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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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20225
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Subject: Microbiology × End date: 2022 × Start date: 2022 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DEVELOPMENT OF MICROBIAL CONSORTIUM AND ITS EFFECT ON GREEN GRAM (Vigna radiata)
    (Dr.RPCAU, Pusa, 2022) JAMATIA, DINKI; Kumari, Geeta
    PGPR is a community of root – colonizing bacteria that found in the root of several plant species, and have the ability to maintain root health and promote nutrient uptake and environment stress tolerance which improve plant growth and commercial yield. In the present study a tota l of 19 PGPR-based bacterial isolates viz. six Bacillus spp. (BS1, BS2, BS3, BS4, BS5, BS6), four Azotobacter spp. (AZT1, AZT2, AZT3, AZT4), nine Rhizobium spp. (RZM1, RZM2, RZM3, RZM4, RZL1, RZL2, RZL3, RZL4, RZP1) were taken from the stock culture of the Microbiology department, CBS&H, Pusa. These PGPR isolates were tested for their ability to solubilize nutrients, specifically phosphorus, zinc, siderophore synthesis, and IAA production. Out of 19 bacterical isolates, 5 isolates i.e. AZT4, BS2, BS5, RZL1, RZM2 were found promising one and were further used for developing PGPR consortium. It was found that all the 5 promising one were compatible with each other. The developed consortium was screened for plant growth promoting characters and found the PGPR consortium showed PSI – 3.82, ZnSI – 3.45, siderophore production efficiency - 267 %, IAA – 122 μg mL-1. Further, a pot experiment was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of PGPR consortium in combination with different levels of NPK on growth parameters (plant height, nodule number, nodule weight, no. of branches and chlorophyll content) of green gram ((Vigna mungo L.) and soil nutrient parameters (available Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potash, Organic Carbon, microbial load). All crop and soil nutrient parameters analyzed increased with application of PGPR consortium compared to the absolute control (without PGPR consortia and RDF). Crop and soil parameters were significantly influenced with the application of NPK fertilizer and PGPR consortia intervention in green gram crop and the maximum value of parameters was obtained in treatment containing PGPR consortia + 100% RDF followed by 75% RDF + Rhizobium as compared to 50 % RDF. At any level of fertilizer application, consortia mode always showed higher value than mono mode. Integration of microbial consortia with chemical fertilizers opens up a huge window for improving crop output while also improving nutrient use efficiency. Hence, in order to improve the growth and performance of the moong bean the developed consortium of Rhizobium + Bacillus + Azotobacter can be used as a (biofertilizer) for the soil of North Bihar state.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Comparative studies on mutated and unmutated strains of Bacillus velezensis for their plant growth promoting activities
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) B, ANJANEYULU; MEENA, KHEM RAJ
    In the present study, mutated and unmutated strains of Bacillus velezensis were screened for their biological traits and plant growth promoting activities. In this regard, total of 12 Bacillus velezensis strains collected from Department of Microbiology, CBS&H, Dr. RPCAU, Pusa, out of which 11 strains were mutated and 1 strain was unmutated. Isolates were subjected to morphological characterization on the basis of colony morphology and microscopic features. Most of the isolated colonies represent to small size, smooth texture, whitish and reddish-brown colonies on nutrient agar. All strains were Gram-positive based on Gram staining and microscopic observations and all strain cells found rod shape. Mutated and unmutated strains of Bacillus velezensis were subjected to biological activities viz., protein solubilization, β-glucan solubilization and biosurfactant production and also screened for plant growing promoting activities viz., Phosphorus solubilization, Zinc solubilization, Potassium solubilization, IAA production, Siderophore production and also studied interaction of mutated and unmutated strains of Bacillus velezensis with phytopathogen Helminthosporium maydis. It has been noted that out of 11mutated isolates except T9 and unmutated strain T0 showed protein solubilization. Mutated strain T3 showed highest protein solubilization index as 4.2±0.03 and protein solubilization efficiency 320±0.03 while T10 strain showed lowest protein solubilization index (2.9±0.04). T5 strain showed highest β-Glucan solubilization index as 4.4±0.04 and unmutated strain T0 showed least solubilization index as 2.1±0.02. The highest yield of crude biosurfactant was shown by T3 mutant as 0.362±0.003 gm/100ml followed by mutant T5 as 0.332±0.004 gm/100 ml. Strain T5 efficiently solubilize phosphorus solubilization as 1.23±0.35 ppm/ml with Phosphorus solubilization index P-SI as 4.1±0.01. The highest (3.1±0.02 ppm/ml, 16.08±0.1 ppm/ml) Zn and K solubilization was recorded for T 1 and T 3 strain, respectively. Unmutated strain T0 showed highest IAA production as167±1.15µg mg-1 protein. Mutated strain T7 registered highest Siderophore production efficiencyas307.14±0.01%. while T0 strain showed as 176.92±0.01%lowest Siderophore production efficiency. The mutants T3, T5, T6 has shown nearly70-80% inhibition of Helminthosporium maydis. Lactophenol cotton blue staining Resulted in disruption of hyphae with blue colour due to biosurfactant action of B. velezensis on H. maydis.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    PRODUCTION OF THE BIOETHANOL FROM THE LIGNOCELLULOSIC AGRICULTURAL WASTES
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) VISHWAS, PAWALE AMOL; Meena, Khem Raj
    Since the production of biofuels from renewable feedstocks and utilised as alternative fuels and sources of energy, recently they have attracted a lot of attention. Due to its favourable effects on the environment, bioethanol is one of the most intriguing fuels. Currently, it is mostly made from raw materials that comprise sugar and starch. The collected substrate delignified by the effective pre-treatment including the physical method (size reduction and the thermal treatment under the vapour pressure in the autoclave) and chemical treatment as 2% NaOH under the vapour pressure. The alkaline treatment combined with thermal treatment delignified the collected lignocellulosic substrates and released the reducing sugar by depolymerizing the cellulose and hemicellulose. The corn cobs were getting more hydrolyzed by the NaOH based pre-treatment by making maximum reducing sugar (38.908±0.27 mg gds-1) for fermentation among the four collected substrates. The pre-treated biomass saccharified by the bacterial and fungal consortium procured from the Department of Microbiology. The consortium of the 7 bacterial isolates (Bacillus sonorensis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus inaquosorum, Bacillus cabrialesii, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus paramycoides and Bacillus stercoris) hydrolyzed the four substrates within 7-8 days of incubation. The maximum reducing sugar due to the hydrolysis by bacterial consortium resulted from the wheat straw (27.58±0.31 mg gds-1). The hydrolysis of the pre-treated four substrates hydrolyzed by the fungal consortium of the three fungal isolates as Fusarium falciforme, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Fusarium falicorme within 5-6 days of the incubation. The maximum reducing released from the corn cobs (35.43±0.16 mg gds-1) followed by the cane bagasse (35.174±0.44 mg gds-1). Biomass hydrolysis as fungal consortium followed by bacterial consortium hydrolysis of the pre-treated biomass, yielded maximum reducing sugar (45.602±0.43 mg gds-1) from the corn cobs among the other treatment of hydrolysis. The maximum hydrolysis of the corn cobs resulted maximum reducing sugar followed by paddy straw and cane bagasse. But considering the period required for getting maximum reducing sugars, hydrolysis by fungal and bacterial consortium combinedly was not efficient. The fermentation of the isolated hydrolysate containing reducing sugars done by yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia stipitis. The yield estimation of the bioethanol from the distillate extracted by the distillation of fermented hydrolysate at 78.3ºC were ranging between the 1.762 to 3.763%. As the maximum reducing sugar released from the corn cobs during pre-treatment resulted maximum bioethanol yield (37.63±0.11 mg gds-1) with fungal followed by bacterial consortium saccharification among the four collected substrates. The least bioethanol yield was found from the paddy straw (17.623±0.118 mg gds-1).
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSEHOLD WASTES MEDIA FOR MASS PRODUCTION OF MICROBIAL INOCULANTS
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) KUNDU, PUJA; Kumari, Geeta
    Wastes generated in our house contain a large amount of valuable nutrients; can be used as substitute to develop alternate media for microbial inoculants. In this study, different household vegetable and fruit wastes were collected from different places. Nutrient content (N, P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn), pH, carbohydrate, and protein content of these wastes were analyzed. Out of 10 wastes collected, 6 wastes (moringa leaves, pumpkin seeds, banana peel, beet peel, palak root and stalk, sugarcane bagasse) were selected based on their nutrient content (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, manganese, carbohydrate, and protein). Palak root and stalk was found to be rich in calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, and manganese. While, pumpkin seeds exhibited high amount of phosphorus. However, banana peels, moringa leaves and sugarcane bagasse illustrated highest content of potassium, protein and carbohydrates, respectively. 18 household waste based liquid formulations replacing commercially available media (YEMA, NA, and KB) were designed with different combinations [commercially available media + household waste + protectants + microbial inoculants (Bacillus sp. (BS5), Pseudomonas sp. (PS2), and Rhizobium sp (RZM2)]. Viability of newly developed household waste based liquid formulation was examined at different storage temperatures (40C, 280C and 400C) at monthly intervals up to 6 months of storage period. After six months of storage, the formulations stored at 4°C exhibited the highest cell count, stable pH, and low suspensibility followed by formulations stored at 28°C and 40°C. Out of 18 newly developed household waste based liquid formulations; the formulation FYEMA4 depicted highest cell count, stable pH and lowest suspensibility followed by FNA4 and then FKB4 at 4°C, 28°C and 40°C till 6th month. All developed formulations retained nutrient solubilization characteristics (phosphorus solubilization, potassium solubilisation, siderophore production efficiency and zinc solubilisation). Liquid formulation namely FYEMA4 showed highest nutrient solubilisation potential even after longer storage period (at sixth month) followed by FNA4 and FKB4. This study revealed that household waste contain good amount of nutrients. Therefore, these wastes could be used as alternative nutrient source to design liquid media based formulation for microbial cultivation.
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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.