Wheat is one of the most important crop among the prime cereals at the global level. In the present investigation, 36
bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes were evaluated to estimate the extent of genetic diversity in late sown conditions in
2016-17 and 2017-18 at ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. Analysis of variance revealed that genotypes possess significant genetic variability among all traits. A significant positive correlation was observed among yield, grain weight per spike, grain number per spike, spike per meter square, harvest index and thousand grain weight in both the years whereas in 2017-18 biological yield also found positively significant correlated with yield. On contrary, days to 50% heading and grain filling duration revealed a negative correlation. Diversity analysis classified the evaluated wheat genotypes into four and eight distinct groups based on an index of similarity and dissimilarity of attributing traits in 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively. A perusal of cluster means for all the traits for both the crop seasons revealed considerable difference all the characters between the clusters. Such differences in genetic component of traits can be applied as a new source of variation. The diverse parents indentified in this study could be used for creating desirable variability.
Domesticated maize is the consequence of diminished variability and genetic erosion, while wild teosinte is the
opulent source of genetic variation in some of the desirable agronomic and kernel traits which are meant to be exploited in maize more through the wide hybridisation to boost up its germplasm amelioration. Very unlikely numbers of researches have been carried on improvement of predomestication alleles. To exploit the variation for some of the novel traits, the teosinte introgressed maize F1 hybrids were analysed for the variability parameters, existing variance and association analysis in this paper. Traits namely number of tillers and main stalk, number of brace roots, plant height, kernel weight, FFD, and kernel area showed high variability which can be used further in useful selection for maize improvement. Simple correlation analysis was analysed for the traits which shows significant positive association of 1000-kernel weight with the other kernel traits. The experiment thus emphasizes the identification and improvement of more desirable predomestication alleles towards the direction of diversity in maize germplasm.
Baby corn is a highly nutritious and fetching high market price but very sensitive to moisture and cold. Normally it is
grown in Kharif season but it can be grown throughout year with good management practices. Therefore, the present study was carried out in Kharif season-2018 to study the effect of crop establishment methods and nutrient management options on productivity and economics of baby corn. The experimental results indicated that ridge planted crop with application of 75%RDF+25%VC gave significantly higher baby corn yield, TSS, gross returns and microbial population. The nitrogen and protein content, net returns, B: C ratio and per day income were recorded under ridge planting. The net profit and net income/day were recorded at 100% RDF that was statistically similar to 75%RDF+25%VC. The microbial population and apparent soil fertility were found higher at 100%VC but it had the lowest net profit and apparent soil fertility. Therefore, the baby corn may be planted on ridges with application of 75%RDF+25%VC for higher baby corn productivity, quality and net profit in whole Indo-Gangetic plains of India.
Soil mulching has been used globally as an efficient strategy for improving soil properties and enhancing crop
growth and productivity. Since most plastic mulches used in agriculture are made of polyethylene, microplastic residues are non-biodegradable and generally difficultly recovered from soils, leading to a potential environmental risk after long-term application. Present study investigated the effects of organic and inorganic mulches on soil properties and productivity of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) crop by conducting an experiment with treatments including no-mulch, maize straw (6 t ha-1), groundnut shells (6 t ha-1), saw dust (6 t ha-1), transparent polythene (25 ? thickness), black polythene (25 ? thickness) and soil dust (1-2 cm soil depth). Results indicated that transparent polythene raised soil temperature by 8% and moisture content by 20% compared to no-mulch, but was similar to organic mulches. Chilli pod yield with transparent polythene mulch (3155 kg ha-1) was statistically on par with groundnut shells (2842 kg ha-1) and also had lower weed dry mater (94, 60 and 59 % at 20, 40 and 60 days after transplanting (DAT), respectively) over control, but was statistically similar with organic mulches. All organic mulches improved soil physical properties like bulk density (BD), porosity and infiltration rate by 6.47, 10 and 4.09 %, respectively over polythene-mulch.
In the present study effect of TiO2 nanoparticles was tested on six plant growth promotory rhizobacteria (HS2, HS10.
HS12, HS11, HM4 and HR11) recovered from soyabean and maize rhizosphere. HM4 showed highest IAA (56.31 ug/ml) production and HR11 showed highest siderophore (56%) production. All the isolates showed maximum growth at 50 ppm TiO2 in nutrient broth, HS10 and HS12 showed best growth. Effect of TiO2 nanoparticles was evaluated on plant vigour of maize treated with selected plant growth promotory bacteria. Bacterial treatment showed enhanced shoot germination, plant height and leaf area over control in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles. Average total chlorophyll in maize plant was also maximum (5.04 ug/g) in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticle. Performance of HS12 was best among all treatments. After 45 days of pot experiment, fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (57.91ug/ml), dehydrogenase (38.10ug/ml) and alkaline phosphatase (207.16 ug/ml) was reported in the presence of nanoparticles
and bacterial cultures. HM4 and HS12 treatment in the presence of 10 ppm TiO2 enhanced enzyme activities.
Fumigant toxicity of essential oil of Ageratum houstonianum Mill. (Asteraceae) was studied against five major insect
pests of stored grain, namely, Rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Lesser Grain Borer, Rhyzopertha
dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae), Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Pulse Beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). Essential oil of A. houstonianum was extracted in Clevenger apparatus by hydro-distillation technique. GCMS analysis of essential oil revealed that ageratochromene (precocene II) (32.02), trans β-caryophyllene (23.06), precocene I (8.5), E-β-farnesene (6.49), β -cubebene (4.33), sesquisabinene (4.04), D-germacrene (3.05), benzyl nitrile (2.11), α-humulene (1.36), camphene (1.24), amorphene-gamma (1.22), α-farnesene (1.2), γ-cadinene (1.13), β- geraniolene (1.1), and α-phellandrene (0.27) are major component of it. Fumigation toxicity of essential oil was studied at 0.2, 0.1 0.05, 0.025 % V/W in airtight plastic vials. Ten adults of test insect were released in treated food and observation was recorded on emergence of F1 generation to calculate per cent inhibition as compared to untreated control. Fumigation of grain resulted in 91.42 per cent inhibition of F1 progeny of S. oryzae at 0.20 per cent while 100 per cent inhibition was recorded in case of R. dominica and C. chinensis at this level. As compared to these insects, the essential oil was less effective against T. castaneum and S. cerealella, respectively, against whom only 78.50 and 55.78 per cent inhibition was observed at 0.20 per cent. In almost all cases, the fumigant toxicity increased with increasing concentrations. The results indicated that essential oil of A. houstonianum may be explored for ecofriendly management of R. dominica, S. oryzae in cereals and C. chinensis in pulses.
Nineteen rice genotypes were evaluated by standard seed box screening technique, honeydew test, nymphal survival
method and days to wilt test for resistance against brown planthopper (BPH) under glasshouse conditions. Five genotypes, IR 36, IR-65482-7-2-216-1-2-B, PTB 33, RP 2068-18-3-5 and T12 were found to be resistant with a damage score ranging from 1.4 to 4.1. The resistant genotypes showed very less honeydew secretion and nymphal survival rate as compared to the susceptible entries, however, the days taken to wilt was comparatively longer on the resistant entries. Among the entries evaluated, RP 2068-18-3-5 was found to be the most resistant cultivar with a damage score of 1.4, secreting 22.75 mm 2of honeydew, 23.4 per cent nymphal survival and 18.6 days to wilt, respectively.
Fumigant toxicity of alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, eucalyptol, linalool and sabinene was studied under laboratory condition against Rice Weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) at 100,200,300,400 and 500ul/l air. The mortality of adult insects was recorded at 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after fumigation. The mortality of insects increased with increase in concentration of all the test chemicals and exposure time. Less than 50 per cent mortality was recorded after 6h fumigation in all the treatments even at highest dose. Exposure of insects to 500ul/l air eucalyptol, alpha-pinene and beta-pinene resulted in 96.7, 93.3 and 66.7 per cent mortality, respectively, after 12 h which increased to 100 per cent after 24h. As compared to aforementioned treatments, low toxicity was recorded in case of sabinene and linalool which showed 73.3 and 30.0 per cent mortality after 12h which increased to 90.0 and 90.00 per cent, respectively, after 24h. After 48, 72 and 96h fumigation all the treatments showed 100 per cent mortality at all the concentrations except 100 ul/l air. The present study revealed that alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, eucalyptol, linalool and sabinene were toxic to adults of S.oryzae, however, remarkable difference was noticed in their relative efficacy against this insect. Eucalyptol which killed all the insects at 200ul/l air after 24h exposure may be adjudged as most toxic followed by beta pine and alpha pinene which exhibited such high level of mortality at 300 and 400ul/l air during the same exposure. With high mortality at 100ul/l air after 24, 48, 72 and 96h exposure, linalool may be treated as more toxic as compared to sabinene. It may be concluded that all the tested monoterpenes are effective against S. oryzae and the essential oils having these chemicals may be used in the future for the fumigation of grain for its eco-friendly management.
Potato dry rot is an emerging disease in field as well as in cold storage and a major threat to global production of
potato. The disease caused by different Fusarium species such as F. culmorum, F. sambucinum, F. oxysporum, F. solani and F.
avenaceum etc. It causes 25-60% loss in yield in the field as well as in cold storage. Fusarium survives on infected host debris in the soil in the form of chlamydospores as saprophytes. Fusarium spp. cannot enter the tubers through lenticels or in the absence of injury. The infection is possible only when the potato skin is cracked. Dry rot develops in high humidity (>80%) and temperature of 15 to 20degreeC after one month of storage is most favorable conditions however, it can also develops even at low temperatures. An integrated disease management (IDM) program provides the appropriate harvesting conditions to prevent tuber injury and appropriate storage conditions. Disease free seed tuber and registered synthetic fungicides and post-harvest treatments are recommended for effective dry rot control. Recently, several organic and inorganic salts are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and biological agents alternative to synthetic fungicides which could eventually be integrated into dry rot management strategies.
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has released a short duration high yielding rice variety CO 51 during 2013 to increase rice production in Kuruvai / Sornavavri seasons for the benefit of Tamil Nadu state. A study was conducted during 2019 to assess the direct and indirect impact (economic, social and personal) of adopting CO 51, in Kancheepuram and Tiruvarur districts. In both the districts, 150 farmers cultivating CO 51 were purposively selected and interviewed by a well-structured interview schedule. The study on direct impact revealed that all the farmers at Kancheepuram district and 97 per cent at Tiruvarur district claimed the variety to be high yielding. Under indirect impact, the study on economic impact in both the districts revealed more emphasis on savings (99.00 per cent). The social impact indicated increased contact with people and organizations (above 90.00 per cent in both the districts). Majority of the farmers (99.00 per cent) preferred the recognition of being consulted on farming and other matters by peer farmers as the best personal impact. Thus, it was concluded that there was significant direct and indirect impact on adoption of rice variety CO 51 by farmers.
The present educational system enhanced the usage of technology. Learning is a continuous process and the focus is
now shifted towards e-learning, e-resources and Internet of Things (IoT). A prospective study was conducted to assess the change in knowledge level before and after training and to identify the students' perception towards training programme. The quasiexperimental design was used in this study. Thirty students, who attended the training, were selected as respondents and distributed a Google form with a questionnaire before and after training. To test knowledge level, paired t-test was used. The post knowledge test was significant than pre knowledge test at 1% level of significance and they had high level of perception regarding technology usage in learning process. It can be deduced that the overall performance of students was improved because tests strengthen the memory by retrieving the information and also enhance the learning of contents through long-term retention of specific information.
Social media is the new upcoming area in marketing and education that has blogs, micro blogs, groups, pages etc.
Social Media is a just like any other form of media is a tool used for communication but at the larger scale for social interaction using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. The main objective of this study was to identify the factors influencing opinion of social media users. The study was conducted in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. Data were collected using questionnaire to find out the factors affecting the opinion of the social media users. All the responders are social media users as they have the knowledge of the research issues and are able to provide informed responses. It was found that there is positive opinion towards online education and online marketing due to social media usage. Majority of the respondents (91.70 %) feels social media helps in educational development, similarly (73.30 %) prefer shopping in social media sites. Most of them (70.00 %) prefer to see/click on authorized dealers online advertisements in social media. Hence, the necessary information to be disseminated could be given in personalized way which plays an important role in forming a positive attitude of the users towards the advertisement.
Malnutrition is a growing problem in developing countries like India. Therefore it is important to examine the
nutritional status of children and scale-up measures to tackle the growing cases of malnutrition. In the present study children of
Uttarakhand state were examined for their nutritional status. Children of age (0 to 6 years) were selected randomly from three
locations of Uttarakhand. A structured questionnaire was framed to collect baseline information. The study revealed that children
residing in the Tarai region were the most undernourished of the three regions studied. The results showed that 53.73 per cent of
children were underweight however 43.28 per cent of children under five years of age were found to be wasted.
The radial-ply tyre (14.2R28) was tested to validate the performance of the hydraulic normal loading device at
dynamic conditions. Tyre was tested at two different soil bed conditions at different drawbar pulls until the wheel indicate up to 15% slip. Drawbar pull was applied with the help of a drawbar loading device. Drawbar pull, slip and actual hydraulic normal load experience by the wheel were measured with transducer and recorded with the help of data acquisition system. Tractive efficiency and slip of the tyre were measured at different pulls and compared the same with dead load. The hydraulic normal loading system was used to study the effect of normal load on the tyre under soft and hard bed soil conditions. It was observed that with the hydraulic loading device, the normal load on the wheel axle under dynamic conditions was found to increase in the range of 1.18 to 5.1% for soft and1.9 to 4.1% hard bed soil surface. Average variation in tractive efficiency and slip was 1.43% and 1.03%, respectively for hard and 4.03%
and 1.28%, respectively for soft soil at varying pull up to slip 15%. The effect of soil hardness was found to be significant (p < 0.04) on tractive efficiency and slip at 5% level.
Plastic mulch sheet has shown significant effect over farming technique. It has several advantages like weed control,
moisture conservation, yield enhancement etc. Now a days drip irrigation is become necessity. When mulching is practiced along
with drip irrigation, provides best results. At present, farmers have to lay the drip line and mulching sheet manually. To provide a better option, a plastic mulch cum drip lateral laying machine was developed at PAE, AAU, Dahod for the small farmers. The
performance of the machine was evaluated by determining the draft, power requirement, theoretical field capacity, effective field capacity, field efficiency, punching uniformity, punching efficiency and mulch sheet covering. Machine was tested at two levels of mulch width 0.75 m & 1.20 m and three levels of thickness (25, 30, 40 um). The results were analysed statistically using factorial randomize block design. Average forward speed of developed machine was found as 1.98 km/h. Draft and power requirement were 29.14 kgf and 0.229 hp, respectively for 0.75 m width and 25 um thickness of plastic sheet. Maximum theoretical field capacity (0.292 ha/h)and field efficiency (52.98%) were found for the width of 1.20 and 075 m, respectively with plastic sheet thickness 25um.The punching efficiency of the machine was found as 98% in the mulch thickness of 25 um. The punching uniformity of the machine was found as 91.89 % in the mulch thickness of 25 um. The amount of soil per meter length of the mulch sheet edge was found as 10.06 kg.
Sowing has a dominant effect on germination of seed, plant growth, plant population in the field and ultimately on
the total production. Electronic metering mechanism may be one of the options to achieve accurate seed spacing for small and
marginal farmers who uses animal as a source of power. The seed rate during calibration in laboratory for three crops (soybean,
pigeonpea and maize) at 3.0 km/h were recorded as 22.82 kg/ha, 12.08 kg/ha and 20.0 kg/ha, respectively. RSM analysis provided 13 different treatment combinations at three levels of angle of pull (20degree, 25degree, 30degree) and at three levels of angle of penetration (20degree, 25degree, 30degree). The theoretical field capacity was found between 0.504 ha/h to 0.525 ha/h. The effective field capacity was found between 0.352-0.383 ha/h. The field efficiency was found between 70.00-73.00 %. The draft and power requirement were obtained in range of 58.52 to 70.48 kgf and 0.630 hp to 0.743 hp, respectively. Depth of seed placement and uncover furrow were observed between 4.7 to 7.8 cm and 0.4 cm to 5.2 cm, respectively. After analysis of data, optimization of the design was worked out. The most desirable level of angle of pull was 30degree and angle of penetration was 20degree. The missing and multiple per cent were recorded between 5.00 % to 8.30 % and 3.33 % to 6.67 %, respectively. Plant to plant spacing of soybean, pigeonpea, maize crop was observed 10.9, 20.9 and 20.8 cm, respectively.
