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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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20221
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Subject: Plant Pathology × Author: CHAKRABORTY, SANJUKTA × End date: 2024 × Start date: 2020 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTAGONISTIC ENDOPHYTES OF BANANA IN RELATION TO Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense TR4
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2022) CHAKRABORTY, SANJUKTA; Singh, S. K.
    Banana, the “Kalpavriksha”, is the major fruit crop of the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world with diverse benefits which adds to its high demand in the domestic as well as global market. However, in spite of the pleasures, banana has been occasionally distressing for mankind, contributed by the decrease in their quality production and productivity by a multitude of biotic and abiotic stresses. Fusarium wilt of banana incited by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc), more recently the more morbific race of the pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), is the major limiting biotic factor. With chemical measures resulting in the futile and non-availability of resistant cultivars at the commercial scale, endophytes are sought as one of the most promising tools for an environment-friendly biological approach to the management of the lethal disease. So far, however, the native endophytic community of banana especially in the Indian scenario has been explored to a limited extent. Hence, the present study was designed to explore and in-depth review the most promising antagonistic endophytes of banana against Foc TR4 and biochemically characterize them for their antagonistic potential. A total of 13 fungal and 55 bacterial endophytes were isolated from the pseudostem, rhizome and root of four cultivars of banana Red banana (AAA), Grand naine (AAA), Malbhog (AAB) and Kothia (ABB). These isolates were initially screened for their antagonistic potential against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense race 1 (Foc race1) and the results revealed 1 fungal, KERF-1 and 5 bacterial viz.,., RbERB-2, MERB-2, KERhB-11, KERB-1 and KERB-5 endophytes with more than 65 % inhibition of mycelium (PI) over control, highest recorded for isolate KERF-1 i.e., 77.37% and KERB-1 i.e., 82.09%, respectively. Further, confrontation bioassay of resulting isolates with significantly high percent inhibition of mycelium (PI), for their antagonistic potential against Foc TR4 reflected that three isolates KERF-1, KERB-1 and KERB-5 reduced the mycelial growth of the test pathogen by more than 70 % in vitro, with highest PI recorded for isolate KERB-5 i.e., 78.51 %, followed by KERB-1 with PI 73.65 % and KERF-1 with PI 73.27 %. All the five potential bacterial isolates tested gram-positive, KOH negative and catalase positive. Biochemical characterization of all 6 potential antagonistic endophytes based on siderophore production assay, hydrogen cyanide production assay, ammonia production assay and cellulase activity revealed that each endophyte exhibited at least two of these properties. 0ut of the 6 isolates, 5 tested positive for siderophore production except for the isolate KERhB-11 and resultantly, the highest siderophore production of 89.67 percent siderophore units was observed for the bacterial isolate KERB-1. For cellulase activity, all the isolates exhibited the potential to produce cellulase with the highest hydrolysis capacity (HC) found in the bacterial isolate KERhB-11 i.e., 4.20. In the qualitative assays for ammonia production and hydrogen cyanide production, all the 6 and 1 isolates (KERF-1) tested positive, respectively. Furthermore, the antagonistic isolates KERB-5, KERB-1 and KERF-1 were molecularly identified as Bacillus velezensis strain 1, Bacillus velezensis strain 2 and Trichoderma asperellum, respectively on the basis of sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 16S rDNA. Taken together, the findings of the study suggest Bacillus velezensis strain 2 with significantly higher percent inhibition of 82.09% and 73.65 %, respectively, siderophore production of 89. 67 percent siderophore units and cellulase activity with HC ratio 4. 07, as the most promising antagonistic endophyte of banana against Foc Race 1 and Foc TR4. In conclusion, the study anticipates the use of the most effective strain KERB-1 incorporated with the other two strains KERB-5 and KERF-1 with higher percent inhibition however, lower siderophore production and cellulase activity, in the formulation and standardization of consortia as well as evaluation of compatibility with the new generation fungicides for inclusion in integrated disease management practices against the pathogen under study.