Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are t... more Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are the major issues in tomato production in Bhutan. The National Centre of Organic Agriculture, Yusipang, introduced 40 open-pollinated entries between 2020 and 2021. With an objective to evaluate and select the most desired tomato varieties for commercial cultivation in Bhutan, seven tomato entries were prescreened and selected using combined scoring of the total votes from the Participatory Varietal Selection and yield of entries in 2021. The Randomized Block Design with eight entry treatments and three replications with Ratan as standard check was employed to evaluate their yield and yield parameters; fruit quality; and tolerance to pests and diseases in 2022. ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD test for mean separation was employed at p-value at P<0.05. The result showed that AVTO1954 produced a significantly higher yield (29.8 tons/acre) compared to AVTO1910 but not significantly different from AVTO1702 (28.5 tons/acre) and AVTO1907 (28.4tons /acre). Although Roma (check) produced the highest total number of fruits per plant (110), it produced the lowest number of marketable fruits per plant (7) compared to all other entries, while the plant height did not show any statistically significant differences between different treatment entries. Two entries with the lowest disease incidence were AVTO1702 and AVTO1954, while Roma was infested with blight and powdery mildew at 27% and 45% respectively. The study recommends the release of three entries viz-a-viz AVTO1954, AVTO1907 and AVTO1702 and similar research in other agroecological zones of Bhutan to identify appropriate varieties in their zones.
Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are t... more Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are the major issues in tomato production in Bhutan. The National Centre of Organic Agriculture, Yusipang, introduced 40 open-pollinated entries between 2020 and 2021. With an objective to evaluate and select the most desired tomato varieties for commercial cultivation in Bhutan, seven tomato entries were prescreened and selected using combined scoring of the total votes from the Participatory Varietal Selection and yield of entries in 2021. The Randomized Block Design with eight entry treatments and three replications with Ratan as standard check was employed to evaluate their yield and yield parameters; fruit quality; and tolerance to pests and diseases in 2022. ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD test for mean separation was employed at p-value at P<0.05. The result showed that AVTO1954 produced a significantly higher yield (29.8 tons/acre) compared to AVTO1910 but not significantly different f...
An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of different pruning systems on the yield and qu... more An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of different pruning systems on the yield and quality of tomatoes grown under greenhouse at the National Centre for Organic Agriculture, Yusipang for the growing period of March to November 2019. The experiment was conducted with a randomized complete block design with a single factor at three different levels viz. single leader system (T1), double leader system (T2), and unpruned plants (T3) which were treated as the control for the experiment. All the leaves and axillary shoots below the first flower cluster were pruned off. For treatment T1, only the main stem was encouraged to grow. As for the treatment T2, the sucker growing just below the cluster was also encouraged to grow along with the main stem. This sucker served as the second leader. No pruning of leaves or axillary shoots was carried out in the control plot (T3) at all times. The plants that were pruned started fruiting and maturing earlier than that of unpruned plants. I...
Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of... more Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of the country is a sole activity contributing to the livelihood of many dwelling in farming community. Among many, the most important cash crop is cole crops which includes Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Despite the challenge taken up by the farmers in enhancing production and opting to vegetable commercialization, they are always confronted with problems like the menace inflicted by pests and diseases. One rampant pest curtailing cole crop production is the infestation of Cabbage White Butterfly(Pieris brassicae). This has however led to the use of hazardous pesticides. Though the use is on a limited scale at the moment, it might lead to its indiscriminate use over the years. Then the danger of the pests developing resistance to the pesticides and the problem of pest resurgence coupled with the residual effect that it would leave on soil, and the corresponding environmental damage might ensue if we resort to its indiscriminate use. Therefore, a need to explore means of organic pest control is strongly felt. In line with this, an effort in studying the efficacy and the economics of using such locally prepared bio-repellents as well as the ease with which the materials can be obtained in the locality is a prerequisite step before recommending and or taking the technology to the farmers' field. Keeping in view the importance of exploring alternative means of pest control measures, a trial was conducted last year and was found to be having result of statistical significance. However, the result cannot be regarded as final one since there might be lots of other contributing factors in the achievement of the result. A need was also felt to access whether the impact could be due to certain abiotic conditions like weather parameters. Therefore, the trial was conducted early in the season and harvested by first week of June. Exactly the opposite, the trial was established in the 3rd week of June (peak monsoon) and harvested in the last week of August this year. In both the cases, the crop reached its harvestable maturity without any severe infestation of pest. There weren't any case of unmarketable produce. This year's trial also took into account the positive criticism received on the frequency of the bio-repellent preparation. The bio-repellents were prepared on weekly basis last year to retain the active ingredient and its efficacy. However, the higher frequency of its preparation was being replaced by a single time preparation this year. The bio-repellents were prepared in the beginning of the spray schedule, which were then stored and sprayed during the entire duration of the crop. This seems to have an equal impact as that of the bio-repellents being prepared on weekly basis had the impact not been due to other factors. Another point that we took into inclusion was also the concentration of wood vinegar. We increased the concentration from 10ml/10L of water to 1L/10L of water this year. 2. Objectives: ♦ To identify the most suitable organic pest control measures keeping in view its efficacy, availability, economics and applicability in our local conditions against common and destructive pests. ♦ To explore eco-friendly measures of pest control that would contribute to sustainable agriculture. ♦ To reaffirm the result achieved in the first season (2015) of the trial. 3. Materials & Methodology. The trial was carried out in RCBD experimental design with 5 treatments including control and 3 replications. In total, there were 15 plots of 4 sq. m. dimension each. The plants were indented at a spacing of 30*45 cm. The trial area of 60 sq. m. encompassed a total plant population of 360.
Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of... more Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of the country is a sole activity contributing to the livelihood of many dwelling in farming community. Among many, the most important cash crop is cole crops which includes Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Despite the challenge taken up by the farmers in enhancing production and opting to vegetable commercialization, they are always confronted with problems like the menace inflicted by pests and diseases. One rampant pest curtailing cole crop production is the infestation of Cabbage White Butterfly(Pieris brassicae). This has however led to the use of hazardous pesticides. Though the use is on a limited scale at the moment, it might lead to its indiscriminate use over the years. Then the danger of the pests developing resistance to the pesticides and the problem of pest resurgence coupled with the residual effect that it would leave on soil, and the corresponding environmental damage might ensue if we resort to its indiscriminate use. Therefore, a need to explore means of organic pest control is strongly felt. In line with this, an effort in studying the efficacy and the economics of using such locally prepared bio-repellents as well as the ease with which the materials can be obtained in the locality is a prerequisite step before recommending and or taking the technology to the farmers' field. 2. Objectives: ♦ To identify the most suitable organic pest control measures keeping in view its efficacy, availability, economics and applicability in our local conditions against common and destructive pests. ♦ To explore eco-friendly measures of pest control that would contribute to sustainable agriculture. 3. Materials & Methodology The trial was carried out in RCBD experimental design with 5 treatments including control and 3 replications. In total, there were 15 plots of 6 sq. m. dimension each. The plants were indented at a spacing of 30*45 cm. The trial area of 90 sq. m. encompassed a total plant population of 585. A total of 5 treatments viz.; Garlic brew, stinging nettle & cow urine extract, wood vinegar and Artemisia leaf extract including control were used(Image 3.4). The treatment application started a week after transplanting and continued on weekly basis. The method of application resorted to was foliar application with knapsack sprayer. A total of 9 applications were sprayed until it was stopped a week before harvesting. The plants were visually inspected for the incidence of pests as well as the insect feeding damage on weekly basis simultaneously with the treatment application(Image 3.5). The total number of plants with insect feeding damage and total yield per plot were also recorded ultimately.
Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of... more Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of the country is a sole activity contributing to the livelihood of many dwelling in farming community. Among many, the most important cash crop is cole crops which includes Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Despite the challenge taken up by the farmers in enhancing production and opting to vegetable commercialization, they are always confronted with problems like the menace inflicted by pests and diseases. One rampant pest curtailing cole crop production is the Cabbage White Butterfly(Pieris brassicae). This has however led to the use of hazardous pesticides. Though the use is on a limited scale at the moment, it might lead to its indiscriminate use over the years. Then the danger of the pests developing resistance to the pesticides and the problem of pest resurgence coupled with the residual impact that it would leave on soil, and the corresponding environmental damage might ensue if we resort to its indiscriminate use. Therefore, a need to explore means of organic pest control is strongly felt. In line with this, an effort in studying the efficacy and the economics of using such locally prepared bio-repellents as well as the ease with which the materials can be obtained in the locality is a prerequisite step before recommending and or taking the technology to the farmers' field. Keeping in view the importance of exploring alternative means of pest control measures, a trial was conducted last year and was found to be having result of statistical significance. However, the result cannot be regarded as final one since there might be lots of other contributing factors in the achievement of the result. A need was also felt to access whether the impact could be due to certain abiotic conditions like weather parameters. Therefore, the trial was conducted early in the season and harvested by first week of June. Exactly the opposite, the trial was established in the 3rd week of June (peak monsoon) and harvested in the last week of August this year. In both the cases, the crop reached its harvestable maturity without any severe infestation of pest. There weren't any case of unmarketable produce. This year's trial also took into account the positive criticism received on the frequency of the bio-repellent preparation. The bio-repellents were prepared on weekly basis last year to retain the active ingredient and its efficacy. However, the higher frequency of its preparation was being replaced by a single time preparation this year. The bio-repellents were prepared in the beginning of the spray schedule, which were then stored and sprayed during the entire duration of the crop. This seems to have an equal impact as that of the bio-repellents being prepared on weekly basis had the impact not been due to other factors. Another point that we took into inclusion was also the concentration of wood vinegar. We increased the concentration from 10ml/10L of water to 1L/10L of water this year.
Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are t... more Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are the major issues in tomato production in Bhutan. The National Centre of Organic Agriculture, Yusipang, introduced 40 open-pollinated entries between 2020 and 2021. With an objective to evaluate and select the most desired tomato varieties for commercial cultivation in Bhutan, seven tomato entries were prescreened and selected using combined scoring of the total votes from the Participatory Varietal Selection and yield of entries in 2021. The Randomized Block Design with eight entry treatments and three replications with Ratan as standard check was employed to evaluate their yield and yield parameters; fruit quality; and tolerance to pests and diseases in 2022. ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD test for mean separation was employed at p-value at P<0.05. The result showed that AVTO1954 produced a significantly higher yield (29.8 tons/acre) compared to AVTO1910 but not significantly different from AVTO1702 (28.5 tons/acre) and AVTO1907 (28.4tons /acre). Although Roma (check) produced the highest total number of fruits per plant (110), it produced the lowest number of marketable fruits per plant (7) compared to all other entries, while the plant height did not show any statistically significant differences between different treatment entries. Two entries with the lowest disease incidence were AVTO1702 and AVTO1954, while Roma was infested with blight and powdery mildew at 27% and 45% respectively. The study recommends the release of three entries viz-a-viz AVTO1954, AVTO1907 and AVTO1702 and similar research in other agroecological zones of Bhutan to identify appropriate varieties in their zones.
Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are t... more Lack of high-yielding climate-resilient varieties and, frequent pest and disease incidences are the major issues in tomato production in Bhutan. The National Centre of Organic Agriculture, Yusipang, introduced 40 open-pollinated entries between 2020 and 2021. With an objective to evaluate and select the most desired tomato varieties for commercial cultivation in Bhutan, seven tomato entries were prescreened and selected using combined scoring of the total votes from the Participatory Varietal Selection and yield of entries in 2021. The Randomized Block Design with eight entry treatments and three replications with Ratan as standard check was employed to evaluate their yield and yield parameters; fruit quality; and tolerance to pests and diseases in 2022. ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD test for mean separation was employed at p-value at P<0.05. The result showed that AVTO1954 produced a significantly higher yield (29.8 tons/acre) compared to AVTO1910 but not significantly different f...
An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of different pruning systems on the yield and qu... more An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of different pruning systems on the yield and quality of tomatoes grown under greenhouse at the National Centre for Organic Agriculture, Yusipang for the growing period of March to November 2019. The experiment was conducted with a randomized complete block design with a single factor at three different levels viz. single leader system (T1), double leader system (T2), and unpruned plants (T3) which were treated as the control for the experiment. All the leaves and axillary shoots below the first flower cluster were pruned off. For treatment T1, only the main stem was encouraged to grow. As for the treatment T2, the sucker growing just below the cluster was also encouraged to grow along with the main stem. This sucker served as the second leader. No pruning of leaves or axillary shoots was carried out in the control plot (T3) at all times. The plants that were pruned started fruiting and maturing earlier than that of unpruned plants. I...
Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of... more Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of the country is a sole activity contributing to the livelihood of many dwelling in farming community. Among many, the most important cash crop is cole crops which includes Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Despite the challenge taken up by the farmers in enhancing production and opting to vegetable commercialization, they are always confronted with problems like the menace inflicted by pests and diseases. One rampant pest curtailing cole crop production is the infestation of Cabbage White Butterfly(Pieris brassicae). This has however led to the use of hazardous pesticides. Though the use is on a limited scale at the moment, it might lead to its indiscriminate use over the years. Then the danger of the pests developing resistance to the pesticides and the problem of pest resurgence coupled with the residual effect that it would leave on soil, and the corresponding environmental damage might ensue if we resort to its indiscriminate use. Therefore, a need to explore means of organic pest control is strongly felt. In line with this, an effort in studying the efficacy and the economics of using such locally prepared bio-repellents as well as the ease with which the materials can be obtained in the locality is a prerequisite step before recommending and or taking the technology to the farmers' field. Keeping in view the importance of exploring alternative means of pest control measures, a trial was conducted last year and was found to be having result of statistical significance. However, the result cannot be regarded as final one since there might be lots of other contributing factors in the achievement of the result. A need was also felt to access whether the impact could be due to certain abiotic conditions like weather parameters. Therefore, the trial was conducted early in the season and harvested by first week of June. Exactly the opposite, the trial was established in the 3rd week of June (peak monsoon) and harvested in the last week of August this year. In both the cases, the crop reached its harvestable maturity without any severe infestation of pest. There weren't any case of unmarketable produce. This year's trial also took into account the positive criticism received on the frequency of the bio-repellent preparation. The bio-repellents were prepared on weekly basis last year to retain the active ingredient and its efficacy. However, the higher frequency of its preparation was being replaced by a single time preparation this year. The bio-repellents were prepared in the beginning of the spray schedule, which were then stored and sprayed during the entire duration of the crop. This seems to have an equal impact as that of the bio-repellents being prepared on weekly basis had the impact not been due to other factors. Another point that we took into inclusion was also the concentration of wood vinegar. We increased the concentration from 10ml/10L of water to 1L/10L of water this year. 2. Objectives: ♦ To identify the most suitable organic pest control measures keeping in view its efficacy, availability, economics and applicability in our local conditions against common and destructive pests. ♦ To explore eco-friendly measures of pest control that would contribute to sustainable agriculture. ♦ To reaffirm the result achieved in the first season (2015) of the trial. 3. Materials & Methodology. The trial was carried out in RCBD experimental design with 5 treatments including control and 3 replications. In total, there were 15 plots of 4 sq. m. dimension each. The plants were indented at a spacing of 30*45 cm. The trial area of 60 sq. m. encompassed a total plant population of 360.
Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of... more Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of the country is a sole activity contributing to the livelihood of many dwelling in farming community. Among many, the most important cash crop is cole crops which includes Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Despite the challenge taken up by the farmers in enhancing production and opting to vegetable commercialization, they are always confronted with problems like the menace inflicted by pests and diseases. One rampant pest curtailing cole crop production is the infestation of Cabbage White Butterfly(Pieris brassicae). This has however led to the use of hazardous pesticides. Though the use is on a limited scale at the moment, it might lead to its indiscriminate use over the years. Then the danger of the pests developing resistance to the pesticides and the problem of pest resurgence coupled with the residual effect that it would leave on soil, and the corresponding environmental damage might ensue if we resort to its indiscriminate use. Therefore, a need to explore means of organic pest control is strongly felt. In line with this, an effort in studying the efficacy and the economics of using such locally prepared bio-repellents as well as the ease with which the materials can be obtained in the locality is a prerequisite step before recommending and or taking the technology to the farmers' field. 2. Objectives: ♦ To identify the most suitable organic pest control measures keeping in view its efficacy, availability, economics and applicability in our local conditions against common and destructive pests. ♦ To explore eco-friendly measures of pest control that would contribute to sustainable agriculture. 3. Materials & Methodology The trial was carried out in RCBD experimental design with 5 treatments including control and 3 replications. In total, there were 15 plots of 6 sq. m. dimension each. The plants were indented at a spacing of 30*45 cm. The trial area of 90 sq. m. encompassed a total plant population of 585. A total of 5 treatments viz.; Garlic brew, stinging nettle & cow urine extract, wood vinegar and Artemisia leaf extract including control were used(Image 3.4). The treatment application started a week after transplanting and continued on weekly basis. The method of application resorted to was foliar application with knapsack sprayer. A total of 9 applications were sprayed until it was stopped a week before harvesting. The plants were visually inspected for the incidence of pests as well as the insect feeding damage on weekly basis simultaneously with the treatment application(Image 3.5). The total number of plants with insect feeding damage and total yield per plot were also recorded ultimately.
Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of... more Vegetable production during summer in the cooler regions and during winter in the warmer belts of the country is a sole activity contributing to the livelihood of many dwelling in farming community. Among many, the most important cash crop is cole crops which includes Cabbage, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Despite the challenge taken up by the farmers in enhancing production and opting to vegetable commercialization, they are always confronted with problems like the menace inflicted by pests and diseases. One rampant pest curtailing cole crop production is the Cabbage White Butterfly(Pieris brassicae). This has however led to the use of hazardous pesticides. Though the use is on a limited scale at the moment, it might lead to its indiscriminate use over the years. Then the danger of the pests developing resistance to the pesticides and the problem of pest resurgence coupled with the residual impact that it would leave on soil, and the corresponding environmental damage might ensue if we resort to its indiscriminate use. Therefore, a need to explore means of organic pest control is strongly felt. In line with this, an effort in studying the efficacy and the economics of using such locally prepared bio-repellents as well as the ease with which the materials can be obtained in the locality is a prerequisite step before recommending and or taking the technology to the farmers' field. Keeping in view the importance of exploring alternative means of pest control measures, a trial was conducted last year and was found to be having result of statistical significance. However, the result cannot be regarded as final one since there might be lots of other contributing factors in the achievement of the result. A need was also felt to access whether the impact could be due to certain abiotic conditions like weather parameters. Therefore, the trial was conducted early in the season and harvested by first week of June. Exactly the opposite, the trial was established in the 3rd week of June (peak monsoon) and harvested in the last week of August this year. In both the cases, the crop reached its harvestable maturity without any severe infestation of pest. There weren't any case of unmarketable produce. This year's trial also took into account the positive criticism received on the frequency of the bio-repellent preparation. The bio-repellents were prepared on weekly basis last year to retain the active ingredient and its efficacy. However, the higher frequency of its preparation was being replaced by a single time preparation this year. The bio-repellents were prepared in the beginning of the spray schedule, which were then stored and sprayed during the entire duration of the crop. This seems to have an equal impact as that of the bio-repellents being prepared on weekly basis had the impact not been due to other factors. Another point that we took into inclusion was also the concentration of wood vinegar. We increased the concentration from 10ml/10L of water to 1L/10L of water this year.
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