<div>Background: Dromedary camels are major component of the agro-pastoral systems in vast pastoral areas in arid and semi-arid area of Ethiopia due to highest icon of adaptation to challenging ways of living. But little is known about its production practice and production systems compared to other domestic animals. Therefore, the current study was aimed to assess camel production practice in West Hararghe zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. 
 
Methods: The research was conducted during the period of 2018-2019 using two potential districts (Mieso and Bordede) which have large number of camel populations. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data regarding camel production practice. 
 
Result: Based on the data collected the major feed resource in the study area both in Bordede (56.7%) and Mieso (40%) was browse species. The sources of water for camels were river (53.3) and well water (51.7%) in Bordede and Mieso districts, respectively. About 61.67% and 91.67% of respondents in Bordede and Mieso respectively kept camel overnight in yard. The major constraints in the study area were shortage of feed and water especially during dry season in both districts.</div>

Camel Production Practice in West Hararghe Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

<div style="text-align: justify;">Background: Improved Sesame Seed is a key input for improving Sesame production and productivity. However, the supply sector could not satisfy the growing demands for improved Sesame Seed in West Gondar Zone, North West Ethiopia. The study, therefore, aims at the assessment of the formal sesame seed supply system in West Gondar Zone. Method: The information was collected from a total of 230 sample household heads, selected using a systematic random sampling technique was collected through interview. Secondary information was also collected from published documents and reports of different agricultural organizations. Descriptive statistics were used to analyses the information. &nbsp; Result: The study reveals that the Gondar research center and organizations like International Seed Sector Development, Seed Business Network, Agricultural Transformation Agency and Agricultural Growth Program was the strong actors of Sesame seed supply in the study area. The supply of improved Sesame seed through formal sources is constrained with various factors like shortage of improved seeds supply, cost of improved seeds, lack of awareness and delay in seed supply. It is important to strengthen community-based improved seed multiplication centers to produce an adequate amount of Sesame seed and supply the same time to smallholder farmers at a fair price.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Analysis of the Formal Sesame Seed Supply System in West Gondar Zone, North West Ethiopia</div>

Background: Agricultural Reviews Maize is an important cereal crop after rice and wheat and in West Bengal importance and area of maize is increasing day by day. 
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Methods: For studying the biotic stresses of maize crop in southern and western part of West Bengal a roving survey work was conducted during kharif season of 2022, 2023 and 2024 in bankura districts. West Bengal is under North Eastern Plain zone of India and this zone is prone to blight diseases of any crop as well as maize also. 
&nbsp; 
Result: The leaf blight diseases are very much common in maize crop in this state specially Northern leaf blight and Southern leaf blight. Both diseases are found in kharif and rabi seasons but the intensity is more during kharif season in comparison to rabi. Besides Curvularia leaf spot, stalk rot/post flowering stalk rot, Brown spot of maize diseases are also found in some areas of these parts of West Bengal. 
&nbsp;

Status of Maize Diseases in Bankura District of West Bengal

Background: An exploratory survey programme was carried out to know the diversity and community structures of predatory and phytophagous mite fauna associated with pulses crops in West Bengal aiming for the development of a better and ecologically sound mite pest management strategy. 
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Methods: Mite samples were collected from different agro-climatic zones of West Bengal and the specimens were brought to the AINP on Agricultural Acarology Laboratory, BCKV, Mohanpur for mounting on glass slides by using modified Berlese&rsquo;s medium. The slides were then kept on slide wormer at 35-40oC for 5-7 days to process and then mites were examined with a phase contrast microscope. 
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Result: Altogether 13 species of Phytoseiid mites namely Amblyseius largoensis, Amblyseius herbicolus, Amblyseius bengalensis, Amblyseius parbatabasii, Amblyseius dahlia, Euseius alstoniae, Euseius ovalis, Paraphytoseius orientalis, Typhlodromips syzygii, Scapulaseius asiaticus, Scapulaseius moraesi, Phytoseius kapuri and Neoseiulus pranadae were recorded. Among them Neoseiulus pranadae was found as a predominant species associated with pulse crops, constituting 35.36% of the total Phytoseiid mite population followed by Amblyseius largoensis and Typhlodromips syzygii accounting 23.04 and 10.87 % of total phytosiid mite population, respectively. Phytoseiid family has been recognized as a beneficial group of mites that could be utilized for controlling harmful phytophagous mites as well as soft-bodied insect pests. Other predatory mites under the families Bdellidae, Ascidae, Stigmaeidae, Cunaxidae and Cheyletida were also recorded during the period of investigation. Tetranychus urticae, Eutetranychus orientalis, Schizotetranychus baltazari and Schizotetranychus cajani were identified as destructive phytophagous mite pests associated with pulse crops in West Bengal.

Diversity and Community Structure of Mite Fauna Associated with Pulse Crops in West Bengal

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Culicoides, popularly known as &lsquo;biting midges&rsquo; is a group of vector insects causing transmission of pathogens to livestock and other closely related mammals leading to animal health deterioration. They are among the smallest and most abundant hematophagous vectors of Blue tongue virus (BTV), Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV), African horse sickness virus (AHSV), Equine encephalitis virus (EEV), protozoans, filarial nematodes throughout the world. They are known to spread livestock diseases in India in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 30 Culicoides vectors are reported worldwide, 13 of them from India, of which 11 are found in West Bengal. In the Indian subcontinent, biting midges live throughout the year, with two distinct peaks - one in the monsoon (August-September) and another peak during post-monsoon or beginning of winter (November) and there is a steady decrease during the summer months (May). Adults thrive best at low-temperature range (19-32oC) and rainfall plays an important role in Culicoides breeding and life-cycle. But a detailed account on the ecology, breeding sites, biology and bionomics of immature and adults have been poorly understood with very scanty literature. The present research is aimed to provide an exhaustive detail on the ecological behavior of Culicoides and their prevalence pattern based on the effect of meteorological parameter and elevation across different regions of West Bengal. Methods: Insect samples were collected using sweep nets in the early morning, afternoon and just before sunset for a period of four years from January 2014 to December 2017 in six agro-climatic regions of West Bengal. &nbsp;After collection, they were transferred in 70% ethanol, kept in a cool place, sorted and different parts of the specimen were mounted on glass slides in the phenol-balsam mixture and identified through Leica DFC 295 binocular light microscope. Ecological graph analysis were generated using software PAST 3.0 and MS-EXCEL 2016. Maps on sampling sites was generated using software ARC GIS 10.5). Result: Five Culicoides species-Culicoides oxystoma, C. actoni, C. peregrinus,C. orientalis and C. anophelis were collected. The results show highest prevalence in post-monsoon months at the coastal-saline region, at an of &nbsp;elevation 5-15m with ideal temperature of 14-35oC &nbsp;and rainfall of &nbsp;1100-2000mm in West Bengal, with the highest dominance of Culicoides oxystoma throughout the year.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Effect of Environment and Elevation on Seasonal Prevalence of Culicoides in West Bengal</div>

Background: Dairy-based integrated farming systems in the coastal region of West Bengal act as a climate-resilient agriculture practice. The present study examined four predominant dairy-based integrated farming systems (IFS) adopted in coastal West Bengal, focusing on the economic analysis of their interconnected components and pathways to profitability.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The study used stratified random sampling methods to collect 150 farmers from 25 villages in Coastal West Bengal. To quantify the interdependence amongst various components of farming systems, Leontief static input- output model has been used. Stochastic profit frontier model had been used for analysing the profit efficiency. 
 
Result: The study found Dairy + Fishery farming system had the highest profitability of INR 328139 /ha/annum. However, it has shown the lowest mean profit efficiency (0.55). This system can increase its profitability by the more veterinary expenditure per SAU and area under fishery (Ha) in IFS model. Among all the linkages of various enterprises in IFSs, crop-to-dairy linkage in Dairy + Crop + Fishery (Input-output coefficient: 0.09) farming system was the strongest one. The study recommends targeted policy support, including subsidies on fish feed and fingerlings and financial assistance for small and marginal farmers, to foster the growth of the dairy-based farming systems.

Economic Inter-linkage Analysis of Dairy-based Integrated Farming Systems and Pathways to Profitability in the Coastal Region of West Bengal

Background: Ticks are one of the most common ectoparasites of cattle. Ticks can cause symptoms of infestation, including tick-toxicosis and paralysis and can also transmit some tick-borne diseases. Some tick species are not commonly found in cattle, but can occasionally be transmitted to them from wild reservoirs. A study was conducted to investigate and identify the ticks infesting cattle from the adjacent villages of Gorumara National Park in West Bengal, India. 
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Methods: Ticks collected from cattle were studied using a stereo zoom microscope. Then, DNA was extracted from them and the mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequence of the tick was amplified using gene-specific primers. The amplified fragments were sequenced and aligned with other sequences using the NCBI BLAST. This further validated the results of morphological analysis. 
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Result: One of the tick species collected was first identified as Haemaphysalis shimoga based on its morphological features. After sequencing the amplified 16S rRNA sequence PCR product, its length was found to be 456 bp long. Phylogenetic analysis of the collected H. shimoga revealed 99-100% sequence similarity with the reference sequences of H. shimoga from Thailand and Malaysia. This is the first report on the morphological and molecular identification of H. shimoga in cattle from West Bengal, India.

First Report of Haemaphysalis Shimoga from Cattle in West Bengal, India

Background:&nbsp;Being a cool season crop, lentil is very sensitive to temperature during its growth stages. It is found that delayed harvest of the preceding crop which is most frequently rice causes the majority of the country&rsquo;s lentil sowings to be postponed in India. As a result, the late-sown crop suffers during the seed-filling stage due to the rising high temperatures in most of its cultivated areas and results in lower yield. Therefore, there is a need to work out the optimum sowing time for realizing maximum yield potential as well as the selection of varieties suitable for normal as well as late sown condition of the crop. 
 
Methods: A field experiment was carried out in the new alluvial zone of West Bengal at the District Seed Farm of BCKV, Kalyani during the two subsequent rabi seasons (November-March) of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 to examine the difference in yield between normal and late seeding conditions for various lentil cultivars. There were a total of ten genotypes evaluated, with each one being planted at one of two different times (15th Nov and 30th Nov). 
 
Result: The experimental findings revealed that lentil sown on 15th November recorded higher seed yield (2.34 t ha-1) compared to 30th November sown crop (1.63 t ha-1). Among the ten varieties, unreleased genotype C23E21 recorded the highest seed yield (2.25 t ha-1), followed by ILL 10802 (2.18 t ha-1). According to the results of this study, delaying the sowing window from the middle to the end of November can reduce yields by as much as 27.77%. Therefore, it is prudent to encourage the lentil farmers in the new alluvial zone region of West Bengal to sow their crops no later than the 15th of November of the Rabi season, to prevent a drop in production.

Evaluation of Lentil Genotypes in Different Sowing Windows in the New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal

<div style="text-align: justify;">The present investigation was carried out during 2015 &ndash; 2017, where 22 lentil genotypes &nbsp;grown under bio inoculation treated and non treated conditions in multi location for two consecutive seasons, in order to identify bio inoculants responsive and suitable varieties. The trial was conducted in two district of West Bengal i.e. Malda and Coochbehar. The results indicated that genotypes responded differentially to bio inoculants. Six genotypes ILL-2-8, PL-406, Subrata, ILL-2-14, L-4076 and ILL-10951 performed well with higher inoculation efficiency. There was a positive relation between inoculation efficiency and change in harvest index due to bio inoculation and a negative relationship was found between percent incremental dry matter accumulated in the shoot and change in harvest index due to bio-inoculation. Five lentil genotypes which are responsive to bio inoculants were selected and its assessment was done in order to select the most suitable genotypes in specific environments. From the results, it was evident that significant differences were found among 5 lentil genotypes. In Coochbehar district the highest yield was recorded in K 75 (1.83t/ha). In Malda district, the same variety yielded significantly higher than all other varieties with 2.47 t/ha. Out of the selected varieties for multilocational trial, which performed better than the popular variety Maitree with a potential yield of 1.16 and 1.76 t/ha in Coochbehar and Malda tested under different projects, K-75 and BM-6 may be selected for further exploitation in the region with good adaptability and yield potential.&nbsp;</div>

Identification of promising lentil genotypes for Terai region of West Bengal

<div>Background: Bumble bees play a crucial role in pollination of North West Himalayas. Bumble bees successfully thrive in the harsh environmental conditions of Himalayas. The present study aimed at taxonomic and zoogeographic studies of Bumble bees belonging to genus Bombus along with altitudinal variation of one species leading to its new record.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The collections surveys were conducted from the year 2017 to 2019 from altitude of 1000 to 3500 meters above sea level in North-West Himalaya. A total of 43 specimens belonging to three species were collected. These specimens were preserved as per standard techniques in Hymenoptera and identified following keys of eminent workers. 
 
Result: The detailed taxonomy of three species of Bumble bees from North West Himalaya i.e., Bombus trifasciatus Smith, Bombus tunicatus Smith and Bombus simillimus Smith has been studied. The important taxonomic characters of different castes of these bee species have been elaborated and illustrations of morphological characters (including genitalia and sterna of male) of different castes i.e. queen, worker and male for each species are provided. The general foraging behaviour and altitudinal distribution along with floral preferences has been discussed in all the three species. The list of nectar food plants is provided under each species. B. trifasciatus has been recorded for the first time from Phey in cold desert in UT of Ladakh, which is being reported as new record in the Trans Himalayan region.</div>

Taxonomic and Bio-geographical Studies of Three Bombus Species (Hymenoptera: Bombus) from North-West Himalaya with New Record from Trans Himalaya