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Heavy metal contamination of agricultural soils poses a growing threat to safe and sustainable food production, particularly in intensive horticultural systems. French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), an economically important legume widely consumed locally and traded in export markets, is highly susceptible to the uptake and accumulation of toxic metals such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and copper (Cu). This raises serious concerns regarding crop productivity, food safety, and public health. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the sources, behavior, and management of heavy metal bioavailability in French bean production systems, with particular emphasis on the role of soil amendments. Major contamination pathways examined include synthetic agro-inputs, irrigation water, organic amendments, atmospheric deposition, and geogenic sources. The review further evaluates the biological and physicochemical mechanisms governing metal mobility and plant uptake, highlighting the influence of soil pH, cation exchange capacity, microbial activity, and organic matter content. Particular attention is given to the roles of organic and inorganic soil amendments in reducing heavy metal bioavailability through adsorption, complexation, precipitation, and ion competition. Evidence from experimental and field studies shows that amendments such as lime, phosphatic materials, compost, and biochar can substantially reduce metal bioavailability while improving soil quality and crop performance. Integrated amendment strategies frequently demonstrate synergistic effects and outperform single-input applications, although their effectiveness remains dependent on soil type, amendment properties, and metal speciation. Despite increasing research interest, studies specifically focused on French bean systems remain limited, particularly regarding dose optimization, varietal responses, and long-term field validation. Addressing these gaps is essential for developing evidence-based management strategies that protect soil health, crop quality, and consumer safety.

Vegetables are horticulture products having living tissues with continuing metabolism, i.e. respiration, water loss and cell softening throughout the post-harvest. Surveys of these post-harvest raw vegetables contaminated with various microorganisms. In the present study, the spoilage vegetables were purchased from the local market, Rajkot. Total eight bacteria isolates were obtained from spoilage vegetables and identified by morphological and molecular techniques. For identification of the strain, genomic DNA was isolated and amplified by universal primer and amplified DNA fragments were separated by electrophoresis. Bacteria were identified by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Purified PCR product was proceeded for cycle sequencing and sequenced on 3130 Genetic analyser (Applied Biosystem, USA). All the obtained sequences were submitted in the NCBI database. Further the bacterium was characterized by IAA secretion. Conditions for IAA production was optimized in a nutrient medium containing tryptophan and estimated by Salkowski reagent and characterized by TLC. The probable role of IAA secretion in the mechanism of pathogenicity is discussed.

Protected cultivation structures create favorable microenvironments for crop growth, enabling higher yields and improved produce quality. This study evaluated microclimatic parameters viz. temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and light intensity under a Naturally Ventilated Net-cum-Poly House (NVNPH), a shade-net house, and open-field conditions. Two years of daily meteorological data (2020–21 and 2021–22) were used to characterise the microclimate of each structure, and the FAO-56 Penman–Monteith method was applied to estimate reference crop evapotranspiration under each condition. The shade-net house and NVNPH reduced incident solar energy and moderated internal temperature relative to the open field. Total water requirement for drip-irrigated, soilless broccoli cultivation was reduced by 58.69% under the shade-net house and 51.49% under the NVNPH relative to open-field cultivation.

The present study evaluated sixteen potato cultivars for different physical, morphological, growth and yield attributes and yield to find out the suitable alternative crops for enhancing the farm productivity in non-traditional areas of potato in Rajasthan. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with four replications. Significant varietal differences were observed for most of the evaluated traits. Morphological assessment revealed considerable diversity in tuber shape, skin and flesh colour, eye depth, and skin texture. Most cultivars produced oval to round tubers with shallow eyes and cream to yellow flesh, traits desirable for commercial processing. Emergence ranged from 87.17 to 95.87%, with Kufri Bahar recording the highest emergence (95.87%). Chlorophyll content (SPAD) varied from 37.63 to 44.58; while plant height ranged from 30.63 to 54.08 cm. Kufri Bahar exhibited the lowest disease incidence (10.71%), indicating better field tolerance. Tuber quality parameters also differed significantly among cultivars. Moisture content ranged from 77.52 to 82.56%, whereas dry matter content varied from 17.44 to 22.48%, with Kufri Neelkanth recording the highest dry matter (22.48%) and specific processing suitability. Total soluble solids ranged from 5.88 to 7.23 °Brix, with the maximum value observed in Kufri Bahar. Tuber yield ranged from 25.96 to 35.60 t ha⁻¹, with Kufri Bahar producing the highest yield (35.60 t ha⁻¹), followed by Kufri Bhaskar (33.53 t ha⁻¹), Kufri Lalit (33.22 t ha⁻¹), and Kufri Sukhyati (32.96 t ha⁻¹). All principal components accounted for 54.60% of the variation across all attributes. PC1 contributes 35.90% of total variance, followed by PC2 which contributes 18.70%. PCA results showed that Kufri Bahar, Kufri Bhaskar and Kufri Lalit are the highly diverse genotypes. Overall, Kufri Bahar, Kufri Bhaskar and Kufri Lalit demonstrated superior agronomic performance by combining high emergence, greater chlorophyll content, lower disease incidence, excellent processing attributes, and the highest yield, whereas Kufri Neelkanth exhibited outstanding tuber quality due to its high dry matter content. These cultivars are promising candidates for commercial cultivation and potato processing industries in the non-traditional potato-growing regions of Rajasthan.