We studied the species richness of flower-visiting Hymenoptera assemblages in two varieties of Brassica campestris var. toria: in variety TS-36 during the normal season grown in the riparian ecosystem and in variety TS-67 during the late season grown in the rice-ecosystem of Assam, India using five sampling methods. We aimed to investigate to what extent (i) the Hymenoptera assemblages in the two ecosystems differed from each other, (ii) the population densities of three dominant Apis spp. differed from each other, and (iii) the effectiveness of the sampling methods used differed from each other. In total, we recorded 64 Hymenoptera species belonging to 42 genera of 9 families in the two toria varieties. We detected the presence of all species in TS-36 grown as normal season crop in the riparian ecosystem, and the presence of 48 species in TS-67 grown in the rice ecosystem as a late season crop. Vespidae had the highest species richness, followed by Apidae, Megachilidae, and Halictidae. These visitors may contribute to the ecological resilience of the toria ecosystem through their service as pollinators as well as because they are natural enemies of the crop-pests. Transect walk methods sampled a higher number of species than observation plot method and colour traps. Apis cerana was the most abundant species, with a relative abundance of 38.5% and 37.9% in normal and late season crops, respectively. The mean abundance of all three Apis species was 11.1% higher in the later variety.

The laboratory study on bio-efficacy of the best compatible combination of Beauveria bassiana Vuill. (1x107) with each of neem oil (0.50%) (T1), karanja oil (0.25%) (T2), jatropha oil (0.5%) (T3), citronella oil (0.30%) (T4), along with single application of B. bassiana (1x 107) (T5), citronella oil (T6) and chlorantraniliprole 18.5% SC (positive control) (T7) against cabbage butterfly larvae, Pieris brassicae L revealed the highest (5.00, 22.50, 65.00, 92.50, 100%) larval mortality at 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 Hours After Treatment (HAT) respectively in T4. However, T6 recorded the lowest (75%) larval mortality at 120 HAT. The field efficacy of the best combination [citronella oil (0.30%) + B. bassiana (1x 107)] revealed 4.51, 11.61, 28.38% population reduction on 3rd, 5th, 7th Days After Spraying (DAS) while 42.28, 49.15, 29.98 and 43.72, 50.18, 60.77 % reduction as compared to positive control and control, respectively.

Brassica campestris L. var. toria, a major oilseed crop cultivated in India, is primarily an entomophilic species. Hymenopteran flower-visiting species provide important ecological services like pollination or pest control in Brassica crops. In this context, a study was conducted during 2015–2017 in three localities in Assam, a state in northeast India that falls under two global biodiversity hotspots—Indo–Burma and Himalayan—to bring data on the diversity of hymenopteran flower visitors of toria crops by using multiple sampling techniques and to compare the efficiency of these techniques. Altogether, nine sampling treatments were used. To assess the sampling effectiveness of the different treatments, the data from the two cropping periods of toria in each locality were analysed cumulatively and comparatively. Variable transect outperformed the other sampling methods with the highest number of hymenopteran flower visitor species recorded in toria crops at 54, representing 84.4% of the total number of species, and was followed by standard transect (34 species, 53.1%), elevated yellow trap (22 species, 34.4%), and observation plot (21 species, 32.8%). However, the importance of multiple sampling methods in this diversity study was noticed; one method alone could not sample all the species recorded. The cluster of traps and netting with transect walks was proven to be complementary and considered useful for future research studies in the upstream basin of the Burhidihing River of Assam, India.

This paper emphasized trend analysis, growth rate and instability of the area, rice production and yield, and jute Rapeseed & Mustard in Assam. In this study, the different linear and non-linear function was used to fit the best-fitted Trend with the help of the value of measures of determination (R2) and mean square error (MSE). Quadratic functions were found to be the best-fitted trend equation for the estimation of area, production and yield of selected crops of Assam. The result shows an increasing trend for area, production and yield, except the area of Jute shows decreasing Trend. The compound growth rate of area, production and yield of Rice, Jute Rapeseed & Mustard seems significant and positive growth, but the area and production of Jute revealed a negative growth rate in Assam. From the value of the coefficient of variation (C.V), it has been observed that the production of all three crops has higher variation and the area of all selected crops has lower variation. The yield of Rice seems to have a very high variation in Rice, but Jute Rapeseed & Mustard shows a stable result.

Background: Rice bran despite its nutritious value is largely underutilized. It is partly used for edible oil extraction and as animal feed or discarded as garbage. The present study was carried out with the objective of developing rice bran into a functional food ingredient for human consumption. Methods: The collected rice bran was exposed to four different treatments that included application of edible acid for activation of phytase, followed by drying at different temperatures to inactivate lipase. Standard biochemical methods were used to analyze the nutrients, anti nutrients and acid value. Result: Processing led to the reduction of phytic acid up to 43.6% and acid value up to 85.2% in comparison to raw rice bran (control) together with observation of absence of microbial load. Moreover, the processing led to the development of potential functional product with the better retention of ash, fiber, phenolic compound and crude protein content of the raw rice bran. The organoleptic evaluation revealed that the processed product can be utilized as ready-to-cook food ingredient, which might help to improve nutrition.