being but also impede sustainable rural development and intergenerational progress. However, increasing access to education, skill development, Self-Help Groups, extension education and supportive legal frameworks are transforming their status. Collective action and changing societal attitudes are enabling rural women to emerge as entrepreneurs and community leaders. Breaking these barriers is essential for achieving gender equality and fostering inclusive and resilient rural transformation.

Crop diversification is an important strategy for improving livelihood security in fragile hill ecosystems. It involves the integration of multiple crops and enterprises to enhance productivity, reduce risk, and ensure sustainability. In hill regions, where agriculture is constrained by small landholdings, climatic variability, and limited resources, diversification plays a crucial role in stabilizing income and improving resilience. Empirical studies indicate that diversified farming systems enhance resource-use efficiency, increase farm income, and reduce vulnerability to climate change.

The National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) is a transformative digital initiative launched by the Government of India to integrate fragmented agricultural markets and enhance farmers? price realization. This study examines the role of e-NAM in improving transparency, efficiency, and competitiveness in agricultural marketing. By enabling real-time price discovery, online bidding, quality-based assaying, and direct digital payments, the platform reduces the influence of intermediaries and minimizes information asymmetry. Empirical evidence suggests that e-NAM has contributed to improved price realization, with farmers experiencing price gains and reduced-price dispersion across markets. However, the effectiveness of the platform is constrained by challenges such as limited digital literacy, infrastructural gaps, regulatory inconsistencies, and low inter-state trade. Despite these limitations, e-NAM holds significant potential to modernize agricultural marketing and contribute to farmers? income enhancement if implemented more comprehensively.

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.) is an important cucurbit crop, but its yield is greatly reduced by the red pumpkin beetle (Aulacophora foveicollis Lucas). The pest attacks the crop from the seedling stage, feeding on cotyledons, leaves, and tender parts, causing serious damage. To ensure safe and sustainable management, eco-friendly approaches are essential. Cultural practices like early sowing, crop rotation, and field sanitation help reduce infestation. Mechanical methods such as hand picking and use of sticky traps are also useful. Botanical treatments including NSKE (5%), neem oil (0.5%), and azadirachtin (3000 ppm) effectively reduce feeding and egg laying. Biological control using Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae further supports pest management. Thus, integration of these eco-friendly methods provides an effective and sustainable solution for managing red pumpkin beetle in bottle gourd.

The increasing environmental challenges such as climate change, pollution and resource depletion highlight the urgent need for sustainable living practices. Eco-friendly habits play a crucial role in reducing human impact on the environment and promoting a healthier planet. This article explores simple yet effective lifestyle changes, including waste reduction, energy and water conservation, sustainable transportation and responsible consumption. It also emphasizes the importance of adopting environmentally friendly products, minimizing the use of harmful chemicals and encouraging practices like kitchen gardening and tree plantation. These habits not only contribute to environmental protection but also improve human health and well-being. The article further highlights the role of awareness, education and community participation in fostering sustainable behavior. It concludes that while individual actions may seem small, their collective impact is significant in addressing global environmental issues. Promoting eco-friendly habits is essential for ensuring long-term ecological balance and creating a sustainable future for coming generations.

Climate change serves as a significant international environmental problem which affects both freshwater systems and commercial fishery operations and aquaculture farming. Fish functions as an essential food source which contributes to worldwide nutritional needs through its provision of animal protein especially in developing nations. The combination of rising greenhouse gas emissions and increasing global temperatures has caused changes in both oceanographic and climatic systems which produce phenomena such as sea level rise and ocean acidification and monsoon pattern changes. Fish species use these changes to adapt their body functions and movement patterns and their reproduction processes and their ability to produce fish. The decline of marine species and coral reefs and coastal areas which include mangroves and wetlands through climate change destruction creates additional challenges for maintaining sustainable fishing. Climate change has begun to alter fishery stocks through its effect on catch patterns and species composition and stock distribution for different fish species. This article presents the causes and effects of climate change on fishery resources while it shows how international agreements will solve these problems through sustainable management methods and adaptive strategies which protect ecosystem health and food production for the future.

Climate change poses an unprecedented threat to agricultural productivity and food security, particularly in vulnerable regions like Punjab, India, where temperatures have risen +1.24?C above baseline and 80% of the last two decades recorded rainfall deficits. Conventional agriculture already strained by the Green revolution's legacy of soil degradation, groundwater depletion and agrochemical dependence is increasingly illequipped to meet projected 35-56% increases in global food demand by 2050. Conservation agriculture built on minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and diversified rotations scalable pathway to sustainable intensification. Its directly mitigates climate threats to soil porosity, organic matter and water availability, while building long-term farm resilience.

Hybrid breeding has been a fundamental approach in crop improvement, enabling enhanced yield, adaptability, and resilience through the exploitation of heterosis. The advent of Genomics has significantly transformed this field by allowing breeders to analyze and utilize genetic variation at the DNA level using advanced tools such as high-throughput sequencing and Genome-Wide Association Studies. Despite these advancements, hybrid breeding continues to face challenges, including the incomplete understanding of heterosis, difficulties in developing superior parental lines, instability in fertility restoration systems, and the influence of genotype ? environment interactions, along with high production costs and limited integration of genomic data into practical breeding programs. However, emerging innovations such as genomic selection, artificial intelligence, speed breeding, and gene-editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas9 offer promising solutions by enabling more precise, efficient, and predictive breeding strategies. The integration of genomics with phenomics and environmental data is expected to drive the next generation of hybrid breeding, ensuring sustainable crop improvement and strengthening global food and nutritional security.

This article examines the concept, challenges, and strategies associated with the goal of doubling farmers? income in India. Agriculture continues to play a crucial role in the Indian economy, yet farmers face persistent issues such as low productivity, price volatility, rising input costs, climate change, and limited access to credit and markets. The study highlights that farmers? income is influenced by multiple factors including productivity, cost efficiency, diversification, and market access. Despite various government initiatives like e-NAM and crop insurance schemes, structural and institutional constraints hinder effective implementation. The paper emphasizes the need for a multi-dimensional approach involving technological adoption, market reforms, infrastructure development, diversification into allied sectors, and strengthened policy support. It concludes that doubling farmers? income is not a short-term target but requires long-term structural transformation for sustainable and inclusive agricultural growth in India.

Trichoderma is a genus of filamentous fungi widely recognized for its role as an effective and eco-friendly biocontrol agent in sustainable agriculture. Major species such as Trichoderma harzianum, Trichoderma viride, and Trichoderma longibrachiatum have been extensively studied and utilized for the management of various plant pathogens. The bio control potential of Trichoderma is attributed to multiple mechanisms including myco-parasitism, competition for nutrients space, produce of antifungal metabolites and induction of systemic resistance in plants. It produces enzymes such as chitinases, glucanases, and proteases that degrade the cell walls of pathogenic fungi. Additionally Trichoderma enhances plant growth by improving nutrient uptake producing plant growth-promoting substances and increasing tolerance to abiotic stresses. Unlike chemical pesticides Trichoderma based formulations are biodegradable, non-toxic, and safe for humans, animals, and beneficial organisms. Its application reduces environmental pollution and supports the development of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Due to its versatility sustainability and effectiveness Trichoderma has become an important component of modern agriculture aimed at reducing chemical inputs and promoting soil health.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), also known as linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping, have emerged as a powerful approach for dissecting complex quantitative traits in crop plants. This method exploits historical recombination and natural genetic diversity to identify marker-trait associations with high resolution. Unlike traditional QTL mapping, GWAS utilizes diverse germplasm panels and high-density molecular markers to detect loci controlling agronomic, stress tolerance, and quality traits. The approach integrates precise phenotyping, genome-wide genotyping, population structure analysis, and statistical modeling to identify significant genomic regions. GWAS has contributed substantially to crop improvement through marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, and exploitation of novel alleles from diverse germplasm. Despite challenges such as population stratification and limited detection of rare alleles, advancements in high-throughput sequencing and phenotyping technologies are enhancing its effectiveness. Future integration of genomic and phenomic datasets will further accelerate gene discovery and the development of climateresilient and high-yielding crop varieties.

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is a key reform in India?s agricultural risk management system, providing insurance coverage against crop losses due to natural calamities, pests, and diseases. With low premium rates and wide coverage, the scheme aims to stabilize farmers? income, promote improved practices, and enhance food security. It has expanded significantly, covering millions of farmers and utilizing technologies such as digital platforms and direct benefit transfer for efficient implementation. Evidence indicate that PMFBY has helped reduce income variability and improve farmers? resilience to climate risks. However, issues like delays in claim settlement, declining participation in some regions, and limited farmer awareness continue to affect its performance. Strengthening coordination, transparency, and awareness is essential for improving its effectiveness.

Sorghum bicolor is an important cereal crop used for both grain and fodder. However, its productivity is greatly constrained by insect pests, with over 150 species recorded. Among which the sorghum shoot fly is one of the most destructive during the early crop stage. The pest attacks young seedlings and damages the central growing point, leading to the formation of ?dead heart? symptoms, which results in poor plant population and significant reduction in grain as well as fodder yield. Considering the economic importance of this pest, article presents a comprehensive information regarding its life cycle, ecology, damaging symptoms, alternate host plants, economic threshold levels, yield losses and management strategies, along with the major challenges and limitations associated with its control.

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), known as an ancient, drought-resistant grain, excels in marginal lands with short growth cycles of 60-90 days and low water needs (300-500 mm rainfall). Rich in protein (11-14g/100g), fiber, iron, and gluten-free properties, it supports nutrition amid climate challenges and India's Shree Anna promotion. The article highlights shoot fly (Atherigona spp.) as a key pest causing "dead heart" damage, recommending IPM strategies like timely sowing, neem biopesticides, and seed treatments for sustainable yields

Agroforestry is a sustainable and multifunctional land-use system that integrates trees, crops, and livestock to enhance ecological stability, economic productivity, and social wellbeing. This article provides a comprehensive overview of agroforestry, highlighting its major systems, ecological functions, and socio-economic benefits. Agroforestry systems, including agrisilvicultural, silvopastoral, and agrisilvopastoral models, are designed to optimize resource use efficiency while mimicking natural ecosystems. The study emphasizes the critical role of agroforestry in improving soil fertility, conserving biodiversity, regulating microclimate, and sequestering carbon, thereby contributing significantly to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Furthermore, agroforestry enhances livelihood security by diversifying income sources, generating employment, and reducing risks associated with market and climatic uncertainties. The paper also discusses the relevance of agroforestry in the Indian context, including traditional practices and policy initiatives such as the National Agroforestry Policy (2014). Despite its numerous advantages, challenges such as policy constraints, lack of awareness, market limitations, and technical issues hinder its widespread adoption. The article concludes by underscoring the future potential of agroforestry in achieving sustainable development goals through technological innovations, supportive policies, and increased research efforts.

The women are the backbone of agricultural workforce but worldwide their contribution has been unpaid. Women of landless labour and marginal farm families are the poorest, bearing a heavy burden of work in cultivation of crops along with all household tasks. Identifying gender issues and testing available farm technology for women perspective aimed at improving the status of women in term of increasing employment and enhancing income levels. Most of the farm families in Odisha belong to marginal farmers and landless agricultural labours. Assessment of technology in women perspective is being one of the thrust areas of ICAR-CIWA, were focussed under one SCSP programme in villages i.e. Kantabania, Lokapal and Chhotijodi village, Kanas of Puri district of Odisha. Keeping the problems and needs of the farm women in view gender friendly technologies like backward poultry farming mushroom cultivation, homestead nutritional garden, Custom Hiring Centre (sewing machine), vermi composting, drudgery reducing small tools and impediments, were tested among 100 farm women clientele of 10 SHG. The detail techno-economic assessment of these interventions found that a backyard poultry unit of 30 birds can generate on an average of net profit Rs.25,500/- in a year. Mushroom cultivation can generate an avg. of Rs 16000- 17500/- per 100 of bed in one month. From homestead nutrition garden farm women can get 7.0 kg vegetable per sqm. From sewing of bags and dresses the group earn Rs.40,000 per month at CHC. From 5 vermicompost bed women produce 8 q of manure in 6 months. Use of small and implements like Improves sickle, garden hoe, cultivar, hand hoe, automatic battery-operated sprayer, axe bill hook increased work efficiency, reduces drudgery and alternatively increases the productivity of farm women.

Sh. Suram Singh, S/o Sh. Pola Singh, village-Bassan is an Adopted Seed Rearer (ASR) having 6.25 acres of land and cultivating wheat and maize, along with dairy farming. He is a very enthusiastic ASR with immense interest in bivoltine seed rearing and always strives to enhance his seed rearing capacity. For this purpose, he remains in close contact with the Incharge of CSB-SSPC, Udhampur. He has expressed that this activity has significantly enhanced his financial stability. Apart from sericulture, he also earns his livelihood through traditional farming practices such as agriculture and animal husbandry, which provide additional support to his family?s income.

Bees are essential contributors to pollination processes in agricultural and horticultural ecosystems, directly affecting crop productivity, produce quality, and overall ecosystem health. This article provides a broad review of bee pollination, focusing on bee diversity, basic taxonomy, key identification features, and their distribution across farmland, horticultural fields, forests, and grassland habitats. Both India and other regions of the world support a wide range of bee species, underlining their ecological value and economic relevance. Scientific studies clearly demonstrate that pollination by bees leads to noticeable improvements in yield and quality in important crops such as mustard, sunflower, cotton, tomato, apple, pumpkin, and various vegetable seed crops. Bee pollination should therefore be recognized as a vital ecological input rather than an incidental or cost-free service, as it supports sustainable farming systems, food security, and ecological balance. At the same time, the growing use of chemical pesticides, especially neonicotinoids and pyrethroids, has emerged as a major threat to bee populations, negatively influencing their foraging activity, colony strength, and long-term survival. Protecting both managed and wild bees is essential to ensure stable crop production and the sustainability of agro-ecosystems.