Drought and heat stresses are the major abiotic stress factors detrimental to maize (Zea mays L.) production. Much attention has been directed toward plant responses to heat or drought stress. However, maize reproductive stage responses to combined heat and drought remain less explored. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the impact of optimum daytime (30°C, control) and warmer daytime temperatures (35°C, heat stress) on pollen germination, morpho‐physiology, and yield potential using two maize genotypes (“Mo17” and “B73”) under contrasting soil moisture content, that is, 100% and 40% irrigation during flowering. Pollen germination of both genotypes decreased under combined stresses (42%), followed by heat stress (30%) and drought stress (19%). Stomatal conductance and transpiration were comparable between control and heat stress but significantly decreased under combined stresses (83% and 72%) and drought stress (52% and 47%) compared with the control. Genotype “Mo17” reduced its green leaf area to minimize the water loss, which appears to be one of the adaptive strategies of “Mo17” under stress conditions. The leaf reflectance of both genotypes varied across treatments. Vegetation indices associated with pigments (chlorophyll index of green, chlorophyll index of red edge, and carotenoid index) and plant health (normalized difference red‐edge index) were found to be highly sensitive to drought and combined stressors than heat stress. Combined drought and heat stresses caused a significant reduction in yield and yield components in both Mo17 (49%) and B73 (86%) genotypes. The harvest index of genotype “B73” was extremely low, indicating poor partitioning efficiency. At least when it comes to “B73,” the cause of yield reduction appears to be the result of reduced sink number rather than the pollen and source size. To the best of our awareness, this is the first study that showed how the leaf‐level spectra, yield, and quality parameters respond to the short duration of independent and combined stresses during flowering in inbred maize. Further studies are required to validate the responses of potential traits involving diverse maize genotypes under field conditions. This study suggests the need to develop maize with improved tolerance to combined stresses to sustain production under increasing temperatures and low rainfall conditions.

The pedological characterization of alluvial tract soils of Vaigai river basin, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu was taken during 2019-20. Initially a Reconnaissance Soil Survey was carried out with Toposheet as a base map. Totally nine representative pedons in Northern and Southern bank of the Vaigai river alluvial basin were selected and studied for their morphological characteristics. Along the course of Vaigai river basin, deposition of alluvial soil was evidenced by the poorly developed AC profiles in both side. The depth of the soil varied from d4 to d5 in both banks. The color of the pedons varies with hue ranging from 10YR to 7.5YR, value 2 to 6and chroma 2- 8 and in Northern bank ; from 10YR to 7.5YR,values varies by 2.5 to 6 and chroma by 1 to 6 in the Southern bank. The texture of soil varied from weak to structure less. Some yellowish brown mottles with jarosite were foundin the Northern bank and micaceous coatings found in the Southern banks. The calcium carbonate nodules were found in most of the pedons and the permeability of the soil was very rapid. Coconut, Banana and paddy are the major crops grown in this alluvial tract. Climate change, urbanization, is short of monsoon rain and industrialization had created the major impact on the shrinkage of land under cultivation and smash up the soil health. The present study on characteristics of alluvial tract of Vaigai River basin both in Northern and southern banks understood about the change due to anthropogenic activities and climate change scenario.

A Field experiment was conducted at the Department of Agriculture at Himalayan University, Jullang, Arunachal Pradesh, to assess the impact of composts and biofertilizers on plant growth. The available soil nutrient status were medium in N, High in P and medium in K in study soil.The treatments considered of T₁- Control 100 % RDF, T₂ - Vermicompost 0.5 Kg/ha + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 0.5Kg/ha, T₃ – Poultry manure 0.5 Kg/ha + Azotobacter 0.5Kg/ha, T₄ – Compost 0.5Kg/ha + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 0.5Kg/ha + Azotobacter 0.5Kg/ha, T₅ – compost 0.5Kg/ha + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 0.5 Kg/ha , T₆ – Poultry manure 0.5Kg/ha+ Azotobacter 0.5Kg/ha, T₇ – Vermicompost 0.5Kg/ha + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 0.5Kg/ha + Azotobacter 0.5Kg/ha.The highest cob plant^-1 recorded highest in treatment receiving Vermicompost 0.5 Kg/ha + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 0.5 Kg/ha + Azotobacter 0.5 Kg/ha(T₇) i.e 1.93. highest cob length recorded 13.80 cm receiving treatment Vermicompost 0.5Kg/ha+ Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria 0.5Kg/ha + Azotobacter 0.5Kg/ha (T₇).The highest number of cob grain^-1 is 394.47 receiving Vermicompost 0.5Kg/ha + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 0.5Kg/ha + Azotobacter 0.5Kg/ha (T₇) and 12.03 g of test weight were obtained with treatment (T₇) receiving Vermicompost 0.5Kg/ha + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 0.5Kg/ha + Azotobacte 0.5Kg/ha .