The transformation from traditional financial methods to the adoption of new financial technologies is a key challenge for micro and small business enterprises in ensuring sustainability. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the key factors of financial literacy and examining their significance in adoption of FinTech by MSEs in Odisha that leads to sustainability of the firm. The study has been conducted using the MCDM technique integrating grey Delphi for relevant factor identification and Fuzzy AHP for prioritizing the factors of financial literacy. In total, 33 financial literacy factors were initially identified through extensive literature review, which were reduced to 18 factors using grey Delphi. Further, these factors were prioritized on the level of their significance towards FinTech adoption, using fuzzy AHP. The results of the study highlighted that financial knowledge holds greater significance among all four criteria of financial literacy, i.e., financial knowledge, financial behaviour, financial attitude, and financial training, towards adoption of FinTech ensuring sustainability in MSEs. The prioritization of the factors further revealed that knowledge of current products and services, evaluation of FinTech products, expenditure behaviour, assurance for the future security, and financial education have the most significant impact on the adoption of FinTech services by entrepreneurs. The study is innovative as it shows the importance of financial literacy factors in influencing the adoption of FinTech by micro and small businesses, which helps in ensuring firms’ sustainability. The results of the study have come up with some key factors, which need to be considered at priority basis if an MSE is willing to adopt FinTech services for its operations to ensure sustainable practices.

The present study was undertaken to assess the allelopathic effect of Echinochloa colona L. and Cyperus iria L. in relation to the germination and primary growth of Oryza sativa L. (rice) and Glycine max L. (soyabean). Effects of dichloromethane (DCM) and double distilled water soluble (DDW) fractions of E. colona L. and C. iria L. root and aerial part extracts reduced germination and suppressed early seedling growth of rice and soyabean. With increase in extract concentration from 1 to 100 mg/mL, a gradual decrease in seed germination and seedling length occurred. The highest growth of G. max seedling was recorded in DDW fraction of E. colona aerial part extract at 1 mg/mL concentration with 94% germination and the lowest length was found in DCM fraction of C. iria root extract at 100 mg/mL concentration with 65% germination. In O. sativa, the highest length was noted at 1 mg/mL concentration in DDW fraction of E. colona aerial part extract with 82% germination and the lowest length was found in DCM fraction of C. iria and E. colona root extracts with germination 57% and 62%, respectively, at 100 mg/mL concentration. The results suggested that these weeds had good allelopathic potential which reduces germination and plant growth.

This study was carried out in the Tarai region of Uttarakhand, India to estimate the carbon stock and sequestration potential of Dalbergia latifolia and Melia composita plantations of different ages (4 and 6 years old). A total of 14 regression equations using one variable, dbh (diameter at breast height), were primarily selected for both of the tree species component-wise. Tree density was 880 and 960 individuals ha⁻¹ in D. latifolia and M. composita monoplantations, respectively. These equations were statistically significant (p < 0.01, p < 0.05) at 95% confidence interval. The total biomass of trees, shrubs, and herbs at the different-aged plantations varied from 68.86 to 145.14 Mg ha⁻¹, 1.29 to 2.41 Mg ha⁻¹, and 1.14 to 3.68 Mg ha⁻¹, respectively. Among the studied plantations, the maximum total biomass of 145.14 Mg ha⁻¹ was recorded at the M. composita plantation (7 years old), resulting in the maximum carbon stock of 68.94 Mg C ha⁻¹. Total NPP ranged from 5.6 Mg ha⁻¹yr⁻¹ to 16.01 Mg ha⁻¹yr⁻¹ for both plantations of different ages. The carbon sequestration in the M. composita 7-year-old plantation was 7.6 Mg Cha⁻¹yr⁻¹. Quantified carbon sequestration among different tree components must be considered for tree-level inventories for carbon trading schemes when determining the long-term carbon pools under the Paris agreement.

Polygonatum cirrhifolium Royle (Meda), a herb belonging to the Liliaceae family, is known for its medicinal, cultural and ethno-botanical uses. However, due to its great market potential, it is harvested and grown in an uncontrolled way; overexploitation has caused the decline of the herb from its natural habitat. Since finding new organic treatments can help conserve the plant, a 2-year field experiment was undertaken to study the effect of different organic fertilizers and the nature of nursery beds on the survival, morphological growth and yield of this plant. The observations were recorded in 15-day intervals. The results show that yield was lower in control beds when compared with forest litter, farmyard manure and vermicompost in all type of beds prepared in rows, furrows and plain. The yield was highest at beds located at plantation with furrows which were supplemented with forest litter. Thus, it can be concluded that the cultivation of P. cirrhifolium is optimal in beds with rows and furrows (plantation in furrows) and supplemented with forest litter. In addition, composted organic material also improves both soil quality and fertility and regulates water. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on ex situ conservation of P. cirrhifolium from Kumaun Himalaya.

Microstylis wallichii Lindl. is a Rasayana and belongs to the “Astverga”. It is an important medicine traditionally known since Vedic period but study on its phytoconstituents is very limited. Metal content and volatile constituents in M. wallichii (family Orchidaceae) collected from Uttarakhand were analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and GC and GC-MS respectively. Chemical analysis revealed that wild M. wallichii contained 6.48 ppm Cu, 43.00 ppm Zn, 35.00 ppm Mn, 331.00 ppm Fe, 21600.00 ppm K, 9000.00 ppm Ca, 2800.00 ppm Mg, 198.00 ppm Al, 26.70 ppm Ba, 55.60 ppm B, 0.30 ppm Mo, 156.00 ppm Cl. Fatty acids analysis revealed the presence of the following constituents-linoleic acid (18:2ω6) 61.20% (w/w), α-linolenic acid 18.10% (w/w), oleic acid 12.00 % (w/w), palmitic acid (16:0) 6.00% (w/w), stearic acid (18:0) 2.10% (w/w), γ-linolenic acid (18:3ω6) 2.20% (w/w), eicosanoic acid (20:0) 0.81 % (w/w), eicosenoic acid (20:1) 0.42% (w/w) and eicosadienoic acid (20:2) 0.04% (w/w). Cultivated M. wallichii contained 7.18 ppm Cu, 49.50 ppm Zn, 37.00 ppm Mn, 352.45 ppm Fe, 23000.00 ppm K, 13000.00 ppm Ca, 5300.00 ppm Mg, 217.50 ppm Al, 37.50 ppm Ba, 59.70 ppm B, 0.27 ppm Mo, 148.00 ppm Cl. Analysis of fatty acids reported following constitutents of cultivated M. wallichii - linoleic acid (18:2ω6) 65.23% (w/w), α-linolenic acid 15.50% (w/w), oleic acid 14.87 % (w/w), palmitic acid (16:0) 5.90% (w/w), stearic acid (18:0) 2.50% (w/w), γ-linolenic acid (18:3ω6) 1.87% (w/w), eicosanoic acid (20:0) 0.69 % (w/w), eicosenoic acid (20:1) 0.52% (w/w) and eicosadienoic acid (20:2) 0.07% (w/w). Other chemical constituents which were isolated from wild and cultivated M. wallichii were vitamins α–tocopherol and γ-tocopherol 12.00-9.80 ppm and 695.00-786.7 ppm respectively while terpenoids 18.00-20.50%. It has an acid value of 1.20-1.39 and saponification value of 103.00-110.50. Key words: Microstylis wallichii; metal content; volatile constituents; GC-MS