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Cobalt (Co) is considered an essential element in agriculture as it is an important constituent of vitamin B 12 . Due to natural and anthropogenic factors, heavy metals, especially Co, accumulate in agricultural fields, but their high exposure produces ramifications in crop plants, thereby reducing crop yield and biomass. Excessive Co in plants causes oxidative stress, and as the stress progresses, Co competes with iron (Fe) thereby decreasing chlorophyll content and resulting in Fe deficiency in plants. A major concern is to counter the Co toxicity. Therefore, the current study aimed to mitigate Co-stress or Co-toxicity by using siderophore producing microbes and simultaneously mobilize Co and iron (Fe) in required amounts. In this study, 250 bacteria were isolated from agricultural and non-agricultural soils and screened for siderophore production. Initial siderophore screening revealed that 28.8% of the isolates produced siderophore. Subsequent screening for Co-tolerance showed that 16 isolates were tolerant to up to 20,000 ppm of Co and produced ACC deaminase, siderophore (96.82–99.67%), indole-3-acetic acid (15.15–70.55 µg/mL) and phosphate solubilisation (39.33–142.67 µg/mL). A plate assay (200 mM Co stress) revealed that four isolates (KSBTS 12, SBTS 12, CWTS 5 and CWTS 10) enhanced the growth of black gram ( Vigna mungo L.). Furthermore, evaluation in pot studies (2000 ppm Co stress) revealed enhanced root (60.69–174.24%) and shoot length (3.27–143.96%) compared to the control. Inoculated plants also enhanced the uptake of nitrogen (37.33–42.36 mg/g) and phosphorous (3.12–3.92 mg/g), chlorophyll content (7.60–22.97 mg/g), siderophore quantity in the soils (282.41–331.53%) and the soil respiration activity such as hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (11.33–24.88 µg/g), dehydrogenase enzyme (109.76–197.26 µg/g) and alkaline phosphatase (631.53–918.20 µg/g). In conclusion, CWTS 5 ( Bacillus subtilis ) and CWTS 10 ( Bacillus albus ) can be used to mitigate Co-stress and mobilize Co and Fe in plants.

Considering the health benefits of fermentation, extrusion of fermented rice black gram mix flour can lead to developing nutritionally rich expanded snack. Hence, present study details the effect of various extrusion process variables, barrel temperature (100, 110, 120 °C), screw speed (250, 300, 350 rpm) and die opening diameter (3, 3.5 mm) on physicochemical and bioactive properties of extrudates from fermented rice-black gram flour (Rice flour: black gram flour = 3:1). Results indicated that temperature rise led to the production of a more expanded product with higher water solubility index (WSI) and lower water absorption index (WAI). Higher puffing, WSI, and bioactive content were observed in 3 mm die opening extrudates. Interestingly, extrusion cooking of fermented flour has shown a remarkable increment in phenolic content and antioxidant activity from 63.47 up to 210.3 and 7.28 up to 13.889 mg GAE/100 g, respectively. However, rise in barrel temperature showed a negative impact on bioactive attributes. Further, the optimal conditions determined by numerical optimization method for development of fermented flour-based extrudates having superior functional and enhanced bioactive properties were found to be 100 °C temperature, 289 rpm of screw and 3 mm die diameter. Principal component analysis indicated that bulk density-moisture content and phenolic content-antioxidant activity were highly positively correlated, while expansion ratio-bulk density was negatively correlated. The microstructure of extrudates showed continuous and compact structure lacking starch granules. The fuzzy logic analysis revealed that fermented flour-based extruded product had superior overall acceptability over unfermented flour extrudates.

One hundred and two blackgram genotypes were evaluated for Yellow mosaic virus (YMV) resistance based on disease scoring, molecular characterisation, yield and morphological observation. An analysis of variance and a correlation analysis were performed on nine biometric traits. The genotypes showed the highest genetic variation for a single plant yield (genotypic coefficient variation 42.72%). The genotypes were grouped into 18 clusters based on the morphological data. The genetic divergence among the blackgram genotypes was differentiated by 60 alleles using 14 polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers. The polymorphism information content value varied from 0.37 to 0.79. The multivariate analyses of the simple sequence repeat marker scorings divided the germplasm into five divergent clusters wherein, clusters viz., II, III and V accommodated 61 genotypes and all these genotypes were resistant to moderately resistant for YMV. The tolerant accessions identified from this present investigation can be directly used for further crop improvement programmes.

Starches separated from three black gram cultivars were modified by acetylation and compared to their native starches. Acetylation was carried out by treating starches with 0.04 and 0.08 g of acetic anhydride/g of starch dry weight basis (db) at 25 °C. The extent of acetylation increased proportionally with the concentration of acetic anhydride used. Retrogradation of acetylated starch pastes decreased significantly ( p  ≤ 0.05) as revealed by significant decrease in syneresis, increased freeze thaw stability and increased light transmittance. The pasting curves of 10.7 % starch slurries showed that acetylation decreased the setback viscosity values by 51.2–82.8 % and pasting temperature by 3.1–5.6 °C than respective native starches. Differential scanning calorimetry observations also revealed significant decrease in gelatinisation temperature of acetylated starches than native starches. Hardness and adhesiveness of starch gels varied between 10.3 and 32.6 g and 4.6–82.3gs, respectively which were significantly lower than corresponding native starch gels.

Attempts have been made to improve dough handling properties and quality of legume based snack by incorporating extruded black gram (EBG) flour as partial substitute for raw black gram (RBG) flour. In present work overall quality improvement was achieved by analyzing (a) thermal properties of RBG and EBG flour (b) rheological properties (shear stress, shear rate, storage modulus, loss modulus, deflection angle and complex viscosity) of legume based snack dough and (c) post frying characteristics (colour and texture) of legume based snack. Three different legume based snack samples with different flour formulations (RBG flour, RBG flour incorporated with 25% EBG flour and RBG flour incorporated with 50% EBG flour) were prepared, characterized and compared with standard market sample. Dough exhibited shear thinning behaviour and G′ and G″ showed rising behaviour with angular frequency whereas, complex viscosity showed decreasing behaviour. Herschel–Bulkley model was best fitted. Significant changes were observed in values of onset, peak and endset gelatinization temperatures on extraction of black gram flour which improved dough handling properties during papad processing and enhanced organoleptic profile of end product.

Background We collated estimates of the percentage of legume N derived from atmospheric N 2 (%Ndfa) for 14 major grain legumes and then analysed and aggregated the data to derive average values for different crops and regions/countries. The effects of cultivation year and whether data collected from experimental plots were relevant to crops growing in farmers’ fields were examined. Scope A total of 5374 %Ndfa estimates (observations) were sourced, 4205 from field experiments and 1169 on-farm measurements collected from farmer-grown crops. The largest number of reports (82) and %Ndfa estimates (1391) were for soybean. Conclusions The %Ndfa estimates for each legume species were consistent across years, except for soybean in North America. For some species estimates were also similar across geographic regions. There were no significant differences ( P  > 0.05) between estimates of %Ndfa derived from experimental plots and farmer-grown legume crops for nine of the 10 crops evaluated. Three distinct groups were identified with statistically-similar average %Ndfa values with associated standard deviations, namely: pigeonpea, faba bean and lupin – 74±11.8 %; groundnut, green and black gram, cowpea, chickpea, field pea, lentil, vetches and Bambara groundnut – 62±13.4 %; common bean – 38±11.1 %. There were three distinct different regional groupings for soybean: Brazil – 78±6.3 %; North America, Argentina, Asia, Africa and Oceania – 61±14.0 %; Europe – 44±13.8 %. Our findings provide more certainty and simplify the challenge of using field-scale measures of legume %Ndfa to estimate country-to-global inputs of fixed N from grain legumes.

Black gram is a widely grown pulse crop in Asia, prized for its nutritional value and compatibility with various cropping systems. However, the occurrence of powdery mildew, Erysiphe polygoni DC disease poses a significant challenge to black gram production, resulting in potential yield losses in Tamil Nadu. Over a six-year period, spanning from 2017-2018 to 2022-2023, field experiments were conducted during the rabi season at the black soil farm of the Agricultural Research Station in Kovilpatti. The primary objective was to evaluate the incidence of powdery mildew in black gram and establish a statistical model by correlating it with weather variables. Notably, observations of disease index were most frequent during the flowering and pod development stages of the crop. Among the eleven weather parameters considered in the study, maximum temperature, afternoon relative humidity, and sunshine hours emerged as the key contributors to explaining the variation in the Disease Index. Further, a betareg model was developed using these selected variables to predict powdery mildew incidence in black gram.

The development of nanoparticles by using bioresources has become a good practice recently to avoid hazardous chemicals and processes. The present study reports the synthesis of silver nanoparticles by using an alkaline food additive prepared from Vigna mungo plant waste ash. This food additive called “Khar” is very popular in Assam, a North-Eastern state of India. This additive was used as the reducing and stabilizing agent for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles which were then characterized using TEM, XRD, UV–visible spectroscopy, DLS and zeta potential study, FESEM, and EDX. To study the antioxidant activity of the silver nanoparticle and plant waste ash extract, phytochemical analysis was done using standard methods. The quantitative phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of phenolic and flavonoid compounds in the aqueous extract of the Vigna mungo ash which was responsible for the strong antioxidant activity of both ash extracts (IC 50  = 27.83 µg/mL) and silver nanoparticles (IC 50  = 13.74 µg/mL). The agar well diffusion method was used for the analysis of the antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles which showed remarkable antibacterial activity against both the gram-positive bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and gram-negative bacteria ( Escherichia coli ) respectively. Thus, the study reveals the utility of a traditional food additive made of Assam in the synthesis of silver nanoparticle with notable antioxidant and antibacterial activity. Graphical Abstract

Black gram [ Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] is a highly nutritious grain legume crop, mainly grown in South and Southeast Asia, with the largest area in India, where the crop is challenged by several biotic and abiotic stresses leading to significant yield losses. Improving genetic gains to increase on-farm yields is the primary goal of black gram breeding programs. This could be achieved by developing varieties resistant to major diseases like mungbean yellow mosaic disease, urdbean leaf crinkle virus, Cercospora leaf spot, anthracnose, powdery mildew, and insect pests such as whitefly, cowpea aphids, thrips, stem flies, and bruchids. Along with increasing on-farm yields, incorporating market-preferred traits ensures the adoption of improved varieties. Black gram breeding programs rely upon a limited number of parental lines, leading to a narrow genetic base of the developed varieties. For accelerating genetic gain, there is an urgent need to include more diverse genetic material for improving traits for better adaptability and stress resistance in breeding populations. The present review summarizes the importance of black gram, the major biotic and abiotic stresses, available genetic and genomic resources, major traits for potential crop improvement, their inheritance, and the breeding approaches being used in black gram for the development of new varieties.

Farming system research (FSR) is on‐farm research that brings cutting‐edge agricultural technologies to growers to enhance farm production, family income, and livelihood status. In 2007, an on‐farm study was started on FSR in central India, and the effect was assessed after 5 yr (2012–2013) of implementation by comparing adopters and nonadopters of FSR‐based promoted technologies. Further, in 2018–2019, the status of adoption of introduced technologies was also assessed. The study revealed that improved practices such as pre‐sowing irrigation, high‐yielding varieties, and crop protection measures collectively improved the system productivity of the adopters by 28%; the improved productivity was mainly due to increased yield of blackgram (Vigna mungo L., 157%), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L., 34%), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L., 12%). Adoption of ration balancing and healthcare practices promoted under the FSR project accentuated the milk yield of farm animals (200 L yr–1 cattle–1) of adopters. The farm diversification and sustainable production practices under the FSR‐based interventions increased family income of adopters by 35% (US$1,517.7 yr–1) and employment by 42%. Adopter households averaged a 33.76% higher return per unit of investment than nonadopters. The estimated change is primarily due to the non‐neutral technological change. The findings of the study offer important lessons for the promotion of FSR‐based interventions for improving the livelihood of resource‐poor farmers in arid and the semi‐arid regions across the world. Core Ideas Technology dissemination through farming system research has increased crop and milk yields among farmers. Farm and crop diversification has increased employment and income for farmers. Adopter households averaged a 33.76% higher return per unit of investment than nonadopters. The estimated change is primarily due to the non‐neutral technological change.