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Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus (YVMV) disease of okra is the single major production constraint and causes yield loss to the tune of 50-90% in India. Hence continuous search for new sources of resistance and development of better varieties/hybrids with durable level of resistance should receive attention of breeder. An attempt was made to screen twenty-six advanced lines/varieties of okra in one of the hot spots of YVMV disease in eastern India to identify suitable parents for resistant breeding program. The study revealed high magnitude of genetic variability and high degree of transmission of majority of the growth, earliness, and yield component traits under consideration. Based on the degree of divergence, the genotypes were grouped into four clusters. Hybridization between genotypes belonging to Cluster II and Cluster III could combine early maturity, higher yield, and having high tolerance against YVMV disease. Dendrogram among the genotypes also revealed high diversity along with strong inter cluster relationships. Based on averages and principal component analysis, six genotypes viz., BCO-1, A. caillei, A. manihot, 11/RES-6, VNR Green and 12/RES-2 appeared very promising candidates for future use in resistant breeding programs.

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Chickpea is an important pulse crop of India, but its productivity is quite low due to several biotic and abiotic stresses. Low seed vigor is one of the issues that occur due to changes in different biochemical properties during improper storage condition. To overcome the biochemical activity during storage, seed priming is a promising strategy. In the present study, two nanopriming agents viz., Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnONPs) and silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs) were evaluated for biochemical activity (Peroxidase activity, alpha amylase activity, total soluble sugar, total protein) of chickpea at 2, 4, 6 and 9 months storage period after priming for 1, 2, and 6 hours. Result showed increased activity of Peroxidase (POX) with increase of storage time, but the rate of increase was comparatively low when seeds were nanoprimed with ZnONPs. Similarly, alpha amylase activity and protein content were recorded highest and Total Soluble Sugar (TSS) was found lowest in ZnONPs primed seed. Out of the different priming times, 6 hrs was found to be the best at 9 months of storage with positive effect on biochemical parameters. Among the biotic stresses, disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri has been considered as a destructive one, which causes yield loss up to 10% every year. To overcome the biotic stress and enhance the storage life, chickpea seeds were primed with ZnONPs and AgNPS at 100 ppm alone and in combination with each other. We found positive effect on seed germination (%), plant growth, and yield attributing parameter and negative effect on per disease incidence of F. oxysporum f.sp. ciceri.

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Experiments were conducted for the quality evaluation of developed gluten-free protein enriched pasta. The pasta was formulated by taking a different proportion of Pre-gelatinized broken basmati Rice Flour, freeze-dried Carrot Pomace, and Groundnut Meal in the ratios of T₁ (100:0:0::PRF:CP:GM), T₂ (97:1:2::PRF:CP:GM), T₃ (94:2:4), T₄ (91:3:6), T₅ (88:4:8), T₆ (85:5:10), T₇ (82:6:12), and T₈ (79:7:14) respectively. Pre-gelatinized broken basmati rice flour (T₁) was considered as the control pasta. Each pasta sample after drying was packaged in polypropylene bags and stored for 3 months at ambient conditions (28±2°C). Results revealed that the Lightness (L*) value of gluten-free protein enriched pasta decreased, while a* and b* values increased with the increase in the incorporation level of freeze-dried carrot pomace and groundnut meal to broken basmati rice flour. Also, water activity, bulk density, swelling power (g g^-1), water absorption index (g g^-1), and cooking time were greatly influenced by the increased incorporation level. There was a significant decrease in cooking time and smoothness of gluten-free protein enriched pasta because of fibre addition. On the other hand, incorporation resulted in little clumpiness and disintegration.