In horticultural crops, including chili, the wide use of synthetic fungicides has manifested to control anthracnose disease; however, these chemicals have some side effects to deal with. In reducing the dependency on synthetic fungicides, other alternatives and means need searching to prevent pathogenic fungi. Therefore, the presented study sought to examine plant extracts with the potential to inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungi Colletotrichum acutatum, the causal organism of anthracnose disease in chili. This study collected 20 potential plant species for the investigation. The leaf extraction used the maceration method in methanol and n-hexane. The contents of chemical compounds sustained the GC-MS analysis. All the leaf extracts tested for their bioactivity underwent the colony method and diffusion well. The results revealed that out of 20 types of plants, six plant species were capable of inhibiting the growth of C. acutatum fungi, including Piper nigrum, Piper ornatum, Piper retrofractum, Ficus septica, Samanea saman, and Tithonia diversifolia. The leaf extract of F. septica has the highest inhibition rate (81.11%) for the growth of C. acutatum compared with other plant leaf extracts. The GC-MS analysis of the F. septica leaf extract showed the presence of 15 types of metabolite constituents, with nine having antimicrobial activities.

Keywords: Colletotrichum acutatum, anthracnose, synthetic fungicides, side effects, botanical fungicide, leaf extract, antimicrobial properties, Ficus septica

Key findings: This latest study found plant extracts that have the potential to inhibit the growth of the pathogenic fungi Colletotrichum acutatum, which caused anthracnose disease in crop plants.

Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) is an economically important oilseed crop with an annual increase in growing grain demand. Soybean is a moderately salt-tolerant crop; however, salt stress conditions can affect its growth and yield-related traits and, eventually, reduce productivity. In saline soils, one of the techniques to increase soybean productivity is to use rhizobia inoculation. Although, using industrial rhizobia-based biofertilizers is often ineffective due to their lack of adaptability to salinity. Injecting soybeans with salt-tolerant and growth-promoting rhizobia helps mitigate the effects of salt stress harmful to crop plants. The recent study sought to isolate local strains of salt-tolerant rhizobia, studying its ability to increase soybean tolerance to salt stress conditions. Twenty-four local salt-tolerant rhizobium isolates underwent isolation from root nodules of soybean grown on saline soils. Studying their basic morphological and biochemical characteristics and ability to withstand salt stress led to the final selection of five salt-tolerant strains. The rhizobium strains were able to synthesize metabolites that stimulate growth and help reduce salt stress in plants. The study of rhizobia nodulation ability under saline conditions resulted in selecting the three most efficient strains from the Bradyrhizobium japonicum species. Inoculation of soybean seeds with salt-tolerant rhizobia proved to mitigate the adverse effects of salinity on plant growth by increasing the root size and the number of nodules in the roots. Thus, the study establishes that inoculation of soybean seeds with local salt-tolerant rhizobia enhances soybean tolerance to salt stress and improves crop growth and adaptation to soil salinity. Using isolated local strains of salt-tolerant rhizobia will help provide a key and environmentally friendly approach to solving the problem of salt stress for sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), salt-tolerant rhizobia, inoculation, salt stress conditions, salt tolerance, growth and yield traits

Key findings: Soybean inoculation with salt-tolerant rhizobia significantly reduced the salt stress effects on the plants. Substantial differences also showed between the variants with inoculation and the control (untreated). Inoculating leads to a considerable increase in root nodules, nitrogen fixation, plant growth, and stimulation of root development, which is proof of the ecological adaptation of soybean plants to soil salinity.

The presented study, held at the Research cum Instructional Farm of the College of Horticulture and Research Station, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, India, ran during the Rabi season of 2021, to investigate superior radish cultivars for selection having high yield potential and better quality root for Bastar plateau. The experiment, laid out in randomized block design (RBD), had 15 treatments and three replications. Observing high genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was for the following traits: dry and fresh weights of roots, plants, and leaves; root and leaf yields; days to 50% germination; the diameter and length of the root, North-South and East-West spread of the plant; plant height, and the number of leaf plant^-1, having recorded significant heritability and high genetic advance. Similarly, high heritability showed for root yield and fresh and dry weights of roots. Moderate heritability levels appeared for the traits, viz., the plant’s dry weight and the root diameter. The genetic gain resulted high for characters, viz., root yield and fresh and dry weights of roots. High heritability followed by high genetic advance indicates that selection may be effective for improving such characteristics. Root yield (t ha^-1) exhibited a highly significant positive correlation with the fresh weight of the plant at the phenotypic and genotypic levels, followed by dry weight of roots, dry weight of the plant, East-West spread of the plant, the diameter of the root, and leaf yield plot^-1. The fresh weight of roots had the maximum positive direct effect on root yield in the genotypic path, followed by the dry weight of roots and the plant, the East-West spread of the plant, the diameter of the root, and leaf yield in radish. The selection of these characters can benefit in improving the yield of radishes.

Keywords: radish, path coefficient, root yield, genotypic, phenotypic and correlation

Key findings: The results indicated that a genetic variation of Raphanus sativus L. can further serve the species’ conservation, characterization, and usefulness for future breeding purposes. Cultivars exhibiting higher yield potential and desirable qualities may undergo testing in different agro-climatic locations.

Contemporary agriculture is a fertile ground for the effective use of economic and mathematical models, which can be evaluated to unwind several problems with characteristic optimization features: multiple solution opportunities and freedom of choice, limited production resources, and efficiency valuation. The presented study aims to develop a model of optimal crop production structure under the existing weather risks in the agricultural management system. The article reviews the basic theoretical concepts in optimizing the production structure of agricultural enterprises, examines the specific features of crop production, proves the influence of weather and climate conditions on forming the production structure, demonstrates the use of correlation and regression analysis for trend modeling and forecasting of crop yields, and offers suggestions for determining the optimal production structure. The study concludes that multivariate forecasting helps optimize management in economic organizations and ensure their development under the variability of natural conditions. Natural and climatic conditions significantly impact the development of production structures in agricultural enterprises, along with nature acting as an innate participant in the game.

Keywords: Agricultural enterprise, economic and mathematical models, natural conditions, agricultural production structure, optimization model, weather risks

Key findings: The proposed mathematical model helps maximize the net profit and predicts the maximum possible profit gain under different production structures depending on the existing weather conditions and risks. The presented model enables agricultural enterprise management to build business strategies based on profit maximization. The said model also provides a better justification of the managerial decision-making process for optimal planning to find the reserves to improve agricultural enterprises‘ production efficiency and marketing activities in times of crisis and dynamic changes in the external environment.