Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is adorned as the one of the important sources of vegetable oil, protein, vitamins and several minerals, which could mitigate the nutritional gap worldwide. However, peanut cultivation in winter suffers from low temperature stress and knowledge lacuna regarding the optimum dose nitrogen. Therefore, the present investigations were carried out during the winter seasons 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 at the district seed farm of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, an agricultural university in West Bengal, India (23°26’ N, 88°22´ E, elevation 12 m above mean sea level) to facilitate the comprehensive study of plant growth, productivity and profitability of an irrigated peanut crop under varied levels of nitrogen: with and without a rhizobium inoculants and with and without polythene mulch. Quality traits and nutrient dynamics were also itemized. Fertilizing with 100% of the recommended dose of nitrogen combined with rhizobium inoculant and polythene mulch significantly enhanced peanut plant growth, yield and yield-attributing traits, while resulting in the maximum fertilizer (i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) uptake by different plant parts. The greatest number of root nodules occurred in the treatment that received 75% of the recommended dose of nitrogen with rhizobium supplementation under polythene mulch, while 50% of the recommended dose of nitrogen with no rhizobium resulted in maximum fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency. Applying the full recommended dose of nitrogen with the rhizobium inoculants and mulch resulted in maximum profitability in the peanut crop.

Maize, along with rice and wheat, is a popular staple food crop worldwide, and the most widely produced cereal crop. It is a versatile crop that may be utilized as a source of raw materials for human and animal fodders. Low agricultural yield and rapid population expansion significantly threaten future food security. Maize production is hampered by biotic and abiotic causes, with abiotic factors being the most critical limitation to agricultural output worldwide. Soil salinity is a key abiotic factor that reduces agricultural production by imposing negative impacts at several life cycle phases, including germination, seedling, vegetative, and reproductive development. Maize plants experience many physiological changes due to osmotic stress, toxicity of particular ions, and nutritional imbalance induced by salt stress. The degree and duration of stress, crop growth phases, genetic characteristics, and soil conditions influence yield reduction. Maize plants can tolerate salt stress involving a complex mechanism by changing their physiological, biochemical, and metabolic activities like stomatal functioning, photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, hormone regulation, enzymes, metabolite generation, etc. After studying the salt tolerance mechanisms of maize plants under stress, integrated management techniques should be developed for maize agriculture in saline settings. Therefore, the study of plant responses to salt stress, stress tolerance mechanisms, and management strategies is one of the most imperative research fields in plant biology, and the study will focus on the effects of salt stress in different growth stages, plant tolerance mechanisms, and agronomic management practices for successful maize production all over the world.

Declining rate of productivity and environmental sustainability is forcing growers to use organic manures as a source of nutrient supplement in maize farming. However, weed is a major constraint to maize production. A field study was carried out over two seasons to evaluate various integrated nutrient and weed management practices in hybrid maize. The treatment combinations comprised of supplementation of inorganic fertilizer (25% nitrogen) through bulky (Farmyard manure and vermicompost) and concentrated (Brassicaceous seed meal (BSM) and neem cake (NC)) organic manures and different mode of weed management practices like chemical (atrazine 1000 g ha⁻¹) and integrated approach (atrazine 1000 g ha⁻¹ followed by mechanical weeding). Repeated supplementation of nitrogen through concentrated organic manures reduced the density and biomass accumulation of most dominant weed species, Anagalis arvensis by releasing allelochemicals into the soil. But organic manures had no significant impact on restricting the growth of bold seeded weeds like Vicia hirsuta and weed propagated through tubers i.e., Cyperus rotundus in maize. By restricting the weed growth and nutrient removal by most dominating weeds, application of BSM enhanced the growth and yield of maize crop. Repeated addition of organic manures (BSM) enhanced the maize grain yield by 19% over sole chemical fertilizer in the second year of study. Application of atrazine as pre-emergence (PRE) herbicide significantly reduced the density of A. arvensis, whereas integration of mechanical weeding following herbicide controlled those weeds which were not usually controlled with the application of atrazine. As a result, atrazine at PRE followed by mechanical weeding produced the highest maize grain yield 6.81 and 7.10 t/ha in the first year and second year of study, respectively.

The rapidly increasing human population is an alarming issue and would need more food production under changing climate. Abiotic stresses like heat stress and temperature fluctuation are becoming key issues to be addressed for boosting crop production. Maize growth and productivity are sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Grain yield losses in maize from heat stress are expected to increase owing to higher temperatures during the growing season. This situation demands the development of maize hybrids tolerant to heat and drought stresses without compromising grain yield under stress conditions. The chapter aimed to assess the updates on the influence of high-temperature stress (HTS) on the physio-biochemical processes in plants and to draw an association between yield components and heat stress on maize. Moreover, exogenous applications of protectants, antioxidants, and signaling molecules induce HTS tolerance in maize plants and could help the plants cope with HTS by scavenging reactive oxygen species, upregulation of antioxidant enzymes, and protection of cellular membranes by the accrual of compatible osmolytes. It is expected that a better thought of the physiological basis of HTS tolerance in maize plants will help to develop HTS maize cultivars. Developing HTS-tolerant maize varieties may ensure crops production sustainability along with promoting food and feed security under changing climate.

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) are the world’s fourth-most important source of edible oil and the third-most valuable source of high-quality vegetable protein; they also contain carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals essential for good human nutrition. Peanuts area particularly valuable crop in tropical and subtropical regions. While the demand for peanuts is increasing globally, there is a significant gap in nitrogen supply and demand in peanut production systems. To alleviate this, nitrogen fertilizers are often applied indiscriminately; this practice leads to the deterioration of indigenous soil fertility and to a long-term decline in crop productivity. Considering these aspects of soil health, a field study was conducted over two consecutive winter (November–March) seasons in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 at the research farm of the agricultural university Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya in West Bengal, India. This study examined supplementing different levels of nitrogen fertilizer with rhizobium and soil mulch in an irrigated peanut crop. The effects of these management interventions were evaluated in terms of crop productivity, nutrient dynamics, soil moisture, and the soil microbial activity. Peanuts grown with the 100% recommended dose of nitrogen, which was applied with rhizobium and grown under polythene mulching, recorded the highest average pod yield (3.87 and 3.96 t ha⁻¹ in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017) and average kernel yield (2.88 and 2.99 t ha⁻¹) in both growing seasons. This treatment also resulted in the greatest accumulation of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium by the peanut plants. In contrast, the maximum soil moisture distribution and the greatest total root zone moisture content were observed in the treatment with only rhizobium under the polythene mulch (i.e., no nitrogen was applied). The populations of soil bacteria and rhizobia were highest in the treatment where nitrogen fertilizer was applied to the crop at 75% of the recommended rate combined with rhizobium and under polythene mulch. After two cropping seasons, the peanut crop grown under polythene mulch with rhizobium and with nitrogen fertilizer applied at either the full recommended rate or 75% of this rate performed best in terms of crop productivity, soil nutrient dynamics, and soil moisture.

The rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (aCO2) and increasing temperature are the main reasons for climate change, which are significantly affecting crop production systems in this world. However, the elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration can improve the growth and development of crop plants by increasing photosynthetic rate (higher availability of photoassimilates). The combined effects of elevated CO2 (eCO2) and temperature on crop growth and carbon metabolism are not adequately recognized, while both eCO2 and temperature triggered noteworthy changes in crop production. Therefore, to increase crop yields, it is important to identify the physiological mechanisms and genetic traits of crop plants which play a vital role in stress tolerance under the prevailing conditions. The eCO2 and temperature stress effects on physiological aspects as well as biochemical profile to characterize genotypes that differ in their response to stress conditions. The aim of this review is directed the open-top cavities to regulate the properties like physiological, biochemical, and yield of crops under increasing aCO2, and temperature. Overall, the extent of the effect of eCO2 and temperature response to biochemical components and antioxidants remains unclear, and therefore further studies are required to promote an unperturbed production system.