Journal of Applied and Natural Science
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Screening of efficient rhizobacteria associated with cauliflower (Brassica oleraceavar. botrytis L.) for plant growth promoting traits
Get PDFIn the current study, a total of 25 isolates were isolated from the rhizosphere and roots of cauliflower (Brassica oleraceavar. botrytis L.) from the vicinity of Una district of Himachal Pradesh. The isolates were tested in vitro for their ability to solubilise phosphorous and produce siderophore, indole acetic acid (IAA), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and antifungal metabolites against the soil borne pathogens. Results revealed that out of 25, only 4 rhizospheric isolates (SB5, SB11, SB8 and SB10) have maximum plant growth promoting attributes. The isolates were identified as Bacillus sp. on the basis of Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology. The isolate SB11 recorded highest phosphate solubilizing efficiency in solid medium (109.09%) and in liquid medium (350?g/ml). Maximum production of IAA (51.96?g/ml), siderophore (91.41%) and HCN were also observed for the same isolate. Further-more, the isolate SB11 produced highest antifungal metabolite production against Rhizoctoniasolani(37.11%), Sclerotiniasclerotiorum(41.11%), and Pythium sp. (71.11%) causing root rot, stalk rot and damping off diseases in cauliflower, respectively. The selected isolate (SB11) showed optimum growth at a pH of 7.0, 35°C temperature and 2% NaCl. On the basis of multifarious PGP-traits the SB11 isolate has tremendous potential to be used as a bioferti-lizer/bioprotectant for growth promotion and natural protection of cauliflower under low hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh
Influence of seed polymer coating with Zn and Fe nanoparticles on storage potential of pigeonpea seeds under ambient conditions
Get PDFPresent laboratory experiment was conducted with an objective to know the effect of seed polymer coat-ing with Zn and Fe nanoparticles (NPs) in comparison to their bulk forms on storage potential of pigeonpea seeds. Results revealed that seed polymer coating with Zn and Fe NPs had significant effect on storability of pigeonpea seeds. Among the treatments Zn NPs at 750 ppm was found to be superior in all the studied parameters viz., seed germination (96.00, 88.67 and 81.67 %), seedling length (25.67, 22.57 and 18.60 cm), seedling dry weight (85, 81.45 and 78. 45 mg), field emergence (89.67, 77.67 and 63.33 %), seedling vigour index (2556, 2001 and 1519), alpha amylase and dehydrogenase enzymes activities at 0, 6 and 10 months, respectively and it was statistically on par with Zn NPs at 500 ppm and Fe NPs at 500 ppm. The nanoparticles treatment didn’t affect the seed moisture content (%) and insect infestation (%), however the significant difference was observed between polymer coated and uncoated seeds. In over all, the results of the study demonstrated the possibility of application Nanotechnology in Seed Science Research
Evaluation of air pollution tolerance index of certain plant species grown alongside Parwanoo to Solan National Highway-22 in Himachal Pradesh, India
Get PDFThe study examined the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of selected plant species growing along national highway-22 from Parwanoo to Solan, falling in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Four species namely Grewiaoptiva, Toonaciliata, Melia azedarach and Woodfordia floribunda of uniform size, age, spread and common in occurrence on both sides of the highway are selected. Leaf samples were collected from selected spe-cies and used to estimate four physiological and biochemical parameters, namely; leaf relative water content (RWC), ascorbic acid content (AA), total leaf chlorophyll (TChl) and leaf extract pH were used to compute the APTI values. The trend of APTI recorded for various species was Melia azedarach (18.37) >Grewiaoptiva(8.77) >Woodfordia floribunda (7.43) >Toonaciliata(6.82). The APTI also varied with seasons of the year. The highest APTI was noticed in rainy followed by winter and summer season. The study indicated Melia azedarach as most tolerant and Toonaciliataas most sensitive species to air pollution
Character association and path analysis studies in germplasm lines of rabi sorghum (Sorghum bicolor(L.) Moench)
Get PDFThe field experiment was carried out using 121 germplasm lines of rabi sorghum to study association among the yield and its component traits, direct and indirect effects of traits on the yield. Association studies indicat-ed that at both genotypic and phenotypic levels, panicle width (rg=0.190; rp=0.204) and 1000 grain weight (rg=0.450; rp=0.520) showed significantly positive correlation with grain yield per plant. Genotypic correlation magnitude was higher than phenotypic correlation. Partitioning of yield and yield components both at phenotypic and genotypic levels into direct and indirect effects revealed that the characters that had positive direct effects on grain yield were 1000 grain weight (Ppi=+0.3085, Pgi=+0.4621), panicle length (Ppi=+0.1516, Pgi=+0.2843), days to maturity (Ppi=+0.1539, Pgi=+0.1391) at both genotypic and phenotypic level. On grain yield indicating importance of these characters hence, due consideration should be given to these characters while planning a breeding strategy by utilizing rabisorghum
Bio-efficacy of bifenthrin 8 SC against shoot and fruit borer and red spidermite of okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench
Get PDFA field study was conducted to evaluate the relative bio-efficacy of bifenthrin 8 SC @60g, 80g, 100g,120g, 140g a.i./ha against shoot and fruit borer and red spider mite of okra, Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench cv. OH -152 at the Central Research Farm of BCKV, Nadia, West Bengal, for two consecutive seasons. Cypermethrin10 EC @70g a.i./ha and dicofol 18.5 EC @500g a.i./ha were used as standard treated check in the experiment. Population of beneficial insects like spider, predatory mites and Braconid parasitoid were also recorded during the time of observation on pests’ infestation. Among treatments, bifenthrin 8 SC @ 100 to 140g a.i./ha was found significantly(p?0.05) superior over treated check cypermethrin 10 EC @ 70g a.i./ha and dicofol 18.5 EC @ 500g a.i./ha tobring down Earias vittella and red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) population, respectively, on okra. Bifenthrin 8SC @ 140g a.i./ha recorded maximum fruit yield (82.3 q/ha during kharif 2012 and 53.1q/ha during rabi 2012-13) ofokra. Also, foliar application of bifenthrin 8 SC did not reveal any significant (p?0.05) adverse effect on population of spider, predatory mite and Braconid parasitoid in okra crop ecosystem. These findings will facilitate the selection of bifenthrin 8 SC as an effective acaro-insecticides for effective control of shoot and fruit borer and red spider mite of okra
Trend of Crop Water Requirement at Akola (Maharashtra), India
Get PDFClimate change scenario badly affects the agriculture. The present study aimed to characterize the trend in maximum temperature and crop water requirement over a last decade at Akola station (Maharashtra State), because of changing trend in meteorological parameters. Study investigated the trends in temperature and reference evapotranspiration using various statistical parameters like mean, coefficient of variation, coefficient of skewness and coefficient of kurtosis. Monthly maximum air temperature showed slightly decreasing trend over summer season while increasing trend over monsoon and winter season. On the contrary, the monthly reference evapotranspiration showed decreasing linear trend over monsoon and winter season, while increasing trend over summer season. The study concluded that as the monthly reference evapotranspiration showed decreasing linear trend over cropping seasons (i.e. monsoon and winter), the crop water requirement at Akola station shall decrease in future
Studies on changes in quality characteristics of Indian horse chestnut (Aesculus indica Colebr.) flour during storage
Get PDFIndian horse chestnut (Aesculus indica Colebr.) is a rich source of starch but contains toxic compound known as saponins which makes it bitter and unsuitable for edible purposes. To exploit the starch source for edible purpose first of all the saponins were removed to a acceptable limit by pretreating the crushed mass of Indian horse chestnut as suggested earlier. Edible mass of Indian horse chestnut was dried and milled into flour and packed in different packaging materials and further stored under refrigerated (4-7°C) and ambient (18-25°C) storage conditions for 6 months. The flour packed in aluminium laminated pouches and stored under refrigerated condition showed minimum increase in physico-chemical and rheological characteristics like moisture content (6.49%), water activity (0.155), reducing sugars (1.72%) and retained highest amounts of total solids (93.50%), total sugars (3.75%), starch (63.89%), ash (2.36%), proteins (102.23 mg/100g) along with oil absorption capacity (1.54 ml/g), water absorption capacity (4.44 ml/g) and bulk density (0.635 g/ml). The sensory characteristics scores like colour (7.60), taste (7.25), aroma (6.88), texture (6.87) and overall acceptability (7.08) were retained highest in this packaging material as compared to others
Influence of AM fungi and its associated bacteria on growth promotion and nutrient acquisition in grafted sapota seedling production
Get PDFA study was undertaken to know the effect of co-inoculation of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and its associated bacteria on enhancing AM root colonization, growth promotion and nutrient acquisition in grafted sapota plants. The best mycorrhiza associated bacteria i.e. Pseudomonas putida (HM590707) isolated from Funneliformis mosseae spore was evaluated along with AM fungi for growth promotion and AM fungal colonization in grafted sapota plants. The combined application of P. putida along with AM fungi significantly increased plant height (39.67 %), stem girth (3.2 cm), total biomass (66.8 g plant-1), AM root colonization (73.4 %)and plant nutrient concentrations viz., N (2.52 %), P (0.18 %), K (2.90 %), Fe (428.4 ppm) and Zn (21.40 ppm) as compared to uninoculated control. This finding clearly demonstrated that grafted sapota plants can be successfully established by combined inoculation of AM fungi and its associated bacteria which have a greater impact on healthy grafted plants
Management of the major pests of french bean through development and validation of certain IPM modules, Assam, India
Get PDFThe present investigation was carried out in the ICR farm, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat during 2013-14 and 2014-15 for management of the major pests through development and validation of certain IPM modules. Lesser per cent incidence of aphid (0.60 %) was seen in Module-I than Module-III (2.58 %) and Module-II (6.0 %) and has significant at 5 % probability level. But highest percentage of aphid incidence (13.40 %) was registered in Module-IV. The mean population of thrips varied from 1.0 to 10.0 per cent among the modules. Module-I was found to be superior by recording significantly less incidence of thrips (1.04 %) than Module-III (2.6 %) and Module-II (4.0 %). Considerably higher per cent incidence of thrips was observed in Module-IV (10.0 %). The per cent population of mite was least (1.0 %) in Module-I compared to Module-III (3.0 %) and Module-II (7.6 %). Maximum incidence of mites was recorded in Module -IV (9.0 %). Whitefly incidence was recorded to be minimum (1.2% in Module -I compared to Module-III (2.80 %) and Module-II (4.0 %). The highest percent incidence of whitefly was registered in Module -IV (10.8 %). Module-I was found to be superior by recording significantly less incidence of pod borer (0.40 %) and was significantly differed from Module-III (3.2 %) and Module-II (5.8 %). The highest healthy green bean yield ha-1 was achieved in Module-I (13.99 tha-1) followed by Module-III (13.91 tha-1), Module-II (13.56 tha-1) and Module-IV (9.88 tha-1). The effectiveness of IPM Modules in respect to B:C ratio were obtained to be 2.06, 1.95 and 1.97 from Module–I, II and III respectively. The present experimental findings can be used as alternative for chemical pesticides at farmer’s field and will certainly be reduce the detrimental effect of insecticides application
Phosphorus fertilizing potential of biomass ashes and their effect on bioavailability of micronutrients in wheat (Triticum aestivum. L)
Get PDFAshes from agricultural biomass in agro-based industries have been found to have most of the plant nutrients except nitrogen and sulphur but are treated as waste material. The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of biomass ashes as source of P and their effect on bioavailability of micronutrients in wheat crop. We conducted the pot experiment at glass house of the Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. The experiment consisted of combinations of four P sources [bagasse ash (BA), rice husk ash (RHA), rice straw ash (RSA), fertilizer P (Fert-P)] supplying P at three levels (10, 20 and 30 µg g-1) along with one zero-P control. This experiment was laid out in completely randomized design (CRD) having three replications. Application of P through RSA produced significantly higher grain yield (14.3 g pot-1) than BA (12.8 g pot-1) and RHA (12.9 g pot-1) but statistically at par with Fert-P (13.5 g pot-1). Grain Zn content decreased maximum than other micronutrients with application of P from all sources, hence maximum increased P/Zn ratio. Phosphorus applied from all the biomass ashes significantly increased biomass and yield over control. With increase in P application, micronutrients content in grain was significantly decreased, hence decreased bioavailability of micronutrients in wheat grain