Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) enhance plant growth, as well as protect plants from several biotic and abiotic stresses through a variety of mechanisms. Therefore, the exploitation of PGPB in agriculture is feasible as it offers sustainable and eco-friendly approaches to maintaining soil health while increasing crop productivity. The vital key of PGPB application in agriculture is its effectiveness in colonizing plant roots and the phyllosphere, and in developing a protective umbrella through the formation of microcolonies and biofilms. Biofilms offer several benefits to PGPB, such as enhancing resistance to adverse environmental conditions, protecting against pathogens, improving the acquisition of nutrients released in the plant environment, and facilitating beneficial bacteria–plant interactions. Therefore, bacterial biofilms can successfully compete with other microorganisms found on plant surfaces. In addition, plant-associated PGPB biofilms are capable of protecting colonization sites, cycling nutrients, enhancing pathogen defenses, and increasing tolerance to abiotic stresses, thereby increasing agricultural productivity and crop yields. This review highlights the role of biofilms in bacterial colonization of plant surfaces and the strategies used by biofilm-forming PGPB. Moreover, the factors influencing PGPB biofilm formation at plant root and shoot interfaces are critically discussed. This will pave the role of PGPB biofilms in developing bacterial formulations and addressing the challenges related to their efficacy and competence in agriculture for sustainability.

The present study was conducted to design, develop and evaluate a wireless-based automated drip irrigation system for improving the productivity of tomato crop. Various independent and dependent parameters were considered in design of automated drip irrigation system. The field trial included soil analysis, experimental layout, evaluation of drip system and crop under different irrigation treatments. The highest yield was recorded in wireless irrigation system with treated fruit processing wastewater during both the years of study. In wireless irrigation system, crop irrigated with pressure compensating dripper (PC) has an average yield of 377.97 q ha-¹which is higher as compared to non-pressure compensating dripper (NPC) (364.65 q ha-1). Under the treatments involving the use of fruit processing wastewater in the tomato crop, the percentage of protein, moisture content, carbohydrates, lycopene and sugar increased as compared to those under groundwater irrigation. Treatments comprising of fruit processing wastewater recorded higher dry matter accumulation (6.67 %) and more amounts of lycopene (4.50 mg/100 g) as compared to ground water treated plots. The study revealed that the automated drip irrigation system is an efficient irrigation approach, as it reduces water, labour, energy, time and fertiliser use.

During the winter (Rabi) season of 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, a field experiment on potatoes was carried out at the vegetable research farm ANDUA&T, Kumarganj, Ayodhya (U.P.), AICRP on potato in Middle Gangetic Plains. Ten treatment combinations with three replications were used in the Randomized Block Design trial. The clay-loam soil used in the experiment had an EC of 0.27 (dS m-1) and a pH of 7.81. According to the soil’s nutrient study, it has available potassium (275.12 kg ha-1), available phosphorus (18.01 kg ha-1) and available nitrogen (175.51 kg ha-1). Maximum plant emergence (96.22 %), number of haulm (7.48 hill-1), plant height at 30 days after planting (DAP) (28.83 cm), 60 DAP (56.20 cm) and harvest stage (60.54 cm), number of leaves per plant at 30 DAP (32.42), 60 DAP (48.72) and harvesting stage (56.25) were noted in T6, while the lowest plant emergence (90.96 %), number of haulm (4.16 hill-1), plant height at 30 DAP (22.04 cm), 60 DAP (45.99 cm), harvesting stage (48.99 cm), number of leaves per plant at 30 DAP (24.18), 60 DAP (40.18) and harvesting stage (45.20) was noted in T10. Compared to the control, the grade-wise tuber was significant in T6.

Crop residue management plays an important role in improving the physio-chemical properties of soil, which are essential for sustainable crop production, particularly in rice-based cropping systems. This study investigated the effects of various rice residue management strategies, specifically the incorporation of paddy straw at 5 t ha⁻¹ combined with different levels of recommended NPK doses and the application of a decomposer, on soil physico-chemical properties and the availability of macro- and micronutrients across different soil depths. The results indicated that incorporating residues significantly reduced bulk density while increasing particle density, organic carbon content, and the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium at different soil depths. The most notable improvements were recorded in treatments that combined straw incorporation with 125 % of the recommended nitrogen dose and hyper lignocellulolytic fungal consortium (Aspergillus spp., Phlebia radiata, and Trichoderma viride), applied as 10 L of inoculum mixed with 200 L of water per acre of straw, with a viable count of 107 cfu/mL. However, these treatments also led to a decrease in soil pH (7.66), likely due to the formation of organic acids during the decomposition process. EC levels rose as a result of mineralization and the release of soluble salts. Overall, the study highlights that integrated residue management through paddy straw incorporation alongside balanced fertilization and microbial decomposer application enhances decomposition for improved soil physical structure and nutrient availability, ultimately supporting soil health and sustainable productivity in rice-wheat cropping systems.

Vigorous efforts to harness the topological properties of light have enabled a multitude of novel applications. Translating the applications of structured light to higher spatial and temporal resolutions mandates their controlled generation, manipulation, and thorough characterization in the short-wavelength regime. Here, we resort to high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in a noble gas to upconvert near-infrared (IR) vector, vortex, and vector-vortex driving beams that are tailored respectively in their Spin Angular Momentum (SAM), Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM), and simultaneously in their SAM and OAM. We show that HHG enables the controlled generation of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) vector beams exhibiting various spatially-dependent polarization distributions, or EUV vortex beams with a highly twisted phase. Moreover, we demonstrate the generation of EUV vector-vortex beams (VVB) bearing combined characteristics of vector and vortex beams. We rely on EUV wavefront sensing to unambiguously affirm the topological charge scaling of the HHG beams with the harmonic order. Interestingly, our work shows that HHG allows for a synchronous controlled manipulation of SAM and OAM. These EUV structured beams bring in the promising scenario of their applications at nanometric spatial and sub-femtosecond temporal resolutions using a table-top harmonic source.