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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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Subject: Microbiology × Author: T, VIVEKANANTHAN × End date: 2022 × Start date: 2022 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    CHARACTERIZATION OF ENDOPHYTIC BACTERIA FOR THEIR BIOSTIMULATION AND BIOCONTROL ACTIVITIES ON SUGARCANE (Saccharum officinarum) CROP
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) T, VIVEKANANTHAN; Jaiswal, Aman
    Endophytic bacteria colonizing internal parts of the plants and benefit the crop plants by enhancing their growth and development. These beneficial organisms are documented in almost all plants. Sugarcane also colonizes diverse endophytic bacteria and these bacteria benefit the Sugarcane crop through biostimulation and biocontrol activities. Therefore, a study was conducted to examine the isolated endophytic bacteria of different parts of two Sugarcane varieties, BO-91 and Co-P 16437 for their biostimulation and biocontrol activities. For this, 86 endophytic bacterial isolates, 50 isolates of BO-91(BR 1 - BR25, BS1 - BS 14 and BL1 - BL11) and 36 isolates of CoP-16437 (CR1-CR21, CL1-CL2 and CS1-CS1) collected from Department of Microbiology, CBS&H, Dr. RPCAU, Pusa. These isolates were subjected for morphological characterization on the basis of colony morphology and microscopic features. Most of the bacterial colonies were of small size, circular shape with regular margins, smooth texture and yellow or orange color colonies. These isolates were also subjected for Gram staining and endospore staining and found that 49 isolates as gram-negative, 27 isolates as gram positive and 23 bacteria were endospore producers. The endophytic bacteria were further examined for biostimulaion activities viz, phosphorus (P), potassium (K), zinc (Zn) and Fe solubilization and siderophore, IAA production. It was observed that 19 isolates of BO-91 and 7 isolates of Co-P 16437 solubilized phosphorus with P-SI (2.2 - 4.1), P-SE (122.7 - 309.1%) and P solubilization value (0.74 - 1.31ppm) whereas 7 isolates of BO-91 and 7 isolates of Co-P 16437 solubilized potassium with K-SI (2.0 - 3.8), K-SE (178.6 - 282.4%) and K solubilization value (14.17 – 15.87ppm). 13 isolates of BO-91 and 7 isolates of Co-P 16437 solubilized zinc with Zn-SI (2.0 – 4.5), Zn-SE (103.4 - 350 %) and Zn solubilization value (3.85 – 1.75ppm) whereas 36 isolates of BO-91 and 20 isolates of Co-P 16437 solubilized Fe with Fe-SE (109.5 – 369.2 %) and Fe solubilization value (0.92 – 2.93ppm). It was also found that 11 isolates of BO-91 and 5 isolates of Co-P 16437 produced IAA (37.22 - 96.51μg mg-1 protein). The isolates BL1, BR2, BR11, BS9 and CR16 showed a positive response for almost all the biostimulation activities. Further, these endophytes were subjected for biocontrol and antagonistic properties viz, ammonia, HCN, cellulase and catalase enzyme production and tested in vitro inhibition against the red rot pathogen (Colletotrichum falcatum). 30 isolates of BO-91 and 30 isolates of Co-P 16437 were able to produce ammonia (0.49 – 1.28ppm), 16 isolates from BO-91 and 11 isolates from Co-P -16437 showed HCN production activity, 31 isolates from BO-91 and 11 isolates from CoP-16437 showed cellulase enzyme production activity in terms of hydrolysis capacity (2.0 – 9.75) whereas 8 isolates from BO-91 and 16 isolates from CoP-16437 showed catalase enzyme production activity. Out of 86 isolates, only 37 bacterial isolates were able to show inhibitory action (49.7– 84 %) against the fungal pathogen. The isolates BR11, CR12, CR20 and CS2 showed a positive response for almost all the biocontrol characteristics with more than 50% of inhibition index of Colletotrichum falcatum. The isolates BR2 (Microbacterium arborescens), BS12 (Bacillus paranthracis/ Bacillus nitratireducens), BS21 (Micribacterium ginsengiterrae), CR7 (Glutamicibacyer halophytocola), CS3 (Bacillus tequliensis) identified as promising endophytic bacteria which showed both biostimulation and biocontrol activities. Therefore, these endophytic bacteria can be used as multitasking strains for biofertilizer and biocontrol agents which help in sustainable production of sugarcane.