Biomass yield and quality are the primary targets in forage crop improvement programs worldwide. Low-quality fodder reduces the quality of dairy products and affects cattle’s health. In multipurpose crops, such as maize, sorghum, cowpea, alfalfa, and oat, a plethora of morphological and biochemical/nutritional quality studies have been conducted. However, the overall growth in fodder quality improvement is not on par with cereals or major food crops. The use of advanced technologies, such as multi-omics, has increased crop improvement programs manyfold. Traits such as stay-green, the number of tillers per plant, total biomass, and tolerance to biotic and/or abiotic stresses can be targeted in fodder crop improvement programs. Omic technologies, namely genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and phenomics, provide an efficient way to develop better cultivars. There is an abundance of scope for fodder quality improvement by improving the forage nutrition quality, edible quality, and digestibility. The present review includes a brief description of the established omics technologies for five major fodder crops, i.e., sorghum, cowpea, maize, oats, and alfalfa. Additionally, current improvements and future perspectives have been highlighted.

Background: DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) characterization of crop varieties is essential for determining the novelty of a variety, ensuring phenotypic consistency across generations and verifying its stability in expression of traits over time. This process is integral to the protection of intellectual property rights and the regulation of seed certification. Methods: One hundred fifty genotypes were evaluated using 20 agro-morphological DUS descriptors at three different locations in Haryana, India (Pulses Research Area, CCS HAU, Hisar, CCS HAU Rice Research Station, Kaul and KVK, Ambala) during the two years i.e. Rabi 2022-22 and 2023-24 (six environments) in Alfa-lattice design with three replications at each location. Result: High magnitude of variability was observed among fieldpea genotypes for all the studied DUS traits except foliage waxy bloom, stipule rabbit eared stipules, type of stipule, days to 50% flowering and seed weight where single type of plant were observed. These descriptors remained stable across three locations (Hisar, Ambala and Kaul) and can be extremely useful for characterizing fieldpea genotypes. Stem anthocyanin coloration, stem colour, leaflets, flower colour, leaf axil colour, number of pod per axil, pod shape at distal end and seed surface displayed dimorphic variation while, foliage colour, seed shape and seed cotyledon colour exhibited tri-morphic variation and only pod curvature showed tetra-morphic variation. All the 150 genotypes were classified into five clusters, with the highest number of genotypes (63) in cluster III followed by cluster IV (44) and cluster V (22). Whereas, lowest number of genotypes were observed in cluster III (6) followed by cluster II (15).

The present study was carried out in eight districts of Haryana state. The outcomes of the study were explained after completing a field survey in which a total of 480 farmers (60 from each district) were interviewed using a well-structured interview schedule. The results were visualized that in comparison to manufacturing industries and renewable energy production, respondents in the study had a high level of awareness about the possible use of straw in agriculture especially in live-stock feeding and in making of compost and vermi-compost. They were also well aware about the use of straw in paper making and in bio-fuel production. The major constraints reported were ‘straw of paddy delay in wheat sowing’, ‘non-availability of suitable technology’ and ‘high cost of residue management machines’. Management constraints were ranked first among the various types of constraints, followed by financial and then technical constraints. Farmers were also aware about benefits of straw management i.e. straw management helps in controlling carbon emission and improving soil health.

Background: Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] is one among the most important and oldest cultivated pulse crop of the world grown in different seasons. The present investigation was carried out to access variability, correlation, path coefficients and cluster analysis for better understanding of genetic architecture of seed yield and its attributes in mungbean. Methods: The experimental material consisted of 142 diverse mungbean genotypes including released varieties from different agro-climatic zones of India and advanced genotypes developed at CCS HAU, Hisar. These genotypes were evaluated at Pulses Research Area, CCS HAU, Hisar during kharif 2021 and 2022 in randomized block design with two replications. Each genotype was planted in three rows, each of 4 m length with spacing of 45 cm between the rows and 10 cm between plants. Result: The narrow differences between PCV and GCV indicated that the observed variation primarily stemmed from genetic factors, thereby suggesting ample opportunities for selection. Most of the characters exhibited high heritability with high, moderate or low genetic advance indicating presence of both additive and non-additive gene action, therefore, recombinant breeding in early generations will be beneficial. The correlation and path analysis suggested that selection for traits such as seeds per pod, number of pods per plant and 100-seed weight would prove effective in enhancing mungbean seed yield. The hierarchical cluster analysis grouped the genotypes into eight diverse clusters. Cluster IV was found to have better performing genotypes in terms of yield as well as yield related traits. Overall, genotypes MH 1468, MH 1871, MH 1762, IPM 604-16 and IPM 205-7 were found significantly early in maturity along with high mean values of seed yield and its related traits. As a result, these genotypes can be further used in breeding programmes for mungbean improvement.