Tshering Lhamu Bhutia1,, Nima Tshering Bhutia2, Ngura Sailo3, Rampal2 and Tshering Chomu Bhutia2
1*ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Sikkim Centre, Tadong, Gangtok, India-737102. 2ICAR- National Research Centre for Orchids, Pakyong, East Sikkim, India-737106. 3 ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Research Centre- Shillong, India-793-009. Corresponding e-mail: tl.bhutia@icar.gov.in
Abstract: The Diplomeris hirsuta Lindl, is a rare and endangered orchid species indigenous to India. This delicate species faces numerous threats, including landslides and road expansion, which have decreased its population and placed the species at risk of extinction. However, there is hope for this species, as the paper has reported the successful ex situ conservation of D. hirsuta plants. The researchers achieved this feat by creating a simulated natural habitat that closely mimicked the conditions of the plant’s native environment. This simulated habitat provided the ideal environmental conditions necessary to sustain the plant’s growth and development, including temperature, humidity, light, and soil composition. As a result, the live plants of D. hirsuta were successfully conserved. This study’s ex situ conservation method is essential in preserving species’ survival, especially when their natural habitats are at risk or destroyed. The success of this conservation effort provides a potential model for future conservation efforts of other threatened plant species, giving hope for the protection and preservation of rare and endangered plant species worldwide.
1Department of Food Science and Technology, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli, Sonipat, India. 1Department of Food Science and Technology, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli, Sonipat, India. 2Department of Agriculture and Environmental Science, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli, Sonipat, India. Corresponding e-mail: aojha.niftem@gmail.com
Abstract: Food sustainability and waste reduction have gained considerable importance in recent years. Despite being rich in nutrients and functional characteristics, by-products like seeds from fruits remain underutilized. The decorticated seeds and seeds flour of muskmelon and watermelon were analyzed for their physical, nutritional, functional, and thermal properties to aid in designing systems for storage, processing, and incorporation as functional ingredients in food products. Standard methods estimated the seeds’ dimensional, frictional, gravimetric, nutritional, and functional properties. The seeds’ flour was defatted to assess thermal properties using the DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry). The seeds of muskmelon and watermelon were rich in proteins (29.21 %, 29.56 %) and fats (39.07 %, 44.31 %), respectively. Both the seeds’ flour exhibited a similar range of porosity (68.8 %). The static coefficient of friction (0.78) was the highest for thermocol among all tested surfaces for both seeds. The foaming capacity (39.39 %) and oil absorption capacity (1.26 g/g) of muskmelon seeds flour were higher than watermelon seeds flour (36.36 % and 1.00 g/g, respectively). The thermal denaturation temperature of defatted watermelon seeds flour (66.4 °C) was higher than defatted muskmelon seeds flour (63.8 °C). Reports on these seeds’ properties, especially the thermal properties of seed flour, are very scarce. This research work would aid in effectively utilizing seeds and their flours as functional ingredients in the food processing industry.
Enrico C. Virrey
College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Eastern Samar State University, Salcedo, Eastern Samar, Philippines. Corresponding e-mail: enricovirrey@gmail.com
Abstract: Stem-end rot caused by Diplodia natalensis is one of the significant postharvest diseases causing setbacks in the mango industry. Essential oil shows excellent potential as an alternative method in controlling postharvest diseases, which are considered safe and biodegradable with no residual effect. Hence, the study was conducted to determine the antifungal activity of Citronella essential oil against Diplodia natalensis (Pole Evans), to identify the effective concentration of Citronella essential oil to control D. natalensis in vitro and to evaluate the potential of citronella oil as treatment against stem-end rot disease of mango fruit. Results showed that citronella oil at 30% - 80% concentration exhibits fungistatic activity. At the same time, Citronella at 90% concentration showed fungicidal activity, which was most effective, showing complete inhibition of mycelial growth in the in vitro experiment. Furthermore, a significant reduction in fruit decay and percent fruit decay was noted with the 90% concentration of Citronella essential oil compared with the control in the in vivo experiment. However, no significant differences were observed between treatments regarding the length of exposure at 90% concentration of the essential oil. These results suggest that Citronella essential oil can potentially control stem-end rot in mangoes.
Indira Devi and Harminder Singh
Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, Punjab 141 004, India. Corresponding e-mail: indu90@pau.edu
Abstract: An experiment was conducted to broaden the range of early-ripening peach cultivars through hybridization. Low chill peach cultivars, specifically Shan-i-Punjab and Tropic Sweet, were selected as female parents and crossed with Florda Prince, Flordaglo, and Prabhat. Among the crosses, the highest fruit set (72.63%) was observed in Shan-i-Punjab x Florda Prince, while the lowest fruit set was recorded in Tropic Sweet × Flordaglo (18.87%). Despite the lower fruit set in Tropic Sweet crosses, they exhibited a significantly higher fruit retention percentage and a lower fruit drop rate than those involving the Shan-i-Punjab cultivar. Following ripening, seeds were extracted from the fruits and subjected to stratification at low temperatures until radicle emergence occurred. The stratification duration for the hybrid seedlings ranged from 76.00 days in Shan-i-Punjab × Florda Prince to 88.33 days in Tropic Sweet × Flordaglo. After sowing the seeds in the field, the highest seed germination percentage of 90.43 was recorded in Tropic Sweet × Florda Prince, which did not show a significant difference from Tropic Sweet × Flordaglo (88.94%), followed by Tropic Sweet × Prabhat (85.11%). Regarding seedling growth, Tropic Sweet × Flordaglo exhibited the maximum seedling height of 36.03 cm, while minimal variations were observed among different crosses regarding petiole length, leaf area, and internodal length.
J. Bhatia, N. Ghai and S.K. Jindal
Department of Botany, Collage of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India. Corresponding e-mail: jaya-bot@pau.edu
Abstract: The present research investigated the impact of plant growth regulators in mitigating the effects of heat stress in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotype LST-6 and cultivar Punjab Varkha Bahar-4. In north India, the temperature in the summer season ranges between 25-45 ?C and temperature above 28?C leads to heat stress in plants and negatively affects the reproductive stage of plants. Considering this, we subjected the plants to varying concentrations of GA3 (10, 20, 30 µg/mL) and 4-CPA (15, 45, 75 µg/mL). GA3 application took place three weeks after transplanting, while 4-CPA was administered during the anthesis stage. We recorded observations from both control and treated plants, with a 10-day gap between each spray treatment. The application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) enhanced the plants’ ability to withstand high temperatures by improving photosynthetic efficiency, as evidenced by increased chlorophyll and carotenoid levels in the leaves. The level of different biochemical constituents (total protein, starch, total soluble sugars, phenol and proline content) also increased in PGRs treated plants. Application of GA3 and 4-CPA also enhanced the membrane thermostability and reduced lipid peroxidation. The PGRs treated plants exhibited increased plant height, leaf area, pollen viability, fruit set, number of fruits per plant and fruit weight, ultimately improving yield. GA3 and 4- CPA application also increased the total soluble solids, lycopene content and titratable acidity in tomato fruits. Thus, overall improvement was observed with the application of PGRs; however, 75µg /mL 4-CPA was most effective in imparting thermo tolerance.
1University of Agricultural Sciences (GKVK), Bangalore 560065. 2ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre, Hebbal, Bangalore 560024. 3ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, University P.O, Nagpur 440033. Corresponding e-mail: kskavukattu@gmail.com
Key words: Mango-supporting soils, spatial distribution of nutrients, nutrient index, nutrient management
Abstract: Knowledge of the spatial distribution of soil nutrients is essential for site-specific nutrient management, which forms an effective strategy in precision agriculture. As mango is one of southern Karnataka’s most important horticultural crops, the present study was conducted on 108 mango orchards under different agro-climatic zones to assess spatial nutrient variability for nutrient management. The soils of the study areas were acidic and non-saline. Nitrogen (N) deficiency was found in 84.26 percent area, whereas phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents were medium in most soils. Sulphur was sufficient, and calcium and magnesium contents varied with agro-climatic zones. The micronutrient (Zn, Fe, Mn) status was sufficient, except for copper and boron. The nutrient index for nitrogen was low, while phosphorus and potassium were low to medium. It is inferred that agro-management should include proper nitrogen fertilization, FYM, and boron throughout the growing cycle for better yield and quality.
Muhammad Munir1,2*
1Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. 2Frontier Agriculture, SOYL Precision Crop Production Division, Newbury, United Kingdom. Corresponding e-mail: mmunir@kfu.edu.sa
Abstract: The recycling of organic waste as a feedstock for the plant use emerges to be an eco-friendly process for the production of various fruit, vegetable, and ornamental crops. Cheese-whey has very short shelf life, therefore, in the present study the wasted cheese-whey is used as organic material to observe its effect on ornamental plant. In this study, seven commercial cultivars of snapdragon (Magic Carpet, Antiquity Sunset, Day and Night, Chuckles, Illumination, Madame Butterfly, and Twilight) were planted in pots containing either (1) 1:3:1 ratio of sand, peat-based compost, and perlite substrate (control), or (2) 1:3:1 ratio of sand, peat-based compost, and perlite substrate, which was amended by adding 200 mL per pot cheese-whey. These pots were placed in a glasshouse, under ambient environment. The layout of the experiment was two-factorial completely randomized design with six replicates. All plant growth and flowering parameters were significantly (P?0.05) affected by substrates. Snapdragon cultivars grown in cheese-whey amended substrate displayed maximum plant height, number of leaf per plant, leaf area, leaf fresh weight, leaf dry weight, plant fresh weight, plant dry weight, specific leaf weight, and leaf area ratio. Comparing the cultivars, it was observed that the cultivar Day and Night had maximum days to flowering, plant height, number of leaf per plant, leaf area, leaf fresh weight, leaf dry weight, plant fresh weight, plant dry weight, specific leaf weight, and leaf area ratio. The interaction of the both factors indicated that all snapdragon cultivars had significantly promising results when grown in cheese-whey amended substrate compared to control plants.
T. Taticharoen1,2, S. Matsumoto2, C. Chutteang3, K. Srion4, W. Abdullakasim5, and S. Abdullakasim4*
1 Programme of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand. 2Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan. 3 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand. 4 Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand. 5 Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom 73140 Thailand.Corresponding e-mail: fagrsds@ku.ac.th
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2023.v25i02.27
Key words: Cut-flower, inflorescence, leaf area, pseudobulb, vase life, water use
Abstract: Dendrobium cut-flower producers commonly employ sprinkler systems with high water consumption. Our study aimed to identify a more water-efficient irrigation method for orchids. Specifically, we investigated the optimal timing of water application during a day in the dry season, intending to minimize water usage. The research used a 3x2x2 completely randomized factorial design, factoring in the times of the day for irrigation (dawn, morning, and evening), the type of sprinkler head (standard or large vs. mini), and the duration of irrigation (6 minutes vs. 4 minutes). The study revealed that adjusting these factors could reduce the standard water volume used by 30 to 60% without negatively affecting the orchids’ growth or flower quality. Over five months of testing various irrigation techniques, metrics such as the height of the front pseudobulb, leaf count on the front pseudobulb, total leaf number per plant, pseudobulb count, and inflorescence quality (like length, number of flowers, and vase life) remained consistent across different methods. A notable discovery was that irrigating at either dawn or evening using a standard-sized sprinkler led to higher fresh and dry leaf weights and a greater leaf area than morning irrigation. Impressively, these results were observed even when the irrigation time was reduced to just 4 minutes, a 30% reduction from typical water usage. In summary, our research suggests that during the dry season, Dendrobium orchid growers can potentially reduce irrigation water usage by 30% without sacrificing the growth or quality of their plants.
V. Dhanusri1*, H. Usha Nandhini Devi2, A. Sankari3, M. Djanaguiraman4 and V. Veeranan Arun Giridhari5
1Department of Vegetable Science, 2&5Centre for Post Harvest Technology, 3Controllerate of Examination, and 4Department of Crop Physiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 03, Tamil Nadu, India. Corresponding e-mail: dhanusrivenkat03@gmail.com
Abstract: Cucumber yield is profoundly influenced by soil moisture, with drought representing a pivotal factor. This study evaluated four cucumber lines (CBECS-37, CBECS-38, CBECS-19, and CBECS-7) within a split-plot experimental design comprising four replications. Irrigation occurred once every seven days, spanning from sowing to the flowering stage. Drought stress was imposed at two critical stages: from flower bud initiation to harvesting (withheld irrigation for 25 days) and from flowering to harvesting (withheld irrigation for 15 days). Morphological and physiological parameters, including plant height, primary branch count, days to first male and female flower appearance, total soluble solids (TSS), relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll content, leaf electrolyte leakage, and malondialdehyde, were assessed 15 days after drought stress. Results indicated greater membrane damage during the flower bud initiation to the harvesting stage (404.5%) compared to the flowering to the harvesting stage (304.6%). Thus, drought stress during flower bud initiation to harvesting was more critical. CBECS-7 demonstrated the highest tolerance to drought conditions, displaying superior outcomes in primary branches, plant height (20.6%), chlorophyll a (16.7%), chlorophyll b (53.4%), total chlorophyll (26.7%), and RWC (6.7%). CBECS-7 exhibited increased chlorophyll content, enhanced photosynthetic activity, robust vegetative growth, and prolific flower and fruit production. These findings establish CBECS-7 as a drought-tolerant line during flower bud initiation to harvesting. In conclusion, this study underscores the critical nature of the flower bud initiation to the harvesting stage and identifies CBECS-7 as a drought-tolerant cucumber line.
S. Sinha1’2, Basavaraj3, B.L. Patil4, R.K. Jain3 and M. Mishra1*
Division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, ICAR- Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, P.O. Kakori, Rehmankhera, Lucknow, India-226101.2Amity Institute of Biotechnology, 3Advance Center for Plant Virology, ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India-110 012. 4ICAR-National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, IARI, New Delhi, India- 110 012. Corresponding e-mail: maneesh.mishra@icar.gov.in
Abstract: Papaya Ring Spot Virus disease is wide spread across papaya growing countries of the world and is one of the major impediments in successful papaya cultivation. Genetically engineered papaya varieties viz., SunUp and Rainbow have already been developed and commercialized in USA using coat protein mediated resistance. However, transgenic papaya conferring resistance to papaya ringspot virus has not been developed in India till date due to lack of suitable genetic transformation protocol for Indian papaya varieties and unavailability of coat protein gene construct for harbouring broad-spectrum resistance. The current study reports an efficient gene delivery mechanism in papaya. Young globular embryos infected for 30 minutes with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA 4404 harbouring hairpin loop of truncated coat protein gene and subsequently co-cultivated in presence of 100 pM acetosyringone and 1mM spermidine in dark for 72 hours gave rise to independent transgenic events characterized by PCR, dot blot hybridisation and RT-PCR.
K. Manjunatha1*, D. Balasubramanian1, Ravindra Naik2 and J.D. Adiga1
1ICAR–Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur, D.K., Karnataka. 574 202. 2ICAR–Central Institute of Agriculture Engineering, Regional Centre, Coimbatore. Pin-641003. Corresponding e-mail: manjunatha.k@icar.gov.in
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2023.v25i02.30
Key words: Cashew apple, raw cashew nut, physical characteristics and bulk density
Abstract: Cashew, an important tree nut crop, presents a challenge in separating the nut from the soft and fibrous cashew apple at maturity. Understanding the engineering properties of cashew apple and nut is necessary to design a machine for separating these two. The present study is aimed to determine the physical, mechanical and frictional properties of cashew apple and nut in six varieties viz., Bhaskara, Nethra Ganga, Ullal-3, Vengurla-7, Vengurla-4 and Dhana. The cashew apple and nuts’ arithmetic and geometric mean diameters were 44.58 to 52.11 mm, 43.41 to 51.41 mm and 24.96 to 28.81 mm, 23.89 to 28.11 mm, respectively. The sphericity of the cashew apple was found to be in the range of 0.76 to 0.89, whereas that of nut ranged between 0.71 and 0.80. Bulk density of cashew apple ranged from 495.15 to 581.50 kg m-3,whereas that of nuts ranged from 451.66 to 531.47 kg m-3. The static coefficient of friction of cashew apple and nuts varied on different surfaces. The mean values of the compression test in longitudinal and lateral directions were found to be in the range of 80.54 to 179.38 N and 90.92 to 139.40 N. The shearing force was found to be in the range of 20.36 to 53.08 N and 26.52 to 40.46 N in longitudinal and lateral directions, respectively. Statistically significant differences were observed in the physical properties of cashew apple and nuts among the varieties. These findings would be pertinent for designing the post-harvest machinery in cashew.
1Department of Fruit Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar (Rajasthan) India-326023. 2Department of PHT, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar., India. 3Department of Basic Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar., India. 4Faculty of Horticulture, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Romania. Corresponding e-mail: nirmalchf@gmail.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2023.v25i02.31
Key words: Pollen grain, fruit, ascorbic acid, total phenols.
Abstract: The present investigation aimed to know the effect of different pollen sources and time of pollination for hand pollination on biochemical and organoleptic properties in sugar apple cv. Arka Sahan. For the study, a total 130 flowers of cv. Arka Sahan were hand pollinated with three different pollen sources, such as Balanagar, Raydurg and APK-Ca 1 at three different times in the July. It was found that pollen source and timing significantly affected fruit quality attributes and organoleptic traits. Fruits of T1 (first pollination with Balanagar) exhibited maximum pulp weight, fruit weight and seeds per fruit. The biochemical traits such as higher total soluble solids (32.33 ºBrix), lower titratable acidity (TA) (0.25%), higher total sugar (TS) (25.55%), reducing sugar (RS) (22.75%) and non-reducing sugar (NRS) (2.66 %) were also reported in T1. Likewise, higher ascorbic acid (AA) (27.87 mg/100g) and minimum total phenols content (TPC) (66.76 ?g GAE/100g) were also obtained in T1 yielded fruits compared to the naturally pollinated (control). Evaluation of organoleptic revealed that pollen source and pollination time also affected the sweetness, sourness aroma, grittiness and overall acceptability (8.62) of pulp. Results of organoleptic evaluation revealed that pollen sources and pollination times also affected the sweetness, sourness, aroma, grittiness and overall acceptability (8.62) of the fruit pulp. Hence, Balanagar could be used as an effective pollen source for hand pollination in Arka Sahan during initial weeks of July to get higher quality and acceptability of the sugar apple fruits.
U. Greeshma1, J.S. Bindhu1*, P. Shalini Pillai1, D. Jacob1 and S. Sarada2
1Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala Agricultural University. 2Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala Agricultural University. Corresponding e-mail: jsbindhu@gmail.com
Abstract: Wicking bed systems have gained significant attention in the context of small-scale and urban horticulture as a result of their capacity to effectively mitigate water constraint and promote sustainable crop output. To further our comprehension of these systems, a research study was conducted during the summer of 2020-21 to evaluate the efficacy of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in a wicking bed system.The experimental design followed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with a total of eight different treatments, replicated three times. The treatments consisted of several arrangements of wicking bed systems, which involved variations in reservoir depths (100 mm and 150 mm), soil bed depths (200 mm and 300 mm), and the inclusion of coir geotextile as interlayers. Based on the conducted experiments on the results of various wicking bed configurations, it is advisable to utilize a reservoir depth of 150 mm and a soil bed depth of 300 mm, together with the inclusion of a geotextile interlayer, in order to maximize tomato yield inside a wicking bed system. The aforementioned study enhance our understanding of urban agriculture, sustainable water management and crop cultivation techniques.
Byungsoon Kim
Department of Computer Education, Andong National University, Andong, South Korea
Abstract: The precise monitoring of leaf temperature is becoming more important as crop leaf temperature is utilized more frequently for different uses such as irrigation, disease and pest detection. This study aims to explore the potential usage of a cost-effective Lepton 3.5 camera to measure the crop canopy temperature. The accuracy of the Lepton 3.5 will be compared to a FLIR E8-XT thermal camera and an MLX90614 infrared thermometer. With the usage of three devices: a custom Lepton 3.5 camera, an Implexxio LT-1T thermistor and an MLX90614, the temperature of the target leaf of a laboratory plant was automatically measured every five minutes. The data would then be recorded on a private cloud server and manually measured with a handheld FLIR E8-XT. The performance of these three devices was evaluated to the standard of a highly accurate Implexxio LT-1T thermistor using the mean absolute error and root mean squared error. Among the non-contact sensors- MLX90614, Lepton 3.5 and FLIR E8-XT- the MLX90614 sensor showed the highest accuracy. However, the Lepton 3.5 module had an accuracy of less than ±2°C, which was similar to FLIR E8-XT and much better than the error value specified for the Lepton. The low-cost Lepton 3.5 can be used to periodically measure leaf temperature with an accuracy comparable to that of an intermediate-level thermal imager.
M.A. Imran 1, M.H. Rahman*1, M.T. Islam1 and M.S. Hossain2
1Department of Horticulture, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur-5200, Bangladesh. 2Department of Agronomy, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur-5200, Bangladesh. Corresponding e-mail: Rahmanhassan@hstu.ac.bd
Abstract: A study was conducted to determine the impact of pre-harvest fruit bagging on banana maturity, pest and disease management, and postharvest quality. The bunch was wrapped in a variety of bags, including white polythene bag, blue polythene bag, muslin cloth bag, gunny bag, brown paper bag and non-bagging (control). The study was designed as a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The results showed that banana bunch covered with brown paper bags were ready to harvest 16 days earlier than those in the control. In addition, bagging increased fruit length, diameter, weight, and pulp weight in comparison to non-bagged fruit. Moreover, the brown paper bag treatment significantly reduced pest infestation (15-fold), disease infection (12-fold) and physiological disorder (6.5-fold) compared to control. The firmness, total soluble solids, and total sugar content were found maximum with brown paper bagged fruit, while Vitamin C content was higher in control fruits. Brown paper bagged fruit exhibited the longest shelf life (12 days) as compared to the control (09 days). Bagging presented a significant effect on the color and overall expression of the fruit, although it did not influence the flavour of the fruit. In conclusion, brown paper bags can help to prevent diseases and insect infestation and improve the fruit quality of bananas.