Objectives: A field experiment was conducted to evaluate Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) value in different age and leaf of maize hybrid and correlating with grain yield. Ten maize hybrids were replicated thricely under Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) during winter of 2018. SPAD value was measured by SPAD 502 plus meter. At 30 days interval during vegetative stage SPAD measurement were taken from T1 (top most leaf) and T3 (2nd leaf from top leaf) leaves of five randomly selected plants from one plot and they were averaged. For reproductive phase data taken from eo (leaf attached to ear) and e2 (2nd leaf from eo leaf) leaves at 10 days intervals. Same leaves were used for entire data collection.Results: Significantly different SPAD value was observed for different age and leaves of maize during pre and post anthesis. SPAD value increase with increase in age and decrease at the time of maturity. During vegetative phase T3 leaves has more SPAD value than T1. During reproductive stage eo leaves had more SPAD than e2 leaves, so center leaf of maize contributes more to grain yield. Correlation showed that there is strong positive correlation between different stage of SPAD with grain yield.

This research was carried out to estimate the genetic parameters of fifty wheat genotypes received from the Agriculture Botany Division, Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), Khumaltar, Lalitpur, in the winter season of 2014/2015 at Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), Chitwan, Nepal. The experiment was performed in an alpha lattice design with two replications in five blocks in each replication and ten plots in each block. The analysis of variance showed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all the studied traits except spike length. This implies that, except for spike length, all other traits exhibited genetic variability. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was generally higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all characters. The difference between PCV and GCV was large in spike length followed by grain weight per spike, the number of grains per spike, grain yield, thousand-grain weight, and harvest index indicating that these traits are affected by the environment as well. Moderate to high heritability associated with a high genetic gain was observed for days to flag leaf appearance, panicle length, thousand-grain weight, grain yield, and harvest index indicating the involvement of additive gene action. Grain weight per spike, number of grains per spike, thousand-grain weight, biological yield, and harvest index were significantly correlated with grain yield indicating their important contribution to grain yield. WK 2525, WK 2437, and WK 2506 were three promising genotypes in terms of grain yield.

Hybridization plays a vital role in increasing the production and productivity of maize. Evaluating maize hybrids in a specific environment is a key task for the hybrid maize program. The objective of this study was to identify a promising maize hybrid for winter planting in inner terai regions. Ten maize hybrids were evaluated in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications during the winter season of 2018 and 2019 at the research field of Purwanchal Agriculture Campus, Jhapa, Nepal. The results suggested that among tested hybrids, P3396 (11.18 tons ha−1), Shresta (10.67 tons ha−1), and Rampur Hybrid 6 (10.37 tons ha−1) produced significantly higher yield in 2018 whereas P3396 (11.10 tons ha−1), Shresta (10.20 tons ha−1), and Ganga Kaveri (10.03 tons ha−1) were the ones with the highest grain yield in 2019. Comparing both years, P3396 and Shresta consistently outperform the other hybrids in terms of grain yield, which is an important traits for the farmers. Correlation studies suggested that ear weight and thousand-grain weight showed a positive significant correlation with grain yield. Therefore, we suggest P3396 and Shresta as promising hybrids for the maize growers in the inner terai regions of Nepal.

Drought is a major abiotic factor causing rice yield loss in rainfed and drought-prone areas, so screening of the cultivars for drought tolerance is crucial. Our study screens 10 commercial rice cultivars grown in the mid-hills of Nepal and four pipeline genotypes. Our objective is to identify the superior drought-tolerant cultivar and suitable indices for screening. The 14 rice genotypes were evaluated under both drought stress and non-stress conditions in randomized complete block design with three replications. The yield reduction for the cultivars ranged from 12-54% during water-stressed conditions. The drought indices mean productivity, geometric mean productivity and stress tolerance index showed a positive and high correlation with grain yield. Based on drought indices, genotype NR 119 showed the highest mean productivity, geometric mean productivity, stress tolerance index and lowest yield loss. Further, principal component analysis bolsters our results by clustering similar drought indices and drought-tolerant cultivars. The NR 119 is followed by Chaite 5 and Chaite 4 as a drought-tolerant genotype, therefore, we recommend it for drought-prone areas of the mid-hill region of Nepal. We identified mean productivity, stress tolerance index and geometric mean productivity as important drought indices, so we recommend using this for drought screening.

Geographically, Jumla is a Himalayan mountainous region located in the Karnali Province of Nepal. It has a beautiful landscape with abundant plant and animal species and is rich in biodiversity. Jumli Marshi has been cultivated since prehistoric times. Marshi has nutritional, religious, and cultural significance. The Chumchaur of Jumla, a place where rice cultivation is carried out at the highest elevation (3050 m) of the world. In the past, the field at the bank of the Tila river was filled with Jumli Marshi rice; however, its cultivation is currently decreasing day by day due to low productivity and blast susceptibility. Farmers prefer to grow improved varieties such as Chandannath-1 and Chandannath-3 rather than Marshi. Jumla's peasant worked very hard to produce this local variety and the role of women in producing this variety is crucial. The cultivation practice for Marshi production is unique compared with other rice production practices in Nepal. Due to it’s richness in fiber (2.01 %), proteins (9.86 %), minerals such as 0.57 mg/100 ​g iron, 66.70 ​mg/100 ​g calcium, and 57.54 ​mg/100 ​g phosphorous, and low carbohydrates (72.74 %), it is regarded as suitable food for diabetes patients. Furthermore, it contains more nutrients than other rice varieties commonly grown in Nepal. Therefore, conservation and cultivation of Jumli Marshi should be promoted to preserve local diversity and contribute to sustainable local food production systems, agro-ecotourism, and crop improvement programs.