Global Agri-Food Sector: Challenges and Opportunities in COVID-19 Pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic for almost everything including the global economy. Among many sectors, the food and the agriculture sector was the worst hit following the immediate lockdown and market shutdowns. Though some stability was prevalent from supply side till date, however, the severe restrictions put in place to curb the spread of pandemic have endangered the supply of agricultural and food articles contemporaneously across borders and from field to fork. While the income decline due to price falland supplies chain disruptions due to pandemic have escalated the food shortages in several of developing and developed countries. Nevertheless the global demand for food items has remained more or less unchanged owing to their inelastic demand. Even within the global level, the scenario of food security and supply chain stability has been substantially deplorable for emerging and less developing countries due to their lack of insulation to the global shocks or pandemics. Notably, the technological backwardness, excessive know-how dependence and denied accessibility on several grounds lead to poverty and food hunger in these countries. At the policy level, a holistic approach specifically targeted towards the developing and less developed economies is highly warranted to ensure an appreciable progress towards the minimisation of sensitivity with regard to agriculture and food security. Apart from the measures to insulate them from global shocks, additional steps need to be taken to alleviate their technological backwardness and denied accessibility on certain socio-cultural norms.

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19): a pandemic (epidemiology, pathogenesis and potential therapeutics).

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is highly pathogenic viral infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. Currently, COVID-19 has caused global health concern. It is assumed that COVID-19 has zoonotic origin based on the large number of infected people who were exposed to the wet market in Wuhan City, China. The phylogenetic analysis has revealed that SARS-CoV-2 has significant sequence similarity with severe acute respiratory syndrome-like (SARS-like) bat viruses, thus bats could be primary possible reservoir. The intermediate host and there subsequent transfer is not known yet, although human to human transfer is widely confirmed. The transmission of COVID-19 infection from one person to another resulted in the isolation of patients who were subsequently given a variety of treatments. To monitor the current outbreak, robust steps have been taken around the globe to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 infection particularly banning international and domestic flights, inducting lockdowns in vulnerable areas, social distancing etc. No clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine against COVID-19 is reported yet. However, in clinical trials, few broad-spectrum antiviral drugs were evaluated against COVID-19 infection which resulted in clinical recovery. In this article emergence and pathogenicity of COVID-19 infection along with potential therapeutic strategies are analyzed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Manipulation of Plant Growth Regulators on Phytochemical Constituents and DNA Protection Potential of the Medicinal Plant Arnebia benthamii.

Arnebia benthamii of the family Boraginaceae is a critically endangered nonendemic plant of the Kashmir Himalayas and is used to treat a number of human diseases. The current study was based on developing an in vitro micropropagation protocol vis-à-vis induction of various secondary metabolites under in vitro conditions for the possible biological activity. A tissue culture protocol was developed for A. benthamii for the first time in the Himalayan region using varied combinations and proper media formulations, including various adjuvants: Murashige and Skoog (MS) media, growth hormones, sugars, agar, and so forth. The influence of different media combinations was estimated, and the MS + thidiazuron (TDZ) + indole 3-acetic acid (IAA) combination favors a higher regeneration potential. The higher amounts of chemical constituents were also recorded on the same treatment. The in vitro plant samples also showed a noteworthy effect of scavenging of hydroxyl radicals vis-à-vis protection from oxidative DNA damage. The in vitro raised plants are good candidates for the development of antioxidant molecules.