An elephant, being a mega herbivore, consumes large amounts of food. Due to the lack of availability of fodder inside the forest, the elephants move out of their habitat areas and also find agricultural crops attractive, which further results in man–animal conflict. To improve the elephant habitat area, the current study was conducted to assess the availability of native fodder grasses inside the Coimbatore Elephant Reserve, Western Ghats, from April 2021–April 2022. The area falls between 10°37′and 11°31′ North latitudes and 76°39′and 77°5′ East longitudes. It was approached in a systematic random sampling method. A total of 128 sample plots of 1 sq.m size were randomly placed, and the density of grass species was recorded in percentage (%). The collected samples were shade dried for one week, ground to pass through a 1 mm sieve, and stored in polythene bags. Furthermore, the samples were chemically analyzed to determine their nutritional values. The dry matter (DM) content of various grass fodder varied from 28.18% to 59.75%. The crude protein (CP) content differed between 5.94% and 11.94%. The highest CP was recorded in Cynodon dactylon (11.94%) and the least in Aristida setacea (5.94%). Ether extract content was found in the ranges of 1.00% to 5.00%. The acid detergent fibre (ADF) content of Aristida setacea (45.74%) was observed as the highest, whereas the lowest was observed in Oplismenus burmannii (26.78%), followed by Themeda triandra (26.85%), Heteropogon contortus (30.12%) and Enteropogon monostachyos (30.31%). The average neutral detergent fibre content of grass fodder was 52.27%, with a range of 37.89% (Oplismenus burmannii) to 67.87% (Cymbopogon martinii). The average total digestible nutrient (TDN) content of grass was 77.45%; relative forage quality (RFQ) exhibited wider variations among the grasses and ranged between 107.51 and 198.83. This study is a pioneer in evaluating the nutritional values of native grass fodder species for elephants in the Western Ghats. The study gives strategies for the selection of high nutritive fodder grass for the habitat improvement of elephants, and it also provides scientific and baseline information for the conservation of native grass fodder species in the Western Ghats.

One health approach, a strategy of sustainably balancing and optimizing human, animal, and ecosystem health, provides a serious platform for tackling sustainability issues in agriculture. This one health model attempts to reduce zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and environmental degradation by increasing food security through ecosystem services, which are the benefits of natural processes (provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services). To analyse synergies between One Health and ecosystem services in agrifood systems, this commentary will rely on post-2015 literature, particularly peer-reviewed studies, and reports published by international organisations, e.g., FAO, WHO, and IPBES. Observational data from sub-Saharan Africa show that the prevalence of AMR is high, with multidrug-resistant bacteria found in 62.9-87.4 percent of farming sources in Ethiopia, demonstrating the importance of combined efforts. However, a methodological limitation, including the lack of longitudinal information, hampered rigorous evaluation. Policy recommendations include multisectoral programs of action to enhance resilience, and prevention efforts may have a higher benefit-cost ratio. Agroecological surveillance and innovation may complement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2, 3, and 15, with inconsistent evidence on their potential to scale in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but more research is needed in longitudinal studies.

The study was undertaken to identify the optimal concentration of IBA and type of cuttings suitable for propagation of Callistemon lanceolatus and it was conducted at the Vanavarayar Institute of Agriculture, Pollachi, Coimbatore, India from December 2022 to September 2023. The experiment addressed the challenges of seed propagation, such as their seed capsules need to be activated by fire and the unpredictable nature of seed germination, which results in high progeny diversity due to genetic recombination. The investigation focused on apical and stem cuttings subjected to fifteen different treatments with three replications each; the Tukey test was used for statistical analysis; the cuttings were treated with various concentrations of Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and placed under polytunnel conditions; observations were made after 45 days, measuring sprouting percentage, rooting percentage, mean number of leaves, shoot length, mean number of roots, and root length per cutting. In light of these issues, the study explored clonal propagation as an alternative for mass multiplication of elite trees. The results of the study depicted that the maximum rooting percentage and root length were observed in T6 (73.28±8.87%) and (12.54±0.00cm) due to the exogenous application of auxin. On the whole, the result of this investigation suggest that apical shoot cuttings with IBA at 6000ppm can be made to induce maximum rooting and to produce high quality planting stock material for clonal propagation in Callistemon lanceolatus.

Background During April, 2021-April, 2022, the field survey was conducted in Mettupalyam Forest range of Coimbatore Forest Division which is an integral part of Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve and it was approached in a systematic random sampling method with 60 sample plots of 20x 20 m and 8 transect line survey at 0.2% sampling intensity were laid out in which study area were catalogued with 54 trees, 25 shrubs, 22 herbs and 22 grasses. Results The result revealed that the maximum dominance were observed in Atlantia monophylla (32.20), Lantana camara (43.02), Abutilon indicum (54.87) and Oplismenus burmanii (19.34%) and minimum in Glycosmis pentaphylla (12.32), Euphorbia heterophylla (2.18), Mimosa pudica (2.82) and Melinis repens (0.18%) in tree, shrubs, herbs and grass layer, respectively. Furthermore, the highest Shannon D index (H = 3.08) observed in TL, followed by GL (H = 2.76), HL (2.28) and SL (2.25) along with Simpson index also higher in GL (1-D = 0.92), TL (1-D = 0.91), HL (1-D = 0.86) and SL (1-D = 0.84), respectively. Conclusion Cataloguing flora in Mettupalayam Reserve Forest is the pioneer study which gives scientific and baseline information for conservation of flora in the forest.