progressive horticulture

Print: ISSN-0970-3020

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PROGRESSIVE HORTICULTURE Volume 47, No. 1 March, 2015

Indian Society of Horticultural Research and Development (ISHRD)

Online available at: www.indianjournals.com | E-mail: [email protected]

INDIAN SOCIETY OF HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (ISHRD) Registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI, 1860, was established with a view to promote interdisciplinary research in the field of horticulture and provide a forum for expressing views on policies and programmes relating to horticultural research and development. Progressive Horticulture, an official scientific publication of ISHRD, is a peer reviewed journal published since the year 1969. Presently the journal is published twice every year (in the month of March & September). Original contributions covering fundamental and applied research relating to various disciplines of horticultural crops, post harvest management, biotechnology, diversification, policy issues, trade, market, case studies related to horticultural field are considered for publication. Review articles, summarizing the existing state of knowledge in horticultural research, are published by invitation only.

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Print: ISSN-0970-3020

Online: ISSN-2249-5258

Progressive Horticulture Vol. 47, No. 1, March, 2015

Indian Society of Horticultural Research and Development (ISHRD)

Horticultural Research and Extension Centre, Chaubattia-263651, (Uttarakhand), India Online available at: www.indianjournals.com | E-mail: [email protected]

Progressive Horticulture, Vol. 47, No. 1, March 2015 © Copyright ISHRD, Printed in India DOI : 10.5958/2249-5258.2015.00001.9

[Review Article]

Onion Research in India: Status and Challenges Jai Gopal

Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune – 410 505 (MS), India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Onion (Allium cepa L.) originated in central Asia, which is its primary center of diversity. Though initially adapted to long days of temperate regions, its highly cross-pollination nature has paved the way for short-day adapted selections, which are cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical conditions as in India. Onion research in India started in 1960 at Pimpalgaon, Baswant, Nashik, but now a number of organizations including some agricultural universities are working on onion. Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar and National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation, Nasik are the national level institutes devoted mainly to onion research in India. The research by various organizations in India has resulted in the development of more than 50 improved varieties, enrichment of genetic resources, and development and use of biotechnological tools for onion improvement. Work on crop production including nutrient, weed and irrigation management has led to standardization of cultural practices fromplanting to harvesting of onion. Schedules for pest and disease control and post-harvest management have also been developed. This paper reviews the status of research on various aspects of onion cultivation.The causes of low productivity in this important crop in India are analyzed. The future challenges and the research initiatives required to improve onion productivity are enumerated. KEY WORDS: Onion, agronomy, crop protection, breeding, genetic resources, storage, marketing Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the oldest cultivated species in use for more than 5000 years as an integral component of various culinary preparations (Jones, 1983). Onions are mentioned in the Bible to have been eaten by the Israelites. Historical and cultural significance of onion has been well documented in Garuda Purana (Shastri, 1995) where it is regarded as Rajasic (having aphrodisiac quality). The origin of the name “onion” comes from the classical period when it was given the Latin name unio that means oneness or unity, or a kind of single onion. The French call it oignon. Martin Elcort in his book, “The Secret Life of Food”, writes, “The word onion was created by adding the onion-shaped letter O to the word union, yielding a new spelling ounion. The letter u was dropped to create the modern spelling - as onion” (Anon, 2013). Being rich in thiosulfinates, thiosulfonates, allicin, aliin, ajoene and many other biochemical components, onion has medicinal value too. Charak in Charak Samhita (300 B.C.) described onion for diuretic, digestion, heart, eyes and joints problems. In Chinese medicine onions have been used to treat angina, coughs, bacterial infection and breathing problems. Early AmeriOnline version available at: www.indianjournals.com

can settlers used wild onions to treat colds, coughs and asthama, and to repel insects. In ancient Greece, athletes ate large quantities of onions because it was believed to lighten the balance of blood. Roman gladiators were rubbed down with onions to firm their muscles (Source: www.naturalstandard.com). The modern medicine science also recognized importance of onion in treating diversified ailments, viz., lowering blood sugar, cardiovascular problems, improving gastrointestinal health, fighting cholera, preventing hair loss, improving bone health, tooth disorders, urinary disorders, prevention of blood clot and so on (Corzo-Martinez et al., 2007). The pesticidal and fungicidal properties of onion are well studied and widely accepted (Block, 2010; Begum et al., 2013).

Origin and distribution Vavilov (1926) proposed southwest Asian gene center as primary center of domestication and variability of onion. Based on ecotypes and wild forms, Vavilov and Burkinich (1929) confirmed that Afghanistan and adjacent countries are the genetic center of origin of the cultivated forms of onion and garlic. More than 600 species

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of Allium were reported to be distributed in Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran and central Asia comprising Turkmen SSR, Uzbek SSR, Tadzhik SSR, Kirgiz SSR and Kazakh SSR, and Mongolia (Kotlinska et al., 1990). The secondary center of origin in the Mediterranean gene center represents the area from which onion with large bulbs was selected (Castell and Portas, 1994). From central Asia, the supposed onion ancestor probably migrated first towards Mesopotamia, where onion is mentioned in Sumerian literature (2500 B.C.), then to Egypt (1600 B.C.), India and South East Asia. From Egypt A. cepa was introduced into Mediterranean area and from there to all Roman Empire.

Onion cultivation in India Adaptation of onion in India occurred from very early times before Christian era. Originally though native of temperate region of central Asia with perennial/ biennial habit and long day character, it has established well in India under tropical and short day (11-11.5 h) photoperiodic conditions (Seshadri and Chatterjee, 1996). During its acclimatization, farmers applied selection pressure involuntarily to meet the market preferences. Ability of onion to produce seeds indigenously has played an important role in adaptation. Out breeding mechanism present in onion has promoted selection suited to diverse environments during the process of adaptation and diversification. The adaptation to hardy conditions of high rainfall, high temperature and short photoperiod typical of rainy season crop of western India has been chronologically documented (Seshadri and Chatterjee, 1996). The tropicalization progressed further southwards towards Bellary region of North Karnataka and finally onion got established in Tamil Nadu (6 to 80N latitude). Two types of onion are commercially grown in India viz., common onion and multiplier onion. Common onion (A. cepa var. cepa), is the most important in commercial trade. Its bulbs are large, normally single and plants are propagated through seeds. The other group, i.e., multiplier onion or shallot type onion (A. cepa var. aggregatum Don.) is vegetatively propagated and produce bulbs of small size and form an aggregated cluster. Multiplier onion is also known as country onion or potato onion or Egyptian ground onion. This is grown from ancient times in India. It has got a Sanskrit equivalent ‘Palandu’, mentioned in Apastamba Dharma Sutra-I (dated 800 B.C. to 300 B.C.), which confirms its early introduction in India. In India, common onion is grown under three crop seasons, i.e., kharif, late kharif and rabi. Main crop is in rabi (50-60%) and 20-25% each is in kharif and late kharif. Kharif crop is grown during hot and humid months and is ready for harvest when temperatures are low. The bulbs do not mature as growth continues due to cooler temperature and hence have poor storability.

Progressive Horticulture, 47 (1)

Although, the day length during this period is slightly longer than rabi, the critical period available is around 11-11.5 h due to cloudy weather. Of late, due to delayed monsoon in kharif season there has been shift in planting from kharif to late kharif. Availability of irrigation water from September to February, failure of kharif crop due to high rainfall coupled with high incidence of diseases, pests and poor storage of kharif produce forced farmers in Western Maharashtra to incline towards late kharif crop commonly called ‘Rangda’ onion. Seedlings are transplanted in September-October and bulbs are ready for harvest in January-February. Low temperature during November-December favours bulb initiation and good development. Warm days during January-February facilitate maturity, as the day length available is again 11-11.5 h. The yields are high with good bulb size but percentage of bolting and twins is very high resulting in reduced marketable yield. Further, storability of bulbs is also low as compared to rabi produce.In case of rabi crop, seedlings are transplanted in November-December. Low temperatures (20-250C) during December-January favor bulb initiation under short day conditions. Bulb growth and maturity occurs in February-March, when nights are cool and days are warm. High temperatures during April-May (35–40 0C) hasten maturity. There is better curing of neck and such bulbs store well up to 5-6 months.In hills of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, winter crop is transplanted in October-November and harvested in June-July, while summer crop is planted in February-March and harvested in August-October. In hills, days are longer (>13 h) and temperatures are cool. Crop duration is long (>7 months). Due to congenial climate, growth and development is very good, bulb size is big resulting in higher yields.

Status of R&D on onion in India Systematic research and development (R&D) programmes in onion were started in 1960 at Pimpalgaon, Baswant, Nashik and later on at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru. National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), Nashik established by National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) is carrying out research and development activities on export oriented crops, especially onion and garlic. Development of multiplier onion varieties was done by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore. Prior to this, research on collection and maintenance of land races and standardization of agrotechniques was attempted by State Agricultural Departments. With the concept of coordinated projects and Agricultural Universities, the work on onion research was strengthened, in terms of varietal development for dif-


ferent seasons and standardization of production techniques in early nineties. The R&D in onion got impetus with the establishment of National Research Center on Onion and Garlic at Nashik in 1994. This center was shifted to present location at Rajgurunagar in 1998 and upgraded to Directorate with the addition of All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic in 2008. Besides concentrating on genetic improvement and biotechnology of onion, Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research (DOGR) is also working on development of agrotechnologies including post-harvest management practices. This work is also being supplemented by NHRDF and some universities. At present different state agricultural universities, ICAR institutes across the country and private companies are working on different R&D aspects to improve and sustain production and productivity of onion. The status of work conducted in India in areas of onion improvement, production, protection and postharvest management is presented below.

Crop improvement Genetic resources: A large numbers of landraces including some wild species are available in India particularly in North-eastern states. As per reports from Singh and Rana (1994), National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) has conducted extensive plant exploration in different allium-growing states/regions in India. Kale et al. (1994) undertook a detailed survey of traditional and non-traditional onion-growing areas of the state of Maharashtra, and India in general, and collected 148 red-skin and 33 white-skin types of onion, evaluated and identified some lines on the basis of maximum average bulb weight, high TSS and centerness. As per Singh and Rana (1994), some of the cultivated Indian accessions have been identified to be resistant/tolerant to purple blotch (Alternaria species), Stemphylium blight and garlic mosaic virus. However, sources of resistance to many diseases and pests such as neckrot (Botrytis allii Munn.), basal rot (Fusarium species), black mould (Aspergillusniger Tieghem) are yet to be identified. Many farmers in various parts of the country are growing old land races of onion. For example, Pune Fursungi, a red coloured land race is being cultivated in Nashik and Pune areas of Maharashtra in late kharif and rabi seasons. The Junagarh, Saurashtra and Mehsana areas of Gujarat are dominated by Pili Patti, which is commonly grown in rabi season. Bellary Red, another red onion land race is prevalent in Karnataka and land race Sukhsagar is being cultivated in West Bengal. K.P. onion dominates in Andhra Pradesh, whereas Nirmal Local occupies large area in Madhya Pradesh. Further, the multiplier type of onion has been a unique feature in Tamil Nadu. This variability is being maintained in national germplasm collection of onion at DOGR, which is the National Ac-

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tive Germplasm site for onion. The present status of collection of germplasmat DOGR is given in Table 1. Genetic studies: Despite the global culinary and economic significance, genetic research in onion has greatly lagged than in other major vegetable crops. Actually, genetic analysis of onions is time consuming because of biennial nature and severe inbreeding depression. This makes it difficult to produce and maintain a large near homozygous inbred populations for genetic linkage analysis. Therefore, only a few qualitative genes with easily visible effects have been described in onion including colour of bulb, foliage, anthers and seed coats, male sterility, restoration in CMS, pink root resistance, ozone damage resistance, dwarf seed stalk and chlorophyll deficient mutants. However, a number of studies have reported inheritance of yield and quality traits, many of which were concerned with the estimation of combining ability in various populations. Additive gene effects for dry matter content, bulb size and maturity and additive and non-additive gene effects for bulb yield and number of leaves per plant were found to play important role (Joshi and Tandon, 1976; Pathak et al., 1987). Breeding: The commonly practiced breeding methods followed in onion are mass selection, recurrent selection, selfing and massing, hybridization followed by different population improvement schemes and heterosis breeding. The varietal improvement programme in India has originated from improvement of the local varieties. As a result more than 50 varieties of onion including 2 F1 hybrids and 6 varieties of multiplier onion have been developed and released (Table 2). Most of these varieties are mainly for rabi season. Development of some kharif growing varieties was earlier done by Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri, NHRDF, Nashik and IIHR, Bengaluru and later by DOGR, Rajgurunagar. Despite reports of high heterosis (Joshi and Tandon, 1976; Aghora, 1985; Veere Gowda, 1988;Netrapal and Singh, 1999; Shashikanth et al., 2007; Abubakar and Adu, 2008), the hybrids in onion have not made headway in India due to non-availability of stable male sterile lines along with maintainers in short day onion. In India, progress in the development of suitable male sterile and fertile inbred lines has remained very slow. Sen and Srivastava (1957) attempted to develop F1 hybrids in onion as early as in 1948 using exotic male sterile lines and Indian local male stocks. The exotic male sterile lines were found unsuitable in the photo periodically different environment in India. Later, very few workers attempted to test different hybrid combinations for heterosis and combining ability studies using male sterile lines (Pathak et al., 1987). Male sterility has been isolated from indigenous germplasm by several workers in India:Patil et al., (1973) in cv. ‘Niphad 2-4-1’ and Pathak et al., (1980) in cv. ‘Nasik

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White Globe’. Further studies indicated strong cytoplasmic factor responsible for male sterility in cv. ‘Bombay White Globe’ (Pathak et al., 1986). At IARI, the male sterility was isolated in a commercial variety ‘Pusa Red’. This male sterility has been transferred to several breeding lines by backcross breeding method. In a review on use of molecular markers in the improvement of allium crops, Reddy et al., (2013) detailed the information on male sterility system and their utilization in F1 hybrids production. Only two onion hybrids ‘Arka Kirthiman’ and ‘Arka Lalima’ have been released from IIHR. Some new hybrids are being developed in the country. Gupta et al., (2011) reported that six F1 hybrids, viz., DOGR Hy-1, DOGR Hy-7, DOGR Hy-17, DOGR Hy-27, DOGR Hy-29 and DOGR Hy-41 were superior over standard check. Some of the exotic hybrids are performing well during late kharif in Indian conditions and yields are almost double than the Indian varieties at DOGR, but they have very less TSS, less storage life and are of yellow colour, which has no consumer preference in India. It can be exploited to trap the European and Japanese market where there is great demand, but it can be possible only through cool chain export. However, the adaptation of the hybrids by farmers has been slow due to inherent problems associated with traditional onion production system in the country (VeereGowda et al., 2002). Processed products of onion are in demand in many countries. Dehydration industries demand white onion varieties with globe shaped bulb and high TSS (>18%). Some of the varieties identified as suitable for dehydrated products were Punjab-48 (Bajaj et al. 1979;Verma et al., 1999), Roopali (Maini et al., 1984), S-74 (Kalra et al., 1986), Texas Yellow (Raina et al., 1988) and PWO-1 (Saimbhi and Bal, 1996). After assessing Indian varieties and landraces which donot offer TSS range more than 12%, Jain Food Park Industries, Jalgaon introduced White Creole, which was further subjected to selection for high TSS and developed V-12 with TSS range of 15-18% (Mahajan, 2011). Biotechnology: Biotechnological approaches for crop improvement in onion are still in its nascent stage in India. DOGR has taken lead and has been successful in standardization of protocols for direct and indirect in vitro regeneration in onion. A preliminary insight into onion haploid development through in vitro gynogenesis has been achieved (DOGR, 2012). Somatic embryogenesis through direct regeneration and callusing has been achieved (Aswath et al., 2006). Molecular markers (RAPD, ISSR and SSR) have been identified for estimating genetic diversity in onion, and related wild alliums. Development of core collection, conserving alliumbiodiversity and development of linkage maps in onion are being targeted. Sangeeta et al., (2006) used 90 RAPD primers and grouped the 24 onion cultivars into north-


ern and southern region of India. Ten varieties of onion were analysed by Maniruzzaman et al., (2010) and found that Bermis and India-2 were most dissimilar while Faridpuri and Bhati were the most similar genetically. Mitochondrial genome diversity has been evaluated by employing RAPD, SSR and RFLP markers (Chaurasia et al., 2010). Dhanya et al., (2013) used RAPD markers analysis to investigate genetic relatedness among nine sterile (A), maintainer lines (B), and male parents (C) of onion. Radhika et al., (2013) used a computational approach for mining SSRs from ESTs in A. cepa and developed a databse to store the unigenes, primer pairs, putative annotations and BLAST results, which can be used in studies related to marker assisted selection, detection of polymorphism, DNA fingerprinting and diversity analysis in onion.

Crop production In general, onion crop can be grown in the field by way of transplanting, direct seeding and sets method (Dhesi et al., 1965; Yawalker, 1969). Technologies and practices have been developed for various stages of onion crop from sowing to harvesting.

Transplanting method Seed rate and seedlings: Studies on seed rate showed that depending on the variety, about 6-8 kg seeds would be sufficient to take cultivation in 1 ha by traditional transplanting method. About 0.05 ha area is required to raise the nursery for 1 ha area to be sown by transplanting. Seedlings should be grown on raised bed of 10-15 cm height with 1 m width and length as per convenience. The distance between two beds is kept 30 cm for easy intercultural operations. Seeds are manually sown in rows at 10-15 cm distance and irrigated preferably by drip or sprinklers. Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride @ 4 g/ kg seed followed by soil application of T. viride @ 1250 g/ ha mixed with 50 kg FYM is useful for reducing damping off disease in nursery. Soil application of copper oxychloride @ 0.25% was also adjudged as an alternative treatment (NHRDF, 2011). Application of Pendimethalin 30 EC, a pre-emergence herbicide @ 2 ml/l at the time of sowing seed effectively control weed population in onion nursery compared to other herbicide sprays (DOGR, 2012). Seed treatment experiments have been undertaken to improve germination. Solid matrix priming and halo priming with 0.3% KNO or coating with Royalflo could enhance the field emergence with more than 75% germination in seed stored for nine months (IARI, 2010). The seed treatment with glycine betaine (2.5 and 5%) increased yield by 14-19%; whereas, the foliar spray with glycine betaine (2.5 and 5%) increased yield by 12-18% (IIHR, 2010). Seed treatment with vermiwash has been


recommended by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka (Jawadagi et al., 2008) as freshly harvested onion seeds treated with vermiwash recorded significantly higher germination (80.6%), numerically high growth rate index (19.3), shoot length (8.5 cm) and seedling dry matter accumulation (22.3 mg.). Coating of onion seed with DAP (30 g/kg seed) + Borax (0.1 g/ kg seed) + Carbendazim (3 g/kg seed) resulted in 40% higher bulb yield. During kharif season, karanj leaf powder (500 g/kg seed) is used for higher seed germination (NHRDF, 2011). Gypsum in combination with cow dung or clay or neem or vermicompost powders (1:1 v/v) was used for pelleting of onion seeds. However, germination of pelleted seeds was found to be at par with that of nonpelleted seeds (IIHR, 2010). Transplanting and crop geometry: About 45-50 days old nursery becomes ready for transplanting in rabi season and in 35-40 days in kharif. Maiti and Sen (1974) found that partial trimming of onion seedlings at the time of transplanting augmented the stand of crop and increased the size of bulb. Similar results were also obtained by Rathore and Kumar (1974). Generally, the uprooted seedlings are cut one third from the top. The seedlings are dipped in solution of Carbosulfan (2 ml/l) and Carbendazim (1.5 g/l) for two hours and gently pressed in the soil. For proper growth of seedlings ample nutrition is a predisposing factor. Thus, crop geometry plays a vital role to ensure optimum crop density in the field. In rabi season, the transplanting in flat beds (2 x 3 m) at 10 cm plant to plant spacing with 15 cm row to row spacing is recommended. In kharif, the crop geometry of 12 rows at 10 cm distance on broad raised bed of 15 cm height and 120 cm width is recommended (Lawande, 2011). At University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka it was revealed that maximum plant height and leaf length was recorded with 15 cm x 7.5 cm spacing followed by 15x10 cm spacing in cv. Bellary red (Jawadagi et al., 2012). Bulb yield, net returns and B:C ratio were maximum when the crop planted at 15 cm x 10 cm spacing was nourished with 12.50 t/ha FYM + 2 t/ha vermicompost + 5 kg/ha biofertilizers.

Direct seeding method Onion can also be grown by direct seeding. Around 12 to 15 kg/ha seed is sown by broadcasting in beds 30 cm apart.The experiments conducted at DOGR revealed that sowing seed in lines manually or with seed drill produced higher yield than broadcasting of seeds. However, seed drills used for direct sowing of onion in India lack precision and their accuracy mostly depends on the skill of person who is performing sowing operations. The Central Institute Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal has imported pneumatic seed drill from Italy. This seed drill

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is useful for direct sowing of all types of vegetables particularly onion, okra, carrot etc. This versatile and multipurpose machine can be fitted with as many seeding units as needed to meet the specific requirements of the farmers and equipped with everything necessary to handle all the different types of seed. Results of experiment on direct seeding of onion with pneumatic seed drill revealed thatamong the various sowing methods, the highest bulb size (polar and equatorial diameter), more per cent of A grade bulbs and less number of doubles were noticed in direct sown plot using pneumatic seed drill. The highest marketable bulb yield was noticed in transplanting method only. The less bulb yield in pneumatic seed drilled plots may be due lower seedlings population and crop stand. However, low seed rate, easy sowing, saving in sowing time and early maturity of onion were observed in pneumatic seed drill machine (Sankar et al., 2011).

Sets planting method Onion production through sets is an innovative technology for kharif season where planting coincides with heavy showers, and nursery raising in May is difficult due to hot and humid conditions. In some parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, onion is grown in kharif by sets to get early crop (Pandey and Singh, 1993). Sets are small size onions produced by allowing the seedlings to mature in the nursery bed as such instead of transplanting them. Seed sowing is done by end of January or February and small bulbs are harvested in the month of April–May. It has been reported that seed sowing in January with 50 g seed per m2 gave maximum quality of sets. The topped and graded sets are stored in hessian cloth bags or in shallow baskets or in racks in layer not more than 8 cm deep. Ten quintals of sets of 1.5 to 2.0 cm diameter are enough for one hectare planting. But higher yield and net returns were obtained with 2.0-2.5 cm size of sets (Pandey et al., 1990). The closer distance of planting (15x10 cm) was found to be more beneficial with regard to marketable bulb yield, net income, cost:benefit ratio and cost of cultivation(Singh and Singh, 2002). Planting of sets on loamy sand soil by flat system and ridge and furrow system produced an average bulb yields of 132 and 120 q/ha, respectively, compared to 96 q/ha in broad bed system (Sharma et al., 2003). Sets have a shorter growing season than plants from seeds and transplants, and therefore can be exploited when a rapid or early season production is required.

Nutrient management An onion crop of bulb yields 35 t/ha removes approximately 120 kg nitrogen, 50 kg phosphorus and 160 kg potash (Tandon, 1987). However, the experiments

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carried out at Rajgurunagar by DOGR showed that onion crop removes about 90-95 kg N, 30-35 kg of P2O5 and 50-55 kg of K2O to produce 40 t onion bulbs/ha (DOGR, 2012). In addition to NPK, sulphur is also an essential plant nutrient important for onion crop for improving yield and the pungency of bulbs. Sulphur is absorbed in the form of sulfate ions (SO42-). Leaf tissue sulphur level of 0.3 to 0.5% is required during active vegetative growth stage (20-45 DAT), whereas 0.2-0.3% during bulb initiation to development stages (45-75 DAT). It is reported that application of FYM @ 20t/ha + Neem cake @ 1 t/ha + S @ 20 kg/ha + NPK @ 50:50:50 kg/ha as basal application and spray of polyfeed @ 1% at 30 and 45 DAP and Multi K @ 1% at 60 and 70 DAP was useful for higher bulb yield (NHRDF, 2011). However, DOGR results showed that application of 75% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), FYM (5 tons), poultry manure (2.5 tons) and vermicompost (2.5 tons)per ha gave marketable bulb yield, nutrient content and uptake equal to that of 100% RDF (150:50:80:50 kg NPKS ha-1) + 20 t FYM ha-1 or 100% RDF alone (DOGR, 2012). Based on these results, nitrogen 110 kg/ ha in three splits i.e. at the time of planting and 30 and 45 DAP with basal application of phosphorus (40 kg/ha), potash (60kg/ha) and sulphur (40 kg/ha) has been recommended (AINRPOG, 2013). Soil application of sulphur beyond 20 kg/ha to onion successively for two years increased the soil available sulphur levels slightly over the initial sulphur level (Thangasamy et al., 2013). Supplementation of chemical fertilizers with biofertilizers proved beneficial for onion crop (Yogita and Ram, 2012). The maximum plant height, number of leaves, neck thickness, bulb diameter, bulb weight, number of scales and yield and minimum number of days required for bulb formation and number of days taken to maturity were recorded with the application of 100 kg N + 50 kg P + 70 kg K/ha + 2 kg/ha Azotobacter + 1.9 kg/ha VAM. Use of biofertilizers, viz., Azospirillum and Azotobacter increased the growth and yield as compared to corresponding control (Sharma et al., 2010). To enhance the quality of onion bulbs, the application of plant hormones was evaluated at Anand Agricultural University, Gujarat (Patel et al., 2010). The application of GA3 50 mg/l as root dipping followed by foliar spray significantly increased volume of bulb, equatorial and polar diameter of bulb as well as bulb yield. Use of cytozyme @ 0.2% as root dip before transplanting followed by foliar sprays (0.2%) at 15, 45 and 75 days after transplanting has been standardized for higher yield in onion (NHRDF, 2011). Root dipping treatment of NAA 100 mg/l was found effective to reduce the physiological loss of weight, spoilage loss and finally total loss as compared to control. Organic farming has been found to increase the soil fer-


tility (Subbarao et al., 2011). The use of green manuring with crops like sesbania, cowpea, berseem, wild indigo, green gram, blackgram, dhaincha etc. has been advocated by Subbarao et al. (2011). Among the various organic growth stimulants, viz., Panchgavya, Dashparni, Amrutparni, Vermiwash, Seeweed extract, EM Solution, Humic acid, Bio Potash and microbial extract, applied under organic production system, it was concluded that foliar application of Panchagavya (5%) at 30, 45 and 60 days after planting improved the marketable bulb yield in onion (20.2 t/ha) (DOGR, 2011, 2012).

Irrigation and fertigation Irrigation requirement of onion depends upon the season, soil type, method of irrigation and age of the crop. Onion being a shallow rooted crop needs frequent light irrigation to maintain optimum soil moisture for proper growth and development. Irrigating field 8 hr. before transplanting is essential for crop establishment (NHRDF, 2011). Water deficit at crucial growth stages of crop reduces productivity. Studies carried out at Bangalore indicated that maintenance of soil water potential of – 0.85 bar or less either during pre-bulb development (20-60 days after transplanting) or bulb development stages (60-110 days after transplanting) significantly reduced onion bulb yield, and bulb development stage was found to be more sensitive to moisture stress than pre-bulb development stage (Hegde, 1986). According to Saha et al., (1997) for optimum exploitation of the yield potential of Taherpuri onion, with maximum efficiency of irrigation water use, 10 to 20% depletion of field capacity moisture might be the most suitable criteria for irrigation. Irrigation at 0.55 atmospheric tension at 6-8 day intervals was found to give the highest yield (199 q/ ha) in cv. Sukhsagar at Bidhan Chandra KrishiViswavidyalaya, Mohanpur (Deb et al., 2009). In cv. Telagi Red significantly higher bulb yield (54.91 t/ha), number of leaves, leaf area, LAI and neck girth per plant and equatorial diameter, polar diameter and bulb weight was recorded when field was irrigated at one day interval at 100% PE at University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (Bagali et al., 2012). Several research workers reported that through micro-irrigation higher crop yields can be obtained along with considerable saving in irrigation water (Bhonde et al., 2003; Sankar et al., 2008). Micro-irrigation like drip and sprinklers have been successfully tried in onion by DOGR. Drip irrigation method produced significantly higher marketable bulb yield than other methods of irrigation. There was around 30% water saving in drip irrigation system as compared to surface system. The highest water-use efficiency (770 kg/ha cm) and minimum storage losses were recorded in drip irrigation system


followed by sprinkler irrigation (386.5 kg/ha cm) and the lowest in the surface irrigation (252.5 kg/ha cm). The highest B:C ratio was found in drip irrigation which was 1.98 followed by surface irrigation (1.35) (Tripathi et al., 2010). To maximize the fertilizers use efficiency in onion, the drip fertigation with combined application of organic manures (FYM @ 7t/ha, poultry manure @ 3.5 t/ha and vermicompost @ 3.5 t/ha) along with 80% recommended dose of water soluble fertilizers have been recommended (DOGR, 2012).

Weed management Frequent irrigation and fertilizer application to onion crop favour severe crop-weed competition. Onion crop exhibits greater susceptibility to weed competition than most other crops, mainly due to its slow growth at initial stages and inherent characteristics such as short stature, non-branching, sparse foliage and shallow root system. Major monocot weed floras in onion are Cynadondactylon (L.) Pers., Echinoclua crosgalli, E. colacolonum Link, Sorghum halpense L. and Digitariaobsendens Scop (Vashi et al., 2010). Whereas the major dicot weeds in onion are Phyllanthus maderaspatiensis, Ephorbia hirta L. Amaranthus viridis L., Digera arvensis Fork., Trianthema portulacastrum L., Convolvulus arvensis L. and Physalis minima L. Sinha (1999) recorded 33 weed species in an onion field at Patna, Bihar and among those, Cyperusrotundus and Cynodondactylon were the most prominent weeds that limited the bulb production in onion. Dicotyledonous weed numbers were found to increase with advancement in crop age in a sandy loam soil of Varanasi (Singh and Singh, 1994). The critical period of crop-weed competition in onion occurred from 45 to 90 days after transplanting (Sankar et al., 2011). Because of labour scarcity, chemical control of weeds along with cultural methods is inevitable. Singh et al. (1991) reported that combined application of [email protected] kg/ha incorporated in soil 4 days before transplanting followed by pendimethalin @ 1.25-2.50 kg/ha applied 1 day after transplanting in addition to one hoeing gave effective control of weeds in onion and resulted in higher bulb yield in a sandy loam soil. Application of pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg/ha at preemergence stage and at 30 days after transplanting has also been found promising for weed control in onion in some other studies (Pandey, 1991; IARI, 2010). A field experiment with kharif onion (cv. Bellary Red) on vertisols of Karnataka revealed that pre-emergence application of pendimethalin (1.0 kg/ha) + hand weeding at 45 days after sowing resulted in the greatest weed control efficacy (93.5%), bulb yield (13.16 t/ ha), benefit: cost ratio (4.87) and the lowest weed index (11.8%) (Nadagouda, 1996). According to Saikia et al., (1997) maximum cost-benefit ratio (1:1.27) was obtained

7

with fluchloralin (1.0 kg/ha) + hand weeding. However, Singh (1997) reported soil application of Pendimethalin at 1.0 kg a.i./ha + 1 manual weeding at 60 days after transplanting to be the most economical with a cost benefit ratio of 2:3.1. Abdallah (1998) reported that if well prepared and pre-irrigated onion seedbed plots are covered with 50 µm-thick transparent polyethylene mulch for 6 weeks prior to seed sowing, it would result in the lowest number and weight of weeds/m2 and higher seedling emergence. Pre-emergence application of Pendimethalin, Metolachlor and Oxyfluorfen at 1.0, 0.75 and 0.15 kg/ha and each supplemented with one hand weeding at 35 days after transplanting was observed significantly superior over the single application of these herbicides at higher rates in reducing weed dry matter and in enhancing bulb yield of onion (Kolhe, 2001). It was observed at Bidhan Chandra KrishiViswavidyalaya, Mohanpur that hand weeding at 40 days after transplanting along with application of quizalofop-ethyl 5% EC at 2.5 ml/l of water at 20 DAP significantly reduced weed density (25.5) and dry weight (55.3 g) of weed compared to other treatments. It also resulted in the highest bulb diameter (4.09 cm), bulb weight (13.42 kg) and bulb yield (335.64 q/ha) in cv. ArkaKalyan (Yumnam et al., 2009). NHRDF (2011) has recommended the use of rice straw mulch + pendimethalin @ 3.5 l/ha at 3DAP for better weed control and higher yield of onion in field during rabi season and in case of its non-availability, wheat straw mulch + Oxyfluorfen @ 0.15 kg a. i./ha could also be used. However, DOGR (2012) recommendedapplication of Oxyflurofen 23.5% EC @1.5ml/L before planting and one hand weeding at 40-60 days after transplanting for good weed control efficiency (73.6 %), higher marketable bulb yield (36.1 t/ha) and the highest B:C ratio (2.54).

Crop sequence Crop sequences vary depending upon the agroclimatic conditions of the particular location. Normally cauliflower, aster, tomato, potato, bajra, wheat and groundnut are good preceding crops for onion because they require much organic matter in the soil. In western Maharashtra, aster-onion, marigold-onion, groundnut-onion, bajra-onion, onion-wheat, potato-onion, and cucumber-onion sequences are popularly followed among farmers. Crop rotation of egg plant as preceding crop followed by onion as succeeding crop recorded the maximum number of micro-organisms in the onion rhizosphere whereas the minimum numbers of bacteria, actinomycetes and other microorganisms were noticed in monoculture (Rankev and Surlekov, 1976). Vetrivelkalai and Subramanian (2006) studied the population dynamics of seven plant parasitic nematodes under onion based cropping sequences in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The results revealed that in onion-maize-onion cropping

8

sequence, the populations of R. reniformis and P. delattrei were increased whereas in onion - tomato - okra cropping sequence, the populations of H. dihystera, H. seinhorsti and M. incognita were increased. Arya and Bakashi (1999) conducted experiment at Palampur to find out a suitable onion based cropping sequence along with traditional cropping systems. The results revealed that onion cultivation is more profitable when okra and radish are as one of the component vegetables in the vegetable sequences. The crop sequences consisting of AubergineChinese cabbage-Onion and Okra-Radish-Onion gave significantly higher gross returns than the other sequences. The same crop sequences also produced the highest net returns and benefit: cost ratio in Himachal Pradesh. Groundnut-Potato-Onion cropping system was the best crop sequence with higher yield, more remunerative and land use efficiency (90%) in Punjab (Roy et al., 1999). Studies conducted at DOGR, Rajgurunagar revealed that among the various cropping sequences evaluated, soyabean in kharif season followed by onion in rabi season was the best cropping sequences under western Maharashtra conditions in terms of yield, soil health and cost:benefit ratio. There was a tremendous improvement in physical and chemical properties of soil in legume based cropping sequences particularly soybean followed by rabi onion and groundnut followed by late kharif onion (Sankar et al., 2011). However, growing soybean in kharif followed by onion in rabi was more remunerative and cost effective than other sequences (DOGR, 2012).

Intercropping Sugarcane based intercropping with onion has been suggested (NRCOG, 2004). Onion is very much suited to grow as an intercrop in sugarcane field under paired row planting system during winter season (November - December planting). Since this crop is shallow rooted bulb forming vegetable having low canopy, it does not compete with deep-rooted long duration crop like sugarcane. Sugarcane-onion intercropping is a common practice in some pockets of Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Singh (1996) reported that cane equivalent yield and net returns were high when sugarcane planted in autumn was intercropped with onions In Karnataka, onion is grown as an intercrop in chilli or cotton. Chilli intercropped with one row of multiplier onion cv. Co 2 recorded the highest yield of chilli pods and more net income per unit area per unit time compared to monoculture (Elangovan et al., 1985; Dodamani et al., 1993). Intercropping of onion with tomato decreased the level of thrips infestation by 79 – 85% and marketable yield increased by 104 to 284% (Afifi and Haydar, 1990). Khurana and Bhatia (1991) reported higher net returns in potato cv. Kufri Badshah intercropped with onion cv. Hisar-2 than fennel crop. Kothari et al. (2000) reported that mint


(cv Hy-77) intercropped with one, two and three rows of onion (cv. Nasik 58) increased the net return, land utilization efficiency, improved soil moisture (0-15 cm) and utilization of solar radiation than sole cropping. Ibrahim et al. (2005) found the highest intercrop yield when sugarbeet plants were arranged in ridges at 60 cm apart, and with distance of 25 cm between sugarbeet and onion. Mollah et al. (2007) reported the highest groundnut equivalent yield and benefit:cost ratio from groundnut was intercropped with two rows of onion or garlic.

Farm mechanization The shortage of labour at the crucial time and increasing labour cost make onion mechanization inevitable. This intervention is mainly solicited in labour intensive works, viz., sowing, transplating, harvesting etc. Direct seed sowing with the local and pneumatic seed drill machine was compared with manual direct seed sowing (broadcasting) and seedling transplanting methods (DOGR, 2013). Among various direct sowing methods, bigger bulbs, more percent of A grade bulbs and less number of double bulbs were observed in sowing done using pneumatic seed drill. However, transplanting method of onion production recorded the highest marketable yield, which was significantly higher over the direct sowing with pneumatic seed drill. But low seed rate, easy sowing, saving in time and early maturity of onion were observed in sowing with pneumatic seed drill. The lowest marketable yield was observed in Poona seed drill followed by manual sowing (broadcasting) method. A six-row tractor operated onion transplanter for flatbed has been designed and fabricated (IIHR, 2010). The six roller wheels press the root of the seedlings in soil and shovels cover the roots with soil. The row spacing in the present prototype is 15 cm and seedling spacing is 10 cm. The expected working speed is 1 km/h and field capacity is 0.8 ha/day. Manual onion harvesting is also full of drudgery and the mechanization is essentially needed. Prototype of onion digger with length1.2 m, speed ratio 1.25:1 and slope of the elevator 15 degrees, was found to have digging efficiency 97.7%, separation index 79.1%, bulb damage 3.5%, fuel consumption 4.1 l/ha (12.81 l/ha) and draft 10.78 kg (Khura et al., 2011). Onion detopper was designed and developed at Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar to facilitate the digging and top removal (Rani and Srivastava, 2012). The onion bulbs were fed through a chute type feeding unit to the belt conveyor moving at a speed of 0.53 m/s which ensures uniform transport of the bulbs to an oscillating conveyor. The cutter was provided at the downward side of the oscillating conveyor. The speed of the cutter could be varied and output capacity was 300 kg/h with the detopping


efficiency 79%. The belt conveyor had two rollers and an endless conveyor belt. For mechanical extraction of onion seeds, experiments were conducted with spike tooth extraction mechanism in a laboratory test set-up (IARI, 2010). The mechanism gave an extraction efficiency of 98.93% and cleaning efficiency of 97.07%. The seed loss ranged between 2.15% and 3.08% at cylinder speeds of 3-5 m/s. The costs of seed extraction by mechanical onion seed extractor and manual/conventional method were Rs. 1,800 and Rs. 9,000 per tonne of onion umbel, respectively. The break-even point for seed extractor was 78.77 h with 31.51% of annual utility. The payback period of seed extractor is 2.4 years. Grading of bulbs helps to improve the marketability of the produce. However, hand grading is an expensive operation. To reduce the cost of grading and increase the precision, two onion graders, viz., manually operated and motorized graders were designed and evaluated by DOGR (Tripathi and Lawande, 2009). These have increased efficiency of 5 and 20 times, respectively, over hand grading. The precision of grading achieved by graders is 98% as against 50% in hand grading. The capacity of manual grader is 5 quintals per person per hour with 90% accuracy. The capacity of motorized grader is two tons per hour with 90% accuracy. Peeling of onion is essential to prepare different processed products, viz., dehydrated onions, onion powder, onion flakes, onion salt, onion rings, and pickled and canned onions. Onion peeling machine would enhance efficiency of the processing. Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal has developed a batch type multiplier onion peeler (Naik et al., 2007). The multiplier onion needs to have the ends cut with a sharp knife and soaked in clean water for a period of 10 minutes to assist the loosening of peel followed by air drying for 1-2 minutes to remove the surface water. With 92% peeling, and unpeeled and damaged percentage being 6% and 2%, respectively, the capacity of the peeler was found 50-60 kg/h.The adoption of above mentioned machinery, however, remains to be seen at farmers’ fields, because of their high initial costs and utility restricted mainly to onion crop.

Crop protection Onion is reported to be infected by 29 fungal, four viral andfour bacterial pathogens in India. (Gupta et al., 1994). Diseases such as Anthracnose, Purple Blotch and Stemphylium Blight cause extensive crop losses and are important throughout the onion producing areas of the country (Anon., 1986). Pink root and Fusarium basal rot also have significant impact on onion yield reduction in the country. Iris yellow spot and Onion yellow dwarf viruses are major viruses common and prevalent in major onion growing regions of the country. There are a few

9

diseases of local importance only such as downy mildew in temperate zones, viz., Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand. These diseases are responsible for production and storage losses up to 50% or more annually depending upon the location, environment, cultivar and pathogen involved (Srinivas et al., 2007). The amount of economic losses due to diseases varies significantly across three seasons. Kharif onion suffers heavily and losses reach as high as 50-60%, late kharif is comparatively safe, whereas rabi crop losses reach up to 20-30%. Apart from causing direct production losses, these pathogens significantly reduce marketable quality. Onion is attacked by many insect pests also,which cause damage to leaves, bulbs, flowers and developing seed. Among these thrips and mites are the most damaging, which besides causing direct damage, also act as vectors of various viruses. No reliable source of host resistance in Indian short day onions against major diseases is recorded or reported. It makes imperative to resort only to chemical method of disease control. The symptoms caused and the control measures recommended (Sankar et al., 2014) to control the diseases and pests of onion are given in Table 3.

Post-harvest handling and storage Post-harvest management is a crucial operation in the production chain. Although, the pre-harvest cultural practices such as fertilizer application, irrigation etc. have profound role on storage life of bulbs, these factors cannot be managed easily. Thus, proper post-harvest management practices become imperative. The comprehensive studies reveled that post-harvest losses can be to the tune of 45-50% if proper care of the harvested produce is not taken. These losses in onion mainly consist of physiological weight loss (20-25%), sprouting (8-10%) and decay (10-12%) (Gopal, 2014). The estimation of seasonal variation in storage losses revealed that the kharif onions were more prone to losses than late kharif and rabi seasons produce. The total losses which include physiological loss of weight, rotting and sprouting reached almost 70% in kharif after three months storage (DOGR, 2013). The light red varieties have more storability than dark red and white bulb varieties (Tripathi and Lawande, 2010). Besides, varietal difference in storability, the losses were also found related with bulb size, neck thickness and neck length. A significant reduction in storage losses was observed when the last irrigation was applied five days before harvesting over irrigation applied just before harvesting (Sharma et al., 2007). The crop grown with drip irrigation was reported to have significantly lower losses than the crop grown with surface irrigation (Tripathi et al., 2010). Also, even slight damage to the dry outer scales may hasten loss of water during storage (Sidhu, 2008). Curing is an important post-harvest management operation which decides the fate of storage. The

10

windrow method of field curing for 3-5 days followed by shade curing for 7 to 10 days has been recommended. The curing of bulbs under poly-tunnel in kharif season and pits in rabi season was found effective in reduction of losses. Artificial curing of bulbs in curing chamber with full load at 35oC temperature and airflow velocity of 3.2 m/s cured the bulb efficiently. These cured bulbs performed superior in storage as compared to curing under ambient condition during kharif season (NHRDF, 2011). Pre-harvest application of isopropyl–N (3-chlorophenyl) carbamate (CIPC) (2%) at 75 days after planting has been found to reduce sprouting significantly in kharif onion varieties viz. Bhima Raj and Bhima Red after three months of storage (DOGR, 2012, 2013). However, its application in rabi crop was found ineffective. Further, post-harvest application of CIPC (hot fogging) could not restrict the sprouting (DOGR, 2012). The gamma-irradiation of some varieties revealed that it could effectively check the sprouting and rotting in all onion varieties (Tripathi et al., 2011). However, no significant effect was observed on weight loss and black mould. It was observed that sulphur fumigation significantly reduced the black mould infestation. At DOGR, a trial was conducted to assess the effect of different storage structures i.e. traditional, bottom ventilated, mud plastered and chain linked storage structures on storage losses. The packing materials, viz., stakes, hessain cloth bags, netlon bags and plastic crates were compared for packaging. The results revealed that mud plastered top and bottom ventilated storage structure was superior in reduction of losses, i.e., weight loss, rotting and sprouting over other structures irrespective of packing materials. Among single row structures, low cost bottom ventilated structure was found to be the best in reduction of losses and increase in net profit. Low cost storage model of 5 to 10 tons capacity and high cost model of 25 to 50 tons capacity with bottom and side ventilation recommended by DOGR have become popular among the farmers (Murkute and Gopal, 2013). Considering minimal storage losses, subsidy is being advanced to these models by different state governments. Cold storage is the most efficient way to restrict physiological weight loss. However, conducive atmosphere for sprouting in cold storages restricts its use.

Processing Processing is an efficient way to increase shelf life without compromising the freshness and quality. Dehydrated products such as flakes, rings, granules, powder etc. and processed onions like onion in vinegar and brine are the important products being prepared and marketed world wide. Onion can also be processed into oil, vinegar and wine etc. However, dehydration of the onions


is the oldest method of producing concentrated product which has longer shelf life when packaged properly, and can be simply reconstituted without any substantial loss of flavor, taste, colour and aroma. Onions are generally dried from an initial moisture content of about 86% (wet basis) to 7% or less for efficient storage and processing (Sarsavadia et al., 1999). Different methods used for dehydration of onion are solar drying, convective air drying, freeze drying, fluidized bed drying, microwave drying, vacuum drying, infra red drying and osmotic dehydration etc. All onion varieties are not suitable for dehydration. Specific characteristics recommended for drying are white flesh, 15-20% total solid content, high pungency, high insoluble solids and low reducing to non-reducing sugars ratio (Mitra et al., 2012). Based on the recovery and quality of red and white onion flakes, cabinet drying method has been recommended (DOGR, 2011). The white onions were found to give higher recovery (11.17%) than red onions (10.12%). Sun drying had disadvantage of scorching and brownish colour due to direct exposure to sun light. Time required for drying is maximum in sun drying followed by solar drying and the minimum time is required for cabinet drying. Cabinet dried onion flakes were found superior for shelf life and in rehydration ratio of flakes as compared to other drying methods. Bulk trial on white onion dehydration using 50 kg lot indicated that dried onion yield of 9.9% on fresh weight basis could be obtained. Sensory evaluation studies using 9-point hedonic scale revealed that curry prepared from dehydrated onion was acceptable in terms of colour, taste/pungency and texture compared to fresh and rehydrated samples. Storage studies of dried white onion in three different packages, viz., PET jar (100g), 150 gauge polyethylene pouch and plastic pallet at room temperature showed that at the end of 6 months storage period, samples packed in PET jar and plastic pallet retained original colour, whereas sample packed in polythene pouch developed browning (IIHR, 2010).

Marketing and export A number of agencies including producers, commission agents, merchants, wholesalers and cooperatives etc. are involved in marketing of onions. The onion bulbs are produced all over India but marketing is well organized only in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Rajasthan. In these states, the cooperatives and NAFED are playing significant role in the marketing of onion bulbs. NAFED intervenes in the domestic marketing whenever there is glut in the market and prices reach uneconomical levels. The Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) were established in each state by the respective state governments with a view to regulate the marketing of agricultural produce


in market areas. The regulation of markets had several positive features such as sale through auction method, reliable weighing, standardized market charges, payment of cash to farmers without undue deductions, dispute settlement mechanism, and reduction in physical losses of produce and availability of several amenities in market yards. Onion bulbs from different places of the country are assembled and distributed through (i) open auction system (Lasalgaon, Chakan, Pune, Mysore, Bellary); (ii) under cover or hatha system (Vashi, Mumbai); (iii) tender system (Mysore, Bellary and Hubli); (iv) open agreement system. Properly graded, well cured and cleaned bulbs should be marketed for fetching better price in the market. Besides fulfilling the constant demand of domestic population, India exported 18.22 lakh tons of onion worth Rs. 2,294 crores during 2011-12 (NAFED, 2013). About 90% export of onion is from Maharashtra. There is critical shortage in arrivals of onion in the market during November to January. From May to November stored onions are used for domestic as well as export market. November to December kharif onion is available in the market, whereas from January to March late kharif crop from Maharashtra is available. Export trade from Mumbai and Kandla port mainly to Gulf countries predominantly during November to April coincides with harvest of rainy season and late rainy season crops. India is the third biggest exporter of onion, next to Netherlands and Spain, in the world and contributes about 12% of the global market. Mainly onion bulbs having dark and light red colour are exported from India. The major countries importing onion bulbs from India are Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Quatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, UAE, UK etc. The specific requirements of export onion are 4-6 cm bulb diameter, light to dark red colour, round shape, strong pungency for gulf markets and South East Asian markets. Whereas for Bangladesh, bulbs of 3-4 cm diameter and having light red and round shape are preferred. Yellow/brown colour bulbs of 7-8 cm diameter and having round or spindle shape are preferred in the European and Japanese markets. Small onions (Agrifound Rose and Bangalore Rose) grown in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and Multiplier onion (Co4 and Co5) grown in Tamil Nadu are exported to Malaysia, Singapore and Gulf countries. Onion is a unique example where that market forces have influenced domestication and diversification of the crop largely.

Future challenges Although research and development has helped in enhancing production and export of onion, in productivity there is marginal increase. Statistics (Fig. 1) in-

11

dicate that in India production of onion has increased from 47.21 lakh tons in year 2000 to 175.11 lakh tons in 2012 (FAO Stat., 2013). This increase, however, has come mainly from increase in area which in 2012 stood at 10.87 lakh hectares. Although second in onion production after China at world level we are far behind in productivity compared to many countries. The average productivity of onion in India now stands at only 16.11 t/h, which is lower than world average of 18.67 t/ha. The highest productivity of onion has been reported to be 62.50 t/ha in Ireland (FAO stat., 2013). Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are the main onion growing states of India. In general, barring North Eastern states and Kerala, all other states grow onion. Country’s 26% area and 29% production alone come from Maharashtra (Fig. 2). The main reasons for low productivity of onion in India are listed below. i.

Inherent low yield potential of short day onion varieties grown in the country.

ii. Non-availability of suitable F1 hybrids. iii. Susceptibility of all cultivars to diseases, pests and abiotic stresses.

Table 1: Status of onion germplasm collection at DOGR S. No.

Category

No. of accessions

1

Dark Red

274

2

Light Red

429

3

White

450

4

Yellow

50

5

Exotic onion 237

6

Wild species 12 i.

Allium altaicum.

ii.

A. ampeloprasum

iii. A. cepax A. cornutum (PRAN) iv. A. cepax A. fistulosum v.

A. chinense

vi. A. fistulosum. vii. A. flavum viii. A. galanthum ix.

A. guttatum

x.

A. hookeri

xi. A. schoenoprasumvar. schoenoprasum xii. A. tuberosum

12


Table 2: Onion varieties developed by different organizations in India S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

Organization Agril. Dept., M.S.

MPKV, Rahuri

IARI, N. Delhi

IIHR, Bangalore

HAU, Hissar NHRDF, Nashik

VPKAS, Almora RAU, Rajasthan

Variety

Bulb color N-53 Red *N-2-4-1 Red *N-257-9-1 White Baswant -780 Red Phule Safed White Phule Suvarna Yellow *Phule Samarth (S-1) Red Pusa White Flat White Pusa White Round White Early Grano (Long Day type) Yellow Brown Spanish (Long Day) Brown *Pusa Red Red *Pusa Ratnar Red *Pusa Madhavi (Line-120) Red *Selection 126 Brown Arka Pragati Red *Arka Niketan Red *Arka Kalyan Red Arka Lalima(F1 hybrid) Red Arka Kirtiman(F1 hybrid) Red Arka Pitamber Yellow Arka Bindu Red Arka Ujjwal (multiplier onion) Red Arka Swadista White ArkaVishwas Dark red Arka Sona Yellow Arka Bhim (tri-parental synthetic) Red Arka Akshay (tri-parental synthetic) Dark Red Hissar- 2 Red *HOS-1 Red Agrifound Rose Red Agrifound Red ( Multiplier) Red *Agrifound Light Red Red Agrifound White White *Agrifound Dark Red Red *NHRDF Red (L-28) Red * NHRDF Red (L-355) Red VL-67 (Long Day) Red *VL-3 (Long Day) Red Udaipur 101 Red Udaipur 102 White Udaipur 103 Red

Planting season

Year of release Kharif 1975 Rabi and late Kharif 1985 Rabi 1985 Kharif 1989 Late Kharif and Rabi 1994 Rabi and late Kharif 2001 Late Kharif 2006 Rabi 1975 Rabi 1975 Late Kharif and Rabi 1975 Hills 1975 Late Kharif and Rabi 1975 Rabi 1975 Rabi 1987 Rabi 2012 Kharif and Rabi 1984 Rabi and late Kharif 1987 Kharif 1987 Rabi 1993 Rabi 1993 Rabi 2006 Kharif, late Kharif and Rabi 2006 Rabi 2010 Rabi 2010 Kharif and Rabi 2011 Rabi 2011 Rabi 2011 Rabi 2011 Rabi 1976 Rabi 2006 Rabi 1987 Kharif and Rabi 1987 Rabi and late Kharif 1988 Rabi 1994 Kharif 1996 Rabi 2006 Rabi 2012 Hills 1973 Hills 1990 Rabi Rabi Rabi


43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

PDKV, Akola GAU, Junagarh CSAUAT, Kanpur PAU, Ludhiana

TNAU, Coimbatore

RARS, Durgapura

DOGR, Rajgurunagar

61 62 63 64 65 66 67

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Red Red Red Red Red

Rabi Rabi Rabi Rabi Rabi Rabi Rabi Rabi Kharif and Rabi Kharif and Rabi Kharif and Rabi Kharif and Rabi Kharif and Rabi Rabi Rabi Rabi Rabi Kharif, late Kharif and Rabi

1982 2004 2005 2010 2006

Red Red Red Red White White Red

Kharif and Rabi Kharif and late Kharif Late Kharif and Rabi Rabi Kharif and Rabi Kharif and late Kharif Kharif

2007 2009 2010 2010 2010 2010 2012

*PKV White Gujarat White Onion (GWO) – 1 Kalyanpur Red Round Punjab Selection *Punjab Red Round Punjab-48 (S-48) Punjab White *Punjab Naroya(PBR-5) Co-1 (Multiplier) Co – 2 Co – 3 Co – 4 Co - 5 MDU-1 Rajasthan Onion-1 (RO-1) Arpita (RO-59) RO 252 *Bhima Super

White White Red Red Red White White Red Red Red Red Red

*Bhima Raj *Bhima Red *Bhima Shakti *Bhima Kiran *Bhima Shweta *Bhima Shubhra *Bhima Dark Red

2009 2000 1983 1973 1993 1978 1998 1997 1978 1982 1984

* Released through All India Coordinated Research Project on Vegetables or All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic.

Table 3: Important pests and diseases, their symptoms and control measures Category Pest Insect Thrips (Thripstabaci)

Eriophyid mite Fungal Disease

Purple bloch (Alternaria porri)

Symptoms 1. Thrips infestation at the early stage (transplanting to 45 days) can be identified by curling and twisting of leaves2. Typical symptoms are the presence of white or silvery patches on the leaves 3. In severe infestation, whole plant looks blemished and turns white.

Control measures 1. Planting of two rows of maize or one outer row of maize and one inner row of wheat as a barrier crop surrounding onion crop (250 sq. m) at least 30 days prior to transplanting helps block the movement of adult thrips2. Foliar spray of insecticides like Profenofos @ 0.1%, Carbosulfan (0.2%) or Fipronil (0.1%) depending upon the severity of infestation 1. Leaves do not open completely. Whole 1. Foliar spray of Dicofol (0.2%) or sulphur plant shows curling. 2. Yellow mottling is seen @0.05% after 15 days interval, if necessary. mostly on the edges of the leaves. 1. Initially small, elliptical lesions or spots Foliar spray of Mancozeb @ 0.25% / that often turn purplish-brown which are Tricyclozole @ 0.1% / Hexoconazole @ 0.1% surrounded by chlorotic margin. 2. If the spots /Propiconazole @ 0.1% at 10-15 days intervals enlarge, chlorotic margin extend above and from 30 days after transplanting or as soon as below the actual lesion. Lesions usually girdle disease appears leaves, causing them to fall over. Lesions may also start at the tips of older leaves.

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Stemphylium blight (Stemphylium vesicarium)

Viral disease

1. Small yellow to orange flecks or streaks develop in the middle of the leaf which soon enlarge into elongated, spindle shaped to ovate diffused spots surrounded by characteristic pinkish margin. 2. The spots progress from the tip to the base of the leaves, blighting the leaves and gradually the entire foliage. Anthracnose/ 1. The characteristic symptoms are curling, Twister twisting, chlorosis of the leaves, and abnormal Disease (Colelongation of the neck (false stem). 2. Initially pale yellow water soaked oval sunken letotrichum gleosporiodes) lesions appear on leaf blades. Numerous black coloured slightly raised structures are produced in the central portion, which may be arranged in concentric rings. The affected leaves shrivel, droop down and finally wither. Damping off 1. Seedlings topple over after they emerge (Pythiumspp., from the soil. It usually occurs at or below Fusariumspp. the ground level and infected tissues appear and Rhizoctonia- soft and water soaked solani) Irish Yellow Straw-coloured, dry, tan, spindle or diamondSpot Virus shaped lesions, with or without distinct green (IYSV) centers with yellow or tan borders on leaves. The symptoms are more pronounced on flower stalks. Infected leaves and stalks lodge during the latter part of the growing season. Onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV)

1. Planting on raised bed 2. Avoid water logging3. Foliar Spray of Mancozeb @ 0.25% 4. Soil treatment with Benomyl @ 0.2%

1. Planting onion on the raised bed2. Seed treatment with Thiram or Captan @ 0.3%.3. Drenching the nursery beds with Captan or Thiram @ 0.2% or Carbendazim @ 0.1% or Copper oxychloride @ 0.3% 1. Plant high quality transplants free from thrips and Iris yellow spot virus. 2. Practice three years or longer rotation between onion crops. 3. Eliminate volunteers, culls, and weeds in and around onion fields. 4. Avoid crop stress. 5. Thrips control will reduce virus incidence as thrips are vectors. Mild chlorotic stripes to bright yellow 1. Use virus free planting material2. Use stripes, mosaic, curling of leaves and stunted resistant cultivars3. Aphid control will reduce growth the incidence of OYDV which is a vector for OYDV4. Foliar spray of Profenofos @ 0.1%, Carbosulfan (0.2%) or Fipronil (0.1%) for controlling aphids

Fig. 1:Year-wise area, production and productivity of onion in India (Source: FAO Stat., 2013)

Foliar spray of Mancozeb @ 0.25% / Tricyclozole @ 0.1% / Hexoconazole @ 0.1% /Propiconazole @ 0.1% at 10-15 days interval from 30 days after transplanting or as soon as disease appears

Fig. 2: Area, production and productivity of onion in major onion growing states of India (2012-13) (Source: Agricultural Statistics, 2013. Department of Agriculture and Co-operation)


iv. Tropical climate is more congenial for diseases and pests. v. Non-availability of genuine seeds of released varieties. vi. Sub-optimal standards of cultivation adopted by farmers. vii. Shortage of irrigation at critical stages. viii. Poor storage capacity of present day varieties and poor storage facilities. ix. Kharif crop always pull down country’s average productivity. x. Fluctuation of prices disturbs the attitude of farmers towards use of inputs and modern technology. India is projected to have population of 1.7 billion by 2050, and there is no possibility of increase in cultivable land. To cater the requirement of this ever increasing population, keeping per capita consumption, export, processing and losses at existing rate (consumption,i.e., 7.83 kg/person/year, export 9%, processing 6.75% and losses 30%; base year 2010-2011), we will require 24.62 million tons of onion in 2050 against 19.29 million tons in 2013-14. This demands an increase in average productivity from 15.85 to 22.7 t/ha, which is 42.9% higher than that of in 2013-14. Efforts can be made to reduce losses up to 20%, increase export up to 25% and processing up to 15% by 2050. With these targets, we have to increase production from 19.29 million tons to 33.39 million tons with productivity of 30.72 t/ha. Thus there is need is to explore the innovative measures to improve productivity and stabilize production in India. The following interventions may help to improve the productivity and prospects of onion cultivation in India. i.

Basic research in breeding for resistance, processing qualities and export worthy varieties are lacking. Thrust in these areas can help to improve onion productivity and export.

ii. Biennial nature, high cross-pollination and sharp inbreeding depression in onion are still challenges for breeders with conventional approaches. There is thus an opportunity to use biotechnology particularly molecular approaches and functional genomics to overcome these problems. iii. Due to poor maintenance of breeders’ stock, many varieties are out of production chain or could not even make entry into the chain. Farmers find easy and economical to produce their own seed of onion but due to ignorance of out-crossing they are not able to maintain purity. Due to supply of spurious seed by many seed merchants, the spread of good varieties has been hampered. Thus there exist opportunity to produce and distribute good quality seed of true-to-

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type varieties and capture the market of onion seed. Seed multiplying agencies working in public sector need to be sensitized in this regard. iv. Thrust is required to increase the storage capacity in the country. Infrastructure facilities need to be created in a way that about 30-40% produce is stored in the cold storages to significantly reduce the post-harvest losses. Focus should also be to evolve a robust supply chain based on domestic demand, export and a quantum for processing to avoid price fluctuations by harnessing available resources, modern infrastructures, improved technologies and innovative endeavors. Policy makers will have to work hard to provide amicable solutions to pricing which should lead to higher profits to farmers but not at the cost of consumers.

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Shastri, J.L. 1995 Garud Purana.In: Ancient Indian Traditional and Mythology, vol. 12,J.L. Shastri, G. P. Bhatt, G.V. Tagare, MotilalBanarsidas Publishers, New Delhi, 30p. Sidhu, A.S. 2008. Storage potential of some onion and garlic cultivars: A comparative evaluation. Indian J. Hort.,65: 347-348. Singh, D. 1996. Comparative study of autumn v/s spring sugarcane crop in different cropping systems. Indian Sugar,46(9): 727-729. Singh, M.P. and Singh, K.P. 1994. Weed behaviour in rainy season onion (Allium cepa L) as influenced by various weed-free and weedy treatments. Indian J. Ag. Sci.,64: 686-690. Singh, A.K. and Singh, V. 2002. Effect of cultural practices on marketable bulb yield and economics of kharif onion (Allium cepa L.). Bioved.,13: 27-31. Singh, B.P. and Rana, R.S. 1994. Collection and conservation of Allium genetic resources: an Indian perspective. Acta Hort., 358: 181–190. Singh, J.; Chadha, M.L. and Sandhu, K.S. 1991.Evaluation of different herbicides for weed control in kharif onion. J. Res.PAU ,28: 199-202. Singh,V.; Singh, J.; Bisen, R.K.; Agrawal, H.P. and Singh, V. 1997. A note on weed management in onion.Veg. Sci.,24: 157-158. Sinha, M.; Mandal, N.; Kumari, Rekha; Gupta, U.D. and Kumari, R. 1999. Weed flora of direct sown onion (Allium cepaL.) field. J. Appl. Biol., 9: 45-46. Srinivas, P.S. and Lawande, K.E. 2007. Seedling root dip method for protecting onion plants from thrips. Indian J. Plant Prot.,35: 206-209. Subbarao, A.; Singh, A.B. and Ramesh, K. 2011. Production of onion (Allium cepa) and garlic (Allium sativum) under organic farming. Souvenir and Abstract, National Symposium on Alliums: Current Scenario and Future Trends. March 12-14, 2011. Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research Pune, India, pp. 43-49. Tandon, H.L.S. 1987. Fertilizer recommendation for horticultural crops.A guide book, Fertilizer Development and Consultation Organization, New Delhi, pp. 10-14. Thangasamy, A.; Sankar, V. and Lawande, K.E. 2013. Effect of sulphur nutrition on pungency and storage life of short day onion (Allium cepa). Indian J. Ag. Sci., 83: 1086-1089. Tripathi, P.C. and Lawande, K.E. 2009. A new gadget for

onion grading. AG J., pp. 90. Tripathi, P.C. and Lawande, K.E. 2010. Temperature related changes in respiration and Q10 coefficient in different varieties of onion. Prog. Hort., 42: 88-90. Tripathi, P.C.; Sankar, V. and Lawande, K.E. 2010. Influence of micro irrigation methods on growth, yield and storage of rabi onion. Indian J. Hort., 67: 61-65. Tripathi, P.C.; Sankar, V.; Mahajan, V. and Lawande, K.E. 2011. Response of gamma irradiation on postharvest losses in some onion varieties. Indian J. Hort., 68: 556-560. Vashi,J.M.; Pandya, H.V. and Naik, R.M. 2010. Study on physical and chemical methods of weed control in onion crop. Int. J. Plant Protec., 2: 245-247. Vavilov N.I. 1926. Origin and Geography of Cultivated Plants.English translation by D Love (1992).Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, U.K. Vavilov, N.I. and Bukinich, D.D. 1929. Zemelede1cheskii Afganistan.Tr.po. prikl. Botanike, genetike i se1ekcii VIRT.Z., pp.156-158. VeereGowda, R. 1988. Studies on the genetics of yield and quality characters in bulb and seed crop of onion (Allium cepa L.). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. VeereGowda R.; Rao, E.S.; Pathak, C.S. and Singh, T.H. 2002. Development and commercialization of F1 hybrids in short day onion: Indian Perspective, In: Proceedings of International Conference on Vegetables, pp. 560-562. Verma, L.R.; Pandey, U.B.; Bhonde, S.R. and Srivastava, K.J. 1999.Quality evaluation of different onion varieties for dehydration.Newslett. National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation, 19(2/3), pp. 1-6. Vetrivelkalai, P. and Subramanian, S. 2006. Plant parasitic nematode populations as influenced by onion based cropping sequences. Indian J. Nematol., 36: 10-14. Yawlakar, K.S. 1969. Bulb vegetables. In:Vegetables Crops of India, Agricultural Horticultural publication House, Nagpur. Yogita and Ram, R. 2012. Interaction effect of chemical and bio-fertilizers on growth and yield of onion (Allium cepa L.). Hort. Flora Res. Spectrum, 1: 239-243. Yumnam, A.; Mandal, A.R.; Thapa, U.; Maity, T.K. and Bhattacharya, S.P. 2009. Studies on weed management in onion (Allium cepa L.). J. Crop Weed, 5: 325326.

Received on 18 July 2014 and accepted on 20 January 2015


[Review Article]

Diversity in genus Mangifera L. and varietal variation and improvement in mango (Mangifera indica L.): A review Shyam Nagina Pandey

Former Assistant Director General (Horticulture-I), ICAR, New Delhi-110012 Present address-House No. 39, Block-I, Sector -41, Noida-201303, District- Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh (India)

ABSTRACT

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) originated as allopolyploid most probably amphidiploid with 40 somatic (2n) chromosomes of small size (0.2-2.0µm). Cytology revealed regular meiosis with regular pairing of chromosomes and their disjunction in 20 bivalents. Origin of mango to Indo-Burma (Myanmar) region is unquestionably established and the origin of the genus Mangifera L. has been established in the region of Myanmar-Siam-Indochina or Malay Archipelago as its primary center and Sunda Islands (Java, Sumatra, Bornco)- the Philippines and CelebesBanda-Timor group as the secondary centre. M. odorata, M. zeylanica, M. caloneura, M. Sylvatica, M. foetida and M. caesia have the same number of chromosomes and thus show a possibility of occurring cross ability among them. M. indica L. and its closely related species have enormous variability, which is considered valuable for mango improvement. Characterization of these species morphologically and by molecular markers has been attempted and their relatedness has been indicated. Genetic relationship among M. indica, M. odorata, M. caesia and M. foetida has been indicated by AFLP analysis. Mangifera species are valuable for mango improvement, as they are resistant to certain biotic and abiotic stresses. Mango has rich germplasm, which comprises of 1682 cultivars in the world and 108 other accessions including farmers’ varieties in India. Efforts made in the improvement of mango have resulted in many improved varieties. Some varieties selected from open-pollinated natural seedlings and also as clones of commercial cultivars have potential of commercial use as table, juice pulp and pickle varieties. Such available selections, natural bud-sports and induced mutants need to be tested and recommended for commercial cultivation. In early times, the spread of mango took place through Voyages but now the exchange of plant material takes place in a systematic way through international germplasm exchange programmes. Most of the cultivars of Florida have been evolved as the 2nd or 3rd generation seedling selections from cv. Malgoa introduced from India. Some of the useful exotic collection available in India has gainfully been utilized. Exotic cv. Eldon (EC141457) introduced from Brazil has been released in the popular name ‘Pusa Surya’ by IARI, New Delhi for commercial cultivation in India. Exotic cvs. Sensation and Tommy Atkins have been used as parents to develop variety with red peel, pleasant sugar: acid blend in fruit juice and long shelf-life of fruit.Planned hybridization programmes in India have yielded many high yielding and regular bearing varieties with improved fruit quality and long shelf-life. Some of them are Pusa Arunima, Pusa Pratibha, Pusa Shreshth, Pusa Lalima, Ambika and Arka Anmol with red peel suitable for export. Efficient technique of hybridization has been standardized and inheritance pattern of many important traits has been studied. Some of the pre-selection indices have been established for selection of hybrids. Source of genes for resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses have been found out for incorporation of resistance/ tolerance to specific stresses in hybrid. Some endeavours have been made to induce useful mutations and some economically important natural bud-sports have been reported. Registration of elite accessions and newly developed varieties with Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Authority, Govt. of India, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources of ICAR and International Registration Authority of Mango Cultivars established at the Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology of the Indian Agricultural Research, Institute, New Delhi has been suggested to protect the intellectual property right and to avoid the synonym and duplication of name of the variety. KEY WORDS: Genetic diversity, breeding methods, molecular marker, improvement, variety, export Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com


Mango is a premier fruit crop in India as well as some other countries in the tropical world with respect to being its eminent place in nutritional security and employment and income generation. Whereas global climate change has put up many challenges in successful mango cultivation through the pressure of dynamic biotic and abiotic stresses, the ever changing food habit and population explosion of mankind have put up huge demands of fresh mangoes and their new processed products to add to the quality of diet. The present scenario and expected future need of mangoes necessitate bringing improvement in mango with respect to the productivity not only per tree but also per unit area of land by growing dwarf varieties in high density plantation. A need has therefore, arisen to develop high yielding varieties of dwarf plant type, high fruit quality and resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses to produce enough fruits for safe human consumption by minimizing the use of injurious pesticides for managing pests and diseases and to add to the quality of life. Studies have been made for understanding diversity in the genus Mangifera and the possibility of its use in improvement of mango through introduction and selection of promising varieties for commercial cultivation and making further improvement in the existing varieties through inter-specific and inter-varietal hybridization and induction of useful mutations. Systemhas been in operation for the registration of elite germplasm and new variety with Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers’ Right Authority, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, New Delhi and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (ICAR), New Delhi to protect the intellectual property right on newly developed material. The need of the registration of new variety with International Registration Authority for Mango Cultivars currently functioning at the Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi has been realized to avoid any synonym and duplication of name of variety (Pandey, 1986, 1988). The existing knowledge acquired on the subject based on previously attempted research work in the world has been reviewed in this article for the benefit of end users. The content of this article is ofcourse, restricted to the present volume following the need of brevity. The available information in this review will help in formulating research programmes for bringing further improvement in mango.

Diversity in genus Mangifera L. Species of Mangifera L. Out of 25 biodiversity hotspots of the world, Western Ghats and Indo-Burma (Myanmar) origin fall in India. Indo-Burma region is considered the place of origin

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of mango (de Candolle, 1904; Popenoe, 1920; Vavilov, 1926). This was supported by Mukherjee (1949, 1951). The genus Mangifera belongs to the order Sapindales and family Anacardiaceae. This genus is restricted to the tropical Asia with the highest concentration of species in the western part of Malaysia namely Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. As quoted by Mukherjee (1985), the region of Myanmar (Burma)-Siam-Indochina or Malay Archipelago is considered the primary center of region of Mangifera genus, and Sunda islands (Java, Sumatra, Borneo)- the Philippines and Celebes-BandaTimor group as its secondary center of origin. Mangifera species moved from Malaysia to eastward with one species to the Pacific area, and westward with nine species to India including Andaman Islands and three species to Sri Lanka (Kostermans and Bompard, 1993). M. merrilli and M. monandra are endemic to the Philippines and M. altissima perhaps occurs in the Celebes (Kostermans and Bompard, 1993). Genus Mangifera L. has two sub-genera,viz.,Mangifera and Limus (Marchand) Kosterm., which appear to have originated from two different ancestors. However, there is no way to find out the ancestory of the genus and species of Mangifera (Kostermans and Bompard, 1993). M. indica L. M. sylvatica Roxb., M. khasiana, M. andamanica and M. camptosperma are found in India. M. indica L. is closely related to M. longipes Griff. and M. sylvatica Roxb. and has enormous variability at the levels of wild types and cultivars. Since these species have precise climatic requirements, it is necessary to conserve them either at the place of their origin or the places with similar climates. Genomic and molecular studies have enabled the use of genetic markers like Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Sequence Tag-Simple Sequence Repeat (EST-SSR), RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA), Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTRS), Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) and Inter Translation Space of Ribosomal DNA (ITS) in determining genetic diversity and relationship among Mangifera species.NJ joining analysis using ITS marker revealed that the common mango was closely related to M. laurina, M. sylvatica, M. oblongifolia, M. foetida and M. odorata (Yonemori et al., 2002). ITS sequence analysis also revealed that many of the Mangifera species have hybrid origin. AFLP analysis indicated that the genetic relationship of M. indica, M. odorata, M. caesia and M. foetida was in good agreement with their classification made by classic methods (Yamanaka et al., 2006). Genotyping Mangifera accessions with microsatellite markers can quickly reveal the genetic diversity among accessions (Dillon et al., 2014). Molecular characterization of mango germplasm has enabled to understand the extent of diversity and relatedness, which may help breeder to select desir-

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able parent in breeding programme (Zainal et al., 2001; Abou-Ellail et al., 2014; Singh et al., 2013; Abirami et al., 2008; Begum et al., 2012; Jena et al., 2010).Microsatellites (Simple sequence repeat, SSR) have been isolated by a microsatellite-enriched partial genomic library method at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangaluru. These identified SSRs would be useful in study of genetic diversity, as those SSRs successfully amplified loci from M. indica L. and its related species, viz., M. odorata, M. andamanica, M. zeylanica, M. camptosperma and M. griffithii (Ravishankar et al., 2011). Simple Sequence Repeats developed at IIHR could unambiguously discriminate 43 indigenous mango genotypes of Appemidi type. These accessions could be grouped into two major clusters firstly, highly acidic pickle type and secondly less acidic and high T.S.S. fruit group using dendrogram. The aroma of pickle type of mangoes was found to be totally different type of terpenes as well as a completely different combination of monoterpenes of their typical aroma (Vasugi et al., 2012). Study to amplify 36 microsatellite primers forM. indica, M. cochinchinesis, M. mangicola, M. sylvatica andM. caloneura revealed that majority of the primers amplified those species indicating a good inter species amplification (Dinesh et al., 2011). Mukherjee (1949) recognized 41 species and eight species incertae sedis (species that cannot be placed properly) but 39 of which were considered valid (Mukherjee, 1985). While ascribing Mukherjee (1949) partial monography of Mangifera L., Kostermans and Bompard (1993) described 69 species, of which 12 species were enumerated under species incertae sedis. So, 57 species have been recognized clearly by them. Nine species of Mangifera are found in India including Andaman and Nicobar Islands, three in Sri Lanka, six in Myanmar (Burma), nine in Thailand, 10 in Indochina, 19 in Peninsular Malaysia, one in China, 11 in Sumatra, nine in Java, 10 in Kalimantan, Sabah and Sarawak, two in Bali, eight in the Philippines, four in Celebes, five in Moluccas, two in Timor and two in Irian Java, and Papua New Guinea (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). A large diversity in terms of intraspecific variations exists in M. zeylanica, locally known in Sri Lanka as Etamba (Weeraratne et al., 2005). M. indica L. is the type species of the genus Mangifera L.Sub-genus Mangifera of genus Mangifera L., as stated by Kostermans and Bompard (1993), consists of four sections, viz., (a) Marchandora Pierre with typus M. gedebe Miq, (b) Euantherae Pierre with typus M. duperreana Pierre (M. caloneura Kurz.) and species like M. cochinchinesis Engler and M. pentandra Hooker f., and (c) Rawa Kosterm. with typus M. griffithii Hooker f. and species like M. andamanica King, M. gracilipes Hooker f., M. parvifolia, M. merrillii Mukherjee, M. microphylla, M. nicobarica Kosterm. andM. minutifolia. and (d) Mangifera with typus M. indica L. and


12 species are included in this section. Sub-genusLimus (Marchand) Kosterm.of genus Mangifera L. consists of six sections, viz., (i) Marchand Revis. with typus M. foetida Lour., (ii) Manga Marchnad with typus M. leschenaultii, (iii) Eudiscus Pierre with typus M. superba Hooker f., (iv) Microdiscus Pierre with typus M. caesia jack., (v) Deciduae Kosterm. with typus M. caesia Jack. and including species like M. kemanga, M. pajang, M. superba and M. caesia jack., and (vi) Perrennis Kosterm., sect. nov. with typus M. foetida Lour including species like M. foetida Lour., M. leschenaultii, M. macrocarpa, M. odorata and perhaps M. lagenifera. These two sub-genera may have originated from two different ancestors (Kostermans and Bompard, 1993). They have, however, stated that there was no way to find out the ancestry of the genus Mangifera L. and its species and the precise identification of species of Mangifera L. became complicated on the basis of morphological characters due to occurrence of cross-pollination in nature resulting in variations. Mangifera L. was sub-divided on the basis of variations found in the shape of flower disc like narrower than the base of ovary and basal parts of the filaments often united into an annulus in Limus, and broader than the base of ovary and the filament base not fused in Mangifera. Sub-genus Mangifera has further been sub-divided into four sections on the basis of seed labyrinthine; the second tegument entering the folds of the seed in section Marchandora Pierre (Species M. gedebe Miq). In section Mangifera, seed is not labyrinthine and fertile stamen is one with or lacking staminode (species M. indica L.). Species of section Euantherae Pierre have 4-12 stamens of which usually (3-5-6) are fertile. Some of the Mangifera species have been facing the threat of extinction. Based on the Red Data Book of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources), different species have been categorized, as stated by Mukherajee (1985), in the following threat group: (i) Endangered: M. cochinchinesis, M. flava, M. lagenifera M. pentandra, M. reba, M. superba (ii) Vulnerable: M. duperreana, M. inocarpoides, M. monandra, M. timorensis, M. zeylanica (iii) Rare: M. andamanica, M. camptosperma, M. gedebe Kostermans and Bompard (1993), however, questioned the status of threat to Mangifera species, as stated by Mukherjee (1985) for the lack of field knowledge.

Varietal variation The list of 1595 cultivars of mango in world (Pandey, 1998) was revised with the names of 1663 cultivars by


Pandey and Dinesh (2010). The updated list now contains the names of 1682 cultivars. The additional varieties include Ambika, Arunika, Pusa Pratibha, Pusa Shreshth, Pusa Lalima, Pusa Peetamber, Arka Neelachal Kesari, Arka Ravi, Pant Chandra, Pant Sinduri, Mankurad Aldona, Paiyuer-1, Vanlaxmi, Rajrani, Parish, Suvarna, Sai Sugandha, Martmanbhog and Khirma. Mango has enormous variability at the levels of wild types and cultivars in India (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). Seven centres of mango variability including wild and seedling types of M. indica L. in India include(i) humid subtropical region (Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and south Assam), (ii) Chhota Nagpur Plateau (trijunction of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar), (iii) Santhal Paragana, (iv) Southern Madhya Pradesh (tribal area) adjoining Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, (v) Dhar Plateau of Madhya Pradesh adjoing South Rajasthan and Gujarat, (vi) humid tropical southern peninsular India and (vii) Andaman & Nicabar group of islands (Yadav and Rajan, 1993). Mango has rich diversity in Gangetic Plains, eastern peninsular region, Eastern and Western Ghats and Deccan plateau of India. A list of the names of cultivars available in the world as probable gene sources for dwarf-ness, fruit size, red peel colour, high pulp content, high content of total soluble solids, long shelf-life of fruit, regularity in fruit bearing, earliness and lateness in fruit maturity and good processing quality have been mentioned by Pandey and Dinesh (2010). The sources of resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses are also available at the cultivars level to the limited extent. Commercial and export quality mango cultivars of the world have been enlisted by Pandey (1998) and Pandey and Dinesh (2010). These varieties are obviously excellent sources for high yield and fruit quality parameters. Dinesh and Vasugi (2002) cataloged 151 cultivars of mango and also M. zeylanica. They have evaluated cultivars for 54 characters as per IPGRI Descriptors. Most of those varieties have been included in Monograph of Classification and Nomenclature of South Indian Mangoes by Naik and Gangolly (1950) and briefly mentioned by Pandey (1984). Another lot of 223 varieties of mango were catalogued by Dinesh et al., (2012) using Bioversity International Descriptors and they developed barcodes for these varieties through molecular characterization. These varieties include some polyembrynic varieties and 34 pickle making varieties known as Appemidi from Western Ghats. There is a great variation in fruit weight in mango.Pandey and Dinesh (2010) have stated that mango varieties can be categorized on the basis of fruit weight as very small (99g and below), small (100-149g), medium large (150-299g), large (300-500g) and very large (more than 500g) fruited varieties. Varieties vary from uncommon fruit of less than 50g to common fruit size of 70g in

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Indian cv. Bhowani Chowras in very small group. Cvs. Amrapali (130g) and Rataul (107g) come in the group of small fruit size. Important cultivars like Dusehri Aman or Dashehari, Alphonso Bombay, Pairi, Langra, Pusa Arunima, Himsagar, Totapari, Neeleshwari, Neelum, Suvarnarekha, Ambika, Zardalu, Bombay Green, Arka Puneet, Arka Anmol of India, Tommy Atkins, Eldon and Sensation of Florida, Aroumanus and Golek of Indonesia, Kyo Savoy and Okrong of Thailand, Vallenato of Colombia and Momi-K (Momi Kinney) of Hawaii possess medium large fruits.Varieties with large fruit size include Arka Aruna, Mallika, Alfazli, A.U. Rumani (medium to large), Manjeera, Mulgoa, Rajapuri (medium to large), Samarbehist Chowsa and Sukul (medium to large) from India, Amelie of West Africa, Bourbon of Brazil, Golden Brooks, Florigon, Davis Haden, Zrifin, Glenn and Van Dyke of Florida, Kensington of Australia, Nam Doc Mai, Nuwun Chan, Namtal and Pak-Kra Bok of Thailand and Tahar and Naomi of Israel.Very Largefruit bearing varieties are Sufed Mulgoa (1813g), Himam Pasand (536g), Anardana (717g), Balakondapari (647g), Tenneru (944g), Cowasji Patel (713g), Sora (1166g), Gaddemar (713g), Hathijhool, Pansera and Fazli of India, Manzanillo Nunez of Maxico, Osteen, Keitt, Anderson and Haden of Florida and R2E2 of Australia. Other very large fruited varieties are Nymath (1328g) and Rebello (627g) (Anon. 2014; Pandey, 1984).Out of 61 varieties of mango registered in U.S.A., 19 varieties have been reported to bear large to very large fruits (Brooks and Olmo, 1972). Mango cultivars vary tremendously in fruit quality and climatic requirements. Therefore, only about six dozens cultivars are commercially grown in the world, of which the export quality commercial cultivars are Alphonso, Dushehari, Banganpalli and Kesar of India; Bourbon, Carlota and Haden of Brazil; Mabrouka of Egypt, Madame Frances of Haiti; Haden and Maya of Israel; Apple, Borino and Ngowe of Kenya; Haden, Keitto and Manila of Mexico; Anwar Rataul, Samerbehist chowsa and Fazli Khan of Pakistan; Carabao of the Philippines; Haden, Keitt and Zill of South Africa; Hindi Be Sennar and Kitchener of Sudan; Okrong of Thailand and Julie of Trinidad and Venezuela (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). Most of the commercial cultivars grown in India are used for table purpose and only a few varieties are utilized in processing to make different products. Suitable cultivars for making pickle are Ramkela, Pulian, Chandrakaran, Karanjio, Aswina and Sandersha. For making beveragesuitable cultivars are Amrapali, Gautjit and Jauhari Safeda. High quality nector is made from Amrapali, Dashehari and Saheb Pasand. Bangalora or Totapari is utilized for making mango pulp on commercial scale due to high productivity of tree, high content of pulp in fruit and cheap cost of mangoes. Suitable cul-

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tivars for making juice are Sukul, Mithuwa Ghazipur, Neelphanso and Safeda Lucknow. Slices in syrup are made from Mallika, Dashehari, Banganpalli and Nazuk Pasand. Amrapali and Nisar Pasand are suitable for blending juice of other mango varieties. For canning, cvs. Alampur Baneshan, Mallika, Nazuk Pasand, Dashehari and Alphonso are suitable ones. On the basis of the number of embryos found in mango seedstone, all varieties are grouped into two, namely, monoembryonic (those containing one zygotic embryo) and polyembryonic (containing many nucellar embryos along with a zygotic embryo). In polyembryonic varieties, zygotic seedling in seedstone usually gets degenerated and nucellar embryos give the seedling except cv. Pico of the Philippines, in which both kinds of seedlings emerge. Occurrence of seed embryo is found to be governed genetically, except an Indian mango monoembryonic cv. Mulgoa (Mulgoba), which was reported to have behaved as polyembryonic one in Florida (U.S.A.). Polyembryonic mango cultivars reported from the world include Bappakai, Bellary, Chandra Karan, Goa, Goa Kasargod, Kurukkan, Mazagaon, Mylepalium, Muvandan, Nikkare, Nileswar Dwarf, Olour, Peach, Salemfrom India. Exotic polyembryonic varieties reported from different countries are Cambodiana, Carabao, Corazon, Edward, Palo, 13-1, Pahutan, Pico, Senora, Starch, Strawberry and Florigon. Seed polyembryony in Indian cultivars has been found associated with inferior fruit quality. Monoembryonic cultivars are therefore, of commercial importance in India, Florida, South America and Africa. However, polyembryonic cultivars are of major importance in South-East Asia, Central America, Haiti, Hawaii, Australia and South Africa (Singh, 1960; Shukla et al., 2004) Lopez-Valenzuela et al., (1997) diffentiated mango cultivars by their embryo type and ascertained their geographical origin using RAPD marker. Study on genetic relatedness through RAPD analysis using total genomic DNA and chloroplast DNA RFLP analysis and lineage among polyembryonic and monoembryonic cultivars indicated that these two types of Indian mango cultivars have a different genetic base(Ravishanker et al., 2004; Abirami et al., 2008). Polyembryonictypes appeared to have been introduced in India from other parts of southeast Asia (Ravishankar et al., 2004). ‘Kurukkan’ of India and 13-1 of Israel are tolerant to salt. Olour as rootstock has given dwarfing effect to ‘Himsagar’ and ‘Langra’ in West Bengal. ‘Bappakai’ rootstook gave superiority over ‘Olour’ rootstock for tree vigour, spread and productivity for Neelum variety at Coimbatore during 10 years of tree growth. Testing of Polyembryonic varieties as rootstocks against tree vigour for high density plantation and biotic and abiotic stresses should be continued for a longer time before coming to the conclu-


sion for their recommendation on commercial scale. Mango varieties show variation with respect to the requirement of heat summation for fruit maturity. This allows the availability of mangoes in Indian markets from the month of March to the middle of August (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). Mango varieties Suvarnarekha and Banganpalli (syn. Safeda) from Andhra Pradesh arrive in the market in the month of March. Late maturing varieties from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Harayana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal make fruit availability till August. Mango varieties also vary in time of maturity of fruit in a given agro-ecological zone of the country and those are therefore, grouped as early, midseason, late and very late maturing varieties. Majority of the commercial varieties of India have mid-season fruit maturity. A large variation in shades of colour of emerging and mature leaves, rachis and laterals of panicle and peel and pulp of fruit exists in mango cultivars. There are 268 shades of 51 colours noted in cultivars of mango (Pandey, 1984).Variation in the shape of fruit of mango helped greatly in classifying cultivars. Fruit characters, particularly shape, colouration of panicle axis and laterals, pubescence on the panicle branches and number of embryo in seed were used for the first time in classifying mango cultivars (Popenoe, 1920, 1932). Mango cultivars show variation with respect to the tolerance/resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. ‘Golden Brooks’ seems to stand more cold than most mangoes (Pandey, 1984). ‘Bhadauran’ and ‘Elaichi’ show resistance to malformation disorder in mango. ‘Bhadayandaula’, ‘Samar Bahist Rampur’ and ‘Mian Sahib’ have been reported to be free from malformation in the field (Ram Nath et al., 1987). Other cultivars like Dashehari, Langra, Samarbehist Chowsa, Bombay Green, Rataul etc. of North and Central India, Gulab Khas, Kishen Bhog, Zardalu etc. of Bihar and Alphonso, Pairi, Kesar etc. of Maharashtra and Gujarat are susceptible cultivars to this disorder. ‘Amrapali’ is highly susceptible to floral malformation. All commercial varieties of South India like Mulgoa Neelum, Bangalora, Banganpalli, Suvarnarekha, etc. are free from malformation there but show high incidence of this disorder under North Indian conditions. Most of the commercial mango varieties suffer from fungal and bacterial diseases and therefore, need their proper management.‘Parish’, ‘Fairchild’ and ‘Tommy Atkins’ are moderately resistant to anthracnose, a fungal disease caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz (Yee, 1958). Janardhan Pasand, Neelum and Zardalu are tolerant to powdery mildew (Oidium mangiferae Berthet). ‘Bombay Green’ is reported by Gupta (1976) and Om Prakash and Srivastava (1987) as tolerant to bacterial canker (Xanthomonas campestrispv. Mangiferaeindicae Patel, Moniz and Kulkarni). However, there are reports that many va-


rieties found resistant initially to diseases turned out to be susceptible later. There is therefore, a need of testing of resistant cultivars against new variants of pathogens before using them as parent in breeding programme. Genetic markers are available for the identification of mango cultivars and ascertaining their parentage. Isozyme banding supported the origin of Haden from Mulgoa, Zill from Haden and Tahar from Irwin (Campbell, 1992; Slor and Gazit, 1982). Edward is a commonly accepted hybrid between Haden and Carabao (Campbell, 1992). The isozyme banding pattern, however, showed that Carabao cannot be the male parent. It was also apparent that Mulgoa is not a parent of Keitt, and Givataim is not an offspring of the polyembryonic cv. 13-1. RAPD markers are used for detecting genetic polymorphism and evaluation of mango germplasm (Valdomirop Aurelio Barbosa de Souza et al., 2004). Mini and micro satellite probes are used for identification of mango cultivars (Adato et al., 1995) and AFLP for both identification of mango cultivars and generation of a preliminary genetic map (Kasikush et al., 2001). Singh et al., (2012) reported that simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers revealed high genetic variability in 48 hybrids with diverse parents in mango and they observed moderate degree of genetic diversity with Jaccard’s similarity coefficient values ranging from 0.38 to 0.97

Cytology Mango (M. indica L.) and some other species of this genus have been found to be diploid (2x) with somatic number (2n) of chromosomes 40 (Mukherjee, 1950; Roy and Visweswaraiya, 1951). However, one of the plants of polyembryonic variety Vellai Kolamban existing at Ganesh Khind (Pune) was found to be tetraploid (4x) with 2n=80 chromosomes (Roy and Visweswaraiya, 1951). The tetraploidy of this variety was, however, put to a question by Akbar Hussain (1983) from Bangladesh, as quoted by Pandey (1984). Later, Majumder and Sharma (1990) reported this variety to be diploid (2x) with somatic number of chromosomes 2n=40. It appeared that earlier report on this variety was based on the study of one of the plants (Singh, 1960)and this particular plant might had alone undergone tetraploid as a result of doubling of chromosomes in nature and that particular tree might had not been available for the later studies. Therefore, on the basis of laterstudies, this variety is now considered to be diploid. Meiosis is regular. This shows regular pairing and disjunction into 20 bivalents. The chromosomes are small (0.2-2.0µm) and distinguishable into 8 types according to the size and presence or absence of primary and secondary constrictions and satellites. Eleven chromosomes are found common in M. indica L. and M. sylvatica Roxb. and these two species differ from

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each other mainly in the assortment of these eleven chromosome types (Mukherjee, 1950). The primitive type or types, which gave rise to the mango varieties originated through allopolyploidy most probably through amphidiploidy (Mukherjee, 1950). Mango varieties differentiated primarily through gene mutation and inter-varietal hybridization.High chromosome number, high number of nucleolar chromosomes, secondary association of bivalents, regular pairing, absence of multivalent formation and good pollen fertility led Mukherjee (1950) to consider mango allopolyploid in nature.

Improvement in mango Valuable results reported from the work carried out on breeding in mango in the important mango growing countries in respect of developing improved varieties and standardizing efficient and accurate techniques of breeding methods are reviewed herewith.

Elite seedling selection Most of commercial cultivars have originated as open - pollinated seedlings in nature. High heterozygosity, cross-pollination ability and vegetative propagation for preservation of true-to-the type characters made possible to evolve high quality and highly productive cultivars (Singh, 1963; Mukherjee, 1953). Menaka, a regular bearing chance seedling selection of Gulab Khas and Subash, a chance seedling selection of Zardalu released from Sabour (Bihar) in 1994 and a regular and off-season bearing variety Niranjan from Himayatbagh, garden of his highness Nizam of Hyderabad in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra are such varieties developed as seedling selections (Pandey et. al., 2002). Chhattisgarh Nandiraj released by Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalay, Raipur is a chance seedling selection from Nayapara, Jagdalpur, Baster in Chhattisgarh. This is an alternate bearer and mid-maturing variety. Fruits are elliptic and medium in weight (230-250g) with golden thin peel with red blush (Singh et al., 2013). Dwarf and precocious polyembryonic selection MDCH-1 and STH-1 were selected from Manipur (Singh, 1996). In situ elite seedling trees originated through open pollination in nature on the farmers’ fields in Amravati (Maharashtra), Chittoor (Seemandhra), Malihabad (U.P.), Pusa in Samastipur (Bihar) and Sirsi (Karnataka) have been identified through the project entitled ‘Conservation and Sustainable Use of Cultivated and Wild Tropical Fruit Diversity: Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods, Food Security and Ecosystem Services’ of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF). In all 121 such farmers’ varieties and some known cultivars have been catalogued (Dinesh et al., 2014). Of these, 11 varieties

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have been identified from Amravati, 39 from Chittoor, 42 from Malihabad, 16 from Pusa and 15 from Sirsi for in situ conversation. Those varieties have been propagated vegetatively for exsitu conservation, evaluation at the experimental farms and their further utilization. These varieties include 15 sucking type, 60 for table use, 15 pickle type and one each for juice and ice cream making. Forteen varieties are regular bearer and Safadar variety bears two crops a year. Amravati Amba-1 bears green yellow fruits with Sinduri patches and Talulapalli Sriramulu Achary Naati-6 (TSAN 6) bears red-peeled fruits with green patches (Dinesh et al., 2014). Pickle varieties are named with the name of village where those originated or the name of farmers gowning them as prefix like Malanji Appe, Mavinkatta Appe, Donnalli Appe, Kalkai Appe, Haladota Appe, Nandagara Appe, Ananthabhatta Appe, Purappemane Appe, Kadigai Pickle Variety, Karolla Pickle Variety, Mudagar Kosagai and Gadehalli Kuchagai from Sirsi. Fruit of all above ‘Appe’ varieties are used as whole fruit pickle and the rest ones as cut fruit pickles. Kaliya Gola of Malihabad is a seedling variety suitable for making pickle.From Amravati, Amravati Amba-7 is good for pickle making. From Chittoor, TSPN 1, TSPN 2, TSAN 4, RSAn 6, TSAN 8, Lalbaba, Dil Pasand, Thorappadi variant 2, Talupulapalli Baby Reddy Naati 2 (TBRN 2), Bogam Rangasani, Chittithota, Kalepalle Rajendra Reddy Naati2 (KRRN 2), Najoka, Kalepalle P. Govinda Chetti Naati 1 (KGCN 1) and 20 other such varieties have been identified for table use.Other table purpose varieties include Aamin, Allahabadi Chausa, Bhadaila, Bhagwanta (table, pickle), Dashehari Improved, Deshi Chausa (seedling of Chausa), Deshi Lamboi, Dudhiya Gola, Gilas, Gol Bhadaiya, Gola, Kism, Lambauri, Madhurima, Matka Gola, Muzaffar Amin, Pan (table, sucking), Rajrani (table, sucking), Rani Gola, Sadafar (table, pickle), Safeda Aamin, Sawanha, Shweta and Tukmi Heera (table, pickle) from Malihabad (U.P.). Juicy sucking type elite seedling mango varieties identified are RKRRN 2 from Chittoor, Bhadaila (sucking, table) and Deshi (sucking, table) from Malihabad and Pusa Mango-1 and Pusa Mango-12 from Pusa (Bihar). Varate Giduga from Sirsi is a variety suitable from making ice-cream and is therefore, known as “ice-cream mango”.These farmers’ varieties were identified using characters like tree height, fruit shape, peel colour, leaf length and width, shape of canopy, extent of flowering, stem/trunk surface, stone shape and thickness, eating quality, market traits and main use of fruit and action was taken for their in situ and ex situ conservation and registration with Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Right Authority (PPV & FRA), Govt. of India as the unique farmers’ varieties of mango (Dinesh et al., 2014).


Unique indigenous varieties of mango have been mentioned by (Somashekhar et al., 2014). According to them some unique varieties from Sirsi are Jeeriage Midi and Kari Jeeriage having aroma of cumin (jeera) with round fruits having slight sinus and pointed beak of the former and elliptic fruits with deep sinus and prominent beak of the latter one. Karpura Appe is another unique variety for its fruits with aroma of camphor. Fruit of this variety is oblique oblong with deep sinus and prominent beak.‘Chakkaraguttili’, meaning in Telugu ‘bunch of sugary fruits’, is unparallel indigenous variety from Chittoor. Endemic distinct variety Chittoor Badami floods the markets. Another such variety is Chittura. Elite varieties Rani Gola and Rajrani have been identified as table varieties from Malihabad (U.P.). Both these varieties have attractive fruits with yellow and yellowish green peelrespectively and good taste. Rani Gola has fibreless pulp but Rajrani contains fibrous pulp. Rajrani is also suitable for sucking juice (Dinesh et al., 2014). One elite seedling tree known as Naudha has been identified from Yakutganj in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh (Pandey et al., 2006). All these promising selections need to be evaluated fortheir multiplication and popularization. Most of the commercial cultivars of Florida like Haden have originated as the 2nd and 3rd generation seedlings fromcv. Mulgoa introduced from India. Lippens, Eldon and Zill have originated from seedlings of Haden. Eldon (EC141457), released in the popular name of Pusa Surya for cultivation in India (Pandey et al., 2014a), originatedas an open –pollinated seedling of Haden in Miami, Florida (U.S.A.) by W.B. Eldon. This fruited for the first time there in 1942 and introduced to cultivation in1948. Similarly,open-pollinatedseedlings havegivenrise to 54 other commercial varieties in Florida (Brooks and Olmo, 1972). Vanlaxmi, a superior seedling type reported from Paria (Gujarat), bears regularly with big sized fruit. Promising seedling selections at Mohanpur (W.B.) include BCM 17, BCM 18, BCM 19 and BCM 20. All these selections bear regular crop of fruit with good fruit quality and better shelf-life (Anon., 2014).Lavi et al. (1993) selected nine seedling rootstocks for calcareous soils and saline water in Israel. A polyembryonic seedling ‘13-1’ has been selected as salt tolerant rootstock at the Warburg Acclamatization Garden, Rehovot, Isreal in 1931 from the seed introduced from Egypt. ‘Naomi’ originated drom cv. Palmer either by self-pollination or cross-pollination with pollen grains of either ‘Maya’, ‘Haden’, ‘Nirmod’ or ‘Irwin’ has been released for commercial cultivation (Tomer et al., 1993). ‘Maya’ and ‘Nimrod’ are selections from open-pollinated seedlings of the same mother tree (Oppenheimer, 1967). ‘Irwin’ originated as a seedling of ‘Lippens’. ‘Dahar’ originated as a seedling of ‘Irwin’ (Slor


and Gazit, 1982). ‘Tongo’ with attractive peel colour and good fruit quality is a selection from the open-pollinated seedlings of ‘Naomi’. Heidi, Neldica, Neldawn and Ceries of South Africa have been developed by mass selection (Marais, 1992). Polyembryonic variety Kurukkan of India is a salt tolerant variety/ rootstock.

Clonal selection Sometimes bud mutation or sport from trees of the same cultivar gives significant useful variation for selection of superior material as a clone (Naik, 1948; Oppenheimer, 1956).Existence of commercial mango varieties for centuries in India and elsewhere in the world gives immense opportunity for looking to useful intra-varietal variations and exploiting them as a commercial variety. Some superior clones of commercial varieties have been selected in mango. ‘Alphonso Clone 900’ is a highly productive, large fruited and early maturing processing variety, selected from ‘Alphonso’ plantation by the Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurle in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra (India). Palghar-1, a polyembryonic clone of monoembryonic cv. Alphonso has been collected at Vengurle (Anon, 2014). A regular bearing, sometimes ‘off-season’fruiting and highly productive ‘Dashehari-51’ clone was selected from alternate bearing ‘Dashehari’ and it was released by the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Rehmankhera, Lucknow for commercial cultivation (Rajput et al., 1996). All other characters of this clone are like ‘Dashehari’ but fruit size is smaller than it (Anon., 2014). Arka Neelachal Kesari variety, a clone of Glub Khas, has been selected for early maturity in coastal areas of Odisha (Pandey et al., 2013). Gulab Khas and Gulab Khas Red grown in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh show mid-season fruit maturity there (Pandey, 1984). Superior clones of Dashehari namely, ‘Pant Sinduri’ and ‘Pant Chandra’ have been selected by GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, District Udham Singh Nagar of Uttarakhand (India). ‘Pant Sinduri’ was released in 2004 for commercial cultivation. Tree of this clone has medium height with round canopy. Like, Dashehari, this clone bears alternate year.Fruit having yellow peel with pink colour on shoulder differs from parent variety. Fruit is medium in size (200g) and pulp is yellow with sweet taste (T.S.S. 16-18%). Fruit matures during the last week of May to the first week of June. ‘Pant Chandra’ was released in 2005 for growing in the hills and valleys of Uttrakhand. Tree is tall, erect and highly productive. Fruit is medium (150g) and peel is green with reddish yellow tinge. Pulp is sweet (T.S.S. 18%) with pleasant aroma. It has mid-season maturity of fruit.At Vengurle, a clone of cv. Pairi collected from Mandangad of Maharshtra is regular bearer with big fruits and good taste. Another cloneof this cultivar se-

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lected from an orchard owned by Mr. Paranjape bears fruits with good taste, red blush on peel, fibreless pulp and regularity in bearing (Anon., 2014). Three superior and regular bearing clones of ‘Himsagar’ have been selected for high yield and good fruit quality (Anon., 2014). A superior clone ‘Mankurad Aldona’ collected at ICAR Research Complex for Goa bears medium sized and yellow-peeled fruits of excellent quality (21.2OB) and better shelf-life after ripening of fruit than parent variety ‘Mankurad’ (Anon., 2013-14).Paiyur -1 has been selected as a superior clone of cv. Neelum in Tamil Nadu. Two regular bearing and high yielding clones have been selected from cv. Langra (Singh et al., 1985).High yielding and large fruited clones of Dashehari from Kunda in Pratapgarh district and Sabour in Bihar and a seedless Dashehari from Behat in Saharanpur were identified (Goswami et al., 1999).High yielding clones of cvs. Langra and Dashehari identified from Uttar Pradesh (Pandey et al., 2006) need to be evaluated through experimental trial for their performance. Some of the strains of ‘Kensington’ are reported to be resistant to bacterial black spot disease (Whiley et al., 1993). It is, necessary to evaluate all available clones through multi-location testing for their suitability to given agro-climate conditions. Molecular characterization is necessary to find out genetic variability of clones from parent cultivar. In India, some studies have been made with the use of molecular markers in this reguard. Microsatellite markers analysis of different clones of cv. Panchdarakalasa grown in coastal Andhra, Rayalseema and Telengana revealed smaller intracultivar variability of 10% in in situ conditions and a genetic divergence between trees identified from above regions attesting that this cultivar is not pure (Begum et al., 2013).

Hybridization programme In India, mango hybridization work started for the first time in 1911 for breeding regular bearing variety with good quality fruits, high yield and resistance to major insect pests and diseases in the eartswhile Bombay Presidency (Burns and Prayag, 1920). Attempts were further made to improve cv. Alphonso by hybrization (Wagle, 1929). During this initial phase, the work aimed at developing varieties for regularity in bearing, precocity, large fruit size, good fruit shape, attractive peel colour, high pulp content, pulp fibrelessness, freedom from physiological disorders and good quality of fruit. Systematic hybridization work in mango was undertaken at Anantharajupet (Andhra Pradesh) in 1940 with special reference to improvement of varieties for South India, Sabour (Bihar) with particular reference to varieties for North and East regions and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi in 1961 with reference

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to improvement of varieties for North India (Bhujanga Rao and Rangacharlu, 1958; Sen et al., 1946; Mukherjee et al., 1968; Majumder et al., 1972, 1981; Pandey et al., 2012, 2013, 2014a, 2014b). Efforts were made to evolve high yielding and regular bearing cultivars with good fruit quality at Sabour and with red peel and long shelf-life of fruit at IARI, New Delhi. Breeding work in mango had also been undertaken in Hawaii (Popenoe, 1929) and Florida of the United States of America for improving productivity, fruit size, red peel colour, long shelf-life and good quality of fruit (Young and Ledin, 1954; Sturrock, 1969).

Interspecific hybridization The usefulness of species in crop improvement can be considered in two ways: (a) species having edible characters and (b) that could act as gene donors for bringing specific improvement like incorporating resistance to insect pests and diseases (Iyer, 1991).Valuable genes for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses available in species of Mangifera L. can be utilized for developing resistant varieties and rootstocks. For this purpose basic information on crossability of selected species with cultivars or wild types of M. indica L. needs to be generated. It would be worthwhile to utilize these materials applying biotechnology tools to incorporate resistance to specific stress in the back ground of commercial cultivar and (or) rootstock of mango. Same number of chromosomes (2n=40) available in cultivated varieties and wild types of M.indica L., M. odorata, M. zeylanica, M. caloneura, M. sylvatica, M. foetida and M. caesia reported by Mukherjee (1950) shows a possibility of occurring crossability among these species. Bompard (1993) has enumerated the potential use of Mangifera species in breeding of mango. Accordingly, he suggested the useof M. laurina for incorporating resistance to anthracnose, a fungal disease, and utilizing the genes available in M. orophila from Malaysis and M. dongnaiensis from Vietnam for developing varieties to make it distant possibility to grow mango in Mediterranean region, since these species grow well in the mountain forests at 1000-1700 metres above mean sea level.M. altissima is reported to be free from mango leaf hoppers and tip and seed borers (Angeles, 1991). M. magnifica bears fruits, which are free from fiber. Other interesting species are off-season bearing M. rufocostata and M. swintonioides, bearing good quality fruits like M. pajang (peeling easy like banana) and M. foetida, prolific bearing with small, black and sweet fruit like M. casturi, occurring in South Kalimantan and possessing a distinct taste like Wani variety of M. caesia occurring in Bali and Borneo. These species are valuable material for breeding use (Bompard, 1993; Kostermans and Bompard, 1993).


Polyembryonic forms of M. sylvatica with good fruit quality occur in the states of North-East India (Yadav, 1996). Hydrids having pollinating ability can be produced by crossing mango species having 5 fertile stamens with M. indica L. having only one fertile stamen (Fairchild, 1948). Production of hybrids of M. odorata and M. zeylanica successfully by Bhujanga Rao et al., (1963) proved Mukherjee (1953) beyond doubt that Mangifera species could be intercrossed.Mangifera species available in South-East and East Asian Countries and wild types need to be introduced and evaluated in India for genes governing resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010).

Inter-varietal hybridization Sustained efforts have been made in mango improvement in order to meet out the requirements of an ideal variety, which should necessarily possess characters like regularity in bearing, high productivity, dwarf tree stature, high quality and long shelf-life of fruit, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and good processing quality (Singh and Singh, 1958; Singh, 1990). Mango, being a highly heterozygous plant system, is not convenient for incorporating all desirable traits in a single variety in one-or two-go due to high heterozygosity and long juvenile period (Singh et al., 1977). Breeding programmes were therefore, undertaken in a phased manner to evolve an ideal mango variety. Although there are established commercial varieties of mango in different parts of India like Dashehari, Langra, Samarbehist Chowsa and Bombay Green or Saroli in North, Alphonso, Kesar and Pari in West, Neelum, Bangalora (syn. Totapari), Banganpalli and Swarnarekha in South, Gopalbhog, Malda (syn. Langra), Mohanbhog and Himsagar in East and Sunderja in Central part, all these varieties lack in more than one desirable characters. Planned breeding programmes therefore, started for developing improved varieties by incorporating desirable traits in the background of these commercial varieties and also newly developed promising hybrids. Hence, breeding objectives have been defined for the specific purpose.Accordingly, hybridization work was undertaken in India and elsewhere in the world to address specific requirement of varieties. ‘Alphonso’ need improvement for resistance to spongy tissue disorder, ‘Langra’ for regularity in bearing, good fruit retention and long shelf-life, ‘Amrapali’ for larger fruit size, ‘Rataul’ for larger fruit size and prolificity in bearing and all commercial cultivars of North, West and East India for resistance or tolerance to malformation (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). For export purpose, attractive red colouration on fruit peel, long shelf-life of fruit and pleasant sugar: acid blend in fruit juice are of prime importance (Pandey et al., 2002). Developing polyembryonic and dwarfing rootstock with


resistance or tolerance to problematic soils needs immediate attention for raising mango trees in high density plantation and in problematic soil conditions (Lavi et al., 1993; Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). Breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses needs specific programmes in a planned manner like that undertaken in Australia for improving regularity in bearing and shelf-life of fruit with resistance to anthracnose and bacterial black spot in cv. Kensington (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). Mango breeding in Brazil aimed at developing varieties with improved fruit yield and quality, regularity in bearing and dwarf tree size (Pinto and Byrne, 1993). Improvement in mango in India was attempted in three phases with objectives of evolving varieties with regularity in bearing, high productivity, good fruit quality and resistance to major insect pests and diseases in the first phase at the Department of Agriculture, Bombay (Mumbai) in 1911 and research stations at Anantharajput, Kodur (Andhra Pradesh) in 1940, Sabour (Bihar) in 1946, Saharanpur in U.P., Punjab and Krishnagar in West Bengal (Burns and Prayag, 1920; Wagle, 1929; Bhujanga Rao et al., 1963; Bhujanga Rao and Rangacharlu, 1958; Sen et al., 1946; Naik, 1948; Singh, 1954; Singh, 1960; Mukherjee et al., 1961). The second phase of this programme was attempted successfully at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi starting from 1961, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research at Bengaluru from 1970, Regional Fruit Research Station at Vengurle in Ratnagiri (Maharashtra) and Agricultural Research Station at Paria in Gujarat to make improvement utilizing cvs. Neelum, Dashehari Banganpalli and Alphonso as main parent varieties (Mukherjee et al., 1968; Majumder et al., 1972; Iyer and Subramanyam, 1993; Iyer and Mukunda, 1998; Salvi and Burondkar, 1993; Gunjate and Burondkar, 1993; Sachan et al., 1988).The third phase of the programme was aimed at evolving dwarf varieties bearing fruits with red peel, good sugar: acid blend in fruit juice and long shelf-life of fruit which will also boost export. This programme was taken up mainly at IARI, New Delhi, since 1981, IIHR, Bengaluru and the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh by using Amrapali, Alphonso, Sensation and Janardhan Pasand as main parent varieties (Sharma, 1987; Pandey and Pandey, 1987; Pandey and Singh, 1999; lyer and Subramanyam, 1993; lyer, 1991; Yadav and Dinesh, 1991).

Hybridization technique Hybridization work in mango undertaken during initial years was tedious and less efficient, when more flowers were crossed per panicle yielding lesser number of hybrid fruits, since by nature only a few fruits set and develop in a panicle. Technique therefore, got improved for efficient hybridization subsequently. Mukherjee et

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al., (1961) suggested crossing of lesser number of flowers per panicle and more number of panicles per cross to obtain more number of crossed fruits/hybrid seedlings. Panicles of unopened flowers of pollen and female mother trees are bagged previous evening with polythene covers (60 cm x 45 cm size, 100 gauge thickness). Next day in the morning (10.00 AM onward), the panicle of pollen parent is collected and unopened flowers are put on moist filter paper in Petri dish and kept in shade for dehiscence of anther. Dehisced anther exhibits grey powder-like pollen grains, which are put to stigma by touching stigma with dehisced anther or pollen is applied to it with the help of fine brush. For pollination, only a few flowers (4-6) are selected on a panicle of female tree and rest of the flowers are removed with the help of forceps, so as to avoid self-pollination. The pollinated flowers on a panicle are rebagged to avoid any chance of contamination by foreign pollen. Singh et al., (1980) suggested that crossed flowers should not be rebagged, as it causes stylar injury. Their suggestion was based on observation made during a study on markers genes like purple colour of new leaves and panicles and beak characters of fruit helping in assessing the hybrid nature of seedling. This resultwas published later by Sharma and Majumder (1985).The point of their argument was that once the flower was carefully pollinated, the pollen deposited on stigma first had an advantage of germination and there was therefore, hardly any chance of contamination from foreign pollen. This argument does not stand the test of science, as the germination of pollen grains takes at least 90 minutes (Sen et al., 1946; Singh, 1954; Spencer and Kennard, 1955) and the maximum receptivity of stigma is observed during the first six hours after anthesis and it remains receptive upto 72 h after anthesis (Singh, 1960). The technique suggested by Singh et al., (1980) therefore, appears to have an inherent potential of contamination with foreign pollen grains. It is therefore, suggested to rebag the crossed flowers as advocated by Mukherjee et al., (1961) to avoid any chance of contamination. A new technique has been devised to avoid stylar injury during rebagging of crossed flowers (Pandey, 1990). In this technique, flowers for pollination are selected towards the inner side of the laterals of the panicle and all deblossomed laterals retained intact with panicle rachis to provide a natural framework to support the bag and not allowing it to touch the crossed flowers for avoiding stylar injury. Earlier another technique was suggested based on self-incompatibility found in mango male and female parent varieties like Dashehari, Langra, Chausa and Bombay Green (Singh, et al., 1962; Mukherjee et al., 1968; Sharma and Singh, 1970). In this technique, self-incompatible but cross-compatible varieties were planted

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closely in the specially prepared breeding block enclosed by an insect-proof cage of wire net to avoid cross-pollination by bees and flies from outside. Freshly reared house flies were introduced in the cage to effect crosspollination in female parent variety (Sharma et al., 1972). This technique was aimed at eliminating tedious and less efficient crossing work by hand. This technique, however, failed due to the reason that flies usually assembled on the walls of wire net cage and subsequently died out by heat with increasing atmospheric temperature during the reason without effecting pollination.Kulkarni (1986) suggested a technique enabling crossing in off-season by inducing flowering in the desired parent varieties in offseason by grafting defoliated shoots of selected both parent varieties onto leafy but not flowering shoots of offseason flowering cv. Royal Special and allowing openpollination between the parent varieties. This technique is expected to help in increasing the number of hybrids by undertaking hybridization for a longer time.

Embryo culture Regeneration of immature mango embryos into complete plantlets has been reported successful in 72% of the cultures in basal MS medium supplemented with 9mg l-1 BA plus 3mg l-1 Kinetin plus 400 mg l-1 glutamine plus 500mg l-1 activated charcoal plus 60gl-1 sucrose (Chandra et al., 2003a, b). Hybrid embryos excised from immature ovules and inoculated in vitro onto semi-solid half-strength modified MS medium containing casein hydrolysate (1.25g l-1) and sucrose (4.5%) resulted into well-developed seedlings in 12-14 weeks (Sahijram et al., 2005). However, this technique is yet to be adopted in practice by breeders. This technique, if proved workable, will increase the breeding efficiency by raising more number of hybrids in lesser time.

Inheritance of characters Efforts have been made to understand the pattern of inheritance of vegetative, flower and fruit characters in mango, which has helped in formulating efficient hybridization programmes. Knowledge of inheritance of traits helps in choosing parents for hybridization. Since the off-spring performance is quite unpredictable, parents should not be chosen on the basis of phenotype (Lavi et al., 1998).The bearing habit in bunch is dominant over single fruit bearing (Sharma et al., 1972). Regularity in bearing and dwarfness of tree are controlled by recessive genes and biennial bearing habit is dominant over regular bearing and regularity in bearing appeared linked with precocity (Sharma and Majumder, 1988a). The upright growth habit of tree is dominant over spreading growth (Majumder et al., 1972). Inheritance of fruit characters has been studied thor-

oughly by different workers. Prabhuram (1998) studied inheritance of 21 characters of leaf, inheritance and fruit in the cross Amrapali x Sensation at IARI, New Delhi in the guidance of the author. Red colouration of emerging leaf appeared to be dominant over green. Red colouration on the axis of inflorescence appeared to be dominant over green and governed by multiple loci. More of additive variance was involved in the total phenotypic appearance irrespective of the environment conditions. A non-significant negative correlation was observed between red colouration on inflorescence axis and that on fruit. Transgressive segregation was observed for fruit size in the progeny (Iyer and Subramanyam, 1987) and it appeared to be governed by additive genes (Sharma and Majumder, 1988a). Detailed study conducted by Prabhuram (1998) based on heritability, expected genetic advance and total genetic variance gave useful information on inheritance of different fruit characters. Fruit length shows transgressive segregation in either side of the parental limits and therefore, suggested a polygenic control of this character. Also, this character was influenced by environment to a considerable extent. Fruit thickness showed polygenic control and was highly influenced by environmentalfactors. For breadth of fruit the genotypic contribution appeared to be comparatively lesser than in most of the traits. Fruit weight was influenced considerably by the environmental conditions. Equal proportion of the additive and non-additive components of the total genetic variance influenced its genotype. Moderately high expected genetic advance suggested that the genotypic variance constituted mainly of additive variance and the effect of non-additive genes was to a lesser extent for the shape of fruit. Beak of the fruit was found to be a dominant character and the nonadditive genes play a major role in total genetic variance. Sinus of fruit was found to be highly influenced by the environment (Prabhuram, 1998). The presence of beak marked with sinus seems to be dominant, as all progenies with Totapuri (beaked) parent possessed beak irrespective of other parents used (lyer and Subramanyam, 1979). Raised and rounded shoulder was controlled by an equal proportion of non-additive and additive genotypic interaction. Apex of fruit trait was found to have controlled by non-additive gene interaction.Very high heritability with a moderately low expected genetic advance suggested non-additive gene interaction for the inheritance of the type of apex of fruit. On the basis of half-sib analysis traits like fruit weight, fruit volume, peel weight, stone weight, T.S.S. content and pulp content were found controlled by nonadditive factors and that the heritability of these characters was low (Dinesh, 2003). Nayak et al., (2013) reported high magnitude of broad sense heritability in progenies


of the cross between Amrapali and Sensation for the length, weight and volume of fruit, total carotenoids, ascorbic acid and stone width, and moderate degree of heritability for titratable acidity, fruit width, length and thickness of stone, peel thickness and total soluble solids. Rajan et al., (2009) found high degree of broad sense heritability in mango varieties for the length and weight of fruit, peel weight and length and weight of stone. A high frequency of hybrids with red peel or burgundy blush can be recovered from crosses where one of the parents has an intense red blush (Brittell et al., 2004). Inheritance of red peel colour in the cross Amrapali x Sensation suggested no clear out dominance, as the cross between these parents with yellow and red peel respectively yielded hybrids with yellow, green yellow, fullygreen and red colouration on peel in various intensities. A high heritability with a high expected genetic advance clearly suggested that the inheritance of this trait was governed more by additive genes (Prabhuram, 1998). Study made by Sharma and Majumder (1988a) in the crosses involving Totapari Red Small and Sensation (both red peeled ones) and yellow-peeled varieties Dashehari andAmrapali revealed that the red peel colour was dominant and governed by duplicate genes, thereby showing various gradations of pink blush on the fruits. They reported that a few hybrids bore fruits with green colour which suggested that the red colour is in heterozygous condition. Fruit peel colour was found to be governed by a number of loci (Iyer and Subramanyam, 1987). Red peel colour is dominant over yellow and green and gradation of red peel suggested role of duplicate gene. Fruit quality varied in different hybrids developed at IARI, New Delhi. Fruit pulp colour is governed more by additive genes and that the environmental influence is very low (Prabhuram, 1998). Based on two hybrids,viz., Amrapali and Mallika, Sharma and Majumder (1988a) stated that total Beta carotenoid pigments and T.S.S. content in these two hybrids exceeded the better parent Dashehari suggesting the gene action showing transgressive segregation for this trait. On the other hand, light yellow colour of pulp appeared dominant over orange yellow in the progenies of Alphonso x Neelum cross (Iyer, 1991). According to Prabhuram (1998), total soluble solids (T.S.S.) content in some hybridstransgressed either of the parents Amrapali and Sensation, which suggested a polygenic control for this trait and that it was influenced considerably by environmental factors. Fibre in pulp showed high heritability and high expected genetic advance, which suggested the genetic variance to be additive in nature. Aroma in pulp showed high heritability with a moderately high expected genetic advance. This suggested equal contributions of additive and non-additive genetic variance. On the other hand, genetic vari-

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ance of fruit taste might have been governed mostly by non-additive genes. Polyembryony in mango has been reported to be a recessive trait, which is probably controlled by a single pair of genes (Sturrock, 1968). However, Aron et al., (1998) indicated that polyembryony was controlled by single dominant gene. It has been reported that the occurrence of polyembryony varied with site (Brettell et al., 2004), Singh (1990) stated that some of the monoembryonic Indian varieties have been reported to produce more than one seedlings under the Philippines and Puerto Rico conditions. He stated that this condition may have been attributed to their natural crossing with polyembryonic varieties growing there. Resistance to bacterial canker disease caused by bacterium Xanthomonas campertrispv. Mangiferaeindicae Patel, Moniz & Kulkarni shows cytoplasmic infloresence, as all the progenies were found to be susceptible when Neelum was used as female parent irrespective of male parents used (Sharma and Majumder, 1988a). Iyer (1991) observed that internal breakdown (spongy tissue) in fruit is mediated by the recessive genes.As ascertained from data on open-pollinated progenies, it appeared that here was maternal effect on the harvest season and fruit colour (Lavi et al., 1989).

Source of resistance/ tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and other desirable traits A list of probable gene donors at the level of cultivars has been given by Pandey and Dinesh (2010) for the traits like dwarfness of tree, regular bearing habit, large fruit size, red peel colour, high contents of pulp and T.S.S., long shelf-life of fruit, earliness and lateness in fruit maturity, processing qualities of fruit and resistance / tolerance to major diseases like anthracnose, powdery mildew, bacterial canker and malformation disorder in mango. In addition, sources of resistance to anthracnose, fibrelessness in fruits, good fruit quality, distinct taste and prolific bearing are available in different Mangifera species (Bompard, 1993, Kostermans and Bompard, 1993). Mangifera altissima has been found free from mango leaf hoppers and seed borers (Angeles, 1991). Some species of Mangifera having resistance sources to major insect pests and diseases and for good fruit quality are mentioned in the foregoing pages under sub-head interspecific hybridization.

Mutation breeding Early maturing David Haden bearing large fruits is a natural sport of cv. Haden (Young and Ledin, 1954). High yielding and regular bearing ‘Rosa’ is a mutant of Rosado de Ica of Peru (Medina, 1977). Roy (1950)

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found a merichinal chimera of Alphonso differing in fruit shape. Roy and Visweswaraiya (1951) found mutants differing in the number of palisade cell layers from mother cv. Puthi. Mutant of Langra with larger fruit and more creamish yellow pulp was developed by using 3kR Gamma irradiation (Siddique, 1985). Gamma irradiation dosage above 5kR was found lethal and its LD-50 ranged between 2kR and 4kR, and the effective dosages of the chemical mutagens EMS and NMU were found to be 1.5% and 0.05% respectively (Sharma and Majumder, 1988b). Some useful mutants were induced by Gamma rays irradiation in Amrapali (2.5kR-A-9) for larger fruit size (225g) and Bhadauran (2.5kR-B-11) having improved sweetness and flavour with fibreless pulp and a peculiarity of having depressed veins on one side and raised veins on the other side of stone (Pandey, 1992; Pandey, 1996-97). Mutation in Bhadauran was aimed at developing pre-breeding material for incorporation of malformation resistance/ tolerance because malformation resistant Bhadauran, when used as a parent in breeding for developing malformation resistant variety, transmitted its poor fruit quality traits in the progenies.

Pre-selection indices Some well-established indices are helpful in selectinghybrid plant with desirable quality (Pandey and Dinesh, 2010). Leaf flavour is directly correlated with fruit flavour (Majumder et al., 1972; Whiley et al., 1993). This has, however, a great degree of subjectivity. Emergence of new growth flushes simultaneously with fruiting or immediately after harvest is indicative to regular bearing (Sharma et al., 1972). Higher phloem to xylem ratio (>1.0) was found associated with dwarfness of tree. Ratio ranging from 0.6-1.0 indicates medium vigour and lesser than 0.6 high vigour (Kurian and Iyer, 1992). High phenolics content in the apical bud (Iyer, 1991) and lower density of stomata (Majumder et al., 1981) were found associated with dwarfness of tree. The association of stomata density with dwarfness could, however, not be confirmed (Iyer, 1991).

Registration of variety Elite accessions and newly developed varieties should be registered with the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPV & FRA), Govt. of India and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) of ICAR, New Delhi for protection of Intellectual property right and also farmers’ right on those elite materials and varieties. Variety should be tested for Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) before registering them with PPV & FRA. Guidelines for DUS testing developed by PPV & FRA may be used for this purpose. Lynch and Krome (1951) suggested to file the


names, history and descriptions of new cultivars with Florida Mango Forum to avoid the confusion in selecting names. Singh (1960) felt the necessity of taking up the nomenclature and registration of cultivars at the international level under certain well defined rules.The XVII International Horticultural Congress held in 1966 recognized the Division of Fruits and Horticultural Technology (then Division of Horticulture), Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi as the International Registration Authority for Mango Cultivars (IRA-Mango). New varieties/cultivars are registered with International Registration Authority for Mango Cultivars (IRAMango) following rules of the International Code of Nomendature of Cultivated Plants. Pandey (1986, 1988) studied the global scenario with respect to the status of mango cultivars, variability in useful characters available for breeding and proliferation of names and synonyms. He found a lot of confusion in the nomenclature of names of cultivars, and therefore, emphasized on the registration of new varieties with IRA (Mango). This avoids duplication and synonym of cultivars, which otherwise create a lot of confusion in nomenclature of variety for selection by nurserymen and growers. International Check List of Mango Cultivars by Pandey (1984) contains the descriptions of 793 cultivars of the world and includes list of 96 cultivars with many synonyms. Breeder should consult 1682 names mentioned by Pandey and Dinesh (2010) and names of additional varieties mentioned in subhead varietal variation in this article or the updated list before naming new variety to avoid the duplication and synonym in the nomenclature of variety.

Varieties evolved through hybridization Many varieties of mango have been developed through hybridization by involving selected parental varieties to meet out the need of improved varieties in many countries of world. In India, efforts were made to develop varieties to solve problems of mango growing in different regions.Amrapali (Dashehari x Neelum), Mallika (Neelum x Dashehari) and Pusa Lalima (Dashehari x Sensation) developed at IARI and Neeleshwari (Neelum x Dashehari) at Paria are improvement over Dashehari in respect of regularity in bearing, high productivity and long shelf-life of fruit and Amrapali and Neeleshwari are relatively dwarf (Majumder et al., 1972; Sharma, 1987; Majumder et al., 2012, 2013). Varieties having attractive red peel with regularity in bearing, high yield, medium sized fruits, pleasant sugar: acid blend in fruit juice and long shelf-life are Pusa Arunima, Pusa Pratibha and Pusa Shreshth from the cross of Amrapali and Sensation developed at IARI (Pandey et al., 2012, 2013, 2014 a,b) and Ambika (Amrapali x Janardhan Pasand) and Arunika


(Amrapali x Van Raj) at CISH, Lucknow.Efforts made to develop improved varieties with respect to mainly regularity in bearing and freedom from spongy tissue disorder by utilizing Alphonso as main parent variety yielded many varieties at IIHR, Bengaluru, RFRS, Vengurle (Maharashtra) and ARS, Paria (Gujarat). The notable varieties are Arka Anmol (Alphonso x Janardhan Pasand), Arka Aruna (Banganpalli x Alphonso), Arka Neelkiran (Alphonso x Neelum), Arka Puneet (Alphonso x Banganpalli), Arka Ravi (Amrapali x Arka Anmol), Suvarna (Alphonso 900 x Neelum 287), Ratna (Neelum x Alphonso), Sindhu (Ratna x Alphonso), Hybrid-314 (Neelum x Alphonso), Hyb.-360 (Neelum x Alphonso) and Sonpari (Alphonso x Baneshan). Arka Puneet and Ratna are similar to Alphonso but the pulp of fruit is free from spongy tissue disorder (Iyer and Subramanyam, 1993; Salvi and Gunjate, 1988).Ratna (Neelum x Alphonso) and Sindhu (Ratna x Alphonso) evolved at RFRS Vengurle, Ranagiri district in Maharashtra are varieties of remarkable quality. Sindhu, a parthenocarpic seedless variety, possesses very thin stone and good quality of fruit (Gunjate and Burondkar, 1993). Sai Sugandha (Kesar x Totapuri) is ahigh yielding and good quality variety. Improved varieties evolved from Andhra Pradesh are prolific bearer A.U. Rumani (Rumani x Mulgoa) from Horticulturtal Research Station, Anantharajupet in 1964 and Majeera (Rumani x Neelum) in 1985 and a dwarf and good quality variety KMH-1 (Cherukurasam x Khader syn. Alphonso) from FRS, Sangareddy.Neeleshan (Neelum x Baneshan), Neelgoa (Neelum x Yerra Mulgoa), Neeluddin (Neelum x Himayuddin) and Swarnajehangir (Chinna Suvarnarekha x Jehangir) were developed at Kodur (Bhujanga Rao et al., 1963). Improved varieties developed from Sabour suitable for eastern region of the country include Prava Shankar (Bombai x Kalapady) as regular bearing and resistant to high wind velocity, Mahmud Bahar (Bombai x Kalapady) as regular bearing and canning variety, Alfazli (Alphonso x Fazli) as late maturing and big fruited variety, Jawahar (Gulab Khas x Mahmud Bahar) as regular bearing and precocious variety, Sabri (Gulab Khas x Bombai) as early maturing but small fruited variety suitable for canning and Sundar Langra (Langra x Sundar Pasand) as regular bearing variety with very sweet taste (23% T.S.S.) and fruit shape like Langra but with red blush on fruit surface (Sen et al., 1946; Hoda and Kumar, 1993).Some varieties developed with other specialties are Konkan Raja (Bangalora x Himayuddin) having very large fruit (616g), regularity in bearing, early fruit maturity, high pulp content (83%) and suitability of fruit as salad at fruit maturity stage and Konkan Ruchi suitable for making pickle developed at Vengurle; Neeleshan Gujarat (Neelum x Baneshan) with late fruit

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maturity (2nd week of July), large fruit (318g) and long shelf-life of fruit developed at Paria and PKM-1 (Chinnasuvarnarekha x Neelum) developed at Periyakulam (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University) as regular and cluster bearing variety suitable for pulp making.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Author is grateful to Dr. V.A. Parthasarathy, National Coordinator, GEF/UNEP/TFT Project Unit, IIHR, Bengaluru, Dr. C. Ashwat, Principal Scientist, Division of Ornamental Horticulture (Floriculture), IIHR, Bengaluru, Dr. D. Pandey, Principal Scientist (Horticulture), CISH, Lucknow and Dr. H.S. Singh, Head, Central Horticultural Experiment Station, Bhubaneswar (Odisha) for supplying necessary information on the subject.

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Goswami, A.M.; Pandey, S.N.; Saxena, S.K.; Khurdiya, D.S.; Kaur, Charanjit and Srivastva, G.C. 1999. Identification and selection of superior clones of mango cv. Dashehari for export (Abstract). 4th Agriculture Science Congress: Sustainable Agricultural Export, held from 21-24February 1999, Jaipur, pp. 202. Gunjate, R.T. and Burondkar, M.M. 1993. Parthenocarpic mango developed through hybridization. Acta Hort., 341:107-11. Gupta, J.H. 1976. Reaction of mango varieties to powdery mildew (Oidium mangiferae Berthet) in Uttar Pardesh. Prog. Hort., 8:63-64. Hoda, M.N. and Kumar,Ram 1993. Improvement of mango.Proc. of the National Seminar on Irregular bearing in mango: Problems and strategy, held from 12-13 July, 1991 at Pusa. Pratan Kamal Printing Press, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India, pp. 34-35. Iyer, C.P.A. 1991. Recent advances in varietal improvement in mango. Acta Hort., 291:109-32. Iyer, C.P.A. and Mukunda, G.K. 1998. Improvement of mango by selection and hybridization.In:Fruit Cultivation. R.P. Srivastava (Ed.).International Book Distributing Co., Charbagh, Lucknow, U.P., India,


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Received on 18 December 2014 and accepted on 07 February 2015


[Research Article]

Micropropagation studies of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) cv. Blood Red Jyoti Kanwar1, M.K. Kaul2 and Raj Kumar3

Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, SKRAU, Bikaner- 335006, India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to study in vitro technique, micropropagation of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) cv. Blood Red. The impact of plant growth regulators on axillary bud proliferation in Blood Red was studied by using MS basal medium added with BAP (1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 7.0 mg l-1) and NAA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg l-1) for rooting IBA and NAA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg l-1 each) either alone or in combinations. The maximum percent success, number of shoots, length of shoot and minimum number of days taken to bud break were obtained with BAP (3.0 mg l-1) and NAA (0.5 mg l-1). For rooting, lower concentrations of NAA and IBA up to 0.5 mg l-1 were found better in case of maximum percent success, number of roots, length of roots and minimum number of days taken to root initiation as compared to higher levels. KEY WORDS: Blood Red, micro-propagation, BAP, NAA, IBA Citrus sinensis is one of the most important fruit crop known by the mankind since antiquity and it is a good source of vitamin C with high antioxidant potential. Sweet orange tree (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) belongs to the family Rutaceae. The present investigation was undertaken on an important Citrus fruit crop, Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) cv. Blood Red with a view to develop a reliable protocol for its clonal propagation under in vitro conditions. Conventional method of propagation of Blood Red has several problems like time consuming, polyembryony (Cameron and Frost, 1968) and cross pollination etc. The citrus seedlings are perennial and take 5-6 years to grow. It has inherited polyembryony. Polyembryony accompanied by high ovule fertility becomes responsible for unwanted apomictic seedy trait (Altaf and Rehman, 2008). Citrus also stands among difficult to root crops and micro propagation offers rapid propagation of such crops in limited space and time under controlled conditions throughout the year (Mohammad et al., 2005). Citrus propagation by conventional means is restricted to particular season and availability of plant material. It doesn’t guarantee trueness of cultivars and mass production of certified citrus plants throughout the year. Therefore, in vitro micropropagation constitutes a feasible alternative to overcome these problems. Such process involves bud multiplication from shoot tips, nodes or axillary buds, possesses less probability of Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

somaclonal variation among regenerates in comparison with callus mediated regeneration pathway. The aim of this work was to set a protocol for establishment, regeneration, rooting and hardening of Blood Red from nodal explants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was conducted during the year 2011-12 to 2012-13 in tissue culture laboratory, Department of Horticulture, ARS, Sriganganagar, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner. The nodal segments from nuceller seedlings were used as explants because they are true to type and uniform in growth. For this, healthy fruits of Sweet orange cv. Blood Red were collected. These were washed under running tap water. The seeds were properly cleaned, dressed and pre treated with 0.2 per cent (w/v) Carbendazim. The seed testa was removed under aseptic condition. These decoated seeds were first treated with mercuric chloride (HgCl2) @ 0.1 per cent (w/v) for five minutes followed by three time washings with sterile distilled water than quick rinsed with 70 per cent ethanol and inoculated in MS basal medium containing 3% sucrose and solidified with 8% agar agar. After 15-20 days of incubation, the nuceller seedlings were isolated and sub cultured on fresh medium. After 20-30 days of sub culture, these

40


seedlings were cut into segments so as to have two buds at least and then inoculated on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs). All the cultures were incubated at 24 + 20C under white fluorescent light (10.9 μmol m-2 s-1) with 18h photo period. These cultures were maintained under identical condition. Observations were noted after 3 weeks. After 4 weeks, regenerated plantlets were carefully removed from test tube, residual agar at root region was washed with Bavestein and transferred to culture

bottles having mixture of Cocopeat (2 parts): Vermiculite (1 parts): Perlite (1 parts): Fine Sand (1 parts): Garden Soil (1 parts) and again cultures maintained under identical conditions for 2-3 weeks.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Shoot multiplication Nodal explants were inoculated on MS media sup-

Table 1: Effect of BAP and NAA, added singly and in combination in basal medium, on different regeneration parameters of Blood Red Treatments (mg l_1) Sym

BAP

NAA

Per cent explants survival

No. of days to bud break

No. of shoots

Length of shoot (cm)

T0

0

0.0

13 (20.70)

20.6

1.0

0.90

T1

0

0.1

20 (26.27)

20.2

3.4

2.30

T2

0

0.5

73 (58.73)

19.6

5.8

3.74

T3

0

1.0

43 (40.64)

19.8

2.8

1.58

T4

0

1.5

20 (26.27)

19.8

1.6

1.48

T5

1

0.0

55 (47.88)

18.8

4.4

2.48

T6

3

0.0

80 (63.39)

17.2

6.4

4.00

T7

5

0.0

23 (28.13)

18.2

1.8

2.46

T8

7

0.0

20 (25.96)

18.6

1.6

1.66

T9

1

0.1

33 (34.23)

17.8

2.6

2.84

T10

1

0.5

58 (49.84)

16.4

4.6

3.60

T11

1

1.0

45 (41.98)

16.6

3.6

2.98

T12

1

1.5

40 (39.09)

17.2

3.2

2.56

T13

3

0.1

70 (56.87)

16.4

5.6

2.88

T14

3

0.5

95 (83.97)

15.2

7.6

3.84

T15

3

1.0

78 (62.14)

15.6

6.2

5.12

T16

3

1.5

53 (46.53)

16.2

4.2

3.82

T17

5

0.1

20 (26.27)

18.4

1.6

2.18

T18

5

0.5

33 (34.64)

17.4

2.6

2.44

T19

5

1.0

20 (26.27)

18.0

1.9

2.54

T20

5

1.5

20 (26.27)

18.4

1.6

1.98

T21

7

0.1

25 (29.37)

18.2

2.2

2.16

T22

7

0.5

33 (34.64)

17.6

2.4

2.28

T23

7

1.0

25 (29.37)

18.0

2.0

1.78

T24

7

1.5

15 (22.55)

19

1.2

1.58

S. Em. ±

3.09

0.35

0.35

0.17

CD (5%)

8.65

0.97

1.00

0.47

*Figures given in parentheses are angular transformed values


41

Table 2: Effect of IBA and NAA, added singly and in combination in basal medium, on per cent microshoots responded for rooting Treatments (mg l_1) Sym.

NAA

IBA

Percent Success

T0

0

0.0

0 (00.00)

0

0

0

T1

0

0.1

36 (36.76)

19.0

3.6

3.2

T2

0

0.5

70 (56.89)

17.2

7.0

4.0

T3

0

1.0

44 (41.52)

19.0

4.4

3.6

T4

0

2.0

34 (35.60)

21.0

3.4

3.4

T5

0.1

0.0

48 (43.83)

19.6

4.8

3.5

T6

0.5

0.0

76 (60.75)

16.6

7.6

5.2

T7

1.0

0.0

64 (53.16)

19.4

6.4

4.3

T8

2.0

0.0

52 (46.19)

20.4

5.2

4.5

T9

0.1

0.1

50 (44.98)

19.0

5.0

4.0

T10

0.1

0.5

58 (49.65)

18.0

5.8

4.5

T11

0.1

1.0

56 (48.44)

18.4

5.6

4.3

T12

0.1

2.0

52 (46.14)

19.0

5.2

4.2

T13

0.5

0.1

82 (67.69)

17.2

8.2

4.8

0.5

0.5

84 (66.96)

16.2

8.4

5.5

T15

0.5

1.0

72 (58.40)

17.2

7.2

5.3

0.5

2.0

68 (55.69)

17.8

6.8

4.7

T17

1.0

0.1

68 (55.56)

19.4

6.8

4.6

1.0

0.5

76 (60.88)

18.0

7.6

4.9

1.0

1.0

70 (56.89)

18.4

7.0

4.6

T14 T16 T18

T19 T20

No. of days taken to bud root initiation

No. of roots

Length of roots (cm)

1.0

2.0

62 (51.95)

20.0

6.2

4.3

T21

2.0

0.1

60 (50.85)

19.2

6.0

4.8

2.0

0.5

66 (54.66)

19.0

6.6

5.1

T23

2.0

1.0

54 (47.29)

19.4

5.4

4.8

2.0

2.0

44 (41.52)

20.2

4.4

4.0

T22 T24

S. Em. ±

2.42

0.34

0.35

0.06

CD (5%)

6.81

0.93

2.39

0.31

*Figures given in parentheses are angular transformed values plemented with different concentrations of BAP and NAA for optimization of the best phytohormonal combination and concentrations for shoot multiplications (Table 1). The results revealed that the MS media containing BAP (3.0 mg l-1) + NAA (0.5 mg l-1) was found to have maximum percent success of 95 %, minimum number of days to bud break was (15.2 days) and maximum number of shoots (7.60). Whereas, the maximum length of shoot (5.12 cm) were recorded in MS medium containing BAP (3.0 mg l-1) + NAA (1.0 mg l-1). Shoot multiplication increases when the concentration of BAP increased

from BAP (1.0 – 3.0 mg l-1) and NAA from (0.1–0.5 mg l-1). A further increase in BAP and NAA concentration reduces the shoot multiplication. The potential of cell division and bud regeneration in in vitro conditions is low in citrus species and cultivars especially in Blood Red due to browning and poor growth. The data revealed that high concentration of cytokinin and low concentration of auxin is required for shoot multiplication. Similarly, shoot regeneration was also observed using internodal explants cultured on MS medium fortified with 2.5 mg l-1 BAP and 0.2 mg l-1 NAA (Praveen et al., 2003) and the

42


Plate : 1 Effect of BAP and NAA on shoot proliferation of Blood Red

formation of shoots and shoot buds in sweet orange took place on MS medium containing NAA at 0.1 mg l-1 and BAP at 0.25 mg l-1 using intermodal as explants (Thirumalai and Thamburaj, 1990).

Rooting

Control

BAP 3.0 mg I-1

NAA 0.5mg I-1

BAP 3.0 mg I-1 + NAA 0.5mg I-1

Plate : 2 Effect of BAP and NAA concentrations on roots parameters of Blood Red

The proliferated shoots were individually separated and cultured in rooting media consisting of MS basal medium supplemented with different concentrations of IBA and NAA (Table 2). Among the various concentrations tested, NAA and IBA each at 0.5 mg l-1, showed the maximum percent success (84.00 %), minimum time taken to root initiation (16.2 days), number of roots (8.4) and length of shoots (5.5 cm). A higher level of Auxins at 10 and 2.0 mg l-1 of seems to check this effect in all the combinations. These results are in accordance with (Upadhayay et al., 2010) in Sweet Orange cv Mosambi, who reported maximum number of roots per micro shoot in Sweet Orange when explants cultured on MS medium modified by IBA 2.0 mg l-1 + NAA 0.1 mg l-1. This report provides a simple protocol for in vitro micro propagation of Blood Red by using nodal explants of field grown plant. These plantlets were transferred to soil mixture containing Cocopeat (2 parts): Vermiculite (1 parts): Perlite (1 parts): Fine Sand (1 parts): Garden Soil (1 parts) observed maximum (80.00 %) successful hardened plants.

REFERENCES Altaf, N. and Rehman, A. 2008. Variation within Kinnow (Citrus reticulata) and rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri). Pak. J. Bot., 40: 589- 598. Cameron, J.W. and Frost, H.B. 1968. Genetic breeding nucellar embryony. In: The Citrus Industry. W. Reuther, I.D. Batchelor and H.V. Webber (Eds.). University of California, Berkeley, pp. 325–370. Plate 3: Effect of hardening media on growth of plantlets under (60 days old)

Mohammad, U.; Muhammad, S. and Fegam, F. 2005. In vitro multiple shoots induction from nodal explants of citrus cultivars. Cen. Eur. J. Ag., 4: 453-442. Praveen, S.; Pawar, V. and Ahalawat, Y.S. 2003. Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration in Kinnow. J. Plant Biochem. Biotech., 12: 163-165. Upadhyay, S.; Syamal, M.M. and Hamidullahitoo 2010. Micropropagation of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) cv. Mosambi through nodal and internodal segments. Environ. Ecol., 28: 672-677. Thirumalai, S. and Thamburaj, S. 1996. Plantlet regeneration in sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) var. Sathgudi and acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) var. PKM. South Indian Hort., 44: 62-64.

Received on 09 March 2013 and accepted on 26 December 2013


[Research Article]

Response of foliar fertilization of micronutrients on fruit growth and yield in lowchill peach cv. Sharbati Vikas Yadav, P.N. Singh and Binayak Chakraborty

Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar, Uttarakhand-263 145, India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This investigation was carried out during the year 2010 and 2011 on seven year old “Sharbati” peach trees, grown at Horticulture Research Centre, G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The experiment was designed (RBD) to study the effect of foliar spraying of boron, zinc and iron and its combination on fruit growth pattern, yield and yield attributing characters of the low-chill peach. Boric acid (0.1%), zinc sulphate (0.5%) and ferrous sulphate (0.5%) were used as a source of boron, zinc and iron, respectively. All the trees fertilized with same NPK dose (300:500:300 as N, P2O5 and K2O) as per recommendation. The spraying was done twice; during last week of February, i.e., after petal fall stage and again at 15 days after the first spraying during both years in three replicates. Result proved that foliar spraying of peach trees with 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O + 0.5 % FeSO4, 7H2O was the promising treatment for improvement of fruit growth, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit volume and firmness of the fruit. This treatment was also found best for maximum fruit retention, average fruit weight as well as the fruit yield. KEY WORDS: Micronutrient, fruit growth, fruit yield, low-chill peach Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] is a juicy fruit of excellent appearance and quality. It is distinct in its group (stone fruit) along with plum in having lower chilling requirement than other temperate fruits like apple, pear etc. It can be grown in lower elevations where most of the other temperate fruits do not succeed (Chanana, 2006). In plains of Uttarakhand the cultivation of lowchill peaches is popularizing day by day. However, the yield of the low-chill peaches is very low in this particular area. Micronutrient plays an important role in plant growth and developmental processes. Boron is an essential microelement required for normal growth of plant. Reduction in fruit set and yield in B deficient plant is reported in pear (Rease, 1989). Zinc nutrition is an important economic factor in cultivation of fruit trees, especially in peaches since it is considered as sensitive to Zn deficiency (Chapman, 1966). Tiwari et al., (2004) also recommended application of Zn for increasing the yield in peaches. Iron plays an important role in chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway (Abadía, 1992) thus deficiency of this element reduced the net photosynthesis (Molassiotis et al., 2006) which causes huge reduction in fruit yield Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

(Sanz et al., 1997). Foliar application of micronutrients like boron, zinc and iron seems to be an effective tool to correct the deficiency symptoms as well as increase the yield of the plant. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to study the response of these micronutrients on fruit growth and yield in low-chill peach cv. Sharbati.

MATERIALS AND METHODS This investigation was carried out during the year 2010 and 2011 growing season on 7 years old trees of peach cv. Sharbati at Horticultural Research Centre, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. Trees were cultivated at 5 x 5 m apart under basin irrigation system. Trees were healthy, similar in vigor and subjected to the same horticultural practices during the experiment period. The NPK (300:500:300 as N, P2O5 and K2O) were supplied to the trees as per recommendation given by Tiwari et al., (2004). Three micronutrients, viz., boron as H3BO3, zinc as ZnSO4.7H2O and iron as FeSO4.7H2O were sprayed alone and in combinations

44

during last week of February, 2010, i.e., after petal fall stage and again 15 days after the first spraying. The details of the treatment composition were T1= 0.1 % H3BO3, T2= 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O, T3= 0.5 % FeSO4, 7H2O, T4= 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O, T5= 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5% FeSO4, 7H2O, T6= 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O + 0.5% FeSO4, 7H2O, T7= 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O + 0.5 % FeSO4, 7H2O, T8= Water spray (Control). Treatments were replicated thrice and the experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD). Each replicate consisted of two trees. The data on fruit growth (on fruit length and diameter basis) was recorded at weekly intervals starting from 1st week of March and 1st week of June. The data on average fruit length, diameter, fruit volume, fruit firmness and fruit weight were taken from ten fruits per replication.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Fruit growth pattern The fruit growth pattern of the peach cv. Sharbati on the basis of length and diameter during both the years is represented as Fig. 1. Initially, the length of the fruit was increased at an increasing rate up to 4th week of March during both the years (Stage I). Then the rate of increase in fruit length was quite low upto 3rd week of April (Stage II). Again the rate of increase in fruit length was recorded at increasing rate after the 3rd week of April to 1st week of June (Stage III). These type findings were quite similar during both the years for fruit length. The increase in diameter followed the same trend as in case of fruit length during both the years. Where, the stage I period completed during 3rd week of March and Stage II during 2nd week of April. The only difference recorded in study of the increase in fruit length and diameter at weekly interval was that the stage I and stage II period completed by the fruit diameter one week in advance than the fruit length. The treatment T7 recorded maximum increase in fruit length and diameter in every week intervals over control. These findings clearly established that the growth pattern of peach followed the double sigmoid growth curve. Double sigmoid growth of low-chill peach was also reported in low-chill peach cv. Shan-ePunjab (Babu and Yadav, 2002).

Final fruit length and final fruit diameter During both the years, all the treatments significantly increased fruit length as compare to control (Table 1). Trees sprayed with the treatment comprised of 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O + 0.5 % FeSO4, 7H2O produced maximum fruit length during both years. All treatments were also significantly increased fruit width during both years over control (Table 1). The maximum fruit diam-


eter during both years found in T7. This increase in fruit length and diameter might be due to greater supply of nutrient and photosynthates to the fruit from this treatment combination. Role of zinc and boron in increasing the fruit length and diameter is reported in mango cv. Dashehari (Singh et al., 2003). Rana and Sharma (1979) also obtained increased berry volume with the application of 0.5% ferrous sulphate in grape.

Fruit volume and fruit firmness The fruit volume expressed a significant difference among the treatments (Table 1). The maximum fruit volume recorded in T7 and the minimum fruit volume was observed in control plants. The increase in fruit volume might be due to increase in cell size and intercellular space (Basker and Davis, 1951). The Fruit firmness was recorded the maximum in the plants which were sprayed with 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O + 0.5 % FeSO4, 7H2O (Table 1). Cronje et al., (2009) reported similar results when litchi fruit was sprayed by micronutrients (Zn, B and Cu) and potassium nitrate.

Fruit retention percentage and average fruit weight It is clear from the data presented in Table 2 that the percentage of fruit set in 2011 was somewhat similar as obtained during previous season and spraying of different micronutrients caused significant increase in fruit set percentage. Tree received treatments with 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O + 0.5 % FeSO4, 7H2O showed the highest fruit set values in the two year study. Boron plays important role in pollen germination, pollen tube growth in deciduous fruits (Thompson and Batjer, 1950). Application of zinc could be promoted the auxin synthesis in the plant system which might delayed the formation of abscission layer during early stages of fruit development (Nason and McElroy, 1963). Dorochor et al., (1984) also obtained higher bunch setting with the application of 0.15 % TUR chloromequat [minor element complex (0.02% Zn + 0.01% B + 0.01% Fe)] in grape. The increase in the fruit retention by application of micronutrient has also been reported in many fruits like almond (Sotomayor and Castro, 1997) and aonla (Shukla, 2011). A significant difference in the fruit weight was observed in different treatments (Table 2). The minimum fruit weight was notice in control plants while the maximum fruit weight was found in plants sprayed with 0.1 % H3BO3 + 0.5 % ZnSO4, 7H2O + 0.5 % FeSO4, 7H2O. This increase in fruit weight with the application of boron, zinc and iron might be due to its role in cell division, cell elongation, sugar metabolism and accumulation of carbohydrates and other photosynthates (Crane and Brown, 1950). This type of result was also reported in orange (Sourour, 2000) and strawberry (Chaturvedi et al., 2005).


45

Fig.1: Response of foliar fertilization of different micronutrients in growth pattern of low- chill peach cv. Sharbati [fruit length basis a (2010), a1 (2011) and diameter basis b (2010), b1 (2011)] Table 1: Response of foliar fertilization of micronutrients on final fruit length (cm), final fruit diameter (cm), fruit volume (ml) and fruit firmness (lb/inch) of low-chill peach cv. Sharbati Treatments

Final fruit length (cm)

Final fruit diameter (cm)

Fruit volume (ml)

Fruit firmness (lb/inch)

2010

2011

2010

2011

2010

2011

2010

2011

T1

5.58

5.17

4.84

4.38

42.18

41.18

11.09

10.85

T2

5.46

4.9

4.87

4.37

42.88

42.13

11.27

10.61

T3

5.48

5.13

4.82

4.42

41.03

42.45

10.89

11.02

T4

5.68

5.28

4.93

4.45

43.14

43.20

12.29

11.23

T5

5.69

5.44

4.82

4.51

43.57

44.19

13.00

11.24

T6

5.47

5.02

4.99

4.36

42.08

42.98

11.78

10.79

T7

5.73

5.46

5.10

4.65

44.48

44.66

13.28

11.38

T8

5.43

4.81

4.61

4.05

39.74

39.78

10.42

10.28

CD at 5%

0.01

0.13

0.05

0.09

0.43

0.53

1.11

0.30

46


Table 2: Response of foliar fertilization of micronutrients on fruit retention (%), average fruit weight (g), number of fruits per tree and fruit yield (kg par tree) of low-chill peach cv. Sharbati Treatments

Fruit retention (%)

Average fruit weight (g)

Number of fruit tree-1

Fruit yield

(kg tree-1)

2010

2011

2010

2011

2010

2011

2010

2011

T1

66.91

47.5

51.67

38.72

346.2

447.8

18.20

17.34

T2

55.00

59.6

50.53

40.38

380.6

448.3

20.78

18.10

T3

62.48

57.6

52.27

42.23

348.2

476.3

21.04

20.11

T4

68.75

63.2

53.94

43.85

433.8

521.3

23.22

22.86

T5

71.00

72.6

54.61

44.58

449.4

530.4

23.78

23.65

T6

46.68

55.0

48.50

41.53

420.9

515.2

17.49

21.39

T7

74.00

74.3

56.51

46.68

453.6

521.5

24.47

24.34

T8

42.02

42.0

48.50

38.48

340.2

429.9

16.50

16.54

CD at 5%

1.06

10.19

0.73

0.31

5.08

19.84

0.43

0.85

Number of fruits per tree and yield Number of fruits and total weight per tree during both the year were significantly affected by foliar treatments (Table 2). The maximum number of fruits and fruit yield were recorded in T7 and the minimum found in control. This may be ascribed to higher fruit set in T7. The combination of all the applied micronutrients helped in increase the number of fruits tree-1 and yield of the plants might be due to the beneficial roles of boron in pollination (Rease, 1989), zinc in growth promoting substances (Cakmak et al., 1989) and iron in electron transport chain (Molassiotis et al., 2006). Tripathi and Shukla (2010) found same trends in yield of strawberry with the application of boric acid (0.1% and 0.2%) and zinc sulphate (0.2% and 0.4%). Chaturvedi et al., (2005) also suggested application of 0.2 per cent ferrous sulphate and 0.4 per cent zinc sulphate for increasing the fruit yield in strawberry.

REFERENCES Abadía, A. 1992. Leaf responses to iron deficiency: A review. J. Plant Nutri., 15: 1699-1713. Babu, K.D. and Yadav, D.S. 2002. Fruit growth and development of peach cv. Shan-e-Punjab under edaphic and environmental condition of Meghalaya. Indian J. Hort., 59(1): 44-48. Baker, G.A. and Davis, I.D. 1951. Growth of the cheek diameter of peaches. Proc. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 57: 104-110. Cakmak, I.; Marschner, H. and Bangerth, F. 1989. Effect of zinc nutritional status on growth, protein metabolism and levels of indole-3-acetic acid and other phytohormones in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). J. Exp. Bot.,

40(3): 405-412. Chanana, Y.R. 2006. Stone fruits for subtropical region. In: Handbook of Horticulture. K.L. Chadha (Ed.). Directorate of information and publications of agriculture, ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi, pp. 313-323. Chapman, H.D. 1966. Zinc diagnostic criteria for plants and soils. Univ. Calif., Div. Ag. Sci. Berkeley, pp. 484-499. Chaturvedi, O.P.; Singh, A.K.; Tripathi, V.K and Dixit, A.K. 2005. Effect of zinc and iron on growth, yield and quality of strawberry cv. Chandler. Acta Hort., 696: 237-240. Crane, J.C. and Brown, J.G. 1950. Growth of fig (Ficus carica) fruit var. Mission. Proc. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 56: 93-97. Cronje, R.B.; Sivakumar, D.; Mostert, P.G. and Korsten, L. 2009. Effect of different preharvest treatment regimes on fruit quality of litchi cultivar ‘Maritius’. J. Plant Nutri., 32(1): 19-29. Dorochor, B.L.; Abdulrachmanor, N.A. and Daniliv, V.L. 1984. Physiological basis for regulating grape vine yield. Sadovodstvo-Vinogradasistvo-I-vinodelie-moldavii, 6: 54-57. Molassiotis, A.; Tanou, G.; Diamantidis, G.; Patakas, A. and Therios, I. 2006. Effects of 4-month Fe deficiency exposure on Fe reduction mechanism, photosynthetic gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence and antioxidant defense in two peach rootstocks differing in Fe deficiency tolerance. J. Plant Physiol., 163(2): 176-185. Nason, A. and McElroy, W.D. 1963. Modes of action of the essential mineral elements in plant physiology: A


47

Treatise. F.C. Steward. (Ed.) Vo. III, Academic Press. New York, pp. 451-521.

and zinc sprays at bloom time on almond fruit set. Acta Hort., 470: 402-405.

Raese, J.T. 1989. Physiological disorders and maladies of pear fruit. Hort. Rev., 11: 357–411.

Sourour, M.M. 2000. Effect of foliar application of some micronutrient forms on growth, yield, fruit quality and leaf mineral composition of Valencia orange trees grown in North Sinai. Alexandria J. Ag. Res., 45(1): 269-285.

Rana, R.S. and Sharma, H.C. 1979. Effect of iron sprays on growth, yield and quality of grapes. Punjab Hort. J., 19(1-2): 31-34. Sanz, M.; Pascual, J. and Machin, J. 1997. Prognosis and correction of iron chlorosis in peach trees: influence of fruit quality. J. Plant Nutri., 20: 1567-1572. Shukla, A.K. 2011. Effect of foliar application of calcium and boron on growth, productivity and quality of Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis). Indian J. Ag. Sci., 81(7): 628–632. Singh, Y.P.; Tiwari, J.P. and Misra, K.K. 2003. Effect of micronutrients on fruit yield and physico-chemical characters of mango cv. Dashehari. Prog. Hort., 35(1): 34-37. Sotomayor, C. and Castro, J. 1997. The influence of boron

Thompson, A.H. and Batjer, L.P. 1950. The effect of boron in germinating medium on pollen germination and pollen tube growth for several deciduous fruit trees. Proc. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 56: 227-230. Tiwari, J.P.; Mishra, N.K.; Mishra, D.S.; Bisen, B.; Singh, Y.P. and Rai, R. 2004. Nutrient requirement for subtropical peaches and pear for Uttaranchal; An Overview. Acta Hort., 662: 199-204. Tripathi,V.K. and Shukla, P.K. 2010. Influence of plant bio-regulators, boric acid and zinc sulphate on yield and fruit character of strawberry cv. Chandler. Prog. Hort., 42(2): 186-189.

Received on 03 June 2013 and accepted on 18 November 2014


[Research Article]

Effect of naphthalene acetic acid on periodical changes in bio-chemical composition of ber cv. Umran Rachna Arora and Sukhdev Singh

Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry,Khalsa College, Amritsar-143003, Punjab E-mail:[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present studies aimed at evaluating the effects of varying doses of NAA on the bio-chemical changes of ber fruit during development. NAA @ 0, 10, 30 and 50 ppm was applied at fruit set stage and then superimposed one month thereafter. The periodical bio-chemical analyses of developing ber fruits revealed that total soluble solids concentration increases maximum during initial stages of fruit development i.e. between interval of 25 to 50 days of NAA application while total sugars and ascorbic acid increase and acidity decreases as the fruit reaches maturity, i.e. between 75 to 100 days of NAA application. The NAA 30 ppm dose resulted in maximum expression of acidity, total sugars and ascorbic acid at final harvest of ber while total soluble solids showed maximum improvement with NAA 50 ppm. Thus it is implicated that NAA application is beneficial in improving flavour and taste of ber. KEY WORDS: Ber, bio-chemical, periodical, interval, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) is distributed throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. It is one of the most hardy fruit trees with wider adaptability to adverse soil and climatic conditions and thus is recommended for cultivation on marginal land. India ranks first among the ber growing countries of the world. The fruit is equally relished by people of all classes. A comparison of nutritive value of ber and apple reveals that the ber is richer in the amount of protein, mineral matter, calcium, phosphorus, carotene and vitamin than that of apple. That’s why ber is referred to as ‘the apple of arid zone’. In Punjab, the flowering in ber starts from first week of September and continues till first week of November, whereas the fruit setting starts in second week of October. The most active phase of fruit growth is first six weeks of fruit set (Bal and Singh, 1978). During this time the developing fruits undergo numerous physical and bio-chemical changes which increase the fruit size and improve the taste. The application of growth regulators like Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) is reported to have profound effects on improving the fruit quality (Singh and Singh, 1976; Bal et al.,1981, 1984,1986; Kale et al., 2000; Singh and Randhawa,2001). These effects are more proOnline version available at: www.indianjournals.com

nounced if the application is done during active growth phase. In the present studies, the periodical changes in bio-chemical composition of ber fruits as brought about by varying doses NAA were evaluated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigations were carried out in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Khalsa College, GNDU, Amritsar during the year 2007-08. Eight years old trees of ber cv.Umran with uniform size and vigour were selected for the experiment. The trees were sprayed during active growth phase in the 3rd week of October and again superimposed spray was applied one month thereafter. The growth regulator naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) in different concentrations,i.e., 10, 30 and 50 ppm each in addition to water sprayed control were applied. There were three replications each with one tree per replication. The trees were sprayed uniformly by using knapsack sprayer with flood jet nozzle. Five uniform branches per tree were selected and tagged. After second spray at 25 days interval (i.e., after 25 days, 50 days, 75 days, 100 days and then at harvest), the developing fruits were periodically harvested and the observations on fourbio-chemical traits,viz., total soluble solids (%),


49

Table 1: Effect of NAA on TSS (%) of ber fruits during development Treatment

TSS (%) days after second spray 2007-08

2008-09

25

50

75

100

At harvest

25

50

75

100

At harvest

NAA 10ppm

9.49

10.40

12.50

13.67

14.27

9.26

10.67

13.02

13.44

14.40

NAA 30ppm

9.65

12.04

13.05

14.67

15.51

9.28

11.85

13.17

13.57

15.56

NAA 50ppm

9.45

11.26

12.70

14.51

15.71

9.59

10.83

12.81

13.34

15.23

Control

8.78

10.13

11.22

12.08

12.60

9.06

10.15

10.94

12.83

13.19

C.D. (0.05)

Intervals (A) 0.36 Year (B) NS Treatments (C) 0.32 AB

NS AC 0.73 BC NS ABC NS

Table 2: Effect of NAA on acidity (%) of ber fruits during development Treatment

Acidity (%) days after second spray 2007-08

2008-09

25

50

75

100

At harvest

25

50

75

100

At harvest

NAA 10ppm

0.461

0.411

0.323

0.263

0.204

0.438

0.418

0.323

0.259

0.198

NAA 30ppm

0.458

0.387

0.316

0.242

0.199

0.471

0.391

0.343

0.276

0.193

NAA 50ppm

0.471

0.414

0.347

0.273

0.217

0.458

0.394

0.330

0.259

0.219

Control

0.488

0.438

0.387

0.279

0.242

0.498

0.461

0.387

0.279

0.242

C.D. (0.05) Intervals (A) 0.013 Year (B) NS Treatments (C) 0.012 AB

NS AC NS

BC NS ABC NS

Table 3: Effect of NAA on total sugars (%) of ber fruits during development Treatment

Sugars (%) days after second spray 2007-08

2008-09

25

50

75

100

At harvest

25

50

75

100

At harvest

NAA 10ppm

2.64

3.93

6.92

8.74

11.01

2.55

3.82

6.94

8.47

10.99

NAA 30ppm

2.94

4.18

7.10

9.08

11.51

2.78

4.55

7.23

8.89

11.86

NAA 50ppm

2.45

3.90

7.02

9.11

11.05

2.44

3.86

6.82

8.57

11.49

Control

2.07

3.37

7.03

8.63

10.14

2.20

3.30

6.85

8.55

10.49

C.D. (0.05) Intervals (A) 0.29

Year (B) NS Treatments (C) 0.26

AB

NS AC NS

BC NS ABC NS

Table 4: Effect of NAA on ascorbic acid (mg/100g) of ber fruits during development Treatment

Ascorbic acid (mg/100g) days after second spray 2007-08

2008-09

25

50

75

100

At harvest

25

50

75

100

At harvest

NAA 10ppm

13.10

28.40

43.70

74.40

101.98

13.17

28.08

44.39

71.95

103.97

NAA 30ppm

13.40

31.64

48.69

78.60

110.38

13.08

31.92

47.25

77.23

108.15

NAA 50ppm

12.60

25.18

39.20

69.81

101.82

13.64

25.83

38.81

70.74

101.64

Control

14.44

30.99

41.81

72.05

92.81

13.22

30.70

41.49

71.92

95.74

C.D. (0.05) Intervals (A) 2.60

Year (B) NS Treatments (C) 2.33

AB

NS AC 5.20 BC NS ABC NS

50


Fig.1: Effect of NAA on TSS (%) of ber fruits during development (pooled over both the seasons)

Fig.3: Effect of NAA on total sugars (%) of ber fruits during development (pooled over both the seasons)

Fig.2: Effect of NAA on acidity (%) of ber fruits during development (pooled over both the seasons)

Fig.4: Effect of NAA on ascorbic acid (mg/100g) of ber fruits during development (pooled over both the seasons)

acidity (%), total sugars (%) and ascorbic acid (mg/100g) were recorded to evaluate changes in chemical composition of developing ber fruits. To record TSS percentage, the juice of ten randomly selected fruits from each replication was extracted and strained through a muslin cloth and TSS content of juice was measured with the help of Bausch and Lomb hand refractometer. The values of total soluble solids were then corrected to 20º C with the help of temperature correction chart (AOAC, 1980). To determine citric acid percentage, 10g of fruit pulp was extracted and titrated against N/10 NaOH solution using phenolphthalein as an indicator. The total sugars were estimated by Lane and Eynon method (AOAC, 1980). The ascorbic acid was determined by titration method using 10 g of fruit pulp macerated in 3 percent meta phosphoric acid solution and titrated against 2,6dichlorophenol indophenol dye.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The data pertaining to effect of varying concentrations of NAA on TSS content of Umranber is presented in Table 1 and Fig.1. At the final harvest, all the treatments had significantly improved the TSS over control, which revealed that application of NAA had direct effect on assimilation of metabolic compounds within the fruits which improved TSS control and ultimately the fruit flavour and taste. Improvement in TSS is very important from processing point of view, as products like candy, Jelly, dried ber etc. have direct association with TSS percentage of the fruit. There was maximum increase in TSS with application of NAA 30 ppm followed by NAA 50 ppm.The interaction effects between treatments and intervals were found to be significant. The studies corroborated with the findings of Singh and Singh (1976), Balet al. (1981), Kale et al. (2000) and Singh and Rand-


51

hawa (2001) who reported beneficial effects of NAA in improving TSS of ber fruits.

al.(1990).

The effects of NAA on acidity of ber fruit is presented in Table 1 and Fig.2.On periodic intervals, the acidity decreased significantly with application of NAA as compared to control and the treatments differ significantly among each other. The earlier workers Bankar and Prasad (1990), Sandhuet al. (1990) and Singh and Randhawa (2001) also reported similar observations. The maximum periodic decrease in acidity of fruits was seen in interval of 75 to 100 days after application,i.e., as the fruit reaches towards maturity the acidity decreased.The decrease in acidity towards ripening may be attributed to faster movement of potassium into fruits with NAA application which in turn increased the membrane permeability of cells allowing respiration of stored acids within the cells, formation of complex compounds of malic acid (Kliewer, 1977) and reducedability of fruits to synthesize organic acids towards maturity (Hardy, 1966). The application of NAA improved the percentage of total sugars in ber fruit at final harvest but the significant improvement was brought about by only 30 ppm dose of NAA (Table 3, Fig. 3). Masalkar and Wavhal (1991) and Bhati and Yadav (2003) reported similar beneficial effects of NAA in improving fruit sugars of ber. There was significant periodic increase in sugars content at every interval with maximum increase recorded between 75 to 100 days interval, i.e., towards fruit maturity. The interaction between treatments and intervals was found to be non-significant. This increase in sugars can be attributed to increase in concentration of volatile components concentration in fruits along with hydrolysis of starchy compounds towards maturity. These hydrolytic changes usually lead to formation of sugars. The extent of these hydrolytic changes might have increased with NAA application. Moreover, the organic acids present in fruits are translocated into sugars towards maturity and this translocation is made faster with NAA application (Drawert and Steffen, 1966).

REFERENCES

The ascorbic acid content is also directly influenced by application of PGRs as is expressed in Table 4 and Fig.4.There was significant improvement in ascorbic acid content of ber fruits with NAA 30 ppm however; the higher dose was detrimental for ascorbic acid percentage. In association to present evaluations, NAA when applied at slow growth phase exhibited the significant increase in ascorbic acid content of fruits (Bal et al., 1986; Pandey, 1999; Singh and Randhawa, 2001). There was significant periodic improvement in ascorbic acid content with every interval of 25 days. The maximum increase was noticed towards maturity, i.e., between 75 to 100 days interval. Similar periodic improvement in ascorbic acid of ber has been reported by Sandhu et

A.O.A.C. 1970.Official Methods of Analysis, 11 th ed. Association of Officials of Agricultural Chemists, Washington. Bal, J.S.; Singh, S.N.; Randhawa, J.S. and Jawanda, J.S. 1981. Effect of plant growth regulators on fruit drop, size and quality of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.). NationalSymp on Tropical and Sub Tropical fruit crops, Bangalore, 21-24 January, pp. 117. Bal, J.S. and Singh, P. 1978. Developmental physiolaogy of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) var. Umran Part-I Physical changes. Indian Food packer, 32: 59-61. Bal, J.S.; Singh, S.N.; Randhawa, J.S. and Jawanda, J.S. 1984. Effect of growth regulators on fruit drop, size and quality of ber. Indian J. Hort., 41: 182-85. Bal, J.S., Singh, S.N. and Randhawa J.S. 1986. Response of naphthalene acetic acid spray at fruit set and slow growth phase in ber fruits (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.). J. Res. Punjab Ag. Univ., 23: 569-572. Bankar, G.J. and Prasad, R.N. 1990. Effect of Gibberellic Acid and NAA on fruit set and quality of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Gola. Prog. Hort., 22: 60-62. Bhati, B.S. and Yadav, P.K. 2003.Effect of foliar application of urea and NAA on the quality of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Gola. Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 32:32-33. Drawert, F. and Steffan, H. 1966.Biochemisch-physiologitcheUntersuchungen on Traubenbeeren III.StoffWechsel von Zugefiihrten C 14 Verbindungen and ide Bedeutungdes saure-Zucker-Metabolismus fur die Reifung Von Traubanbeern. Vitis, 5:377-84. Hardy, P.J. 1966. Metabolism of sugars and organic acids in immature grape berries. Plant Physiol., 43: 224-28. Kale, V.S.; Dod, V.N.; Adpawar, R.M. and Bharad, S.G. 2000. Effect of plant growth regulators on fruit characters and quality of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana L.). Crop Res., 20: 327-33. Kliwer, W.M. 1977. Effect of day temperature and light intensity on concentration of malic and tartaric acids in Vitisvinifera L. grapes.J Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 97:372-77. Masalkar, S.D. and Wavhal, K.N. 1991.Effect of various growth regulators on physico-chemical properties of ber cv. Umran. Mah. J. Hort., 5: 37-40. Pandey, V. 1999. Effect of NAA and GA3 spray on fruit

52


retention, growth, yield and quality of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Banarasi Karaka. Orissa J. Hort., 27: 69-73.

lators and fungicides on fruit drop, yield and quality of fruit in ber cv. Umran.J. Res. Punjab Ag. Univ., 38: 181-84.

Sandhu, S.S.;Thind, S.S. and Bal, J.S. 1990. Effect of NAA on physico-chemical characters of Umranber. Punjab Hort. J., 30:123-30.

Singh, U.R. and Singh, N. 1976.Effect of plant regulators on fruit drop, size and quality of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) var. Banarsi. Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 5: 1-8.

Singh, K. and Randhawa, J.S. 2001.Effect of growth regu-

Received on 27 July 2013 and accepted on 13 January 2014


[Research Article]

Studies on physico-chemical attributes of guava (Psidium guajava) cultivars Akhilendra Verma and S. P. Singh

Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi- 221005 (U.P.), India E-Mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Seven important cultivars of guava were evaluated on the basis of physico-chemical attributes of fruit in winter season of 2011-12 in the laboratory of Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. The guava fruits were procured from Rraghuwansi Farm, Cholapur, Varanasi. Not much variation was observed for the shape of the fruit but red blush on the skin proved cultivar specific. Fruit weight and volume increased with size of the fruit, while specific gravity remained unaffected. The maximum fruit length, width, weight, volume were recorded in L-49 and Gorakh Bilash Pasand followed by Sweta. The highest keeping quality was found in L-49(7 days) with maximum weight (244.52g) as against the minimum of Sweta (4 days) with fruit weight of 236.16g.The maximum acidity was recorded in L-49 which was comparable to Allahabad Safeda and Sweta. The highest vitamin ‘C’ was recorded in L-49 followed by Allahabad Safeda and Sweta. The maximum pH and TSS were recorded in Lalit and Sangam. Significant positive correlation was found between pH and acidity and dry matter content. The soft texture of fruit was considered essential for better pulp quality, while taste and flavour were important for palatability. The soft texture and appealing taste and flavour were observed in the fruitsof L-49 and Allahabad Safeda. KEYWORD: Guava, physico-chemical attributes Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is one of the most common fruits of India and belongs to the family Myrtaceae. It originated in tropical America, especially the area extending from Peru to Chile. It was introduced to India in early 17th century (Hays, 1957) and gradually became a crop of commercial importance. Guava is hardy, prolific bearer, long lived, drought tolerant and one of the most delicious and popular fruits in tropical and subtropical regions of the country that is why it is also called “The Apple of tropics” (Bose et al., 2001). More-over, the guava fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C(90-350 mg/100g). Apart from vitamin C, it is also a rich source of minerals like calcium, phosphorus, iron, etc. But, variation exists with regard to physico-chemical properties of different varieties under different agro-climatic conditions. Now-a-days, diversity in product range is most often sought in processing sector. To develop products of high quality, it is imperative to use fruits enriched in physico-chemical attributes. Accordingly, under present investigation an attempt has been made to find outbest guava varieties on the basis of physico-chemical properties for processing purpose. Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigation was conducted in the laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agriculture Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi during 2011-12. Seven important cultivars of guava namely Lucknow-49 (L-49), Allahabad Safeda, Allahabad Surkha, Lalit, Sweta, Gorakh Bilash Pasand (G. BilashPasand) and Sangam growing around Varanasi were selected and examined for their physico-chemical properties. Four-year-old trees of these cultivars were used as an experimental material and all the experimental trees were provided uniform cultural practices. Twenty fruits were taken from each cultivar that was divided into two lots. The first lot of 10 fruits was utilized for physical and chemical studies, while the other lot of 10 fruits was kept at ambient temperature to study the storage life of fruits. The fruits were weighed and volume of fruits was determined by water displacement method. The fruit shape was recorded visually, whereas fruit size was recorded by measuring length and diameter of fruits with the help of Verniercallipers. The pulp attribute and palatability

54


rating were done as per procedure given by Mann (1972). The TSS of pulp was determined with the help of Erma HandRefractometer. However, the rest quality parameters such as ascorbic acid, acidity and drymatter content were analysed by using standard methods(AOAC, 1984). The statistical analysis was done according to method given by Panse and Sukhatme (1985).

bad Surkha contained bold sized seed with soft textured and G. Bilash Pasand had medium sized seed with soft textured. Number of seeds per fruit varied from 554.33 to 204.67. The highest(554.33) number of seeds/fruit was found in Lalit followed by G. Bilash Pasand (509.67), Allahabad Safeda (374.67), Allahabad Surkha (321.67) and L- 49 (281.0). The lowest (204.67) number of seeds was found in Sweta followed by Sangam (273.67).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The fruit of each cultivar was distinguished on the basis of appearance, taste, flavour, seed character, colour and texture of fruit. The highest score (80.0 out of 100.0) was given to Allahabad Safeda, followed by L-49 (78.5), Allahabad Surkha (76.5) and Lalit (76.0). The lowest (69.5) score was alloted to Sangam. The maximum keeping quality was found in L-49 (7.0days) followed by Allahabad Safeda (6.0days) Allahabad Surkha (6.0days) Lalit (5.33days) and Sangam (5.33days), while it was minimum in G. Bilash Pasand (4.0days) and Sweta (4.0days). Varietal variation for physical characters has also been reported by Chundawat et al. (1976), Kumar et al. (2006), Srivastava and Narsimham (1967) and Gohil et al. (2006).

Physical charactersof fruit The cultivars differed in shape of the fruit and most of them were having roundish appearance, spherical in Sangam, ovate in L-49 and oblong in Sweta. Yellowish ground colour with straw yellow skin at maturity was the usual feature (Rodriquez et al., 1971). The ground colour of skin was insufficient to distinguish the differences among the cultivars. However, colour of blush seemed to be a genuine marker imparting significant change in skin colour appearance,e.g., giving red colour to cultivars Allahabad Surkha. Thus, the fruit shape coupled with blush colour of the skin could help in identifying a cultivar. Fruit size is an important component of yield. The fruit length ranged from 5.07 to 7.80 cm. The fruit size in terms of length and width exhibited significant variation among cultivars.Themaximum (7.80cm) fruit length was observed in L-49 followed by G. Bilash Pasand (7.50cm), Sweta (7.30cm),Allahabad Safeda (6.50cm) and Lalit (5.60cm).However, it was the minimum (5.07cm) in Sangam and was comparable to Allahabad Surkha (5.37cm).The fruit breadth ranged from 5.33cm to 7.77cm. The highest (7.77cm) fruit breadth was noted in G. Bilash Pasand followed by Sweta (7.70cm) and L-49 (7.60cm). The lowest (5.33cm) fruit breadth was recorded in Sangamfollowed by Lalit (5.87cm) and Allahabad Surkha (6.17cm). Fruit weight varied from 100.17 to 244.52g. The maximum (244.52g) value was recorded in L-49 followed by G. Bilash Pasand (244.28g) and Sweta (236.16g),whereas minimum (100.17g) fruit weight was noted in Sangam followed by Lalit (116.39cm), Allahabad Surkha(131.77cm) and Allahabad Safeda (169.82cm). Specific gravity of the fruit ranged from 0.97 to 1.02 which was not much influenced by cultivar. Although the size of the fruit is a varietal character it may be in some extent influenced by the total number of fruits born on the tree, soil moisture and source sink relationship. Most of the cultivars showed white flesh colour, however, L-49 displayed creamy white shade. Pink red to red colour was seen for Lalit and Sangam. Only Sweta and Lalit reflected firm texture of the fruit pulp, while other cultivars were found to be soft textured. The bold sized seed and hard texture were observed in all the promising cultivars like L-49, Allahabad Safeda and Sweta. Allaha-

Chemical attributes of fruit The data presented in Table 3 indicated that TSS, acid, pH, dry-matter and ascorbic acid contents showed significant variation among cultivars. The acidity percent in fruits of different cultivars ranged from 0.555 to 0.811. Allahabad Safeda, L-49 and Swetawere more acidic in nature with 0.811 percent acid content. The minimum (0.555%) acidity was found in Sangam. However, Lalit, G. Bilash Pasand and Allahabad Surkha were comparable. It is evident from data that TSS content ranged from 12.17°Brix to 13.93°Brix among cultivars. The highest (13.93°Brix) TSS was found in Lalit followed by Sangam (13.67°Brix), G. Bilash Pasand (13.33°Brix) and L-49 (13.23°Brix). The lowest (12.17°Brix) TSS was noted in Allahabad Safeda. pH of the fruit ranged from 3.60 to 4.17 among cultivars. The maximum (4.17) value was noted in Sangam followed byLalit (4.13), G. Bilash Pasand (3.73) and Allahabad Surkha (3.73). The minimum (3.60) pH of fruit was found in Allahabad Safedafollowed by L-49 (3.63) and Sweta (3.67). The ascorbic acid content ranged from 133.33mg/100g of pulpto 286.27mg/100g of pulp. The maximum (286.27mg/100g of pulp) value was found in L-49 followed by Allahabad Safeda (279.21mg/100g of pulp), Sweta(268.24mg/100g of pulp), Sangam(259.61mg/100g of pulp) and Lalit(252.55mg/100g of pulp). The minimum (133.33 mg/100g of pulp) ascorbic acid was found in Allahabad Surkha followed by G. Bilash Pasand (156.08mg/100g of pulp). Dry matter content ranged from 11.36 to 16.81%. The highest(16.81%) value was found in Sangam followed by Sweta (14.61%) and Lalit (14.43%). The mini-


55

Table 1: Shape, skin attributes, flesh colour and seed character of guava fruit Name of cultivars Fruit shape

Skin character Skin colour

Ground colour

Allahabad Safeda

Round

Straw yellow

White

Lucknow- 49

Roundish Primrose ovate yellow

Creamy white Ocassional Rough red dots

Lalit

Round

Straw yellow

Pink Red

Red dots

Rough

Gorakh Bilash Pasand

Round oval

Straw yellow

White

Red dots

Smooth White

Medium Soft

Reddish

Creamy white Red

Smooth Creamy white

Bold

Allahabad Surkha Round

Seed character

Blush

Flesh Surface colour

Seed Size

Texture

-

Smooth White

Bold

Hard

Creamy white

Bold

Hard

Pink Red

Small

Hard

Soft

Sangam

Spherical Straw yellow

Pink Red

-

Smooth Pink Red

Medium Hard

Sweta

Oblong

White

-

Rough

Bold

Yellowish green

White

Hard

Table 2: Size, weight, specific gravity, number of seed, palatability rating and keeping quality of guava fruit Name of cultivars

Size

Fruit weight (g)

Specific No. of seeds gravity per fruit

Palatability Keeping rating (100) quality (days)

Fruit Fruit breadth length (cm) (cm) Allahabad Safeda

6.50

6.57

169.82

1.01

374.67

80.0

6.00

Lucknow- 49

7.80

7.60

244.52

1.02

281.00

78.5

7.00

Lalit

5.60

5.87

116.39

0.99

554.33

76.0

5.33

Gorakh Bilash Pasand 7.50

7.77

244.28

1.02

509.67

71.0

4.00

Allahabad Surkha

5.37

6.17

131.77

1.01

321.67

76.5

6.00

Sangam

5.07

5.33

100.17

0.97

273.67

69.5

5.33

Sweta

7.30

7.70

236.16

1.02

204.67

73.0

4.00

C.D. at 5%

0.406

0.346

18.575

0.013

7.902

1.512

Table 4: Chemical attributes of guava fruit Name of cultivars

pH

Ascorbic acid (mg/100g Acidity as anhydrous of fruit pulp) citric acid(%)

TSS (0Brix)

Dry matter content (%)

Allahabad Safeda

3.60

279.21

0.811

12.17

13.13

Lucknow- 49

3.63

286.27

0.811

13.23

11.36

Lalit

4.13

252.55

0.597

13.93

14.43

Gorakh Bilash Pasand

3.73

156.08

0.768

13.33

13.05

Allahabad Surkha

3.73

133.33

0.725

12.27

13.41

Sangam

4.17

259.61

0.555

13.67

16.81

Sweta

3.67

268.24

0.811

12.50

14.61

C.D. at 5%

0.112

5.130

0.156

0.544

0.519

56


Table 5: Correlation coefficient (r) for different chemical attributes of guava fruit Acidity (as % anhydrous citric acid)

Ascorbic acid (vit C) mg/100g pulp

Dry matter (%)

X1

X2

X3

X2

0.029

1.000

X3

-0.753*

0.090

1.000

X4

-0.983*

0.064

0.760*

1.000

X5

-0.693

0.151

0.311

0.772* 1.000

X1

1.000

pH

X4

TSS (°Brix)

X5

*t = 2.57 significant at 5% level mum (11.36%)dry matter was found in L-49 followed by G. Bilash Pasand (13.058) and Allahabad Safeda (13.13). The findings confirmed that Allahabad Safeda and L-49 cultivars had good quality characters. These results are in agreement with the findings of Singh and Singh (2000),Gohilet al. (2006), Kumar et al. (2006) and Wilson (1980).

Correlation studies Correlation between various chemical attributes was studied and the significance of coefficient correlation (‘t’ value) was tested. The acidity of the pulp was found to be significantly correlated with dry matter content and pH with negative ‘r’ values.The ascorbic acid content was the only attribute which failed to show relationship with any attribute. The dry matter content was related to pH only and showed a positive relationship. The pH of the pulp was positively related to TSS only.

REFERENCES AOAC 1984. Official Methods of Analysis, 14th edition.

AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists), Washington DC, USA. Bose, T.K. and Mitra, S.K. 2001.Guava. In: Fruits: Tropical and Subtropical.T.K. Bose and S.K. Mitra(Eds.).NayaProkash, Kolkata, pp. 280-303. Chundawat, B.S.; Gupta, O.P. and Singh, H.K. 1976.Variation in physico- chemical qualities of winter and rainy season guava (Psidium guajava L.) fruits. Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 5:154. Gohil, S.N.;Garad, B.V.;Shirsath, H.K. and Desai, U.T. 2006.Studies on physico-chemical constituents in guava (Psidium guajava L.) under sub-arid zone of Maharastra. Scientific Hort., 10: 139-147. Hays, W.B. 1957.Fruit Growing in India.Kitabistan, Allahabad. Kumar, S.; Kumar, S. and Shukla, R. 2006.Physico-chemical characteristics of some guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars. Hort. J. 19(1): 5-7. Mann, S.S. 1972.Maturity, ripening and storage studies in Dashehari and Langara cultivars of mango. Thesis submitted to I.A.R.I., New Delhi, 30 p. Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1985.Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers, 4th Edn. ICAR, New Delhi. Rodriguez, R.;Agrawal, P.C. and Saha, N.K. 1971.Cited from Guava in India.CFTRI, Mysore. Indian Food Packer, 25(1): 5. Singh, A. and Singh, S.P. 2000.Evaluation of varieties for quality characters of guava under eastern Uttar Pradesh conditions.Prog. Hort., 32(2): 190-196. Srivastava, H.C. and Narsimham, P. 1967. J. Hort. Sci., 42(1): 97. Wilson, C.W. 1980. In tropical and sub-tropical fruits. In: Guava in India. S. Nagy and P.E.Shaw (Ed.). Inc., Westport, U.S.A.,pp. 279-299.

Received on 11 September 2013 and accepted on 06 March 2014

Progressive Horticulture, Vol. 47, No. 1, March 2015 © Copyright ISHRD, Printed in India DOI : 10.5958/2249-5258.2015.00007.X

[Research Article]

Standardization of micropropagation techniques in guava (Psidium guajava L.) S.P.Singh, Abhay Mankar and Mohammad Yaseen

Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences,Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The experiment was carried out for micropropagation of guava (Psidium guajava L.) multiplication using different media. Shoot tip explants were found to be better than nodal and intermodal explants. Highest percentage of shoot tip proliferation was observed in MS media containing BAP (0.4mg/l) and for shoot differentiation from callus BAP (2.0mg/l) +NAA (0.25mg/l) was the best. IBA (0.4mg/l) and NAA (0.2mg/l) was noted the best treatment for root induction. KEY WORDS: Guava, shoot regeneration, callus initiation, root regeneration In recent years, guava cultivation has achieved a place of significance among fruit crops due to its nutritional richness and easiness of fruits to be processed into products like jam, jelly, puree and nectar. Being heterozygous in nature, guava is generally propagated by stooling, budding, grafting, air layering etc. These methods are practiced over limited period of the year. By tissue culture technique, thousands of genetically identical elite plants can be vegetatively propagated in a short time span. It provides reliable and economical method for maintaining pathogen free plants. However, no sincere efforts have been made for micropropagation of Psidium guajava as yet. Keeping above in mind the present study was undertaken.

thoroughly under running tap water containing few drops of liquid detergents for 15-20 min and then transferred to Laminar flow chamber which was already sterilized with UV light for 40 minutes. These explants were then dipped in various surface sterilants, i.e., NaOCl (1.0%),HgCl‚ (0.1%) and KCl (1.0%) for different durations and subsequently dipped in 70% ethyl alcohol for 30 seconds and finally rinsed thrice with autoclaved double distilled water. One min treatment of 1.0% KCl was given to remove excess mercury (Hg++) ions from explants tissue. MS media with 3.0% sucrose w/v and 0.8% w/v agar was taken for inoculation of explants. The pH of media was adjusted to 5.8.

MATERIALS ANS METHODS

plants were dipped in antioxidant solution containing citric acid (75 mg/l) and ascorbic acid (50 mg/l) of water. Inoculation done with the help of long forceps and quickly cotton plugs were inserted into the tubes to check the contamination in the tubes.

Preparation of Media MS media (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) was used in all experiments with agar @ 8g/l as gelling agent and sucrose @ 30 g/l as carbon source along with growth regulations and other additives. The experiment was conducted in plant Tissue Culture Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences B.H.U. Varanasi.

Excision and sterilization of explants - Explants,

viz., shoot tips (0.5-1 cm), leaves, nodal and internodal segments (1-1.5 cm) were collected from guava plants of the experimental orchard. The explants were washed Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

Inoculation of explants- Prior to inoculation the ex-

Establishment of culture- Culture vials or flasks after inoculation were incubated in growth chamber by maintaining 25+2° C temperature with 16/8 hours day and night period with 3000-3200 lux light intensity supplied through fluorescent tubes. The culture was incubated under dark for callus induction with different concentrations of auxins and cytokinins. Different growth regulators BAP, NAA, and GAƒ were supplemented with MS basal medium for shoot proliferation.

58


Table 1: Effect of exposure time of surface sterilantson asepsis of shoottip cultures Treatment no.

Exposure Time in minutes

% Aseptic culture

%Survival of explants

NaOCl (1%)

HgCl‚ (0.1%)

KCl (1.0%)

T1

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

T2

3.00

-

-

0.00

0.00

T3

5.00

-

-

0.00

0.00

T4

-

5.00

1.00

22.33

30.33

T5

5.00

5.00

-

60.00

66.33

T6

7.00

5.00

1.00

81.66

84.00

T7

10.00

-

-

52.33

21.00

T8

10.00

5.00

1.00

74.33

62.33

T9

10.00

10.00

1.00

82.33

40.33

T10

15.00

10.00

1.00

82.00

36.66

T11

20.00

10.00

1.00

84.33

29.00

T12

20.00

10.00

-

86.00

25.00

T13

20.00

5.00

1.00

86.66

19.00

S.E.(m)

8.08

1.31

CD at 5%

16.61

2.69

Table 2: Influence of cytokinin (BAP), auxins (NAA) and gibberellins on shoot tip proliferation Treatment no.

BAP (mg/l)

NAA (mg/l)

GAƒ (mg/l)

Sprouted shoot tip (%)

Shoot length (cm)

Sprouted leaves (no.)

T1

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

T2

0.50

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

T3

0.50

0.50

0.10

57.00

1.00

2.33

T4

0.50

0.10

0.10

61.00

1.26

2.33

T5

1.00

0.10

0.10

62.00

1.21

2.66

T6

1.00

0.05

0.00

66.66

1.38

3.33

T7

1.00

0.10

0.00

69.33

1.45

5.33

T8

2.00

0.00

0.10

78.00

1.29

3.33

T9

2.00

0.05

0.20

75.33

1.77

6.00

T10

2.00

0.10

0.10

75.66

1.93

5.33

T11

3.00

0.00

0.00

78.33

1.86

6.66

T12

3.00

0.05

0.10

83.00

2.12

8.66

T13

3.00

0.10

0.20

85.66

2.27

9.33

S.E.(m)

0.74

0.87

2.95

CD at 5%

1.52

1.79

6.06


59

Table 3: Effects of different treatments on invitro rooting of shoots Treatment no.

IBA (mg/l)

NAA (mg/l)

Root initiation (%)

Days to root initiation

Number of roots

Length of roots (cm)

T1

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.50

0.00

21.33

24.66

1.20

0.33

T3

T2

1.00

0.00

24.66

20.66

1.40

0.60

T4

1.50

0.00

28.00

17.66

1.56

0.46

T5

2.00

0.00

31.00

17.33

1.66

0.30

T6

2.50

0.00

36.66

14.66

1.86

0.80

T7

3.00

0.00

40.33

14.33

2.10

0.90

T8

0.00

0.50

52.33

17.00

2.06

1.06

T9

0.00

1.00

60.33

18.33

1.70

1.13

T10

0.00

1.50

62.33

16.66

1.83

1.33

T11

0.00

2.00

67.33

14.33

2.23

1.60

T12

0.00

2.50

71.00

22.00

2.60

1.43

T13

0.00

3.00

62.33

19.33

2.13

1.73

T14

0.25

0.50

70.33

16.33

2.65

1.43

T15

0.50

0.50

77.33

13.66

2.86

1.80

T16

1.00

0.50

71.00

18.00

2.60

1.30

S.E.(m)

0.61

0.48

0.04

0.04

CD at 5%

1.26

0.98

0.09

0.09

Sub-culturing

al. (2003) and Shah et al.(2008).

Sub culturing was done after 3-4 weeks on fresh MS medium. In vitro proliferation shoots were transferred to half strength. MS supplemented with different auxins, viz., IBA, IAA and NAA in different combinations. Three replications were taken for each treatment and experiment was subjected to Analysis of Variance using Completely Randomized Block Design (CRD).

Shoot proliferation

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The highest per cent of aseptic culture was obtained with NaOCl (1.0%) for 20 min, HgCl‚ (0.1%) for 5 min and KCl (1.0%) for min. The best treatment for highest survival of explants was NaOC l (1.0%) for 7 min. The best treatment was HgCl‚ (0.1%) 5 min and KCl (1.0%) for 1 min for surface sterilization of explants. In addition to HgCl‚ and NaOCl, 1 min treatment with 1.0% KCl improved survival percentage of explants by removing excess mercury (Hgz z ) ions. Increase in the exposure time of above surface sterilants drastically affected the survival of shoot tips and other explants. This may be due to tissue burning and browning of medium caused by mercury present in HgCl‚ . These results are in conformity with the findings of Hartmann et al. (1993), Ali et

Cytokinin promotes shoot proliferation as it induces cell division and organ enlargement (Devlin, 2000) for guava shoot proliferation (Amin and Jaiswal, 1987). The efficacy of cytokinin was further enhanced when small amount of NAA was added to the medium. Different treatments as well as combinations of growth regulator were applied to different explants. No shoot proliferation was observed with 0.1mg/l BAP along and control. Treatment with BAP (0.4mg/l) and (0.3mg/l)gave best response with maximum of 85.66% shoot tip sprouting, maximum shoot length of 2.27 cm and highest number of 9.33 leaves per explants as compared to rest of the treatments. These results corroborate the findings of Mishra et al. (2007).

Root proliferation Auxins were found to promote adventitious root development of intact (Fishrich, 1935) as well as excised stems. IBA was used for rooting of proliferated shoots of guava. The shoots obtained from cultures were transferred into root induction medium containing IBA, NAA separately or in combination with MS medium.

60


The bestwere obtained by applying IBA (0.4 mg/l) and NAA (0.2 mg/l) gave highest rooting (77.30 %), minimum number of days for root initiation 13.66, produced highest number of 2.86 roots and the highest root length (1.80 cm). The above results are in conformity with that of Mishra et al. (2007).

Ber.Dtsch. Bot. Ces.,57: 122-134. Hartmann, H.T.; Kester, D.E. and Davis, F.T.Jr. 1993. Plant Propagation Principles and Practices.5th Ed. Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.

REFERENCES

Murashige, T. and Skoog, F. 1962.Arevised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue culture.Plant Physiol., 15: 473-479.

Amin, A.N. and Jaiswal, V.S. 1987. Rapid clonal Propagation of guava through invitro shoot proliferation on nodal explants of mature tree. Plant Cell Tiss. Org. Cul., 9: 235-243.

Shah, S. Tariq; Zamir, Rroshan;Ahmad, J.; Ali,Haidarand Lutfullah, G. 2008.In vitro regeneration of plantlets from seedlings explants of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. A.Safeda. J.Bot., 40(3): 1195-1200.

Devlin, R.M. and Witham, R.H. 2000. Plant Physiology. CBS Publishers, New Delhi.

Ali, N.; Mulwa, R.M.S.; Norton, M.A. and Skirvin, R.M.2003.Micropropagation of guava (Psidium guajava L.). J. Hort. Sci. Biotech.,78(5): 739-741.

Fishrich, O. 1935.The significance of growth substances for the formation of adventitious roots and shoots.

Received on 08 January 2013 and accepted on 16 November 2013


[Research Article]

Evaluation of hybrids and selections of mango (Mangifera indica L.) under Tarai region of Uttarakhand A.K. Singh, Yamuna Pandey and N.K. Mishra

Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar 263145, U.S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted during the year 2012-13 to evaluate the performance of superior hybrids and selections of mango under Tarai Region of Uttarakhand. The sixteen (16) cultivars of mango comprising twelve hybrids, viz., Amrapali, Mallika, Pusa Arunima, Ambika, Arunika, Neeleshan, Neeluddin, Neelgoa, Ratna, Swarna Jahangir, Arka Neelkiran, & Mahmood Bahar and four superior selections, viz., Pusa Surya, Pant Sinduri, Dashehari and Langra were evaluated on the basis of flowering, fruit-set, yield efficiency and physico-chemical characteristics. The analysed data reflected the higher percentage of hermaphrodite flowers in Pant Sinduri (68.52%) followed by Ambika (62.72%) Pusa Arunima (61.66), while, higher sex ratio (1.9) was observed in Dashehari. The higher fruit-set on the basis of hermaphrodite flowers (21.59%) and yield efficiency (4.91 kg m-3) were noted in Pusa Surya. The cv. Mallika was found superior in terms of fruit weight (296.25 g), fruit length (11.89 cm), pulp percentage (77.96%) and pulp stone ratio (7.86). The higher TSS (22.990B) and lower acidity (0.13%) were observed in the cv. Neelesham, while the Amrapali registered the higher total sugar (19.47%) and carotenoids (8.89 mg/100 g). KEY WORDS: Mangifera indica, sex-ratio, fruit-set, yield efficiency, physico- chemical characteristics Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is the most important among all the fruit crops in terms of area coverage and production. Popularity of mango among the consumers is increasing due to its delicious flavour and much higher nutritional and therapeutic values. Thus, mango is now being appreciated, spreading across the globe and being grown in about 90 countries. However, India continues to be the leader in production and consumption. Heritage and culture of the country is associated with mango, which is often referred as ‘King of fruits’. Most of the existing mango cultivars of India have been evolved through selection from the superior seedlings, thus also referred as chance seedling. The mango hybridization programme was initiated by Burns and Prayag (1911) with the objectives of producing a dwarf, regular bearing, good fruit quality acceptable to the consumers. Today, most of the new Indian hybrids are regular bearing, with good quality fruits and attractive skin colour. The adoption of the new varieties is still fairly low (Anjum et al., 1999) due to non-availability of appropriate information related to its suitability for a particular place and region. Evaluation of different promising mango cultiOnline version available at: www.indianjournals.com

vars for a given set of ecology is one of the pre-requisite for successful mango cultivation. Therefore, it becomes imperative to study the performance of different mango (Mangifera indica L.) hybrids and selections under Tarai region of Uttarakhand.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The studies were carried out to evaluate the important hybrids and superior selections of mango under Tarai region of Uttarakhand at Horticulture Research Centre (HRC), Pattharchatta of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, which is situated at 29o north latitude, 79.30o East longitude and at an altitude of 243.84 m. above mean sea level. The evaluation was done on the basis of flowering, fruiting and physico-chemical characteristics. Twelve (12) mango hybrids, viz., Amrapali, Mallika, Pusa Arunima, Ambika, Arunika, Neeleshan, Neeluddin, Neelgoa, Ratna, Swarna Jahangir, Arka Neelkiran and Mahmood Bahar and four (4) superior selections, viz., Pusa Surya, Pant Sinduri, Dashehari and Langra were taken as experi-

62

mental material. All the plants selected for experiments were almost uniform in growth and vigour and maintained under uniform cultural practices. The experiment was laid out under row trial with three replications by taking single tree as treatment unit. The observation on per cent hermaphrodite flowers and ratio between male and hermaphrodite flowers (sex ratio) were recorded at the time of flowering. The percent fruit-set was recorded on the basis of hermaphrodite flowers. The yield efficiency was calculated by dividing the fruit yield plant-1 with tree volume and expressed as kg m-3. Fruit weight was recorded with the help of physical balance and expressed in terms of grams. The Fruit length and width were measured by digital vernier calliper and expressed in centimetres (cm). The pulp percentage was calculated by considering the fruit, peel and stone weight. The total soluble solid (TSS) of fruit was measured with the help of hand refractometer and it was expressed in degree brix (°B). Titratable acidity, total sugars and carotenoids were estimated by the standard method of AOAC (1980).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Hermaphrodite flowers (%) and sex ratio The data presented in Table 1 indicate that the significantly higher percentage of hermaphrodite flowers was noticed in Pant Sinduri (68.52%) followed by Ambika (62.72%) Pusa Arunima (61.66) and its minimum value were obtained in Ratna (34.72 %). These results are in agreement with the findings of Tawfik (2003). The percentage of hermaphrodite flowers is important character which ultimately decides the fruit-set and yield. It is apparent from the data presented in Fig. 1 that all the mango cultivars significantly differed in relation to ratio between male and hermaphrodite flowers. The significantly lower sex ratio has been observed in Arka Neelkiran (0.59), which was statistically at par with Ambika (0.60), Pant Sinduri (0.62) and Pusa Arunima (0.67). The higher sex ratio was noted in case of Dashehari (1.90) followed by Ratna (1.70). The differences in sex ratio among the various mango cvs. are in conformity with the results of Sweidan et al. (2007). The variability in sex ratio of different cultivars seems to be governed by physiological and environmental conditions. Mukherjee (1997) reported that the ratio of male to perfect flower was strongly influenced by environmental and cultural factors.

Fruit-set (%) and yield efficiency The data pertaining to the fruit-set (on the basis of hermaphrodite flowers) are given in Fig. 2. The higher percentage of fruit-set was observed in the cv. Pusa Surya (21.59%) followed by Ratna and Mallika (14.54 1nd 13.54%, respectively). The lower fruit set was recorded


in Ambika, Mahmood Bahar and Arka Neelkiran (3.52, 3.56 and 4.49%, respectively). Variation in fruit-set could be due to genotypic differences. Furthermore, fruit-set also depends upon the availability of pollen, its viability, population of pollinating insects and self or cross compatibility of a cultivar. Significant variation was found with respect to yield efficiency (Fig. 2) among different mango cultivars. Maximum yield efficiency was recorded in Pusa Surya (4.91 kg m-3) followed by Ratna (3.59 kg m-3), while its minimum value was observed in Langra (0.23 kg m-3) followed by Swarna Jahangir (0.27 kg m-3). Fruit yield is the major determinant variable for selecting a particular hybrid/ selection for its commercialization and income generation capability. The increase in fruit yield might be due to the genetic makeup of a cultivars and growing conditions.

Physical characteristics of fruits It is apparent from the data presented in Table 1 that all mango cultivars were significantly differed in their fruit weight. The significantly higher fruit weight was recorded in the hybrids Mallika (296.25 g) and Neelgoa (293.00 g), while, the lower in Swarna Jahangir (109.00 g) and Amrapali (126.73 g). The marginal difference in fruit weight was recorded in Pant Sinduri, Neeluddin, Arunika, Dashehari and Ratna. The higher or lower fruit weight might be ascribed due to varietal or genetical characters. The results obtained on fruit weight in the present study were also inconformity with the observations made by Chatterjee et al. (2005) and Hoda et al. (2003). The maximum fruit length was recorded in cv. Mallika (11.89 cm), which was closely followed by Neelgoa, Pusa Arunima and Ambika (11.14 cm, 10.40 cm and 10.12 cm, respectively). The minimum fruit length was observed in Swarna Jahangir (7.08 cm) followed by Neeluddin and Arunika (7.23 cm and 7.40 cm, respectively), which were also statistically at par with each other. The mean value of fruit width showed a range of 5.27 to 8.19 cm and its minimum value were observed in hybrid Neelgoa and minimum in Amrapali. Similar results have been reported by Chanana et al. (2005) and Chatterjee et al. (2005). Several workers have studied the fruit size of the mango and reported that mango cultivars differed in fruit length and width according to their genetic makeup. The significant variations were observed for pulp percentage among the different cultivars of mango (Table 1). The higher pulp percentage was recorded in Mallika (77.96), which was statistically at par with Neeleshan (75.26%) and Neeluddin (74.78%). Whereas, Swarna Jahangir had lower pulp content of 42.04% followed by Ratna and Arunika (50.89% and 56.38 %, respectively). Similarly, the higher pulp: stone ratio was recorded in hybrid Mallika (7.86) and lower in Arunika (2.78). Similar result was also obtained by Kher and Sharma (2002), who calculat-


ed higher pulp percentage in hybrid Mallika e.i. 78.78%. Chanana et al. (2005) also observed the similar value for pulp: stone ratio in hybrid Mallika e.i. 7.63. This variation in pulp, peel and stone content might be due to difference in fruit and stone size, genetic makeup, rate of photosynthetic accumulation and translocation.

Chemical characteristics of fruits The critical examination of the data indicated the presence of significant variation for TSS content (Table 1). Among all the cultivars of mango under study the Neeleshan possessed the higher content of TSS (22.99 o B), which was statistically at pat with Mallika (22.62 o B), Ratna (22.41oB), and Arunika (22.22 oB). The statistically lower content of TSS was found in Swarna Jahangir (17.26 oB), Langra (18. 0 oB) and Pusa Surya (18.14 0 B). This variation in TSS is obvious as it is an inherent character of the cv. The present findings partially agreed with the results of Bhuyan and Guha (1995) who found 16.22 to 24.14 % TSS in 14 mango germplasms under the climatic conditions of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that all the mango cultivars under study varied significantly with respect to titratable acidity. The maximum titratable acidity was observed in Swarna Jahangir (0.34) followed by Langra and Neeluddin (0.27%, each). Whereas, the minimum acidity was found in Neeleshan and Neelgoa (0.13%, 0.14%, respectively) followed by Mahmood Bahar (0.15%) and Pant Sinduri (0.16%). The findings related to titratable acidity are in accordance with the result of Kumar (1997), who reported the range of 0.17 to 0.33% acidity in different mango cultivars. The variation in the acidity in different cultivars of mango could be due to

Fig.1: Sex ratio in different cultivars of mango

63

their varital characters. It is clear from the data presented in Table 1 that the higher total sugar content was recorded in Amrapali (19.47 %) followed by Ratna (18.25%) and Ambika (18.10%). Whereas, significantly lower total sugar was observed in Mahmood Bahar (13.60%) followed by Arunika (14.15%), Swarna Jahangir, (14.45 %), Neelgoa (14.49 %) and Pant Sinduri (14.60 %). These results partially agreed with the findings of Singh (1968), who recorded 11.5 to 25% total sugar in different cultivars of mango. This difference might be due to varietal difference as well as growing conditions. It is evident from the data presented in Table 1 that all the mango cultivars under study varied significantly with respect to total carotenoid contents. The significantly higher total carotenoid contents was observed in cv. Amrapali (8.89 mg/100 g), followed by Mallika (7.12 mg/100 g), which were statistically at par to each other. Statistically lower total carotenoid content was found in Swarna Jahangir (1.65 mg/100 g) followed by Mahmood Bahar (1.78 mg/100 g), Pant Sinduri (2.48 mg/100 g), Neeluddin (2.70 mg/100 g), Langra (2.73 mg/100 g) and Dashehari (2.80 mg/100 g). The present findings related to total carotenoids are in accordance with the result of Hoda et al. (2003) and Kumar and Singh (2005). Thus, finally it may be concluded that out of 16 hybrids & selections of mango evaluated under Tarai region of Uttarakhand, the cultivars Amrapali, Mallika, Pusa Arunima, Pusa Surya, Ambica and Pant Sinduri have shown the good performance in terms of yield and quality. The long term studies are required to screen out the promising cultivars besides the local commercial cultivars for its adoption and commercialization at farmer’s field under Tarai region of Uttarakhand.

64


Yield efficiency

25 20 15 10 5 0

Am ra pa li M Pu a sa llik Ar a un Pu im sa a Su ry a Am bi k Ar a un Ne ika ele s Ne han elu dd i Ne n elg oa Sw ar R na atn Ar Jaha a ka ng M nee ir ah m lkira oo d n Pa Bah a nt Sin r du Da r sh i eh ar i La ng ra

Yield efficiency and per cent fruit set

Per cent fruit set on the basis of hermaphrodite flowers

Name of cultivars

Fig. 2: Fruit-set (%) and yield efficiency (kg m-3) in different cultivars of mango Table 1: Physico-chemical characteristics of different hybrids and selections of mango S. No.

Name of cultivars

Hermaphrodite flowers (%)

Physical characteristics Fruit weight (g)

Fruit length (cm)

Chemical characteristics

Fruit Pulp Pulp: width (%) stone (cm) ratio

TSS (00B)

Titratable acidity (%)

Total Total sugar carotenoids (%) (mg 100 -1)

1

Amrapali

38.76

126.73

8.29

5.27

63.71

3.22

20.90

0.22

19.47

8.89

2

Mallika

37.33

296.25

11.89

6.49

77.96

7.86

22.62

0.23

17.21

7.12

3

Pusa Arunima

61.66

247.08

10.40

7.30

69.94

4.79

18.90

0.25

16.53

6.06

4

Pusa Surya

40.73

229.67

9.39

6.35

66.29

4.06

18.14

0.20

15.32

3.67

5

Ambika

62.72

232.92

10.12

6.39

67.37

4.64

20.05

0.23

18.10

4.44

6

Arunika

41.99

152.33

7.40

6.35

56.38

2.78

22.22

0.20

14.15

4.40

7

Neeleshan

46.55

215.00

7.95

5.76

75.26

5.08

22.99

0.13

16.92

3.61

8

Neeluddin

47.32

163.33

7.23

5.33

74.78

5.40

19.70

0.27

15.75

2.70

9

Neelgoa

53.24

293.00

11.14

8.19

69.37

4.63

19.22

0.14

14.49

4.08

10

Ratna

34.72

182.50

9.32

6.77

50.89

2.33

22.41

0.19

18.25

3.18

11

Swarna Jahangir

50.42

109.00

7.08

5.86

42.04

0.98

17.26

0.34

14.45

1.65

12

Arka Neelkiran

59.17

261.67

8.53

6.48

67.88

4.32

20.60

0.22

15.09

3.04

13

Mahmood Bahar

60.47

215.00

9.25

6.84

65.70

3.46

21.15

0.15

13.60

1.78

14

Pant Sinduri

68.52

161.33

8.80

5.45

68.81

3.54

19.04

0.16

14.60

2.48

15

Dashehari

43.02

155.67

7.87

6.20

67.50

4.12

19.82

0.25

16.02

2.80

16

Langra

6.00

16.57

2.73

69.37

3.92

18.00

S.Em.±

3.39

4.49

40.40

0.24

227.92

0.16

8.84

1.92

-

0.36

0.17

0.37

0.27

0.80

C.D. at 5%

9.81

12.98

0.70

0.47

5.53

-

1.04

0.50

1.06

2.55


REFERENCES A.O.A.C. 1980. Official methods of analysis. Association of Official Analytical Chemist, AOAC, Benjamin Franklin Station, Washington DC. Anjum, M.A.; Chattha, G.A.; Sultan, M. and Abbas, S. 1999. Studies on flowering behaviour, fruit setting and extent of floral malformation in different cultivars of mango (Mangifera indica L.) Int. J. Ag. Biol., 3(1): 46-49. Bhuyan, M.A.J. and Guha, D. 1995. Performance of some exotic mango germplasms under B a n g l a d e s h conditions. Bangladesh Hort., 23(1, 2): 17-22. Burns, W. and Prayag, S.H. 1911. Notes on the inflorescence and flowers of the mango field. Poona Ag. Coll. Mag., 2: 226-230. Chanana, Y.R.; Josan, J.S. and Arora, P.K. 2005. Evaluation of some mango cultivars under North Indian conditions. International conference on mango and date palm, pp. 34-38. Chatterjee, D.; Maurya, K.R. and Mandal, M.P. 2005. Physico-chemical characteristics of m a n g o (Mangifera indica L.) hybrids in Bihar. Orissa J. Hort., 33(2): 57-60. Hoda, M.N.; Singh, S. and Singh, J. 2003. Evaluation of

65

mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars for quality attributes. Indian J. Ag. Sci., 73(9): 504-506. Kher, R. and Sharma, R.M. 2002. Performance of some mango cultivars under sub tropical rainfed region of Jammu. Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 31(1/2): 8-9. Kumar, R. and Singh, S. 2005. Evaluation of mango genotypes for flowering, fruiting and fruit quality attributes. Orissa J. Hort., 33(1): 77-79. Kumar, N. 1997. Physico- chemical characteristics of some south and west Indian mangos. Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 26(1/2): 99-100. Mukherjee, S.K. 1997. Introduction: Botany and importance. In: The Mango Botany, Production and Uses. 1st ed. R.E. Litz (Ed.). CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 1-19. Singh, L.B. 1968. The Mango: Botany, Cultivation and Utilization. Leonard Hill, London. 438 p. Sweidan, A.M.; Khattab, M.M.; Haseeb, G.M. and El Kheshin, M.A. 2007. Evaluation of some mango cultivars under desert conditions at Wadi El-Faregh region. Egypt. J. Appl. Sci., 2(8A): 149-160. Tawfik, E.S.B. 2003. Evaluation of some export mango cultivars grown in Egypt. Ph.D. Thesis, Fac. Ag., Assiut Univ., Egypt, 187 p.

Received on 03 February 2013 and accepted on 18 January 2014


[Research Article]

Effect of different pruning levels on fruit yield and quality of promising peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] cultivars Pooja Pant, M.C. Nautiyal and C.P. Singh

Department of Horticulture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, US Nagar, Uttarakhand 263145, India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Pruning plays an important role in growth and productivity of temperate fruits in general and peach in particular. To study the response of various pruning severity on yield and physico-chemical traits, five pruning intensities, viz., Control (no pruning), 10%, 25%, 50% and 75% pruning levels of current season’s growth were excised with 3 replications on three cultivars i.e. ‘Red June’, ‘Elberta’ and ‘Early White Giant’ in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) during 2009-10 and 2010-11. As the severity in pruning was increased, the physico-chemical traits like fruit weight, volume, size, pulp weight, stone weight, stone: pulp ratio, T.S.S., acidity and sugar contents were increased. There was also a decreasing pattern in yield and acidity which decreased according to the increase in the pruning intensity. KEY WORDS: Pruning intensity, peach, yield, physico-chemical traits Pruning plays an important role in growth and productivity of temperate fruits in general and peach in particular. Peaches require heavy and regular pruning because fruiting occurs laterally on previous season’s growth which bears only once in its life time. Pruning of trees hold a pivotal position, therefore, in peaches utmost care requires in view to maintain proper balance between vegetative growth and reproductive phase. Proper pruning is quite instrumental in regulating tree vigour and productivity potential of peach plantations. Judicious pruning practices at appropriate stage also help in enhancing fruit quality (Kaur, 2010). The peach fruit is mainly borne on one year old wood that has not grown too vigorous. Lateral fruit buds are formed on current season’s growth. After fruiting, the branch becomes barren and no flower bud differentiation or subsequent fruit formation takes place. Each growth which has produced fruit needs to be pruned, otherwise the tree will continue adding barren wood year after year. Therefore, the main objective of pruning in bearing peach tree is to reduce unproductive parts having one or two buds which in turn will form new fruiting branches in the following season. Peach tree requires relatively heavier pruning than other fruits since 40-50 cm annual growth is an essential pre-requisite for obtaining well and regular cropping. So, a judicious pruning is of paramount significance in Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

regulating vegetative growth, fruit yield and quality of peaches. Pruning is also important to strike a balance between growth and fruitfulness, otherwise the fruit bearing area gets far away which becomes unmanageable. Pruning is recurrent annual feature in peach cultivation and its severity depends upon the various agro-climatic conditions, besides the rootstocks and scion cultivars (Chitkara et al., 1991).

MATERIALS AND METHODS Present investigation was carried out at sub research station, Gaja (1950 m. above mean sea level), Tehri Garhwal of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Hill Campus Ranichauri, Uttarakhand, during two consecutive years in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Experiment was carried out on commercially important peaches namely ‘Red June’, ‘Elberta’ and ‘Early White Giant’. The trees of three cultivars were six years old. All the trees had been trained to an open centre system. The five pruning treatments were applied to trees, viz., (i) control (no pruning); (ii) removal of 10% of current season’s shoot growth; (iii) removal of 25% of current season’s shoot growth; (iv) removal of 50% of current season’s shoot growth and (v) removal of 75% of current season’s shoot growth. The pruning treatments were replicated three


67

times and one tree was allotted to each treatment. There were fifteen trees in each variety. The statistical design applied was Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) for all forty-five trees selected for study. Pruning treatments were performed on selected trees during 28 and 31 December in each year. In order to protect the selected trees from hailstorm damage, anti hail nets were fixed in the orchard in March shortly before bloom and removed in the first week of June. The pooled analysis (over both years) was done. The fruits from pruned and unpruned trees were harvested and a representative sample comprising 20 randomly selected fruits was taken separately from each pruned and unpruned tree for determining the influence of treatments on yield, fruit weight, volume, diameter, pulp weight, stone weight, stone: pulp ratio, T.S.S., acidity and sugars of mature fruits.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION It has been observed that fruit weight and volume of peach cultivars increased with the increasing severity of pruning and showed a positive correlation between these characters during both the years. Maximum fruit weight and volume was recorded under severely pruned trees, i.e., 75% pruning, while, minimum was recorded with control (no pruning) in cvs. Red June, Elberta and Early White Giant (Table 1). The possible cause of heavier fruits and more volume in severely pruned trees could be attributed to the fact that pruned trees had limited number of fruits, therefore, received more food material synthesized by the leaves. Consequently, there was less competition for photosynthates. Fruit size (fruit length and breadth) also showed an increasing trend with an increase in pruning severity from control to 75% pruning in cvs. Red June, Elberta and Early White Giant (Table 1). Increased fruit size under pruning treatments might have been influenced as a result of availability of ade-

quate metabolites to restricted number of fruits. These results on fruit weight volume and fruit size are in conformity with the findings of Prakash and Nautiyal (1996) and Sharma and Chauhan (2004). Yield per tree also decreased with increasing severity of pruning. The maximum fruit yield was recorded from unpruned control, while, it was recorded minimum under severely pruned trees, i.e., 75% pruning in three of the cvs. (Red June, Elberta and Early White Giant) (Table 2). The reduction in fruit yield due to severity of pruning could be explained; on the basis that less number of floral buds were available in severe pruning treatments and hence fruiting area was reduced. These findings are in agreement with Rathi et al. (2003) and Kaith et al. (2011). Pulp weight, stone weight and stone: pulp ratio increased significantly over control with increasing severity of pruning in cvs. (Red June, Elberta and Early White Giant) (Table 2). The increase in stone weight, pulp weight and stone: pulp ratio with increasing pruning severity is probably due to lesser number of fruiting shoots with the increase in severity of pruning, which ultimately resulted in lesser fruiting and the stored metabolites were available in abundance to limited fruits. These findings are in agreement with Chitkara et al. (1991) and Chandel et al. (2004). Pruning severity exhibited significant influence on T.S.S of peach fruits (Table 3). The T.S.S. increased significantly with heavy pruning than control (no pruning), 10%, 25% and 50% pruning intensities in cvs. Red June, Elberta and Early White Giant during both the years. Increase in total soluble solids (T.S.S.) as a result of pruning severity, can be explained on the basis of increased leaf: fruit ratio and consequently more synthesis and translocation of carbohydrates and other metabolites towards the developing fruit tissues. These findings are in agreement with Rathi et al. (2003) and Thakur and Rana (2012).

Table 1: Effect of severity of dormant pruning on fruit weight, fruit volume and fruit size Cultivars

Pruning severity

Fruit weight (Pooled) (g)

Fruit volume (Pooled) (cc)

2009-10 &2010-11

2009-10 &2010-11

Red June

Control (no pruning) 57.25 10% Pruning 25% 71.27 Pruning 50% 85.93 Pruning 75% 99.06 Pruning 113.98 CD at 5%

5.69

Fruit size (Pooled) (cm) Fruit length (cm)

Fruit breadth (cm)

2009-10 &2010-11

2009-10 &2010-11

Elberta

Early White Giant

Red June

Elberta

Early Red Elberta Early Red Elberta Early White June White June White Giant Giant Giant

58.02 71.62 79.95 87.20 97.24

49.70 59.40 73.38 88.95 99.39

56.52 65.02 77.06 85.51 96.23

55.83 67.50 70.91 76.51 82.83

46.62 54.27 65.63 78.60 86.75

4.57 5.15 5.50 5.86 6.06

4.83 5.30 5.58 5.84 6.09

4.63 5.11 5.54 5.95 6.28

4.09 4.68 5.28 5.53 5.77

4.59 4.84 5.21 5.51 5.73

4.24 4.75 5.45 5.69 5.95

6.49

3.19

4.02

4.10

3.09

0.36

0.18

0.27

0.26

0.86

0.39

68


Table 2: Effect of severity of dormant pruning on pulp weight, stone weight and stone:pulp ratio Cultivars

Pulp weight (Pooled) (g)

Stone weight (Pooled)(g)

2009-10 &2010-11 Pruning severity

Red June

Control (no pruning) 49.91 65.52 10% Pruning 79.05 25% Pruning 91.87 50% Pruning 103.57 75% Pruning CD at 5%

4.62

Stone: pulp ratio (Pooled)

2009-10 &2010-11

2009-10 &2010-11

Elberta

Early White Giant

Red Elberta Early June White Giant

Red June

49.19 65.02 72.38 82.06 91.69

53.62 59.27 64.27 70.88 76.41

4.38 5.05 5.45 5.50 6.01

4.79 5.10 5.47 5.95 6.20

5.10 5.41 5.68 5.90 6.15

11.33 12.84 14.52 16.72 17.10

7.44

2.97

0.48

0.52

0.21

1.48

Yield (Pooled)(kg/ tree) 2009-10 &2010-11

Elberta Early White Giant

Red June

Elberta

Early White Giant

10.11 12.75 13.02 13.70 14.78

10.61 11.01 11.38 12.04 12.41

30.50 28.83 26.83 25.83 24.00

23.33 21.66 19.50 17.83 16.33

29.33 27.16 25.33 23.33 22.16

1.59

0.30

0.53

0.72

1.39

Table 3: Effect of severity of dormant pruning on T.S.S., acidity and total sugars Cultivars

T.S.S. (Pooled)(0Brix)

Acidity (Pooled)(%)

Total sugars (Pooled)(%)

2009-10 &2010-11

2009-10 &2010-11

2009-10 &2010-11

Pruning severity

Red June

Elberta

Early White Giant

Red June

Elberta

Early White Giant

Red June

Elberta

Early White Giant

Control(no pruning) 10% Pruning 25% Pruning 50% Pruning 75% Pruning

9.97 10.66 11.04 11.46 11.97

11.31 11.74 11.97 12.26 13.04

9.77 10.04 10.40 10.67 11.15

0.91 0.89 0.82 0.78 0.74

0.86 0.84 0.79 0.74 0.70

0.94 0.88 0.82 0.77 0.70

9.13 9.68 10.01 10.53 10.93

9.83 10.25 10.59 10.97 11.30

8.70 9.07 9.67 10.14 10.42

CD at 5%

0.21

0.27

0.48

0.32

0.42

0.79

0.28

0.36

0.63

The acidity in the fruit juice reduced with the pruning levels as against the fruits produced by unpruned trees which showed maximum acidity, whereas the lowest acidity was registered under 75% pruning treatment in cvs. Red June, Elberta and Early White Giant during both the years (Table 3). These results on fruit acidity in peach confirm with the earlier findings of Mahajan and Dhillon (2002) and Chandel et al. (2004) who also found a significant reduction in the per cent acidity with increasing pruning severity in different peach cvs. Significant reduction in the fruit acidity on account of pruning severity is probably due to the increased fruit size and moisture content in fruits. Total sugars also showed a positive effect towards their bio-chemical constituents with various pruning intensities and recorded the highest values under 75% pruning while, minimum was recorded with control (no pruning) in cvs. Red June, Elberta and Early White Giant (Table 3). The results of the present investigation are in conformity with the earlier findings of Singh (1992) and Thakur and Rana (2012). The higher sugar content in pruned trees appears to be interrelated with the increased shoot length, leaf number and leaf area which in turn resulted into accelerated pho-

tosynthetic efficiency of the plants, thereby, facilitating higher translocation of metabolites from leaves to developing fruits.

REFERENCES Chandel, J.S.; Bharti, O.A. and Rana, R.K. 2004. Effect of pruning severity on growth, yield and fruit quality of kiwifruit. Indian J. Hort., 61: 114-17. Chitkara, S.D.; Arora, R.K. and Sharma, R.K. 1991. Effect of various levels of pruning on yield and fruit quality in Flordasun peach. Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 20 (3-4): 189-192. Kaith, N.S.; Sharma, U.; Sharma, D.D. and Mehta, D.K. 2011. Effect of different pruning intensities on growth, yield and leaf nutrients status of starking delicious apple in hilly region of Himachal Pradesh. J. Farm Sci., 1(1): 37-42. Kaur, H. 2010. Pruning of deciduous fruit trees. Hort. Newslett., 6: 1-2. Mahajan, B.V.C. and Dhillon, B.S. 2002. Effect of pruning


69

intensities on the fruit size, yield and quality of peach cv. Shan-i-Punjab. Ag. Sci. Digest, 22: 281-82. Prakash, S. and Nautiyal, M.C. 1996. Response of fruiting and quality of Early White Giant peach to varying degrees of dormant pruning. Indian J. Hort., 53(2): 97-100. Rathi, D.S.; Dimri, D.C.; Nautiyal, M.C. and Kumar, A. 2003. Pruning response to shoot growth, fruit set and yield in peach. Indian J. Hort., 2: 151-153. Sharma, D.P. and Chauhan, J.S. 2004. Response of prun-

ing intensities and fertilizer treatment on yield, fruit quality and photosynthetic efficiency of peach. Acta Hort., 662: 237-41. Singh, D. 1992. Effect of pruning intensities under different levels of nitrogen on growth, yield and quality of peach (Prunus persica Batsch.) cv. July Elberta. Ph.D. Thesis, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, 90 p. Thakur, N. and Rana, V. S. 2012. Effect of different pruning intensities on the growth, flowering, yield and quality of nectarine. Indian J. Hort., 69(1): 117-120.

Received on 17 July 2013 and accepted on 06 April 2014


[Research Article]

Studies on the effect of orchard floor management practices on quality parameters and leaf nutrient status in apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cv.New Castle Deep JiBhat*, C.L.Sharma,V.K.Wali and A. Jasrotia

Department of Pomology, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P.), India *Presently at - Division of Fruit Science, FOA, Chatha, SKUAST-J, Jammu, (J&K)- 180 009 E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted at the experimental farm of Department of Pomology,Dr. Y.S.Parmar University of Horticulture and Foresty Nauni, Solan (H.P.) to study the effect of different orchard floor management practices on apricot fruit quality and leaf nutrient status. The application of grass mulch improved physico-chemical parameters of apricot fruits (fruit weight, fruit size,TSS, total sugars, reducing sugars, ascorbic acid, soluble proteins, total phenols and carotenoids) of apricot fruits as compared to all other treatments. Among the different orchard floor management practices the treatment of grass mulch increased the leaf macro (N,P,K and Mg) and micro (Fe,Cu,Zn and B) nutrient contents but the effect on Ca and Mn was found to be non-significant. KEY WORDS:Apricot, mulching, TSS, quality, leaf nutrients Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) belongs to the family Rosaceae and is one of the most important fruit crops of mid-hills and dry temperate regions of India. In India apricot is being grown commercially in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal and to the limited extent in the North Eastern hills. Orchard floor management system is one of the most important operations in the successful orcharding and affects the growth and overall development of fruit trees. Mulching encourages the proliferation of feeder roots resulting in efficient uptake of plant nutrients. Mulches retain moisture and also add organic matter into the soil thereby increasing fruit quality to a great extent. Shyllaetal. (1999) found that mulching with hay resulted in the higher leaf P,K,Ca and Mg contents in apple. The different mulching practices, conserve moisture, maintain soil fertility, add organic matter and regulate soil temperature, whereas the use of herbicide create additive effect by restricting the nutrient removal through weeds and ultimately making them more available to tree crops. The recent trends have been shifted to integrated use of mulches and herbicides for the control of weeds and maintenance of soil fertility. These practices not only reduce the competition from weeds but also reduce the fear of root disturbances and enhance the nutrient availability to plants, thereby, affecting the fruit quality and nutrient of the crop. The Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

present investigations were therefore, carried out to study the effect of orchard floor management practices on quality parameters and leaf nutrients status in apricot Cv. New castle.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was laid out at the experimental Orchard, Department of Pomology, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry,Nauni, Solan situated at an elevation of 1240 m above mean sea level and lies at 30050’45” N latitude and 77008’30” E longitude. In all, eleven treatments of different orchard floor management practices were used namely T1 (Grass mulch), T2 (Pine needle mulch), T3 (Black polythene mulch), T4 (Bicoloured polythene mulch), T5(Atrazine @ 3 kg/ha,) T6 (Oxyfluorfen @ 4kg/ha), T7 (Grass mulch + Atrazine @3kg/ha)T8 (Grass mulch + oxyfluerfin @ 4kg/ha) T9(Pine needle + Atrazine @ 3kg/ha), T10(Pineneedle +oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha) and T11 handweeding as control. The weight of ten fruit was taken and the average weight per fruit was calculated and expressed as weight per fruit in g. The average fruit length and diameter was calculated and expressed in millimetre (mm). The TSS content of randomly selected fruit was determined the help of Erma – hand refractometer (0-320 Brix). Titratable


71

Table 1: Effect of orchard floor management practices on fruit size and fruit weight of apricot cv. New Castle Treatments

Fruit size(mm) Fruit length

Fruit weight(g)

Fruit diameter

2002

2003

2002

2003

2002

2003

T1(Grass mulch)

30.20

33.90

30.83

33.17

18.8

20.8

T2 (Pine needle mulch)

28.68

31.34

30.24

31.50

17.4

18.5

T3(Black polythene mulch)

27.81

30.48

28.77

30.29

16.2

17.7

T4(Bicolouredpolythene mulch)

27.46

29.67

28.05

28.23

15.6

16.7

T5(Atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

27.25

29.43

29.17

29.24

15.4

16.6

T6(Oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha)

26.88

29.70

28.63

28.15

15.2

16.2

T7(Grass mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

29.27

33.23

30.52

33.12

18.2

19.8

T8 (Grass mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha)

29.27

33.08

30.41

33.08

18.0

19.4

T9(Pine needle mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

28.59

30.11

28.49

32.06

16.8

17.3

T10(Pine needle mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha)

28.18

30.06

28.40

29.08

16.0

16.9

T11 (Hand weeding as control)

26.40

26.43

28.05

28.10

15.0

16.1

CD0.05

2.03

1.78

NS

1.73

1.73

1.73

Table 2: Effect of orchard floor management practices on TSS, acidity, TSS/acid ratio, total reducing sugars and reducing sugars in apricot cv. New Castle Treatments

TSS(%)

Acidity(%)

TSS/acid ratio

2002 2003 2002 2003 2002

Total sugars(%)

Reducing sugars(%)

Non reducing sugars (%)

2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003

T1(Grass mulch)

15.4

15.9

1.14

1.17 13.51 13.59 7.85

7.98

3.62

3.68

4.02

4.09


13.8

14.5

1.14

1.14 12.11 12.72 7.52

7.75

3.34

3.39

3.97

4.14


13.6

14.1

1.18

1.19 11.53 11.85 7.44

7.63

3.24

3.30

3.99

4.11

T4(Bicolouredpolythene mulch)

13.4

13.9

1.15

1.17 11.65 11.88 7.43

7.54

3.22

3.28

4.00

4.05

T5( Atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

13.3

13.7

1.13

1.14 11.77 12.02 7.40

7.50

3.18

3.26

4.01

4.03

T6 (Oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha)

13.2

13.5

1.02

1.04 12.94 12.98 7.38

7.46

3.18

3.21

3.99

4.04

T7 Grass mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

15.0

15.8

1.14

1.14 13.16 13.50 7.80

7.92

3.60

3.68

3.99

4.03

T8 (Grass mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha) 14.6

15.2

1.04

1.06 14.04 14.34 7.72

7.89

3.54

3.57

3.97

4.10

T9 Pine needle mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha) 14.1

14.4

1.10

1.10 12.82 13.09 7.63

7.72

3.34

3.37

4.08

4.13

T10(Pine needle mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha) 13.3

13.9

1.19

1.20 11.18 11.58 7.46

7.58

3.28

3.34

3.92

4.03


13.0

13.4

1.23

1.24 10.56 10.81 7.32

7.33

3.12

3.15

3.92

3.97

CD0.05

0.37

0.46

0.08

0.07

0.23

NS

0.21

NS

0.10

acidity, Total sugars, reducing sugars and Ascorbic acid were expressed as per the method outlined by A.O.A.C (1980). Soluble proteins were estimated by Loweryetal. (1951) method. Total phenols were estimated by Bray and Thorpe(1955) method using folin phenol reagent. Carotenoid contents were determined as per the procedure given by Ranganna (1986). Total nitrogen, Phosphorus and potash content of leaves were determined by using Micro–kjheldahl method, Vandomolybdophosphonic yellow colour method and Flame photometer re-

1.08

0.89

NS

spectively. The estimation of Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cn and Zn was done on the Atomic Absorption spectrophotmeter. Boron content of leaves was determined by dry ashing method.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Use of grass mulch resulted in greatest fruit length (30.20 and 33.90 mm), fruit weight (18.80 and 20.85 g), TSS (15.40 and 15.9%) and total sugar (7.85 and 7.98%)

72


Table 3: Effect of orchard floor management practices on ascorbic acid,soluble proteins,total phenols,OD phenols and carotenoid content in apricot fruit cv. New Castle Treatments

Ascorbic acid (mg/100g)

Soluble proteins (mg/g)

Total phenols (mg/g)

OD phenols (mg/g)

Carotenoid content (µg/100g

2002

2003

2002

2003

2002

2003

2002

2003

2002

2003

T1 (Grass mulch)

7.07

7.14

4.67

4.70

46.23

46.42

26.12

26.21

0.60

0.62

T2 ( Pine needle mulch)

6.84

6.90

4.35

4.52

45.72

45.84

25.92

25.92

0.57

0.58


6.49

6.55

4.22

4.23

44.83

45.02

25.42

25.51

0.58

0.57

T4(Bicoloured polythene mulch)

6.35

6.43

4.21

4.21

44.78

44.93

25.39

25.47

0.57

0.56

T5(Atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

6.26

6.29

4.20

4.18

44.72

44.82

25.36

25.41

0.57

0.56


6.15

6.26

4.20

4.18

44.63

44.60

25.30

25.30

0.55

0.55


6.95

7.00

4.47

4.54

45.81

46.04

25.91

26.02

0.60

0.60


6.90

6.94

4.38

4.50

45.75

45.92

25.88

25.96

0.57

0.58

T9(Pine needle mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

6.57

6.84

4.21

4.72

45.64

45.74

25.82

25.87

0.55

0.57

T10(Pine needle mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha)

6.54

6.69

4.21

4.22

45.62

45.68

25.81

25.84

0.56

0.57


6.02

6.24

4.20

4.21

44.74

44.86

25.37

25.43

0.56

0.56

CD0.05

0.27

0.21

0.12

0.19

0.28

0.26

0.29

0.32

NS

NS

Table 4: Effect of orchard floor management practices on leaf macro nutrient status of apricot cv. New Castle (percent dry weight basis) Treatments

N

P

K

Ca

Mg

2002

2003

2002

2003

2002

2003

2002

2003 2002

2003

T1(Grass mulch)

2.45

2.54

0.23

0.23

3.67

3.75

2.60

2.68

0.69

0.74


2.40

2.46

0.21

0.23

3.56

3.64

2.53

2.56

0.63

0.67

T3 (Black polythene mulch)

2.33

2.39

0.20

0.20

3.45

3.53

2.50

2.52

0.58

0.64


2.30

2.35

0.20

0.19

3.45

3.52

2.48

2.58

0.55

0.60

T5 (Atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

2.29

2.32

0.18

0.20

3.42

3.48

2.52

2.56

0.53

0.58


2.22

2.27

0.19

0.20

3.38

3.45

2.45

2.50

0.52

0.56

T7(Grass Mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

2.42

2.50

0.22

0.23

3.64

3.73

2.58

2.64

0.65

0.68

T8 (Grass Mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha)

2.39

2.46

0.21

0.22

3.58

3.66

2.56

2.64

0.65

0.68

T9(Pine needle Mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

2.38

2.42

0.20

0.23

3.52

3.61

2.57

2.64

0.60

0.04

T10(Pine needle Mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha)

2.36

2.40

0.20

0.23

3.48

3.55

2.59

2.59

0.58

0.63


2.14

2.22

0.18

0.20

3.32

3.38

2.40

2.44

0.54

0.58

CD0.05

0.06

0.18

0.02

0.03

0.14

0.19

NS

NS

0.06

0.04

during the year 2002 and 2003, respectively (Table 1 and 2). Treatment with grass mulch showed highest ascorbic acid (7.07 and 7.14 mg/100 g), soluble proteins (4.67 and 4.70 mg/g) and total phenols (46.23 and 46.42 mg/g) during the year 2002 and 2003, respectively (Table 3).Use of organic mulches in combination withherbicides showed superiority over control in improving the fruit physicochemical characteristics. The present findings are in line with those of Badiyala (1987) who found that grass mulching produced higher quality apricot fruits on account of relatively higher moisture content as a result of

which there was high ion concentration in the cell which increased the osmotic pressure at the cell solute and consequently opening of the stomata, and further change in proportion of starch to sugar might have increased considerably. Further the increased in fruit quality may be due to the better moisture conservation and nutrient supply in weed free plots during the fruit development stage. These results are in accordance with Gupta and Acharya (1993) and Laletal.(2004).Grass mulch treatment, though at par with pine needle mulch, grass mulch+atrazine and grass mulch + oxyfluorfen treatments, significantly


73

Table 5: Effect of orchard floor management practices on leaf micro-nutrient status of apricot cv. New Castle(ppm on dry weight basis) Treatments

Fe 2002

Mn 2003

2002

2003

Cu 2002

2003

Zn 2002

2003

B 2002

2003

T1 (Grass mulch)

170.81 172.81 53.74 54.82 10.80 12.80 22.62 23.92 30.88 31.10

T2 ( Pine needle mulch)

170.74 172.68 53.67 54.76 10.74 12.76 22.56 23.80 30.74 31.10


170.70 172.58 53.64 54.72 10.70 12.72 22.50 23.78 30.52 30.80


170.70 172.52 53.62 54.71 10.69 12.70 22.48 23.74 30.52 30.76

T5 (Atrazine @ 3 kg/ha)

170.58 172.48 53.58 54.66 10.64 12.62 22.44 23.72 30.46 30.60


170.50 172.44 53.52 54.64 10.63 12.61 22.40 23.69 30.42 30.58


170.68 172.74 53.70 54.80 10.78 12.79 22.58 23.90 30.80 31.17


170.64 172.71 53.68 54.76 10.74 12.77 22.55 23.88 30.75 32.10

T9(Pine needle mulch + atrazine @ 3 kg/ha) 170.62 172.66 53.65 54.74 10.76 12.74 22.53 23.84 30.64 31.00 T10(Pine needle mulch + oxyfluorfen @ 4 kg/ha) 170.60 172.58 53.54 54.60 10.62 12.68 22.40 23.64 30.40 30.54 T11 (Hand weeding as control)

170.58 172.50 53.54 54.60 10.62 12.60 22.40 23.64 30.40 30.54

CD0.05

0.18

0.19

increased the leaf N,P,K,Mg,Fe,Cu,Zn and B contents during both the years over other treatments including hand weeding (control) but the effect on Ca and Mn was found to be non–significant (Table 4 and 5 ). The increase in nutritional status of apricot leaves may be due to higher content of organic carbon, increased biological activity under grass mulching which possibly resulted in faster mineralization and nitrogen availability and high translocation of N from soil to the leaves. Higher leaf Mg content under grass mulching may be attributed to the decomposition of grass and minimizing of Mg losses through leaching and surface runoff. Badyal (1980) observed a direct relationship between N and Zn contents in plum leaves, in treatments where in N application was supplemented by decomposition of mulch materials. Mulching encourages proliferation of feeder roots resulting in efficient uptake of plant nutrients, more retention of moisture and improved thermal regimes under weed free conditions which favour more shoot growth and thus increase the potential for higher nutrient uptake (Gupta and Acharya, 1993).

REFERENCES A.O.A.C.1980.Official Methods of Analysis of Association of Analytical Chemists.13thedn.W. Horowitz. (Ed.). Benjamin Franklin Station, Washington, D.C., 1018p. Badyal, J.1980. Nutritional studies on Plum (Prunussalicinalindl., CV. Santa Rosa). Ph.D. Thesis, Himachal Pradesh KrishiVishavVidyalaya, Palampur. (H.P.). Badiyala, S.D.1987. Studies on nutrition in relation to

NS

NS

NS

O.18

0.14

0.18

0.21

0.20

other orchard management practices in Kinnow (Citrus nobilis x Citrus deliciosa). Ph.D. Thesis, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P.). Bray, H.G. and Thorpe W.V.1955. Analysis of Phenolic compounds of interest in metabolism. In: Methods of Biochemical Analysis. Vol. 1.D.Glicked (Ed.) Interscience Publ. New York, pp. 27-52. Gupta, R. and Acharya, C.L.1993. Effect of mulch induced hydrothermal regime on root growth, water use efficiency, yield and quality of strawberry. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci.,4(1): 17-25. Lal, B.; Bhriguvanshi, S.R. and Tripathi, Shailesh 2004. Impact of mulches on various attributes in Rejuvenated mango orchards.(Abstract) International seminar on recent trends in Hi – tech. Horticulture and Postharvest technology held at Chander Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology Kanpur on 4-6 February,pp.133. Lowery, O.H.; Rosebrough, N.J.; Fan, A.L. and Randall, R.J.1951. Protein measurement with folin reagent J.Biol.Chem.,193: 265-275. Ranganna, S. 1986. Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetable Products. Tata MC Graw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi. Shylla, B.; Chauhan, J.S.; Awasthi, R.P. and Bhandari, A.R. 1999. Effect of orchard floor management practices or leaf nutrient status of plum. Indian J. Hort.,56(1): 34-37.

Received on 17 October 2013 and accepted on 06 March 2014


[Research Article]

In-vitro germination attributes of some Citrus species Jitendra Singh, Pravisha Lahoty and Deepak Rajpurohit

College of Horticulture and Forestry (AU,Kota), Jhalawar- 326 023 (Raj.), India Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In order to raise stocks to be used as rootstocks, an in-vitro study was undertakent during the year 2011-12 at the Tissue Culture Laboratory and at the Department of Fruit Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalrapatan city, Jhalawar (Rajasthan). From the findings of the experiment, it appeared that seeds of Carrizo, Rangpur lime and Rough lemon differed significantly in respect to germination (%), peak period of germination (days) and polyembryony (%). The maximum germination (88.66%), peak period of germination (26.33 days) and polyembryony (58.61%) were observed in Rough lemon, Carrizo and Rough lemon, respectively. The minimum germination (78.66%), peak period of germination (19.00 days) and polyembryony (26.58%) were observed in Carrizo, Rangpur lime and Rangpur lime respectively. Carrizo rootstock produced maximum no. of nodes (2.86), no. of internodes (2.03) and no. of leaves (4.26), whereas, maximum shoot length (4.93cm) and root length (5.33cm) were recorded in Rough lemon rootstock. From the growing attributes it is manifested that Carrizo having the highest no. of nodes is dwarfing in nature and Rough lemoan having minimum no. of nodes is having vigours growth behaviour. KEY WORDS: Nagpur Mandarin, in-vitro, rootstock Among fruit crops grown in India, mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) occupies third place in respect to area and production followed by mango and banana (Anon., 2012). “Nagpur Mandarin” is one of the most important and finest varieties of mandarins grown especially in sub-tropics. In India, it is grown in Maharashtra (Nagpur, Akola, Amravati, Wardha); Rajasthan (Jhalawar, Kota); Karnataka (Chikmagalor, Kodagu, Hassan); Madhya Pradesh (Chhindwada, Mandsaur, Betul, Ujjain, Shajapur); Nagaland (Wokha, Tuensang); Mizoram (Aizawl); Assam (Tinsukia, NC Hills, Karbi Anglong) and Meghalaya (East & West Khasi, RiBhoi, Garo Hills, Jointia Hills); Tamil Nadu (Dindigul, Salem, Nilgiris) and West Bengal (Darzeeling). Total production of oranges in India is 29.06 lac tonnes from an area of 311.2 thousand hectares with the productivity of 9.3 MT/ha (Anon., 2013). In Rajasthan mandarin covers 10.5 thousand hectares area and the productivity of 21.7 MT/ha (Anon., 2013). In the state, in Jhalawar district mandarin is grown over 22,500 ha area, 13,000 ha of which are in the fruit bearing stage and the production is 2 lac tonnes (Anon., 2012). Citrus trees are infested with about 15 types of viral diseases all over the world (Rajput and Sriharibabu, Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

1985). A time has come that almost all the citrus in the world are found hosting one or the other virus. Viruses have been ascribed causing Citrus decline. Tristeza virus is one of the major factors behind the decline. It has wiped out the citrus industry in many countries including India. For example, in Argentina and Brazil where the citrus industry expanded after First World War, Tristeza destroyed about 30 million trees. Similar situation was also reported from Spain, Japan and United States. The estimate indicates that Tristiza destroyed about a million trees in India (Fraser et al., 1966 and Ahlawat, 1997). In mandarin, the infection of the tree incited by viruses and related pathogens have been a major concern worldwide. Virus diseases like ring spot, xyloporosis, tristeza, bud union crease, citrus mosaic, infectious variegation, yellow corky veins, blastomania and leaf curl disease have been major disease across the globe (Rajput and Sriharibabu, 1985). These take a heavy toll on production of mandarin and every year many million trees dry out. The rootstocks have prominent effect on the success of budding/grafting in producing plants free of biotic/abiotic stresses. Different kind of rootstocks is used to raise mandarin plants. Mostly they are grown under open nursery condition. In present study three


rootstocks viz. Rough lemon (C. Jambhiri Lush.), Rangpur lime (C. limonia Tanaka) and Carrizo (C. sinensis cv Washington Navel x Poncirus trifoliata) were selected and their in-vitro germination attributes were studied.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Fresh fruits of different rootstocks viz., Rangpur lime (C. limonia Tanaka), Carrizo citrange (C. sinensis cv Washington Navel x Poncirus trifoliata) and Rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush.) were collected from Citrus repository, Department of Horticulture, Agricultural Research Station, Sri Karni Marg, Srigangangar, Rajasthan. The fruits were washed with detergent Tween-20 @ 1ml per litre water and seeds were extracted. The seeds were stored in reagent bottles with juice for further use. The seeds were washed under running tap water for 1-2 hours adding 1-2 drops of Tween-20 per hundred ml of water. Then seeds were thoroughly rinsed under running tap water for 20-30 minutes to remove the effect of detergent and dust particles. These seeds were treated with 2.0 per cent bavistin for 6 minutes and re-washed 3-4 times with distilled water. The seed testa (outer covering) was removed under aseptic condition. These decoated seeds were first quick dipped in 70 per cent ethanol followed by sterilization under aseptic condition with 0.1 per cent Mercuric chloride (HgCl2) solution (w/v) for five minutes and rinsed 4-5 times with sterile double distilled water. The surface sterilized seeds were inoculated in culture tube (25 x 150mm) containing 1520 ml of the basal MS medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962). The culture tubes were incubated in BOD at 27±2 0 C temperature and their germination attributes have been studied.

75

Table 1: Germination of rootstock seeds, peak period of germination and extent of polyembryony of some citrus species S. No.

Treatment Rootstock

Germina- Peak period of ger- Polyembrytion (%) mination (days) ony (%)

1

Carrizo

78.66 (62.48)

26.33

35.12 (36.32)

2

Rangpur lime

84.00 (66.42)

19.00

26.58 (31.01)

3

Rough lemon

88.66 (70.35)

21.00

58.61 (49.94)

CD at 5%

4.18

2.44

3.80

SEm ±

1.18

0.69

1.07

*Figures given in parentheses are angular transformed values.

Table 2: Performance of seedlings of some citrus species S. No.

Treatment Rootstock

No. No. of No. of Shoot Root of internodes leaves length length nodes (cm) (cm)

1

Carrizo

2.86

2.03

4.26

4.86

4.40

2

Rangpur lime

2.20

1.36

3.00

3.86

4.60

3

Rough lemon

2.13

1.06

2.60

4.93

5.33

CD at 5%

0.38

0.28

0.49

0.42

0.46

SEm ±

0.10

0.08

0.13

0.12

0.13

Fig.1: Germination of seeds, peak period of germination and extent of polyembryony of some species of citrus

76


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The maximum germination, peak period of germination and polyembryony are presented in Table 1 and Fig.1. The examination of data in the table indicates that maximum germination (88.66%) was there in Rough lemon. It was followed by Rangpur lime (84.00%) and Carrizo (78.66%) rootstocks. The peak period of germination was observed as 26th (26.33) day, 21st day and 19th day in Carrizo, Rough lemon and Rangpur lime rootstocks, respectively. The Rough lemon rootstock was found maximally polyembryony (58.61%) followed by Carrizo (35.12%) and Rangpur lime (26.58%).The number of nodes, no. of internodes, no. of leaves, shoot length and root length of different rootstocks are presented in Table 2. As regard to no. of nodes, it was maximum (2.86) in Carrizo followed by Rangpur lime (2.20) and Rough lemon (2.13) rootstocks. The no. of internodes was maximum (2.03) in Carrizo followed by Rangpur lime (1.36) and Rough lemon (1.06). Among different rootstocks used, maximum no. of leaves (4.26) was recorded in Carrizo followed by Rangpur lime (3.00) and Rough lemon (2.60). Out of different rootstocks used, maximum shoot length (4.93cm) was observed under Rough lemon. It was found minimum under Rangpur lime (3.86cm). As regard to root length, it was maximum (5.33cm) in Rough lemon followed by Rangpur lime (4.60cm) and Carrizo (4.40cm). The performance of rootstock varied significantly in terms of germination, peak period of germination and polyembryony. The maximum germination (88.66%) was observed in Rough lemon followed by Rangpur lime (84.00%) and Carrizo (78.66%) rootstocks. The rootstock Rangpur lime had peak period of germination on 19th day of sowing followed by Rough lemon (21st day) and Carrizo (26.33rd day). The differential response of rootstocks in this regard may be due to varying level of metabolic status. Hartmann et al. (1997) reported variation in activities of enzyme responsible for germination accounted to food reserve and alfa-amylase enzyme which was observed triggering germination in seeds. Naz et al. (2007) observed maximum percentage of germination (94.00%) in Rough lemon. The maximum polyembryony (58.61%) was observed in Rough lemon followed by Carrizo (35.12%) and Rangpur lime (26.58%) rootstocks. In some cultivars of Citrus, multiple embryos have been found in individual seed. Polyembryonic seed formation in Citrus is one of many apomictic processes that have been described to occur in the ovules of angiosperm species (Koltunow, 1993). In polyembryonic seed formation,

many nonzygotic, nucellar embryos are initiated directly from the maternal, nucellar cells surrounding the embryo sac containing a developing zygotic embryo. Naz et al. (2007) observed maximum percentage of polyembryony (32.40%) in Rough lemon. Carrizo rootstock produced maximum no. of nodes (2.86), no. of internodes (2.03) and no. of leaves (4.26) whereas; maximum shoot length (4.93cm) and root length (5.33cm) was recorded in Rough lemon rootstock. From the growing attributes it is manifested that Carrizo having the highest no. of nodes appeared dwarfing in nature and the Rough lemoan manifesting minimum no. of nodes was founf having vigours growth behaviour. Significant variation in height, number of leaves and number of nodes were recorded with advancement of growing periods. It may be due to ongoing development process accounting to cell division, expansion and differentiation governing size, shape and structure of plants (Taiz and Zeiger, 2002).

REFERENCES Ahlawat, Y.S. 1997. Viruses, greening bacterium and viroids associated with citrus (Citrus species) decline in India. Journal of Agricultural Science. 67 (2): 51-57. Anonymous 2013. Indian Horticulture Database, 2011. Publd. from National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon, pp. 64-65. Fraser, L.R.; Singh, D.; Capoor, S.P. and Nariani, T.K. 1966. Greening virus, the likely cause of citrus dieback in India. Plant Protection Bulletin, FAO. 14: 127-130. Hartmann, H.P.; Kester, D.E.; Davies, F.T. and Geneve, R.L. 1997. Plant propagation Principles and Pratices (6th edition). Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, pp. 199-210, 414, 462. Koltunow, A.M. (1993). Apomixis: embryo sacs and embryos formed without meiosis or fertilization in ovules. Plant Cell., 5: 1425-1437. Naz, A.A.; Jaskani, M. J.; Abbas, H. and Qasim, M. 2007. In-vitro studies on micro-grafting technique in two cultivars of Citrus to produce virus free plants. Pak. J. Bot., 39(5): 1773-1778. Rajput, C.B.S. and Sriharibabu, R. 1985. Citriculture. Published from Kalyani publishers, Ludhiana, pp. 98, 289-297. Taiz, L. and Zeiger, E. 2002. Plant physiology, 3rd edition, Sinauer Associate, Inc. U.S.A., p. 79.

Received on 12 January 2013 and accepted on 20 February 2014


[Research Article]

Effect of sun exposure on berry development and biochemical constituent in Tas-AGanesh grapes grafted on Dog Ridge rootstock R. G. Somkuwar, Roshni Samarth, J. Satisha, S. D. Ramteke and A. K. Sharma National Research Centre for Grapes, Post Box No. 3, Manjari Farm, Solapur Road, Pune – 412 307,Maharashtra Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Bunches of Tas-A-Ganesh grapes grafted on Dog Ridge rootstock were exposed to complete sunlight, partial shade and complete shade.The data on bunch and berry quality and biochemical changes were studied at the time of harvest. Significant differences were recorded for berry weigh, bunch weight colour of bunches, etc. Bunches under complete shade recorded higher berry and bunch weight. The TSS was higher with less acidity in bunches exposed to complete sunlight and less in bunches under complete shade.Among the biochemical parameters, carbohydrate, starch, protein and reducing sugar were higher in bunches exposed to complete sun followed by partial shade and complete shade respectively. These results indicate that that berry composition is influenced by effects of sunlight exposure.Cluster location within the canopy had a significant influence by sunlight exposure. The canopy management practices like training systems, row orientation, training of vines on trellises should be considered carefully in order to achieve uniform green colour bunches and higher weight of bunches. KEY Words: Sun exposure, quality parameters, biochemical constituents, Tas-A-Ganesh Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the major important fruit crops of the country grown on an area of 111,000 ha with an annual production of 1,235,000 tones (Anonymous 2012). The proportion of grapes fulfilling the export requirement is varying in the grape garden from 2-10 t/acre. This is mainly because of lack of canopy and other cultural practices during the period of bunch development. The quality of grape starts declining after few years of fruiting if planted on own roots. This is because of the reduced vigor that does not help in sustaining the crop load for continuous period of crop life cycle. To sustain the grape production under these adverse conditions, tolerant rootstocks are being employed. The basic requirement of the table grapes for export is that it should have uniform total soluble solids and uniform green color of berries. To achieve these, protection of bunches from direct sunlight is important. The influence of sunlight on grape berry development and composition has been well documented during past few decades (Bergqvist et al., 2001). The study conducted in other countries have been found that sunlight exposed fruits Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

are generally greater in total soluble solids, anthocyanin and phenols and lower in titratable acidity, malate, juice pH and berry weight compared to non-exposed or canopy shaded fruits (Crippen and Morrison, 1986; Dokoozlian and Kliewer, 1996; Kliewer and Lider, 1968 and Reynolds et. al., 1986). Light is one microclimatic variables that has been reported to affect grape development and composition (Shaulis and Smart, 1974). Artificial (Kliewer, 1977) and natural shading (Crippen and Morrison, 1986a) were found to reduce the concentration of total soluble solids in the fruits. Canopy management has received considerable research attention during the past several decades (Smart, 1985). Much of the previous work compared either fully exposed or canopy-shaded clusters Crippen and Morrison (1986) or the effects of canopy manipulations, which dramatically altered fruit zone light environment on fruit composition (Reynolds et al., 1986). Considering these an experiment was conducted to study changes in the berry development and phenolic composition of Tas-A-Ganesh grapes under different sun exposure.

78


MATERIALS AND METHODS


The experiment was conducted at the Research and Developmental Farm of National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune during the year 2007-2008. Pune is situated in Mid-West Maharashtra at an altitude of 559 m above sea level; it lies on 18.32°N latitude and 73.51°E longitude. Seven year old Tas-A-Ganesh (a mutant of Thompson Seedless) grafted on Dog Ridge rootstock was selected for the study. The vines were planted in North- South direction with the spacing of 3.0 m between the rows and 1.83 m between the vines, totaling the density of 1815 vines per hectare. The vines were trained on Double Cordon method of training modification in Flat Roof Gable with horizontally placed cordons. The distance between two cordons was maintained at 60 cm so as to receive uniform sunlight required for effective fruit bud differentiation. In this region, the vines are pruned twice in a year i.e. double pruning and single cropping pattern is followed for grape cultivation. During both the pruning, all the standard recommended cultural practices were followed to maintain the vines healthy and fruitful.The experimental treatments were established two weeks after the fruit set. Based on the uniformity of shoot growth and bunch development, the clusters were divided into three different categories of i) bunches under complete shade, ii) bunches exposed to partial sunlight (light of 2-3 leaves was falling on the bunch) and iii) bunches exposed to direct sunlight. The shaded clusters were located deep inside the canopy. The clusters selected for study were from uniform shoot vigor and diameter. Each treatment was replicated 7 times in a randomized block design.

Effect of sun exposure on berry development and quality

The cluster from each treatment was removed at harvest to record the observations on berry characters viz., 50-berry weight, berry diameter and length, TSS, acidity and biochemical constituents. The harvested bunches from each treatment were kept for 1 hour in refrigerator to reduce the field heat. The collective samples of berries were macerated in a muslin cloth to extract and collect the juice in conical flask and determination of total soluble solids, titratable acidity and juice pH was done. With the help of hand refractometer (Japan make) total soluble solids was measured whereas pH meter was used to determine the pH of undiluted sample. Ten ml juice sample was taken to determine titratable acidity by titration with 0.1 N NaOH and it was expressed in per cent acidity. Berry skin was removed from the pulp by hand and washed with water and distilled water, dried and the sample were weighed with the help of analytical balance. The samples after preparation were used for analysis of biochemical constituents. The data was statistically analysed as per Panse and Sukhatme, (1985) and the correlations were worked out using SAS version 9.3.

The data analysed for different berry growth parameters under different treatment of shading is given in Table 1. Major parameters contributing quality and market acceptability were studied in the present experiment. Among all the different treatments, significant differences were recorded for 50-berry weight. Higher 50-berry weight (181.95g) was recorded in bunch under complete shade than partial shade ((169.31g) and bunch under complete sunlight ((162.67g) respectively. There was a positive correlation with the bunch weight Table 3). Bunch weight decreased significantly with the increase in light exposure to the bunch. Maximum bunch weight (339.08) and berry diameter (17.19) was recorded in the bunches under complete shade as compared to 232.28 g and 16.31mm respectively in bunches exposed to full sunlight. With the increase in berry diameter under the complete shade, the 50-berry weight was also increased linearly. These results are in accordance with the results obtained by Hummell and Ferree (1997) on interaction of crop level and fruit cluster exposure on ‘Seyval Blanc’ fruit composition. The decrease in berry mass with increase in sun exposure might be due to the effect of berry temperature on berry cell division or elongation as well as increased fruit transpiration rates and subsequent berry dehydration (Crippen and Morrison, 1986; Hale and Buttrose, 1974). Shading resulted in significant increase in berry and bunch mass. The increase was resulted in direct increase in yield per vine with obvious economic implications. Total soluble solids was higher in bunches under partial shade and complete sunlight as compared to bunches under diffused canopy. Maximum TSS (21.440Brix) was recorded in bunches under complete sunlight than under partial shade (19.300Brix) and bunches under complete shade (14.00Brix). These results confirm the results of Morrison and Noble (1990), Lara and Morrison (1989) and Smart et al., (1985) who reported the influence of canopy microclimate on berry composition.Bergqvist (2001) reported that the soluble solids concentrations of Grenache increased with greater sunlight exposure. Chorti et al., (2010) in their studies on Nebbiolograpes reported that fruit-zone shading reduced total soluble solids and anthocyanin accumulation. The increase in soluble solids in the cluster exposed area might be due to the increase in temperature in direct sunlight than the diffused canopy. Direct sunlight heats plant tissues more efficiently than diffuse light (Smart and Sinclair, 1976). Higher light intensity in the canopy and generally more exposed canopy, transpiration of the berries may have increased, concentrating the solutes,


particularly during the very last stage of the ripening period (McCarthy and Coombe, 1999). Thus, it was found that the exposure of sunlight had greater influence on the TSS of the berries. This might be due to the increase in berry temperature resulting the inhibition of sugar accumulation (Kliewer, 1977). In general, exposed bunches have higher TSS than shaded (Kliewer 1970; Smart 1985; Reynolds et al. 1986;Dokoozlian and Kliewer 1996). From the data it was observed that the grapes were more acidic under the shade. Higher acidity of 0.62% was recorded under the grapes protected in complete shade as compared to partial shade (0.55%) and bunches under complete sunlight (0.45%) respectively. Total Soluble Solids decreased while pH and acidity increased with an increase in shading. This result is inaccordance with the results of Archer and Strauss (1989). Leaves have the greatest effect on the constituents of grapes and should therefore be managed in such a way that their full potential is explored. Young leaves produce more organic acids, whereas mature leaves produce greater amount of sugar.The decline in titratable acidity with increasing sunlight exposure agrees with previous work done by Reynolds et. al., 1986 and Smart et. al.,(1985). Significant differences were recorded for juice pH among all the treatments. As the light exposure to the bunch increased, the pH started decreasing among the different bunch exposure treatments. Minimum juice pH was recorded in bunches under full sunlight (2.95) however, the maximum pH was recorded in bunches under complete shade (3.12). This might be due to the pH regulation in the fruit juice by the presence of canopy. Smart (1985) also reported the decrease in pH content of the juice with the increase in light exposure. Higher correlation was observed in almost all the characters. Most of the characters found to be positively correlated with each other (Table 3). Some workers reported that partial defoliation increased total soluble solids and reduced titratable acidity, malic acid, pH and potassium levels in fruit (Wolf et. al.,1986; Kliewer&Bledsoe; 1987; Keliwere et. al., 1988). Others however, either failed to demonstrate any significant effects on grape composition (Koblet, 1987; Williams et. al.,1987). Maximum variation was recorded for proportion of green colour bunches under each treatment. Smart (1987) found that these increases might be ascribed to the inhibition of phytochrome driven enzyme reaction. Increased bunch exposure results in more colour development, aroma, flavour, reduce green colouration. Excessive sun exposure my also leads to sunburn and poor fruit colour than those from vineyards with semi-shaded or fully shaded bunches. Dry (2009) recommended to keep bunches under shade in warm to hot climates and bunch exposure in cool climates.

79

Effect of sun exposure on biochemical changes The observations recorded for biochemical changes in relation to the different cluster exposure treatments are presented in Table 2.The data showed higher concentration of all biochemical parameters in bunches exposed to sun than the partial and complete shade. Higher amount of carbohydrate (7.28 mg/g) was recorded in complete exposure of bunches to the sunlight than the partial shade (7.09 mg/g) and bunches under complete shade (6.76 mg/g) respectively. The same trend was also observed for protein, starch, reducing sugars and phenols. The decreased rate of sugar accumulation with increased canopy shade is in agreement with Kliewer and Lider (1970), Shaulis and Smart (1974), Reynolds et al., (1986). Lara and Morrison (1989) also reported the higher sugar content per berry in the exposed fruit treatment than the totally shaded treatment despite a lower concentration suggest that the relatively few exposed leaves in the cluster zone in the exposed fruit made an important contribution, not only to berry size but also to total sugar accumulation in these otherwise heavily shaded vines. Total phenol concentration was increased more gradually with the exposure of bunches to the sunlight on the vine. The result of this study confirms the results obtained by Bergqvist et. al., (2001) who reported that the increase of phenol with the exposure of clusters to sunlight. They also reported that total phenol concentration in the skins of Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon wine grapes increased linearly with mid-day PAR for cluster on the north side of the canopy. Holt et. al., (2008) showed that changes in polyphenolic composition of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes depended not only on berry size modification, following pruning treatments, but also on variation in polyphenolic synthesis determined by several natural factors (temperature, rainfall, soil moisture, etc.) in different years. Barbagallo et. al. (2011) while studying on berry size and qualitative characteristics of Syrah wine grapes reported that phenolic composition is directly affected by environmental factors and vineyard practices. Both the quantitative and qualitative changes occur in grape phenols as a result of vineyard management practices. Variable such as climate (macro, meso and micro) particularly light exposure to the fruit, fruit maturity (including berry softness), berry size, fruit to leaf ratio and moisture stress affect the grape phenol composition (Oberholster, 2003). It is clear from the experiment that sun exposure has a significant effect on the biochemical composition. Clingeleffer (2000) demonstrated that phenolics are negatively correlated with the bunch weight and berry weight which is in agreement with the present result where the quality parameters such as bunch Weight, 50 berry weight, berry diameter, berry length, juice pH, TSS, acidity and proportion of green colour

80


Table 1: Effect of sun exposure on berry development and quality Treatments

50 berry Berry dia Berry Av. Bunch TSS (0 Acidity Juice Proportion of wt. (g) (mm) length (cm) wt. (g) Brix) (%) pH green berries

Bunch under full sunlight

162.67

16.48

19.50

281.10

21.44

0.45

2.95

42.18

Bunch under partial shade

169.31

16.89

19.72

310.61

19.30

0.55

3.09

71.32

Bunch under complete shade

181.95

17.19

19.92

339.08

18.14

0.62

3.12

78.12

SE m ±

3.887

0.057

0.100

3.336

0.156

0.012

0.038

2.637

CD at 5%

11.98

0.18

0.31

10.28

0.48

0.04

0.12

8.13

*

**

*

**

**

**

*

**

Significance

Table 2: Effect of bunch exposure on biochemical changes Treatments

Carbohydrate (mg/g)

Reducing Sugar (mg/g)

Starch(mg/g)

Protein(mg/g)

Phenols(mg/g)

Total Sunlight

7.28

234.28

18.03

11.26

1.11

Partial Shade

7.09

219.66

10.23

9.16

0.94

Total Shade

6.76

210.11

7.86

7.98

0.87

SE m ±

0.075

2.381

0.039

0.030

0.019

CD at 5%

0.23

7.34

0.12

0.09

0.06

**

**

**

**

**

Significance

Table 3: Correlation between quality parameters

Bunch Weight (gm) 50 Berry Weight (gm)

Bunch Weight (g)

50 Berry Weight (g)

Berry Diameter (mm)

Berry Length (mm)

Juice pH

1

0.982 1

0.996

0.999

0.964

0.981

1

Berry Diameter (mm) Berry Length (mm) Juice pH TSS (Brix) Acidity (%) Proportion of Green colour (%)

(%) were reported highest in the total shaded condition. Whereas, biochemical parameters such as total carbohydrate, starch, protein, reducing sugar and phenol were found highest in the total sun exposed condition.

REFERENCES Anonymous. 2012. Grapes. In: Indian Horticulture Database 2011. Eds.: Kumar, B.; Mistry, N. C.; Singh, B. and Gandhi, C. P., National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon, India. pp 68-75. Archer, E. and Strauss, H. C. 1989.Effect of shading on the performance of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon. S. Afri. J. Enol. Vitic.10 (2): 74-77.

TSS (Brix)

Acidity (%)

Proportion of Green colour (%)

0.925

-0.987

0.995

0.944

0.838

-0.939

0.961

0.866

0.997

0.952

-0.996

0.999

0.967

1

0.927

-0.987

0.996

0.946

1

-0.973

0.955

0.998

1

-0.997

-0.984

1

0.970 1

Barbagallo1, M. G.,Guidoni, S. and Hunter, J.J. 2011. Berry Size and Qualitative characteristics of Vitis viniferaL. cv. Syrah S. Afr. J. Enol.Vitic., 32(1): 129-136. Bergqvist J.; N. Dokoozlian and N. Ebisuda. 2001. Sunlight exposure and temperature effects on berry growth and composition of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 52:1-7. Chorti, E.Guidoni, S., Ferrandino,A. and Novello, V. 2010. Effect of Different Cluster Sunlight Exposure Levels on Ripening and Anthocyanin Accumulation in Nebbiolo Grapes. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 61:23-30. Clingeleffer, P. R. 2000. Production efficiency and relation-


ships among crop load, fruit composition and wine quality. ASEV 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington. Crippen, D. D. and Morrison,J. C. 1986. The effect of sun exposure on the phenolic content of Cabernet Sauvignon berries during development. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 37: 243 – 247. Crippen,D. D. and Morrison,J. C. 1986a.The effects of sun exposure on the compositional development of Cabernet Sauvignon berries.Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 37:235-242. Dokoozlian, N. and Kliewer, W. 1996.Influence of light on grape berry growth and composition during fruit development. J. Am Soc. Hort. Sci. 121: 869-874.

81

766-769. Koblet, W. 1987.Effectiveness of shoot topping and leaf removal as a means of improving quality.Acta Hort.206: 141-156. Lara, B. A. and Morrison, J. C. 1989.Differential effect of shading fruit or foliage on the development and composition of grape berries.Vitis.28: 199-208. McCarthy, M. G. and Coombe, B. G. 1999. Is weight loss in ripening grape berries cv. Shiraz caused by impeded phloem transport? Aust. J. Grape and Wine Research, 5: 17-21.

Dry, P. 2009.A brief history of bunch exposure. ANZ Wine Industry Journal Nov/Dec (in press).

Morrison, J.C. and Noble, A.C. 1990.The effects of leaf and cluster shading on the composition of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and on fruit and wine sensory properties Am. J. Enol.Vitic.41: 193-200.

Hale, C.R., and Buttrose,M.S. 1974. Effect of temperature on ontogeny of berries of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon.J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 99(5):390-394.

Oberholster, A.2003.Effect of viticultural and winemaking practices on the phenolic composition of grapes and wines. Part II, Wineland. 64-68.

Holt, H.E., Francis, I.L., Filed, M.J., Herderich, M.J. andIland, P.G. 2008.Relationships between berry size, berry phenolic composition and wine quality score for Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis viniferaL.) from different pruningtreatments and different vintages. Aust. J. Grape and Wine Res. 14: 191-202.

Panse, V. G and Sukhatme, P. V. 1985. Statistical method for agricultural workers, Pub, ICAR, New Delhi.Pp 145-148.

Hummell, A.K. and Ferree,D.C. 1997. Response of two French hybrid wine grape cultivars to low light environments. Fruit Var. J. 51:101-111.

Shaulis, M and Smart, R.1974. Grapevine canopies: Management, microclimate and yield responses. Proc. XIXth Int. Hort. Congr. Warsaw, 255-263.

Keliwer, W. M., Morris, J. J., Bledose, A. M., Smith, S. P., Benz, M. J. and Silverstroni, O. 1988. Relative effectiveness of leaf removal, shoot positioning and trellising for improving wine grape composition. Proc. Sec. Int. Cool Climate Vitic.Oenol.Symp., Auckland, New Zealand. Pp. 123-126. Kliewer, W. 1970.Effect of day temperature and light on coloration of Vitis vinifera grapes. J. Am Soc. Hort. Sci. 95: 693-97. Kliewer, W. 1970. Influence of temperature, solar radiation, and nitrogen on coloration and composition of European grapes. Am. J. Enol. Vitic.28: 96-103. Kliewer, W. M. and Bledsoe, A. M. 1987. Influence of hedging and leaf removal on canopy microclimate, grape composition and wine quality under California conditions. Acta. Hort.2066: 157-168. Kliewer, W. M. and Lider,L. A. 1968. Influence of cluster exposure to the sun on the composition of Thompson Seedless fruit. Am. J. Enol. Vitic.19: 175-184. Kliewer, W. M. and Lider. L. A. 1970. Effect of day temperature and light intensity of growth and composition of Vitisvinifera L. fruits.J. Ame. Soc. Hort. Sci. 95:

Reynolds, A. G., Pool, R. M. and Mattick,L. 1986. Influence of cluster exposure on fruit composition and wine quality of Seyval Blanc grapes. Vitis. 25: 85-95.

Smart, R. E. 1987. Influence of light on composition and quality of grapes. ActaHort. 206: 37-47. Smart, R. E., Robinson, J. B., Due G. R and BrienC. J. 1985. Canopy microclimate modification for the cultivar Shiraz. II. Effects on must and wine composition. Vitis. 24: 119-128. Smart, R.E. 1985. Principles of grapevine canopy management microclimate manipulation with implications for yield and quality: A review. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 36: 230-239. Smart, R.E. and Sinclair, T.R. 1976. Solar heating of grape berries and other spherical fruits. Agric. Meteorol. 17:241-259. Williams, L. E., Biscay, P. J. and Smith, R. J. 1987. Effect of interior canopy defoliation on berry composition andpotassium distribution in Thompson Seedless grapevines. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 38: 287-292. Wolf, T. K., Pool, R. M. andMattick, L.R. 1986. Response of young Chardonnay grapevines to shoot tipping, ethephon and basal leaf removal.Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 38: 263-268.

Received on 08 December 2013 and accepted on 03 November 2014


[Research Article]

Quality evaluation of spray-dried powder prepared from aonla juice blended with pigment-rich vegetable juice during storage A.K. Bhattacherjee, A. Dikshit and D.K. Tandon

Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Rehmankhera, P.O. Kakori, Lucknow-226 101 (U.P.), India E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Aonla is a rich source of natural ascorbic acid and polyphenols, while vegetables are rich source of pigments. The aim of the present study was to provide better nutritional quality of spray-dried aonla powder by enriching it with carotenes and anthocyanins. Spray-dried powder was prepared either from pure aonla juice or by blending it with 10 per cent carrot or/and beet juice using a laboratory model spray dryer. Powder samples were stored in food grade laminated aluminium foil pouches up to 6 months under ambient conditions. Ascorbic acid (3700 mg/100 g) and polyphenols (19.74%) were found highest in pure aonla powder. Blended powder of aonla and beet showed a significant increase in anthocyanins content from 0.47 to 14.25 mg/100 g, while that of aonla and carrot showed an increase in total carotenoids from 0.53 to 6.92 mg/100 g. The contents of ascorbic acid, total carotenoids and anthocyanins in powder prepared from blended juice of aonla, carrot and beet were observed to be 3478, 6.69 and 12.97 mg/100 g, respectively. During storage, an increase in anthocyanins and non-enzymatic browning were noticed in all spray-dried powder samples whereas, the contents of ascorbic acid and total carotenoids decreased. The amount of ascorbic acid was found highest (2442 mg/100 g) in pure aonla powder followed by powder obtained from mixed aonla and carrot juice (2193 mg/100 g) after 6 months of storage. The content of polyphenols did not change significantly during storage in any of the powder samples. The critical and danger points in terms of equilibrium moisture content (EMC) for spray-dried aonla powder were observed to be 1.96 and 1.86 per cent, respectively. At 50% relative humidity (RH) colour of the powder changed from white to brown and lump formation started. The liquefaction of powder started and mould growth appeared at 80% RH. Carotene and anthocyanins enriched spray-dried aonla powder could be prepared and stored in hermetically sealed packaging up to 6 months under ambient conditions without much deterioration in nutritional quality. Key words: Spray drying, aonla, carrot, beet, juice, powder, quality evaluation, storage The consumers are becoming more health conscious and prefer consumption of natural fruit/vegetable juice with additional dose of antioxidants. Natural pigments found in fruit and vegetable juices have some extra advantage for their colour and antioxidant properties. However, juices have shorter shelf-life and their proper storage and distribution sometimes become uneconomical. Therefore, drying of juice to powder is a better alternative to maintain the phytochemicals of fruits and vegetables for longer period thereby helping in reducing handling and storage cost and increasing marketability. Spray drying is an extensively used technology for the preparation of powder from many fruit and vegetable juices including mango (Kalil and Sidel, 1994), guava (Mahendran, 2010), orange (Chegeni and Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

Ghobadian, 2005), pineapple (Abadio et al., 2004), aonla (Thankitsunthorn et al., 2009), watermelon (Quek et al., 2007), acaiberry (Tonon et al., 2010), pitaya (Chik et al., 2011), gac fruit (Kha et al., 2010), noni (Krishnaiah et al., 2009), tomato (Goula et al., 2004), black carrot (Ersus and Yurdagel, 2007), and amaranthus (Cai and Corke, 2000). Spray drying is one of the techniques most utilized in the food industry and under optimal processing conditions it has proved to be an effective and economical method to obtain good quality powder. The transformation of juice into powder implies in a considerable reduction of volume and an effective method of prolonging shelf-life, besides presenting an excellent reconstitutional quality. This technique has been widely used in the micro-encapsulation of food ingredients susceptible to deterioration


by external agents. Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) fruits are rich source of natural antioxidants like ascorbic acid and polyphenols and native of India, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand and Malaysia. Aonla juice is gaining significant popularity as a ‘health drink’ because of its nutraceutical values. However, it suffers from browning and loss of ascorbic acid during storage under ambient conditions (Bhattacherjee et al., 2012a). Vegetables like carrot (Daucus carota L.) and beet (Beta vulgaris L.) are excellent source of natural pigments like carotenes and anthocyanins which can also act as antioxidants. Aonla juice can be enriched with carotenes and anthocyanins by blending it with carrot or beet juice. Spray drying of pure as well as blended aonla juice can convert them into good quality powder having longer shelf-life and as ready-to-serve health drink. The spraydried aonla powder with ascorbic acid and polyphenols has good potential as functional drink with attractive orange and purple coloured natural pigments. It can also provide consumers an alternate choice throughout the year. Spray-dried aonla powder was found best in quality in terms of ascorbic acid content, solubility in water, colour and browning among the aonla powders prepared by different drying techniques (Bhattacherjee et al., 2012b). Though there are substantial amount of works published on spray drying of fruit juices till date, scientific literature concerning spray drying of pure as well as blended aonla juice and evaluation of powder quality during storage are very limited. Based on the above facts, the present investigation was undertaken to study the feasibility of providing better nutritional quality of spray-dried aonla powder by enriching it with carotenes and anthocyanins and to assess the quality parameters of powders during storage under ambient conditions.

Materials and Methods Freshly harvested mature aonla (cv. Chakaiya) fruits were procured from the experimental farm of the Institute. The fruits were sorted manually and healthy fruits were washed under running tap water for 10 min to remove adhered dust and microbial load from the surface. Juice was extracted with a hydraulic press (Bajaj Machinen, New Delhi) at a pressure of 1500 lb/sq. inch after crushing the fruits in a fruit mill. It was then filtered and dried in a laboratory model spray dryer (Advanced Drying Systems, Mumbai) at an inlet temperature of 190°C and outlet temperature of 95°C with 16 rpm feeding speed after adding 2 per cent maltodextrin (Loba Chemie, India) as stabilizer. Carrots and beets were procured from the local market and washed thoroughly under running tap water. Juice was extracted using a mixer-juicer and 10 per cent each of carrot, beet and their mixture were blended with pure aonla juice (v/v). These blended juice

83

samples were dried similarly in a spray dryer as pure aonla juice. Powder samples were collected and immediately packed in food grade laminated aluminium foil pouches after adding 1 per cent tricalcium phosphate as anti-caking agent and stored up to 6 months under ambient conditions (18-34°C, 40-70% RH) in desiccators. In one of our preliminary studies on storage of spray-dried aonla powder, it was observed that packing of powder in laminated aluminium foil pouches could retain maximum ascorbic acid with minimum browning after 6 months of storage at room temperature (unpublished data). The amounts of ascorbic acid, polyphenols, total carotenoids, anthocyanins and non-enzymatic browning along with antioxidant activity were analyzed in fresh juices and in spray-dried powders during storage at 2 months interval. The contents of ascorbic acid and polyphenols in fresh juice as well as in spray-dried powder were estimated by the titrimetric method using 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol dye solution and by Folin and Ciocalteu’s phenol reagent method, respectively (Ranganna, 2000). The amounts of total carotenoids and anthocyanins were determined by measuring the optical density (OD) of acetone and ethanolic HCl extracts of juice and powder samples at 452 and 535 nm, respectively, in a UV-VIS spectrophotometer (Labomed Inc., USA) (Ranganna, 2000). Non-enzymatic browning (NEB) was determined by measuring the OD values of methanol extracted samples at 440 nm in a UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The antioxidant activity of juice and powder samples were analyzed as ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) values following the procedure described by Benzie and Strain (1996). Equilibrium moisture content (EMC) in pure aonla powder was estimated as per the method mentioned by Ranganna (2000). The data obtained were subjected to factorial CRD statistical analysis as suggested by Gomez and Gomez (1984). The critical difference (CD) values at 5% level of probability was used for comparison between treatments like type of powder (P) and storage period (S) and to find out the significant difference, if any.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Quality parameters of pure and blended aonla juice The data regarding physico-chemical properties of pure and blended aonla juice is presented in Table 1. Maximum ascorbic acid (386.7 mg/100 ml) and polyphenols (2%) contents along with the highest antioxidant activity (FRAP value 188.3 mM/ml) were recorded in pure aonla juice. The contents of ascorbic acid and polyphenols were found negligible in pure carrot and beet

84

juice samples. Carrot juice contained highest amount of total carotenoids (2.72 mg/100 ml) and beet juice highest amount of anthocyanins (15.58 mg/100 ml). Because of its dark purple colour, beet juice showed maximum non-enzymatic browning (1.035 OD) followed by orange coloured carrot juice (0.208 OD) and off-white aonla juice (0.043 OD). When these juices were blended, mixture of aonla and beet juice provided maximum ascorbic acid content (367.7 mg/100 ml) followed by mixture of aonla and carrot juice (359.8 mg/100 ml) and blend of all three juice samples (357.7 mg/100 ml). The contents of ascorbic acid and polyphenols did not vary significantly among the blended juice samples, and so the antioxidant activity (Table 1). The content of anthocyanins (1.73 mg/100 ml) and browning (0.294 OD) were found maximum in the blend of aonla and beet juice, whereas blend of aonla and carrot juice provided maximum amount of total carotenoids (0.716 mg/100 ml). The mixture of aonla, carrot and beet juice contained 1.24 mg/100 ml of anthocyanins and 0.534 mg/100 ml of total carotenoids. Whenever beet juice was mixed with aonla juice, NEB values increased because of its dark colour.

Quality characteristics of pure and blended aonla powder during storage Spray-dried powder samples were stored in food grade laminated aluminium foil pouches under ambient conditions up to 6 months. During storage, the contents of ascorbic acid and total carotenoids decreased, while that of anthocyanins increased along with antioxidant activity and non-enzymatic browning in all powder samples. The content of ascorbic acid decreased from 3700 to 2442 mg/100 g in pure aonla powder, which recorded the highest ascorbic acid content, after 6 months of storage. Similar decreasing trend was observed in blended powder samples during storage (Fig. 1a). In powder obtained from the mixture of aonla, carrot and beet juices, ascorbic acid decreased from 3478 to 2083 mg/100 g during storage up to 6 months. The loss in ascorbic acid in different powder samples varied between 34 to 40 per cent after 6 months of storage. The lowest amount of ascorbic acid (2037 mg/100 g) was recorded in the powder prepared from aonla and beet juice mixture after 6 months of storage. The rate of decrease of ascorbic acid in powder during storage followed zero-order kinetics, i.e., a linear and continuous decrease with time. Ascorbic acid was found to decrease in dehydrated aonla powder (Damame et al., 2002; Pragati et al., 2003; Vijayanand et al., 2007) and ripe mango powder (Sagar et al., 2000) packed in different packaging materials and stored at different temperatures. The cause for the degradation of ascorbic acid during storage might be due to its susceptibility to oxidation. The content of anthocyanins showed an increasing


trend during storage in all the powder samples. Maximum amount of anthocyanins (14.25 mg/100 g) was noticed in the powder produced by blend of aonla and beet juices, which increased to 24.12 mg/100 g after storage of 6 months. It increased from 12.47 to 18.63 mg/100 g in powder prepared from mixture of all the three juice samples during storage. Other two powder samples (without beet juice) contained negligible amount of anthocyanins. The rate of increase of anthocyanins in powders exhibited two first-order kinetics – the first with slower reaction rate (up to 4 months) and the second with higher reaction rate (after 4 months) during storage (Fig. 1b). Tonon et al. (2010) have also reported that the changes in anthocyanins in spray-dried açai powder during storage followed two types of first-order kinetics – the first with higher reaction rate (up to 45-60 days of storage) and the second with lower reaction rate after this period (up to 120 days of storage). However, they reported that anthocyanins content degraded during storage in spray-dried açai powder produced with different carrier agents. The content of total carotenoids decreased during storage of blended powders. In powder obtained from mixture of aonla and carrot juice, it decreased from 6.92 to 5.08 mg/100 g and in powder produced by mixture of all the three juices, it decreased from 6.69 to 4.76 mg/100 g after 6 months of storage under ambient conditions. The retention of total carotenoids in these two powder samples was fairly stable (more than 70%). The rate of decrease of total carotenoids exhibited a slightly variable trend during storage in these two powder samples (Fig. 1c). In other samples a slow but steady rate of decline was noticed. Similar observations of significant reduction in total carotenoids in ripe mango powder packed in 400 gauge low density polyethylene pouches (Sagar et al., 2000) and in dehydrated ripe mango slices packed in 260 gauge aluminium laminated polyethylene pouches (Sagar et al., 1999) were also reported after 6 months of storage. The data pertaining to the changes in polyphenols, antioxidant activity and non-enzymatic browning in powders during storage were provided in Table 2. The content of polyphenols though did not vary significantly among the powders but showed a slightly variable trend during storage in laminated aluminium foil pouches. In pure aonla powder, it initially increased from 19.74 to 26.39 per cent after 2 months and then decreased to 20.51 per cent after 6 months of storage. Similar trend was also noticed in other powder samples. In powder prepared by blending all the three juices, it increased up to 4 months (from 18.91 to 22.34%) of storage and then decreased to 18.28 per cent after 6 month. The increase in tannins/polyphenols during storage of osmo-vac dehydrated aonla segments packed in different packaging


85

Table 1: Physico-chemical parameters of pure and blended juice samples Juice samples

Ascorbic acid (mg/100 ml)

Polyphenols (%)

Anthocyanins (mg/100 ml)

Total carotenoids (mg/100 ml)

FRAP value (mM/ml)

NEB (OD at 440 nm)

Aonla juice (AJ)

386.72

2.00

0.003

0.0008

188.30

0.043

Carrot juice (CJ)

2.38

0.03

0.16

2.72

2.66

0.208

Beet juice (BJ)

3.57

0.01

15.58

0.14

9.98

1.035

AJ + CJ

359.81

0.94

0.42

0.72

184.91

0.071

AJ + BJ

367.71

0.97

1.73

0.12

185.33

0.294

AJ + CJ + BJ

357.73

1.03

1.24

0.53

185.02

0.269

Table 2: Changes in quality parameters in pure and blended aonla powders during storage Powder samples

Storage period (months) 0

2

4

6

Polyphenols (%) Pure Aonla powder

19.74

26.39

18.04

20.51

(Aonla + Carrot) powder

18.79

22.30

19.07

19.33

(Aonla + Beet) powder

18.52

21.22

17.23

18.97

(Aonla + Carrot + Beet) powder

18.91

20.81

22.34

18.28

CD at 5%

Powder (P)

Storage Time (ST)

P x ST

1.045

1.045

2.091

Antioxidant activity (mM/g) Pure Aonla powder

1525.7

1638.3

1601.1

1660.1


1520.4

1634.9

1592.4

1657.2


1519.8

1636.8

1594.9

1655.0 1650.3


1519.0

1625.7

1610.7

CD at 5%

Powder (P)

Storage Time (ST)

P x ST

N.S.*

20.368

N.S.

NEB (OD at 440 nm) Pure Aonla powder

0.002

0.025

0.038

0.048


0.021

0.038

0.048

0.053


0.113

0.119

0.123

0.146


0.085

0.094

0.096

0.104

CD at 5%

Powder (P) 0.004

Storage Time (ST) 0.004

P x ST 0.008

* N.S. = Not significant materials was also reported by Suresh Kumar and Sagar (2009). The interaction between sugars and acids was mentioned by the authors as the probable cause for increase in tannins. Vijayanand et al. (2007) suggested that polymerization of polyphenol compounds could be the reason for the increase in polyphenols content in dehydrated aonla powder during storage. The NEB values also increased during storage in powder samples. Due to the dominant purple colour of beet, the powder con-

stituted with aonla and beet showed highest initial NEB value (0.113 OD) followed by powder constituted with aonla, beet and carrot (0.085 OD). These values increased to 0.146 OD and 0.104 OD after 6 months of storage. Carrot has less dominant orange colour and so browning was minimum (0.021 OD) in powder obtained from the blend of aonla and carrot juice, which increased to 0.053 OD after 6 months. Pure aonla powder had minimum initial NEB value (0.002 OD), which increased to 0.048

86


Aonla powder




(a)

CD at 5% (P x ST) = 50.063

4000

41.81

40 30

3000

EMC (%)

Ascorbic acid (mg/100g)

Critical point = 1.96% Danger point = 1.86%

50

2000

27.48

20 13.53

10 1000 0

2 4 Storage period (months)

6

1.96

0 0 -4.14 10

-3

20

-2.04 -3.5 -2.74

30

40

50

60

3.78

70

7.21

80

90

100

-10 Relative Humidity (% )

(b)

CD at 5% (P x ST) = 0.122

Fig. 2: Pattern of equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) of spray-dried aonla powder

Anthocyanins (mg/ 100g)

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0

2 4 Storage period (months)

6

(c) CD at 5% (P x ST) = 0.092

Total carotenoids (mg/100g)

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0

2

4

6

Storage period (months)

Fig. 1: Changes in the contents of (a) ascorbic acid, (b) anthocyanins, and (c) total carotenoids in powder samples during storage

OD after 6 months but remained lowest amongst the powders. Similar increasing trends in NEB values of dehydrated gooseberry powder (Vijayanand et al., 2007), osmo-vac dehydrated aonla segments (Suresh Kumar and Sagar, 2009) and ripe mango powder (Sagar et al., 2000) during storage have also been observed earlier. The occurrence of NEB in spray-dried acerola powder, containing maltodextrin and combinations of maltodextrin and gum Arabic as carrier agents, was also reported by Righetto (2003) during storage. He mentioned that browning reaction followed zero-order kinetics, i.e., a linear increase with time, which was also observed in the present study (Table 2). The occurrence of Maillard reaction (reaction between sugars and amino acids) in powder with low moisture content and aerobic and anaerobic degradation of ascorbic acid could be the reasons for increase in NEB in aonla powders during storage as suggested earlier by Jain and Khurdiya (2009) in stored aonla juice and Sagar et al. (2000) in stored ripe mango powder. Though the antioxidant activity (FRAP value) did not differ significantly between the powders throughout the storage period, an increasing trend was noticed in all the samples during storage under ambient conditions. In case of pure aonla powder and powder prepared from mixture of aonla, beet and carrot juices, it increased from 1525.7 to 1660.1 mM/g and from 1519 to 1650.3 mM/g, respectively, after storage up to 6 months. It increased from 1520.4 and 1519.8 mM/g to 1657 and 1655 mM/g in powders obtained by blending aonla and carrot juices and aonla and beet juices, respectively, after the same storage period. Maillard reaction also yielded some colourless intermediate products having some degree of antioxidant capacity (Lee, 1992). Gu et al. (2009) evaluated the antioxidant activity of Maillard reaction


87

products (MRPs) prepared from a casein-glucose model system and noticed that the DPPH radical scavenging activity increased as the concentration of MRPs increased. Thus, in the present study the increase in room temperature due to the change of season from winter to summer during storage might have resulted in the formation of MRPs and consequently resulting in higher antioxidant activity in spray-dried pure and blended aonla powders. Similar observations were recorded in spray-dried açai powder during storage up to 4 months (Tonon et al., 2010). The increase in anthocyanins content in powders during storage could be another reason for the increase in antioxidant activity.

Chegeni, G.R. and Ghobadian, B. 2005. Effect of spraydrying conditions on physical properties of orange juice powder. Drying Technol., 23: 657-668.

The isotherm constructed using the data on equilibrium relative humidity and equilibrium moisture content showed that the powder sample followed the sigmoid shape which is described as type II isotherm (Fig. 2). At 50% RH colour of the spray-dried aonla powder changed from white to brown and lump formation started. The liquefaction of powder started and microbial growth appeared at 80% RH. The optimum RH for spray-dried aonla powder was 40% for longer storage and better shelf life. The critical and danger points for aonla powder were found to be 1.96% and 1.86%, respectively. Being very hygroscopic in nature, spray-dried aonla powder should be stored with anti-caking agent. Similar results were reported by Hymavathi and Khedkar (2004) in vacuum dehydrated ripe mango mix powder and by Suresh Kumar and Sagar (2009) in osmo-vac dehydrated aonla segments.

Ersus, S. and Yurdagel, U. 2007. Microencapsulation of anthocyanin pigments of black carrot (Daucus carota L.) by spray dryer. J. Food Engg., 80: 805-812.

References Abadio, F.D.B.; Domingues, A.M.; Borges, S.V. and Oliveira, V.M. 2004. Physical properties of powdered pineapple (Ananas comosus) juice – effect of maltodextrin concentration and atomization speed. J. Food Engg., 64: 285-287. Benzie, I.F.F. and Strain, J.J. 1996. The ferric reducing ability of plasma as a measure of “antioxidant power”: the FRAP assay. Anal. Biochem., 239: 70-76. Bhattacherjee, A.K.; Chaurasia, R. and Tandon, D.K. 2012a. Quality evaluation of aonla powder obtained by different drying techniques. Prog. Hort., 44: 110113.

Chik, C.T.; Abdullah, A.; Abdullah, N. and Mustapha, W.A.W. 2011. The effect of maltodextrin and additive added towards pitaya juice powder total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. International Conference on Food Engineering and Biotechnology. IPCBEE, 9: 224-228. Damame, S.V.; Gaikwad, R.S.; Patil, S.R. and Masalkar, S.D. 2002. Vitamin C content of various aonla products during storage. Orissa J. Hort., 30: 19-22.

Gomez, A.K and Gomez, A.A. 1984. Statistical Procedure for Agricultural Research. 2nd ed., John Wiley and Sons, Singapore, 680 p. Goula, A.M.; Adamopoulos, K.G. and Kazakis, N.A. 2004. Influence of spray drying conditions on tomato powder properties. Drying Technol., 22: 1129-1151. Gu, F.; Kim, J.M.; Hayat, K.; Xia, S.; Feng, B. and Zhang, X. 2009. Characteristics and antioxidant activity of ultrafiltrated Maillard reaction products from a caseinglucose model system. Food Chem., 117: 48-54. Hymavathi, T.V. and Khedkar, V. 2004. Development of value added β–carotene rich mango (Mangifera indica L.) powder for culinary use. J. Food Sci. Tech., 41: 292-296. Jain, S.K. and Khurdiya, D.S. 2009. Ascorbic acid content and non-enzymatic browning in stored Indian gooseberry juice as affected by sulphitation and storage. J. Food Sci. Tech., 46: 500-501. Kalil, U.L. and Sidel, T.P. 1994. Spray drying of mango juice concentrate. Mesopotamia J. Ag., 29: 81-89. Kha, T.C.; Nguyen, M.H. and Roach, P.D. 2010. Effects of spray drying conditions on the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of the Gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) fruit aril powder. J. Food Engg., 98: 385-392.

Bhattacherjee, A.K.; Dikshit, A.; Kumar, S. and Tandon, D.K. 2012b. Quality of aonla juice as affected by storage temperature. Beverage Food World, 39: 54-56.

Krishnaiah, D.; Sarbatly, R.; Hafiz, A.M.M.; Hafeza, A.B. and Rao, S.R.M. 2009. Study on retention of bioactive compounds of Morinda citrifolia L. using spray-drying. J. Appl. Sci., 9: 3092-3097.

Cai, Y.Z. and Corke, H. 2000. Production and properties of spray dried Amaranthus betacyanins pigments. J. Food Sci., 65: 1248-1252.

Lee, H.S. 1992. Antioxidant activity of browning reaction products isolated from storage-aged orange juice. J. Ag. Food Chem., 40: 550-552.

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Mahendran, T. 2010. Physico-chemical properties and sensory characteristics of dehydrated guava concentrate: effect of drying method and maltodextrin concentration. Trop. Ag. Res. Exten., 13: 48-54. Pragati; Dahiya, S. and Dhawan, S.S. 2003. Effect of drying methods on nutritional composition of dehydrated aonla fruit (Emblica officinalis Garten) during storage. Plant Foods Human Nutri., 58: 1-9. Quek, S.Y.; Chok, N.K. and Swedlund, P. 2007. The physico-chemical properties of spray-dried watermelon powders. Chem. Engg. Process., 46: 386-392. Ranganna, S. 2000. Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetable Products. 2nd ed., Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New Delhi, India, pp. 81-82. Righetto, A.M. 2003. Physicochemical characterization and stability of acerola juice microencapsulated by spray drying and freeze drying. Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Food Engineering, State University of Campinas, Brazil, 178 p. Sagar, V.R.; Khurdiya, D.S. and Balakrishnan, K.A. 1999. Quality of dehydrated ripe mango slices as affected

by packaging material and mode of packaging. J. Food Sci. Tech., 36: 67-70. Sagar, V.R.; Khurdiya, D.S. and Maini, S.B. 2000. Quality of ripe mango powder as affected by storage temperature and period. J. Food Sci. Tech., 37: 165-168. Suresh Kumar, P. and Sagar, V.R. 2009. Influence of packaging materials and storage temperature on quality of osmo-vac dehydrated aonla segments. J. Food Sci. Tech., 46: 259-262. Thankitsunthorn, S.; Thawornphiphatdit, C.; Laohaprasit N. and Srzednicki, G. 2009. Effects of drying temperature on quality of dried Indian gooseberry powder. Int. Food Res. J., 16: 355-361. Tonon, R.V.; Brabet, C. and Hubinger, M.D. 2010. Anthocyanin stability and antioxidant activity of spraydried açai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) juice produced with different carrier agents. Food Res. Int., 43: 907-914. Vijayanand, P.; Kulkarni, S.G.; Reena, P.; Aksha, M. and Ramana, K.V.R. 2007. Effect of processing on gooseberry fruits and quality changes in dehydrated gooseberry powder during storage. J. Food Sci. Tech., 44: 591-594.

Received on 02 February 2014 and accepted on 28 December 2014


[Research Article]

Influence of pre and post-harvest treatments on shelf life and fruit quality of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Amrapali Shipra Banerjee1, Shubhranshu Sengupta2, Bikash Das3

Deptt. of Horticulture, B.A.U., Ranchi, 2Deptt. of Horticulture, B.A.U., Ranchi, 3ICAR Research Station for Eastern Region, Palandu, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India E-mail: [email protected]

1

ABSTRACT

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the response of various pre harvest (GA3 and thio-phenate methyl) treatments followed by post-harvest application (salicylic acid, 1-MCP and hot water) with the objective to find out the suitable treatments which could preserve physical, bio-chemical and organoleptic properties of Amrapali mango to the best possible extent. The physical parameters of fruits, viz., minimum PLW (14.65%), and spoilage percentage (28.895% up to 17th day) was recorded with T2 (GA3 + Thiophenate methyl+ hot-water dipping + 1-MCP dipping) closely followed by T1 (GA3 + Thiophenate methyl+ hot-water dipping+ salicylic acid). The chemical composition of the fruits, viz., minimum reduction in TSS (5.49°), maximum retention of acidity (.07828), were also recorded with the application of T2 (GA3 +Thiophenate methyl + hot-water dipping + 1-MCP dipping) closely followed by T1 (GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + hot-water dipping + salicylic acid) exept in acidity where T2 was same value as (GA3 + carbedazim +1-MCP + no hot water dipping) during 17 days of storage. KEY WORDS: Mango, cv. Amrapali, organoleptic, 1-MCP, shelf-life Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is considered as the “king of fruits” due to its excellent aroma, attractive colour, delicious and juicy pulp packed with vitamin A and C. Mango fruits are utilized in all stages of development in its mature and immature stages. Raw fruits are used for making chutney, pickles and juices and ripe fruits are used as desserts, squash, syrup, nectar, leather, jam and jelly. Despite all these qualities mango fruits are highly perishable. Higher moisture content, soft texture of fruits and susceptibility to various pathogenic infections are the limiting factor to its shelf life. Although India by and large, is the largest mango producing nation in the world we export only a negligible portion of fresh fruits. Negi (2004) reported that 37% of our highly perishable horticultural crops are was-ted due to inadequate post harvest management and cold chain infrastructures which account for an annual loss of 23000 crore approximately. An efficient post-harvest management plays a very significant role for the future develoment of the fruit industry of the country. Among the promising mango hybrids, Amrapali is Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

most suitable variety for internal market and export. It has been developed at I.A.R.I. as a result of cross between Dashehari and Neelum released in 1978. It is precocious, distinctly dwarf, highly regular and prolific in bearing and hence, is most suitable for high density orcharding (Majumdar et al., 1982). The fruit quality of Amrapali is favourably superior to its better parent Dashehari. It has high pulp percentage and total soluble solids. The flesh is deep orange red and has about 2.5 to 3.0 times more β carotene content which indicates higher vitamin A. Besides, because of the attractive flesh colour, this variety is more suitable for export and processing industry. Under this condition the cultivar Amrapali has been selected for this investigation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigation entitled “Influence of pre and post-harvest treatments on shelf life and fruit quality of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Amrapali” was conducted in the research field and laboratory of the research station of fruits section of ICARER, Palan-

90


du, Ranchi. The experiment was conducted during the months of June–July of the year 2010. Mango fruits after harvesting were stored in a well-ventilated room and kept at ambient temperature in different lots consisting of 45 fruits per treatment. The whole lot was earmarked for calculating physiological loss in weight, spoilage and general conditions and for physicochemical analysis and organoleptic evaluation during storage. The experiment was replicated thrice. Fruits were kept in bamboo baskets and baskets were placed on the laboratory tables. The storage was terminated on the 17th day, when the fruits exhibited ten to thirty per cent loss due to spoilage (Table 1). Statistical analysis was done in CRD.

Concentration of various chemicals used: Application in field i. GA3 – 200 ppm (0.02%) ii. Thiophenate methyl- 1000 ppm

Application in laboratory

iii. Hot water treatment - 52 º C for 10 min iv. Salicylic acid - 2000 ppm (0.2%) v. 1-MCP (1ppm) (0.0001%)

Table 1: Treatment Details of in the investigation

GA3(200ppm)

Water Spray Only Absolute Control

Thio Phenate Methyl - (1000 ppm)

Thio-Phenate Methyl (1000 ppm) No treatment

Hot water dipping (52 º C for 10 min)

Dipping in Salicylic acid

T1

Dipping in 1-MCP (1.0 ppm)

T2

No Hot water dipping

Dipping in Salicylic acid (2000 ppm)

T3


T4

Hot water dipping (52 º C for 10 min)


T5


T6

No Hot water dipping


T7


T8

No treatment

T9

No treatment

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The application of pre harvest treatments i.e. (GA3 and thio-phenate methyl) followed by post-harvest application of (salicylic acid, 1-MCP and hot water) helped in reducing the PLW of fruits, increasing the TSS and reducing the spoilage percentage during storage. The minimum PLW, highest retention of TSS and least spoilage percentage was recorded with T2 (GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + hot water +1-MCP) closely followed by T1 (GA3+ thiophenate methyl + hot water + salicylic acid). Hydrolytic changes in mango are fast which lead to change of starch, fat etc. to sugar, making the fruits sweeter and pectin substances to soluble pectin to soften the flesh. The ethylene is produced as by product and said to be involved in ripening process. Therefore, in the post harvest technology, the principal aim is to retard the physico-chemical changes and to check the intervention of micro organisms which are mainly responsible for spoilage of fruits during storage and transport. At the same time, appearance of fruits affected due to moisture loss caused by physiological reasons is also taken into consideration. In the post-harvest handling of fruits, hot water treatment and growth regulators like GA3 helped in decreasing spoilage and increasing the shelf life. Singh et al. (1967) recorded that the weight of Dashehari mango

fruits decreased gradually with increasing storage period at room temperature. Roy et al. (1980) also obtained similar result in Hemsagar and Langra mango fruits during storage. Minimum PLW was observed in GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 1-MCP dipping (T2) closely followed by treatment T1 (15.07) in which fruits were treated with Hot water + GA3 + thiophenate methyl+ salicylic acid . Untreated fruits were directly exposed to the atmospheric temperature and pathogenic interactions during storage. The maximum loss of weight in these fruits might be due to maximum loss in moisture caused by higher rate of transpiration and respiration as well as higher ethylene production. In case of treated fruits lesser loss in weight due to lesser loss of moisture might be caused by slow rate of transpiration and respiration affected by the dipping of GA3. Sudhavani et al. (2002) observed that when mango fruits were treated with GA3+ Carbendazim (0.05%) delayed ripening by 22-33 days after harvest and thereby decreasing the PLW of fruits. Hot water treatment was effective as it helps in killing the microorganisms present in fruit tissues. Puvis et al. (2006) found that when mature mango cultivar “Namdokmai” fruits at mature green stage were heat treated by dipping in 50 or 550C water for 5 minutes, softening slowed down in response to heat treatment It


was found that GA treated fruits showed less PLW in comparison to untreated fruits. GA helps in promoting vegetative growth in the fruits that means it is a ripening inhibitor because ripening starts when growth stops. MCP too had a remarkable effect in delaying ripening. MCP has more affinity to the binding site than ethylene so it blocks the ethylene binding site thereby reducing the rate of ripening. Osuna et al. (2005).found that 1-MCP at 300 ml/l delayed the ripening process maintained firmness for longer and lengthened the shelf life of Kent mangoes by 4 days. Profound influence of post-harvest application of fungicides and growth regulators on ripening and senescence of fruit was noticed. All the treatments delayed ripening and senescence of mango fruits during storage at room temperature. Treatments T2, T5, i.e., treatment with Hot water, GA3, 1-MCP, and salicylic acid proved much better in delaying the ripening and senescence of mango fruits. Fruits without any treatment failed to increase the storage life of mango fruits. Reddy et al. (2002) reported that treated mango fruits with GA3 (200 ppm) significantly reduced the physiological loss in weight and had longer shelf-life. The slower rate of ripening with GA3 observed in the present study is possibly due to consequent restriction of ethylene evolution in fruit tissues and inhibition of synthesis of additional enzymes which were responsible to accelerate ripening when climacteric was onset. The ripening of fruits generally does not proceed until ethylene is accumulated in the fruit tissue to a stimulatory level. This implies that any compound which could have an inhibitory effect over ethylene biosynthesis will delay ripening and senescence considerably. Min et al. (2006) reported that when green mature fruits of mango cultivar ‘Tainong’ were stored with a solution of 0.25µl 1-MCP/l then after 12 days fruit weight loss was 1.8% in 1-MCP treated fruits compared with 2.8% in control fruits. Penchaiya et al. (2006) showed that when Nam Dokmai mango fruits were treated with 200 ppb 1-MCP showed the most effective delay in firmness loss while treatments with higher concentration of 1-MCP (5001000 ppb) resulted in lower respiration rate and ethylene production. The total soluble solids of the fruits increased gradually with prolongation of storage period and it declined afterwards in the stage of full ripe. After the peak of ripening, a decrease in T.S.S was also recorded. Joshi and Roy (1985) reported that the TSS content of Alphonso mango fruits accelerated during transport and for certain period during storage. After attaining the peak, the TSS declined very slowly till the end of the shelf life. The critical study indicated that increasing trend of TSS was maintained in all the treatments up to the 9th day of storage but it started decreasing in some of the treatments from the 11th day. However in some

91

of the treatments it increased upto the 15th day after that on 17th day all the treatments showed drastic reduction except in T2. Minimum reduction in TSS content was recorded in T2 (5.49) closely followed by 5.360 Brix in T5 as shown in Table 3. Minimum retention of TSS content in the mango fruits during storage was recorded in T1, i.e., control (-2.72) closely followed by (-1.58) in and (-1.48) in. Cellwall material such as pectin and hemicellulose in reducing substances during storage responsible for increasing TSS. The increase in TSS (0Brix) might be associated with the transformation of pectic substances, starch or other polysaccharides into soluble sugar. Decline in TSS in some treatments might be due to degradation of total soluble substances due to the prolonged period of storage. Ahmad et al. (1999) dipped the mature Amrapali fruits in 50 ppm GA+ 500ppm Bavistin and tabulated similar data on changes in total sugar. Murthy et al. (1982) reported that post-harvest dip of Alphonso mango fruit with GA3 or Menadione bisulphate resulted in low brix/acid ratio and high firmness indicating their unripe character as shown in Table 3. The spoilage of fruits increased with the increasing period of storage, regardless of the treatments. This might be due to existing pathogens on the surface of fruits which might have proliferated with the time resulting in increased decay. Similar increase in rotting of fruits with prolongation of storage period was also enunciated by Garg et al. (1976) and Khader (1989) in mango. The maximum spoilage of mango fruits during storage was observed under control. Reduction in rotting percentage due to post harvest treatments was conspicuous during storage as shown in Fig. I. Maximum spoilage of mango fruits during storage was recorded in control. Fruits treated with GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 1-MCP dipping recorded minimum spoilage (28.89 per cent) followed by fruits GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + salicylic acid dipping (37.78 per cent) as shown in Table 4. All the treatments showed less spoilage of fruits in comparison to control after seventeen days of storage. The fruits in control were supposed to be in more contact of air so they might have respired and transpired rapidly leading to ultimate spoilage. Side by side, they were readily exposed to pathogens of the ambient atmosphere which might have affected the fruits causing ultimate spoilage. Less spoilage in hot water treated fruits may be due to inhibition of pathogens at the initial level during storage. Ben et al. (2000) reported the results of hot water treatment applied to various citrus fruit species. A minute dip in water at 53-56°C marked reduced decay caused by Penicillum digitatum in Kumquats. Minz et al. (2004) found that spoilage was lowest (11.60%) in fruits treated with captan+ newspaper wrapping.

92


Table 2: Physiological loss in weight (PLW) of mango fruits cv. Amrapali during storage Treatment details

1st day

5th day

17th day

difference

Percent

T1

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + salicylic acid dipping)

158

155.76

134.18

23.82

15.07

T2

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

157.78

155.49

134.65

23.13

14.66

T3

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + salicylic acid dipping)

142.22

139.83

113.85

28.37

19.95

T4

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

175.93

173.07

140.96

34.97

19.88

T5

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + salicylic acid dipping)

140

136.73

107.81

32.19

22.99

T6

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

138.53

135.89

107.48

31.05

22.41

T7

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + salicylic acid dipping)

153.98

151.34

112.26

41.72

27.1

T8

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

173.78

170.73

130.69

43.09

24.8

54.97

36.11

T9 (Absolute control)

152.22

147.69

97.25

SEm

10.20

10.00

12.57

2.3

C.D. at 5%

28.71

28.13

35.37

6.6

11.25

11.22

17.93

-

cv%

Table 3: Total soluble solids (0Brix) of mango fruits cv. Amrapali during storage Treatment details

1st day

5th day

17th day

difference

T1

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + hot water dipping + salicylic acid dipping)

14.43

16.31

19.79

5.36

T2

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + hot water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

13.59

16.54

19.07

5.49

T3


14.1

16.61

16.93

2.83

T4


14.35

16.61

17.75

3.39

T5

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + hot water dipping + salicylic acid dipping)

13.02

16.16

14.18

1.16

T6

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + hot water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

14.76

16.54

16.12

1.35

T7


14.25

16.16

13.77

-0.48

T8

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + 1-MCP dipping)

13.92

16.69

14.08

0.16

T9

(Absolute control)

14.45

17.05

11.73

-2.72

SEm

0.57

0.43

1.96

0.19

C.D. at 5%

1.61

1.21

5.5

0.54

cv%

6.98

4.58

21.83

21.43


93

Table 4: TSS/Acid ratio of mango fruits cv. Amrapali Treatment details

1st day

5th day

17th day

T1

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + salicylic acid dipping)

50.34

117.32

397.25

T2

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

65.64

90.98

243.60

T3


52.08

91.37

264.32

T4


50.06

86.29

277.13

T5

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + salicylic acid dipping) 45.42

88.89

664.17

T6

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

57.93

85.93

226.51

T7


55.93

116.24

322.48

T8

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + 1-MCPdipping)

54.63

91.81

395.69

T9

(Absolute control)

56.71

91.99

1066.36

Fig. 1: Spoilage percentage of mango fruits cv. Amrapali during storage Table 5: Calculation of cost-benefit ratio of mango fruits cv. Amrapali Treatment details

Total Marketable fruits (kg)

Cost of cultivation (Rs.)

Total cost (Rs.)

Net profit (Rs.)

Cost benefit ratio

T1

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 62.22 salicylic acid dipping)

431.00

1866.60

1435.60 3.33

T2

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping + 71.11 1-MCPdipping)

429.75

2133.30

1703.55 3.96

T3

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + salicylic 46.67 acid dipping)

431.00

1400.10

969.10

2.25

T4

(GA3 + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + 46.67 1-MCPdipping)

429.75

1400.10

970.35

2.26

T5

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping 40.00 + salicylic acid dipping)

335.00

1200.00

865.00

2.58

T6

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + Hot water dipping 40.00 + 1-MCPdipping)

333.75

1200.00

866.25

2.60

T7

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + 26.67 salicylic acid dipping)

335.00

800.10

465.10

1.39

T8

(water spray + Thiophenate methyl + water dipping + 26.67 1-MCPdipping)

333.75

800.10

466.35

1.40

T9

(Absolute control)

326

266.7

-59.3

-0.1819

8.89

94


REFERENCES Ahmad, M.S. and Singh, Sanjay 1999. Effects of various post-harvest treatments on shelf-life of Amrapali mango. Orissa J. Hort., 27(1): 29-33. Ben, Yehoshua S.; Peretz, J.; Rodov, V.; Nafussi, B.; Yekeetieli, O.; Wiselelum, A. and Regev, R. (2000). Postharvest application of hot water treatment in citrus fruits: the road from laboratory to packing house. Acta Hort., 518: 19-28. Garg, R.C.; Ram, H.B.; Singh, S.K. and Singh, R.V. 1976. Effect of some plant growth regulators on the storage behaviour, rate of respiration and general quality of mango cv. Dashehari. Prog. Hort., 8(1): 51-55. Joshi, G.P. and Roy, S.K. 1985. Effect of integrated postharvest handling of biochemicalchanges in Alphonso mango fruits. Prog. Hort., 11(4): 35-38. Khader, S.E.S.A. 1989. Delaying ripening by post harvest treatment of GA3 in mango. Indian J. Hort., 46(4): 444-448. Majumder, P.K.; Sharma, D.K. and Singh, R.N. 1982. A study on high density or charding in mango (Mangifera indica L. Var. Amrapali). Punjab Hort. J., 22: 123-27. Min, Li; Gau, Zhau Yin; Hu, Mei Jhao and Yang, Feng Zhen 2006. Effect of treatment with 1-MCP on the post-harvest physiological activity of mango fruit. South China Fruits, 1: 44-45. Minz, Manorama; Kumar, Rajesh and Arun, B. 2004. Effect of chemicals on PLW and spoilage percentage of mango cv. Chausa. Orissa J. Hort., 32(2): 34-37.

Negi, J.P. 2004. Preventing a near collapse. The Hindu survey of Indian Agriculture, pp. 175-178 Osuna; Garcia, J.A.; Beltran, J.A. and Urias, Lopez M.A. 2005. Effect of 1-MCP on shelf-life and quality of export mango. Revista Filstecnia Mexicana, 28(3): 271278 Penchaiya, P; Jensasithorn and Kanlayanausat 2006. Effect of 1-MCP on physiological changes in mango ‘Namdokmai’. Acta Hort., 712(2): 717-721. Purvis, A.C.; McGlasson, W.B. and Kanlayanarat, S. 2006. Mango fruit softening response to postharvest heat treatment. Acta Hort., 712(2): 811-816. Reddy, N.S. and Haripriya, K. 2002. Extension of storage life of mango cv. bBanglora and Neelum. South Indian Hort., 50(1/3): 7-18. Roy, B.N.; Saha, S.K.; Pramanick, S. and Biswas, S. 1980. Effect of wax emulsion on the storage behaviour of mangoes cv. Langra and Himsagar. Prog. Hort., 11(4): 35-38. Singh, K.; Nijjar, G.S. and Singh, D. 1967. Studies on storage behaviour of Dashehari mangoes at room temperature. J. Res. Ludh., 4: 59-67. Subramanyam, N.V. et al. 1972. Studies on harvesting, transport and storage of mangoes. Acta Hort., 24: 260. Sudhavani, V. and Shankar, C.R. 2002. Effect of pre-harvest spray on the shelf-life and quality of Baneshan mango fruits under cold storage. South Indian Hort., 50(1/3): 173-177.

Received on 18 April 2013 and accepted on 23 January 2014


[Research Article]

Available micronutrient status and their relationship with soil properties of vegetable growing area of Jammu district A.K. Mondal, A.P. Rai,Pardeep Wali1 and Manoj Kumar2

Division of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry,1Directorate of Research, 2Division of Vegetable Science and Floriculture; FOA, Main Camps Chatha, SKUAST-J, Jammu-180009 (J&K), India Email : [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Vegetables are the best source of revenue earning crops for promoting economic status especially of marginal and small farming community of Jammu and Kashmir. In order to boost up production per unit area and time, nutrient management is one of the most important practices for profitable cultivation of any vegetable crop. Vegetables are good source of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins etc. A healthy soil will have a greater capacity to moderate the uptake of fertilizers and will allow a more balanced uptake of nutrients, creating a healthy plant that is more resistant to pest damage. Sustainable soil management maintains soil health and productivity by taking care of and increasing the soil organic matter which is lacking. The simplest solution to alleviate micronutrient deficiency is the application of micronutrient fertilizer to the vegetable crop. A study on DTPA-extractable micronutrients (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn), was undertaken in 78 surface soil samples of vegetable growing area of Jammu district. The soil samples were collected and analyzed for DTPA- extractable Iron, Copper, Zinc and Manganese. The results revealed that DTPA-extractable Copper, Zinc, Manganese and Iron were varied from 0.04 – 3.67, 0.02 – 1.17, 1.29 – 10.30 and 2.39 – 40.75 with mean values of 0.77, 0.23, 4.47 and 21.19 mg kg-1, respectively. The available (DTPA-extractable) Zn related significantly with pH (0.253*), EC (-0.456**) and organic carbon (-0.578**). The available (DTPA-extractable) Cu related significantly with pH (-0.289**) and OC (-0.306**). The available (DTPAextractable) Fe related significantly with pH (-0.294*) and O C (-0.363**).The available (DTPA-extractable) Zn related significantly with silt (-0.367*) and clay (0.345**). Other physiochemical properties of soil showed neither negative nor positive relationship with any micronutrients. About 90% zinc deficiency was observed in the surface samples whereas about 12% soils were deficient in available copper. However, DTPA-extractable Mn and Fe in these samples were sufficient. KEY WORDS: Micronutrient deficiency, zinc, soil, vegetable Vegetables occupy a significant role in the realm of Jammu farming community in order to boost up production per unit area and per unit time. Vegetables are good source of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins etc. Hence, they are reckoned as protective food essential for human health. They are the best source of revenue earners for promoting economic status especially of marginal and small farming community as well as promoting national income. Micronutrient deficiency is considered as one of the major causes of the declining productivity trends observed in vegetable growing countries. It is well known that Zn deficiency is predominant in lowland ecosystems. Micronutrient management is one of the most Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

important practices for profitable cultivation of any vegetable crop through maintaining soil health (Rattan et al., 2009). The available micronutrient status of soils is also highly variable. Soil properties exercise a considerable influence on the availability of micronutrients. Chhabra et al. (1996) studies that available Mn and Fe decreased with soil pH and available Cu increased with clay and OC content and available Fe decreased with sand content. Perveenet al. (1993) studied micronutrient status of some frontier province, Pakistan, and their relationship with various physic-chemical properties for 30 soil series. DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn ranged from 0.36-1.84, 0.51-7.92, 3.08-51.00, and 0.23-23.75 mg kg-1, re-

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spectively. Zn was deficient in 4 soil series, marginal in 16 and remaining soils. Copper and iron were sufficient in all soils, and Mn deficient in only one soil series. Zn and Cu were positively and significantly correlated with OC and clay content, respectively. Proper micronutrient management of the vegetable crop is a key to minimize crop yield reduction induced by its deficiency. Therefore, the extent of micronutrient deficiency varies not only in J&K state and districts but also in different blocks within the same district depending upon the soil characteristics and other management conditions. Since no systematic information is yet available on status of micronutrient in vegetable growing area soil of Jammu. The present work was conducted to assess the status of micronutrient in vegetable growing area of Jammu. There is a general lack of awareness among farmers on micronutrient deficiency problem.

MATERIALS AND METHODS A study on DTPA-extractable micronutrients (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) was undertaken by collecting soil samples from 78 different vegetable growing locations of Jammu districtcomprising of four blocks(R.S. Pura, Marh, Khourand Bishnan).Vegetablegrowing surface (0-20 cm) soil sample were collected and processed. These samples were analyzed for pH, EC,OC,CEC by standard methods (Jackson, 1973).These soil samples were also extracted with DTPA solution (0.005M + 0.01M CaCl2+ 0.1 M Triethanolamine, pH 7.3) as described by Lindsay and Norvell (1978) for available micronutrient cations (Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn). The Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn in extracts were estimated using atomic absorption spectrophotometer Model, Z2300 (Hitachi).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Physico-chemical Properties The data on some important soil properties are presented in Table 1. The results showed that majority of the soil sites were alkaline and neutral in reaction. Considering textural classes most of the soils varied sandy clay loam to clay loam. The soil pH value (1.25) ranged between 5.91 and8.72 with overall a mean value of 7.27 whereas electrical conductivity (EC) of these soils varied between 0.10 and 0.39 dSm-1 with a mean value of 0.23 dSm-1, respectively. The soil organic carbon content was ranged between 0.30 to 0.76% with overall mean value of 0.51gkg-1. The values of CEC varied between 6.56 to 24.22 [cmol(p+)kg-1] for these vegetable growing soils.

Micronutrients status of soils The available DTPA-extractable available macronu-

trient status of the vegetable growing soils of the Jammu district is inserted in Table 2. AvailableDTPA-Zn: The DTPA- extractable zinc in the soil ranged from 0.02 to 1.17 mg kg-1 with average value of 0.23 mg kg-1. The high amount may have resulted from high organic matter content and more weathered soil conditions.The higher value in Marh soils might be due to higher content of organic carbon as well as finer fraction of soils leading to increase in the surface area for ion exchange and hence contributed to the higher amount of DTPA-Zn in these soils (Sharma et al., 2003). Correlation studies (Table 3) revealed that negative relation with EC, organic carbon, CEC, sand, silt and clay (Sharma et al., 1996).The available Zn in soil has been found significant and positive relationship with pH and negatively and significantly relationship with EC of the soil (r = 0.253*and -0.456**), thereby indicating that availability of Zn decreases with increase in soil pH, which is in line with that Sahaet al. (1996). These results were also similar to the findings of Yadav and Meena (2009). On the basis of the critical limits 0.6 mgkg-1 suggested by Lindsay and Norvell(1978), 92 percent soil samples were deficient and 8 percent samples sufficient in available Zn in these soils. Available DTPA-Cu: The DTPA- Cu ranged from 0.04 to 3.67 mg kg-1 with a mean value of 0.77 mg kg-1, respectively. Copper and soil pH was negatively and significantly correlated with r value of -0.289** indicating that a decline in pH of the soil leads to significant increase in copper availability. A negatively and significantly correlation (r = -0.306**) between extractable-Cu indicating that an organic carbon affected the availability of Cu in the soil with results that of Jalaliet al. (1989). Copper was also positively and significantly correlated with sand (r = 0.256*). Correlation study indicated a negative relationship with EC, organic carbon, CEC, silt and clay. Similar finding were also reported by Nazilet al. (2006). Considering 0.20 mg kg-1 as critical limit (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978), the studied soils samples were 8 percent deficient and 92 percent sufficient in DTPA-Cu all soil association of Jammu district. Available DTPA-Mn: Available manganese content of the soils varied from 2.39 to 40.75mg kg-1 with mean value of 21.19 mg kg-1. This higher value might be due to better supply of manganese to vegetable soils because Mn is soluble under relatively acidic and reducing conditions. Higher organic carbon may further increase the DTPA extractable Mn content in soil. Besides, Kirmaniet al. (2011) also subscribed similar type of results. Manganese had negative correlation with soil pH, EC, organic carbon, sand, silt and clay. The result was positive non-significant. The positive correlation between Mn and CEC of the soils 0.206* might be due to the fact that with increasing clay, organic carbon and


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Table 1: Range and average values of important physico-chemical properties of vegetable growing soils of Jammu district Block

pH

EC (dSm-1)

OC (%)

CEC [cmol(p+)kg-1]

Sand (%)

Silt (%)

Clay (%)

R. S. Pura

6.79-8.68 (7.46)

0.12-0.37 (0.25)

0.40-0.66 (0.57)

6.56-21.24 (12.96)

22.00-38.08 (30.42)

11.52-43.60 (27.72)

20.32-66.16 (41.86)

Marh

6.04-8.67 (7.37)

0.11-0.37 (0.23)

0.32-0.67 (0.55)

8.54-24.22 (13.45)

22.32-56.30 (35.72)

14.00-38.40 (27.79)

27.70-63.16 (35.83)

Khour

5.91-7.77 (6.96)

0.11-0.34 (0.21)

0.34-0.76 (0.44)

10.24-18.70 (13.12)

22.00-40.40 (30.29)

13.52-43.60 (27.40)

20.32-61.52 (41.87)

Bishnah

6.60-8.72 (7.42)

0.19-0.39 (0.28)

0.31-0.66 (0.50)

9.87-18.54 (12.93)

23.20-56.30 (38.78)

14.00-38.40 (26.67)

27.70-48.80 (33.75)

Overall Mean

5.91-8.72 (7.27)

0.10-0.39 (0.23)

0.30-0.76 (0.51)

6.56-24.22 (13.20)

22.00-56.30 (33.57)

11.52-43.60 (27.52)

20.32-66.16 (38.36)

*Figure in parenthesis indicates mean value

Table 2: Status of available DTPA-extractable cationic micronutrients (mg kg-1) of tested soil samples of district Jammu Block

Fe

Mn

Zn

Cu

2.13-8.93 (5.12)

13.41-29.34 (21.44)

pH

0.253*

-0.289** -0.294** -0.121

0.04-1.18 0.21-0.98 1.75-10.22 (0.28) (0.74) (4.77)

6.66-40.76 (25.83)

EC (dsm-1)

-0.456** -0.157

OC (%)

-0.578** -0.306** 0.363**

-0.091

Khour

0.02-0.25 0.11-3.67 1.30-10.30 (0.06) (1.18) (4.14)

2.86-40.23 (18.08)

CEC [cmol(p+)kg-1]

-0.107

-0.162

-0.077

0.103

Sand (%)

0.190

-0.184

0.042

0.072

Bishnah

0.08-0.42 0.05-0.75 (0.31) (0.32)

2.23-6.17 (3.36)

2.40-29.64 (12.76)

Silt (%)

-0.367*

0.022

0.050

-0.102

Clay (%)

0.345**

0.133

0.051

0.013

Overall Mean

0.02-1.17 0.04-3.67 1.29-10.30 (0.23) (0.77) (4.47)

2.39-40.75 (21.19)

R. S. Pura Marh

Zn

Cu

Table 3: Correlation coefficients of available DTPA-extractable cationic micronutrients with soil properties vegetablegrowing soils

0.14-0.80 0.19-0.96 (0.33) (0.54)

Fe -0.166

Mn -0.091

*Significant at 5%level; **Significant at 1%level

*Figure in parenthesis indicates mean value CEC, more number of exchange sites would be available for retention of Mn and subsequently more release of Mn into the soil solution from exchange sites (Sharma and Choudhary, 2007). Considering 2.0 mg kg-1 as a critical limit for Mn deficiency (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978), 92 percent of the soils has sufficient amount of available Mn to sustain basmati crop. Available DTPA-Fe: Available DTPA-Fe content of the soils under vegetable growing areas varied from 1.29 to 10.30 mg kg-1 with a mean value of 4.47 mg kg-1. These results are in conformity with that of Kirmaniet al. (2011). DTPA-Fe bears negative and significant relationship with pH (r = -0.273**). DTPA-Fe bears significant relationship with organic carbon (r = 0.363**). This indicates that soils rich in organic carbonare likely to have higher Fe content. It can be ob-

served that Fe like the other micronutrients,i.e., Cu and Mn decreases with the increase in soil pH. These results were supported by Chinchmalatpureet al. (2000). DTPA-Fe was positively and significantly correlated with organic carbon content of soil. These might be due to formation of organic chelating agents which could have transformed in soluble phase of Fe into soluble metallic complexes, Patiramet al. (2000). The result was positive non-significant as have been observed by Sharma et al. (1996). Considering critical limits of 4.5 mg kg-1, (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978), soil samples were 12 percent deficient and 88 percent samples sufficient in available Fe in these basmati growing soils. Therefore there is urgent need of proper management of available Zn in these vegetable growing soils of Jammu for quality and yield.

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REFERENCES Chhabra, G.; Srivastava, P.C.;Ghosh, D. and Agnihotri, A.K. 1996. Distribution of available micronutrient cations as related to soil properties in different soil zones of Gola-Kosiinterbasin. Crop Res.,11: 296-303. Chinchmalatpure, A.R., BrijLal.;Challa, O. andSehgal, J. 2000.Available micronutrient status of soils on different parent materials and landforms in a microwatershed of Wunna catchment near Nagpur (Maharashtra).Agropedology,10: 53-58. Jackson, M.L. 1973. Soil Chemical Analysis: Advanced Course. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Jalali, V.K.;Talib, A.R. and Takkar, P.N. 1989. Distribution of micronutrients in some benchmark soils of Kashmir at different altitudes. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci.,37: 465-469. Kirmani, N.A.;Sofi, J.A.;Bhat, M.A.;Bangroo, S.A. and Bhat, S.A. 2011.Soil micronutrient status of district Budgam.Res. J. Ag. Sci.,2: 30-32. Lindsay, W.L. and Norvell, W.A. 1978. Development of DTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.,42: 421–428. Nazif,Wajahat;Perveen,Sajida and Saleem,Ifikhar 2006. Status of micronutrients in soils of district Bhimber (Azad Jammu and Kashmir).J. Ag. Biol. Sci.,8: 35-40. Perveen, S.; M. Tariq,Farmanullah;Khattak, J.K. and Hamid, A. 1993.Study of micronutrient status of some important sites of N.W.F.P., Pakistan.Sarhad J. Ag.,9: 467-473. Patiram, R.;Upadhyaya, C.; Singh, C.S.;Munna, R. and

Ram, M. 2000.Micronutrient cation status of mandarin (Citrus reticulate Blanco) orchards of Sikkim.J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 48: 246-249. Rattan, R.K.; Patel, K.P.; Manjaiah, K.M. and Datta, S.P. 2009.Micronutrient in soil, plant animal and human health.J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 57: 546-558. Sharma, B.D.;Sidhu, P.S.; Singh, G.; Mukhopadhyay, S.S. and Singh, G. 1996.Elemental distribution and mineralogy of arid zone soils of Punjab.J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 55: 40-44. Sharma, R.P.; Singh, M. and Sharma, J.P. 2003. Correlation studies on micronutrients vis-à-vis soil properties in some soils of Nagpur district in semi-arid region of Rajasthan. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci.,51: 522-527. Sharma, J.C., and Chaudhary, S.K. 2007.Vertical distribution of micronutrient cations in relation to soil characteristics in lower Shiwaliks of Solan district in North-West Himalayas.J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 44(4): 746-752. Takkar, P.N. and Mann, M.S. 1975. Evaluation of analytical methods of estimation of available Zinc and response of applied zinc in major soil series of Ludhiana, Punjab.Agrochmica,19: 420-430. Venkatesh, M.S.;Majumdar, B; Kumar, K. and Patiram 2003. Status of micronutrient cations under various land use systems of Meghalaya. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci.,51: 60-64. Yadav, R.L. and Meena, M.C. 2009. Available micronutrients status and their relationship with soil properties of Degana soil series of Rajasthan. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci.,57: 90-92.

Received on 11 September 2013 and accepted on 14 June 2014


[Research Article]

Effect of bio-fertilizers and zinc on growth, yield and quality of sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleraceae var. italica L.) Sohan Lal1, S.P. Singh2, T.V. Yadav1 and A.K. Meena1

SKN College of Agriculture, Jobner, Rajasthan 303329, India Dept. of Horticulture, SKN College of Agriculture, Jobner, Rajasthan- 303329 Dept. of Horticulture, SKN College of Agriculture, Jobner, Rajasthan-303329 2 E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

From the study on effect of bio-fertilizers on growth, yield and quality of sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleraceae var. italica L.) it is established that application of different bio-fertilizers and zinc levels enhanced the growth, yield and quality of sprouting broccoli except days taken to central head initiation in comparison to control. Application of 20 kg ZnSo4 and inoculation with Azotobacter +PSB was observed the best treatment in terms of yield of broccoli head yield (223.40 q/ha and 237.15 q/ha), net returns (Rs. 293233 and Rs. 313335) and B:C ratio (7.00:1 and 7.39:1). KEY WORDS: Sprouting broccoli, bio-fertilizers, zinc, Azotobacter, PSB sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica L.) is acole crop which belongs to the family Cruciferae and is native to Italy. the United States is the largest producer of sprouting broccoli. The name broccoli is derived from the Latin word “brachium” which means arm or branch. It had been used as vegetable in Italy from past many decades but their economic importance became appreciable only after the thirties of twentieth century when this vegetable became popular in the U.S.A. It is a winter season vegetable in India, commonly known as Harigobhi. It is also important crop under protected cultivation during off season. Broccoli is cultivated in hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh, uttar pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Nilgiri Hills and northern plains of India.Morphologically, sprouting broccoli resembles cauliflower except secondary heads which develops in the axils of leaves and may contribute upto 50 per cent of the total yield. There are three types of broccoli, viz., green, white and purple. Among the cole crops, the sprouting broccoli is highly nutritious as compared to others. It contains carbohydrates (5.5 %), protein (3.3 %), vitamin-A (3500 IU), vitamin-C (137 mg), vitamin-B1 (0.05 mg), vitamin-B2 (0.12 mg), calcium (0.80 mg) and phosphorus (0.79 mg). broccoli has 4.0, 2.5 and 2.0 times more riboflavin, calcium and ascorbic acid contents, respectively as compared to cauliflower (Hazra and Som, 1999). It is also rich source Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

of sulphoraphane, which exhibits anti-cancer and antimicrobial properties. The bio-availability of β-carotene is 22 per cent in combination of fatty foods with carotenoid rich vegetables, which enhances the carotenoids uptake. carotenoids are powerful antioxidants that may reduce the incidence of cancer and coronary heart disease. Broccoli is used as curries, soups, pickles and also eaten as a salad and cooked as a sole or mixed vegetable with potato (Thamburaj and Singh, 2001). Biofertilizers include a range of nitrogen fixers, viz., Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillium, Blue Green Algae and Azolla. In inoculated plants, the fixing of atmospheric nitrogen and its effectiveness increases with the addition of nitrogen at the lower level (Subbiah 1991;Wange et al., 1995). In addition, there are other biofertilizers, Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB), phosphate solubilizing fungi and vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizea (VAM). Besides increasing phosphate levels, VAM is also known to increase the levels of important micronutrients like copper and zinc in the plant parts of vegetables. These biofertilizers are organic in origin and thus are absolutely safe, therefore, it is essential to adopt a strategy of integrated nutrient management. The integrated nutrient management supply system provides crop nutrition packages, which are technically sound, economically viable, practically feasible and environmentally safe. The plant is greatly in-

100

fluenced by a wide range of nutrients. Among these, zinc is an essential micro nutrient to increase the production and is taken up by the plants in ionic form (Zn++). Zinc is applied in the form of zinc sulphate that is principal salt used as fertilizers. Zinc is essential for the synthesis of tryptophan, precursor of IAA, which is essential for normal cell division and helps in the formation of chlorophyll. Zn deficiencies cause interveinalchlorosis, reduced root growth, shortened internodes and chlorotic areas on older leaves (Shanmugavelu, 1989). Hence,. It was taken under study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted during 2011-12 at Horticulture farm, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner (Jaipur) during rabi season. The soil of experimental field was alkaline loamy sand in texture at pH 8.1, poor in organic carbon (0.135%), available N (134.70 kg/ha), P (16.85 kg/ha), K (151.65 kg/ha) and Zn (0.42 mg/kg soil). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) and comprised of 16 treatment combinations consisting four levels of bio-fertilizers (Control, Azotobacter, PSB, Azotobacter + PSB) and four levels of zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg/ha) with 3 replications. Randomization of the treatments was done with the help of random number table as advocated by Fisher (1950). The plot size was 1.8 m × 1.8 m with 45 cm × 45 cm spacing between rows and plants accommodating 16 plants per plot. 2.0 ml of azotomeal is mixed in a litre of water then seedlings were dipped in the solution for 20 minutes before transplanting for Azotobacterapplication. PSB was applied to seedlings by dipping for 20-30 min in 15-20 litres of diluted phosphomeal (2-3 ml phosphomealperlitre of water) just before planting. Same procedures were followed to apply combined treatment of Azotobacter + PSB. The weighed quantity of zinc sulphate(ZnSO4) was mixed with soil and incorporated uniformly in each plot as per treatment assigned. Growth attributes like number of leaves per plant and leaf area (cm2) of five tagged plants were counted from each plot and the average numbers of leaves per plant and leaf area were calculated. Plant height of five tagged plants was recorded from base level to apex of the longest leaf with the help of metre scaleat 40 and 60 days after transplanting and average height was calculated. Total chlorophyll content was estimated with the method as recommended by Arnon (1949). Weight and volume of central head and secondary head were taken from tagged plants after removing stem and leaves from each plot and average weight was calculated. Biological yield of plant (kg) and Total number of secondary heads were calculated in tagged plants. total head yield obtained after four pickings during the season has been presented


on hectare basis. vitamin-C content in head (mg/100 g) was estimated by diluting the known volume of juice with 3% meta-phosphoric acid and titrating with 2,6-dichlorophenol-indo-phenol solution (A.O.A.C., 1960), till the faint pink colour was obtained.Nitrogen content was estimatedby wet digestion of head sample with H2SO4 and H2O2 and then colorimetric determination was performed after development of yellow colour with Nesseler’s reagent (Snell and Snell, 1949). Nitrogen content is multiplied with 6.25 factor to calculate crude protein content in head (A.O.A.C., 1960). Phosphorus content in the broccoli head was determined by wet digestion of sample with diacid mixture (nitric acid and perchloric acid in ratio of 9:4) as outlined by Jackson, 1967. Potassium content in the head of broccoli was estimated by wet digestion of sample with H2SO4 and analysis of aliquot was made on flamephotometer (Metson, 1956). for zinc, head samples were analyzed separately by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) method (Lindsay and Norwell, 1978).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Effect of bio-fertilizers (i) Growth attributes The significant increase in a plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and chlorophyll content was observed due to inoculation of Azotobacterover control (Table 1) which improved nitrogen status of the soil,as they are free nitrogen fixers. Nitrogen is the major plant nutrient and combined inoculation of nitrogen fixers benefit more than either group of organisms. Thus efficient and healthy strains of Azotobacter in the rhizosphere cause greater fixation of atmospheric nitrogen consequently resulting in vigorous growth of plant. inoculation of PSB significantly increased the plant height and number of leaves, leaf area and chlorophyll content over control, since phosphorus is one of the essential nutrient and it’s availability in an adequate amount leads to better growth and reproduction in the plants. Inoculation with PSB enhances phosphorus availability through solubilisation of insoluble phosphorus through excretion of organic acids like succinic, lactic, oxalic, glioxalic malic, formalic, ∝-ketobutyric, propenic, formic, 2-ketogluconic acid etc. Out of these latic and 2-ketogluconic acids acts as chelaters of calcium (Abbas and Oxan, 1993). Adequate utilization due to direct supply and/or solubilizing of native and added phosphorus by the PSB microorganisms at early stages of plant life played a vital role in laying down the root primodia for a reproductive portion (Saraf et al., 1997). In addition to solubilisation, these microbes mineralized organic phosphorus in soluble


form and also improves availability of phosphorus in alkaline soils (Bareth, 1998), thereby, increasing their utility in problematic soils as well. these results are inclose conformity with the findings of Gajbhiyeet al. (2003) in tomato. The combined inoculation of Azotobacter + PSB proved significantly superior to Azotobacter, PSB in terms of growth parameters,viz., plan height, leaf area and chlorophyll content. Azotobacter + PSB might have improved both nitrogen and available phosphorus in rhizosphere as they are free nitrogen fixers and phosphate solubilizers, respectively. The combined inoculation of nitrogen fixer and PSB benefits the plant more than either group of organisms alone (Shrivastava and Ahalawat, 1995).

(ii) yield attributes and yield Azotobacter is known to produce antibiotic and antifungal substances which inhibit varieties of soil fungi. It can also synthesize and secretethiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamine, nicotinic acid, pentatonic acid, indole acetic acid and gibberellins or gibberellins like substances resulting in vigorous plant growth and dry matter. It also resulted in better fertilization, head formation and ultimately the higher yield. Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) nourishes the crops and soil by liberating the growth promoting substances and vitamins. The improvement in yield characters in sprouting broccoli with inoculation of PSB may be due to solubilization and increased availability of phosphorus from insoluble or otherwise fixed phosphorus for its plant availability, as observed by Tanwaret al. (2003) in cabbage. The beneficial effects of PSB along with other nutrients increased yield of crop,might be due to higher rate in partitioning of different reproductive structure, which might have ultimately resultedin higher yield of the crop. These findings corroborate the results as reported byChattopadhya and Dutta (2003), Rajput and Pandey (2004) and Nagar and Meena (2004). The combined inoculation of Azotobacter+ PSB significantly enhanced the yield attributes and yield of broccoli over control, Azotobacterand PSB. The increased availability of nitrogen due to Azotobactercoupled with phosphorus due to PSB might have increased the yield attributes and ultimately the yield. These findings are in consonance to those as reported byChalka (1999) and Khandelwal and Pareek (2007).

(iii)

Quality parameters

Application of Azotobacter had significant effect on nitrogen content, protein content and ascorbic acid content over control. It may bebecause of these biofertilizers add nitrogen to the soil. Thus, nitrogen content increased significantly in head. Due to it nitrogencontent increased, along with protein content. Ascorbic acid

101

content also increased by the use of biofertilizeras they had role in adding nitrogen to the soil. Nitrogen being component of chlorophyll, perhaps imparted deep green colourto the foliage which might increase the photosynthetic activity of plant. So might be there greater accumulation of food material,i.e., carbohydrates in head leading to more synthesis of ascorbic acid. A significant increase in N, P, K and Zn content were recorded with the inoculation of Azotobacter, PSB and dual inoculation of Azotobacter+ PSB over control. The maximum increase in all these quality parameters were observed with PSB inoculation (Table 3), which might be due to improved nutrient availability in the root zone and solubilization of the native phosphate status of the soil by PSB. Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria enhances the availability of phosphorus to plants and gives rise to better utilization of nutrients by the crop which might have inturn greater root development, nodulation and higher N-fixation in the soil. Thus, the increase in availability of N and P might have resulted in greater contentin broccoli head (Tanwar et al., 2003; Sibbal et al., 2003). The nutrient content in head may be due to higher functional activity of microbes in the root zone for longer duration under inoculation of PSB (Dadhich et al., 2001;Vikram and Hemzehzarghani, 2008). The combined inoculation with Azotobacter+ PSB was more beneficial in enhancing all the above parameters might due to increased solubility of phosphorus and higher nitrogen fixation, leading to increased availability of nitrogen and phosphorus. The greater uptake of nutrient and phosphorus might be reasonfor increased content of these nutrients in head. These results corroborate the findings as of Gained and Gaur (1991) and Kalyaniet al. (1992).

Effect of zinc (i) growth parameters The application of increasing level of zinc upto 30 kg/ha significantly increased the plant height and number of leaves per plant (Table 1). whereas, chlorophyll content and leaf area increased significantly with the increasing level of zinc upto 20 kg/ha. The favourable influence of applied zinc on these characters may be attributed to its catalytic effect on most of the physiological and metabolic processes of plant. Zinc is also an essential component of enzymes responsible for assimilation of nitrogen which helps in chlorophyll formation and plays important role in nitrogen metabolism thereby resulting into increased uptake of nitrogen by the plants. The micronutrient is helpful in improving the growth by playing a role in cellular oxidation, the fundamental process involved in the cell metabolism and respiration (Dube et al., 2003). Also this micro element act as a catalytic agent in oxidation-reduction processes and the auxin content

102


of plant got improved in its presence (Singh and singh, 2004). Increase in growth attributes might be due to the fact that besides the role of zinc in chlorophyll formation, it perhaps influenced cell division, meristematic activity of tissues, and expansion of cell and formation of cell wall. Similar results were also reported by Singh and Ram (2001).

(ii) yield attributes and yield The results indicate that application of increasing levels of zinc upto 30 kg/ha significantly increased the average weight of central head, secondary head per plant and volume of central head (Table 2). Whereas, biological yield per plant, total head yield per plot and per hectare and total number of secondary head increased significantly with the increased level of zinc upto 20 kg/ ha. This might be possible due to increased supply of zinc through soil application that perhaps improved the availability of zinc in the plant together with other plant food elements. Zinc has been suggested to play an important role in regulating the auxin concentration in plants. Besides this, zinc also enhances the absorption of essential element by increasing the cation exchange capacity (C.E.C.) of roots. Thus, the application of zinc in a soil with deficient zinc content show improved overall growth and development of plant and ultimately the head and total biomass yield. The application of different levels of zinc increased the total yield of broccoli.

these results are in close conformity with the finding as reported by Ram et al. (2000), Raj et al. (2001) and Raghav and Singh (2004).

(iii)

Quality parameters

The vitamin C content, crude protein, N, P, K and Zn content in head (Table 3) increased significantly by the application of zinc upto30 kg /ha.The initial available zinc status of the experimental soil was below the critical limits,i.e., 0.5 ppm DTPA zinc. Thus, the application of zinc in soil increased the availability of zinc in the rhizosphere. The magnificent role of zinc in increasing the metabolic and physiological activities of the plant, as it influences the nitrogen metabolism, chlorophyll formation and auxinconcentration in the plants, is of paramount importance. The beneficial role of zinc in increasing CEC of roots might help in increasing absorption of nutrient from the soil. Further, the beneficial role of Zn in chlorophyll formation, regulating auxin concentration and its stimulatory effect on most of the physiological and metabolic processes of the plant, might have helped plants in absorption of greater amount of nutrients from the soil. Thus, the favourable effect of zinc on photosynthesis and metabolic processes augmented the production of photosynthesis and their translocation to different plant parts, which ultimately increased the concentration of nutrients in the plant. Similar results were also reported by Yadavet al. (1999) and Chhippaet al. (2005).

Table 1: Effect of bio-fertilizers and zinc on growth attributes of sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleraceae var. italica L.) Treatments

Plant height (cm)

Number of leaves per plant

Days taken to head initiation

Leaf area (cm2)

Chlorophyll content in head at harvest (mg/100 g)

40 DAT

60 DAT

Control

21.60

39.45

22.20

46.10

695.10

1.90

Azotobacter

24.80

44.60

24.50

47.50

770.33

2.20

Bio-fertilizers

PSB

26.20

46.15

26.10

48.00

835.20

2.28

Azotobacter+PSB

28.70

49.75

29.40

50.10

898.98

2.44

SEm+

0.65

1.11

0.67

1.10

20.78

0.05

Cd (P = 0.05)

1.87

3.19

1.93

NS

59.85

0.15

20.69

38.34

21.43

44.14

681.15

1.88

Zincsulphate(ZnSO4) Control

10 kg/ha

21.60

43.76

24.59

45.08

767.54

2.14

20 kg/ha

24.80

47.26

27.06

50.89

847.19

2.34

30 kg/ha

26.20

50.58

29.09

51.61

903.13

2.46

SEm+

28.70

1.11

0.67

1.10

20.78

0.05

Cd (P = 0.05)

0.65

3.19

1.93

NS

59.85

0.15


103

Table 2: Effect of bio-fertilizers and zinc on yield and yield attributes of sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleraceae var. italica L.) Treatments

Average weight of central head (g)

Average weight of secondary head (g)

Control

246.05

146.01

Azotobacter

272.01

PSB

Volume of central head (cc)

Biological yield per plant (kg)

Total number of secondary heads per plant

Total head yield per plot (kg)

Total head yield per hectare (q)

84.45

1.40

6.25

5.87

175.21

160.15

94.20

1.52

7.83

6.68

200.84

282.10

170.05

99.10

1.59

8.25

7.16

215.43

Azotobacter+PSB

306.15

187.10

106.60

1.73

9.83

7.76

237.15

SEm+

7.10

4.31

2.28

0.04

0.26

0.17

5.02

Cd (P = 0.05)

20.44

12.42

6.58

0.11

0.76

0.49

14.51

Control

235.33

141.06

81.81

1.33

6.72

5.86

168.79

10 kg/ha

265.10

159.06

92.21

1.50

7.83

6.65

205.57

20 kg/ha

291.92

174.96

101.61

1.65

8.67

7.23

223.40

30 kg/ha

313.45

187.92

108.73

1.77

8.75

7.33

230.88

SEm+

7.10

4.31

2.28

0.04

0.26

0.17

5.02

Cd (P = 0.05)

20.44

12.42

6.58

0.11

0.76

0.49

14.51

Bio-fertilizers

Zinc sulphate(ZnSO4)

Table 3: Effect of bio-fertilizers and zinc on quality attributes and economics of sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleraceae var. italica L.) Treatments

Vitamin C content in head (mg 100 g-1)

Crude protein content in head (%)

Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Zn content content content content (%) (%) (%) (ppm)

Net returns (Rs/ha)

B:C ratio

Control

68.45

1.68

0.259

0.062

0.235

12.30

221496

5.36

Azotobacter

74.15

2.00

0.321

0.068

0.256

15.55

259582

6.23

PSB

77.10

1.93

0.309

Azotobacter+PSB

82.50

2.27

0.363

0.071

0.268

16.60

281117

6.69

0.076

0.285

18.09

313335

7.39

SEm+

1.75

0.05

0.007

0.0014

0.006

0.38

4590

0.13

Cd (P = 0.05)

5.03

0.13

0.021

0.0041

0.018

1.09

12852

0.38

Control

10 kg/ha

64.28

1.73

0.277

0.078

0.217

13.29

230941

5.06

72.47

1.93

0.308

0.071

0.250

15.02

265501

6.36

20 kg/ha

79.90

2.08

0.332

0.066

0.276

16.53

293233

7.00

30 kg/ha

85.55

2.15

0.341

0.062

0.301

17.70

304356

7.25

SEm+

1.75

0.05

0.007

0.0014

0.006

0.38

4590

0.13

Cd (P = 0.05)

5.03

0.13

0.022

0.0041

0.018

1.09

12852

0.38

Bio-fertilizers

Zinc sulphate(ZnSO4)

104

Economics Data presented in Table 3 showed that inoculation of Azotobacter+ PSB and 20 kg zinc/ha were having significance in terms of net returns (Rs. 3,13,335 and Rs. 2,93,233) and Benefit:Cost ratio (7.39:1 and 7.00:1). Application of 20 kg ZnSo4 and inoculation with Azotobacter +PSB may be considered as best treatment in terms of broccoli head(223.40 q/ha and 237.15 q/ha), net returns (Rs 2,93,233 and Rs. 3,13,335) and B:C ratio (7.00:1 and 7.39:1), respectively.The optimum dose of ZnSo4 was found 28.763 kg/ha to have production of better quality of head of broccoli.

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Chhippa, B.G. 2005.Effect of different levels of sulphur and zinc on growth and yield of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.).M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis, S.K.N. College of agriculture, Jobner, RAU, Bikaner. Dadhich, L.K.; Gupta, A.K. and Sharma, H.S. 2001.Yield and quality of clusterbean as influenced by molybdenum and phosphorus.Advan. Plant Sci.,14: 205-208. Dube, B.K.,sinha, P. and Chatterjee, C. 2003. Effect of zinc on yield and quality of tomato.Indian J.Hort.,60: 59-63.

Raj, G.B.;Patnaik, M.C.; Reddy, I.P. and Rao, A.P. 2001. Response of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) to zinc and iron.Veg. Sci.,28: 80-81. Rajput, R.L. and Pandey, R.N. 2004. Effect of method of application of bio-fertilizers on yield of pea (Pisumsativum). Legume Res.,27: 75-76. Ram, A.s.; Malik, Y.S. and Baswana, K.S. 2000. Effect of nitrogen and zinc on radish (Raphanus sativus L.) under sodic water condition. Haryana J.Hort. Sci.,29: 116-117.

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vegetable crops.Oxford and IBH Pub. Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, pp. 108-343. Shrivastava, T.K. and Ahlawat, I.P.S. 1995. Response of pea to phosphorus, molybdenum and biofertilizers. Indian J.Agron.,40: 630-635. Sibbal, A.; Gupta, R.P.;Pandher, M.S. and Kanwar, S.S. 2002.Effect of Rhizobium culture inoculation on different pea (Pisum sativum) varieties.Legume Res.,25: 21-26. Singh, A.K. and Ram, H. 2001. Effect of phosphorus and zinc on yield and quality of mungbean.Annals Plant Soil Res.,3: 307-309. Snell, P.D. and Snell, G.T. 1949. Colorimetric Methods of Analysis, 3rd Ed. Vol. II, Dvan.Nastrand Inc., New York. Subbiah, K. 1991. Studies on the effect of nitrogen and Azospirillium on okra.South Indian Hort.,39: 37-44. Tanwar, S.P.S.; Sharma, G.L. and Chahar, M.S. 2003.Ef-

fect of phosphorus and biofetilizer on yield, nutrient concentration and uptake by blackgram (Vigna mungo L. Hepper).Legume Res.,26: 39-41. Thamburaj, S. and Singh, N. 2001.Vegetables, Tuber Crops and Spices.Directorate of information and publications of agriculture, ICAR, New Delhi, 137 p. Vikram, A. and Hamzehzarghani, H. 2008. Effect of phosphate solubilizing bacteria on nodulation and growth parameters of greengram (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek). Res. J.Microbio.,3: 62-72. Wange, S.S.;Patil, P.L.;Mehar, B.B. and Karkeli, M.S. 1995.Response of cabbage to microbial inoculants and increasing levels of nitrogen.J. Maharashtra Ag. Univ.,20: 429-430. Yadav, P.V.S.; Singh, N.K. and Tikkoo, A. 1999.Effect of zinc and boron application on yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill). Haryana J. Hort. Sci.,28: 241-243.

Received on 06 May 2013 and accepted on 13 January 2014


[Research Article]

Effect of foliar application of zinc on yield and quality of cabbage in Kymore plateau and Satpura hills of Madhya Pradesh A.K. Singh1, S.R.K. Singh2, U.S. Gautam2, A.P. Dwivedi2, Jai Singh3 and A.K. Tomar4

JNKVV, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Narsinghpur (M.P.),2Zonal Project Directorate, Zone-VII, ICAR, JNKVV campus, Adhartal, Jabalpur (M.P.), 3JNKVV, KrishiVigyan Kendra, Sidhi (M.P.), 4Food Science& Technology Division, College of Agriculture, JNKVV, Jabalpur (M.P.) Email : [email protected] 1

ABSTRACT

Cabbage is an important vegetable crop and zinc plays important role in yield enhancement. On farm trials were conducted at farmer’s field in Lingari village under Bahoriband block of Katni district to assess the influence of foliar application of zinc on yield and quality of cabbage during the years 2007-08 and 2008-09. Five treatments, viz., T1(Farmer’s practice-N:P:K:Zn@ 68:57:0:0 kg/ha), T2(100% NPK+ two foliar sprays of Zn-50 ppm), T3(100% NPK+ two foliar sprays of Zn-100 ppm), T4(100% NPK+ three foliar sprays of Zn-50 ppm) and T5(100% NPK+ three foliar sprays of Zn-100 ppm) were assessed to find out the optimum dose of zinc as foliar application. T5 treatment was found best as it resulted significantly higher yield (380 q/ha) with compact and smooth heads over farmer’s practice (302.7 q/ha). A marginal increase in the cultivation cost under the T5 treatment over T1 increased the net profit more than Rs.22,000 per ha which indicates that it is economically viable. KEY WORDS: Zinc, foliar spray, yield, quality, cabbage head Adoption of high yielding cultivars, hybrids and suitable production technologies has remarkably contributed for higher production and productivity. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) is the fourth most widely grown vegetable crop in our country. It is a leafy green biennial, grown as an annual vegetable for its denseleaved heads. India is the leading country producing cabbage. The area under cabbage cultivation in India is 0.369 million ha producing 7.95million tone with the average productivity of 21.5 million tone/ha (Plant Variety Kumar et al., 2011). Fresh, dark green-leafy cabbage is incredibly nutritious; however, very low in fat and calories. The vegetable is the storehouse of phytochemicals like thiocyanates, indole-3-carbinol, lutein, zea-xanthin, sulforaphane, and isothiocyanates. Due to its high level of nutrient requirements, cabbage is prone to nutrient deficiencies, including boron, zinc, calcium, phosphorus and potassium (Bradley et al., 2009). Calcareous soils of Bihar, vertisols and inseptisols of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh and aridisols of Haryana have extensive deficiency of zinc resulting low crop yields. Deficiency of zinc among the micronutrients is widely spread all over India, as on today 49 percent of Indian soils are Zn deficient (Prasad, 2010). Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

The solubility of zinc is highly dependent on soil pH. Presence of calcium carbonate decreases the availability of zinc due to higher soil pH. The poor zinc availability in alkaline calcareous soil is precisely due to formation of zinc carbonate. High levels of soil phosphorus are also commonly responsible for zinc deficiency. Presence of excess amount of copper (Cu) can also reduce zinc availability because the absorption of both cations is through the same mechanism, which causes interference in the uptake. On the contrary, application of magnesium can enhance zinc availability and uptake by the roots (Mohammad et al., 2011). Foliar application is an effective practice for the application of some nutrients, since it uses low rates and the micronutrient does not directly contact the soil, avoiding losses through fixation. However, the narrow limit between phytotoxicity and deficiency brings the need for defining appropriate rates to be used. Zinc (Zn) is an important component of various enzymes that are responsible for driving many metabolic reactions in all crops. Growth and development would stop if specific enzymes were not present in plant tissue. Zinc, however, is needed in very small amounts therefore; it is classi-


fied as a micronutrient. For soil application, zinc sulphate is usually used as dry fertilizer before planting. However for foliar application, zinc chelates, zinc oxide and powdered zinc sulphate can be used for correcting deficiency. Plants can absorb a small amount of nutrients from dilute solutions sprayed on to the leaves. Since the amount of micronutrients needed by plants is very small, these can be supplied as foliar sprays, especially if nutrients are in chelated for better absorption. Plants can also absorb micronutrients through the leaves, but it is not possible to supply sufficient amounts this way; these must be taken up by the roots.

MATERIALS AND METHODS On farm trials were conducted during2007-08and 2008-09 on the farmer’s fields of Lingari village under Bahoriband block of Katni district to assess the influence of foliar application of zinc on cabbage with recommended doses of NPK fertilizers in rabi season. The trial was conducted on mixed red to shallow black soils at five locations in Randomized Block Design (RBD). The available N of study soils was in range of 130.5 to 181.3, available P10 to 18.3 and available K210.4 to 268.6 kg/ha at pre-planting stage. The pH2, EC2 and organic carbon of experimental soils ranged from 6.7 to 7.2, 0.18 to 0.26 dSm-1 and 0.25 to 0.38%, respectively. The Zn content was in range of 0.4 to 0.51 ppm in all the five locations of the study area. Five treatments comprising ofT1(Farmer’s practice-N:P:K:Zn@ 68:57:0:0 kg/ha), T2(100% NPK @ 120:80:60 kg/ha + two foliar sprays of Zn-50 ppm), T3 (100% NPK + two foliar sprays of Zn-100 ppm), T4 (100% NPK + three foliar sprays of Zn-50 ppm) and T5 (100% NPK + three foliar sprays of Zn-100 ppm) were assessed. Nitrogen was applied through urea (46% N), phosphorus through Di Ammonium Phosphate(46% P and 18% N) and potassium through Murate of potash (60% K). Full doses of P and K were applied as basal before transplanting,however, half dose of N was applied as basal and remaining was applied as top dressing in two split doses. The cabbage saplings were planted in first fortnight of July during 2007-08 and 2008-09at all the locations. Zinc was applied as foliar spray through zinc chelates at five days interval during cabbage head formation.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The data on per unit cabbage head and yield presented in Table 1. It is evident from the data that average weight per cabbage head increased in all the treatments over farmer’s practice (T1), however the difference was found to be non- significant. Per unit average cabbage head weight ranged from 867 to 1027 g. The lowest

107

value was observed in T1(farmer’s practice) and highest in T5. The increase in per cabbage head weight mainly attributed to balanced fertilizer application and foliar spray of Zn. These findings are in agreement with those of Mohammadet al. (2011), Kaya and Higgs (2002), Ved and Mishra (2002), Khurana and Chatterjee (2001) and Prasad (1995).

Table 1: Influence of foliar application of zinc on yield and yield attributes of cabbage Treatments

Weight per head (g)

Cabbage yield (q/ ha)

T1 (Farmer’s practiceN:P:K:Zn@ 68:57:0:0 kg/ha)

817

302.70

T2 (100% NPK + two foliar sprays of Zn-50 ppm)

867

320.97

T3 (100% NPK + two foliar sprays of Zn-100 ppm)

930

344.41

T4 (100% NPK + three foliar sprays of Zn-50 ppm)

953

352.82

T5 (100% NPK+three foliar sprays of Zn-100 ppm)

1027

380.00

SEm± CD at 5% CV %

5.82

2.17

225.40

31.29

1.1

1.1

Foliar spray of zinc probably maximized the zinc absorption by the plants resulted compact, healthy and smooth cabbage heads. Similar results are reported byMohammadet al.(2011). The increased cabbage head weight influenced the cabbage yield as it was varied from 302.7 to 380 q/ha among all the treatments. The lowest yield was recorded in T1 (farmer’s practice) and highest was in T5. Significant increase in yield was observed in T3 (13.78%), T4 (16.56%) and T5 (25.54%) over T1. Within the treatments, significant increase was recorded in T4 (9.92%) over T2 and in T5 (18.39 and 10.33%) over T2 and T3 respectively. It shows that increasing concentration and sprays of Zn significantly increased the yield of cabbage as Zn played important role in driving faster many of metabolic reactions in the plants. Findings are corroborated with Kanujiaet al. (2006), Choudharyet al. (2005), Singh and Singh (2005) and Gabalet al. (1985).

Economic performance It is evident from Table 2 that the T5 treatment (100% NPK with three foliar sprays of zinc–100 ppm) resulted the highest net return of Rs. 94,816/ha among all the treatmentswhich was remarkably higher over farmer’s practice (Rs. 72,426/ha).

108


Table 2: Economics of cabbage cultivation under different treatments Treatments

Cabbage yield (q/ha)

Cost of cultivation (Rs./ha)

Gross return (Rs./ Net return (Rs./ ha) ha)

C:B ratio

T1

302.70

18384

90810

72426

4.94

T2

320.97

18654

96291

77637

5.16

T3

344.41

18916

103323

84407

5.46

T4

352.82

18789

105846

87057

5.63

T5

380.00

19184

114000

94816

5.94

The cost of cultivation was slightly high (Rs.800/ ha) under T5over farmer’s practice, however, the difference in the net return was recorded as Rs. 22,387/ha. The benefit cost (B:C) ratio was found as 1:5.94 under T5 as much higher than the C:B ratio in farmer’s practices (1:4.94). Based on the above findings, it may be concluded that three foliar sprays of zinc (100 ppm) during cabbage head formation stage and the recommended fertilizers doses significantly increased the cabbage yield and quality (compact and smooth cabbage heads) over farmer’s practice, hence, recommended for better cabbage production. The above technology is economicallyviable as a marginal increase in cost of cultivation gives significant difference in the net profit per unit area. This application should be on regular basis in other vegetable crops also on soil test basis.

REFERENCES Bijay Kumar; Mistry, N.C.; Singh, Brajendra and Gandhi, C.P. 2011.Indian Horticulture Database-2011, National Horticulture Board, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Bradley, Fern Marshall; Ellis, Barbara W.; Martin, Deborah L. (Ed.) 2009.The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control. Rodale Inc.,677 p. Choudhary, A.K.; Majumdar, S.P.; Sharma, S.R. and Lakhana, R.C. 2005.Impact of nitrogen and zinc nutrition on yield attributes, yield and economics of barley (Hardeum vulgare L.). Annals Ag. Res., 26(4): 599-602. Gabal, M.R.; Abdellah, I.M.; Abed, I.A. and EIAssiouty,F.M. 1985.Effect of Cu, Mn and Zn foliar

application on common bean growth, flowering and seed yield.Acta Hort.,158: 307-320. Kanujia, S.P.; Ahmed, N.;Chattoo, M.A.;Jabeen, Nayeema and Narayan, S. 2006. Effect of micronutrients on growth and yield of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.). Appl. Bio. Res., 8(1, 2): 15-18. Kaya, C. and Higgs, D. 2002. Response of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.) cultivars tofoliar application of zinc when grown in sand culture at low zinc. ScientiaHort.,93(1): 53-64. Khurana, M. and Chatterjee, C. 2001. Influence of variable zinc on yield, oil content and physiology of sunflower. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal., 32: 3023-3030. Mohammad, Nasri; Mansoureh, Khalatbari and Hossein,AliabadiFarahani2011.Zn-foliar application influence on quality and quantity features in Phaseolous vulgaris under different levels of N and K fertilizers.Adv. Environ. Biol., 5(5): 839-846. Prasad, A.S. 1995. Zinc: An overview. Nutrition, 11: 9399. Prasad, R. 2010.Zinc bio-fortification of food grains in relation to food security and alleviation of zinc malnutrition. Current Sci., 98: 10-25. Singh, A.K. and Singh, S. 2005. Effect of urea and zinc on growth, yield and quality of grapefruit (Citrus paridisiMacf.).Annals Ag. Res., 26(4): 571-574. Ved, R.; Mishra, S.K. and Upadhyay, R.M. 2002.Effect of sulphur, zinc and biofertilizers on the quality characteristics of mungbean.Indian J. Pulses Res., 2: 139-141.

Received on 14 January 2014 and accepted on 30 November 2014


[Research Article]

Regression technique for germination of spinach seed in high hills of Uttarakhnad S.C. Pant, K.D. Sharma and K.K. Pandey

VCSG college of Horticulture, University of Horticulture and Forestry, Bharsar, Pauri-Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In the present study an attempt has been made for development of the model for evaluation of germination percentage with the regression technique. The study was carried out in the experimental lab of department of Vegetable Science of V.C.S.G. College of Horticulture, U.U.H.F., Bharsar, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. The altitude of the location is ranging from 1800 to 2300 unit MSL (mean Sea Level). At this hilly location temperature (ranging from –4.0 to 280C) is playing very important role for the germination of seeds. Under the study daily germination of seed data recorded on Spinach along with daily average temperature from February 2nd to 10th April 2013. During these days temperature is ranging from 5 to 170C. The 78.5% germination has been recorded under this condition. The linear regression analysis technique has been used for the evaluation of the effect of temperature. The model has been generated with the help of daily recorded germination of seeds as regressor and daily average temperature as regress and. The individual effect of temperature has been found 51%. The developed model is Y= -2.05655 +1.477*temp. The model has been found significant at 1% level of significant. KEY WORDS: Level of significance, regression model, R2 and temperature Spinach (Spinach oleracea L.) [2n = 12, Ryder (1972)] is very popular leafy vegetable in India, which belongs to family Chinapodiaceae. The popular name of Spinach in India is “Palak”. Spinach had originated from SouthWest Asia and first cultivated by Arabs (Chaudhary 1967). In India cultivar is evolved at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi (Singh and Joshi, 1960). Spinach is very common leafy vegetable of tropical and sub-tropical regions and is grown widely in India. The popular palak growing states are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujrat. However this crop is not so popular in Southern India. Thompson and Kelly (1959) reported that normally Spinach is grown during the cold season in plains but it can be cultivated throughout the year in the region where relatively mild climate prevails. This crop can stand with frost and tolerate warm weather but in high temperature leads to early blotting without giving sufficient cutting, during hot weather condition leaves pass edible stage quickly. Spinach is very rich source of vitamins like A and C, minerals like iron, calcium, phosphorus and other micronutrients (Aykroyd 1956). Appreciable quantity of proteins is also found in Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

these crops. Khader and Rana (1999) estimated micronutrient contents of palak at different stage of maturity. A lot of works have been done for the development of the model with the weather variables but no work has been done in this direction for the high hills of Uttarakhand on spinach crop. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to develop suitable statistical models for forecasting of germination of spinach seed in Pauri district from the daily average temperature data on weather variables with a few modifications.

MATERIALS AND METHODS About 600 seeds of Spinach has been sown on 15 January 2013 in the open lab of Department of Vegetable Science of V.C.S.G. College of Horticulture, U.U.H.F., Bharsar, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, which is situated at logitude 78.59’:20.28’E, latitude 79.00’:30.05’N and 2000 m MSL altitude. After 15 days after sowing the data has been recorded on daily germination of seeds during 2nd February to 10th April 2013and data on temperature (4 times in a day) also recorded for same period. Average temperature has been calculated with the formula

110


given below:

Y = a + bX Y= Number of germinated seed in a day.

n

X = ∑ Xi n

a = Constant of the model, b = coefficient of average temperature

i =1

Where, n=4 i =1, 2, 3 and 4

X = Daily recorded average temperature.

X = Daily Average Temperatureand Xi = Recorded Temperature in a Day

Total Number of Germinated Seeds Germination Percent = -------------------------------- x 100 Total Number of Seeds Sown The linear regression model has been used for the study, which is given below:

Table 1: Summary output of regression analysis Multiple R

0.5185

R2

0.2689

Adjusted R2

0.2428

Standard Error

8.4277

Observations

30

Table 2: Analysis of variance Factor

Degree of freedom

Sum of square

Mean sum of square

F- calculated

Significance F

10.299

0.003

Temperature

1

731.527

731.527

Error

28

1988.772

71.0275

Total

29

2720.3

Coefficients Standard Error

t Stat

P-value

Lower 95%

Upper 95%

Intercept

-2.056

5.742

-0.358

0.722

-13.820

9.707

Temperature

1.477

0.460

3.209

0.003

0.5343

2.420

Fig. 1: Effect of temperature on germination of spinach seed


111


REFERENCES

The results indicate that 78.5% germination on spinach, only on weekly irrigation (no any fertilizer dose) on the high hills. The linear regression model has been used for evaluation of effect of temperature on germination of Spinach seed. The result of effect indicates in the term of Coefficient of determination (R2), which is 52% for temperature only. The temperature has been found highly significant at 1% level of significance.

Aykroyd, W.R. 1956. Health bulletin No.23, Ministry of Health, Government of India.

The model has given below: Y (No. of germinated seed in a day) = -2.0565 + 1.4771 (temperature) The proposed model has also found significant at 1% level. The result of the germination % and effect of the temperature is also depicted through graph. Shoemaker (1947) reported that seed germinates rapidly at 400F (4.40C) and below, good at 50-600F (10.0-15.5 0 C) and decreases at high temperature. The photoperiodic response of this crop can alter by temperature because temperature has an important role on the life cycle of Spinach Knot (1939). A comparative study on germination of different seeds, viz., chickpea, lentil, cowpea and soybean and influence of temperature on seed germination rate studied by Covell et al.(1986). Singh (1973) reported result on effect of temperature and light on seed germination on a leafy vegetable (Portulacea oleracea L.). Chauhan and Johnson (2009) reported seed germination and seedling emergence of Synedrella (Synedrellanodiflora) in a tropical environment. Effect of temperature on germination of dry-seeded rice crop in Asian condition (Chauhan, 2012). The optimum temperature 200C found by this regression model for the hills of Uttarakhand in spinach seed germination during cold the cold season. This model indicating 78% effect of temperature on germination with 1% level of significance. So, this model can be used for the evaluation of the effect of temperature on seed germination on open lab condition for any particular crop on high hills.

Chaudhary, B. 1967.Vegetables. National Book Trust India, New Delhi. Chauhan, B.S. and Johnson, D.E. 2009. Seed Germination and Seedling Emergence of Synedrella (Synedrella nodiflora) in a tropical environment. Weed Tech., 57(1): 36-42. Chauhan, B.S. 2012. Weed Ecology and Weed Management Strategies for Dry-Seeded Rice in Asia. Weed Tech., 26(1): 1-13. Covell, S.; Ellis, R.H.; Roberts, E.H. and Summerfield, R.J. 1986. The influence of temperature on seed germination rate in grain legumes I. a comparative Study on germination rate of chickpea, lentil, soybean and cowpea at constant temperatures. J. Exp. Bot., 37(5): 70-77. Khader, V. and Rama, S. 1999.Plant Food Human Nutri., 53: 71-81. Knot, J.E. 1939, Cornell Memoir, 218 p. Ryder, E.J. 1979. Leafy Salad Vegetables, A.V. Publishing Co. Inc., Westport. Shomaker, J.S. 1947. Vegetable Growing.Jhon Willy and Sons, Inc., New York. Singh, H.B. and Joshi, S.A. 1960.Our leafy vegetables. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Farm Bull, No.56. Singh, K.P. 1973. Effect of temperature and Light on seed germination of two ecotypes of Portulaca oleracea L.New Physiol., 72(2): 289-295. Thompson, H.C. and Kelly, W.C. 1959. Vegetable crops, Tata McGra-hill Publishing Co., New Delhi, pp. 214223.

Received on 26 November 2013 and accepted on 07 April 2014


[Research Article]

Effect of zinc and farmyard manure on yield and nutrient content of vegetable pea (Pisum sativum L.) Suresh Kumar and M.K. Sharma

Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, S.K. Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner (Rajasthan)-334 006, India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The experiment was laid out to study the effect of zinc and FYM on yield, nutrient content and uptake and economics of pea (Pisum sativum L.) during rabi season of the year 2009-10. Application of 40 kg/ha zinc sulphate significantly increased shelling percentage (45.61) and green pod yield (78.95 q/ha), zinc content in grain (26.96 ppm) and plant (0.313 ppm), zinc uptake in grain (91.76 g/ha) and plant, total zinc uptake by grain and plant (91.76 g/ha), zinc content in soil (1.63 ppm) over control. Similarly, FYM @ 350 q/ha significantly increased shelling percentage (48.50) and green pod yield (81.35 q/ha), nitrogen content in grain (3.65%) and plant (1.03%), nitrogen uptake by grain (128.07 kg/ha) and plant (12.43 kg/ha), total nitrogen uptake by grain and plant (140.49 kg/ha), nitrogen content in soil (179.85 kg/ha) and OC content in soil (0.184%) over control. The combined effect of zinc (40 kg/ha) and FYM (350 q/ha) was found significant pertaining to green pod yield (80.03 q/ha) compared to control and it was found statistically at par with all other levels of FYM coupled with 40 kg/ha zinc application. KEY WORDS: FYM, nutrient content, pea, yield, zinc Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important vegetable crop grown mainly as winter vegetable in the plains of North India and as summer vegetable in the hills. It is highly nutritive and rich source of digestible proteins (7.2%) along with carbohydrates (15.9%) and mineral matter like calcium (20 mg/100 g), while dried pea grain contains protein (19.7%), carbohydrate (56.5%), calcium (75 mg/100 g) besides being a good sources of vitamins. Peas are utilized mainly as a vegetable and are also processed, dehydrated and canned for value addition. The role of chemical fertilizers is important in order to meetout the nutrient requirement of the crop but continuous use of these have deleterious effects on physical, chemical and biological properties of soil, which in turn reflects on yield (Sarkar et al., 1997) so that the most logical way to the management of long term fertility and productivity of the soil is the use of micronutrients with the combination of organic manures. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reduce the usage of chemical fertilizers and in turn increase the usage of organic manures with micronutrients which are known to improve physicochemical properties of soil and supply the nutrients in available form to the plants. The zinc deficiency is more frequently encountered in Indian soils, especially, in saOnline version available at: www.indianjournals.com

line and sandy soils of Western Rajasthan than deficiency of other micronutrients, particularly when the soils are either highly alkaline or are weathered and coarse (Duarte et al., 1961). Among the various factors responsible for higher yield potential, application of adequate quantities of farmyard manure (FYM) is considered as one of the most effective way for boosting the crop yield in soils of Western Rajasthan, which are very poor in organic matter content. Organic manures especially FYM not only increase the yield but also improve physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil which in turn improve fertility, productivity and water holding capacity of soil. Besides this, use of FYM increases soil organic matter content and had greater residual effects (Kumaran et al., 1998). So far, the study on pea crop with reference to micronutrients and FYM was not carried out in this region; hence, the present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of zinc and FYM on pea crop.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner during rabi season of the year 200910. The experiment consisted twelve treatments compris-


113

ing of three levels of zinc (0, 20 and 40 kg/ha) and four levels of FYM (0, 150, 250 and 350 q/ha) in factorial Randomized Block Design with three replications. The zinc was applied through zinc sulphate in soil before sowing. The soil of experimental field was sandy loam with pH of 8.54, organic carbon 0.12 per cent, available N2 87.72 kg/ha and available zinc 0.24 ppm. The test crop (Pea cv. Azad P-2) was sown at a spacing of 30 x 7 cm. The recommended basal dose of N:P:K @ 25:40:50 kg/ha was applied uniformly in the plots. Inter cultural operations were followed according to package and practices. The pickings of green pods were done at three times, viz., 86th, 100th and 113th DAS. The final harvesting of plants at half dry stage of plants was done at 123rd DAS subjected to record total biomass content on dry weight basis including dry weight of green pod yield. Observations on yield and yield attributing characters at every picking of green pods were recorded on randomly selected plants from each treatment in every replication eliminating the border effect. Grain and plant analysis were done for determination of zinc content and their uptake by grain and plant by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978) and nitrogen content by colorimetric method (Snell and Snell, 1939). Zinc content in soil after harvest was determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Lindsay and Norvell, 1978) and nitrogen content in soil after harvest by Alkaline Potassium Permanganate Method as suggested (Subbiah and Asija, 1956) and OC content in soil after harvest. The recorded data were averaged and statistically analyzed to test the significance (Panse and Sukhatme, 1995).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The fertilization of pea with zinc sulphate at 40 kg/

ha significantly increased yield attributing character, viz., number of pods per plant (17.22), number of grains per pod (7.30), pod length (6.59 cm), weight of pod (7.05 g), weight of grains per pod (3.23 g), shelling percentage (45.61), total biomass content (45.86 q/ha) and green pod yield (78.95 q/ha) over control (Table 1). The response of zinc application through basal might be due to better availability of zinc in the early stages of plant growth (Sharma et al., 1988). The essential role of zinc has been established as a component of several enzymes concerned with carbohydrate and nitrogen metabolism, in addition to its involvement directly or indirectly in regulating the various physiological processes of plants (Marschner, 1995). Zinc application contributed in increase in yield probably owing to its influence on auxin synthesis, nodulation and nitrogen fixation which promotes plant growth and development, there by favourably influencing yield attributes and grain yield (Islam et al., 1989). The present findings are in confirmity with the findings of Raghav and Sharma (2003) in pea, Dube et al. (2003) in tomato Kumar and Sen (2005) in okra. Further, the data (Table 1) indicated that FYM at 350 q/ha significantly increased the number of pods per plant (18.20), number of grains per pod (7.59), pod length (6.98 cm), weight of pod (7.46 g), weight of grains per pod (3.62), shelling percentage (48.50), total biomass content (47.09 q/ha) and green pod yield (81.35 q/ha) over control. The beneficial effect of farm yard manure on yield attributes was probably due to enhanced supply of macro as well as micronutrients during entire growing season. It might have attributed to higher manufacture of food and its subsequent partitioning in sink. The reason for increased yield with the application of farm yard manure could be attributed to solubilization effect of plant nutrients by the addition of FYM leading to increased uptake of nu-

Table 1: Effect of zinc and FYM on yield parameters of pea Treatments

No. of No. of pods/plant grains/ pod Zinc levels ( ZnSO4 kg/ha) 0 14.8 6.37 20 16.22 6.89 40 17.22 7.3 S Em± 0.24 0.12 CD (5%) 0.71 0.34 FYM levels (q/ha) 0 13.30 5.99 150 15.70 6.66 250 17.12 7.17 350 18.20 7.59 S Em± 0.28 0.13 CD (5%) 0.82 0.39

pod length (cm)

Wt. of pod (g)

Wt. of grains/ Shelling Biomass pod (g) (%) content (q/ha)

Green pod yield (q/ha)

5.72 6.22 6.59 0.11 0.31

6.28 6.74 7.05 0.12 0.36

2.71 3.02 3.23 0.06 0.19

42.9 44.46 45.61 0.87 2.55

41.34 43.66 45.86 0.48 1.48

69.47 74.38 78.95 1.12 3.29

5.19 5.96 6.57 6.98 0.12 0.36

5.83 6.47 6.98 7.46 0.14 0.42

2.31 2.80 3.21 3.62 0.07 0.22

39.59 43.19 46.01 48.50 1.00 2.94

39.90 42.58 44.90 47.09 0.56 1.63

66.61 72.15 76.96 81.35 1.29 3.79

114


Table 2: Interactive effect of zinc and FYM green pod yield (q/ha) of pea Green pod yield (q/ha) Zn0 Zn1 Zn2

F0

F1

F2

F3

51.62

71.07

73.01

82.19

71.13

62.56

81.98

81.82

77.08

82.81

75.89

80.03

S Em±

3.85

CD (5%)

11.28

Zinc sulphate (kg/ha) = Zn0-control, Zn1-20, Zn2-40 FYM (q/ha) = F0-control, F1-150, F2-250, F3-350

trients especially NPK (Subbiah et al., 1982). The increase in number of pods per plant and seeds per pod in pea with organic manure application was earlier reported by Bhattarai et al. (2003). The improvement in yield in response to FYM application is possibly attributed to improved soil physical conditions and slow released of availability of nutrients (Dimri and Singh, 2005). The interactive effect of zinc and FYM (Table 2) has been found significant pertaining to green pod yield. The combined application of zinc at 40 kg/ha along with 350 q/ha FYM significantly increased green pod yield of pea (80.03 q/ha) compared to control and being statistically at par to 0, 150 and 250 q/ha FYM when each quan-

Table 3: Effect of zinc and FYM on content and uptake of zinc and nitrogen Treatments

Zn content (ppm) Grain

Zn uptake (g/ha)

Plant

Grain

Plant

Total Zn uptake (g/ha)

N content (%)

N uptake (kg/ha)

Grain

Plant

Grain

Plant 9.08

N content (%)

Zinc levels ( ZnSO4 kg/ha) 0

14.57

0.247

44.08

0.00282

44.09

2.93

0.79

89.90

20

20.17

0.282

64.93

0.00327

64.94

3.10

0.84

100.59

9.77

110.36

40

26.96

0.313

91.76

0.00370

91.76

3.23

0.88

109.93

10.51

120.44

S Em±

0.34

0.002

2.00

0.00003

2.00

0.01

0.01

2.69

0.06

2.66

CD (5%)

0.98

0.007

5.88

0.00008

5.88

0.02

0.02

7.88

0.19

7.81

98.98

FYM levels (q/ha) 0

18.78

0.276

56.10

0.00310

56.10

2.42

0.64

70.09

7.15

77.23

150

20.12

0.272

63.63

0.00312

63.63

2.89

0.77

90.32

8.87

99.18

250

20.63

0.286

68.41

0.00336

68.42

3.38

0.91

112.09

10.71

122.81

350

22.72

0.288

79.55

0.00347

79.56

3.65

1.03

128.07

12.43

140.49

S Em±

0.39

0.003

2.31

0.00003

2.31

0.01

0.01

3.10

0.07

3.08

CD (5%)

1.14

0.008

6.79

0.00009

6.79

0.02

0.02

9.10

0.22

9.02

Table 4: Effect of zinc and FYM on zinc, nitrogen, OC in soil and economics Treatments

Zn content (ppm)

N content (kg/ha)

OC content (%)

Net returns (Rs/ha)

B:C ratio

Zinc levels ( ZnSO4 kg/ha) 0

1.20

147.26

0.147

55971.94

2.15

20

1.48

148.03

0.151

63089.58

2.30

40

1.63

147.41

0.151

69708.96

2.45

S Em±

0.04

2.76

0.004

2885.26

0.06

CD (5%)

0.10

NS

NS

8462.17

0.17

FYM levels (q/ha) 0

1.38

111.04

0.102

57066.67

2.33

150

1.42

138.22

0.132

60872.22

2.28

250

1.45

161.13

0.179

65086.57

2.29

350

1.49

179.85

0.184

68668.52

2.29

S Em±

0.04

3.19

0.005

3331.61

0.07

CD (5%)

NS

9.35

0.014

NS

0.20


115

tity applied with 40 kg/h zinc sulphate. This increase in green pod yield might be due to the better efficiency of zinc and FYM and their translocations (Sharma and Abraham, 2010). Besides, the organic manures form organometallic complexes with zinc, which resulted in the increase of its efficiency which lead to better growth of plants and consequently higher yield (Gupta and Handore, 2009). Data presented in Table 3 showed that application of zinc sulphate @ 40 kg/ha significantly increased zinc content in grain (26.96 ppm) and plant (0.313 ppm), zinc uptake in grain (91.76 g/ha) and plant (0.0037 g/ ha), total zinc uptake by grain and plant (91.76 g/ha), nitrogen content in grain (3.23%) and plant (0.88%), nitrogen uptake by grain (109.93 kg/ha) and plant (10.51 kg/ha), total nitrogen uptake by grain and plant (120.44 kg/ha) and zinc content in soil (1.63 ppm). Application of FYM @ 350 q/ha significantly increased zinc content in grain (22.72 ppm) and plant (0.288 ppm), zinc uptake in grain (79.55 g/ha) and plant (0.00347 g/ha), total zinc uptake by grain and plant (79.56 g/ha), nitrogen content in grain (3.65%) and plant (1.03%), nitrogen uptake by grain (128.07 kg/ha) and plant (12.43 kg/ha), total nitrogen uptake by grain and plant (140.49 kg/ha) over control. Application of FYM @ 350 q/ha significantly increased nitrogen content in soil (179.85 kg/ha) and organic carbon (OC) content in soil (0.184%) over control (Table 4). Data (Table 4) showed that application of zinc sulphate @ 40 kg/ha significantly increased net returns (Rs./ha 69708.96) and benefit cost (B:C) ratio (2.45) over control. Similar findings were reported by Kumar and Sen (2005) in okra and Singh and Singh (2004) in cauliflower. An increasing trend in net returns was observed but it was statistically non-significant whereas B:C ratio decreased with increase in quantity of farm yard manure.

REFERENCES Bhattarai, R.K.; Singh, L.N. and Singh, R.K. 2003. Effect of integrated nutrient management on yield attributes and economics of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Indian J. Ag. Sci., 73(4): 219-220. Dimri, D.C. and Singh, V.P. 2005. Response of farmyard manure, nitrogen and row spacing on bulb weight and yield of onion (Allium cepa L.). Prog. Hort., 37(1): 185-187. Duarte, U.M.M.K.V.; Lelly and Narayana, N. 1961. Micronutrient status of Bombay State. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci., 9: 41-53. Dube, B.K.; Sinha, P. and Chatterjee, C. 2003. Effect of zinc on yield and quality of tomato. Indian J. Hort., 60(1): 59-63. Gupta, S. and Handore, K. 2009. Direct and residual effect

of zinc and zinc amended organic manures on the zinc nutrition of field crop. Int. J. Ag. Sci., 1(2): 26-29. Islam, M.S.; Bhuiya, H.S.U. and Miah, H.G. 1989. Effect of zinc on lentil yield and yield components. Lens Newslett., 16(1): 30-32. Kumar, M. and Sen, N.L. 2005. Effect of zinc, born and gibberellic acid on yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench). Indian J. Agron., 62(3): 308-309. Kumaran, S.; Natrajan, S. and Thamburaj, S. 1998. Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on growth, yield and quality of tomato. South Indian Hort., 46(3-4): 203-205. Lindasy, W.L. and Norvell, W.A. 1978. Development of DTPA soil test for zinc, manganese and copper. Soil Sci. Am. J., 42: 421-428. Marschner, H. 1995. Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, Academic Press, New York, pp. 347-64. Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1995. Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. ICAR, New Delhi. Raghav, M. and Sharma, R.D. 2003. Growth and yield in tomato-okra-vegetable pea cropping sequence as affected by levels and methods of zinc application. Prog. Hort., 35(1): 96-99. Sarkar, R.K.; Karmakar, S. and Chakraborty, A. 1997. Response of summer green gram (Phaseolus radiatus) to nitrogen, phosphorus application and bacterial inoculation. Indian J. Agron., 38(4): 578-581. Sharma, U.C.; Grewal, J.S. and Trehan, S.P. 1988. Response of potato to applied zinc on soil with variable zinc availability. J. Indian Potato Assoc., 15: 21-26. Sharma, V. and Abraham, T. 2010. Response of black gram (Phaseolus mungo) to nitrogen, zinc and farm yard manure. Legume Res., 33(4): 295-298. Singh, S. and Singh, P. 2004. Effect of foliar application of nitrogen and zinc on growth and yield of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L.). Scientific Hort., 123128. Snell, P.D. and Snell, G.L. 1939. Colorimetric Method of Analysis. 3rd Ed. Volume ll. D van Nostrand Co. Inc., New York. Subbiah, B.V. and Asija, G.L. 1956. A rapid procedure for the determination of available nitrogen in soils. Current Sci., 25: 259-260. Subbiah, K.; Helkiah, J.; Ravikumar, V. and Rajgopal, C.K. 1982. Effect of combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizer on yield and nutrient uptake of chilli cv. MDU-1. South Indian Hort., 30: 45-47.

Received on 03 September 2013 and accepted on 10 June 2014


[Research Article]

Influence of seed extraction methods on seed quality in cucumber (Cucumis sativus) cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1 Girish Kaddi, Tomar, B.S., Balraj Singh* and Bontha Vidyadhar

Seed Production Unit, Division of Seed Science and Technology, IARI, New Delhi-110 012; *NRCSS, Ajmer E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present investigation was carried out with the objective to study the influence of seed extraction methods on seed quality in cucumber cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1 at Division of Seed Science and Technology, IARI, during summer and kharif season of the year 2011. The mature fruits were harvested from different growing environment viz. naturally ventilated poly house, insect proof net house and open field condition and subjected to nine different methods of seed extraction includes, Fermentation for 24 h (T1), Fermentation for 36 h (T2), Fermentation for 48 h (T3), Acid (1% HCl) for 10 min (T4), Acid (1% HCl) for 20 min (T5), Acid (1% HCl) for 30 min (T6), Alkali (1% NaOH) for 10 min (T7), Alkali (1% NaOH) for 20 min (T8) and Alkali (1% NaOH) for 30 min (T9). Various seed quality parameters like germination, seedling length, seedling dry weight, vigour indices, moisture content and electrical conductivity were observed in all the treatments. The experimental results revealed that the fermentation for 24 h (T1) has given high performance for seed quality among all treatments. However, in case of acid and alkali treatments as time of exposure increases the seed quality decreases. The seeds obtained from the fruits harvested from naturally ventilated poly house showed highest germination followed by insect proof net house and lowest found in open condition. The similar results were obtained in both the seasons. KEY WORDS: Cucumber, insect proof net house, naturally ventilated poly house, seed extraction methods, seed quality Seed extraction from fleshy vegetables is cumbersome process and has greater influence on seed quality. There are two method of seed extraction employed in cucurbits, viz., dry method in which dried fruits are cut from one side and the seeds come out from the fruit, e.g. sponge gourd, ridge gourd, snake gourd. Second is wet method of seed extraction which is employed for seeds extraction of cucumber, muskmelon, watermelon, ash gourd, bitter gourd, round melon and long melon. The mature fruits are cut longitudinally and seed is scooped out along with placenta then the seed is extracted from scooped material subjecting to natural fermentation or chemical extraction. However, the information regarding the comparative efficiency of these methods on seed quality is lacking especially when fruits harvested from protected structures. Thus, investigation was under taken at Division of Seed Science and Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to study the influence of the seed extraction methods on seed quality in cucumber cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1. Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

MATERIALS AND METHODS The ripen fruits of cucumber cv. “Pant Shankar Khira-1” were used in the study which was grown under three different growing environments, viz., naturally ventilated poly house, insect proof net house and open field condition at Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology, in summer and kharif, 2011. The seeds were scooped with partial placenta by hand and subjected to different treatments, viz., T1: Fermentation for 24 h T2: Fermentation for 36 h T3: Fermentation for 48 h T4: Acid (1% HCl) for 10 min T5: Acid (1% HCl) for 20 min T6: Acid (1% HCl) for 30 min T7: Alkali (1% NaOH) for 10 min T8: Alkali (1% NaOH) for 20 min T9: Alkali (1% NaOH) for 30 min In fermentation methods, the scooped material was


kept for fermentation at room temperature, stirred to avoid fungal growth. When seeds settle down and pulp floats at top, leaving clear liquid in between, then seeds were taken out and washed with clean water (Desai, 2004). Fermentation should be a controlled process because if continued too long, it creates heat and mechanical injury to the seeds (McDonald and Copeland, 1997). Acid extraction methods especially hydrochloric acid is used for separating pulp and seeds (Silva et al., 1982). However, it can be deteriorative on seed quality if application time and concentration are not appropriate. The seed extracted from different treatments were subjected to shade drying for one day. The seeds were obtained from different treatments assessed for seed quality parameters like germination percentage, seedling length, seedling dry weight, vigour indices, moisture content and electrical conductivity. The germination percentage was recorded according to ISTA procedure, seedling dry weight was according to Evans and Bhatt (1977), vigour indices were recorded according to AbdulBaki and Anderson (1973), moisture content was recorded according to ISTA procedure and electrical conductivity was recorded according to Dadlani and Agrawal (1987).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The data recorded was subjected to analysis of variance and their results discussed below:

Germination percentage The significant difference for extraction methods and different growing environments was noted for germination percentage in both seasons (Table 1). The mean germination percentage was highest in naturally ventilated poly house (82.59-summer and 83.11-kharif) followed by insect proof net house (81.96-summer and 82.44-kharif) and open field condition (79.07-summer and 81.37kharif). The highest mean germination percentage in summer (88.10) and in kharif (89.32) was observed in T1 (fermentation for 24 h) and lowest was observed in T9 (1% NaOH for 30 min) that is (71.33-summer & 75.33kharif). The prolonged fermentation decreased the germination percentage to 85% after 72 h and results are in conformity with McDonald and Copland (1987) that prolonged fermentation creates heat and mechanical injury to seeds. Similar results were obtained by Yadav et al. (2004) in tomato. Among the acid treatment HCL for 10 min has given highest germination 86% then showed the decreasing trend and it is 73% after 30 min of treatment. The results are in conformity with Ghosh and Shymlal (1997) recommended that hydrochloric acid was best for seed extraction in tomato to obtain high quality seeds. Among all the treatments, NaOH has shown drastic reduction in germination percentage and similar results

117

were reported by Mini and Krisnakumary (2006) in oriental picking melon variety ‘Mudicode’ Local.

Seedling length and seedling dry weight The mean seedling length and seedling dry weight were significant for different extraction methods and different growing environments were shown in Table 2 and 3. The highest mean seedling length and seedling dry weight were observed in T1 (fermentation for 24 h) and lowest in T9 (1% NaOH for 30 min) in both the growing seasons. There is non-significant difference for seedling length and seedling dry weight in treatment T1 and T2, but both the attributes were decreased significantly in T3. In case of acid and alkali treatments as the time of treatment prolongs the seedling length and seedling dry weight decreased significantly.

Vigour index I and II The significant difference for mean vigour index I and II for different extraction methods and different growing environments were shown in Fig. 1 and 2. The highest mean vigour index I and II were observed in T1 (fermentation for 24 h) and lowest in T9 (1% NaOH for 30 min) in both the growing seasons. The highest vigour indices in treatment T1 is because of highest germination percentage, seedling length and seedling dry weight. The lowest vigour indices in treatment T9 might be due to long exposure period and results are in conformity with Nemati et al. (2010) suggested that longer duration decreased the germination and seed vigour in tomato. There is not much difference was found in for vigour index I and II in treatment T1 and T2, but both were decreased significantly in T3. The highest vigour index-I was found in naturally ventilated poly house (2325.59summer and 2324.42-kharif) followed by insect proof net house (2324.17-summer and 2303.56-kharif) and significantly low in open field condition (2188.91-summer and 2246.20-kharif) and the similar trend was observed in vigour index-II.

Moisture content The significant difference for moisture content among the extraction methods and different growing environments were presented in Table 4. The highest mean moisture percentage (30.47-summer and 30.56kharif) was observed in T3 (fermentation for 72 h) and lowest was observed in T6 (1% HCL for 30 min) that is (28.30-summer and 28.39-kharif). Among the growing environments the seed extracted from the fruit harvested from naturally ventilated poly house showed highest moisture content followed by insect proof net house and open field conditions. The more moisture content under naturally ventilated poly house might be because of well

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Fig. 1: Effect of growing conditions and seed extraction methods on vigour index-I of cucumber (Pant Shankar Khira -1) during summer and kharif seasons of year 2011

Fig. 2: Effect of growing conditions and seed extraction methods on vigour index-II of cucumber (Pant Shankar Khira -1) during summer and kharif seasons of year 2011

Table 1: Effect of growing conditions and seed extraction methods on germination (%) of cucumber cv. Pant Shankar Khira -1 during the year 2011 Treatments

Summer-2011

Kharif-2011

Open field

Net house

Poly house

Mean

Open field

Net house

Poly house

Mean

T1

67.74 (85.66) ef

70.32 (88.66) abc

71.55 (90.00) a

69.87 (88.10) a

69.41 (87.66) bc

71.22 (89.66) a

72.20 (90.66) a

70.94 (89.32) a

T2

66.40 (84.00) fg

70.02 (88.33) abc

70.61 (89.00) ab

69.01 (87.11) ab

68.00 (86.00) c

71.55 (90.00) a

71.86 (90.33) a

70.47 (88.77) a

T3 gh

T4 T5

65.62 (83.00)

67.47 (85.33) ef 63.41 (80.00)

ij

T6

58.03 (72.00) n

T7 jk

T8 T9 Mean

CD at 5%

62.70 (79.00)

59.33 (74.00) mn 55.94 (68.66)

68.29 (86.33)

de

68.00 (86.00) e 63.65 (80.33)

ij

60.43 (75.66) lm gh

65.62 (83.00)

61.32 (77.00) kl 58.24 (72.33)

o

n

62.96 (79.07) b

65.10 (81.96) a

Treatments 0.92

69.71 (88.00)

67.88 (85.77)

66.40 (84.00)

69.13 (87.33)

69.42 (87.66)

68.32 (86.33)

bcd

c

d

bc

bc

b

68.84 (87.00) cde

68.01 (86.11) bc

68.55 (86.66) bc

68.55 (86.66) bc

69.71 (88.00) b

68.94 (87.10) b

64.38 (81.33)

63.81 (80.55)

64.87 (82.00)

hi

d

e

59.32 (74.00) mn

59.26 (73.88) f

59.76 (74.66) g

64.87 (82.00)

ghi

62.70 (79.00) jk n

58.67 (73.00)

64.04 (81.33)

64.63 (81.66)

64.64 (81.66)

e

59.10 (73.66) gh 66.40 (84.00)

d

e

d

61.12 (76.66) e

61.78 (77.66) f

62.00 (78.00) f

g

57.62 (71.33)

58.03 (72.00)

57.39 (71.00)

66.40 (84.00)

65.30 (82.55)

d

d

58.03 (72.00) hi

58.96 (73.44) f

68.57 (86.66)

bc

61.32 (77.00) f 57.82 (71.66)

hi

i

hi

65.63 (82.59) a

64.60 (81.37) c

65.55 (82.44) b

66.15 (83.11) a

Condition

Interaction

Treatments

Condition

Interaction

0.53

1.59

0.85

0.49

1.47

66.53 (84.10)

c

61.70 (77.55) e g

57.75 (75.33)

Note: Figures sub scripted in interaction with conditions and seasons or subscripted in main effects by same alphabet are at par at 0.05 level of significance


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Table 2: Effect of growing conditions and seed extraction methods on seedling length (cm) of cucumber cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1 during the year 2011 Treatments

Summer-2011

Kharif-2011

Open field

Net house

Poly house Mean

Open field

Net house

Poly house Mean

T1

29.50

30.83

30.83

30.38 a

31.16

30.50

30.83

30.83 a

T2

29.83

30.83

30.50

30.38 a

29.66

29.50

29.66

29.61 b

T3

29.16

29.16

28.50

28.94 bc

28.50

28.33

28.66

28.66 c

T4

29.00

29.83

29.83

29.34 b

29.83

30.00

29.16

29.66 b

T5

26.66

28.00

28.50

27.72 d

26.00

28.16

28.50

27.55 d

T6

24.66

24.16

23.66

24.16 g

23.33

23.50

23.83

23.55 g

T7

27.83

29.10

28.50

28.47 c

27.66

29.10

28.66

28.47 c

T8

26.50

26.83

26.83

26.72 e

26.50

26.83

27.50

26.94 e

T9

24.83

25.16

24.83

24.94 f

24.50

24.00

24.00

24.16 f

Mean

27.55 b

28.21 a

27.94 ab

27.46 b

27.82 a

27.87 a

Treatments Condition

Interaction

Treatments Condition

Interaction

0.68

NS

0.44

NS

CD at 5%

0.39

0.25


Table 3: Effect of growing conditions and seed extraction methods on seedling dry weight (g) of cucumber cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1 during the year 2011 Treatments

Summer-2011

Kharif-2011

Open

Net house

Poly house

Mean

Open

Net house

Poly house

Mean

T1

0.0940

0.0958

0.0964

0.0954 a

0.095

0.100

0.101

0.099 a

T2

0.0933

0.0958

0.0960

0.0950 b

0.094

0.097

0.098

0.096 b

T3

0.0927

0.0945

0.0947

0.0940 d

0.093

0.097

0.097

0.095 c

T4

0.0927

0.0956

0.0954

0.0946 c

0.092

0.096

0.096

0.095 d

T5

0.0938

0.0945

0.0915

0.0934 e

0.092

0.094

0.095

0.094 e

T6

0.0919

0.0921

0.0922

0.0918 g

0.091

0.091

0.091

0.091 g

T7

0.0940

0.0948

0.0904

0.0937 de

0.092

0.095

0.095

0.094 e

T8

0.0904

0.0930

0.0935

0.0923 f

0.090

0.093

0.093

0.092 f

T9

0.0910

0.0911

0.0913

0.0911 h

0.090

0.091

0.091

0.091 g

Mean

0.0922 c

0.0939 b

0.0943 a

0.092 c

0.095 b

0.095 a

Treatments

Condition

Interaction

Treatments

Condition

Interaction

0.0003

0.0002

NS

0.0004

0.0002

NS

CD at 5%


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Table 4: Effect of growing conditions and seed extraction methods on moisture content (%) of cucumber cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1 during the year 2011 Treatments Open field T1

Summer-2011 Net house Poly house

Mean

Open field

Kharif-2011 Net house Poly house

Mean

32.84 (29.43)

32.84 (29.43)

33.36 (30.26)

c

33.01 (29.70)

32.94 (29.60)

32.84 (29.43)

33.13 (29.90)

d

T2

33.05 (29.76)

33.09 (29.83)

33.55 (30.56)

33.23 (30.05) b

33.19 (30.00)

33.09 (29.83)

33.44 (30.40)

33.24 (30.07) b

T3

33.46 (30.43)

33.36 (30.26)

33.65 (30.73)

33.49 (30.47) a

33.61 (30.66)

33.36 (30.26)

33.67 (30.76)

33.55 (30.56) a

T4

32.46 (28.83)

32.69 (29.20)

33.03 (29.73)

d

32.73 (29.25)

32.73 (29.26)

32.69 (29.20)

33.03 (29.73)

e

T5

32.16 (28.36)

32.33 (28.63)

32.56 (29.00)

32.35 (28.66) e

32.25 (28.50)

32.33 (28.63)

32.86 (29.46)

32.48 (28.86) f

T6

32.10 (28.26)

32.04 (28.16)

32.25 (28.50)

f

32.13 (28.30)

32.16 (28.36)

32.04 (28.16)

32.35 (28.66)

g

T7

32.69 (29.20)

32.86 (29.46)

32.82 (29.40)

32.79 (29.35) d

32.75 (29.30)

32.86 (29.46)

33.09 (29.83)

32.90 (29.53) d

T8

32.88 (29.50)

32.98 (29.66)

33.17 (29.96)

33.01 (29.70) c

32.88 (29.50)

32.98 (29.66)

33.34 (30.23)

33.07 (29.79) c

T9

32.92 (29.56)

33.03 (29.73)

33.30 (30.16)

33.08 (29.81) c

33.07 (29.80)

33.03 (29.73)

33.61 (30.66)

33.23 (30.06) b

Mean

32.73 c (29.26)

32.80 b (29.37)

33.08 a (29.81)

32.84 b (29.44)

32.80 b (29.37)

33.17 a (29.96)

Treatments 0.09

Condition 0.05

Interaction NS

Treatments 0.08

Condition 0.04

Interaction NS

CD at 5%

32.97 (29.64)

32.82 (29.25)

32.18 (28.39)


Table 5: Effect of growing conditions and seed extraction methods on electrical conductivity (mmho/cm) of cucumber cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1 during the year 2011 Treatments Open field

Summer-2011 Net house Poly house

Mean

Open field

Kharif-2011 Net house Poly house

Mean

T1

11.60 kl

10.66 n

5.70 r

9.32 i

12.06 q

11.56 r

6.70 v

10.11 i

T2

11.76 jk

11.23 m

6.10 q

9.70 h

12.46 o

12.10 q

7.10 u

10.55 h

T3

11.90 j

11.53 l

6.73 p

10.05 g

12.76 n

12.76 n

7.73 t

11.08 g

T4

13.16 g

12.90 h

7.06 o

11.04 f

14.30 j

13.06 m

8.06 s

11.81 f

T5

15.66 de

13.83 f

12.63 i

14.05 d

15.83 h

14.53 i

13.63 l

14.66 d

T6

17.86 b

17.66 c

17.66 c

17.73 b

18.00 d

17.80 e

18.66 b

18.15 b

T7

13.83 f

13.30 g

11.33 m

12.82 e

14.23 j

13.80 k

12.30 p

13.44 e

T8

15.56 e

15.50 e

15.80 d

15.62 c

16.46 g

15.70 h

16.80 f

16.32 c

T9

17.96 b

18.00 b

18.33 a

18.10 a

18.23 c

18.16 c

19.10 a

18.50 a

Mean

14.37 a

13.84 b

11.26 c

14.92 a

14.38 b

12.23 c

CD at 5%

Days 0.10

Condition 0.06

Interaction 0.17

Days 0.08

Condition 0.05

Interaction 0.15



development of seed coat under congenial condition not allowed more moisture to get out of seed while shade drying. There is not much difference found in moisture content among fermentation and alkali treatments, but moisture content decreased much in prolonged acid treatments was due to acid weaken the seed coat which allowed moisture to escape easily from seed.

Electrical conductivity The mean electrical conductivity was significant for different extraction methods and different growing environments (Table 5). The highest mean electrical conductivity 18.10-summer and 18.50-kharif was observed in T9 (1% NaOH for 30 min) and lowest was observed in T1 (fermentation for 24 h) that is (9.32-summer and 10.11kharif). The electrical conductivity showed increasing trend along with prolong in duration of treatment. The acid and alkali treatments shown higher electrical conductivity compared to fermentation method was because of damage to the seed coat caused by acid and alkali during treatment. Among the growing environments the naturally ventilated poly house showed lowest electrical conductivity followed by insect proof net house and open field conditions. The less electrical conductivity under naturally ventilated poly was due to well developed seed coat which releases less seed lechate as compare to open field grown seeds released more seed lechate. But, one trend seen is increasing in duration of treatments either fermentation or acid or alkali the electrical conductivity also increases. Among the growing environments the naturally ventilated poly house and insect proof net house produced good quality seeds as compare to open field condition. Among the different methods of seed extraction the fermentation for 24 h and 1% HCl for 10 min gave better seed quality compare to other treatments. The alkali should not be used for seed extraction as it affects the seed quality.

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REFERENCES Abdul-baki, A.A. and Anderson, J.D. 1973. Vigour determination in soybean by multiple criteria. Crop Sci., 13: 630-673. Dadlani, M. and Agrawal, P.K. 1987. Techniques in seed science and technology. South Asian Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 103-104. Evans, L.E. and Bhatt, G.M. 1977. A non-destructive technique for measuring seedling vigour in wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci., 57: 983-985. Ghosh, P.K. and Syamal, M.M. 1997. A study on seed extraction methods in tomato. Advances Plant Sci., 10(1): 165-167. McDonald, M.B. and Copeland, L.O. 1997. Seed production, principals and practices. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp. 590-643. Mini, C. and Krishnakumary, K. 2006. Standardisation of seed processing techniques in oriental pickling melon (Cucumis melo var. conomon). Int. J. Ag. Sci., 2(1): 130-133. Nemati, H.; Nazadar, T.; Azizi, M. and Aruoeii, H. 2010. The effect of seed extraction methods on seed quality of two cultivar’s tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Pak. J. Biol. Sci., 13(17): 814-820. Silva, R.F.; Koch, R.B. and Moore, E.L. 1982. Effect of extraction procedure on tomato seed germination and vigour. Seed Sci. Tech., 10: 187-191. Yadav, S.K.; Kumar, P.R. and Negi, H.C.S. 2004. Comparison of different methods of tomato seed extraction. Seed Res., 32(2): 160-162.

Received on 06 September 2013 and accepted on 14 March 2014


[Research Article]

Impact of integrated nutrient management on yield, quality traits and economics of cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) A.K. Upadhyay1*, Jagdish Singh2, Anant Bahadur3, V.K. Singh4 and S.K. Singh5

Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi-221 305, U.P.; Department of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, JNKVV, College of Agriculture, Tikamgarh (M. P.); Division of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kalyanpur, Kanpur; Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi; Department of Horticulture, JNKVV, College of Agriculture, Tikamgarh (M. P.); JNKVV, KVK, Katni (M.P.) * E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was carried out during 2004-05 and 2005-06 to study the response of biofertilizers in combination with organic manures and/or inorganic fertilizers on yield, quality attributes and economics of cabbage. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design consisting of 16 treatments including control. The results indicated that recommended fertilizers package coupled with seedling inoculation in any biofertilizer had relatively higher head yield (40.81–41.88±1.07 t ha-1). Application of pressmud or vermicompost plus seedling inoculation in Azospirillum or PSM noticedhead yield at par with conventional fertilization. The trend of quality attributes likes ascorbic acid and total chlorophyll content in cabbage were higher at initial stage of crop growth and thereafter declined at edible maturity whereas, total phenols content was lower at initial stage of crop growth and thereafter increased with crop improvement. Significantly higher ascorbic acid content (vitamin C) in head was registered with the use of either FYM or pressmud along with PSM or VAM (14.25–15.48±0.33 mg/100 g). The significantly superior total chlorophyll (3.78 and 0.932 mg/g) was obtained with recommended dose of NPK with seedling inoculation with Azospirillum whereas PSM (T3) FYM along with PSM Change had significantly higher total phenols (10.12 and 19.05 mg/100 g) at 45 DAT and at edible maturity (70 DAT). Combined use of vermicompost and biofertilizer were recorded maximum cost of cultivation (Rs. 39,385) and gross return (Rs. 56,904) per hectare area. However, the inorganic fertilizer along with biofertilizers gave maximum net return (Rs. 27,776) and output: input ratio (2.20) per hectare area. KEY WORDS: Cabbage, economics, integrated nutrient management, quality traits, yield The most serious threat to the survival of humanity is the ever-increasing gap between population growth and low diet in vegetables to causing malnutrition problem. Intensification of agriculture, indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides which has adversely affected the soil fertility, biodiversity, quality of the produce, human health, increase soil acidity, impairs soil physical condition, reduces organic matter, creates micronutrients deficiencies, and increases plant susceptibility to pest and diseases, decreases soil lives, increases soil, water, air pollution viaagricultural runoff and leaching (Bashyal, 2011). There are also evidences that the intensive agriculture has resulted in decline in vitamins and minerals content of fresh fruits and vegetables over the last 6 decades (Davis et al., 2004). Integrated nutrient management is rising as an alternative Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

for sustainable production of crops. Proper and regular use chemical fertilizers in conjunction with organic manures, green manures, crop residues legumes in cropping system and microbial inoculants are of outmost importance in maintaining the fertility and productivity of agricultural soils, sustaining high yield and ensuring environmental safely. In recent years, cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.var. capitata) is becoming an important and most popular cole crop grown worldwide and belongs to the family Cruciferae. It is good source of protein with highbiological value and digestibility and also low in calories, fats and carbohydrates, but has a good source of minerals proteins and antioxidants (Singh et al., 2004). Cabbage leaves are rich in vitamin A, B1, B2 and minerals and are an excellent source of vitamin C. Itis also reported to have significant anti-canceractivity (Beecher, 1994). It


has medicinal use in treating headaches, gout, diarrhea and peptic ulcers. The protective action of cruciferous vegetableshas been contributed to the presence of antioxidant phytochemicals, especially antioxidant vitamins including ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol and β-carotene (Prior and Cao, 2000).Biofertilizers is low cost inputs compatible with chemical fertilizers and pesticides safe to crop and users both, ecofriendly, pose no danger to the environment, decompose organic wastes and residues, improve soil properties, enhance nutrients cycling and produce bioactive compounds, such as vitamins, hormones and enzymes that stimulate plant growth (Wu et al., 2005). Application of Azospirillum apart from ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, they are also known for synthesis biologically active growth promoting substances (Asokan et al., 2000). Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSM) are effective in solubilization of inorganic phosphorus due to the production of organic acids which leads to release of phosphate into solution which is absorbed by plants. There are some reports, which indicate that the combined application of organic manures and biofertilizers increased yield and improve quality of vegetables (Bahadur et al., 2009). Therefore an experiment was carried out to assess the effect of integrated nutrient management strategies in cabbage.

MATERIALS AND METHODS A field experiment was carried out at Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. The treatments comprised seedling inoculation in biofertilizer, viz Azospiriluum, Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae (VAM) and Phosphate Solubilizing Microorganisms (PSM) alongwith four organic manures or with recommended fertilizerpackage. Total 16 treatments [T1, farm yard manure 20 t ha-1 + Azospirillum; T2, farm yard manure 20 t ha-1+vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM); T3, farmyard manure 20 t ha-1 + phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSM); T4, digested sludge 20 t ha-1+ Azospirillum; T5, digested sludge 20 t ha-1+ VAM; T6, digested sludge 20 t ha-1 + PSM; T7, pressmud 15 t ha-1+ Azospirillum; T8, pressmud 15 t ha-1 + VAM; T9, pressmud 15 t ha-1+ PSM; T10, vermicompost 10 t ha-1+ Azospirillum; T11, vermicompost 10 t ha-1+ VAM; T12, vermicompost 10 t ha-1+ PSM; T13, recommended NPK + Azospirillum; T14, recommended NPK + VAM; T15, Rec. NPK + PSM and T16, recommended NPK (150:60:80 kg ha-1) only] including control (N:P:K-150:60:80 kg ha-1) were replicated thrice in RBD arrangement. The roots of four weeks old seedlings of cabbage cv. Golden Acre were inoculated with biofertilizers, and transplanted in rows 50cm apart and 50 cm between plants in a row in 3 m × 3 m plots on 20 and 25 November in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

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Half dose of N and full of P and K were applied as basal during planting (T13 to T16) and rest of N was top dressed in two split doses at 30 and 60 days after transplanting (DAT). A disease free healthy seedling was transplanted utilizing fertilizer and pesticide doses according to the treatments for the brassica vegetables (Singh et al., 2004). The head yield and economics of cabbage production were estimated at edible maturity (70 DAT). For quality analysis, 3 tagged plants were selected randomly according to treatments from each replicate were taken, and immediately transferred to the laboratory. Sample of 10 g cabbage from each replicate were taken at 45 DAT and at edible maturity stage (70 DAT). The ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content was estimated by AOAC’s official titrimetric method (AOAC, 1990). Total chlorophyllwas extractedin 80% acetone (Sadasivam and Manickam, 1992). Total phenolswere determined using the FolinCiocalteau reagent (Singleton et al., 1999).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Head yield In the present study, two year pooled data indicated that use of inorganic fertilizers along with biofertilizers showed significantly impact on head yield of cabbage (Table 1). Application of recommended dose of NPK along with seedling inoculation in PSM (T15) was recorded significantly higher head yield (41.88 t ha-1) over rest of the treatment combinations except T13 and T14. Furthermore, the application of pressmud (15 t ha-1) or vermicompost (10 t ha-1) and seedling inoculation either with Azospirillum or PSM registered head yield at par with recommended NPK. The enhancement in head size with combined use of NPK and PSM might be due to the bettersolubilization of insoluble or fixed P and better replenishment and uptake of soluble P by the plant (Wu et al., 2005). Earlier, Bahadur et al. (2006, 2009) also noticed improvement in head yield of Chinese cabbage and lettuce with seedling inoculation in PSM or VAM. Since the phosphorus is associated with several vital biochemical functions of the plant, such as utilization of sugar and starch, photosynthesis and root growth, therefore, the positive influence of PSM or VAM might be due to better mobilization and supply of available P for crop growth and other attributes. The improvement in head yield could be attributed to the increased vegetative growth possibly as a result of effective utilization of nutrients absorbed through extensive root system and prolific shoot development as a result of improved nourishment through N fertilization. These results are also in cognizance with Bhakher et al.(1997).

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Table 1: Effect of integrated nutrient management on head yield and quality traits of cabbage (pooled data of two years) Treatment

Head yield (t ha-1)

T1: FYM 20 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T2: FYM 20 t ha-1 + VAM T3: FYM 20 t ha-1 + PSM T4: DS 20 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T5: DS 20 t ha-1 + VAM T6: DS 20 t ha-1 + PSM T7: Pressmud 15 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T8: Pressmud 15 t ha-1 + VAM T9: Pressmud 15 t ha-1 + PSM T10: VC 10 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T11: VC 10 t ha-1 + VAM T12: VC 10 t ha-1 + PSM T13: Rec. NPK + Azospirillum T14: Rec. NPK + VAM T15: Rec. NPK + PSM T16: Recommended NPK S Em ± CD (P = 0.05)

33.02 32.76 33.59 33.75 33.59 34.75 34.13 33.25 34.23 34.98 34.56 35.52 41.22 40.81 41.88 36.63 1.07 2.31

Vitamin C (mg/100 g FW) 45 DAT 70 DAT 22.27 13.85 22.82 14.70 23.56 15.48 19.79 13.28 20.42 13.96 20.70 14.15 20.15 13.36 21.48 14.25 21.76 14.56 19.81 13.30 20.45 13.62 19.77 13.85 18.87 12.76 19.12 12.95 19.53 13.24 19.30 13.15 0.62 0.33 1.75 0.92

Total chlorophyll (mg/g FW) 45 DAT 70 DAT 2.48 0.587 2.21 0.577 2.41 0.554 2.38 0.629 2.12 0.675 2.29 0.488 2.18 0.443 1.56 0.605 1.97 0.448 2.87 0.569 2.55 0.655 2.69 0.877 3.78 0.932 3.08 0.703 3.10 0.715 2.70 0.441 0.08 0.017 0.22 0.049

Total Phenols (mg/100 g FW) 45 DAT 70 DAT 9.42 17.27 9.74 18.26 10.12 19.05 8.40 16.23 8.93 17.34 9.50 17.51 7.69 15.43 8.03 16.50 8.25 17.10 9.12 17.02 8.43 17.58 9.51 17.89 7.59 15.45 7.81 16.65 8.32 17.42 7.73 16.47 0.26 0.30 0.72 0.86

Table 2: Effect of integrated nutrient management on economics of cabbage head production (mean data of two years) Treatment

T1: FYM 20 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T2: FYM 20 t ha-1 + VAM T3: FYM 20 t ha-1 + PSM T4: DS 20 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T5: DS 20 t ha-1 + VAM T6: DS 20 t ha-1 + PSM T7: Pressmud 15 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T8: Pressmud 15 t ha-1 + VAM T9: Pressmud 15 t ha-1 + PSM T10: VC 10 t ha-1 + Azospirillum T11: VC 10 t ha-1 + VAM T12: VC 10 t ha-1 + PSM T13: Rec. NPK + Azospirillum T14: Rec. NPK + VAM T15: Rec. NPK + PSM T16: Recommended NPK

Cost of cultivation (Rs. ha-1) 27780 27872 27780 30920 31012 30920 32634 32726 32634 39294 39385 39294 23724 23815 23724 23387

Economics of cabbage head production Gross return Net return (Rs. ha-1) (Rs. ha-1) 53702 25922 53171 25299 55343 27563 54806 23886 54656 23644 56492 25572 55492 22858 54092 21366 55671 23036 56904 17611 56127 16742 57775 18481 51500 27776 50981 27165 52306 18582 45736 24349

O:I ratio 1.93 1.91 1.99 1.77 1.76 1.83 1.70 1.66 1.71 1.45 1.43 1.47 2.17 2.13 2.20 1.95


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Quality Parameters

Comparative economics

The use of biofertilizers in combination with organic manures and/or inorganic fertilizers had significant influenced on quality parameters of cabbage at 45 DAT and at edible maturity (70 DAT). Ascorbic acid and total chlorophyll content in cabbage were higher at 45 DAT and thereafter declined at 70 DAT whereas, total phenols content were lower at initial stage of crop growth and thereafter increased with crop improvement (Table 1). The maximum ascorbic acid content was recorded with the use of either FYM or pressmud along with seedling inoculation with either PSM or VAM (T2, T3, T8 and T9). VA-mycorrhiza and P-solubilizing microbes play an important role in improving P bioavailability (Wu et al., 2005). P ishelpful in assimilation of carbohydrates, and in turn, the synthesis of ascorbic acid. Furthermore, these microorganisms consume a considerable amount of organic matters, i.e., carbohydrates to generate energy for the maintenance and growth (Parr et al., 1994; Bulluck et al., 2002). Thus, these microbes had better response under present study when they were combined with organic manures. The application of inorganic fertilizers along with biofertilizers significantly improved the total chlorophyll content at both the growth stages (Table 1). The significantly superior total chlorophyll (3.78 and 0.932 mg/g) was obtained with recommended dose of NPK with seedling inoculation with Azospirillum (T13) during both the growth stages, which was statistically at par over all the treatment combinations. Earlier, Mohan and Sharma (1992) observed that the nitrogen has a vital role in cell division and elongation, as proteins are the building blocks of growth. Thus nitrogen favored greater assimilation of proteins and carbohydrates. More availability of nitrogen at higher rates of application might have favored protein synthesis and increased chlorophyll content leading to higher photosynthesis. The presence of these two compounds in plant induced rapid cell elongation, which ultimately resulted in vigorous plant growth. Further, Singh et al. (2001) have reported that higher dose of NPK might have increased the photosynthetic capacity and auxin levels in the plant.

The adoption of any new technology can only be feasible economically viable with better output: input ratio. Economics of cabbage production depends on several factors such as input cost, labour requirement and above all the weather conditions prevailing during the crop period. Data showed (Table 2) propounded that combined use of vermicompost and biofertilizer were maximization cost of cultivation (Rs. 39,385) and gross return (Rs.56,904) per hectare area. However, the inorganic fertilizer along with biofertilizers gave maximum net return (Rs. 27,776) and output: input ratio (2.20) per hectare area. Similarly, the cost of cultivation and gross return was also higher due to higher production cost of vermicompost and higher cost of output was the primary reason for such higher cost of cultivation and gross return and lower output: input ratio in case of integrated nutrient management using vermicompost applied at higher amount. However, the recommended dose of NPK along with biofertilizers ensure their continuous supply to plant at every stage resulting in more production of yield attributes and thus increase in head yield. Highest head yield was obtained with inorganic fertilizer along with biofertilizers, increased the net return and output: input ratio.

The combined use of organic manures and biofertilizers significantly increased the total phenols at both the stages of cabbage (Table 1).Total phenols content of cabbage was lower at 45 DAT and thereafter increased with crop improvement (70 DAT). Farmyard manure along with PSM (T3) had significantly higher total phenols (10.12 and 19.05 mg/100 g) during both the growth stages. Earlier, Ferreres et al. (2005) and Sousa et al. (2005) obtained that organic grown tron-chuda cabbage (B. oleracea Tronchuda group) tended to have higher total phenolic content in leaves than did conventional.

REFERENCES A.O.A.C. 1990. Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, 15th ed., Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington VA, pp. 1058-9. Asokan,R.; Mohandas,Sukhada and Anand,Lalitha 2000. Biofertilizers and biopesticides for horticultural crops. Indian Hort.,2: 44-52. Bahadur,A.; Singh, J.; Singh, K.P.; Upadhyay, A.K. and Rai, M. 2006. Effect of organic amendments and biofertilizers on growth, yield and quality attributes of Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis Olsson). Indian J. Ag. Sci.,76(10): 596-8. Bahadur, A.; Singh, J.; Singh, K.P.;Upadhyay, A.K. and Rai, M. 2009.Morpho-physiological, yield and quality traits in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) as influenced by use of organic manures and biofertilizers. Indian J. Ag. Sci.,79(4): 282-5. Bashyal, L.N. 2011.Response of cauliflower to nitrogen fixing biofertilizer and graded levels of nitrogen.J. Ag. Environ.,12: 41-50. Beecher, C. 1994. Cancer preventive properties of Brassica oleracea: A review. Am. J. Clinical Nutri.,59: 1166-70.

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Bhakher, J.R.; Sharma, O.P. and Jat, B.C. 1997. Effect of nitrogen and farmyard manure on yield and yield attributes of barley (Hordeum vulgare) in a loamy sand soil. Annals Ag. Res.,18: 244-5. Bulluck, L.R.;Brosius, M.;Evanylo, G.K. and Ristaino, J.B. 2002. Organic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soil microbial, physical and chemical properties on organic and conventional farms. Appl. Soil Ecol.,19(2): 147-60. Davis, D.R.;Epp. M.D. and Riordan, H.D. 2004.Changesin USDA Food Composition; Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950-1999. J. Am. College Nutri.,23: 1-2. Ferreres, F.P.;Valentão, R.;Llorach, C.;Pinheiro, L.; Cardoso, J.A.; Pereira, C.; Sousa, R.M.;Seabra, R.M. and Andrade, P.B. 2005. Phenolic compounds in external leaves of tronchuda cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. costata DC). J. Ag. Food Chem.,53:2901-2907. Mohan, K. and Sharma, H.C. 1992. Effect of nitrogen and sulphur on growth, yield attributes, seed and oil yield of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea). Indian J.Agron.,37(4): 748-754. Parr, J.F.;Hornick, S.B. and Kaufman, D.D. 1994.Use of microbial inoculants and organic fertilizers in agricultural production.Proc. International Seminar on the Use of Microbial and Organic Fertilizers in Agricultural Production.Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

Prior, R.L. and Cao, G. 2000.Antioxidants phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables.Diet and health implications. HortSci.,35: 588-590. Sadasivam, S. and Manickam, A. 1992. In: Biochemical Methods for Agricultural Sciences, Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi, pp. 184-185. Singh, J.;Upadhyay, A.K.;Bahadur, A. and Singh, K.P. 2004.Dietary antioxidants and minerals in crucifers.J. Veg. Crop Produc.,10(2): 33-41. Singh, R.V.;Maurya, A.N. and Singh, K.P. 2001.Response of F1 hybrid cabbage to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization.Veg. Sci.,28(1):48-50. Singleton, V.L.;Orthofer, R. and Lamuela Raventos, R.M.1999. Analysis of total phenols and other oxidation substrates and antioxidants by means of Folin-Ciocalteu Reagent.Methods Enzym., 299: 15278. Sousa, C.;Valentão, P.;Rangel, J.;Lopes, G.;Pereira, J.A.;Ferreres, F.;Seabra, R.M. and Ndrade,P.B. 2005. Influence of two fertilization regimens on the amounts of organic acids and phenolic compounds of tronchuda cabbage (Brassica oleraceaL. var. costata DC). J. Ag. Food Chem., 53: 9128-9132. Wu, S.C.; Cao, Z.H.; Li, Z.G.; Cheung, K.C. and Wong, M.H. 2005. Effects of biofertilizer containing N-fixer, P and K solubilizers and AM fungi on maize growth: a greenhouse trial. Geoderma,125(1-2): 155-66.

Received on 18 November 2013 and accepted on 07 July 2014


[Research Article]

Agrobacterium mediated transformation in Capsicum annuum L. cv.Mathania Mohammad Rizwan*, Ramavtar Sharma, Priyanka Soni and Govind Singh

Plant Biotechnology Centre, S.K. Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner (Rajasthan)-334 006, India *Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A protocol for regeneration and genetic transformation has been established for chilli(Capsicum annuum L. cv. Mathania). High frequency regeneration of shoot buds from cotyledonary leaves and hypocotyls was achieved with Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with 10 mg l-1 BAP and 1 mg l-1 IAA. Elongation of shoots bud and subsequent rooting was obtained on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg l-1 IAA. A disarmed strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA 105 carrying a binary vector plasmid p35SGUSINT has been used for transformation. This vector contains neomycin phosphotransferase gene (nptII), whose expression confirms Kanamycin resistance in transformants. In addition to nptII, plasmid encodes β -glucuronidase, reporter enzyme used for studying the expression of foreign genes in plants. The cotyledonary leaf and hypocotyls explants from in vitro grown seeds were infected and co-cultivated for 10 min. in Agrobacterium solution was found to give maximum transient expression. Shoot buds were produced on the selective medium containing Kanamycin (50 mg l-1) and Cefotaxime (700 mg l-1). Frequency of transient GUS expression in leaves was (54.95%) and in hypocotyls was (59.83%). Conversion frequency of transient to stable transformation was 2.5% in both the explants. The transgenic nature of the regenerated plants was confirmed by the histochemical staining of GUS, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of npt II gene. KEY WORDS: Capsicum annuum, BAP,IAA, GUS, nptII gene The genus Solanaceae comprises some of the most economically important vegetable species, including potato (Solanum tuberosum), tomato (Solanum lycopersicon), eggplant (Solanum melongena), and pepper (Capsicum spp.). More than 40 species belong to the genus Capsicum. Five pepper species, C. annuum, C. frutescens, C. baccatum, C. chinense, and C. pubescens, are valuable crops plants that are cultivated and consumed throughout the world, with C. annuum being the most widely cultivated species. Pepper is second only to tomato in terms of vegetable production in developed countries, and its breeding and production, as with other major crops, is constantly challenged by numerous pests, diseases, and abiotic stresses (Djian-Caporalino et al., 2007). Chilli peppers are prone to a wide variety of viruses including tobacco mosaic virus, tobacco etch virus, cucumber mosaic virus, potato virus Y, pepper mottle virus, ring spot virus, and tospo virus. Viruses are among the most important group of plant pathogens affecting the Capsicum production worldwide and cause catastrophic economic losses by reducing yield and compromising quality (SuOnline version available at: www.indianjournals.com

zuki and Mori, 2003). Among all these diseases leaf curl of chilli is considered as most damaging in various parts of country causing heavy revenue loss ranging from 50 to 100% (Kumar, 2005). The seriousness of this disease can be felt by complete elimination of this crop from a traditional area (Mathania, Jodhpur). The Mathania type chilli evolved in the Mathania region of Jodhpur district of Rajasthan (India) through decades of selection and cultivation is most preferred as vegetable ingredient. It is a long and wrinkled chilli with mild pungency but bright red color on maturity imparting desired color, flavor and taste. However, continued selection for uniformity and cultivation has rendered the crop vulnerable to various diseases and climatic hazards. High incidence of pests and diseases, particularly, the Leaf Curl Virus (LCV) and die-back disease, has resulted in high pest management costs accompanied with yield losses. This has led to gradual reduction in the cropping area of the admired land race, Mathania Red, is now on the verge of extinction. Efforts to combat the dreaded diseases of chilli and to conserve the famous Mathania Redchilli

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cultivar have had limited impact. The non-availability of resistance source in the germplasm necessitates development of suitable genotypes using interventions of biotechnological tools. Development of transgenic harboring genes that are directly involved in viral development and survival may provide solutions against viral diseases such as coat protein and replicase gene (Zhu et al., 1996) satellite RNA (Dong et al., 1992;Kim et al., 1997) have been well characterized and found effective against viral disease in various crops at laboratory and green house conditions. Genetic transformation through Agrobacterium tumefaciensis now a routine procedure for introducing foreign gene into many plant species including several vegetable crop plants such as tomato, brinjalbrassicca etc. (Fari et al., 1995; Metz et al., 1995).The most important pre-requisites for the success of the method are the availability of a plant regeneration system from the explants and suitable method for transformation. Although chilli belongs to the solanaceae family, whose members are easily amenable to tissue culture and transformation practices, it is highly recalcitrant. The regeneration protocol as well as viable transformation has to be established for each commercial cultivar for exploiting the potential of genetic engineering (Christopher and Rajam, 1996; Kim et al., 2002). However during the last few years, tansformtion using Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been reported in sweet and chilli pepper (Zhu et al., 1996; Manoharan et al., 1998; Li et al., 2003; Lee et al., 2004). In most cases, these protocols fail to produce results in other laboratories and were genotype specific (Delis et al., 2005). Present investigation has therefore been taken to develop an efficient regeneration and transformation protocol to enable in future to develop virus resistant transformants (leaf curl) using various strategies to save the variety from extinction. In this study, we show the successful establishment of plant regeneration and genetic transformation with marker genes (GUS and NPT II) from the cotyledonary leaves of chilli var. Mathania.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Establishment of aseptic plants To obtain aseptic seedling, seeds were surface sterilized for 4 min with 0.1% (w/v) Mercuric Chloride (HgCl2) followed by 3-4 rinses with sterile double distilled water. The aseptic seeds were then transferred aseptically into sterilized culture tubes containing filter paper bridges whose lower half is dipped in 1/4th MS salt (Murashige and Skoog, 1962). Jam bottles with the basal MS medium (BM) containing 3% (m/v) sucrose and 0.8% (m/v) agar was adjusted to pH 5.8 were used as germination vessels. All media were autoclaved at 1210C (1.4


kg cm-2) for 18 min. Basal medium was supplemented with different concentration of BAP for shoot bud induction.Cotyledonary leaves and hypocotyls were excised and inoculated on MS medium supplemented with various concentrations of BAP (4mg l-1, 5mg l-1, 6mg l-1, 7mg l-1, 8mg l-1, 9mg l-1, 10mg l-1) to evaluate its effect on shoot bud induction. The shoot buds were transferred to shoot elongation and rooting medium supplemented with various concentrations of auxins (IAA, IBA, NAA) for further elongation and rooting.

Bacterial strain and plasmid Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA 105 with plasmid p35SGUSINT (Vancanneyt et al., 1990) was used in present study. The plasmid harbored the GUS reporter gene driven by the CaMV35S promoter and NPT II gene for kanamycin resistance as selectable marker. The Agrobacterium strain was procured from National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi.

Determining the concentration of kanamycin and cefotaxime Before attempting transformation experiments, the concentration of kanamycin to be used for the selection of transformed cells, were determined in preliminary experiments. Cotyledonary leaves and hypocotyl explants were inoculated on MS medium supplemented with different concentration of BAP and IAA along with different levels of kanamycin (25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700 mg l-1. The concentration of kanamycin at which explants turned brown or bleachy spotted was considered appropriate for selective medium. Similarly, the concentration of cefotaxime (300-900 mg l-1) that effectively killing the bacterium without altering explants growth was selected and used in washing and selective medium.

Growth of A.tumefaciens A single colony of A.tumefaciens was inoculated in 50 ml of YEP liquid medium containing kanamycin (50 mg l-1) and rifampicin (10mg l-1) to get pure culture. Culture was incubated for 10-18 h at 270C on incubator shaker @ 190 rpm to an A600 0.6-0.8. The bacterial culture was centrifuged at 5000 rpm and then resuspened at the ratio of 1:20 in YEP liquid medium and used for infection by co-cultivation with leaf and hypocotyl explants.

Co-cultivation of explants Leaf explants of 0.5 cm diameters from cotyledonary leaves and hypocotyls from 14-15 d old in vitro raised seedlings and 2 cm long stem having cotyledonary leaves and hypocotyls were used as explants for co-cultivation


with Agrobacterium. The explants were co-cultivated with Agrobacterium for 5, 10 and 15 min. Thereafter, the explants were blotted dry using filter paper to eliminate excess of bacterium. The explants were incubated on suitable regeneration medium for 48 h at 27+0.50C for insertion of T-DNA in plant genome. After 48 h of incubation, the explants were transferred to washing solution (MS medium without agar and sucrose+suitable concentration of cefotaxime) for 15 min to kill the bacteria. The explants were blotted dry with autoclaved filter paper and transferred to regeneration medium supplemented with appropriate concentration of cefotaxime for 48 h to kill the bacteria remained alive during washing. After 48 h, explants were shifted to selective media containing Cefotaxime and kanamycin.

Regeneration and selection of transformants The explants were kept on selective medium containing appropriate levels of BAP, cefotaxime and kanamycin. Only transformed explants were expected to show regeneration since non-transformed cells were likely to be killed due to be the presence of kanamycin in the medium.

Histochemical GUS assay in transformed tissues The transient GUS expression was assayed with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl glucuronide (X-gluc) as substrate after 3 days of co-cultivation The GUS assay was carried out as per the method described by Jefferson (1987). The leaf/hypocotyl explants and callus/shoot developed from leaf/hypocotyl were incubated in phosphate buffer (50 mM pH 7.0) that contained 0.3% (w/v) x-Gluc. and potassium ferricyanide. The plant material was left for 6 to 20 h at 37oC in an incubator. After staining, the plant material was rinsed in 70% ethanol for at least 25-30 min to remove the chlorophyll. GUS expression units (Blue spots and regions) were seen under microscope to ascertain GUS activity.

Polymerase Chain Reaction For PCR analysis, DNA was isolated from leaves according Doyle and Doyle (1990). Two set of primers of the nptII genes were used: 5’-GAG GCT ATT CGG CTA TGA CTG-3’ and 5’-ATC GGG AGG GGC GAT ACC GTA-3’. Expected size of the fragment was 700 bp. PCR Reaction were performed in final volume of 25µl containing dNTPs (200µm) 2 µlTaq Buffer 2.5 µl Primers 2 µl (1µl forward+1µl reverse)Taq DNA Polymeras 0.33 µl DNA 2 µl Water 18 µl.The PCR was performed using the following cycling parameter: Cycle 1: Denaturation (92οC) 4 min; Primer annealing (55οC) 1 min; Primer extension (72οC) 1 min

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Cycle 2-34:Denaturation (92οC) 1 min; Primer annealing (55οC) 1 min; Primer extension (72οC) 1 min Cycle-35:Denaturation (92οC) 4 min; Primer annealing (55οC) 1 min; Primer extension (72οC) 5 min Following the amplification, the PCR products were loaded on 1.2% Agarose gel which was prepared in 1X TBE buffer containing 0.5 µg/ml of the ethidium bromide. The amplified products were electrophoresed for 3-3.5 h at 100 V. After seperation the gel was viewed under UV Transilluminater and photographed.

RESULTS and discussion Regeneration In experiment conducted on cotyledonary leaf explants, the callus formation was started after 18 days of inoculation. At 18 days of inoculation the maximum response (86.5%) was observed with 10 mg l-1 BAP, with a mean value of 17.3±1.5 (Table 1). In another experiment, better callusing or shoot bud induction was observed when hypocotyls, instead of cotyledonary leaves were used as an explants (Table 2). Addition of BAP was again found significant upto 10 mg l-1 BAP. It was also noted that the percentage response was almost double when hypocotyls were used as explants. At 10 mg l-1 BAP the responding hypocotyls were 96% and 86.5% when cotyledonary leaves were taken as explants, respectively (Table 1,2). Regenerated shoot were separated and transferred to MS medium supplemented with various concentrations of IAA, IBA or NAA. Rhizogenesis occurred with all these auxins but the response was significantly variable. The best rooting and elongation of the regenerated shoot buds (Fig. 1) was achieved on medium containing 1 mg l-1 IAA (100%) followed by 1.5 mg l-1 IAA (95%). On medium containing 1 mg l-1 IBA, 90% shoots were rooted whereas; 55-70% shoots were rooted when transferred to medium supplemented with different concentrations of NAA (Table 3).

Transformation Determination of suitable concentration of kanamycin and cefotaxime for transformation Cotyledonary leaves and hypocotyls were taken from 12-13 d old in vitro raised seedlings and inoculated on regeneration medium containing BAP 10 mg l-1 and IAA 1 mg l-1along with different concentrations of kanamycin. Effect of different concentrations of kanamycin was examined after 15 d of inoculation (Table 4). At a concentration of 25 mg l-1nearly all the leaf were green and show callusing (Fig. 2B) whereas 3 out of 4 hypoco-

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tyls were healthy and showed callusing (Fig. 3B). All the explants showed brown spots with no callusing at concentration 50 mg l-1(Fig. 2C, 3C). However, higher concentrations of kanamycin (above 50 mg l-1) showed more chlorosis and browning (Fig. 2D, 3D, E). Therefore, it was concluded that concentration of 50 mg l-1would be used for the selection of putative transformants in transformation experiment using vector p35S-GUSINT, which contain npt II gene for both types of explants. The antibiotic cefotaxime is commonly used for excluding Agrobacterium during plant transformation experiments. In present investigation different concentration of cefotaxime were tested for its effect on regeneration from leaf and hypocotyls explants. Both types of explants were inoculated on MS medium containing BAP 10 mg l-1and IAA 1mg l-1 along with various concentrations of cefotaxime (300900 mg l-1). At 700 mg l-1concentration of cefotaxime all the leaf explants remained green and showed callusing after 20 d of inoculation. Shoot buds appeared in callus developed from leaf and hypocotyls. It was concluded that concentration of 700 mg l-1of cefotaxime found optimum for effectively eliminating Agrobacterium without affecting plant regeneration in both the explants. Washing of explants with MS liquid medium containing 700 mg l-1cefotaxime helped in eliminating Agrobacterium from co-cultivated explants.

Transformation via infection and co-cultivation Leaf and hypocotyl explants were infected and cocultivated with Agrobacterium EHA 105 (p35SGUSINT) as described by Horschet al. (1985), detailed in materials and methods. After incubating the co-cultivated explants on antibiotic free regeneration media for 48 h and subsequently on cefotaxime (700 mg l-1) for another 48 h they were grown on selective media containing both kanamycin and cefotaxime for regeneration. Transient expression of GUS in transformed explants was monitored after culturing for 3 d on selective media taking half of the leaf rest half of it was re-incubated on the same selective media. Table 5 showed the frequency of callus development and shoot formation from callus for infection and co-cultivation. In an initial standardization experiment infection and co- cultivation of 44 leaves and 23 hypocotyls with Agrobacterium for 5 min resulted in 12 (27.27%) GUS positive leaves and 9 (39.13%) hypocotyls. Subsequently, 9 (75%) out of 12 GUS positive leaves formed callus and 3 (33.33%) hypocotyls formed callus from 9 GUS positive hypocotyls. Infection for 10 min resulted in 23 (54.76%) out of 42 leaves and 13 (61.90%) out of 21 hypocotyls GUS positive. Twenty (86.95%) out of 23 GUS positive leaves and 9 (69.23%) hypocotyls out of 13 GUS positive hypocotyls developed callus. The GUS negative leaves and hypocotyls obtained for 5 and 10 min infection failed to grow further turned brown slow-


ly and died within 3 weeks. Infection for 15 min resulted in 23 (44.23%) GUS positive out of 52 leaf explants and 14 (50%) hypocotyls GUS positive out of 28 hypocotyl explants. No callus formed either from leaf explants or from hypocotyl explants it might be because of higher infection time lasting for 15 min. Emergence of a few calli could be seen on explants kept under selective medium within 3 weeks. Major portion of leaf explants however, turned brown but compact green calli were formed at the cut edges of the explants tested positive for GUS expression. These calli were isolated and sub-cultured on regeneration medium containing kanamycin and cefotaxime. The infection and cocultivation for 10 min which produced maximum GUS positive explants while retaining regeneration capacity to maximum was considered for production of transformants. Subsequently, 757 leaves and 473 hypocotyls were infected with Agrobacterium solution for 10 min. Out of 757 leaves 416 (54.95%) were GUS positive and 283 (59.83%) hypocotyls were GUS positive out of 473. Callus was induced in 364 (87.5%) leaves and 197(69.61%) hypocotyls. A total of 31 elongated shoots: 19 (2.5%) from leaf and 12 (2.5%) from hypocotyl explants were rooted and hardened under laboratory conditions.

Conformation of transformation through GUS expression In order to confirm the transformation, GUS test was performed. GUS test was conducted after three d of infection and co-cultivation (7 d including incubation on basal regeneration media and on cefotaxime supplemented media) to detect the GUS activity in both explants (Fig. 4 and 5). The explants infected with Agrobacterium showed GUS expression near the cut edges. The GUS activity was visible after 4-5 h of x-gluc treatment in transformed callus or tissue. The blue color developed in tissues after 4-5 h got diffused to treatment buffer after 10 h. Though, no blue color developed in callus generated from control explants, during the period of 10-12 h.

Confirmation of transformation through PCR analysis PCR was used to demonstrate the presence of T-DNA in the transgenic plants. In infection and co-cultivation experiment a total of 31 shoots (19 leaf and 12 hypocotyls) grown in the rooting media. Out of 31, DNA of 12 plants (6 hypocotyl and 6 leaves) were subjected to PCR analysis using npt II primers. The expected 700 bp single band was obtained in transformed plants, whereas no amplified band was observed in non-transformed plant (Fig. 6, 7). In vitro culture is one of the key tools of plant bio-


technology that exploits the totipotent nature of plant cells, a concept proposed by Haberlandt (1902) and unequivocally demonstrated for the first time by Steward et al. (1958). In vitro culture facilitates rapid multiplication of superior clones and has been exploited to create genetic variability by producing haploids, somaclonal and gametoclonal variants from which crop plants can be improved. It is also utilized for improving the state of health of the planted material and to increase the number of desirable germplasm available to the plant breeder. More recently, tissue culture, in combination with molecular techniques, has become popular for incorporating specific traits through gene transfer in plants (Hasnat et al., 2008). Chilli pepper plant regeneration has been achieved mainly through organogenesis.Growth and morphogenesis of the plant tissue under in vitro conditions are largely governed by the appropriate choice of the explant. Analogous to this, pepper regeneration is also dependent on the age and type of the explant involved. Different explants including cotyledons, hypocotyls, leaves, shoot tips, zygotic embryos, embryonal leaves, stems, internodes, mature seeds and roots have been employed for plant regeneration in Capsicum (Agrawal, 1983; Agrawal et al., 1989; Ebida and Hu, 1993; Ezura et al., 1993; Gatz and Rogozinska, 1994; Ramírez-Malagón and Ochoa-Alejo, 1996; Berljak, 1999). The pioneering work of successful regeneration of pepper plants from two Capsicum cultivars and one from C.frutescens hybrid (Baratha) using cotyledon and hypocotyl explants was carried out by Gunay and Rao (1978). Most authors have reported efficient shoot regeneration from leaf and hypocotyl explants (Li et al.2003) Conventional plant breeding has contributed significantly to crop improvement over the past fifty years. However, there is intense pressure to produce further improvements in crop quality and quantity as a result of population growth, social demands, health requirements, environmental stress and ecological considerations. Traditional plant breeding is not able to withstand this increasing demand due to the limited gene pool, restricted range of organism between which genes can be transferred due to the species barriers. Genetic transformation holds great promise for alleviating these major constraints to crop productivity. Genetic manipulation is an attractive proposition where it involves recombination of an efficient cell or tissue culture regeneration system with recombinant DNA technology, which would transfer specific genes from other taxa, or the modified expression of specific native genes. In general, Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been used as the vector for genetic transformation of diverse dicotyledonous species. In the case of chilli pepper, genetic transformation via Agrobacterium is a proved important

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tool to facilitate genetic improvement against several diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi, bacteria and viruses. As the case with most other plant species, A. tumefaciens has been the only used vector for chilli pepper genetic transformation and studies have been mainly focused on C. annuum (Liu et al., 1990; Dong et al., 1992; Engler et al., 1993; Christopher and Rajam, 1997; Lee et al., 1993; Ye et al., 1993; Zhu et al., 1996; Kim et al., 1997; Ramírez-Malagón, 1997; Harpster et al., 2002; Kim et al., 2002; Shin et al., 2002; Dabauza and Pena, 2003; Li et al., 2003), but protocols have also been developed for C. frutescens (Wang et al., 1991; Chen et al., 2003; Hasnat et al., 2008; Sharma et al., 2008), C. chinense (Solís-Ramos et al., 2009) and C. baccatum (Subhash and Christopher, 1997). Most transformation studies in chilli pepper refer to the use of marker (npt II) or reporter genes (GUS) in order to establish adequate protocols; however, some genes have also been utilized to generate transgenic plants with tolerance to Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) (Dong et al., 1992; Lee et al., 1993; Zhu et al., 1996; Kim et al., 1997; Chen et al., 2003; Lee et al., 2009) or tolerant to multiple pathogenic organisms (Shin et al., 2002). Originally plant transformation protocols were developed using protoplasts that had been transformed by co-cultivation with the Agrobacterium (de Block et al., 1984; Horsch et al., 1984). The parameters like type of explants taken for transformation, concentration of kanamycin to select the transformed calli, concentratin of cefotaxime to kill the bacterium were studied. The results provided evidence for the integration of the marker gene into genome of transformed chillicalli and fully developed plants with expression of screenable marker gene. In Agrobacterium mediated DNA transfer, use of antibiotics in culture medium has become a routine practice. Antibiotics are added to culture medium to control Agrobacterium that may affect the plant regeneration process and to select transformants with an antibiotic resistance that is cotransferred with the gene of interest (Shaw et al., 1983). Among the various selectable markers currently in use, the most widely used and tested marker is the gene for neomycin phospho-transferase (npt II), which confers resistance to the antibiotics kanamycin (Bhatia et al., 1986;Fraley et al., 1986; Schell, 1987). However, studies of the effect of antibiotics on plant tissue have shown general phytotoxic effect (Young et al., 1984; Waldenmaier et al., 1986) but some antibiotics are reported to have more complex effects on the differentiation of plant material (Okkels and Pederson, 1998). Since the plasmid p35SGUSINT taken for present study carries npt II gene under the control of nos promoter. Both explants,viz., cotyledonary leaf and hypocotyl of C. annum var. mathania were tested for their susceptibil-

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Table 1: Effect of BAP on shoot bud formation from thecotyledonary leaf explants of Capsicum annum L. var. Mathania Concentration of BAP in mg with 1mg/l IAA 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Number of total explants 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

Responded Response Days to plants (Mean (%) callus ± s.d.) initiation 3.6 ±1.1 18.0% 20 4.3 ±1.5 21.5% 15 4.6 ±1.15 23.0% 18 7.3 ± 0.5 36.5% 18 11.3 ±1.5 56.5% 19 13.0 ±1.7 65.0% 19 17.3 ±1.5 86.5% 18 11.3 ±1.5 56.5% 18 09.6± 0.5 48.0% 17

No.of Elongated shoots (Mean± s.d.) 13 ± 0.5 10 ± 0.0 23 ±1.5 43 ±2.5 70 ±2.0 73 ±2.5 96 ±2.0 66± 0.5 56±0.5

No.of Elongated No.of shoots/ responded Elongated explant shoots/ explant 3.6 0.6 2.3 0.5 5.0 1.1 5.8 2.1 6.1 3.5 5.6 3.6 5.5 4.8 5.8 3.3 5.8 2.8

Table 2: Effect of BAP on shoot bud formation from the hypocotyl explants of Capsicum annum L. var. Mathania Concentration Number of Responded Response Days to No. of elongated No. of elongated No. of of BAP in mg total plants (Mean (%) callus shoots (Mean ± shoots/responded elongated with 1mg/l IAA explants ± s.d.) initiation s.d.) explant shoots/ explant 4 10 4.6 ±1.5 46% 20 16 ±0.5 3.4 1.6 5 10 6.3 ±1.1 63% 15 43 ±1.5 6.8 4.3 6 10 6.0 ±1.0 60% 18 50 ±1.7 8.3 5.0 7 10 7.3 ±1.1 73% 18 66 ±1.5 9.0 6.6 8 10 7.6 ±0.5 76% 19 66 ±0.5 8.6 6.6 9 10 8.0 ±1.5 80% 19 80 ±1.0 10.0 8.0 10 10 9.6 ±0.5 96% 18 93 ±1.1 9.6 9.6 11 10 6.3±0.5 60% 18 56±1.1 8.8 5.6 12 10 5.6±0.5 55% 17 46±1.1 8.2 4.6

Table 3: Effect of auxins on root induction from in vitro raised shoots of Capsicum annum L. var. Mathania IAA (mg l-1)

IBA

NAA

0.5

Table 4: Effect of kanamycin on explants of Capsicum annum L. var.Mathania Conc. of kanamycin (mg l-1 )

% Survival of leaf explants

% Survival of hypocotyl

0

100 a

100 a

90

25

100 a

75 a

Shoots

Plants with roots

Response %

20

18

1.0

20

20

100

50

50 b

50 b

1.5

20

19

95

75

25 b

00 c

0.5

20

14

70

100

00 c

00 c

1.0

20

18

90

200

00 c

00 c

1.5

20

12

60

300

00 c

00 c

0.5

20

11

55

400

00 c

00 c

1.0

20

14

70

500

00 c

00 c

1.5

20

13

65

A= All explants green, healthy, callusing/shoot regeneration. B=Green, No callusing/Shoot regeneration. C=Bleached


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Table 5: Frequency of callus development and shoot formation from callus (co-cultivated) Infection time

No. of explants Leaf

hypocotyl

GUS positive Leaf

No. of calli formed

hypocotyl

Leaf

No. of shoots with roots

hypocotyl

5 min.

44

23

12

9

9

3

10 min.

42

21

23

13

20

9

15 min.

52

28

23

14

Leaves decayed

10 min.

757

473

416

283

364

Leaf

Hypocotyl

-

-

Hypocotyl decayed

-

-

197

19

12

50 mg l-1

(C)

75 mg l-1

(D)

100 mg l-1

(E)

Fig. 1:Regenerated plant of Capsicum annuum L. cv. Mathania

Control (A)

25 mg l-1

(B)

Fig. 2: (A-E)Effect of Kanamycin on leaf explants

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showed GUS expression near the cut edges

Control

(A)

50 mg l-1 (C)

25 mg l-1

(B)

100 mg l-1

(D)

Fig. 6: Conformation of transformation through PCR when plant regenerated from cotyledonaryleaf explants

Fig. 3:(A-D) Effect of Kanamycin on hypocotyl explants

Fig. 4: The cotyledonary leaf infected with Agrobacterium showed GUS expression near the cut edges

Fig.5: The hypocotyl infected with Agrobacterium

Fig. 7: Conformation of transformation through PCR when plant regenerated from hypocotyl explants ity/tolerance to kanamycin. Although, growth was affected by increasing levels of kanamycin,kanamycin was used in selective media in a wide range of concentration. Lee et al. (2004), Lim et al. (1996) and Zhou et al. (1991) supplemented their selective medium with 100 mg l-1 kanamycin. While Li et al. (2003), Bi et al. (1998) and Dong et al. (1992) considered 50 mg l-1 concentration sufficient for selective medium. Although many antibiotics have been described for effective control of Agrobacterium cells, cefotaxime, belonging to the β lactam group, have minimal toxicity on most plant tissues (Mathias and Boyd, 1986) and thus have been widely accepted in Agrobacterium mediated transformation. However, this antibiotic has been known to have plant harmone like effects on cultured


plant tissues (Nauerby et al., 1997). The cotyledonary leaf and hypocotyls explants of C. annum were examined for their tolerance to the cefotaxime in present investigation. The study has resembled that both explants growth and callusing were not affected by cefotaxime concentration upto 700 mg l-1. Whereas Lee et al. (2004) and Manoharanet al. (1997) used 300 mg l-1 and 400 mg l-1 concentration of cefotaxime to eliminating the bacterium. However, we provided washing treatment at same concentration (700 mg l-1) for 15 min. before transferring co-cultivated explants on media containing Cefotaxime. Whereas, Lee et al. (2004) used 500-800 mg l-1cefotaxime or 500-800 mg l-1lilacillin and manoharanet al. (1997) used 200 mg l-1 concentration of cefotaxime. A disarmed strain EHA105 of Agrobacterium was used as a host for binary vector p35SGUSINT. The vector has npt II gene under the control of nopaline synthase promoter. Vector also contain gus gene in divergent transcription unit. This construct has promoter and enhancer elements of CaMV35S. The advantage of vector is that it allows for selection of transformants on kanamycin and also scoring for the expression of reporter gene by GUS assay. In order to identify the transformed cells or plants that have been growing on a selective medium, it is necessary to confirm the integration of T-DNA into host genome. Thus, as described earlier activity of reporter enzyme GUS was determined to study the expression of this marker gene in transformed chilli leaves and hypocotyls. However, in some plants, intrinsic gus like activity might interfere with reporter enzyme assay (Hu et al., 1990).

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for pepper (Capsicum annuum L.).Plant Cell Rep., 21:785–88. Lim, H.T.; Lee, K.;Yoo, Y.S. and Yang, D.C. 1996.Plant regeneration of hot pepper and expression of mouse adenosine-deaminase gene via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.HortSci.,31:572. Liu, W.; Parrott, W.A.; Hildebrand, D.F.; Collins, G.B. and Williams, E.G. 1990.Agrobacterium induced gall formation in bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and formation of shoot-like structures expressing introduced genes. Plant Cell Rep., 9:360–64. Manoharan, M.;SreeVidya, C.S. and Lakshmi, S.G. 1998. Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation in hot chilli (Capsicum annuum L. var. Pusajwala).Plant Sci., 131:77–83. Mathias, R.J. and Boyd, C.A. 1986.Cefotaxime stimulates callus growth embryogenesis and regeneration in hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). PlantSci., 46: 217-23. Metz, T.D.; Dixit, R. and Earle, E.D. 1995. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) and cabbage (B. oleracea var. capitata).Plant Cell Rep., 15: 287-92. Murashige, T. andSkoog, F. 1962.A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures.Physiol. Plant., 15:473–97. Nauerby, B.; Billing, K. andWyndale, R. 1997.Influence of antibiotic timetin on plant regeneration compared to carbenicillin and Cefotaxime in concentration suitable for elimination of Agrobacterium tumefaciens.Plant Sci., 123: 168-77. Okkels, F.T. and Federsen, M.S. 1988. The toxicity to plant tissue and to Agrobacterium tumefaciens of some antibiotics.Acta Hort.,225: 199-245. Ramírez, M.R. and Ochoa, A.N. 1996. An improved and reliable chilli pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plant regeneration method. Plant Cell Rep., 16: 226–31. Schell, J. 1987. Transgenic plants as tools to study the molecular organization of plant genes. Science, 237: 1176-87. Sharma, A.; Kumar, V.;Giridhar, P. andRavishankar, G.A. 2008.Induction of in vitro flowering in Capsicum frutescens under the influence of silver nitrate and cobalt chloride and pollen transformation. Electronic J.Biotech.,11: 2-4. Shaw, C.H.;Leemans, J.; Shaw, C.H.; Van M. and Schell J. 1983.A general method for the transfer of cloned


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and its high capsanthin content.J. Japan. Soc. Food Sci. Tech., 50: 324–26. Vancannyet, G.;Schimdt, R.; O’Connor S.A.;Willmitzer, L. and Rocha, S.M. 1990.Construction of an intron containing gene: Splicing of the intron in transgenic plants and its use in monitoring early events in Agrobacterium mediated transformation. Mol. Gen. Genet., 220: 245-50. Waldenmaier, S.; Preil, W. and Biinemann, G. 1986.Verwendung Von antibiotica in der microvermehrung. Gartinbauwisse-noehaft., 51: 131-35. Wang, W.; Yang, M.; Pan, N. and Chen, Z.H. 1991.Plant regeneration and transformation of sweet pepper (Capsicum frutescens). Acta Bot. Sin. (in Chinese), 33: 780–86. Zhu, Y.X.;OuYang, W.J.; Zhang, Y.F. and Chen, Z.L. 1996. Transgenic sweet pepper plants from Agrobacteriummediated transformation. Plant Cell Rep.,16: 71–75.

Received on 13 April 2013 and accepted on 08 December 2013


[Research Article]

Effect of different mulches on soil properties during summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) cultivation in mid-hill conditions of Garhwal Himalayas Renu Rana1*, Lalit Bhatt1, Sanjay Sachan2 and Naveen Singh Rawat3

Department of Vegetable Science; 2 Soil Science Section; 3Department of Seed Science and Technology, G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar, Hill Campus Ranichauri, (Uttarakhand), India * E-mail: [email protected] 1

ABSTRACT

The experiment was laid out in an open field conditions to find out the possible effect of seven different mulching materials which is of polyethylene and organic type, respectively on soil properties during summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) cultivation. The data on nutritional status clearly revealed that the mulch material on soil improves the level of soil organic carbon as compared to non mulched soil, the maximum organic carbon (2.50%) and Potassium (K2O) 496.66 kg/ha observed under Farm Yard Manure (FYM) mulch. While, the maximum amount of Phosphorous (P2O5) 37.65 kg/ha and Nitrogen (487.02 kg/ha) was recorded with forest litter mulch. Under the non-biodegradable mulch materials, i.e., Black polyethylene and clear polyethylene mulch relatively increase in organic carbon and nitrogen content but no increase in K2O and P2O5 content over control treatment. Study also observed that different mulch material was beneficial in maintaining the optimum temperature of soil. Therefore present study concluded that mulching not only regulate the soil temperature, but also effect the soil chemical properties and provide congenial condition for the growth and development of summer squash. KEY WORDS: Mulching, soil temperature, soil chemical properties, summer squash Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.), a member of family cucurbitaceae, is grown all over the world from USA to China. Summer squash is said to be originated probably in North – Eastern Mexico. It is known by different names, viz., Vilayati kaddu, Chappan Kaddu, Bush squash, vegetable marrow etc. In India, summer squash is cultivated on a small scale, but the crop is important due to high productivity. The summer squash performs well in cool and moist weather conditions. The optimum temperature for its growth is 16-270C. Mulches provide optimum temperature for the growth and development of the summer squash by minimizing the diurnal fluctuations of the soil temperature. Mulching avoids the fluctuations in temperature in the first 20– 30 cm depth in soils. This favours root development, and the soil temperature in the planting bed is raised, promoting faster crop development and earlier harvest (Lamont, 1993; Moreno and Moreno, 2008). It also conserves the soil moisture and improves soil chemical properties. All the mulch materials increase the soil nutrient levels and mulching has manifold beneficial effects in the vegetable field like maintenance of soil fertility by adding organic Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

matter to the soil, increase in mineralization and also minimize the leaching of soil nutrients due to run-off rain water (Thakur et al., 1997). Therefore, mulching is an important practice for the successful crop production and improving the economy of vegetable growers under the rainfed mid-hill conditions besides increasing the soil moisture, nutrient content and providing optimum temperature. Keeping in view these manifold advantages of mulching, the present investigation was carried out to determine how soil properties are influenced by mulch and also to know the effect of different mulches on soil temperature in mid-hill conditions of Uttarakhand.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The field experiment was conducted at Research Farm of the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Forestry and Hill Agriculture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Hill Campus, Ranichauri, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India during the year 200910. In the experiment seven mulch materials were used along with control. Mulching was placed on seedlings of summer squash F1 hybrid ‘Ducato’ which were trans-


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planted in last week of March. The experiment was laid out in three replication of randomized complete block design with 7 mulch treatments viz., clear polyethylene (T1), black polyethylene (T2), pine needles (T3), dry fallen leaves (T4), FYM (T5), green twig of non fodder plants (T6), forest litter (T7) and one without mulch i.e. control (T0). Planting of summer squash was done in plots of size 3m x 2m, with a spacing of 1.00m between rows and 0.75m between plants. The fertilizers were applied at the rate of N=100, P2O5= 80, K2O= 60 kg ha-1. Nitrogenous fertilizer was applied in two splits, i.e., ½ basal and ½ in splits at 30 and 45 days interval. The soil temperature was recorded with soil thermometer on soil surface and at 15 cm depth during morning and evening hours. The temperature data was recorded at 30 days interval. The soil sample was taken from each plot at the time of final harvesting. Soil samples were taken at 0–15 cm depth from each replication for each treatment. The sample was dried in shade, ground and passed through 2 mm sieve and stored in polyethylene bags. The soil pH, EC, organic carbon and available NPK were analyzed. The soil pH was recorded with the help of Potentiometric method as described by Jackson (1973). The organic carbon was analyzed with the help of modified Walkey Black method (Black, 1973). The available nitrogen was determined by alkaline potassium permanganate method as described by Subbiah and Asija (1956). The available phosphorus was extracted with Olsen’s extractable phosphorus method (Olsen et al., 1954). The available potassium was analyzed with Neutral Ammonium Acetate method and determined by flame photometer as per the method given by Jackson (1973).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The experimental results indicated that mulching has

significantly influenced the soil properties. The perusal of data given in Table 1 revealed that all the soil chemical components were influenced by different mulches as compared to the control. There was not much difference in the soil pH among the treatments; however, pine needles mulch resulted in the lowest pH (5.8), whereas forest litter mulch raised the soil pH to 6.4. Thus, the mulches used did not lead to any acidification of soil. Mulching also reduced the soil electric conductivity or decreased the salinity of the soil. The highest value for electrical conductivity was observed in control (0.007 dSm-1) and lowest value was observed with mulches pine needles, dry leaves and green twigs (0.004 dSm-1). Organic mulches significantly increased the soil organic carbon as compared to the inorganic mulches and control. Maximum soil organic carbon was recorded when FYM was used as mulching material (2.5%) which was at par with forest litter (2.22%). Both treatments FYM and forest litter improved the soil organic carbon content significantly over control (1.86%). There was considerable influence of mulching on the soil fertility. Forest litter (487.02 kg/ha) and FYM (457.99 kg/ha) added nitrogen to the soil, thus improving soil nitrogen status significantly over control (384.16 kg/ha). The maximum soil nitrogen was noticed when mulching was done using forest litter which was followed by FYM and the minimum was noticed in control. Soil nitrogen content showed non-significant variation for inorganic mulches when compared with control. Soil potassium content also considerably improved when summer squash crop was mulched with organic materials. K2O content of soil was maximum with FYM mulch (496.66 kg/ha) followed by green twigs mulch (458.58 kg/ha) and it was minimum in control (329.53 kg/ha). Soil phosphorus content showed a significant improvement over all the treatments when mulching was done using forest litter (37.65 kg/ha P2O5). All

Table 1: Effect of different mulches on soil chemical properties pH

EC dSm-1

Organic Carbon (%)

Potassium (K2O) kg/ha

Nitrogen kg/ ha

Phosphorus (P2O5) kg/ha

T1 Clear polyethylene

6.1

0.005

1.96

325.28

421.26

22.50

T2 Black polyethylene

6.1

0.005

1.93

300.62

422.09

28.56

T3 Pine needles

5.8

0.004

2.04

347.50

427.52

26.23

T4

Dry leaves

6.1

0.004

2.14

392.33

346.61

27.08

T5

FYM

6.2

0.005

2.50

496.66

457.99

29.36

T6

Green twigs

6.3

0.004

2.04

458.58

395.38

26.61

T7

Forest litter

6.4

0.005

2.22

423.33

487.02

37.65

T0

Control

Treatments

Sem ± C.D. (5%) C.V. (%)

6.2

0.007

1.86

329.53

384.16

30.28

9.60E-01

4.63E-04

0.11

18.58

14.82

1.61

0.2913

1.40E-03

0.34

56.37

44.96

4.91

2.68

15.27

9.09

7.63

6.07

10.27

1.79 3.34 C.V. (%)

3.28

2.48

5.45

1.97

3.17

2.58

1.83

2.27

2.11

2.97

-

-

0.718 0.923 C.D. (5%)

0.995

1.09

2.08

0.63

1.095

1.08

0.711

0.962

1.05

1.43

-

-

25.4

-

28.9

-

18.6

-

17.2

0.474

29.5 30.0

0.347 0.317

21.3 20.7

0.23

21.7

0.236

27.0

0.357 0.361

18.7 17.0

0.2 0.688

23.0 29.7

0.359 0.328

15.8 13.8

0.304

Control T0

Sem ±

23.5 20.2 22.3 22.5 16.7 Forest litter T7

17.3

25.2

21.5

18.8

20.2

23.8

23.2

28.0

26.5

19.3

25.7

22.5

23.4

19.5

23.6

20.1

26.7

18.0

27.2

26.3 23.4

23.9

22.3 23.0

22.8 23.2 24.0

19.5

19.3 17.7

18.0 18.3

20.8 24.3

21.5 15.7

17.2

Green twigs T6

14.5

FYM T5

15.7

21.5

26.3

18.7

25.2

22.5 20.0 21.9 22.7 16.3 Dry leaves T4

17.0

20.3

19.5

18.2

19.2

23.0

23.7

27.6

25.3

18.8

23.6

22.4 23.6 19.8 18.2 26.3 27.3 24.0 22.2 21.2 22.0 19.2 18.0 19.7 21.3 16.3 14.3 T3 Pine needles

15 cm

27.6 29.8 22.6 23.5 24.2 18.3 T2 Black polyethylene

20.7

30.0

28.2

19.8

21.3

28.0

25.7

31.3

30.5

20.6

30.8 21.3 19.1 30.0 29.5 24.9 22.3 22.8 26.0 20.5 18.3 24.0 30.5 18.3

Surface 15 cm Surface 15 cm Surface 15 cm Surface 15 cm Surface 15 cm Surface 15 cm Surface 15 cm Surface

16.7 T1 Clear polyethylene

Morning

Evening

Morning

Evening

Morning

Evening

Morning

MEAN 24/6/2009 24/5/2009 24/4/2009 Treatments

Table 2: Effect of different mulches on soil temperature (0C)

25.6


Evening

140

other treatments decreased the soil phosphorus content over control and it was minimum in clear polyethylene mulch (22.50 kg/ha P2O5). Results regarding soil chemical properties were in accordance with the findings of Pande et al. (2006) who reported that mulching increases the soil nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus as compare the clean cultivation (no mulched). Experimental results were also similarly found to increase the soil properties of Phaseolus vulgaris crop through mulching (Ossom and Matsenjwa, 2007). Results of the experiment also revealed the influence of mulching on soil temperature. Careful study of the data (Table 2) indicated that mulched plot showed less fluctuation in morning and evening temperature. This reduced fluctuation of the soil temperature is due to high moisture retentive capacity of soil under different mulch materials as compared to un-mulched soil. Mean maximum morning soil temperature was recorded with black polyethylene at surface (20.60C) and at 15 cm depth (22.60C), which may be due to its high sunrays absorbing capacity due to black colour. Also, high temperature at surface during evening hours was reported in clear polyethylene mulch (30.80C) due to green house effect (Hanks et al., 1961). The increase of soil temperature under plastic mulches was also found on vegetables crops by Emmert (1956), in tomato (Patil and Bansod, 1972), Muskmelon (Bananno and Lamont, 1987) and Liakates et al. (1986). The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the treatments for the characters studied. In general, the organic mulches, i.e., pine needles, dry fallen leaves, FYM, green twig of non fodder plants, forest litter mulch kept the soil temperature low which may be due to low conductivity of heat. The different organic mulches lowered the soil temperature during the evening hours (day time) while, increased the soil temperature during morning hours as compared to control. Organic mulches regulate the soil temperature to some extent and reduce the fluctuation of soil temperature. The organic mulches lower down the maximum soil temperature during the day as the organic cover intercept solar radiation, reflect back part of the same and provide a continuous shade in the soil below. The organic cover raise the morning soil temperature as it act as an insulating barrier and help to retain the heat energy during the night and helps to raise the soil temperature. These findings were in agreement with the results reported on potato (Singh and Sethi, 1966; Uniyal and Mishra, 2003), tomato (Patil and Bansod 1972), and brinjal (Awasthi et al., 2006). The best results for soil organic carbon and potassium content were observed with FYM mulch, while the maximum amount of soil phosphorus and Nitrogen were recorded with forest


141

litter mulch. Under the non-biodegradable materials like black polyethylene and clear polyethylene mulch, relatively less increase in Nitrogen and organic carbon content and no increase in P and K over clean cultivation were recorded. The maximum soil temperature was recorded with black polyethylene at morning followed by clear polyethylene mulch. The organic mulches give cooling effect at the evening hours and heating effect at the morning hours due to which there is decrease in the soil temperature in evening time and increase in the soil temperature at morning hours. So, it can be concluded that mulches not only regulate the soil temperature, but also influence the soil chemical properties and provide congenial condition for the growth and development of summer squash.

REFERENCES Awasthi, O.P.; Singh, I.S. and Sharma, B.D. 2006. Effect of mulch on soil–hydrothermal regimes, growth and fruit yield of brinjal under arid conditions. Indian J. Hort., 63(2): 192-194. Black, C.A. 1965. Method of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties. ASA, Inc. Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Bonanno, A.R. and Lamont, W.J. 1987. Effect of polyethylene mulches, irrigation method, and row cover on soil and air temperature and yield of muskmelon. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 112(5): 135-138. Emmert, E.M. 1956. Black polythene for mulching vegetable. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci., 69: 464-469. Hanks, R.J.; Browers, S.A. and Bark, L.D. 1961. Influence of soil surface conditions on net radiation, soil temperature and evaporation. Soil Sci., 91: 233-138. Jackson, M.L. 1973. Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Lamont, W.J. 1993. Plastic mulches for the production of vegetable crops. Hort. Tech., 3: 35–39.

Liakatas, A.; Clark, J.A. and Monteith, J.L. 1986. Measurements of the heat balance under plastic mulches Part I. Radiation balance and soil heat flux. Ag. Meteorol., 36: 227-239. Moreno, M.M. and Moreno, A. 2008. Effect of different biodegradable and polyethylene mulches on soil properties and production in a tomato crop. Scientia Hort., 116: 256–263. Olsen, S.R.; Cole, C.V.; Watanabe, F.S. and Dean, L.A. 1954. Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. USDA Circ., 939 p. Ossom, E.M. and Matsenjwa, V.N. 2007. Influence of mulch on agronomic characters, soil properties, disease and insect pest infestation of dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Swaziland. World J. Ag. Sci., 3(6): 696703. Pande, K.K.; Dimri, D.C. and Singh, S.C. 2006. Effect of mulching on soil and leaf nutrient status of apple (Malus domestica Borkh). Prog. Hort., 38(1): 91-95. Patil, A.V. and Bansod, A.D. 1972. Effect of different mulching treatment on soil properties, growth and yield of tomato (var. Sioux). Indian J. Hort., 29(2): 197-201. Singh, K. and Sethi, K.S. 1966. Effect of different mulching materials on various response of Potato (solanum tuberosum L.). Punjab Hort. J., 2: 169-176. Subbiah, B.V. and Asija, C.C. 1956. A rapid procedure for the determination of available nitrogen in soils. Current Sci., 25: 259-262. Thakur, G.C.; Chadha, T.R.; Kumar, J. and Verma, H.S. 1997. Effect of clean cultivation, mulching and soil culture on mineral nutrition and root growth of apple cv. Red delicious. Indian J. Hort., 54(91): 53-57. Uniyal, S.P. and Mishra, A.C. 2003. Response of potato to soil moisture and temperature as affected by different mulches. J. Indian Potato Assoc., 30(3-4): 315-317.

Received on 30 June 2013 and accepted on 18 February 2014


[Research Article]

Field screening of different genotypes of chilli against infestation of thrips N.K. Singh1* and Anand Pandey2

J.N.K.V.V. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Seoni (M.P.); KVK Seoni, (M.P.); 2Project Coordinating Unit Sesame and Niger, J.N.K.V.V., Jabalpur (M.P.) *E-mail: [email protected]

1

ABSTRACT

In order to explore the possibility of sources of resistance and relative tolerance of the cultivars a total of 69 germplasm consisting of diverse phenotypic and genetic makeup were evaluated against thrips damages on the basis of symptoms occurring on the leaves during two consecutive seasons under open field conditions at the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. The tolerance index was calculated by taking into consideration the injury grade (IG) showed that none of the genotype were found free from the infestation. The average of two years data showed that the genotype LCA 436 (4.51 LCI) had highest leaf damage followed by 9852-173 PT-3 (4.37 LCI) while lowest leaf curl (0.43 LCI) was found in the genotype Taiwan-2 followed by PDG-1 A (0.60 LCI) and DC-28 (0.79 LCI). The genotypes based on leaf curl index, grouped in to different categories showed that none of the screened genotypes were found resistant. Only three genotypes i.e. PDG-1 A, Taiwan-2, DC-28 were found moderately resistant. The slightly resistant category (1.01-2.0 LCI) included 10 genotypes. Twenty two genotypes were found moderately susceptible and twenty six as susceptible. Six genotypes JCA-9, KADDI, AC-ASSAM-9UP, 9852-173 PT-3, LCA 436, BS-80 with 4.01-5.0 leaf curl index were categorized as highly susceptible genotypes. KEY WORDS: Capsicum annum, chilli, screening, thrips, mite Chilli (Capsicum annuum) is one of the most important vegetable and spice crop cultivated for its pungent and non- pungent fruits all over India. During 2007-08, India produced 1.33 million tones of chilli from an area of 0.808 million ha with an average productivity (dry fruits) of 1.5 tonnes/ha (Rao and Joseph, 2008). Chilli thrips is a serious pest of Chilli along with yellow mite causing extensive curling of leaves. Initial leaf deformation in chilli is mainly due to feeding of this prevalent sucking pest. The yield loss due to infestation of this pest is estimated to the tune of 25 to 50% (Ahmed 1987; Kandasamy, 1990; Desai et al., 2007). They are Known for the cause of chilli leaf curl virus (Khodawa, 1975; Karmakar, 1995; Rai and Solanky, 2003; Solanki and Rai, 2006). A serious constraint on chilli production in India is damage caused by leaf curl disease (Kumar et al., 2006b).The symptoms caused by this pest, i.e., affected leaves curl upwards and exhibit characteristic “Leaf cur” symptoms. This is very minute pest feed on the lower surfaces of the leaves which gradually produces leaf curling symptoms and confuse the farmers by giving the appearance of viral disease .use of insecticide for the control of major pests of chilli has not always been successful (Rao and Ahmed, Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

1986). Till date, most of the cultivars grown are known to be susceptible to this pest. In order to explore the possibility of sources of resistance and relative tolerance of the cultivars, which have been investigated under the present study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS In order to explore the possibility of sources of resistance and relative tolerance of the cultivars a total of 69 germplasms consisting of diverse phenotypic and genetic make up were evaluated against thrips damages on the basis of symptoms occurring on the leaves during two consecutive seasons (2005-06, 2006-07) under open field conditions at the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. Seeds were sown in nursery beds in July of every year and thirty days old seedling were transplanted with 60 cm between rows and 45 cm between plants on raised bed. Standard cultural practices without pesticide application were followed to protect thrips population. Rating for thrips damage is more reliable and efficient than estimating thrips number in screening of chilli germplasm for resistance to thrips.


143

Sampling


Five plants were selected at random from each of the accession and visually rated for thrips infestation based on damage symptoms. The rating was done at 30 days intervals with symptom severity on a 0-5 scale (Table 1). The symptom severity was estimated by sampling three apical leaves from randomly selected plants in 30, 60 and 90 days after sowing from each accession .The frequency of germplasm with specific reaction of thrips was analyzed.

Sixty nine germplasm were evaluated for their resistance/ tolerance under field condition during kharif season of the year, 2006 and 2007. The experiment was set in randomized block design with three replications. The tolerance index was calculated by taking into consideration the injury grade (IG). The average data on leaf injury by thrips for two years showed that (Table 2) none of the genotype were found free from the infestation. During the year 2006 the genotype IIHR-10 and 9852-18 DN recorded highest leaf curl index (LCI) of 4.87 followed by JCA-9 and F-5 112 PT-1 with 4.73 leaf curl index. The lowest leaf curling was recorded in the genotypes Taiwan-2 and DC-28 with 0.33 LCI. While during the year 2007 the highest leaf curl was recorded in genotype LCA 436 (4.80 LCI) followed by BS-80 (4.13 LCI) and lowest leaf curl was received from the genotypes Taiwan-2 (0.52 LCI). Our result is supported by the findings of Rajput et al., (1998) screened 23 chilli genotypes for resistant against S. dorsalis but none was found resistant. The average of two years data showed that the genotype LCA 436 (4.51 LCI) had highest damage leaf followed by 9852173 PT-3 (4.37 LCI) while lowest leaf curl (0.43 LCI) was found in the genotype Taiwan-2 followed by PDG-1 A (0.60 LCI) and DC-28 (0.79 LCI). Other genotypes which showed less leaf curl were PBC-212 (1.23 LCI), PBC-357 (1.32 LCI), PBC-1474 (1.49 LCI), JAPANI LONGI -1 (1.61 LCI), PBC-367 (1.65 LCI), PDG-50B (1.73 LCI), PBC-904 (1.80 LCI), KDCS 810 and PBC-574 (1.87 LCI).

Table 1: Grading method based on leaf damage symptoms by thrips Symptom

Grade

Reaction

No symptoms

0

Resistant

Terminal 3-4 leaves showing tiny eruptions in interveinal area of leaf

0.01-1.0

Moderately resistant

Terminal 3-4 leaves showing upward curling along leaf margin

1.01-2.0

Slightly resistant

Severe scarring of terminal and a few basal leaves

2.01-3.0

Moderately susceptible

Stunted plants, leaves severely 3.01-4.0 curled and leaf area greatly reduced

Susceptible

Plants with no leaves and only 4.01-5.0 stem remaining

Highly susceptible

Table 2: Screening of different genotypes of chilli against the infestation of thrips (average of two years data) S. No. 1

Genotypes PBC-367

Number of curled leaf/ plant (apical portion) 2006

2007

Average of two years

1.97

1.33

1.65

Category Slightly resistant

2

LCA-301

3.98

3.40

3.69

Susceptible

3

LCA-206

3.53

2.85

3.19

Susceptible

4

JCA-9

4.73

3.75

4.24

Highly susceptible

5

LCA-333

4.10

3.59

3.85

Susceptible

6

JCA-9

3.33

2.63

2.98


7

LCA-235

3.83

3.23

3.53

Susceptible

8

LCA-334

3.11

3.39

3.25

Susceptible

9

LCA-353

4.32

3.87

4.09

Susceptible

10

IC-112474

3.20

3.52

3.36

Susceptible

11

IIHR-10

4.87

2.28

3.57

Susceptible

12

SANDHYA

2.50

1.52

2.01

Slightly resistant

13

CSB-3

2.30

2.39

2.34


14

IC-119455

3.33

2.28

2.81


144


15

CSB

3.97

3.47

3.72

Susceptible

16

AKC 89/38

2.75

2.01

2.38


17

JAPANI LONGI -1

1.31

1.90

1.61

Slightly resistant

18

JCA-283

2.50

2.16

2.33


19

PBC-776

3.67

3.05

3.36

Susceptible

20

PDG-50B

1.50

1.95

1.73

Slightly resistant

21

PBC-1512

3.40

3.02

3.21

Susceptible

22

PBC-374

2.73

2.15

2.44


23

PBC-161

2.37

2.80

2.59


24

PBC-542

3.73

2.73

3.23

Susceptible

25

PBC-904

1.60

1.99

1.80

Slightly resistant

26

PBC-601

3.83

2.60

3.22

Susceptible

27

PBC-357

1.63

1.01

1.32

Slightly resistant

28

PBC-328

3.63

2.57

3.10

Susceptible

29

PBC-1474

1.63

1.35

1.49

Slightly resistant

30

9950-5197

3.63

2.74

3.19

Susceptible

31

PBC-367

2.83

2.95

2.89


32

PBC-574

2.33

1.40

1.87

Slightly resistant

33

PBC-212

1.17

1.29

1.23

Slightly resistant

34

JCA-21

3.07

3.80

3.44

Susceptible

35

B-DABI

4.53

3.01

3.77

Susceptible

36

JCA-352

2.84

2.24

2.54


37

P-1649 N

3.63

2.97

3.30

Susceptible

38

9852-173

3.77

3.11

3.44

Susceptible

39

KADDI

4.73

3.64

4.19

Highly susceptible

40

92-1203

2.20

2.56

2.38


41

AC-ASSAM-9UP

4.10

4.08

4.09

Highly susceptible

42

DABBI

3.63

2.75

3.19

Susceptible

43

AC-ASSAM-9DN

3.07

2.80

2.94


44

B-DABI

3.20

3.38

3.29

susceptible

45

AC-ASSAM-10 DN

3.27

2.37

2.82


46

9852-173 PT-3

4.73

4.01

4.37

Highly susceptible

47

F-5 112 PT-1

3.73

2.81

3.27

Susceptible

48

9852-173 UP

3.20

2.17

2.69


49

9852-18 DN

4.87

3.02

3.94

Susceptible

50

PDG-1 A

0.67

0.53

0.60


51

KDCS 810

2.33

1.22

1.78

Slightly resistant

52

PhuleSai

2.80

2.47

2.64


53

PusaJwala

3.03

2.73

2.88


54

LCA 436

4.21

4.80

4.51

Highly susceptible

55

Pant C 3

2.30

2.33

2.32


56

Utkal Ava

3.37

3.26

3.32

Susceptible

57

Jayanti

2.93

2.21

2.57


58

ArkaLohit

3.17

2.55

2.86



145

59

PDC 24

2.60

2.27

2.44


60

Taiwan-2

0.33

0.52

0.43


61

PBC -473

2.80

1.91

2.36


62

Indira chilli

3.33

2.67

3.00


63

BS-79

3.70

2.89

3.30

Susceptible

64

BS-80

4.07

4.13

4.10

Highly susceptible

65

BS-28

3.53

3.05

3.29

Susceptible

66

DC-6

2.40

1.92

2.16


67

DC-28

0.33

1.24

0.79


Table 3: Indexing of chilli genotypes into different grades on the basis of curling on apical leaf/plant (average of two years) S. No.

Leaf curl index (LCI)

Reaction

No. of Genotypes

Genotype

1

0

Resistant

-

2

0.01-1.0

Moderately 03 resistant

PDG-1 A, Taiwan-2, DC-28

3

1.01-2.0

Slightly resistant

PBC-367, Sandhya, Japanilongi-1, PDG-50B, PBC-904, PBC-357, PBC-1474, PBC-574, PBC-212, KDCS 810,

4

2.01-3.0

Moderately 22 susceptible

JCA-9 , CSB-3 , IC-119455 , AKC 89/38, JCA-283, PBC-374, PBC-161, PBC367, JCA-352, 92-1203, AC-ASSAM-9DN, AC-ASSAM-10 DN, 9852-173 UP, PhuleSai, PusaJwala, Jayanti, ArkaLohit, PDC 24, PBC -473, Indira chilli, DC-6, DC-28

5

3.01-4.0

susceptible 26

LCA-301, LCA-206, LCA-333, LCA-235, LCA-334, LCA-353, IC-112474, IIHR10, CSB, PBC-776, PBC-1512, PBC-542, PBC-601, PBC-328, 9950-5197, JCA21, B-DABI, P-1649 N, 9852-173, DABBI, , 9852-173, DABBI, F-5 112 PT-1, F-5 112 PT-1, 9852-18 DN, Utkal Ava, BS-79, BS-28

6

4.01-5.0

Highly 06 susceptible

JCA-9, KADDI, AC-ASSAM-9UP, 9852-173 PT-3, LCA 436, BS-80

10

REFERENCES Ahamd, K.; Mohamad, M.G. and Murthy, N.S.R. 1987. Yield losses due to various pest in hot pepper. Capsicum News, 6: 83-84. Krishna Kumar, N.K.; Aradya, M.; Deshpande, A.A.; Anand, N. and Ramachandar, P.R. 1996. Initial screening of chilli and sweet pepper germplasm for resistance to chilli thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood. Euphytica, 89: 319-324. Kumar, S.; Kumar, S.; Singh, M.; Singh, A.K. and Rai, M. 2006b. Identification of host plant resistance to pepper leaf curl virus in chilli (Capsicum species). Scientia Hort., 110: 359–61. Kumar, S.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, S.; Singh, A.K.; Singh, M.; Rai, A.B. and Rai, M. 2011. Incidence of leaf curl disease on Capsicum germplasm under field conditions. Indian J. Ag. Sci., 81(2): 187-9.

Kumar, S.; Kumar, R.; Kumar, S.; Singh, M.; Rai, A.B. and Rai, M. 2009. Reaction of pepper leaf curl virus field resistance of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes under challenged condition. Veg. Sci., 36: 230–2. Rajput, J.C.; Palve, S.B.; Patil, B.P. and Salvi , M.J. 1998. Recent research on chilli in Konkan region of Maharashtra . Proc. National seminar on chillies ginger and turmeric, Hyderabad, pp. 6-12. Rao, D.M. and Ahmed, K. 1985. Evaluation of certain insecticide for the control of the pest complex on chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) in Andhra Pradesh. Pesticides, 19(2): 41-44. Rao, S. and Joseph, R.P. 2008. Chilli – the red star of Indian spices. Spice India, 21: 25-7. Snap, N.M. and Nawale, R.N. 1985. Reaction of chilli cultivars to thrips and mites. J. Maharashtra Ag. Univ., 10: 352-353.

Received on 17 August 2013 and accepted on 29 April 2014


[Research Article]

Efficacy of novel insecticides against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) in vegetable pea S. S. Dhaka1, G. Singh, A. Yadav2, M. Rai2 and A. Kumar3

Department of Entomology: 1. KVK, Pilibhit, 2. KVK, Ghaziabad, 3. KVK, Moradabad, S. V. Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut (UP), India E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted to determine the comparative efficacy of insecticides, i.e., lambda cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 500 ml/ha, carbosulfan 25 EC @ 1000 ml/ha, indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 500 ml/ha, bifenthrin 20 EC @ 500 ml/ha, novaluron 10 EC @ 750 ml/ha, flubendiamide 39.35 EC @ 75 ml/ha, spinosad 45 SC @ 500 ml/ha and cypermethrin 20 EC @ 1000 ml/ha biopesticide, viz., B t @ 1.5 kg/ha and botanical, viz., Neemarin 1500 ppm @ 3000 ml/ ha, which were sprayed on vegetable pea variety arkel against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) during rabi season of year 2010-11 and 2011-12. The effect of these applications was also recorded on the yield attributes. All the treatments had the comparable lower number of larvae as well as pod and seed infestation than un-treated control. Flubendiamide was best with lowest pod and seed infestation of 10.73 and 12.59 per cent, respectively and 95.84 q/ha yield followed by indoxacarb, spinosad, novaluron, carbosulfan, bifenthrin, lambda cyhalothrin, cypermethrin, neemarin and Bt, which gave 93.56, 91.63, 89.74, 83.22, 81.52, 79.42, 75.97, 72.78 and 68.99 q/ha yield, respectively. KEY WORDS: Efficacy, Helicoverpa armigera, flubendiamide, vegetable pea

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is the premier vegetable crop of Indian subcontinent. India grows pea on about 3.14 lac ha area producing 22.98 metric tones. Out of it U.P. produce 11.46 metric tones contributing 49.89% of total production. (Anon., 2010). Peas are cultivated for the fresh green seeds, tender green pods, dried seeds and foliage (Duke, 1981). Pea is a highly nutritious vegetable, the protein concentration of peas range from 15.5-39.7% (Bressani and Elias, 1988, Davies et al., 1985). Among the biotic constraints, the losses caused by insect pests are a major limiting factor in realization of optimum yield of the vegetable pea crop. It is known to be ravaged by several insect pests during its various crop stages. Mittal and Ujagir (2007) listed 32 insect species appearing in succession in different stages of crop growth while Bijjur and Verma (1995) listed 24 insect species attacking the pea crop. Among the various insects pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera Hb. is one of the major pest which may cause 13.45 to 40.38% loss in the grain yield (Dahiya and Naresh, 1993). The pod borer Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) is one of the most serious insect pests of pea appearing during the flowering and pod stage which seriously Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

damage the crop and is considered major limiting factor for the production of vegetable pea. Pesticides continue to be one of the most powerful tools available for the control of insect- pests and increasing crop yields. Presently, chemical control is the only practical method for a farmer to respond to an increasing pod borers’ infestation. The use of conventional insecticides causes sudden decrease in the number of natural enemies also. Keeping in view the importance of vegetable pea crop, the present study was undertaken to test the relative efficacy of some novel insecticides, biopesticide and botanical with conventional insecticide against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) in vegetable pea crop.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted at Entomological Research Block of Crop Research Centre (CRC), Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut-250110 (U.P.) for two consecutive years during rabi 2010-11 and 2011-12. The experiment was laid in randomized block design (RBD), having 11 treat-


ments (lambda cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 500 ml/ha, carbosulfan 25 EC @ 1000 ml/ha, indoxacarb 14.5 SC @ 500 ml/ ha, bifenthrin 20 EC @ 500 ml/ha, novaluron 10 EC @ 750 ml/ha, flubendiamide 39.35 EC @ 75 ml/ha, spinosad 45 SC @ 500 ml/ha, B t @ 1.5 kg/ha, neemarin 1500 ppm @ 2500 ml/ha, cypermethrin 20 EC @ 1000 ml/ha and untreated (control) which were replicated thrice. The plot size was 4 × 2.5 m with a spacing of 25 × 10 cm. Normal fertilizers doses and recommended agronomical practices were adopted. All these insecticides and bio-pesticides were sprayed with knapsack sprayer twice. First spray was done at pod forming stage when 50 % of pods were formed and second spray at 15 days after the first spray. The count of pod borers’ larvae and infested pods & seeds was taken one day before spraying and three and nine days after first and second spray, from ten randomly selected plants in each plot. The percentage of pod and seed damage was worked out by the following formula: Number of damaged pods/seeds Pod/seed damage (%) =---------------------------------- x 100 Total number pods/seeds The pods and seeds were counted one day before and three and nine days after the application of treatments. The pod yield was recorded at harvest and converted into q/ha. The data were statistically analyzed as suggested by Panse and Sukhatme (1985).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION All the treatments were significantly effective in reducing the number of pod borer’s larvae as compared to the control (Table 1). In treated plots, the pod borers’ larval population ranged from 0.83 to 14.17 as against 16.67 per ten plants in control, after nine days of second spray. Indoxacarb14. 5 SC @ 0.5 lit. / ha was found most effective against pod borer in minimizing the number and was followed by carbosulfan 25 EC @ 1000 ml / ha. > lambda-cyhalothrin 5 EC @ 500 ml/ha > novaluron 10 EC @ 750 ml/ha > bifenthrin 20 EC @ 500 ml/ha > spinosad 45 SC @ 500 ml/ha > flubendiamide 39.35 SC @ 75 ml/ha > cypermethrin 20 EC @ 1000 ml/ha in the decreasing order, nine days after second spray. The biopesticidal treatments of neemarin recorded 8.00 while Bacillus thuringiensis 14.17 larvae per ten plants. The highest larval population of 16.67 larvae per ten plants was recorded with untreated control. It gave clear message that chemical insecticides including bio-pesticides suppressed the population of pod borer. The insecticide indoxacarb has been observed to be very effective against pod borers, H. armigera and E. zinckenella (Gehan and Abdalla, 2006) which corroborates present finding. Further, Murray et al. (2005) reported that this chemical provided very good control of H. armigera in cereal crops, while Singh et al. (2010) obtained the similar re-

147

sult against H. armigera in black gram. As far as the per cent infested pods and seeds are concerned, it was found to be minimal with flubendiamide closely followed by indoxacarb during both the years as clearly shown by pooled data of two years (Table 2). The most effective treatment was flubendiamide in which minimum per cent infestation of pods was recorded 11.09 and 10.73 after three and nine days of second spray, respectively. The next best treatment in order were indoxacarb, spinosad, novaluron, carbosulfan, bifenthrin, lambda cyhalothrin and cypermethrin with pod infestation per cent of 11.18, 11.18, 11.48, 11.48, 11.97, 12.10 and 15.97 after three days and 10.77, 10.86, 10.92, 11.09, 11.12, 11.36 and 16.02 after nine days of second spray, respectively. These all treatments were statistically on par with each other as well as with the best treatment. The less effective treatments were neemarin and B. thuringiensis with 18.16 and 19.31 after three days while 18.57 and 21.28 per cent pod infestation after nine days of second spray, respectively. The maximum per cent pod infestation of 22.37 and 26.07 after three and nine days of second spray, respectively, were found with the untreated control. The pooled data of both the years after second application of treatments revealed that flubendiamide gave the best result with seed damage of 13.16% after three days and 12.59% after nine days and was found significantly superior over untreated control. In order, it was followed by indoxacarb, spinosad and novaluron which had seed damage of 13.22%, 13.35%, and 13.36% after 3 days and 12.73%, 12.76% and 12.92% after nine days. These were found at par with each other during both the years. The next treatments were bifenthrin, carbosulfan, lambda cyhalothrin, endosulfan, neemarin and Bt with 13.65, 13.66, 14.04, 17.37, 20.07 and 21.09 per cent after three days and 12.97, 13.05, 13.30, 17.81, 20.49 and 23.03 per cent after nine days, respectively. The maximum seed infestation of 25.18 and 29.83 per cent was observed in untreated control after three and nine days of spraying, respectively (Table 3). These findings are in confirmation with Ebbinghaus et al. (2007) who also found that flubendiamide shows excellent performance for the control of a broad range of lepidopterous pests and Ashok Kumar and Shivaraju (2009) who reported that flubendiamide was highly effective against pod borers of black gram, H. armigera and E. zinckenella. Some other workers like Nauen et al. (2007), Hirooka et al. (2007) and Latif et al. (2009) also reported the supremacy of flubendiamide against lepidopterous pests in their experiments. All the treatments resulted higher pod yield and were proved significantly superior over untreated control during both the years (Table 4).The highest pod yield of 95.84 q/ha was harvested with flubendiamide. The yield with indoxacarb, spinosad, novaluron, carbosulfan, bifenthrin, lambda cyhalothrin, endosulfan, neemarin and

148


Table 1: Pooled effect of different treatments on larval population of H. armigera on vegetable pea Treatments

Dose per ha

Number of larvae/10 plants Before spray

3 DAS

First spray 9 DAS

3 DAS

Second spray 9 DAS

T1

Lambda cyhalothrin 5 EC

500 ml

13.33 (3.78)

2.83 (1.90)

2.33 (1.80)

2.17 (1.77)

1.50 (1.58)

T2

Carbosulfan 25 EC

1000 ml

13.67 (3.83)

2.67 (1.87)

2.00 (1.68)

2.17 (1.73)

1.00 (1.41)

T3

Indoxacarb 14.5 SC

500 ml

14.00 (3.87)

2.50 (1.86)

1.83 (1.67)

1.83 (1.65)

0.83 (1.32)

T4

Bifenthrin 20 EC

500 ml

13.67 (3.83)

3.17 (2.00)

1.83 (1.62)

2.67 (1.87)

1.83 (1.68)

T5

Novaluron 10 EC

750 ml

13.83 (3.85)

4.17 (2.27)

3.33 (2.07)

2.67 (1.91)

1.67 (1.61)

T6

Flubendiamide 39.35 EC

75 ml

14.00 (3.87)

6.00 (2.64)

4.67 (2.38)

4.17 (2.27)

2.17 (1.74)

T7

Spinosad 45 SC

500 ml

13.33 (3.78)

5.17 (2.47)

3.67 (2.16)

3.17 (2.04)

1.83 (1.68)

T8

Bacillus thuringiensis

1500 g

14.00 (3.87)

12.67 (3.69)

13.50 (3.79)

13.83 (3.85)

14.17 (3.88)

T9

Neemarin 1500 ppm

3000 ml

13.67 (3.83)

10.83 (3.43)

11.00 (3.45)

10.50 (3.38)

8.00 (2.99)

T10

Cypermethrin 20 EC

1000 ml

12.67 (3.69)

6.33 (2.71)

5.00 (2.44)

4.33 (2.27)

4.83 (2.39)

T11

Untreated control

-

12.83 (3.72)

14.83 (3.98)

16.00 (4.11)

17.50 (4.30)

16.67 (4.20)

SEm±

-

0.18

0.18

0.21

0.18

CD (0.05)

-

0.54

0.54

0.61

0.54

Data in parentheses are square root transformed values DAS = Day after spraying

Table 2: Pooled effect of different treatments on pod Infestation by H. armigera on vegetable pea Treatments

Dose per ha

% Infestation of pods Before spray

First spray

Second spray

3 DAS

9 DAS

3 DAS

9 DAS

T1


500 ml

11.38 (19.71)

11.83 (20.11)

12.15 (20.39)

12.10 (20.35

11.36 (19.68)

T2

Carbosulfan 25 EC

1000 ml

10.64 (19.03)

11.37 (19.69)

11.73 (20.02)

11.48 (19.79)

11.09 (19.45)

T3

Indoxacarb 14.5 SC

500 ml

10.70 (19.08)

11.17 (19.51)

11.28 (19.61)

11.18 (19.52)

10.77 (18.75)

T4

Bifenthrin 20 EC

500 ml

10.95 (19.31)

11.40 (19.72)

11.78 (20.07)

11.97 (20.23)

11.12 (19.47)

T5

Novaluron 10 EC

750 ml

10.81 (19.19)

11.78 (20.06)

12.04 (20.29)

11.48 (20.14)

10.92 (19.29)

T6


75 ml

11.63 (19.93)

10.95 (19.01)

11.84 (20.11)

11.09 (19.79)

10.73 (19.11)

T7

Spinosad 45 SC

500 ml

11.03(19.38)

11.08 (19.44)

11.69 (19.98)

11.18 (19.52)

10.86 (19.23)

T8


1500 g

10.54(18.93)

13.10 (21.17)

16.57 (23.97)

19.31 (26.00)

21.28 (27.41)

T9

Neemarin 1500 ppm

3000 ml

10.89 (19.25)

12.39 (20.59)

15.65 (23.29)

18.16 (25.21)

18.57 (25.41)

T10

Cypermethrin 20 EC

1250 ml

11.42 (19.74)

12.29 (20.51)

14.39 (22.25)

15.57 (23.23)

16.02 (23.58)

T11

Untreated control

-

10.85 (19.22)

14.19 (22.12)

19.30 (26.02)

22.37 (28.21)

26.60 (31.03)

SEm±

-

0.44

0.63

0.60

0.85

CD (0.05)

-

1.31

1.88

1.77

2.53

Data in parentheses are angular transformed values DAS = Day after spraying


149

Table 3: Pooled effect of different treatments on seed damage by H. armigera Treatments

Dose per ha

% Damage of seeds Before spray

First spray

Second spray

3 DAS

9 DAS

3 DAS

9 DAS

T1


500 ml

13.06 (21.18)

13.49 (21.54)

13.77 (21.77)

14.04 (21.99)

13.30 (21.37)

T2

Carbosulfan 25 EC

1000 ml

12.40 (20.61)

12.94 (20.59)

13.88 (21.87)

13.66 (21.68)

13.05 (20.80)

T3

Indoxacarb 14.5 SC

500 ml

12.21 (20.43)

13.64 (21.66)

13.56 (21.58)

13.22 (21.31)

12.73 (20.90)

T4

Bifenthrin 20 EC

500 ml

12.64 (20.82)

13.26 (21.34)

13.61 (21.64)

13.65 (21.68)

12.97 (21.10)

T5

Novaluron 10 EC

750 ml

12.61 (20.79)

13.15 (21.25)

13.73 (21.74)

13.36 (21.42)

12.92 (21.05)

T6


75 ml

13.66 (21.68)

12.92 (21.05)

13.30 (21.38)

13.16 (21.15)

12.59 (20.76)

T7

Spinosad 45 SC

500 ml

12.81 (20.96)

13.10 (21.21)

13.46 (21.52)

13.35 (21.39)

12.76 (20.92)

T8


1500 g

12.31 (20.52)

14.87 (22.63)

18.32 (25.29)

21.09 (27.27)

23.03 (28.62)

T9

Neemarin 1500 ppm

3000 ml

12.78 (20.92)

14.28 (22.18)

17.53 (24.74)

20.07(26.59)

20.49 (26.81)

T10

Cypermethrin 20 EC

1250 ml

13.23 (21.32)

14.06 (22.00)

16.16 (23.66)

17.37 (24.62)

17.81 (24.95)

T11

Untreated control

-

12.63 (20.81)

16.10 (23.64)

21.62 (27.67)

25.18 (30.10)

29.83 (33.09)

SEm±

-

0.49

0.64

0.61

0.89

CD (0.05)

-

1.47

1.89

1.82

2.63

Data in parentheses are angular transformed values DAS = Day after spraying

Table 4: Economics of different treatments against pod borer, H. armigera in vegetable pea on pooled yield Treatments

Dose per ha

Yield q/ ha

Increase in yield over control qt/ ha

Value of increase yield (Rs./ ha)

Cost of treatment/ ha

Net profit (Rs./ha)

Cost benefit ratio

T1

Lambda cyhalothrin 5EC

500 ml

79.42

14.94

18669.00

1610.00

17059.00

1:10.60

T2

Carbosulfan 25 EC

1000 ml

83.82

19.33

24163.00

1915.00

22248.00

1:11.62

T3

Indoxacarb 14.5 SC

500 ml

93.56

29.08

36344.00

2685.00

33659.00

1:12.54

T4

Bifenthrin 20 EC

500 ml

81.52

17.03

21288.00

1756.00

19532.00

1:11.12

T5

Novaluron 10 EC

750 ml

89.74

25.25

31563.00

3864.00

27699.00

1:7.17

T6


75 ml

95.84

31.35

39188.00

2660.00

36528.00

1:13.73

T7

Spinosad 45 SC

500 ml

91.63

27.14

33925.00

12635.00

21290.00

1:1.69

T8


1500 g

68.99

4.50

5625.00

3755.00

1870.00

1:1.50

T9

Neemarin 1500 ppm

3000 ml

72.78

8.29

10363.00

2135.00

8228.00

1:3.85

T10

Cypermethrin 20 EC

1250 ml

75.97

11.49

14356.00

1585.00

12771.00

1:8.06

T11

Untreated control

-

64.49

-

-

-

-

-

* Labour charges - @ Rs. 120/day/labour * Rental value of sprayer - @ Rs. 35/day * Market price of vegetable pea pods - @ Rs. 1250/qt

150


Bt, ranged from 93.56 to 68.99 q/ha. Untreated control recorded lowest pod yield of 64.49 q/ha. By working out the cost benefit ratio (Table 4), it was revealed that flubendiamide ranked 1st with highest cost benefit ratio (1:13.73) and was followed by indoxacarb, carbosulfan, bifenthrin, lambda cyhalothrin, cypermethrin, novaluron, neemarin and spinosad with 12.54, 11.62, 11.12, 10.60, 8.06, 7.17, 3.85 and 1.69 C: B ratio, respectively. The lowest C:B ratio (1:1.50) was observed under the treatment of Bacillus thuringiensis. Ashok Kumar and Shivaraju (2009) reported that Indoxacarb is highly effective in control of H. armigera and gave high returns. Latif et al. (2009) reported that flubendiamide treatment plots gave higher yield and controlled the damage against Leucinodes orbonalis on brinjal and Memon and Memon (2005) also reported that the application of spinosad in lentil field gave high yield and returns as compared with other treatments. Rao et al. (2007) found spinosad and indoxacrb as effective and economical treatments in the term of C:B ratio.The results reveal that since the plots treated with flubendiamide 39.35 EC had the lowest pod and seed damage percentage and produced maximum pod yield than other treatments and it was followed by indoxacarb 14.5 SC and novaluron 10 EC, so all these can be recommended for the management of the pod borer in vegetable pea.

REFERENCES Annonymus 2010. Annual report of National Horticulture Board, New Delhi, India. Ashok Kumar, C.T. and Shivaraju, C. 2009. Evaluation of newer insecticide molecules against pod borers of black gram. Karnataka J. Ag. Sci., 22(3): 521-523. Bijjur, S. and Verma, S. 1995. Effect of abiotic factors on the pests of pea and natural enemies. Indian J. Ent., 57(3): 233-239. Bressani, R. and Elias, L.G. 1988. Seed quality and nutritional goals in pea, lentil, faba bean and chickpea breeding. In: World Crops: Cool Season Food Legumes. R.J. Summerfield (Ed.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 381-404. Dahiya B. and Naresh, J.S. 1993. Bio-efficacy of some insecticides against pea pod borer in field pea. Nat. Conf. on eco-friendly Approaches in the Management of Pests, Diseases and Industrial effluents. 20-22 December, 1993. C.S.A. Univ. Ag. and Tech., Kanpur, India. Davies, D.R.; Berry, G.J.; Heath, M.C. and Dawkins, T.C.K. 1985. Pea (Pisum sativum L.). In: R.J. Summerfield and EH Roberts, (Eds.), Williams Collins Sons and Co. Ltd, London, UK, pp. 147-198.

Duke, J.A. 1981. In: Handbook of Legumes of World Economic Importance. Plenum Press, New York, pp. 199-265. Ebbinghaus, D.; Schnorbach, H.J. and Elbert, A. 2007. Field development of flubendiamide (BeltReg., FameReg., FenosReg., AmoliReg.)- A new insecticide for the control of lepidopterous pests. PflanzenschutzNachrichten-Bayer., 60(2): 219-246. Gehan, Y.A. and Abdalla, E.F. 2006. Evaluation of some selected pesticides against the two pod borers Helicoverpa armigera and Etiella zinckenella population infesting cowpea in the newly reclaimed regions. Res. J. Ag. Biol. Sci., 2(6): 578-583. Hirooka, T.; Kodama, H.; Kuriyama, K. and Nishimatsu, T. 2007. Field development of flubendiamide (Phoenix, Takumi) for lepidopterous insect control on vegetables, fruits, tea, cotton and rice. PflanzenschutzNachrichten Bayer., 60(2): 203-218. Latif, M.A., Rahman, M.M., Alam, M.Z. and Hossain, M.M. 2009. Evaluation of flubendiamide as an IPM component for the management of brinjal shoot and fruit borer, Leucinodes orbonalis Guenee. Mun. Ent. Zool., 4(1): 257-267. Memon, N.A. and Memon, A.A. 2005. Efficacy of different insecticides against lentil pod borer (Helicoverpa spp). Res. J. Ag. Biol. Sci., 1(1): 94-97. Mittal, V. and Ujagir, R. 2007. Succession of Insect Pests Associated with Pea Crop (Pisum sativum Linnaeus) at Pantnagar, India. Environ. Ecol., 25(4): 1030-1035. Murray, D.A.H.; Lloyd, R.J. and Hopkinson, J.E. 2005. Efficacy of new insecticides for management of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Australian grain crops. Aus. J. Entomol., 44(1): 62-67. Nauen, R.; Konanz, S.; Hirooka, T.; Nishimatsu, T. and Kodama, H. 2007. Flubendiamide: a unique tool in resistance management tactics for pest lepidoptera difficult to control. Pflanzenschutz-Nachrichten-Bayer., 60(2): 247-262. Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1985. Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. Rao, G.V.R.; Kumari, P.R.A.; Rao, V.R. and Reddy, Y.V.R. 2007. Evaluation of Spinosad and Indoxacarb for the management of legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Geyer) in pigeonpea. J. Food Legumes, 20(1): 126-127. Singh, G.; Prasad, C.S.; Sirohi, Anil; Kumar, A.; Dhaka, S.S. and Ali, N. 2010. Effect of Bio- pesticides against Stem fly and Pod borer complex in Field pea. Ann. Plant Protec. Sci., 18(1): 10-12.

Received on 03 September 2013 and accepted on 11 July 2014


[Research Article]

Influence of different plant bio regulators and zinc levels on yield attributes and economics of fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum graecum L.) under semi-arid conditions A. Singh, S.P. Singh*, A.K. Mahawar and T.V. Yadav

Department of Horticulture, SK Rajasthan Agriculture University, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner –303 329. (Rajasthan), India *E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The experiment was conducted at Agronomy farm, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner (Rajasthan) during rabi season to study influence of different plant growth regulators and zinc levels on growth and quality attributes of fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum-graecumL.).The results revealed that foliar application of triacontanol and NAA significantly increased the yield attributes,viz.,pods per plant, seeds per pod, test weight and seed, straw and biological yield and gave significantly higher net returns and B:C (1.51 and 1.50)over control and thiourea applications. While, application of zinc in increasing levels upto 4 kg ha-1 significantly increased the yield attributes and fetched significantly higher net returns and B:C (1.45) over 0 and 2 kg Zn ha-1.The economic optimum dose of Zn as derived from response was found to be 5.326 kg zn ha-1. KEY WORDS: Plant bio regulators, zinc, fenugreek, triacontanol, NAA, thiourea Fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum graecum L.) is a seed spice,also grown for its leaves. The seed is bitter in taste due to presence of alkaloids known as ‘trigonellin’ which prevents constipation, removes indigestion, stimulates spleen and liver and is appetizing and diuretic. The oral contraceptives are also prepared from the important steroid ‘diosgenin’ which is extracted from its seeds. Use of growth regulators can have a greater impact in increasing yield and quality when applied at a specific or critical growth stage (Sumeriya et al., 2000).Zinc is an essential constituent of tryptophan amino acid which is a precursor of auxin hormones. it influences formation of some growth hormones in plants especially in auxin metabolism. In many parts of India, zinc is now considered third important plant nutrient next to nitrogen and phosphorus (Takkar and Randhawa, 1978). Further, the positive interaction effect of thiourea and zinc has also been reported in many field crops. Hence the experiment was conducted to find out effect of different plant bio regulators and zinc levels on yield attributes and economics of fenugreek in semi-arid conditions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted at Agronomy farm, S.K.N. College of Agriculture, Jobner (Rajasthan) during rabi season. The soil of experimental field was alkaline Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

loamy sand in texture at pH 8.1, poor in organic carbon (0.135 %), available N (134.70 kg/ha), P (16.85 kg/ha), K (151.65 kg/ha) and Zn (0.42 mg/kg soil). The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) and comprised of 16 treatment combinations consisting four plant bio regulators application (Control,Triacontanol @1000 ppm, NAA @ 50 ppm, and Thiourea @ 500 ppm) and four zinc levels (control, 2, 4 and 6 kg ha-1). Randomization of the treatments was done with the help of random number table as advocated by Fisher (1950). The fenugreek seed of variety RMt-1, were sown in plot of size was 3.0 x 1.8 m2at rate of 25 kg ha-1with 30 cm × 15 cm spacing between rows and plants. Two foliar sprays of Triacontanol @ 1000 ppm, NAA @ 50 ppm and thiourea @ 500 ppm in the form ofmiraculam (0.05%), planofix (4.5%) and thiourea (99.9%), respectively were done at 40 and 60 DAS using 500 litres water per spray per hectare.Zinc as per treatments was drilled manually through the depth of 10 cm in furrow zinc sulphate (ZnSo4.7H2O) prior to sowing. Yield attributes likenumber of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, test weight, biological yield, seed and straw yields were calculatedfollowing standard procedures. Harvest index was depicted as ratio of economic yield and biomass, expressed as percentage(Singh and Stoskopf, 1971).The economics of treatments was worked out in terms of net profit per

152


Table 1: Influence of plant growth regulators and zinc levels on yieldattributes and economicsof fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum-graecum L.) Treatments

Pods per plant

Seeds per pod

27.6

14.8

Test Seed yield weight (g) (q ha-1)

Straw yield (q ha-1)

Biological harvest yield (q index ha-1) (%)

Net returns (Rs. ha-1)

B:C ratio

20497

1.51

PGRs Triacontanol

13.23

14.06

31.44

45.51

31.13

NAA

26.7

14.8

12.61

13.93

30.81

44.73

31.23

20256

1.50

Thiourea

24.7

13.7

11.43

12.44

27.06

39.51

31.46

16448

1.20

Control

22.3

12.3

10.24

10.37

23.21

33.58

31.01

11866

0.89

SEm+

0.62

0.35

0.27

0.30

0.76

0.77

0.80

658

0.05

CD (P = 0.05)

1.78

1.01

0.77

0.87

2.20

2.21

NS

1894

0.14

0

22.3

12.1

10.27

10.27

22.28

32.55

31.55

11656

0.88

2

24.9

13.5

11.62

12.65

27.42

40.07

31.57

17191

1.29

Zinc (kg ha-1)

4

26.8

14.7

12.59

13.76

30.48

44.24

31.10

19732

1.45

6

27.4

15.4

13.03

14.13

32.34

46.47

30.41

20488

1.48

SEm+

0.62

0.35

0.27

0.30

0.76

0.77

0.80

658

0.05

CD (P = 0.05)

1.78

1.01

0.77

0.87

2.20

2.21

NS

1894

0.14

NS = Non-significant hectare, so that the most remunerative treatment could be recommended.The ‘F-test’ and critical difference (CD) calculated to test significance of difference among the treatments, wherever the results were significant.

and 20,256 ha-1, respectively) and B:C ratio (1.51 and 1.50, respectively) over thiourea and water sprayed control.. The cost of these bio-regulators is low in comparison to the added output of the increased seed yield, which led to increase net returns.


Effect of zinc levels

Effect of plant growth regulators

Number of pods per plant, seeds per pod, test weight, seed, straw and biological yield (table 1) increased significantly with 4 kg Zn ha-1 over control and 2 kg zn ha-1. The role of zinc played in synthesis of chlorophyll, protein and nucleic acid and utilization of nitrogen and phosphorus benefited the crop in proper growth and development owing to greater absorption of nutrients from the soil. Baskaret al. (2000) and Narolia (2004) also reported a significant improvement in yield and yield attributes due to application of zinc. Fertilizing the crop with 4 kg Zn ha-1 fetched significantly higher net return (Rs, 19, 732 ha-1) and B:C ratio (1.45) over control and 2 kg Zn ha-1.The economic optimum dose of Zn as derived from response function was found to be 5.326 kg zn ha-1.

The application of NAA and triacontanol significantly increased the number of pods per plant, seeds per pod, test weight, seed, straw and biological yieldsover water sprayed control and thiourea. The favourable hormonal balance maintained at cellular levels due to application of NAA and triacontanol might have showed greater photosynthetic efficiency and enzymatic activity through the production of endogenous auxin and distribution of photosynthates to reproductive structures. These results corroborate the findings of Upadhayay (2002) and Medhi and Borbora (2002).The favourable effects of PGRs on seed yield and total dry matter production might have resulted on account of greater nutrient concentration at cellular levels as well as their uptake due to greater nutrient absorption as evidenced in the present study (Table 1) which fully support above finding Kumar et al. (2003) Mehriya and Khangarot (2000) and Neharaet al. (2006). Foliar application of triacontanol and NAA gave significantly higher net return (Rs. 20,497

REFERENCES Baskar, M.;Solaimalai, A.;Sivakumar, C.;Sankaranayanan, K. and Sudhakar, G. 2000. Role of phosphorus, zinc


153

and phosphobacteria on soybean. Field Crop Abs., 21(1): 60-65. Fisher, RA. 1950. Statistical Methods for Research Workers. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburg, London, pp. 57-63. Kumar, N.;Khangarot, S.S. and Meena, R.P. 2003.Effect of PGR and sulphur on yield and quality parameters of chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Annals ag.res., 24: 434436. Medhi, A.K. and Borbora, T.K. 2002.Effect of growth regulator on the dry matter production, flower initiation and pod setting of frenchbean (P. vulgaris). Crop Res.,3(1): 11-19. Mehriya, M.L. and Khangarot, S.S. 2000. Response of sulphur and growth regulators to nutrients uptake in mustard [Brassica juncea (L.)Czern and Coss]. Annals Ag.Bio. Res., 5(2): 207-209. Narolia, G.P. 2004. Response of isabgol (Plantago ovata) to phosphorus, PSB and zinc. M.Sc. Thesis, Rajasthanagricultural University, Bikaner.

Nehara, K.C.;Kumawat, P.D. and Singh, B.P. 2006.Response of fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum-gracum) to phosphorus, sulphur and plant growth regulators under semi-arid plains zone of Rajasthan. Indian J.Agron., 51(1): 73-76. Singh, I.D. and Stoskopf, N.C. 1971. Harvest index in cereals. Agron. J.,63(2): 224-226. Sumeriya, H.K.;Meena, N.L. and Mali, A.L. 2000.Effect of phosphorus, triacontanol granule and growth promoters on the productivity of mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss]. Int. J. Tropical Ag.,18(3): 283-286. Takkar, P.N. and Randhawa, N.S. 1978. Zinc deficiency in Indian soils and plants. national Seminar on Zinc Wastes and their utilization, 15-16 October, 1980, Organised by Indian lead association of India. Upadhayay, R.G. 2002. Response of growth regulators on flower drop, fruit setting, biochemical constituents and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under mid hill conditions of H.P. Legume Res., 25(3): 211-214.

Received on 21 March 2013 and accepted on 22 January 2014


[Research Article]

Studies on variability and character association in ashwagandha [Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal] Sukh Dev, R.B. Dubey*and K.D. Ameta

Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur (Raj.), India *E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Ashwagandha [Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal] is an important medicinal plant which is major source of alkaloids, viz., withanine, sominiferine, sominiferinine, somnine, withananine and withasomnine. The genetic variability, correlation and path analysis of dry root yield and its contributing traits were analyzed in twenty seven diverse genotypes of Ashwagandha. The highest magnitude of genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was recorded for number of primary branches per plant. The heightest heritability was coupled with high genetic gain was recorded for total alkaloid content, which indicated the importance of additive gene effect, which could be therefore improved through selection. The plant height positively correlated with dry root yield and root diameter but negatively correlated with days to 75% maturity. Among the characters, maximum direct effect was recorded for plant height followed by total alkaloid content. Superior genotypes, viz., MPAS-6,MPAS-4, MPAS10, MPAS-5,and MPAS-1 could be gainfully utilized in the improvement of dry root yield in Ashwagandha. KEY WORDS: Ashwagandha, variability, character association. Ashwagandha [Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal] is an important medicinal plant and called as “Indian ginseng” Deshpande (2005). Its roots, leaves and seeds are used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. The medicinal utility of roots is due to presence of number of alkaloids. The total alkaloid content in the roots varied from 0.16 to 0.66 per cent Anonymous (2008). The main alkaloids are withanine, sominiferine, sominiferinine, somnine, withananine, pseudowithanine, withananinine and with asomnine Covello and Ciampa (1960). The roots are used for general and sexual weakness in the male, female disorder, leucorrhea and neuromuscular system, prevent old age symptoms, remove acidity and prevent osteoarthritis etc. Ashwagandha belongs to the family Solanceae and is a cross pollinated crop with chromosome number 2n=48. It is a hardy and drought tolerant perennial plant. It is native of North-western and Central India as well as Mediterranean region of North Africa. Two species of Ashwagandha, viz., W. somnifera (L.) Dunal and W. coagulans (L.) are found In India. It is late kharif crop and grow under dry climate. Mostly, it is grown on marginal lands of Neemuch and Mandsaur districts of Madhya Pradesh and Kota, Jhalawar, Pratapgarh, Chittorgarh Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

and Baran districts of Rajasthan. Limited breeding work has been done on this important medicinal crop for developing high yielding varieties. There are strong possibilities to develop high yielding varieties, which are important with respect to high dry root yield and total alkaloid content. With this in view, efforts were made to assess the genetic variability for economically important characters in W. somnifera, so as to develop and efficient breeding programme.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The experimental material comprised 27 genotypes of W. somnifera, collected from different eco-geographical areas of the country. They were grown in Randomized Block Design with three replications. Each genotype was planted in two row plot of 4.0 meter length, with 30 x 5.0 cm row to row and plant to plant distance at Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur during kharif- 2011-12 at Herbal Park, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur. The normal agronomical practices were adopted to raise a healthy crop.The observations were re-


corded for plant height, number of primary branches per plant, days to 75% maturity, root length, root diameter, middle leaf area, dry root yield per plant and total alkaloid content on ten randomly selected competitive plants in each plot except for days to 75% maturity where data were recorded on plot basis. The total alkaloid content of root powder was determined method given by Mishra (1998). The Analysis of variance was determined given by Panse and Sukhatme (1989). The genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation Das et al,. (2011), heritability in broad sense Burton and De vane (1953) and genetic gain Johnson et al., (1955) were computed. The correlation coefficients were calculated by method Fisher (1954) whereas path coefficients were calculated by the method Dewey and Lu (1959).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the traits studied, indicating the presence of significant variability in the materials (Table1). Ashwagandha genotypes, viz., MPAS-6 ( 5.45 g/p), MPAS-4 (4.44g/p), MPAS-10 (4.43g/p), MPAS-5 (4.24g/p) and MPAS-1 (4.22g/p)for dry root yield and genotype, viz., MPAS-15 (0.60%), MPAS-12 (0.55%), MPAS-10 (0.50%), MPAS-4 (0.46%) and MPAS-6 (0.450%) for alkaloids content were found superior in term of their per se performance (Table2). The variability parameters revealed higher magnitude of phenotypic variation (PCV) than their corresponding genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the traits, indicating additive effects of environments on the expression of the traits. The estimates of genetic coefficient of variation (GCV) ranged from 2.12 (days to 75% maturity) to 26.81 per cent (number of primary branches per plant). The higher PCV and GCV value recorded for number of primary branches per plant, dry root yield per plant, total alkaloid content and plant height (Table3). The high GCV and PCV suggested greater scope for selection of superior genotypes for these traits. Similar finding were also reported by Dubey (2010), Kandalkar et al., (1988), Nigam and Khandalkar (1985) and Yadav et al., (2008). The estimate of GCV and PCV alone is not much helpful in determining the heritable portion. The amount of genetic advance to be expected from selection can be achieved by estimating heritability along with coefficient of variation Burton (1952). The heritability estimated in broad sense ranged from 50.66 per cent (days to 75% maturity) to 90.36 per cent (total alkaloid content). The high estimates of heritability were observed for all the traits suggested that the traits were under genotypic control. High heritability coupled with high genetic gain was observed for total alkaloid content and dry root yield per plant which indicated the importance of additive genetic

155

effect for these traits. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance would be much more reliable in making effective selection.

Table 1: Analysis of variance showing mean square for different characters in ashwagandha Sources of variation

Replication

Genotype

Error

[2]

[26]

[52]

Plant height (cm)

3.9270

263.8261**

22.53

Number of primary branches per plant

0.6825

4.1585**

0.3403

Days to 75% maturity

17.1975

54.8414**

13.44

Root length (cm)

2.2259

18.2479**

4.313

Root diameter (mm)

2.7391

10.2257**

1.386

Middle leaf area (cm2)

70.1101

303.4928**

41.91

Dry root yield per plant (g)

0.4056

2.1045**

0.1571

Total alkaloid content (%)

0.0000

0.0204**

4.387-005

Degree of freedom

** Significant at 1% level

Table 2: Five best genotypes of ashwagandha identified on the basis of per se Performance for dry root yield per plant and total alkaloid content S. No.

Genotypes

per se Dry root yield per plant (g)

Total alkaloid content (%)

Dry root yield 1.

MPAS-6

5.45

0.45

2.

MPAS-4

4.44

0.46

3.

MPAS-10

4.43

0.50

4.

MPAS-5

4.24

0.37

5.

MPAS-1

4.22

0.40

Total alkaloid content 1.

MPAS-15

2.76

0.60

2.

MPAS-12

4.09

0.55

3.

MPAS-10

4.43

0.50

4.

MPAS-4

4.44

0.46

5.

MPAS-6

5.45

0.45

JA-20

2.80

0.36

JA-134

3.50

0.41

Checks

156


Table 3: Mean, phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean for characters in ashwagandha Characters Plant height (cm) No. of primary branch per plant Days to 75% maturity Root length (cm) Root diameter (mm) Middle leaf area (cm2) Dry root yield per plant Total alkaloid content (%)

Mean+SE 45.68+ 2.74 4.21+ 0.34 174 +2.12 19.28 +1.20 10.49 +0.68 51.38 +3.74 3.32 +0.23 0.38 +0.00

PCV (%) 22.21 30.19 2.98 15.52 19.85 22.12 27.07 21.64

GCV (%) 19.63 26.81 2.12 11.18 16.37 18.17 24.29 21.57

h² (%) 78.12 78.90 50.66 51.85 68.01 67.54 80.51 90.36

GA (%) 16.33 2.06 5.45 3.20 2.92 15.81 1.49 0.17

GG (%) 35.75 49.06 3.11 16.58 27.81 30.77 44.90 44.30

Table 4: Genotypic and phenotypic (rg and rp) correlation coefficients among different characters in ashwagandha Character

Plant height

rgrp

No. of primary branches per plant

Days to Root 75 % length maturity

Root diameter

Middle leaf area

Dry root yield/plant

Total alkaloid content

0.08 0.10

-0.52** -0.41*

0.27 0.26

0.88** 0.70**

0.17 0.22

0.66** 0.60**

0.36 0.32

-0.07 0.04

-0.27 -0.47*

0.24 0.31

-0.03 -0.08

-0.01 0.02

0.38* 0.33

-0.18 -0.06

-0.32 -0.54**

-0.37 -0.27

-0.74** -0.53**

-0.37 -0.26

0.29 0.23

0.15 0.21

0.25 0.21

0.13 0.10

0.18 0.18

0.55** 0.43*

0.66** 0.54**

0.26 0.23

0.06 0.06

No. of primary branches per plant rgrp Days to 75 % maturity

rgrp

Root length

rgrp

Root diameter

rgrp

Middle leaf area

rgrp

Dry root yield/plant

rgrp

0.50** 0.45*

*, ** Significant at 5% and 1% level respectively, rg =genotypic and rp= phenotypic correlation coefficient

Table 5: Direct (diagonal) and indirect effects of different correlated characters towards root yield per plant in ashwagandha S. No.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Character

Plant height (cm) No. of primary branch per plant Days to 75% maturity Root length (cm) Root diameter (mm) Middle leaf area (cm2) Total alkaloid content (%)

Plant height (cm) 1.59 0.12 -0.82 0.44 1.40 0.27 0.57

No. of primary branch per plant 0.02 0.23 0.01 -0.11 0.07 -0.02 0.09

Days Root Root Middle Total to 75% length diameter leaf area alkaloid maturity (cm) (mm) (cm2) content (%) 0.30 0.05 -1.60 0.01 0.29 -0.02 -0.09 -0.56 -0.00 0.31 -0.58 -0.01 0.98 -0.01 -0.30 0.20 0.03 -0.42 0.01 0.10 -1.83 0.31 0.05 0.01 0.54 0.04 0.21 0.03 -0.33 0.05 0.81 0.22 0.03 -1.21 0.00

Residual effect =0.2503, *, ** Significant at 5% and 1% level respectively.

r

0.66** -0.01 -0.74** 0.25 0.55** 0.26 0.50**


The correlation studies revealed close association between genotypic and phenotypic correlations which could be due to less modifying effect of environment. The plant height, root diameter and total alkaloid content were significant and positively correlated with dry root yield per plant whereas days to 75% maturity negatively correlated with dry root yield per plant (Table4). Similar findings were also reported by Dubey (2010) and Kandalkar et al., (1988).The correlation was further partitioned into direct and indirect effect to estimate the cause and effect relationship among the dry root yield and its component characters (Table5). Among these traits maximum direct effect was recorded for plant height followed by total alkaloid content. The similar results were also reported by Das et al., (2011) and Kubsad et al., (2011).Hence from the present study it was concluded that the traits like dry root yield and total alkaloid content were least affected by environmental fluctuations having high heritability and contributed directly or indirectly towards yield due to positive association among traits. Therefore, selection for dry root yield followed by root diameter and plant height could be effectively utilized for enhancing the dry root yield and total alkaloid content in the important medicinal crop ashwagandha.

REFERENCES Anonymous 2008.Proceeding of seventeenth group meeting of AINRP on medicinal and aromatic plants NRC, on medicinal and aromatic plant, held at KAU, Trichun, Nov. 15-18. Burton, G.W. 1952. Quantitativeinheritance in grasses. Proc. 6th Int. Grassland Congress, pp. 227-283.

157

Deshpande, D.J.2005.Commercial cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. Himalaya Publishing house, pp. 203-206. Dewey, D.R. and Lu, K.H.1959. A correlation and path analysis of components of crested wheat grass seed production. Agron. J., 51: 515-518. Dubey, R.B.2010.Genetic variability, correlation and path analysis in ashwagandha (Withania somnifera). J. Med. Arom. Plant Sci., 32(3): 202-205. Fisher, R.A.1954. Statistical Methods for Research Workers. 12th ed. Biological Monograph and Manuals, 5:130-131. Johnson, H.W.; Robinson, H.F. and Comstock, R.E. 1955. Estimates of genetic and environmental variability in soybean. Agron.J., 47(3): 314-318. Kandalkar, V.S.; Nigam, K.B. and Patidar, H. 1988.Agriculture Research States of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L. Dunal) in MP. Proc. Symp. onAgriculture. Dev. In Malwa and Nimar, Indore, 19-20 November. Kubsad, V.S.; Mansur, C.P. and Alagundagi, S.C. 2011.Geneticassociations and path analysis in Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L.) under varied production practices.J. Med. Arom. Plant Sci.,33(2): 172-175. Mishra, S.N. 1998. Quick methods of estimation of total alkaloid.All India co-ordinated Research Project on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Presentation of trial data at C.C.S.Haryana Agriculture University, Hissar.

Burton, G.W. and de Vane, E.H. 1953. Estimating heritability in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) from replicated clonal material. Agron. J.,45: 478-481.

Nigam, K.B. and Khandalkar, V.S. 1985.Evalution of genetic variability in Ashwagandh (Withania somnifera L.). Proc. VI All India workshop on M&AP, Bangalore, 22-25 December.

Covello, M. and Ciampa, G. 1960.Paper chromotatography of Withania somnifera. Alkaloid J. Chromatography, 3:591-92.

Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V.1989. Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. ICAR, New Delhi, pp. 157-165.

Das, A.; Datta, A.K.;Ghose, S. and Bhattacharyya, A. 2011. Genetic analysis in poshita and Jawahar 22 varieties of Withania somnifera (L.)Dunal (solanaceae). Plant Archives, 11(1): 59-62.

Yadav, O.P.; Kumar, Y. and Verma, P.K. 2008.Genetic variability, association among metric traits and path coefficient analysis in Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera). Haryana Ag. Univ. J. Res.,38(1/2):23-26.

Received on 07 December 2013 and accepted on 18 October 2014


[Research Article]

Assessment of palash [Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.] trees growing under Jhalawar conditions of Rajasthan Dalveer Singh, Ashutosh Mishra*, S.K.Moond, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Rajpurohit College of Horticulture & Forestry, Jhalarapatan,Jhalawar-326 023, (Rajasthan), India *Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A field survey experiment was conducted during the year 2011-12 on palash trees growing sub-humid conditions of Jhalarapatan and Jhalawar cities of Rajasthan to study the genetic variability. The phenotypic characters studied on the 30 trees selected for the experime nt showed significant differences. The trees were categorized in 5 DBH groups (TG1, TG2, TG3, TG4, and TG5). The maximum tree height (11.18 m), DBH (44.23 cm), crown diameter (7.93 m), number of flowers per panicle (19.50), panicles per tree (77.50), panicle length (19.04 cm), largest flower size (4.96 cm), longest duration of flowering (93 days), maximum weight of fresh pod (7.33 g), maximum length of pod (18.16 cm), maximum weight of seed (1.02 g), maximum chlorophyll-a (1.80mg/g) and total chlorophyll (2.30mg/g) was recorded inTG5. TG3 recorded maximum chlorophyll-b (0.51mg/g) while early flowering (16.50 days) and maximum anthocyanin (2.54mg/g) were noted in TG1. KEY WORDS: Palash, genetic variability, Butea, chlorophyll, anthocyanin Among the flowering trees, palash [Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.] which is commonly known as ‘Flame of the forest’ is the most valuable plant for landscapingof tropical and sub-tropical tract of the world. It belongs to family fabaceae andmostly found mixed or dry deciduas forest of western and central parts of India.This attains a height of 6-15 meter and trunk diameter of about 40-45 cm at maturity. Bark is rough, fibrous slate grey to pale brown blaze fibrous, pink veined with red. Leaflets are 3-8 inches long. Flowers are large 2.5 cm long, bright orange-red and produced in rigid racemes up to 15-20 cm long (Randhawa,1983). The flower buds appear in January-February and orange coloured blossoms appear during February-April, when the tree is leafless. The fruits are 4-6 inches long, single seeded pods having velvety brown wing like base which ripen in May-June. Almost all the parts of the plant namely root, leaves, fruit, stem bark, flowers, gum young branches are used as medicine, food, fibre and for other miscellaneous purposes such as fish poison, dye, fodder, utensils, etc. Chief constituent of the plant is a gum, called ‘Butea gum or Bengal kino’, which exudes from natural or artificial scars on the bark. The gum of the Butea monosperma tree is beneficial in the treatment of dioarrhoea and dysentery (Jhade Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

et al., 2009). It is also good plant for avenue planting in a dry tract of the Rajasthan.In Andhra Pradesh; these flowers are specially used in the worship of Lord Shiva on the occasion of Shivratri. The research was conducted on palash to work out the genetic variability of the trees growing under Jhalawarto assess the maximum variability of palash trees for their vegetative, flowering, pod and biochemical characters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigation was carried out in and around the Jhalawar and Jhalarapatan cities during 201112. The region lies in South-Eastern Rajasthan and dominated by rocky-hilly terrain with shallow soil depth. It receives an average rainfall of 900-1000 mm with subhumid conditions and remains almost free from frost. During summers the temperature touches the mark of 42-450C and during winter infall to 5-70C. The research work was carried out on 30 palash trees growing naturally or planted for ornamentation in streets, parks and private properties of the cities of Jhalawar and Jhalarapatan. The selected trees were categorizes in following DBH groups for observation of morphological characters:


159

S. D.B.H. group No.

Notation No. of trees in the DBH groups

1.

20-25 cm DBH

TG1

T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6

2.

25-30 cm DBH

TG2

T7, T8, T9, T10, T11 and T12,

3.

30-35 cm DBH

TG3

T13, T14, T15, T16, T17 and T18

4.

35-40 cm DBH

TG4

T19, T20, T21, T22, T23 and T24

5.

40-45 cm DBH

TG5

T25, T26, T27, T28, T29 and T30

Observations on different parameters of vegetative growth, flowering, pod and biochemical characters were recorded and statistically analyzed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results of the experiment analyzed for various vegetative, floral, pod and biochemical characters of palash were subjected to statistical analysis for comparison to work out the variability parameters.

Vegetative parameters The analysis of variance revealed that (Table1) the tallest tree height (11.18 m) was recorded in TG5 while the minimum (7.67 m) was recorded in TG1. The maximum bole height (2.73 m) was recorded in TG5 whereas the minimum (2.12 m) was recorded in TG2 in TG3. TG5 had the maximum DBH (44.23 cm) while the minimum (21.75 cm) was observed in TG1. The TG5 recorded maximum number of main scaffold branches (4.33) while TG1 had the minimum (2.17). The maximum crown diameter (7.93 m) was noted in TG5 whereas the minimum crown diameter (4.67 m) was observed in TG1. Variation in DBH in different genotypes of Acacia nilotica tree species has also been reported by Ginwal and Mandal (2004), Toky and Arya (2005) and Divakara et al., (2010). The variation in DBH amongst the trees comprising various DBH groups could be attributed to their varied growth stages and the genotypic differences in phenotypic expression of DBH.

Floral parameters Perusal of the data presented in Table2 revealed that the maximum number of flowers per panicle (19.50) was produced by TG5 whilst the minimum number of flowers (12.83) was produced by TG1.TG5 produced the maximum panicles per tree (77.50) whereas TG1 produced the minimum number of panicle per tree (41.50). The maximum panicle length (19.04 cm) was recorded in TG5 while the minimum panicle length (14.69 cm) was recorded in TG1.The maximum number of primary branches per panicle (4.50) was produced by TG5 while the minimum (3.67) was produced by TG1 andTG2.The largest flowers (4.96 cm) were recorded under TG5 while the smallest flowers (4.63 cm) were produced by TG4.The

early flowering (16.50 days) was recordedin TG1 while TG5 took maximum days (19.50days) to flowering.The longest duration of flowering (93 days) was recorded by TG5 whereas the shortest duration of flowering (83.50 days) was noted by TG1. The differences in flower characters related with DBH of the trees as well as their genotypic variations that might have been further influenced by the environmental conditions. The varied numbers of flowers per panicle in different genotypes of Jatropha have also been reported by Rao et al., (2009), Mohapatra and Panda (2010) and Negi et al., (2011).

Pod parameters The observations recorded on pod characters showed variation in fresh& dry weight, length, breadth and seed weight.The maximum weight of fresh pod (7.33 g) was produced by TG5 while the minimum weight of fresh pod (6.11 g) was produced by TG1. The maximum weight of dry pod (2.46 g) was produced by TG5 while the minimum weight of dry pod (2.04 g) was produced by TG2. The TG5 showed the maximum length of pod (18.16 cm) whereas the TG1 had the minimum length of pod (14.33 cm). The TG5 showed the maximum breadth of pod (4.88 cm) whereas the TG2 had the minimum breadth of pod (4.24 cm). The maximum weight of seed (1.02 g) was produced by TG5 whilst the minimum weight of seed (0.98 g) was produced by TG1. The differences in podcharacters of different DBH groups could be attributed to the vigour of trees as well varied genotypic responses due to their possible differential endogenous hormonal levels leading to varied cell division and cell sizes.

Table 1: Vegetative characters of palash as recorded under different DBH groups S. Tree of Tree Bole DBH No. DBH height height (cm) group (m) (m)

Number Crown of main diameter scaffold (m) branches

1.

TG1

7.67

2.12

21.75

2.17

4.67

2.

TG2

8.37

2.18

26.47

2.67

5.33

3.

TG3

8.68

2.12

32.22

3.17

5.88

4.

TG4

11.08

2.60

36.98

3.00

6.78

5.

TG5

11.18

2.73

44.23

4.33

7.93

Mean

9.40

2.35

32.33

3.07

6.12

SEm±

0.46

0.25

0.46

0.31

0.31

C.D. (0.05)

1.33

NS

1.33

0.90

0.91

C.V. (%)

11.90

26.50

3.47

24.69

12.48

160


Table 2:Flowering characters of palash as recorded under different DBH groups S. No.

Tree of DBH group

Number of flowers per panicle

Number of panicles per tree

Panicle length (cm)

Number of primary branches per panicle

Flower size (cm)

Days to flower opening

Duration of flowering (days)

1.

TG1

12.83

41.50

14.69

3.67

4.69

16.50

83.50

2.

TG2

14.17

56.17

15.54

3.67

4.83

17.67

85.33

3.

TG3

15.00

61.83

15.85

4.00

4.72

17.00

85.50

4.

TG4

17.50

62.50

16.02

4.17

4.63

17.33

84.67

5.

TG5

19.50

77.50

4.50

4.96

19.50

93.00

Mean

15.80

59.90

16.23

4.00

4.76

17.60

86.40

SEm±

0.73

3.70

0.57

0.27

0.05

0.73

1.64

C.D. (0.05)

2.14

10.78

1.65

NS

0.19

1.50

4.79

C.V. (%)

11.37

15.13

8.57

16.58

2.43

7.16

4.66

19.04

Table 3: Pod characters of palash as recorded under different DBH groups S.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Tree of DBH group TG1 TG2 TG3 TG4 TG5 Mean SEm± C.D. (0.05) C.V. (%)

Weight of fresh pod (g) 6.11 6.28 6.56 6.67 7.33 6.59 0.16 0.46 5.87

Weight of dry pod (g) 2.18 2.04 2.15 2.13 2.46 2.19 0.10 NS 11.54

Length of fresh pod (cm) 14.33 14.54 16.33 14.55 18.16 15.58 0.49 1.43 7.72

Breadth of pod (cm) 4.46 4.24 4.30 4.40 4.88 4.46 0.16 NS 8.65

Weight of seed (g) 0.97 0.98 0.99 0.99 1.02 0.99 0.01 0.02 1.74

Table 4: Biochemical characters of palash flower recorded under different DBH groups S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Tree of DBH group TG1 TG2 TG3 TG4 TG5 Mean SEm± C.D. (0.05) C.V. (%)

Chlorophyll-a (mg/g) 1.75 1.64 1.70 1.66 1.82 1.71 0.06 NS 8.96

Chlorophyll-b (mg/g)

Bio-chemical parameters Perusal of the data (Table 4) revealed that the maximum chlorophyll-a content of leaves was noted in TG5 (1.82 mg/g) while the minimum chlorophyll-a content

0.44 0.44 0.51 0.45 0.49 0.46 0.02 NS 11.67

Total chlorophyll (mg/g) 2.19 2.08 2.21 2.11 2.30 2.18 0.08 NS 8.62

Anthocyanin (mg/g) 2.54 2.41 2.49 2.39 2.48 2.46 0.06 NS 5.82

(1.64 mg/g) in TG2. The maximum chlorophyll-b content of leaves (0.51 mg/g) was produced by TG3 while the minimum chlorophyll-b (0.44 mg/g) was produced by TG1 and TG2. The highest total chlorophyll of leaves (2.29


161

mg/g) was recorded by TG5 while the minimum total chlorophyll (2.08 mg/g) was recorded by TG2. The TG1 observed the maximum anthocyanin content in flowers (2.54 mg/g) whereas TG4 observed the minimum anthocyanin content (2.39 mg/g). The differences in biochemical characters of different DBH groups could be attributed to the vigour of trees as well varied genotypic responses due to their possible differential endogenous hormonal levels leading to varied cell division and cell sizes.

Jhade, D.;Ahirwar, D.; Sharma, N.K.; Jain, R. and Gupta, S. 2009. J. Pharmacy, 2(7): 1181- 1183.

REFERENCES

Randhawa, M.S. 1983. Flowering Trees. National Book Trust, New Delhi. 207 p.

Divakara, B.N.;Alur, A.S. and Tripathi, S. 2010. Genetic variability and relationship of pod and seen traits in Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre.:A potential agro forestry tree. Int. J. Plant Prod., 4(2): 129-141. Ginwal, H.S. and Mandal, A.K. 2004.Variation in growth performance of Acacia nilotica Wild. Ex Del. provenances of wide geographical origin: Six year results. Silvae Genetica, 53:264-269.

Mohapatra, S. and Panda, P.K. 2010. Genetic variability on growth, phonological and seed characteristics of Jatropha curcas L. Nat. Sci. Biol., 2(2): 127-132. Negi, R.S.; Sharma, M.K.; Sharma, K.C.;Kshetrapal, S.; Kothari, S.L. and Trivedi, P.C. 2011.Genetic diversity and variations in the endangered tree (Tecomaella undulata) in Rajasthan.Indian J. Plant Fund. App. Life. Sci., 1(1): 50-58.

Rao, M.R.G.; Ramesh, S.;Rao, A.M. and Gangappa, E. 2009. Exploratory studies on components of variability for economic traits in Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.). Karnataka J. Ag. Sci., 22(5): 967-970. Toky, O.P. and Arya, S. 2005. Intraspecific Biodiversity in Important Trees of Arid India and its conservation. Bulle. National Inst. Eco., 15: 19-24.

Received on 09 April 2013 and accepted on 25 February 2014


[Research Article]

Influence of growing environment and rooting hormone on rooting of Acalypha (Acalypha hispida Burm. F.) cuttings K.N. Shiva* and Sujatha A. Nair1

Division of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair – 744 101, Andamans; *Present address: National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli – 620 102, Tamil Nadu. 1Present address: Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hassarghatta Lake Post, Bangalore – 570 089, Karnataka *E-mail: [email protected];

ABSTRACT

In order to find out the favourable growing environment, a study was conducted in Acalypha cuttings in the presence or absence of rooting hormone in Andamans. After four months of planting, the cuttings planted under open environment exhibited significantly early sprouting and first leaf emergence, maximum number of roots, fresh and dry weight of roots per cutting, number of leaves, fresh and dry weights of leaves per shoot, shoot length, leaf size, leaf area and plant height. However, the maximum mean root length and number of shoots per cutting were significantly higher under shade-net house environment. Among the root characters, the maximum per cent increase over shade-net was obtained for fresh weight of roots per cutting, while it was for leaf area, among the shoot characters. Moreover, rooting hormone improved both the root and shoot growth of cuttings. Among the various treatment combinations, significant increase for the most of root and shoot parameters were recorded under open conditions with rooting hormone, followed by open condition without hormonal treatment. Cent per cent rooting of cuttings was observed for individual effects and their interactions. Minimum variation was recorded for leaf area and maximum variation for plant height. KEY WORDS: Acalypha, cuttings, growing environment, rooting hormone, planting, Andamans Acalyphas, a group of shrubs that are grown in gardens for being its colorful leaves and attractive flowers. They are used as hedge and also for providing color in the shrubbery. Among them, Acalypha hispida Burm. f., commonly called red hot cat’s tail or chenille plant, is a busy shrub, which is cultivated mainly for its long, attractive red, drooping flower spikes, called catkins ((Randhawa and Mukhopadhyay, 1986). Variety with white catkins is also available for gardening (Swarup, 1997). It is widely grown as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics and subtropics, which belongs to family, Euphorbiaceae. Production and supply of true-to-type and disease-free quality planting material is the primary step for commercial venture of any nursery (Mistry, 2011). However, the main problem faced by the local nurseries of Andaman group of Islands is the non-availability of planting materials in huge number within short-time at the lower cost. Acalypha is propagated most commonly by cuttings during rainy season or under the mist chamber for

Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

early and better rooting (Hartmann and Kester, 1972). However, the rooting reactions and growth characters of the cuttings are greatly influenced by the growing environment and growth regulators (Singh and Sidhu, 2006). Understanding of suitable growing environment required for the cuttings to induce rooting with the help of rooting hormone is also imperative. Moreover, the cost of transport is also very high due to the far-away distance of the Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands from the mainland. The prevailing weather conditions in the Islands may also form congenial environment for propagation of Acalypha on large-scale, when compared to propagation structures, which are very costly. In view of its potential importance, the present investigation was undertaken to study the response of the cuttings to the growing environments and growth regulator for largescale multiplication with desired root and shoot growth in Acalyphas under warm humid tropical conditions of Andaman Islands.


MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigation was carried out at the Experimental Farm, Division of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andamans situated in the Bay of Bengal between 6°45’ and 13° 41’N latitudes and 92°12’ and 93°57’E longitudes in North South direction in Bay of Bengal. The geographical area of the Union Territory is 8249 sq. km. and 7171 sqkm. (86.93%) is under reserved and protected forests. The climate of these islands is typical equatorial tropical in nature with an annual rainfall of about 3000 mm spread over a period of 7-9 months (May to December). The temperature varies from 18 to 32oC. The coolest days will be very few in the month of December, when the night temperature will be touching 17-18oC and the highest temperature in these islands will touch 32oC in the month of March - April. The humidity in these islands is always in between 70-80%, however, it goes as high as 90% and as low as 60% during rainy and dry season, respectively. The cloudy weather restricts the sunshine to 3-8 hrs with the maximum between January - April and very low (3.06 to 4.92 hrs) between June – October. The trial was laid out in F-CRD with five replications. Twenty five cm length semi-hard wood cuttings having pencil thickness were collected uniformly from healthy plants. Each of twenty cuttings per replication treated with rooting hormone (IBA) was utilized for planting in polybags under 75% shade-net house as well as in open conditions. Similarly, each of twenty cuttings planted in both the environmental conditions without any hormonal treatment were treated as control. The experiments were conducted during 2000-2001 (rainy season – September to January). The plants were initially given with foliar spray of greencare (30:10:10) @ 2.5 g/10 liters of water at weekly interval to boost vegetative growth. Uniform cultural operations were adapted to all the cuttings kept both under shade-net house and open growing conditions. Observations on root parameters (days to sprouting, success of rooting, number of roots, mean root length, fresh weight of roots and dry weight of roots per cutting) and shoot growth parameters (days taken to first leaf emergence, number of leaves per shoot, leaf size, leaf area, fresh weight of leaves, dry weight of leaves per shoot, number of shoots per cutting and plant height) were recorded after four months of planting from ten polybags/cuttings in each replication. The data thus collected were subjected to standard statistical analysis as per the procedure of Gomez and Gomez (1984).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Effect of growing environment Significant influence of growing environments on

163

early sprouting, number of roots per cutting, mean root length, fresh and dry weight of roots per cutting with cent per cent success in rooting of cuttings of Acalypha is evident from Table 1. Cuttings grown in open conditions took lesser time for sprouting (19.20 days) in comparison to shade-net house. For number of roots, fresh and dry weight of roots per cutting also, open condition was proved to be better. However, the maximum mean root length was produced by the cuttings that were grown under shade-net house environment. The maximum per cent increase over shade-net was obtained for fresh weight of roots per cutting, while the maximum per cent decrease was noticed for mean root length (Fig. 1). Significant improvement in sprouting and other root characters by the open environment might be due to contribution of favorable environmental factors such as high light intensity and high temperature along with ideal humidity towards higher biomass of roots in the cuttings, as compared to shade-net house. Moreover, increase in light intensity and temperature along with ideal relative humidity of the open environment would have favored accumulation of protein in the leaves of cuttings and thereby induced rooting parameters (El-Daly, 1998; Shiva and Sujatha, 2009).

Effect of rooting hormone Early sprouting and maximum number of roots and fresh and dry weight of roots per cutting were observed with the cuttings receiving rooting hormone, while the cuttings with no hormonal treatment could only produce maximum mean root length. However, cent per cent rooting of cuttings was recorded in both the treatments. The significant effect of hormone in inducing better rooting of the cuttings has been well documented by Singh (2002) in bougainvillea and Sharma et al. (2002 a, b) in gardenia and Acalypha.

Interaction effects (Growing environment x rooting hormone) Besides the individual effects of growing environment and rooting hormone; their interactions also showed significant effect on root parameters of Acalypha cuttings (Table 1). Cuttings planted under open condition without rooting hormone resulted in minimum days to sprouting (9.00 days), which were statistically at par with the cuttings that were planted under shadenet house with hormonal treatment. Both the treatment combinations also significantly registered maximum number of roots per cutting, fresh and dry weights of roots per cutting. However, maximum mean root length was produced by the cuttings that were planted under shade-net house with hormonal treatment, followed by the combinations of shade-net house without hormonal treatment. Cent per cent success in rooting of cuttings

164


Table 1: Effect of growing environment and rooting hormone on rooting parameters of Acalypha cuttings Treatment

Days taken to sprouting

Success of rooting (%)

Number of roots per cutting

Mean root length (cm)

Fresh weight of roots per cutting (g)

Dry weight of roots per cutting (g)

Growing environment Shade-net (E1)

24.90

100

38.50

35.33

1.44

0.58

Open (E2)

19.20

100

41.00

14.75

7.14

1.30

CD at 5%

0.49

NS

0.22

0.20

0.02

0.01

Treated (T1)

21.40

100

44.51

24.83

4.41

0.98

Untreated (T2) (Control)

22.70

100

34.99

25.25

4.17

0.90

CD at 5%

0.49

NS

0.22

0.20

0.02

0.01

Rooting hormone

Interaction effects (environment and hormone) E1T1

23.40

100

33.00

33.67

2.52

0.22

E1T2

26.40

100

36.98

37.00

0.36

0.94

E2T1

19.40

100

49.00

16.00

6.30

1.58

E2T2

19.00

100

40.02

13.50

7.98

1.02

CD at 5 %

0.70

NS

0.31

0.28

0.03

0.02

CV%

2.30

0.00

0.57

0.83

0.50

1.52

Table 2: Effect of growing environment and rooting hormone on growth characters of Acalypha cuttings Treatment

Days taken to first leafemergence

Number ofLeaves per shoot

Leaf size (cm)

Leaf area (cm2)

Fresh weight of leaves per shoot (g)

Dry weight Number of leaves of shoots per shoot (g) per cutting

Shoot Plant length height (cm) (cm)

Growing environment Shade -net (E1)

33.25

5.30

8.68

42.86

2.85

0.54

4.40

18.87

41.25

Open (E2)

30.25

8.00

9.95

116.67 5.09

0.86

2.50

48.25

45.15

CD at 5%

1.02

0.23

0.04

0.03

0.01

0.50

0.25

1.66

0.03

Rooting hormone Treated (T1)

31.00

7.08

9.45

97.73

4.31

0.76

3.65

39.87

42.15

Untreated (T2) (Control)

32.50

6,22

9.18

61.80

3.63

0.64

3.25

27.25

42.25

CD at 5%

1.02

0.23

0.04

0.03

0.03

0.01

0.50

0.25

1.66

Interaction effects (environment and hormone) E1T1

32.00

5.00

8.58

49.86

2.85

0.52

4.80

20.75

39.00

E1T2

34.50

5.60

8.78

35.85

2.86

0.56

4.00

17.00

43.50

E2T1

30.00

9.17

10.33 145.60 5.78

1.01

2.50

59.00

45.30

E2T2

30.50

6.84

9.58

87.74

4.41

0.72

2.50

37.50

45.00

CD at 5%

1.45

0.33

0.06

0.04

0.04

0.02

0.70

0.35

2.35

CV%

3.31

3.63

0.43

0.03

0.59

2.00

14.81

0.76

39.55


165

400

% increase/decrease over shade-net

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 -50 -100 Days to sprouting

No.of roots/cutting

Mean root length/cutting

Fresh weight of roots/cutting

Dry weight of roots/cutting

Root parameters

% increase/decrease over sahde-net house

Fig. 1. Effect open environment over shade-net house on root parameters of Acalypha

200

150

100

50

0

D

ay

st

o

le

of o. N

fir

st

le a

fe m

er

ge nc

e av es /sh oo t Le af Fr siz es e h w Le ei af gh ar to ea D fl ry e av w ei es gh /sh to oo fl t ea v N e s/s o. of ho sh ot oo ts/ cu tti ng Sh oo tl en gt h Pl an th ei gh t

-50

Shoot parameters Fig. 2. Effect of open condition over shade-net house on shoot growth of Acalypha

was obtained in all the treatment combinations. Treatment combination of open conditions with hormone exhibited significant increase for the most of the root parameters with cent per cent rooting which could be due to the naturally prevailing favorable weather parameters such as high light intensity (sunshine to 3-8 hrs with the maximum between January - April and 3.06 to 4.92 hrs between June – October) coupled with high relative humidity (average - 70 to 80%, which goes to as high as 90% and as low as 60% during rainy and dry season, respectively) and high temperature (average - 18 to 32oC

with highest temperature 32oC in the month of March – April) in Andaman conditions under the influence of rooting hormone (Das et al., 2006). Moreover, increasing light intensity and temperature of the open environment would have favored accumulation of protein in the leaves of cuttings and thereby induced rooting parameters (El-Daly, 1998). Thus, the pretreatment with auxin combinations, environmental manipulations, physiological status of the cuttings, season (Hartmann and Kester, 1972), maturity of the cuttings (Halliwell, 1970) etc. have greater influence on rooting of cuttings. Among the vari-

166


ous root parameters, minimum variation (0.50%) was recorded for fresh weight of roots per cutting, while maximum variation (2.30%) for days to sprouting. As that of root characters, shoot growth of Acalypha was also significantly influenced by the growing environment and rooting hormone (Table 2). Early leaf emergence, maximum number of leaves, leaf size, leaf area, fresh and dry weight of leaves per shoot, shoot length and plant height were obtained in the open conditions except for number of shoots per cutting. In open condition, the maximum per cent increase over shade-net was recorded for leaf area, followed by shoot length, fresh weight of leaves per cutting, while the maximum per cent decrease was noticed for number of shoots per cutting (Fig. 2). The better shoot growth exhibited by the open condition might be due to the contribution of higher biomass (fresh and dry weights) with more number of roots per cutting to cover soil surface and absorb more nutrients from soil (Bora et al., 2006; Shiva and Sujatha, 2009). The cuttings treated with rooting hormone produced significant increase in shoot growth for all the characters except for plant height, which was at par with untreated control. The results are in line with the findings of Sharma et al. (2002a). The interaction between growing environment and rooting hormone showed significant difference for the shoot characters in Acalypha (Table 2). Early leaf emergence and maximum number of leaves per shoot, leaf size, leaf area, fresh and dry weight of leaves per shoot, shoot length and plant height were produced by the cuttings that were treated with rooting hormone and planted under open condition, followed by the combination of open condition without hormonal treatment, as compared to other treatment combinations. Among the characters, leaf emergence and plant height showed nonsignificant results for both the treatment combinations. However, cuttings treated with hormone and planted under shade-net house resulted in maximum number of shoots per cutting, followed by those planted under shade-net house without rooting hormone. The best results obtained by this treatment combination could be attributed to their higher root biomass contribution (fresh and dry weights of roots with maximum number of roots), as influenced by favorable environment and its interaction with the rooting hormone (Bora et al., 2006). Among the shoot growth characters, minimum variation was observed for leaf area and maximum variation for plant height.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are thankful to the Head, Division of Horticulture & Forestry and the Director, Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andamans for encouragement and providing necessary facilities.

REFERENCES Bora, N.; Lal, R.L. and Singh, A.K. 2006. Effect of IBA and planting containers on shoot and root characters and survival of litchi air-layers. Indian J. Hort., 63: 155-158. Das, B.; Tantry, F.A. and Srivastava, K.K. 2006. Rooting response of olive stem cuttings under zero energy environment. Indian J. Hort., 63: 209-212. El-Daly, F.A. 1998. Impact of temperature and light conditions on some metabolic aspects of easy (variety Holiday) and hard to root (variety Cardinal) cuttings of Hibiscus rosa- sinensis L. during rooting. Egyptian J. Physiol. Sci., 22: 357-375. Gomez, K.A. and Gomez, A.A. 1984. Statistical Procedure for Agricultural Research (2nd Ed.). John Willey and Sons, New York. Halliwell, B. 1970. Selection of material when propagating Leyland cypress. Proc. Intl. Plant Prop. Soc., 20: 338-39. Hartmann, H.T. and Kester, D.E. 1972. Plant Propagation – Principles and Practices. Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi. Mistry, N.C. 2011. Emerging standards in planting material. pp. 446-451. In: Horticulture to Horti-Business. K.L. Chadha, A.K. Singh and V.B. Patel (Eds.), Westville Publishing House, New Delhi. Randhawa, G.S. and Mukhopadhyay, A. 1986. Ornamental foliage plants. In: Floriculture in India. Allied Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, pp. 256-257. Sharma, A.K.; Mishra, A.; Trivedi, O.N. and Shukla, P.K. 2002a. Effect of IAA and IBA on gardenia cuttings. J. Orn. Hort., 5: 71. Sharma, A.K.; Trivedi, O.N. and Shukla, P.K. 2002b. Effect of IBA and IAA on Acalypha cuttings. J. Orn. Hort., 5: 72. Shiva, K.N. and Nair, Sujatha A. 2009. Effect of growing environment and rooting hormone on root and shoot characters of Hibiscus. Indian J. Hort., 66: 233-238. Singh, D.R. 2002. Use of growth regulators in rooting of stem cuttings of bougainvillea var. Thimma. J. Orn. Hort., 5: 60-62. Singh, P. and Sidhu, G.S. 2006. Effect of different environments on growth and flowering of pot plants. J. Orn. Hort., 9: 46-48. Swarup, V. 1997. Ornamental Horticulture. Macmillan India Limited, New Delhi, pp. 89-90.

Received on 21 July 2013 and accepted on 08 February 2014


[Research Article]

Evaluation of different methods for drying of chrysanthemum flowers Deena Wilson1, B.L. Attri2 and Satish K. Sharma1

Department of Horticulture, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar – 263145 Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Regional Station, Mukteshwar, Nainital (Uttrakhand) E-mail : [email protected]

1 2

ABSTRACT

An investigation was conducted for evaluation of different methods for drying of chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflorum Tzevlev) flowers. Fully opened flowers of chrysanthemum were dried by four different methods, viz., air drying, sun drying, mechanical dehydration and low cost solar drying at different durations. Results indicate that among different methods of drying solar drying registered the maximum moisture loss (79.31%) after 15 days of drying as compared to other methods. Among different method tested, the reduction in floral diameter was highest (55.97%) in air drying as compared to other methods. Low cost solar drying obtained better score (4.60) for colour retention than other methods. Therefore solar drier after being embedded in sterilized sand was rated to be better as compared to other methods of drying. KEY WORDS: Chrysanthemum flowers, drying methods, sand embedding, colour retention Drying and preserving flowers and plant materials is a form of artistic expression that was very popular during the victorian age and has once again gained popularity. Dried or dehydrated flowers or plant part or botanicals (roots, leaves, stem, bark or whole plant) can be used for ornamental purposes. The flower drying is an important post-harvest technique for enhancing keeping quality and providing value addition. The flower drying technique involves reducing moisture content of flowers to a point at which biochemical changes are minimized while maintaining cell structure, pigment level and flower shape (Singh and Dhaduk, 2005). In floriculture trade, fresh flowers constitute a major part but due to their reduced shelf life flowers remain in acceptable conditions only for a short duration. Therefore, to overcome this problem and maintaining the charm of the flowers, techniques of dehydration and drying play a vital role. Dried flowers and plant parts are the major segment and constitute 70 percent of the total share of floriculture products exports from India (Singh, 2005). But our country’s share in the dry flower industry is below 5 percent of global market (Singhwi, 2001). Drying leads to reduced microbial activity and ageing effect. Due to absence of moisture, these dried flowers can be stored in moisture free atmosphere for longer periods without loosing their appearance and decorative value. Thus, the Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

flowers become free from bondage of seasons (Bhutani, 1995). Drying of flowers and foliage by various methods like air drying, sun drying, oven drying, microwave oven drying, freeze drying and embedded drying can be used for making decorative floral craft items i.e. cards, floral designs, wall hanging, landscapes, calendars etc. for various purposes ( Bhutani, 1990; Bhalla and Sharma, 2002). Various flower crops which respond well to drying techniques are anemone, zinnia, allium, gypsophilla, Shasta daisy, roses, tulip, dahlia, sweet-william, carnation, stock, freesia, narcissus, pansy, daffodils, marigold and foliages like ferns, aspidistra, beech, box, eucalyptus, ivy, magnolia, mahonia (Rogers, 1967; Healey, 1968). Chrysanthemum (Dendrathema grandiflorum Tzvelev.) has tremendous popularity as an ornamental flower crops. It is valued as a potted plant and is commercially cultivated cut flower crop in many countries. It is widely grown in open fields in India for their loose flowers. It has wide range of colours, shapes and sizes. The vase life of this flower varies from 10-15 days and if stored in dry form, they can remain attractive for longer periods (Baskaran et al., 2009). Dried chrysanthemum flowers are in considerable demand in the global trade. Therefore keeping in this view the tremendous potential of dried chrysanthemum flowers the present studies were made to standardize the dehydration technology for chryasan-

168


themum flowers (Dandranthema grandiflorum Tzvelev.) under mid hill conditions of Uttarakhand to encourage entrepreneurship on floral crafts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigations were carried out in the Department of Horticulture, College of Forestry and Hill Agriculture and Hill Campus Ranichauri, during 20092010. Fully opened flowers of chrysanhthemum were subjected to drying by four different methods, viz., air drying, sun drying, mechanical dehydration and solar drying. In air drying the flowers after harvesting, were tied with thread and hung upside down in a dry, dark and well ventilated room at room temperature (17.5 to 29.3 oC, 64 to 78% RH) and dried for 1 month. For sun drying the card board boxes of size 25 cm (l) x 17 cm (b) x 7 cm (h) were selected for drying. The embedded boxes were kept in direct sun light for 20 days (till the flowers dried). For mechanical dehydration the embedded boxes were kept in mechanical dehydrator at 50 + 2oC for 6 to 8 h. Similarly, in solar drying embedded card board boxes were kept inside a low cost solar drier. For measuring the temperature minimum - maximum and dry - wet bulb thermometers were also kept inside the solar drier (31.6 to 55oC, 47 to 67% RH) for 15 days. Observations were recorded for moisture loss percent and reduction in floral diameter immediately after the dehydration treatment. Dried samples were observed for retention of colour using five point scale from 1-5 (1 - Very poor, 2 - Poor, 3 - Good 4 - Very good, 5 – Excellent) as described by Ranganna (1997). The recorded data were on various characters were subjected to statistical analysis using completely randomized block design with five replications as per the methods described by Panse and Sukhatme (1989).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The effect of different methods of drying on mois-

ture loss and reduction in flower diameter of chrysanthemum flowers has been given in Table 1. The data revealed that drying of flowers in solar drying resulted in maximum moisture loss (79.31%) after 15 days of drying followed by sun drying showed a range of moisture loss (76.63%) for about 20days of drying. The mean values for moisture loss per cent showed a range of (74.56%) in air drying after one month of drying and 71.39 per cent in mechanical dehydration at 50oC after 6 h. Bhallaet al. (2006) observed flower quality as appearance was found better with final moisture content after drying. A range of 8 to 11.5% moisture content in the dried flowers provided optimum drying with good quality, firmness and maintained keeping quality for than six months. Excessive drying of flowers resulted into petal shedding during handling. Drying below 8.0% moisture contents showed shedding effect. On the other hand reduction in floral diameter was the highest (55.97%) in air drying as compared to other methods with respective mean values of (38.88%) in sun drying after 20 days, (30.58%) in mechanical dehydration at 50oC for 6 h and (28.82%) in solar drying after 15 days. The percent reduction in floral diameter has been has been depicted in Fig. 1. These results are in conformity with the findings of Dhattet al. (2007) who also reported that inverted hanging resulted in shrinkage of petals.Though the method is cheap, the shrinkage of petals is the disadvantage. The flowers of carnation and Helichrysum gave equally good results when dried by solar drying and by embedding in sand, respectively (Gill et al., 2002).Kher and Bhutani (1977) reported that in sun drying quality of the flowers is affected due to changes in day and night temperatures and extra labour is involved for shifting of the containers. Low cost solar drying obtained better score (4.60) for colour retention followed by mechanical dehydration (4.06) as compared to sun drying (2.52) and air drying (1.74) in which lower scores for colour retention were recorded (Table 2). Stewart (1997) in his trials to dry roses in air drying found that they shriveled to some extent and colour would darken. Bright red roses usually become

Table 1: Effect of different methods on moisture loss (%) and reduction in floral diameter (cm) of chrysanthemum flowers Methods of drying

Initial Final Moistureloss Initial Final Reduction Reduction wt (g) wt (%) Ddiameter Ddiameter in floral in floral (g) (cm) (cm) diameter diameter (cm) (%)

Solar drying (embedding in sand)

1.16

0.24

79.31

3.4

0.98

2.42

28.82

1.14

0.29

74.56

3.18

1.78

1.40

55.97

Air drying (by hanging in shade)

Mechanical dehydrator drying (at 50 + 2 C) 1.14

0.32

71.39

3.4

1.04

2.36

30.58

Sun drying (embedding in sand)

0.25

76.63

3.24

1.26

1.98

38.88

0

CD(p=0.05)

1.07

0.157

0.198


169

Table 2: Influence of drying methods on quality parameters of dried chrysanthemum flowers of white colour as assessed through sensory evaluation Methods of drying

Colour

Solar drying (embedding in sand)

4.60

Mechanical dehydration (by embedding in sand)

1.74

Sun drying (at 50 + 2 0 C)

4.06

Air drying (by hanging in shade)

2.52

CD(p=0.05)

0. 523

Scoring on a five-point scale i.e. 1-Very poor, 2-Poor, 3-Good, 4-Very good, 5-Excellent

Standardization of drying techniques of chrysanthemum (Dandranthema grandiflorumTzvelev.).J.Orn. Hort., 9(3): 159-163. Bhutani, J.C. 1990. Capturing nature, a way with flower “everlastings”.Indian Hort., 34(3): 15-18. Biswas, C.and Dhua, R.S. 2010. Microwave oven drying of cut carnation. J.Orn. Hort., 13(1): 45-49. Dhatt, K.K.; Singh, K. and Kumar, R. 2007.Studies on methods of dehydration of rose buds. J. Orn. Hort., 10(4): 264-267. Gill, S.S.; Bakhshi, R. and Arora, S. 2002. Standardization of drying methods for certain cut flowers. Floriculture research trend in India Proceedings of the-National Symposium on Indian Floriculture in the New Millennium, LalBagh, Bangalore, 25-27 February, 2002, pp. 357-358. Healey, D. 1968. Handbook of soil, fertilizer and manure. Agro Botanica, Bikaner, 431p. Kher, M.A. and Bhutani, J.C. 1977. Dehydration of flowers and foliage. Extension Bulletin No. 1, National Botanical Research Institute Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, 20p. Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, V.V. 1989. Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. ICAR, New Delhi.

Fig. 1: Reduction in floral diameter (%) in different methods the colour of dried blood, while white roses become a yellow parchment colour. Silhol and Denis (1994) reported that the drier has to operate at moderate temperatures in order to preserve the colour, flavour and active ingredients of the plant material.It is concluded that solar crop driers whose initial and running costs are relatively low compared to a diesel/firewood drier can provide good quality dried products and cost effective systems for farmers in Tanzania (Simalenga et al., 1990).The quality of the dried flowers was found to decrease with increase in microwave oven drying period from 2 to 4 minutes in carnation flowers ( Biswas and Dhua, 2010).

Ranganna, S. 1997. Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetables Products, 3rd ed. Tata McGraw Hill Pub. Co. Ltd., New Delhi. Ranjan, J.K. and Mishra, R. 2002. Dried flowers: a way to enjoy beauty for a longer period. Indian Hort., 46(4): 32-33. Rogers, J. 1967. Flowerarranging. London: Paul Hamlyn, pp.152-157. Silhol, M. and Denis, P. 1994.A solar drier.Commissari atzal’energieatomique, La Blachette, BP 111, 26700 Pierrelatte, France. pp. 31-38.

REFERENCES

Simalenga, T.E.; Hatibu, N.; Salokhe, V.M. and Ilangantileke, S.G. 1990. Solar drying of agricultural products in Tanzania: prospects and constraints. Proc. Int. Ag.Engg. Conf. and Exhibition, Bangkok, Thailand, 3- 6 December, pp. 517-522.

Baskaran, V.; Janakiram, T. and Jayanthi, R. 2009.Evaluation of post harvest quality of some cultivars of chrysanthemum.J.Orn. Hort.,12(1): 59-6.

Singh, Alka and Daduk, B.K. 2005. Effect of dehydration techniques in some selected flowers. J. Orn. Hort., 8(2): 155-156.

Bhalla, R. and Sharma, B. 2002. Dry flowers: status, scope and potential. In: Production and management of flower crops. M.L.Choudary et al. (Eds.). Division of Floriculture and Landscaping, IARI,New Delhi, pp.162-173.

Singh, H.P. 2005.Current status of floriculture in India. Flor. Today,5:6.

Bhalla, R.;Dhiman, S.R.; Mona and Thakur, K.S. 2006.

Singhwi, M.R. 2001.Dried flowers.Proc. Demonstrationcum-Workshop on dried flowers. Stewart, G.M. 1997. Dryingroses.http://www.toreadors.com/ martha/projects/roses.html.

Received on 08 June 2013 and accepted on 16 April 2014


[Short Communication]

Comparative physico-chemical and sensory evaluation of fruits of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars Karanjalker G.R.* and Pratyush Kumar

Department of Horticulture, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad- 211 007, Uttar Pradesh, India *E-mail: [email protected]

abstract Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is one of the most important fruit crops of tropical and subtropical regions. Allahabad is privileged for producing the best guava fruits. In this attempt, have analysed physical, chemical and sensory qualities of different guava cultivars with the aim to compare and to find out the best cultivar with respect to all evaluated parameters. The fresh guava fruits of Allahabad safeda, Allahabad surkha & apple colour of Mrigbahar were procured from the local market of Ram-Baug, Allahabad. It is concluded that Allahabad safeda followed by Apple colour as the best cultivars based on physico-chemical analysis. Also as far as overall acceptability is concerned the Allahabad Safeda was proved to be superior among other two cultivars. KEY WORDS: Gauva, Sensory evaluation, physico-chemical qualities. Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is one of the most important fruit crops of tropical and subtropical regions. The adequate nutritional quality, availability throughout the year and economical value compose it as most capable crop particularly in Allahabad region. Allahabad is privileged for producing the best guava fruits (Rathod, 2001) especially cultivar Allahabad Safeda. The admirable Vitamin C content in guava makes it even competent with that of oranges (Conway, 2001). With the valuable and cheapest source of guava fruits the balance provision of vitamin C can be made. Guava is also capable of producing sufficient processed products (Karanjalker et al., 2013), viz., juice, jelly, jam, nectar, blended products etc. In this attempt, have analysed physical, chemical and sensory qualities of different guava cultivars with the aim to compare and to find out the best cultivar with respect to all evaluated parameters. Such comparative studies would be beneficial for evaluating the suitability of cultivars for marketing and processing into various products. The fresh guava fruits of Allahabad safeda, Allahabad surkha & apple colour of Mrigbahar were procured from the local market of Ram-Baug, Allahabad. The 100 fruits of each cultivar were distributed into five groups. The evaluation for various parameters like physico-chemical and sensory tests were done within 6 h after brought up Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

to lab. Length and diameter of the fruits was measured by using scale. Parameters like pulp recovery percentage (by digital weighing balance) and specific gravity (dipping in water) was taken. T.S.S (oB) and pH was determined by Hand refractometer and digital pHmeter respectively. Moisture, Acidity, ascorbic acid and total sugars were determined by titration method as mentioned in Ranganna(1997). The sensory evaluation was done by a panel of five judges based on 9- point hedonic scale (Amerine et al., 1965) for flavor, colour, texture and overall acceptability of the fruits. The experiment was laid in Completely Randomized Design having 5 replications and results were interpreted using Web Agri Stat Package 2.0 (ICAR Research Complex for Goa). The green peel coloured Allahabad safeda, pink fleshed Allahabad Surkha and pink tinge peeled apple colour cultivars were evaluated for various physicochemical parameters in present study. As revealed in Table 1, maximum average weight of 256.06 g was observed in Apple colour followed by Allahabad Safeda. Similarly the highest average diameter (77.27 mm) and specific gravity (1.20 a) was observed in apple colour but was also on-par with Allahabad Safeda. The pulp recovery of 52 to 60 % was observed from three cultivars. No significant result for pulp recovery (52 to 60%) gives


171

Table 1: Physical parameters of fruits of different cultivars of guava Cultivar

Fruit weight (g)

Diameter (mm)

Pulp recovery (%)

Specific gravity

Allahabad Safeda

201.28 b

73.97a

60.0a

Allahabad Surkha

110.86c

53.06b

Apple colour

256.06a

77.27 a

Colour (sensory basis) Peel

Pulp

1.14a

Greenish white

White

52.2a

0.97b

Green

Pinkish red

57.70a

1.20a

Pink with red tinges

White

Table 2: Various chemical parameters of fruits of Allahabad Safeda, Allahabad Surkha and Apple colour Cultivars

Moisture (%)

T.S.S(0B)

Acidity(% CA)

Ascorbic acid(mg/100g)

pH

Allahabad Safeda

83.27a

11.80a

0.292 b

261.40a

4.18a

Allahabad Surkha

81.20a

6.76b

0.268b

158.60b

3.30a

Apple colour

89.26a

10.32a

0.670a

229.00a

3.76a

Table 3: Sensory scores for the different guava cultivars Cultivars

Flavour Colour (30) Texture Peel Pulp

Overall acceptability

Allahabad Safeda

8.4a

7.0b

7.6 b

7.8a

8.4a

Allahabad Surkha

7.0b

6.6 b

8.8a

7.6a

6.2b

Apple colour

6.8b

8.2 a

7.0b

6.6b

6.6b

indication about the equal processing ability of these cultivars. Similar percentage of pulp recovery was also observed by the Sandhu et al. (2001) and Kumar et al. (2013) in Allahabad Safeda fruits. Pertaining to chemical parameters (Table 2), the non-significant results were obtained for moisture and pH. Significant difference for the T.S.S. and ascorbic acid content was recorded within two cultivars (Allahabad Safeda and apple colour) and and Allahabad Surkha. Maximum ascorbic acid content of 261.40 mg/100g was evident in Allahabad Safeda. Acidity (% CA) was highest (0.65%) in apple colour. These values find more or less resemblance with the figures mentioned by Choudhary et al. (2008) and Singh et al. (2008) for Allahabad Safeda and Apple colour. To differentiate general consumer preference for three cultivars sensory evaluation was carried out. The significant difference was evident among three cultivars (Table 3). Except peel and pulp colour parameters, the maximum sensory scores was awarded to dominating Allahabad Safeda cultivar fruits. Highest score (8.2) for peel colour was allotted to apple colour fruits might be reasonable because of its attractive hue of mixed tinge. Peel colour is the first perception for attracting consumers towards it and hence this variety has been marketed successfully. Also, the Red fleshed Allahabad Surkha although inad-

equately thrive in other parameters, but could able to attract judges towards it with its reddish pulp colour (8.8 score) and may prove to be advantageous in producing good coloured guava products. But it is very significant for variety to be supreme in every aspects of quality, since consumers final preference will be for eating quality (Kader, 1999). In fact nowadays consumers are well aware about the hidden qualities,i.e., nutritional qualities too. Comparative physico- chemical and sensory evaluations was carried out among the three cultivars of Allahabad region. It is concluded that Allahabad safeda followed by Apple colour as the best cultivars based on physico-chemical analysis. Also as far as overall acceptability is concerned the Allahabad Safeda was proved to be superior among other two cultivars.

REFERENCES Amerine, M.A.; Pangborn, R.M. and Rosseler, E.B. 1965. Principles of Sensory Evaluation of Food. Academic Press, London. Choudhary, M.L.; Dikshit, S.N.; Shukla, N. and Saxena, R.R. 2008.Evaluation of guava (Psidium guajava L.) varieties and standardization of recipe for nectar preparation. J. Hort. Sci.,3(2): 161-163. Conway, P. 2001.Tree medicine–a comprehensive guide to the healing power of over 170 trees. Judy Piatkus Publishers Ltd., United Kingdom. Kader, A.A. 1999. Fruit maturity, ripening and quality relationships. Proc. Int. Symp. On effect of pre- and post-harvest factors on storage of fruit. L. Michalczuk (Ed.). Acta Hort.,485. Karanjalker, G.R.; Singh, D.B. and Vijay, B.R. 2013. Development and evaluation of protein enriched guava nectar blended with soymilk. The Bioscan, Manuscript

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accepted. Kumar, P.S.; Karanjalker, G.R. and Vijay, B.R. 2013. Chemical and sensory evaluation of nougat prepared from guava (Psidium guajava L.) Cv. Allahabad Safeda. Int. J. Ag. Env.Biotech., Manuscript Accepted. Ranganna, S. 1997. Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetable Products. II Ed. Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co., New Delhi. Rathod, D.S. 2001. Guava.Handbook of Horticulture. K.L.

Chadha (Ed.), Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture, ICAR, New Delhi. Sandhu, K.S.; Singh, M. and Ahluwalia, P. 2001. Studies on processing of guava into pulp and guava leather. J. Food Sci. Tech., 38: 622-624. Singh, A.K.; Mishra, S.K. and Singh, A. 2008. Studies on physico- chemical characters of different guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars. Plant Archieves, 8(1): 453-455.

Received on 18 June 2013 and accepted on 21 March 2014


[Report]

Stamen feminization in hermaphrodite papaya: A new report P.L. Saran*, Ravish Choudhary, I.S. Solanki and P.R. Kumar

Indian Agricultural Research Institute Regional Station, Pusa-848 125, Samastipur (Bihar) *E-mail: [email protected]

Papaya plants in orchards sometimes fail to develop of appropriate fruit shape. The plant may begin to develop fruits, but they are deformed/warty. Bisexual flowers of Carica papaya range from highly regular flowers to morphs with various types fusion of stamens with the ovary. Development of bisexual flowers was similar to wild (unisexual) forms up to locule initiation. Feminization ranges from fusion of stamen tissue to the gynoecium to complete carpeloidy of antepetalous stamens. The Carica results highlight tissue-fusion mechanisms in bisexual flowers have evolved due to environmental stress and/or gene alteration by mutation etc. The hermaphrodite plants are sexually ambivalent, producing staminate, perfect and pistillate flowers. The pistillate plant is stable. Staminate and hermaphrodite plants may be phenotypically stable or phenotypically ambivalent, going through seasonal sex-reversal, during which they produce varying proportions of staminate, perfect and pistilate flowers (Ram, 1996). The female plants normally bear pistillate flowers, but rarely, they can produce bisexual flowers. Alterations and reversions of bisexuality have frequently occurred during angiosperm evolution and resulted in functional unisexuality (male or female sterility) or morphological unisexuality (Mitchell and Diggle, 2005). Through these alterations, carpeloidy/ pistillody, restricted to the process feminization of stamen (Hama et al., 2004; Drea et al., 2007). Such type consists of bisexual flower types with stamen-to-carpel conversions. Hermaphroditic flowers of Carica tend to be highly variable in the extent of development of stamens and carpels, ranging from flowers with ten stamens and five carpels (elongata type) (Fig. 1C) through abnormal flowers with 1–5 stamens fused to different degrees with the ovary and with some developing stigmatic tissue on the anthers (Fig. 1B). The conversion process occurs rapidly upon stamen–carpel contact and all stamen tissues undergo feminization (Fig. 1A and D) due to mutation/ gene alteration or environmental stress. The genetic nature of carpeloidy remains to be understood, possibly within the framework of the genetic system for sex deOnline version available at: www.indianjournals.com

termination which rests on five pairs of genes occurring in three sex-determining complexes in the sixth chromosome. The stamen filaments and connective tissues were the most responsive to feminization. The Carica results highlight mechanisms that allow direct resource reallocation (Wright and Meagher, 2003; Knight et al., 2006) between male and female organs through (partial) sex conversion once bisexual flowers have evolved. Imperfect flowers occurrence in hermaphrodite plants of papaya tree is related to genetic causes, longer dry periods, high temperature, high and low moisture (rainfall and soil drainage) and imbalance fertilizer, may lead to this disorder. High humidity conditions as well as high concentration of water and nitrogen in the soil tend to change the sex of the hermaphrodite flowers producing deformed fruits. The high nitrogen in papaya may be a factor behind low level of some micronutrients (especially boron). Heavy use or application of urea by farmers may also induce imbalance through crop growth dilution in sandy soils of North Eastern Plains Zone (Bihar). It was highest in the summer and become worse with the water deficit. Fruit and seed production of papaya is very high income generating but it requires technical knowledge regarding different type of flowers. Higher yield per unit area was observed with hermaphrodite plants as compared to dioecious varieties but they suffered from carpaloidy. The major factors to consider in selecting a site to grow papayas are agro-climatic condition of the area, proper moisture and fertilizer especially nitrogen level management in the field. The adoption of irrigation amount of 120% of ET minimized the losses caused by production of imperfect flowers. Some hybrids like Red Lady which are most susceptible (3040% deformed or under developed fruits) due to pistillody may be replaced by other dioecious cultivars like Pusa Nanha, CO-2, Surya, Pusa Dwarf (Fig. 2), especially under Bihar conditions. Further studies are required to get important clues for understanding causes and effects, which may assist in management of the disorder

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and developing the strategies for obtaining varieties and hybrids with higher yield, better quality and resistance.

Fig. 1: [A] Carpeloid fruits bearing papaya plant (cv Red Lady); [B] Pistillody (stamen feminization) [C] Elongata type hermaphroditic flower [D] Different stages of stemen to carpel conversion in complete carpeloid fruit

Fig. 2: Papaya cv. Pusa Dwarf (dioecious) [A] Female [B] Male plant REFERENCES Drea, S.; Hileman, L.C.; deMartino, G. and Irish, V.F. 2007. Functional analyses of genetic pathways controlling petal specification in poppy. Development, 134: 4157–4166. Hama, E.; Takumi, S.; Ogihara, Y. and Murai, K. 2004. Pistillody is caused by alterations to the class-B MADS-box gene expression pattern in alloplasmic wheats. Planta, 218: 712–720. Knight, T.A.; Steets, J.A. and Ashman, T.L. 2006. Quantitative synthesis of pollen supplementation experiments highlights the contribution of resource reallocation

to estimates of pollen limitation. Am. J. Bot., 93: 271–277. Mitchell, C.H. and Diggle, P.K. 2005. The evolution of unisexual flowers: morphological and functional convergence results from diverse developmental transitions. Am. J. Bot., 92: 1068–1076. Ram, M. 1996. Papaya In: A Textbook on Pomology: Tropical Fruits. T.K. Chattopadhyay (Ed.), Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana, pp. 113-140. Wright, J.W. and Meagher, T.R. 2003. Pollination and seed predation drive flowering phenology in Silene latifolia (Caryophyllaceae). Ecology, 84: 2062–2073.

Received on 10 October 2013 and accepted on 23 July 2014

Progressive Horticulture, Vol. 47, No. 1, March 2015 © Copyright ISHRD, Printed in India

[Report]

Life with dignity for rag pickers of Delhi using dry flowers technology: A success story Ritu Jain1 and T Janakiram2

1. Division of Floriculture and Landscaping, IARI, New Delhi-110012 2. Krishi Anusandhan Bhawan II, ICAR, New Delhi 110012 Email : [email protected]

Flowers play a significant role in every occasion of human life and India has a long tradition of floriculture. The domestic consumption of flower products increased considerably, and so is the exports of cut flowers, value added products like dry flowers, potted plants, etc. have gone up noticeably. Due to urbanization and change in lifestyle, the demand for everlasting and ready to use flowers is increasing tremendously. Dried flowers are one such floral crafts which suit the need of the day best. Dried flowers are used as decorative item and for fragrance as well. Fresh flowers though exquisite in their beauty are expensive, short lived and sensitive to heat and cold. On the other hand, the dry flowers that are near naturals, dried and preserved have an everlasting value that can be cherished for longer periods. Dehydrated/ dry flowers can add colour and beauty to a place and do not require frequent replacement like fresh flowers. In dry flowers microbial activity comes to a standstill and can be stored in dry atmosphere for long period without losing their appearance and decorative value in terms of colour and beauty. Dry flowers are put to many novel and varied uses. Apart from bouquets and flower arrangements, their flexibility enables them to make into long lasting flower pictures, flower balls, cards, pomanders, festive decoration, sweet smelling potpourri etc. Apart from adding to aesthetics flower drying is a lucrative income generating hobby for women entrepreneurs. Major advantages of dry flowers includes. Available year round. Cheaper. Eco friendly and biodegradable. Easy to transport and can survive heat and cold. Much longer shelf life compared to fresh flowers Wide range of value added products can be made.

Dry Flowers - Scope and status India, with its vast resources, varied products and Online version available at: www.indianjournals.com

experience in the field of dried flowers and plants enjoy a distinct advantage. Dried flower products are in very high demand and gives enriched value to the flourishing industry. Dried flowers otherwise called as dehydrated flowers/ preserved flowers / everlasting flowers; having greater scope as it can be produced easily and last longer than fresh flowers. Dried flowers are in much demand in both national and international market. Due to urbanization and awareness, people are more interested in natural dried flowers, which require lesser inputs for production and gives everlasting appearances. Dry flowers may be arranged in dry vases, they may be arranged in bouquets or wall displays after fastening them to decorative bands. Pressed leaves and flowers may be used in making number of products like greeting cards, book marks, wall hangings, paper weights, table mats etc. Dried flowers should be handled with care since they are more delicate than fresh flowers. Dry pods, seeds, nuts dried fruits, flower skeletons after giving some artistic touch can be best used for decoration and various arrangements through value addition which include; dried flower arrangements, wreaths and wall swatches, painted gourds, dried herbs, sachets, soaps made from home-grown herbs. Value addition help in providing employment to the people especially women and also helpful in generating the resources for self-help groups. Being of low cost and having high demand, small scale drying industry can be started at various parts of the country. India has a tremendous export potential and is the fifth largest exporter of dried flowers. India is one of the major exporters of dried flowers to the tune of 5% world trade in dry flowers. This industry shows a growth rate of 15% annually. Dried flower industry is one of the emerging segments of floriculture in India and it contributes 80% of the total quantity of floriculture products

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exported from India. The value of export of dried flowers during 2012-13 is Rs. 423 cores. Though India is largely exporting dried flower items, there is lot more to explore in terms of research, technology and market trend in decoration industry. At present, the industry is not well organized and depends largely on the plant material growing wild in forests and no systematic growing of specialized flowers exists anywhere in the country. The demand for dry flowers is increasing at an impressive rate of 8-10% and, therefore, this industry can attracts many entrepreneurs and gives employment to rural and tribal people. Presently, the dry flower industry is in private domain and very little work is being done in public institutes.

The Success Story : Keeping above in mind, Indian Agricultural research Institute, New Delhi started working on dry flower making and value addition. A fully dedicated laboratory was established in the Division of Floriculture and Landscaping, where large number of training programmes were conducted for both rural and urban women. In this series, training was imparted to women of Ghazipur slums who were involved in the rag picking activity for their

livelihood. This training was imparted during May 2013 in collaboration with IL&FS company, which later on form a small NGO named Gul Mehar. The members of this NGO are making a large number of dried flower value added product and earning their livelihood. Mumtaz bibi is the women who has been waste picker throughout her life but after her hand injured she discontinued that work and joined this NGO. Her husband is unemployed and she is the only earning member of family. So she has learnt this art of preparing dry flower products and today she is the star performer of Gul Mehar. Badhru Nisa is another lady whose husband has left her and she has to earn bread and butter for her kids, so she joined this NGO and first thing she do every morning that she brings waste flowers from Ghazipur flower market, process them and dry them and make dry flower products like greeting cards, file covers, book marks, folders, note pads and calendars. Like this 35 women are the members of this NGO who are earning their livelihood, enjoying independence and living with dignity. All thanks to dry flower technology.

Received on 02 February 2015 and accepted on 03 March 2015


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One day training programme on ‘Value addition in flowers (Phooloma Mulyavardhan)’ for women at Navsari

One day workshop for women flower growers and entrepreneurs on ‘Value addition in flowers (Phooloma Mulyavardhan)’ was organized by Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari on February 13, 2015. On this occasion, a flower arrangement exhibition was also arranged and inaugurated by Hon. Vice-Chancellor, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari. In exhibition, different flower arrangements, dry flower products, etc. were prepared by PG students of the department. Inaugural function was presided over by Dr. C.J. Dangaria, Hon. Vice-Chancellor. The workshop was a grand success as 25 women participants, faculties and PG students of floriculture took interest and participated actively during technical sessions. Seven lectures were delivered by experts. Topics on different aspects were included like scope and importance of value addition in flowers, post harvest handling and care, fresh cut flower arrangement, loose flower arrangements, drying of flowers, natural dyes, tinting, herbal gulal preparation and different byproducts of rose. The workshop was ended with plenary session. A publication on Phooloma Mulyavardhan was also released during inaugural function, compiled by Dr. S.L. Chawla, Dr. Dipal Bhatt, Dr. Sudha Patil and Dr. N.L. Patel.

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CONTENTS

PROGRESSIVE HORTICULTURE, Vol. 47, No. 1, March, 2015 Onion Research in India: Status and Challenges-Jai Gopal

1

Regression technique for germination of spinach seed in high hills of Uttarakhnad- S.C. Pant, K.D. Sharma and K.K. Pandey

109

Effect of zinc and farmyard manure on yield and nutrient content of vegetable pea (Pisum sativum L.)- Suresh Kumar and M.K. Sharma

112

Influence of seed extraction methods on seed quality in cucumber (Cucumis sativus)cv. Pant Shankar Khira-1- Girish Kaddi, B.S. Tomar, Balraj Singh and Bontha Vidyadhar

116

122

Diversity in genus Mangifera L. and varietal variation and improvement in mango (Mangifera indica L.) : A review-Shyam Nagina Pandey

20

Micropropagation studies of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) cv. Blood Red- Jyoti Kanwar, M.K. Kaul and Raj Kumar

39

Response of foliar fertilization of micronutrients on fruit growth and yield in low-chill peach cv. Sharbati-Vikas Yadav, P.N. Singh and Binayak Chakraborty

43

Effect of naphthalene acetic acid on periodical changes in biochemical composition of ber cv. Umran- Rachna Arora and Sukhdev Singh

48

Impact of integrated nutrient management on yield, quality traits and economics of cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.var. capitata)- A.K. Upadhyay, Jagdish Singh, Anant Bahadur, V.K. Singh and S.K. Singh

Studies on physico-chemical attributes of guava (Psidium guajava) cultivars- Akhilendra Verma and S. P. Singh

53

Agrobacterium mediated transformation in Capsicum annuum L. cv. Mathania- Mohammad Rizwan, Ramavtar Sharma, Priyanka Soni and Govind Singh

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Standardization of micropropagation techniques in guava (Psidium guajava L.)- S.P.Singh, Abhay Mankar and Mohammad Yaseen

57

138

Evaluation of hybrids and selections of mango (Mangifera indica L.) under Tarai region of Uttarakhand- A.K. Singh, Yamuna Pandey and N.K. Mishra

61

Effect of different mulches on soil properties during summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) cultivation in mid-hill conditions of Garhwal Himalayas- Renu Rana, Lalit Bhatt, Sanjay Sachan and Naveen Singh Rawet Field screening of different genotypes of chilli against infestation of thrips- N.K. Singh and Anand Pandey

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Effect of different pruning levels on fruit yield and quality of promising peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] cultivars- Pooja Pant, M.C. Nautiyal and C.P. Singh

66

Efficacy of novel insecticides against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) in vegetable pea- S. S. Dhaka, G. Singh, A. Yadav, M. Rai and A. Kumar

146

Studies on the effect of orchard floor management practices on quality parameters and leaf nutrient status in apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cv. New Castle- Deep JiBhat, C.L. Sharma,V.K. Wali and A. Jasrotia

70

Influence of different plant bio regulators and zinc levels on yield attributes and economics of fenugreek (Trigonellafoenum graecum L.) under semi-arid conditions- A. Singh, S.P. Singh, A.K. Mahawar and T.V. Yadav

151

In-vitro germination attributes of some Citrus species- Jitendra Singh, Pravisha Lahoty and Deepak Rajpurohit

74

154

Effect of sun exposure on berry development and biochemical constituent in Tas-A-Ganesh grapes grafted on Dog Ridge rootstock- R. G. Somkuwar, Roshni Samarth, J. Satisha, S.D. Ramteke and A.K. Sharma

77

Studies on variability and character association in ashwagandha [Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal]- Sukh Dev, R.B. Dubey and K.D. Ameta

158

Quality evaluation of spray-dried powder prepared from aonla juice blended with pigment-rich vegetable juice during storageA.K. Bhattacherjee, A. Dikshit and D.K. Tandon

82

Assessment of palash [Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.] trees growing under Jhalawar conditions of Rajasthan- Dalveer Singh, Ashutosh Mishra,S.K.Moond, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Rajpurohit

162

Influence of pre and post-harvest treatments on shelf life and fruit quality of mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Amrapali- Shipra Banerjee, Shubhranshu Sengupta, Bikash Das

89

Influence of growing environment and rooting hormone on rooting of Acalypha (Acalypha hispida Burm. F.) cuttings- K.N. Shiva and Sujatha A. Nair Evaluation of different methods for drying of chrysanthemum flowers- Deena Wilson, B.L. Attri and Satish K. Sharma

167

Available micronutrient status and their relationship with soil properties of vegetable growing area of Jammu district- A.K. Mondal, A.P. Rai, Pardeep Wali and Manoj Kumar

95

Comparative physico-chemical and sensory evaluation of fruits of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars- Karanjalker G.R. and Pratyush Kumar

170

Effect of bio-fertilizers and zinc on growth, yield and quality of sprouting broccoli (Brassica oleraceae var. italica L.)- Sohan Lal, S.P. Singh, T.V. Yadav and A.K. Meena

99

Stamen feminization in hermaphrodite papaya: A new reportP.L. Saran, Ravish Choudhary, I.S. Solanki and P.R. Kumar

173

Effect of foliar application of zinc on yield and quality of cabbage in Kymore plateau and Satpura hills of Madhya Pradesh- A.K. Singh, S.R.K. Singh, U.S. Gautam, A.P. Dwivedi, Jai Singh and A.K. Tomar

106

Life with dignity for rag pickers of Delhi using dry flowers technology: A success story- Ritu Jain and T Janakiram

175

The Progressive Horticulture is cited by Indian Science Abstracts (NISCAR), Indian Citation Index, Horticultural Abstracts (CABI), Citefactor, Impact Factor, Global Impact Factor, Universal Impact Factor, Agricola Indexing, IC Journal Master List and Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Printed at SPS Printways, Delhi, Mob. : +919871891318