~ 30 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2019; 8(6): 30-34 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2019; 8(6): 30-34 Received: 15-09-2019 Accepted: 17-10-2019 N Sundari Devi Department of Botany, Kakching Khunou College, Thoubal, Manipur, India Thoudam Santosh Singh Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou, Bishnupur, Manipur, India Senjam Jinus S Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou, Bishnupur, Manipur, India Sukham Joybi Singh Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou, Bishnupur, Manipur, India Tracila Meinam Department of Horticulture, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou, Bishnupur, Manipur, India Lourembam Sanajaoba Singh Department of Plant Pathology, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou, Bishnupur, Manipur, India Mutum Seityavhani Devi Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Utlou, Bishnupur, Manipur, India O Premila Chanu Department of Zoology, Modern College, Imphal West, Manipur, India RK Imotomba Singh Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Utlou, Bishnupur, Manipur, India Thiyam Jefferson Singh ICAR, Research Complex for NEH Region, Manipur Centre Lamphelpat, Imphal, Manipur, India Corresponding Author: N Sundari Devi Department of Botany, Kakching Khunou College, Thoubal, Manipur, India Under the foldscope: Relatively inexpensive tool for understanding down-to-earth applications in plant sciences N Sundari Devi, Thoudam Santosh Singh, Senjam Jinus S, Sukham Joybi Singh, Tracila Meinam, Lourembam Sanajaoba Singh, Mutum Seityavhani Devi, O Premila Chanu, RK Imotomba Singh and Thiyam Jefferson Singh Abstract The super-cheap easy-to-use paper-based foldscope has been travelling around the world since the past decades, thereby making them operational in lab-field-based applications. In this review, we have recognized the requirements for the use of this tool in the fields of plant science and especially where measurements must be rapid, cheap and easy to access wherever we go. This new microscope doesn’t require any special labels and could help increase access to low-cost plant science diagnostic testing tool and would be beneficial in developing parts of the world where there is meagre access to agricultural science lab and few high-tech diagnostic facilities. Moreover, current challenges and future perspectives are discussed to provide recommendations for further research in plant sciences. Keywords: easy-to-use microscope, Manu Prakash, traits of choice, crop improvement, abiotic and biotic stress Introduction A plant scientist without a microscope is like an astronomer without a telescope. So, every plant scientist needs a microscope to discover the hitherto mysterious microscopic world. To date, the microscopic unit’s services in plant science are in high dema nd and greatly admired (Banerjee, 2018) [1] . Some unwanted features that render less acceptable of a regular microscope are: it is expensive, heavyweight, bulky, fragile and need to be operated by an expert only. The high maintenance cost makes limited access especially in developing parts of the world (Choudhary and Choudhary, 2017, Sameer, 2017) [6, 12] . Suppose, during a practical farm demonstration class, when you ask plant science students to mention essential farm tools, they might say a tractor, a greenhouse, perhaps an indigenous “khurpi” or garden shovel, but probably they wouldn’t say handy microscope like “foldscope”, even some have never used and heard before (Cybulsk et al. 2014) [8] . So, we believe that microscope should become a key part of any farmer’s and plant science’s toolkit. In the adventurous beginning journey of farm science, you don’t need a really expensive, high-tech piece of kit to get started adventurous basic jobs like sampling soil micro-flora, plant disease infection studies, plant’s microscopic cells analysis etc. A simple handy inexpensive “foldscope” is sufficient to see the underlying groups of microscopic worlds, and will set you back around 500-900 INR. Furthermore, doing such analysis yourself is much cheaper in the long run, as it makes this tool viable to access outside of the regular class lab. Hence, with a relatively inexpensive “foldscope” and a yearning eye, we are able to observe bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, mites and parasites that threaten global food security with ease. Hence, it will offer an accessible microscope to help inspire students and researchers around the tiny globe to explore amateur microscopy and gain a hands-on approach to the plant science disciplines (Cox and Carpenter, 1989 [7] ; Bredderman (1983) [4] and Cybulsk et al. (2014) [8] . Keeping in view the importance of “foldscope”, this review is aimed to produce a guide to good practice, and provide an introduction to and appreciation of some of the emerging new application of “foldscope” in plant science odyssey. Although we will provide a cursory overview and explanation of the principles of “foldscope”, we do not provide an in-depth review of the technique itself and the theory behind measurements and complete dogma, and we refer readers to some few excellent literatures covering this (see Cybulsk et al. 2014, Zev Leifer, 2018, Banerjee, 2018 and Buragohain, 2019) [8, 22, 1, 5] .