Search

The rising trend of solar PV generation from ground based installations has led to competition for land between agriculture and PV generation. The solution to this challenge lies in the agri-voltaic system (AVS). The AVS systems allows agricultural activities on land while provides opportunity for PV generation and thus returns additional income from land. Therefore, the Governments of many countries e.g. Japan, France, USA, South Korea, and China have already introduced policies for installation of AVS on agricultural land. Following this trend, policy to install AVS in farmers field has also been launched in India under the national level scheme called KUSUM (Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahaabhiyan) targeting for energy security and upliftment campaign for farmers. Under the scheme, subsidy is gurranted for installation of PV power plants in farmers field with a capacity between 0.5 and 2 MWp and on-grid net metering connection of the PV power plant. After announcement of the scheme, there has been increasing interests for installation of AVS by farmers, however, limited knowledge on techno-economic performance of the system, field scale installations of it has been hindered. In the present study, techno-economic analysis of different designs of AVS systems (105 kWp) established at ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute has been evaluated with several combinations of rainfed and irrigated crops. Field performance of the AVS system of 105 kWp has been used to extrapolate cost and returns for 520 kWp system, which lies in the range of KUSUM target. Five AVS designs were considered in the study: extrapolated into 520 kWp AVS and compared theoretically with the price and returns of a photo-voltaic ground-mounted (PV-GM) plant the same capacity. Among five designs of PV arrays in the AVS, the one-row full density photovoltaic array with irrigated brinjal recorded the highest combined net returns of PV + crop components followed by rainfed snap melon. Based on the highest returns per hectare basis, the economic analysis of AVS design for rainfed and irrigated crops is compared to PV-GM. The higher values of life cycle benefit (LCB) could lead to higher net present worth (NPW) of AVS over PV-GM. The higher values of internal rate of return (IRR) in AVS lead to quicker repayment of investment cost as indicated by the pay-back period (PBP), which is shorter by 0.5 and 1.14 years in AVS one row PV array in rainfed and irrigated as compared to PV-GM (8.61 years). Moreover, the one row PV array with irrigated had the lowest Levelized cost of electricity generation (LCOE) (INR 3.17 kWh−1), which is much lower than the prevailing electricity tariff (INR 5.0 kWh−1). Hence, it is inferred that crop production can be very economical for an AVS. AVS technology shows flexibility up to 6% escalation in cost with no escalation in returns, as is indicated by sensitivity analysis. One row full density with irrigated is found the best system based on sensitivity analysis and economic feasibility. The economic analysis of AVS designs in this study is similar to the cost of other PV systems worldwide. Therefore, all PV systems analyzed represent a relatively safe investment.

Aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L. Indica) is popular among consumers. They provide significant economic benefit to producing countries as well as farmers. Aromatic germplasm is huge and diverse in terms of agro-morphological characters, grain types and aroma content. Development of a representative coreset of aromatic germplasm can be a good source for novel alleles identification and is required for its improvement. A collection of 552 aromatic accessions were screened for 40 DUS traits and 60 SSR markers. The data were processed in PowerCore software that implements the advanced M (or maximization) strategy using a modified heuristic algorithm and a coreset of 99 accessions was identified. The average Nei diversity and Shannon–Weaver diversity indices of the coreset were 0.635 and 0.823, representing the entire diversity of the collection. Statistical parameters like mean difference and variance difference were analysed to compare the mean and variance ratio between core and entire collections. Coreset has 3.45% mean difference and 14.4% variance difference. The coreset has 99.04% coincidence rate and 106.31% variable range which indicated the optimum properties of the coreset against the entire collection. This is the first attempt of making coreset of aromatic rice from larger germplasm.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an economically important fruit crop of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. There has been enormous increase in area, production, and export worldwide...

Out of various species of Ziziphus, there are three, namely Z. mauritiana Lam., Z. rotundifolia Lam. and Z. nummularia (Burm. f.) wt., that are most abundantly occurring species in drier part of India. Z. mauritiana has socio-economic importance in the rural life of the local people being part of each and every farming system supplying food, fuel, fodder, fencing and nutritious fresh as well as value added products. Z. nummularia is an excellent top feed species producing nutritious leaves locally called ‘Pala’ serve as good source of fodder for desert livestock such as sheep, goat, camel and cattle. Z. rotundifolia have much value as timber however its importance lies as rootstock for vegetative propagation and played an important role in commercialization of cultivated Z. mauritiana. These species have tremendous potential for improvement and utilization as commercial crop of arid regions. The paper is an attempt to synthesize available information on Ziziphus species, their distribution, botanical description, nutritional and medicinal value, and experimental findings on genotypic diversity, adaptability under progressive drought situation, mass multiplication method, pruning, system based production and rejuvenation of unproductive trees. These information and research findings on improvement, production and utilization of jujube would create a strong commercial opportunities in arid and semi arid regions.

Fruit flies are the most serious economic insect pests of mango in India and other parts of the world. Under future climate change, shifts in temperature will be a key driver of ecosystem function especially in terms of insect pest dynamics. In this study, we predicted the voltinism of the three economically important fruit fly species viz., Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), Bactrocera correcta (Bezzi) and Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) of mango from 10 geographical locations in India using well established degree day approaches. Daily minimum and maximum temperature data were generated by using seven General Circulation Models (GCMs) along with their ensemble, in conjunction with the four representative concentration pathways (RCPs) scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5) and three time periods (2020, 2050 and 2080) generated from MarkSim® DSSAT weather file generator. Historical data from 1969–2005 of these 10 locations were considered as baseline period. Under future predicted climates, model outputs indicates that all three fruit fly species will produce higher number of generations (1–2 additional generations) with 15–24% reduced generation time over the baseline period. The increased voltinism of fruit fly species due to increased temperature may lead to ≃5% higher infestation of mango fruits in India by the year 2050. Analysis of variance revealed that ‘geographical locations’ explained 77% of the total variation in voltinism followed by ‘time periods’ (11%). Such increase in the voltinism of fruit flies and the consequent increases in the infestation of mango fruits are likely to have significant negative impacts on mango protection and production.

Optimal plant spacing and fertigation are the two management factors that influence yield, nutrient use efficiency and water productivity (WP) of any crop. In this context, a two year field experiment was conducted to standardize the planting geometry and fertigation practices for drip irrigated chilli in the hot-sub humid region of India. The study evaluated the effects of four planting geometries (sub-plots) with spacing of 75 × 50 (S1), 70 × 40 (S2), 50 × 40 (S3) and 30 × 40 (S4) cm in combination with three fertigation patterns having varying fertigation dose with increasing weeks after transplant (WAT) (main-plots), viz. uniform dose (FP1), higher dose during early reproductive stage (8th–13th WAT) (FP2) and higher dose during late reproductive stage (12th–18th WAT) (FP3) on chilli growth, yield and WP. Fertigation patterns and planting arrangements significantly influenced the number of fruits per plant, nitrogen recovery and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The fertigation pattern FP2 in combination with denser planting geometries (S3 and S4) had highest N recovery of 69.2 and 68.6%; NUE of 132.6 and 141.3 kg kg−1 N, respectively. The highest N, P and K uptake by chilli pepper was 105.9, 15.3 and 124 kg ha−1 in the denser plant populations (S4) with the treatment combinations of FP2-S4, FP3-S4 and FP3-S4, respectively. The chilli yield per plant decreased, while chilli yield per unit area increased gradually with increase in plant population. Highest chilli yield (14.5 t ha−1) and WP (31.1 kg ha−1 mm−1) was obtained when higher fertilizer dose was applied during early reproductive stage under S4 geometry (FP2-S4). Planting at 40 × 30 cm in triangular geometry (S4) with application of higher fertigation dose (FP2) during early reproductive stage is recommended for drip fertigation of chilli pepper in hot and sub-humid climate.

Bael is a medicinal cum fruit tree with multipurpose utility and propagated mostly through seeds. It is mostly found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and China. Focus on collection of bael variability has increased in recent times with an aim towards their utilization as fresh or made into ‘Sharbat’, one of the most popular drinks in the Indian. Its lots of evidence have showed immense potential of nutritional and medicinal properties used in various ethnic societies. The present investigation was carried out to exploit genetic variability in bael fruits. Seventy-five genotypes were characterized for sixteen fruit traits viz. fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width, skin weight, no. of seed, seed weight, pulp weight, skin per cent, seed per cent, pulp per cent, skin thickness, fruit volume, TSS, acidity, reducing sugar and total sugars during 2015. Observations of growing seedling trees showed rich genetic variations regarding their fruit characteristics. The fruit characteristics, viz., fruit weight ranged from (315.20–1608.65 g), fruit length (81.39–173.43 mm), fruit width (89.76–136.35 mm), skin weight (88.62–358.07 g), number of seed (37.67–195.40), seed weight (7.48–54.33 g), pulp weight (201.17–1243.87 g), skin % (9.59–42.83%), seed % (0.97–7.97%), pulp % (53.72–89.33%), skin thickness (1.43–4.10 mm), volume of fruit (285.00–1555.00 cc), TSS (24.40–47.80°Brix), acidity (0.15–0.40%), reducing sugar (0.37–11.90 mg/100 g) and total sugars (7.14–20.83 mg/100 g) among the different genotypes. On the basis of overall assessment, one genotype, ICAR-RCER BS 6/1 was found to be the most promising. Based on fruit properties, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to qualitatively and quantitatively discriminate the germplasm difference. Eight principal components, which contribute 94.80% of the total variability, were selected for analysis. Biplot between PC1 and PC2 showed that genotypes namely ICAR-RCER BS 6/1, 18/2, 25/5, 21/1, 17/3, 26/1, 18/5, 1/11, 8/1 and 14/4 were very different from each other.

The hot arid regions in India is spread in an area of 31.7 m ha, majority area being in Rajasthan (61%). The great Indian Thar desert is also located in this region. This region receives vary low rain fall with erratic distribution. Presence of harsh climatic condition such as high evapotranspiration, low relative humidity, with high aridity index and high wind velocity are other disadvantages. The soils are also light textured, less fertile, and prone to wind erosion. About 90 per cent of the area is dependent on monsoon rain for growing of annual crops which often fails due to insufficient rain or improper distribution. Despite these limitations, the region has good floral and faunal diversity that supports high human and livestock population. Many drought hardy perennial fruits and vegetables are grown with annual crops to complement farm income. Certain fruit crops like pomegranate (Punica granatum), Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.), aonla (Emblica officinalis), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and Citrus species are grown commercially in irrigated areas. Many underutilized fruit crops also grow naturally or are cultivated. These include kair (Capparis decidua), lasora (Cordia myxa) jhar ber (Ziziphus nummularia), bordi (Ziziphus rotundifolia) pilu (Salvadora oleoides), khejri (Prosopis cineraria), phalsa (Grewia subinaequalis), Bengal quince (Aegle marmelos), karonda (Carissa carandas), prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), kachri (Cucumis melo var. callosus) and snap melon (Cucumis melo var. momordica) etc. Most of these species are drought hardy with less incidence of pests and diseases yet give good yield despite environmental constraints. They serve as a source of nutrition for rural people being rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres and other bioactive compounds. Germplasm collection, evaluation, conservation, ethnomedicinal values, improvement, propagation, agrotechniques, post-harvest management, value addition and future prospects of some of these crops are discussed in the paper.

A field experiment was carried out at ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan from 2011-15 to make senile orchard (33 years old) remunerative again. Trees were headed back from ground level in summer. Out of the numerous shoots emerged, 1-2 shoots were budded with early, mid and late season’s cultivar. In subsequent years, inter-cropping was carried out in the ber (Ziziphus maurtitiajna Lam.) alleys with greengram (Vigna radiata L.), pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) and senna (Cassia angustifolia) at two alleys spacing, i.e. 6 m and 12 m (plant to plant spacing in both the alleys was 6 m) tested over three ber varieties, viz. Gola, Seb and Umran in split-plot design replicated thrice. The rejuvenated trees attained profitable yield level within three years of rejuvenation. Gola ber recorded highest productivity (57.3 q/ha) followed by Seb and Umran. Amongst intercrops, the productivity of greengram as ber equivalent yield was 1.7 and 4.2 times higher over pearl millet and senna, respectively. Although, wider spacing increased the productivity of intercrops by 24%. But, the total system productivity in wider ber alleys was 50.47% less during first year followed by 30.3, 34.6 and 40% during subsequent years, respectively, compared to 6 m × 6 m spacing. The profitability was also higher under 6 m × 6 m spacing. The ber + greengram system gavehighest net returns (84.79 ×103 Rupees/ha) over other. This agri-horti system also maintained the initial soil fertility status even after four crop cycles. Hence, the appropriate strategy should be to introduce intercrops preferably green gram at a recommended spacing (6 m × 6 m) of ber variety Gola for highest system productivity and profitability.

Jamun (Syzigium cuminii Skeels) is gradually gaining importance due to its extraordinary medicinal properties and enhanced demand for fresh fruit, which is buttressed by the growth of the processing industry. Curative property of Jamun fruits against Diabetes mellitus type 2 has boosted its commercial orcharding, which necessitates gathering precise information on phenological responses to changing temperature and precipitation. A modified three digit extended Biologische Bundesanstalt Bundessortenamt and Chemische Industrie (BBCH) scale was developed and assigned 3 digit codes to describe the important phenological stages. Eight principal growth stages and 36 secondary stages have been described with illustrations that occur sequentially in Jamun under subtropics. Interestingly the primary phenophases of vegetative phenology i.e. bud development, leaf development and shoot development showed a large overlap and the interrupted phenostages are attributed to the inclemental weather conditions. Thus, under a warm temperate subtropical climate in the northern hemisphere, Jamun canopies presented two vegetative flushes (represented as mesostage 1 and 2), the second flush registering highest frequency (60–80 %) in months of September to October. This is in contrast to continuous growth under tropical climate conditions, wherein growth cessation does not occur. While vegetative growth flush occurred twice a year in a major part of canopy, flower-bearing panicles emerged on mature shoots in the months of February and March. Floral induction characterized by the inflorescence emergence and subsequent blooming closely followed the upswing of average monthly minimum and maximum temperature curve under subtropics, while average temperature downturn coupled with high precipitation released the vegetative flush episode. The phenostage (5) involving inflorescence emergence and growth occurred once in the subtropical climate, sustaining for around 8 weeks, followed by flowering (6) and fruit development(7). As with other evergreen trees, vegetative growth did not depict cessation and dormancy was observed after harvest and onset of winter. The correlation of emerging phenological events with temperature and humidity established the utility of the BBCH code for forecasting the outcomes of the canopy shoots. Early fruit production and synchronous shoot growth can be targeted by imposing shoot pruning strategy immediately after harvest at dormancy. The study establishes interplay of ecogeography and germplasm for expression of standard phenostages and the impact of climate change on fruit productivity.

Solar devices are suitable for areas having higher solar radiation with more than 300 days of sunny days. The solar energy has several applications in agriculture, rural development and cottage industries. Solar pumping can be useful in irrigation and solar PV (photovoltaic) sprayer and duster in plant protection in addition to power generation. Solar dryers can dry fruits and vegetables efficiently and effectively, and animal feed solar cooker can boil animal feed for milch animals which will result in increased milk production. Solar PV winnower can separate grains from straw. In addition, solar devices can melt wax for making candles. Solar still can make distilled water. These activities will increase farm income and reduce losses. Overall, the scope of different solar energy sources is enormous especially in villages for the benefit of farmers.

An experiment on impact of different approaches of nutrient management in transplanted rice was conducted in participatory mode on mixed red to shallow black soils under irrigated domains in Kymore Plateau and Satpura Hills zone of central India. The study was carried out for three consecutive years since kharif 2008. The results revealed that the application of organic inoculants viz. blue green algae (BGA) and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) with NPK nutrients on soil test crop response (STCR) basis recorded higher grain yield (4.025 tonne ha-1) and straw yield (6.68 tonne ha-1) of rice. Further higher gross returns, net returns, yield response (kg) kg-1 nutrients use and net return (Rs) Re-1 spent on nutrients were observed when compared to the other treatments. The targeted yield in rice was achieved with integrated nutrient supply through organic and inorganic sources using STCR approach, however, ±5% deviation was observed using inorganic fertilizers alone through STCR technology. It was inferred from the study that the STCR technology may be the appropriate approach for optimum nutrient supply which improves the soil properties especially the soil health and productivity in a long run in comparison to other nutrient management technologies. Key words: General recommended dose (GRD), soil test crop response (STCR), yield response, net return.

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a popular fruit of tropics and subtropics of the world. India is in the forefront of papaya producing nations. Papaya nursery is normally raised through seeds. There are improved varieties of papaya which are being used for commercial cultivation through out the country. But none of the varieties are commercially grown in the north eastern India due to undulating topography, high rainfall, poor transport, marketing facility etc. Hence, the present study was pursued in papaya with the objective of identifying cultivars suitable to north eastern region of India with better germination percentage, seedling growth and vigour. The experiment was executed at the Horticulture division of ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani, Meghalaya during 2001-2002 with fourteen papaya cultivars comprising varieties and hybrids of red and yellow flesh types gathered from across the world. The indigenous collections comprised cultivars from Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore (Co-1, Co-2, Co-3 Co-4, Co-5, Co-6, and Co-7), cultivars from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pant Nagar (Pant Papaya), Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi (Pusa Dwarf) and Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore (Coorg Honey Dew and Pink Flesh Sweet) whereas Sunrise Solo, Thailand and Washington were the other varieties from foreign sources. The seeds were soaked overnight in different concentrations of gibberellic acid (0, 50, 100, and 150 ppm) and sown in perforated polythene bags containing potting mixture. The cultivars differed significantly with respect to their 1000 seed weight, seed germination, time taken for seed germination, seedling length including seedling vigour. Soaking the seeds with GA 3 had a significant effect in improving the germination percentage of papaya cultivars. Increasing the GA 3 concentration from 0 to 100 ppm significantly improved the germination (66.17%) over the control (42.40%) and above 100 ppm the seed germination decreased. GA 3 treatment had a favorable effect in hastening the germination of papaya and the time taken for germination was maximum in untreated control (31.86 days) whereas GA 3 at 100 ppm recorded the minimum period for germination (29.73 days). GA 3 treatment had a significant effect in enhancing the seedling length and it was maximum with GA 3 100 ppm (17.38 cm) as against control recording only 10.98 cm. It is concluded that the papaya varieties viz., Coorg Honey Dew, Pant Papaya, Co-2 and Co-7 possess better seed germination, seedling growth and vigour are highly suitable for commercial cultivation in north eastern region of India and their germination and seedling health can be improved by treating with GA 3 100 ppm.

Considerable amount of fruits and vegetables have been wasted due to non-availability of appropriate processing facilities in farmers field, in spite of high production in India with second rank in the world. A little of total fruit and vegetable productions in the country have been processed in industries. It has been noted that food crisis in most parts of the world is due to non-availability of processing and preserving facility rather than due to low production. Spoilage of fruits and vegetables can be reduced by drying and preserving them by suitable solar devices. Keeping in mind this requirement, a simple solar dryer has been fabricated at ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur. The dryer comprises a drying tray (0.75 m × 0.53 m) made of wooden frame and SS wire mesh and a glass sheet (4 mm thick) fitted on a wooden frame and a couple of hinges with opening and closing arrangements. Suitable openings for entry of ambient air and exit of water vapour have also been provided. The cost of the dryer is about Rs. 800. The drying tray serves dual purpose of solar collector and drying chamber. The maximum stagnation temperature observed inside the drying chamber was 63 °C on loading of 3 kg ber (Ziziphus sp.). It was 49 °C, when the outside ambient temperature was 27 °C on a clear sunny day (from 10 am to 4 pm) in the month of December–January. For drying of 3 kg ber fruits to a final weight of 1 kg using the developed dryer, it took about 7–8 days. It has been observed that the drying time for Ziziphus (ber) decreased by 50% in comparison to open sun drying. The developed dryer was also successfully tested to dry spinach (Spinacia oleracea), grated aonla (Phyllanthus emblica) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris). This solar dryer would be very useful for small and marginal farmers.

In arid agriculture, protected cultivation inside structures with polythene or shade net as covered material may be found beneficial to avoid aberrant weather conditions. However, significant amount of heat load is generated inside the structure due to high solar irradiation and trapping of outgoing longwave radiation due to protected covers, which lead to uncongenial conditions for sustainable plant growth. With a view to regulating temperature inside the protected cultivation structure, phase change material (PCM)-based temperature regulation facility was tried to develop through laboratory trials and experiments. Mixtures of paraffin liquid and paraffin wax in different ratios were prepared in the laboratory and heat change of the mixture material was recorded during heating and cooling process in a controlled water bath experimental setup. A mixture of paraffin liquid and wax in the ratio 10:1 was found suitable as a phase change material with melting temperature at about 35–38 °C. In the second stage, two heat exchanger structures consisting of GI sheet tank of 6.5 L capacity and aluminium fins attached at both sides of the tank for better heat transfer with air were designed and fabricated and these were tested inside small experimental structures with fibre glass sheet casing and covers. A decrease of inside temperature by 8–10 °C has been observed inside prototype structure with the incorporation of PCM material compared to one without it. Subsequently, the system was kept inside the PV clad enclosure (13.5 m2) and the performance of the enclosure was studied with chilli crop grown inside. The amount of heat stored by a single PCM storage system with 2.5 kg PCM materials was found about 1100–1200 kJ. An estimate indicates that it is sufficient to reduce the inside temperature by 1 °C for four hours if number of air change rate is 30 per hour. However, long-term trials are required to ascertain number of cycles of heating and cooling of the material.

Ceropegia bulbosa Roxb. is a narrow endemic, tuberous twiner of Asclepiadaceae family. It is medicinally important: tubers are nutritive and edible, leaves are digestive and a cure for dysentery and diarrhea. Exploitation for its tubers and poor regeneration of this species has shrunk its distribution. In order to know its present status, we report here the results of its appraisal in Rajasthan, using remote sensing and ground truthing in the past five years (2009–14). A base map of C. bulbosa was prepared using Geographical Information System (GIS), open source software Quantum GIS, SAGA. The Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) +Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) Satellite Data were used in this study. ASTER and GDEM Data was clipped with district boundary and provided color range to get elevation information. A digital elevation model of Rajasthan physiography was developed from ASTER GDEM of 30-m resolution. GIS layers of Area of occurrences for C. bulbosa plant and elevation were created. This map along with topographic sheets of 1:50000 were used for field traversing and ground truthing as per GPS location inferred from map. Its geographic distribution was assessed using MaxEnt distribution modelling algorithm that employed 12 presence locality data, 19 bioclimatic variables, and elevation data. Results of this modelling predicted occurrence of C. bulbosa in the districts of Sirohi, Jalore, Barmer, Pali, Ajmer, Jhalawar, Dungarpur, Banswara, Baran, Kota, Bundi and Chittorgarh. Ground validation in these districts revealed its presence only at four places in three districts confirming its rarity. Analysis of dominance at their sites of occurrence revealed their poor populations and sub dominant status (RIV = 20–32) and very low density (2–12 plants per tenth ha).

Plant water status and leaf gas exchange as influenced by micronutrients, kaolin and water management were studied to establish a relationship with fruit cracking in pomegranate in arid regions. Observations were recorded on fruiting pomegranate trees that were maintained under different water status and leaf gas exchange through mulching of tree basins and foliar spray of borax (0.4%), zinc sulphate (0.5%), kaolin (4.0%) with respect to fruit cracking, LWP, RWC, stomatal conductance, transpiration, photosynthetic rate and difference between ambient and leaf temperature of fruiting branch. The results showed that per cent fruit cracking was associated with reduction in leaf water potential, stomatal conductance and leaf transpiration. Such a situation coupled with high relative water content and photosynthetic rate as observed under combined sprays of borax (0.4%) + ZnSO4 (0.5%) and borax (0.4%) + ZnSO4 (0.5%)+ kaolin (4%) reflects the possible relationship of fruit cracking with selected physiological parameters. Plant water status also influences leaf gas exchange parameters and subsequently growth which may indirectly affect cracking in pomegranate fruits.

A field trial was conducted at experimental farm of the Division of Horticulture, ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Umiam, Meghalaya, India during 2009 to 2010 to evaluate the effect of chemical fruit thinning and their effect on yield and quality of peach cv. Flordasun. Four chemical thinners viz. Thiourea at 2.5 and 5%, GA3 at 75 and 100 ppm, Urea at 4 and 6% and Ethrel at 100 and 150 ppm after fruit set were applied. All the thinning treatments increased fruit drop and fruit colour but reduced the fruit firmness. All the chemical treatments except (GA3 75 ppm and Urea 4%) after fruit set advanced the time of harvesting. Ethrel at 150 ppm and thiourea at 5% reduced the crop load and improved the physico-chemical characteristics of fruits and fetch premium price in the market due to their attractive colour appearance than control. Key words: Peach cv. Flordasun, chemical thinning, fruit quality.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a major indicator of long-term sustenance of agricultural production system. Apart from sustaining productivity, SOC plays a crucial role in context of climate change. Keeping in mind these potentials, spatial variation of SOC contents of a fruit orchard comprising several arid fruit plantations located at arid region of India is assessed in this study through geostatistical approaches. For this purpose, surface and subsurface soil samples from 175 locations from a fruit orchard spreading over 14.33 ha area were collected along with geographical coordinates. SOC content and soil physicochemical properties of collected soil samples were determined followed by geostatistical analysis for mapping purposes. Average SOC stock density of the orchard was 14.48 Mg ha(-1) for 0- to 30-cm soil layer ranging from 9.01 Mg ha(-1) in Carissa carandas to 19.52 Mg ha(-1) in Prosopis cineraria block. Range of spatial variation of SOC content was found about 100 m, while two other soil physicochemical properties, e.g., pH and electrical conductivity (EC) also showed similar spatial trend. This indicated that minimum sampling distance for future SOC mapping programme may be kept lower than 100 m for better accuracy. Ordinary kriging technique satisfactorily predicted SOC contents (in percent) at unsampled locations with root-mean-squared residual (RMSR) of 0.35-0.37. Co-kriging approach was found slightly superior (RMSR = 0.26-0.28) than ordinary kriging for spatial prediction of SOC contents because of significant correlations of SOC contents with pH and EC. Uncertainty of SOC estimation was also presented in terms of 90 % confidence interval. Spatial estimates of SOC stock through ordinary kriging or co-kriging approach were also found with low uncertainty of estimation than non-spatial estimates, e.g., arithmetic averaging approach. Among different fruit block plantations of the orchard, the block with Prosopis cineraria ('khejri') has higher SOC stock density than others.

A field trial was conducted at Horticultural Research Farm, ICAR Research complex for North Eastern Hill Region Umiam, Meghalaya, India to assess the influence of microclimate changes caused by low tunnels and effect of planting time on early production and extension of cropping season of strawberry. The plantings were done at day 10 in July, August, September, October, and November under low tunnels skinned with 75% and 50% shade net, UVS polythene (200 μm) and in open field. Irrespective of growing period, the rhizosphere temperature at 20 cm depth in polytunnel was higher by 2.64 °C, 2.23 °C and 1.82 °C compared to 75% shade, 50% shade and open field, respectively. During December–January when temperature fell to around 7.0 ± 2.0 °C, low tunnel of UVS polythene maintained a temperature range close to 15.0 ± 2.0 °C. Similarly during summer months, air temperature was 3.44–5.21° C and 3.6–6.2 °C lower, respectively in low tunnels of 75% and 50% shade than in the open field. Whereas, on an average 2–6% higher relative humidity was observed during the whole growing period inside different low tunnel structures compared to the open field. Strawberry was produced 30–35 days earlier than normal in low tunnels of 50% shade planted in July or August. The period of fruit availability was extended to 47 days from normal period under UVS polythene cover when planted in November. Highest yield with firm fruits, higher ascorbic acid, anthocyanin and (-carotene were obtained from the plants planted in November under UVS polythene which was on a par with the plants planted in July and August under 50% shade.

Strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is rich source of dietary antioxidants, minerals and nutrients. Dietary antioxidants have been known as beneficial for enhancing the fitness, preventing certain diseases and even mitigating the effects of ageing. The objectives of the present study were to determine variability and inheritance of antioxidants, to identify antioxidant rich and productive genotypes, and to suggest suitable breeding approaches. The genotypes, namely Ofra, Chandler, Festival and Camarosa showed higher concentrations of dietary antioxidants and therefore could be useful in future breeding. Results indicate that the effect of the genotypes on antioxidant contents is stronger than that of the environment. The high heritability (>80%) and low genetic advance as percentage of mean ( 80%) and high genetic advance as percentage of mean (>40%). Positive direct effect on fruit yield was highest for phenol content (0.609) which is also fairly close to its correlation coefficient (0.765) indicating that a direct selection based on phenol content would be most effective and that the phenol content could be used as a reliable biochemical marker to identify the productive genotypes having higher amounts of dietary antioxidants. The information could also be used for developing antioxidant rich cultivars, i.e. ‘Breeding Strawberry for High Antioxidants’.

Studies were carried out at ICAR Research complex for NEH Region Umiam, Meghalaya, India on soft wood grafting using Khasi mandarin under poly-house, net-house and open field conditions at 15-day intervals from 15 June to 15 October. Early sprouting, graft success and scion growth were found to be best under poly-house conditions. Similarly, maximum graft success rate and early sprouting were observed under the open field condition compared to the net-house but growth performance of the plants was better under the net-house. Grafting from 30 June to 15 August gave the maximum graft success, plant height, scion diameter, leaves, branches/plant and minimum days for sprouting under all three conditions. A gradual decrease in graft success and increased in days to sprouting were noticed after 15 August. Soft wood grafting of Khasi mandarin was also performed on different rootstocks (C. jambhiri, C. karna, C. reshni, C. latipes, C. taiwanica, Tanzelo dancy, C. grandis, Naity jamir and Karun jamir). Ma...

Alike in other areas, greenhouse cultivation is getting special impetus in arid regions owing to providing favourable micro-climate, besides protecting crops from various external crop limiting factors which causes considerable losses to productivity. Cultivar selection is among the most critical aspect for successful greenhouse cultivation. In order to select appropriate cultivar for peculiar arid conditions, the performance of twenty indeterminate tomato hybrids were evaluated under greenhouse condition at Jodhpur during September to April, 2016–17. The performance of hybrids was assessed for their growth, yield and quality characteristics. Results obtained from the study reveal that the performance of tomato hybrids differ significantly for different growth and yield parameters among them. Shoot (leaf + stem) biomass production showed wide variation among the hybrids, ranging from 162g (IA05) to 225.7g (Avtar) per plant. Fruit yield also varied widely (2.36 kg to 4.94 kg plant−1). Hybrid Myla (4.94 kg) was found superior in per plant fruit yield, followed by TR4343 (4.71kg) and TR4266 (4.65kg). Significant differences were also observed for fruit quality attributes such as pericarp thickness, total soluble solids, pH and EC in different hybrids. The character association analyses show that the yield per plant had significant positive correlation with average fruit weight (0.72), fruit diameter (0.50) and pericarp thickness (0.45). The highest fruit number was found in TR4266 (68.4), which had statistically similar per plant fruit yield with Myla. Whereas, the highest average fruit weight (166.8g), though lowest fruit number (40.3) was recorded in TR4293. The high mean values of the yield associated parameters in high-yielding hybrids Myla, TR4343, TR4266, TR4293 corroborates their production potential under greenhouse in arid regions.

Best yields and quality fruits of papaya are obtained in tropical climate. Nevertheless, high remuneration coupled with enormous nutritive attributes of the fruit; make it an excellent crop for cultivation in subtropics. Systematic germplasm collection and evaluation of more than 80 lines of papaya were carried out and variability in respect of plant height, vigor, fruit shape, fruit size, fruit number and yield has been recorded under Lucknow conditions of Uttar Pradesh. Based on assessment of morphological variation during 2006-2008, 32 high ranking genotypes were selected on the basis of their morphological attributes and yield behaviour. Morphological variability for height, girth, and canopy spread, fruit length, fruit width, cavity and TSS indicated polymorphism among accessions (mean value being 2.09 m, 0.33 m, 1.81 m EW/1.83 m NS, 26.19 cm, 42.28 cm, 15.34 cm and 8.69°B respectively). Data of 12 morphological and physico-chemical variables measured from the accessions were subjected to multivariate analysis using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA results indicated that the growth characters contributing largely to the accession variability were height, girth and canopy spread (EW and NS). The first four principal components (PCs) were significant and accounted for 99.993% of the total variance of accessions. Similarly in case of quality characters PCs contributing largely to the accession variability were fruit length, fruit width, cavity and TSS that were significant and first two accounted for 98.294% of the total variance. These were clustered on basis of principal component scores for growth, yield and quality attributes. CISH selection PA-6 was clustered with other high performing accession CO-7, Red Lady, CO-6 and Pusa Delicious for growth attributes height, girth, canopy spread, fruiting height and yield. When quality attributes were taken, Pusa Delicious, Red Lady, Pant Papaya, Surya, Sunset Solo, CO-2, CO-5 and Farm Selection-1 and -2 were best performers. Clustering pattern has been used for effecting appropriate intravarietal crosses towards evolving high performing cultivars suited to Lucknow conditions.

SummaryStrawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duch.) is a rich source of minerals, vitamins, and anti-oxidants, and has a unique flavour and aroma. However, there is little information on the genetic variability and inheritance of mineral elements in strawberry. This is important as it can influence the selection of better genotypes and suitable breeding approaches for improvements in the nutritional quality of fruit. The objectives of the present study were, therefore, to estimate the variability, inheritance, and inter-relationships of mineral elements, to identify mineral-rich and productive genotypes, and to suggest suitable breeding approaches. A significant genotypic mean square for all the minerals studied indicated sufficient variation among genotypes. Our results also indicated that the effect of genotype on the mineral content of fruit was stronger than that of environment. Six genotypes, namely ‘Ofra’, ‘Sweet Charlie’, ‘Elista’, ‘Festival’, ‘Camarosa’, and ‘Douglas’ were found to have higher mineral con...

Registering commercial and extant pomegranate varieties is a pre-requisite for protection of the rights of breeders and farmers under the IPR regime. Characterization of 12 pomegranate varieties was done with respect to distinctiveness; uniformity and stability (DUS) test guidelines. Characterization of pomegranate varieties showed wide variation with respect to 36 essential characters (33 morphological and 3 biochemical) identified in DUS descriptors. The results suggest that description of these varieties based on notes and states may be used as reference for protection of new varieties under PPV&FRA Rules, 2001. The database generated may be useful for comparison against the candidate varieties developed in future.