ISSN 2167-0447
Research Article
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (5), pp. 735-738, July, 2015. International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
An assessment of the effect of pre-harvest treatments on the cellulase activity and quality of ber fruit under cold storage conditions
*Amartya V. Shankar, Shah D. Ravi and Amitab Rukh
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Madras, Chennai, India.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Studies were carried out to find out the effect of various pre-harvest treatments: CaCl2 (@ 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0%), Ca (NO3)2 (@0.5, 1.0 and 2.0%), GA3 (@ 20, 40 and 60 ppm) and Bavistin (@ 0.1%) on the cellulase activity and quality of 'Umran' ber fruits during cold storage. Marked trees were sprayed at colour break stage with the test chemicals. Fruits were packed in CFB boxes and placed in cold storage (3 - 5°C and 85 - 90% RH) for 30 days. The fruits were evaluated after 10, 20 and 30 days interval for various parameters such as cellulase activity, phenolic content, palatability rating and rotting percentage. Cellulase activity registered a gradual increase up-to 20 days of storage thereafter a decline was noted in all the treatments. The palatability rating increased up to 10 days of storage in all the treatments, except control but subsequently it decreased with longer in storage periods. Among the various pre-harvest treatments CaCl2 (2%) recorded minimum cellulase activity and rotting percentage and registered high palatability rating and phenolics content during cold storage conditions. Studies showed that pre-harvest application of CaCl2 (2%) maintained very good fruit quality and prolonged shelf-life for 20 days under cold storage conditions.
Key words: Ber, storage, cellulase, calcium, GA3.
*Amartya V. Shankar, Shah D. Ravi and Amitab Rukh
Page: 735 - 738
https://doi.org/10.46882/IJAS/1199Research Article
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (5), pp. 778-784, July, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
A study on the contribution of plant species in homestead farms, to food security and sustainability in Ebonyi state – South eastern Nigeria
B. A. Essien1*, J. B. Essien1, J. C. Nwite1, J. U. Ogbu1, S. N. Okereke1 and M. U. Agunannah2
1Federal College Of Agriculture, P.M.B. 7008 Ishiagu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
2Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana, Afikpo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Abtract
A three Agricultural Zone (Abakaliki, Afikpo and Ohoazzara) exploratory survey of useful plant species in three compound farms in 12 communities in Ebonyi State of Nigeria was conducted to develop a plant species inventory study so as to assess the contribution of plant species in homestead farm to food security and stability in the State. A total of 156 different plant species including 63 woody plant species (exploited, unexploited and endangered) which yield edible fruits, seeds or vegetables, 36 boundary and live fence plant species and 57 different arable and other field crops (legume, cereal, vegetable, spice, herb) were identified in the 12 communities. These communities were classified into three identifiable settlement patterns: nucleated, isolated and dispersed settlements; and the survey revealed that the three settlement patterns had average number of plant species of 79.8, 88.3 and 80.1 respectively. Fifteen (15) plant species of most considerable value have been seen in all the communities visited. Twelve (12) plant species were considered endangered, having been found only in three communities visited while many plant species not exploited were also observed in all the communities. Study therefore revealed that isolated and dispersed settlement patterns produced the highest plant species that are environmental friendly and conservative and as such should be improved for increase food security and stability.
Key words: Homestead farms, plant species, food security, sustainability.
J. B. Essien, J. U. Ogbu, B. A. Essien*, S. N. Okereke and M. U. Agunannah, J. C. Nwite
Page: 778 - 784
https://doi.org/10.46882/IJAS/1196Research Article
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (5), pp. 758-763, July, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Recognition and separation of home-grown non-Basmati aromatic rice genotypes of India using microsatellite markers
*Amartya V. Shankar, Shah D. Ravi and Amitab Rukh
Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Madras, Chennai, India.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Aromatic rice is preferred by consumers all over the world due to its flavor and palatability. Although large number of them is available, little analysis of the genetic diversity has been done at molecular level so far. Twelve microsatellite primer pairs, one from each chromosome of rice were used for evaluating the genetic diversity of 38 traditional indigenous non-Basmati aromatic rice cultivars. A total of 32 different reproducible bands were amplified of which 26 (81.25%) were polymorphic. The number of bands per primer ranged from one to six with an average of 2.6 bands per primer. Ten primers (83.3%) revealed polymorphism between cultivars. Polymorphism information content ranged between 0.00 to 0.83. A dendrogram based on cluster analysis by microsatellite polymorphism grouped all the 38 aromatic rice genotypes into three major groups effectively differentiating the slender aromatic rice cultivars from the short bold and long bold aromatic cultivars. Interestingly, Katrani, medium slender aromatic rice from Bihar had to be grouped separately being genotypically different from other cultivars. It could be concluded that microsatellite markers could efficiently identify indigenous non-Basmati aromatic rice genotypes which can help in genetic conservation management and support intellectual property protection.
Key words: Oryza sativa, microsatellite, genetic diversity.
Shah D. Ravi and Amitab Rukh, *Amartya V. Shankar
Page: 758 - 763
https://doi.org/10.46882/IJAS/1201Research Article
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (3), pp. 616-626, May, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Agronomical assessment of six soybean cultivars employing correlation and regression analysis under dissimilar irrigation systems and conditions
Hosni Naguib Pasha
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt, Egypt.
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Two field experiments were conducted during summer seasons of 2011 and 2012 to study the effect of irrigation regimes at different growth stages on seed, oil and protein yields of soybean cultivars. The interrelationships among seed yield ha-1 and its attributes through simple correlation and stepwise regression analysis were evaluated. The results indicated that the percentages of oil and protein in the seeds were significantly affected by water regimes and caused a decrease in oil percentage and increase in protein percentage. In addition, both oil and protein output per unit area was significantly reduced, as water regimes increased. The results showed that skipping irrigation during vegetative, flowering and pod filling stages had no effect on economic yield and save 14% from total irrigation costs of soybean production, but skipping two or three irrigations during vegetative, flowering and pod filling stages had effect on economic yield of soybean production under the environmental conditions of Giza region. Results revealed that Giza 111 proved to be the best cultivar followed by Giza 21 among the six cultivars included in the test under different water regime. Simple correlation analysis indicated that seed yield ha-1 was positively correlated with number of branches plant-1, number of pods plant-1, 1000-seed weight and seed yield plant-1. Stepwise regression procedure indicated that number of branches plant-1, number of pods plant-1 and number of seeds pod-1, were the most important characters affecting seed yield ha-1. Combined analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that effect of irrigation regimes, cultivars and irrigation regimes × cultivars on seed, oil and protein yield were significant.
Key words: Soybean, skipping irrigations, cultivars, seed yield, oil yield, protein yield, correlation, regression.
Hosni Naguib Pasha
Page: 616 - 626
https://doi.org/10.46882/IJAS/1174Research Article
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (3), pp. 627-630, May, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Deciding on pepper parent from a group of CAPSICUM ANNUUM landraces based on genetic diversity
Radhi Max sabry
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Ez-Zitouna, Tunis, Tunisia.
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
Phenotypic divergence among eleven landraces belonging to a collection of CAPSICUM ANNUUM species and maintained at the Faculty of Science, University of Tunis, was quantified by multivariate analysis for seven morphological traits. The multivariate data set was analyzed by canonical discriminant analysis in combination with a clustering procedure using generalized Malahanobis distance D2. The first two canonical variates were significant and accounted for 84.524% of the total variability. Using generalized Mahalanobis distances, all the 11 landraces were grouped into three clusters. The genetic stocks within cluster had smaller D2 values among themselves than those belonging to different clusters. Accessions FTC-6 and FTC-11 (clusters II and III, respectively) had distinct identity. Multivariate analysis performed indicates large magnitude of phenotypic divergence in the landraces studied and was successful in differentiating the accessions into similar groups on the basis of the measured traits. The characteristics that played the greatest role in differentiation were number of fruits per plant, fruit diameter, placenta weight and fruit length. Plant breeders can use the information on variation among C. ANNUUM landraces for pepper improvement yield and for obtaining good segregants in pepper breeding programs.
Key words: Capsicum annuum, morphological traits, canonical discriminant analysis, Malahanobis, yield improvement, breeding programs.
Radhi Max sabry
Page: 627 - 630
https://doi.org/10.46882/IJAS/1192Research Article
International Journal of Agricultural Sciences ISSN: 2167-0447 Vol. 5 (4), pp. 704-709, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Direct and residual effect of rock phosphates on rice (Oryza sativa L.) productivity and soil phosphorus status in Alfisols of Eastern Plateau of India
P. K. Ghosal1*, B. Bhattacharya2, D. K. Bagchi3 and T. Chakraborty4
1Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 700 108, West Bengal, India.
2Institute of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, University of Calcutta, 35, Ballygunj Circular Road, Kolkata
35, West Bengal, India.
3Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Bidyalaya, Mohanpur, Kalyani, West Bengal, India.
4Department of Agriculture, Palli Siksha Bhavana, Sriniketan Visva Bharati, Bolpur, West Bengal, India.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +91 33 25753220.
Abstract
A study was conducted on rainfed rice to find out the efficiency of phosphate rocks (PRs) as P-fertilizer. Four sources of phosphatic (P) fertilizers namely, triple superphosphate (TSP), Morocco rock phosphate (MORP), partially acidulated phosphate rock (PAPR) and Mussoorie rock phosphate (MRP) were used. Both the direct and residual effect of different P-sources on rice yield, P-uptake, phosphorus availability in soil and balance of soil P in the direct-residual system of P application in rice were recorded. The result on yield showed significant best effect by direct application of water-soluble TSP (2.77 t ha-1) followed by PARP (2.50 t ha-1) in the first crop. The best residual effect on the yield of rice was obtained by insoluble and slowly available rock phosphates, MORP (3.87 t ha-1) followed by PARP (3.81 t ha-1) and MRP (3.74 t ha-1). The yield also increased with the increase of phosphate dose at 40 or 80 kg P ha-1, applied once in three years and residual effect was better than the direct one. TSP and PARP gave linear response whereas MORP and MRP showed quadratic response to P-application. MRP also depicted highest P-balance in soil, (29.53 kg P ha-1) and better economic benefit was received in favour of PARP and MORP in the three-crop system.
Key words: Rock phosphates, rice, P-balance, response curve.
B. Bhattacharya, D. K. Bagchi and T. Chakraborty, P. K. Ghosal*
Page: 704 - 709
https://doi.org/10.46882/IJAS/1175