Papers by Agriculture for Sustainable Development (ASD) ASD
The experiment was conducted during rainy (kharif) season of 2004 and 2005 in farmers at Hanumang... more The experiment was conducted during rainy (kharif) season of 2004 and 2005 in farmers at Hanumangarh district in Rajasthan. Among the treatments maximum plant height (106, 104 cm) was observed with continuous submergence and higher number of tillers (94.7, 92.2/m length) than 1-day after disappearing of water (93.9, 91.3/m length), followed by 2-day after disappearing of water, but the differences were statistically non-significant in 2004.
The average price and market arrival index of farm fresh tomato crop was estimated from the month... more The average price and market arrival index of farm fresh tomato crop was estimated from the monthly market arrival and price data for major capital markets of Chandigarh, Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata and Guwahati in the Northern plains of India for the years 2006-07 to 2009-10. The seasonal variation in prices as well as market arrivals were studied with the help of a seasonal price index vis-à-vis market arrival index constructed and presented for tomato crop. At the national level, in general it was observed that the weighted average monthly market price index of major vegetables was highest during June-August, rainy months and even may be stretched upto October and lowest during January-March, which are winter months. Correspondingly, the vegetable arrival index to these markets in India was generally a mirror image of prices index. The analysis of quantum share of exports to total production was found to be very low in tomato crop. In global market export of onion stands tall as compared to trade share for tomato. While, in domestic market trade share and consumers preference follows potato, onion and tomato sequence. The very low export performance ratio or RCA and negative value of revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) revealed that tomato were not export competitive. The high per cent coefficient of variation was indicative of instability in tomato export from India.
An experiment was carried out in deep black soil to study the effect of soil conditioner and inor... more An experiment was carried out in deep black soil to study the effect of soil conditioner and inorganic fertilizers on growth, yield and economics of rice (Oryza sativa L.) at ARS, Dhadesugr, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur during kharif 2011. Among the results revealed that, application of 100% RDF of NPK + 250 kg of soil conditioner/ha was recorded significantly higher filled grains/panicle (192), grain yield (6.66 t/ha), straw yield (8.66 t/ha), net returns (` 69,883/ha) and B:C ratio (3.74) and it was at par with the application of 100% RDF of NPK. Whereas, application of only 500 kg/ha of soil conditioner was significantly less number of filled grains/panicle (155), grain yield (3.56 t/ha), straw yield (4.63 t/ha), net returns (` 34,350/ha) and B: C ratio (2.64).
An experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2011-12 at Millet Breeding Station of TNAU, C... more An experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2011-12 at Millet Breeding Station of TNAU, Coimbatore, to study yield and biological potential indices of pigeonpea + greengram as influenced by different cropping geometries. The experiment was laid out under RBD with twelve treatment combinations with three replications. The treatments comprised of planting geometry (row spacing of 90, 120, 150 and 180 cm at varied level of plant to plant spacing with 30, 45, and 60 cm) and different row proportions of pigeonpea + greengram (1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5) and finally sole pigeonpea and greengram were raised. Among intercropping situations, wider planting geometry (120 × 30 cm) of pigeonpea with greengram in 1:3 row ratio attributed to significantly higher seed yield (1741 kg/ha). The pigeonpea equivalent yield of the system was higher (2397 kg/ha) in the same treatment. Pigeonpea proved to be more productive under intercropping than in sole crop systems as indicated by LER (1.52) and ATER (1.15) values where significantly higher in the aforesaid treatment.
The field study was conducted to impact of tillage and mulching on yield of mustard under rainfed... more The field study was conducted to impact of tillage and mulching on yield of mustard under rainfed condition was conducted during rabi season of 2012-13 at the Agronomy farm of Rajiv Gandhi South Campus, Barakachha (BHU), Mirzapur of Vindhyan region. The experiment was categorized in two factors viz. tillage practices (conventional tillage and reduce tillage) and four mulching practices under sub plot (no mulch, water hyacinth mulch, paddy straw mulch and legume straw mulch). Under reduced tillage soil moisture was recorded highest 15.34% at 40 DAS similarly the water hyacinth mulch was found significantly higher (16.82%) at 40 DAS compare to other treatments at 0-15 cm depth of soil. The moisture content was recorded maximum at sowing time under reduced tillage (13.32%) and with water hyacinth (13.55) at 30-45 cm of soil depth, while (15.72%) moisture under reduced tillage and (16.02%) with water hyacinth at 45-60 cm soil depth at 40 DAS. Grain and stover yields of mustard were also observed significantly higher under reduced tillage condition (1371.62 kg/ha grain) while under water hyacinth mulching produced (1419.23 kg/ha). The harvest index was also higher under reduced tillage and water hyacinth mulching.
A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2013 on sandy loam soil to effect of fer... more A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2013 on sandy loam soil to effect of fertility levels and biofertilizers on yield, quality and economic of cowpea. Results indicated that application of 100% RDF + VC @ 2 t/ha significantly increases the number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, seed, straw and biological yield, protein, net returns and remained at par with the application of 75% RDF + VC @ 2 t/ha over control. But seed inoculation with Rhizobium and PSB significantly higher number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, seed, straw and biological yield, protein and net returns over rest of treatments. However, the test weight unchanged under different levels of fertility and biofertilizers.
Field experiments was carried out in the farmer`s field located at Danishpet village, Omalur Talu... more Field experiments was carried out in the farmer`s field located at Danishpet village, Omalur Taluk on sandy loam soil to assess the effect of planting systems and sources of nutrients on Coleus forskohlii + Phyllanthus amarus intercropping system. The results revealed that planting of Coleus forskohlii and Phyllanthus amarus (1:1 ratio) at a spacing of 90-30 × 30 cm registered higher tuber yield. However, yield of intercrop Phyllanthus amarus was higher with the spacing of 90-30 × 45 cm. Post harvest available NPK status of soil did not vary among two planting systems. Planting of Coleus forskohlii with Phyllanthus amarus at a spacing of 90-30 × 30 cm and application of 40:60:50 kg NPK/ha + FYM 10 t/ha recorded significantly higher land equivalent ratio, crop equivalent yield and nutrient uptake followed by the application of poultry manure @ 3 t/ha. Further, the available post harvest soil nutrients decreased with increase in uptake of nutrients by plants in the above treatments.
The seasonal variation in prices as well as market arrivals of farm fresh vegetable pea crop in m... more The seasonal variation in prices as well as market arrivals of farm fresh vegetable pea crop in major capital markets in Chandigarh, Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata and Guwahati of the Northern plains of the Indo Gangetic Plane, were studied with the help of a seasonal price index vis-à-vis market arrival index for the years 2006-07 to 2009-10. At the national level, in general it was observed that the weighted average monthly market price index of major vegetables was highest during June-August, rainy months and even may be stretched upto October and lowest during January-March, which are winter months. An attempt was made in this paper to explore concurrence of the vegetable market arrival index to these markets as a mirror image of prices index.
Investigation was conducted to quantify the urban solid waste (USW) of Solan town of Himachal Pra... more Investigation was conducted to quantify the urban solid waste (USW) of Solan town of Himachal Pradesh and it's bio-recycling through composting. The results of the study indicated that Solan town of Himachal Pradesh generated 17.51 tonnes of urban solid waste/day with a rate of 0.31 kg/capita/day. The total USW generated in the city was composed of 91% of biodegradable material out of which 75% was organic in nature and considered good for composting. Composting of biodegradable material of USW of Solan town with cow dung, microbial consortium and agricultural waste resulted compost which was, normal in reaction, dark colour with earthy smell and contained 1, 0.34 and 0.55% total NPK content, respectively. This combination increased the NPK content by 0.72, 0.09 and 0.35%, respectively as compared the raw material used for composting. Present study indicated that recycling of urban solid waste can transform USW to enriched composts which can be utilized to supplement nutrient requirement in the agriculture sector
A mini-core collection consists of a limited set of accessions derived from an existing collectio... more A mini-core collection consists of a limited set of accessions derived from an existing collection, chosen to represent the genetic spectrum in the collection, and provides the user a set of genetically and ecologically distinct accessions. The evaluation of 210 mini-core germplasm accessions revealed considerable variation among accessions for all the traits studied. This collection was evaluated for nine qualitative characters. In Asia, India accounted for 83 accessions (39.5%) in the mini-core collection followed by Iran 53 accessions (25.2%). Ethiopia, which is the secondary centre of diversity for chickpea, accounted for only 14 (6.6%) accessions in the mini-core collection. In this study most of the germplasm were semi-spreading type, pink flower, medium seed size, brown seed colour, rough seed surface and desi type of seed shape. These accessions were found promising for qualitative traits will be utilized in chickpea quality improvement.
This study analyses comparative economic analysis of dairy farmers adopting stratified random sam... more This study analyses comparative economic analysis of dairy farmers adopting stratified random sampling method where data pertained to agricultural year 2009 to 2010, which covered six villages from two blocks having selected of 120 respondents of which 60 were member producers of cooperative milk producers' societies and 60 non-member producers. To measure the efficiency of input variables, Cobb-Douglas production function was fitted by the method of least squares. The total maintenance cost per animal was ` 11,870 on small non-member and ` 10,580 on marginal member farm, whereas the total maintenance cost were maximum (` 12,220) on small non-member and it was minimum ` 11,080 on marginal member farm. The net income on dairy farm was maximum (` 21,500) on marginal member and it was least (` 18,000) on small non-member farm. The overall cost-benefit ratio were found with (1: 1.855) on member farm, followed by non-member farm (1: 1.609).
An investigation was carried out using 120 genotypes of Rice to study the nature and magnitude of... more An investigation was carried out using 120 genotypes of Rice to study the nature and magnitude of genetic variability. Experiment consisted of 120 New Plant Type lines derived from Indica × Japonica crosses which were grown under RBD during the kharif season of 2012-13. Analysis of variance revealed that there was maximum amount of variability present in the genotypes for all the characters because mean sums of squares due to genotypes were highly significant. High estimates of heritability and genetic advance were observed for culm length, plant height, total number of filled spikelet's/panicle, total number of spikelet/panicle, ligule length, plant weight, biological yield, spikelet density, leaf width, panicle weight, grain yield, 1000 seed weight, total number of tillers/plant, total number of productive tillers/plant, and single panicle weight. It indicates that heritability is due to additive gene effects and the direct selection of this trait may be effective. High heritability with medium genetic advance was observed for Flag leaf width, flag leaf length, seed width and harvest index, whereas high heritability with low genetic advance was observed for, panicle length, spikelet fertility, seed length, days to 50% flowering and days to maturity. It is indicative of non-additive gene action. The high heritability is being exhibited due to favourable influence of environment rather than the genotype and selection for such traits.
Among the crop geometry treatments under border strip irrigation 75 cm row spacing gave the highe... more Among the crop geometry treatments under border strip irrigation 75 cm row spacing gave the highest water use efficiency (55.20 kg/ha/mm) followed by 90 cm row spacing (54.02 kg/ha/mm). Similarly, under drip irrigation 75 cm row spacing recorded the highest water use efficiency (88.43 kg/ha/mm) followed by 90 cm row spacing (85.37 kg/ha/mm). Among the irrigation treatments highest water use efficiency of 87.79 kg/ha/mm was recorded with 60% PE under drip system and increase in irrigation levels decreased water use efficiency. Lowest water use efficiency (53.46 kg/ha/mm) was recorded in border strip irrigation
Field experiments were conducted on rice (Oryza sativa L.) consecutively for four rabi seasons of... more Field experiments were conducted on rice (Oryza sativa L.) consecutively for four rabi seasons of 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 on Godavari alluvia's at Maruteru, Andhra Pradesh with ten treatments with four replications under RBD. Application of site specific nutrient management package i.e. NPK B @ 100-90-90-5 kg/ha resulted the highest number of tillers/m, panicles/m, root biomass at flowering, filled grains/panicle, panicle length, thousand grain weight, dry matter production, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake at harvest and grain yield. Milling parameters like hulling percent, milling outturn and percent head rice recovery were significantly reduced by reducing potassium level to 30 kg/ha and phosphorus level to zero . Energy input as well as energy output were higher with application of NPK B @100-90-90-5. Reduction of phosphorus and potassium from 90 to 60 kg/ha did not affected the growth, yield parameters and grain yield of rice markedly but further reduction in dose of phosphorus and potassium from fertilizer schedule reduced these parameters conspicuously. Omission of P and K fertilisers resulted in reduction of grain yield to the tune of 17.8 and 16.3% respectively. The post soil available phosphorus and potassium status was declined markedly over four years of experimentation with the treatments associated with reduced phosphorus and potassium levels. The net profits were higher in application of NPK B @100-90-90-0 and NPK B @100-90-90-5.
Forty cultivars/varieties of gladiolus were evaluated to ascertain genetic parameters of variabil... more Forty cultivars/varieties of gladiolus were evaluated to ascertain genetic parameters of variability during the year Etawah. The analysis of variance reveals that genotypic mean squares were highly significant for all the characters studied, indicating existence of sufficient heritable variation among the genotypes. The highest and lowest phenotypic and genotypic variance were observed for spike length and weight of cormels/plant, respectively for the year 2007-08 but in case of 2008-09 and pooled it was found for number of cormels/plant and weight of cormels/plant, respectively. Maximum PCV and GCV were found for number of cormels per plant while days to last floret opening and days to senescence of last floret showed minimum coefficient of variation for the year 2007-08, 2008-09 and pooled. The heritability estimate of varied from 62.10% (days to 1 st floret opening) to 99.50% (rachis length), 50.90% (diameter of daughter corm) to 99.60% (no. of cormels/plant and weight of daughter corm) and 49.90% (days to 1 st floret opening) to 99.40% (no. of cormels/plant and weight of daughter corm) for the year 2007-08, 2008-09 and pooled, respectively. Genetic advance as percent of mean was recorded for weight of daughter corm, number of partially opened florets/spike, spike length, rachis length, number of shoots/corm, number of daughter corms/plant, durability of spike, plant height, diameter of daughter corm, number of corms/plant, number of leaves/shoot, number of opened florets/spike, number of florets/spike and leaf area. High heritability along with high genetic advance observed for rachis length followed by durability of spike, number of cormels/plant and weight of daughter corm. Thus, apparently contribution of additive gene effects in the expression of these traits was indicated and improvement in these characters through direct selection to select better cultivars of gladiolus can easily be done. High heritability with low genetic advance indicated the contribution of non-additive gene effects.
An experiment was conducted for two consecutive years at College Farm, College of Agriculture, Ra... more An experiment was conducted for two consecutive years at College Farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar during kharif 2009 and 2010 to study the effect of organic sources and fertilizer levels on plant growth characters and productivity of hybrid rice. The experiment was laid out in split-plot design with three replications. Among the organic sources, incorporation of subabul @ 5 t/ha recorded the highest plant height, leaf area index, tillers/m 2 , dry matter production and grain yield. 200:50 N:K2O kg/ha was the best fertilizer level and was found significantly superior to remaining fertilizer levels in recording maximum value of plant height, leaf area index, dry matter production, tillers/m 2 and grain yield. Interaction effect between organic sources and fertilizer levels was found significant on dry matter production, tillers/m 2 and grain yield. Subabul incorporation @ 5 t/ha + 200:50 N: K2O kg/ha recorded the highest dry matter production, tillers/m 2 and grain yield and remained on par with subabul incorporation @ 5 t/ha + 200:25 N: K2O kg/ha.
A thin layer of soil surrounding the plant root where majority of soil organism's predominance re... more A thin layer of soil surrounding the plant root where majority of soil organism's predominance resides and roots influenced soil health as well as quality called as rhizosphere. This surrounding zone of plant roots in soil extended up to 1 mm wide, but has no distinct edge. Soil organisms reside in the rhizosphere derived energy, carbohydrates and other essential nutrients by utilizing the compounds and materials released from plant roots. The majority of microorganisms present in the rhizosphere are thought to have no direct consequence on plant growth and vigor. Rhizosphere soil include both beneficial as well as deleterious microorganism. Beneficial microorganisms have been exploited to great success the use of inoculants of nitrogen fixing bacteria, P-solubilizing microorganisms to limit the need for costly fertilizers in legume and cereal crops. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are bacteria that living in the rhizosphere which colonize plant roots and promote plant growth, yield and/or reduce disease or insect damage. The plant growth promoting effects of PGPR are mainly derived from morphological and physiological changes of the inoculated plant roots and their functions, and the enhancement of nutrient uptake. This review paper discusses about the effect of composite PGPR on crop growth, nutrient uptake and yield of different agricultural crops.
The Southern Transitional Zone (STZ) of Karnataka is characterized dry sub-humid to semi -arid cl... more The Southern Transitional Zone (STZ) of Karnataka is characterized dry sub-humid to semi -arid climate with an annual rainfall of 600-1000 mm. Nearly 70% of the total cropped area of 7.3 lakh ha is under rainfed farming consisting > 80% of small and marginal farmers. FCV tobacco is the major commercial crop grown in this belt followed by cotton, maize, finger millet and Rabi pulses. Even though the growing conditions are congenial for production of various arable crops and dry land horticulture, the lack of scientific land use system/diversified farming is greatly affecting the sustainable farm/animal productivity as well as the stability of the farm income in this rainfed ecosystem. Considering the resource availability, crop diversity and socio economic conditions of this zone, a diversified farming system in 1.0 acre model with an integration of various components was developed and evaluated at CTRI Research Station, Hunsur during 2005-06 to 2009-10. The model comprised of the Agro-forestry systems cropping systems and subsidiary enterprises involving livestock, vegetable farming and manure production units. Rain water harvesting structures for providing life/supplemental irrigation and border tree plantation with silver oak and Jatropha as live fence for favourable microclimate were established. The economic evaluation of the model for the five years period has been very promising with a revenue generation of ` 20,584 from one acre area with a C: B ratio of 2.83. The five years study has revealed that livelihood income as well as total farm productivity of the small and marginal farmers could be sustained and further enhanced by adopting suitable integrated farming system involving agro-forestry, livestock enterprises and other subsidiary components with the cropping system practices of the area in this rainfed environment of the STZ of Karnataka.
The field experiment was conducted to evaluate the bio-safety of botanicals, microbial and conven... more The field experiment was conducted to evaluate the bio-safety of botanicals, microbial and conventional insecticide against leafminer. The minimum infestation due to leafminer was found in the treatment with neem seed extract 5% which recorded the infestation to the tune of 0.45 and 0.99% on 3 and 7 DAS, respectively and appeared to be the most effective treatment against leafminer. The other neem based treatments i.e. neem leaf extract 5% and neem oil1 % were almost found to have similar impact as that of insecticidal treatment with endosulfan 0.05%, whereas, the treatment schedule of NSE 5% alternated with either Btk@1000 ml/ha or HaNPV@250 LE/ha and the treatment with microbial i.e. Photorhabdus [email protected] ml/lit water showed diminishing results against leafminer as that of untreated control. It might be due to the effectiveness of Btk or HaNPV against lepidopterous pest specifically. The treatments with other botanicals had shown desirable effect against leafminer. As regard to the effect of different treatments on number of mines per leaf inflicted due to leafminer indicated that the treatment with neem seed extract 5% had recorded least number of mines (1.41 and 1.40%) on 3 and 7 DAS, respectively followed by endosulfan 0.05%, neem leaf extract 5% and neem oil 1%. The other botanicals also performed well against this pest. Whereas, the treatment with microbial and the treatment schedule of NSE 5% alternated with either HaNPV@250 LE/ha or Btk @1000 ml/ha shown comparatively poor impact. As regard to the yield of tomato fruit the highest fruit yield of 86.48 q/ha than control was obtained from endosulfan 0.05% followed by other neem based treatments. The other botanicals also showed good performance in producing better yield. The highest ICBR of 1 : 30.39 was obtained in endosulfan 0.05% followed by with neem leaf extract 5% ( 1:25.75) and neem seed extract 5%(1:16.41 ) while, the treatment with neem oil 1% had gained less ICBR (1:6.80 ) as that of other neem based treatments due to increased cost of treatments. The treatments with microbial also get the less ICBR due to marginal yield potentiality and reduced cost of treatments.
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