Leguminous crop Tephrosia candida has high biomass production and contains a substantial quantity of nutrients within its biomass. Starting in 2019, a long-term study was done to find the best Tephrosia candida dose for mulching in guava orchards. The study had four treatments: T₁ = 3.0 kg dry biomass m⁻² of the plant basin, T₂ = 2.0 kg, T₃ = 1.0 kg, and T₄ = control (no mulch). Every year, the treatments imposed in the month of August. The third year (2021–2022) results indicated that mulching with 3 kg of biomass m⁻² increased trunk diameter, fruit yield, fruit weight, specific leaf area, total leaf chlorophyll, and leaf macro- and micro-nutrients. At 3.0 kg m⁻², mulching improved soil properties such as EC, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, DTPA extractable micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn), total organic carbon (C_toc), soil organic carbon (C_soc), organic carbon fractions, and microbial biomass carbon between 0–0.15 m and 0.15–0.30 m. There was an increasing trend in dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and fluorescein diacetate (FDA). The Tephrosia leaf litter exhibited decay constants of 1.27 year⁻¹, and the carbon content was 40.11%. Therefore, applying Tephrosia biomass mulching at a rate of 3.0 kg m⁻² is a viable long-term solution for enhancing soil fertility and sequestering carbon.

Insect pollinators and flowering plants have a long‐standing, coevolutionary, mutualistic relationship. One such example is the litchi tree (Litchi chinensis Sonn.), a fruit crop that relies on insect pollination. Litchi flowers are hermaphroditic, but they cannot self‐pollinate due to self‐sterility, unlike self‐pollinating plants. Therefore, insect pollinators are crucial to successful fruit development. To understand the pollinator’s foraging behaviour and diversity associated with litchi under hot and subhumid conditions, the present study was conducted on the Shahi variety of litchi at the ICAR‐Research Complex for Eastern Region, Farming System Research Centre for Hill and Plateau, Ranchi (Jharkhand), India. During the flowering period, a total of 19 species of insect pollinators from the orders Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera were observed visiting litchi inflorescences. Apis mellifera and Apis dorsata were the most dominant pollinator species. Each species displayed distinct characteristics in terms of abundance and diversity. Varied foraging speeds (stay times) were also noted, with A. dorsata (6.94 s) being the fastest and Musca domestica (2.88 s) being the slowest. Pollinator activity was highest in the eastern direction, between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Apis florea had the highest foraging rate (visitation rate) (14.02 flowers visited per minute), followed by Apis mellifera, while Episyrphus taeniops​ had the lowest. Apis species were identified as the most abundant and frequent visitors in litchi orchards.

The present experiment was conducted at the Research Centre, Ranchi of the ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, during the period from June, 2015 to December, 2016 to investigate the effect of girdling and defoliation of scion shoot on the success and growth of grafts in litchi cv. Shahi. The branches were girdled (removing of 3 mm ring from branches of 40–50 mm girth) one month before the collection of scion sticks for grafting. Defoliation was performed 7 days before the collection of scionsticks. Wedge grafting was performed under shadenet with temperature ranging from 26–32°C and RH 70–80%. The graft take success and vegetative growth were markedly improved as a result of girdling and defoliation. Among the different treatments, the minimum time required for bud sprout (15.40 days), highest scion height (24.25 cm), scion girth (7.14 mm), number of sprouts per graft (2.64), sprout length (4.80 cm), number of compound leaves (8.34), rachis length (9.33 cm), leaflet length (9.37 cm), leaflet width (3.37 cm) and graft success (56.43%) were observed in girdling + defoliation treatment. Scion which had higher girth after grafting was positively correlated with the number of compound leaves, leaflet length and leaflet width. The highest graft success rate (70.83%) was recorded during July. Hence, it was concluded that girdling of branches on scion varieties, one month prior to collection of scionstick and defoliation atleast 7 days before the collection, can enhance the success rate of grafting and plant growth of grafts in litchi.