Radish is a widely cultivated popular and economically important vegetable that can be consumed both as raw as well as in cooked form. However, its production is severely impacted by flea beetles almost round the year. The adults feed on leaves and larvae on roots. Numerous small shot holes on the leaves and dark stripes on the roots are the typical damage symptoms caused by beetle infestation. The biology, molecular taxonomy, damage severity and management of the Phyllotreta striolata along with economics have been studied. In the present study, an integrated organic pest management module was evaluated to control this nefarious pest in the present experiment which includes the following approaches: soil application of neem cake @ 500 kg/ha before radish seed sowing, inter-cropping with Indian mustard every alternate 8 rows as a trap crop 15 days before radish sowing, application of vermicompost enriched with Metarhizium anisopliae @ 10 g/kg of vermicompost during seed sowing; soil application of Heterorhabditis indica @ 10 kg/ha mixed with moist sand with light irrigation, need-based foliar spraying of Metarhizium anisopliae + Neem oil @ 2.5 g/lit + 2.5 ml/lit at 25 and 45 days after sowing (DAS) and Azadirachtin 300 ppm @ 5 ml/lit at 35 DAS were found significantly effective (P < 0.0001) in reducing number of shot holes (37.64/leaf), stripes on radish (7.37/root), population of adults (2.61/plant) and larvae (2.9 on radish root and rhizosphere) compared to farmers' practices (58.09, 16.48, 3.67 and 5.6, respectively) and untreated control plots (139.37, 32.46, 7.58 and 8.3, respectively) at 21 DAS. The organic IPM module had highest root yield (19.3 t/ha) accompanied by highest incremental cost benefit ratio (ICBR) of 1:2.81 followed by farmers' practices (13.9 t/ha and ICBR = 1:2.29) and untreated control (8.4 t/ha and ICBR = 1:1.92). The developed organic pest management module was found highly promising in management of radish flea beetle.

Alkaline stress imposes significant constraints on agriculture by reducing nutrient availability and inhibiting plant growth. This study examines the physiological and biochemical responses of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seedlings to alkaline stress, with implications for improving crop resilience. Chickpea seedlings were subjected to combined Na2CO3 and NaHCO3 treatments, and changes in growth, root morphology, and nutrient uptake were evaluated. Alkaline stress led to substantial reductions in growth metrics (shoot and root length, fresh and dry weights), root-to-shoot ratio, and lateral root number, indicating pronounced root damage. This damage was associated with elevated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels, increased membrane damage, and reduced cell viability. In response to alkaline stress, chickpea roots accumulated osmolytes (proline, soluble sugars) and upregulated antioxidant enzymes (catalase, ascorbate peroxidase) as an adaptive response to mitigate osmotic and oxidative stress. Ion homeostasis was disrupted, with decreased uptake of essential nutrients like K, P, Mn, Fe, and Zn, while the uptake of Na, Mg, and Ca increased, disturbing nutrient balance. These findings underscore the need for strategies, such as genetic improvement to enhance alkaline stress tolerance in chickpea, contributing to improved crop performance in challenging soil conditions.

Strawberry, a globally popular crop whose fruit are known for their taste and health benefits, were used to evaluate the effects of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) on plant physiology and fruit quality. Plants were grown in 2-L pots with natural soil mixed with PE-MPs at two concentrations (0.2% and 0.02%; w/w) and sizes (13 35 and 125 mu m). Plant physiological responses, root histochemical and anatomical analyses as well as fruit biometric and quality features were conducted. Plants subjected to 13 35 mu m/0.2% PE-MPs exhibited the most severe effects in terms of CO2 assimilation due to stomatal limitations, along with the highest level of oxidative stress in roots. Though no differences were observed in plant biomass, the impact on fruit quality traits was severe in 13 35 mu m/0.2% MPs treatment resulting in a drop in fruit weight (-42%), soluble solid (-10%) and anthocyanin contents (-25%). The smallest sized PE-MPs, adsorbed on the root surface, impaired plant water status by damaging the radical apparatus, which finally resulted in alteration of plant physiology and fruit quality. Further research is required to determine if these alterations also occur with other MPs and to understand more deeply the MPs influence on fruit physio-chemistry.

In this study, greenhouse tests were conducted on 240 Fraxinus excelsior seedlings to investigate the simultaneous damage caused by thea pathogenic fungus and oomycetes. The experiment was performed under controlled conditions in the greenhouse of the Institute of Forest Research in S & eogon;kocin Stary (Poland). Three species of oomycetes were used for the experiment: Phytophthora plurivora, Phytophthora taxon hungarica, Phytophthora megasperma, and the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Inoculations using the fungus were carried out on shoots and in plant pots in which the soil was mixed with the three Phytophthora species mentioned above, both simultaneously and separately, which made it possible to recognize the cumulative effect of the related plant infection. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of phosphite-containing preparations on the health of common ash under conditions of threat to the roots by Phytophthora spp. and damage to the aerial parts of the plant by the fungus, as well as the possible occurrence of synergistic effects. Two types of protective preparations (Actifos and Phos60 of the nitrogen and potassium forms, respectively) were used. It was found that the inoculation of ash seedlings with the fungus H. fraxineus resulted in plant mortality, while the mixture of Phytophthora did not cause significant damage. It was confirmed that when pathogens coexist, a phenomenon occurs that leads to an acceleration in the development of disease symptoms and, thus, to plant mortality. In vitro tests confirmed the usefulness of phosphite preparations for the protection of ash seedlings.

Background: Root cutting caused by underground coal mining subsidence is among the leading causes of plant damage in western China. Detection of root cutting stress is of great importance in evaluating the degree of plant damage and changes in physiological conditions in underground coal mining disturbance conditions. Methods: The present study assessed the use of chlorophyll fluorescence OJIP transient data to evaluate the disturbance characteristics of root cutting stress on leaf photosynthetic mechanisms in the typical shrub Artemisia ordosica Krasch. Different root cutting ratios (10%, 20%, 30%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were established on the roots of A. ordosica in the field, and the OJIP transient and JIP parameters of the leaves were measured. Results: The overall OJIP curves and each OJIP step in leaves decreased as the root cutting ratio increased, but the impact was relatively small for root cutting ratios of less than 30%. Through the analysis of JIP parameters and the established energy pipeline model, it was found that the energy capture efficiency and electron transfer efficiency of photosystem II decreased as the root cutting ratio increased. Therefore, we also inferred that the threshold for the plant root cutting ratio at which leaf photosynthetic mechanisms begin to change is 30-50%. Conclusion: These results indicate that OJIP transient analysis can serve as a non-destructive, rapid technique for detecting plant root cutting stress in coal mining subsidence areas, which is of great value for non-destructive monitoring of plant root damage.