volume 15 no. 4 october-december 2009

Volume 15 No. 4 October-December 2009

RESEARCH UPDATE

Promising Technologies

� Uniform bulk ripening of mango, 1banana and papaya

New Initiatives

� Artificial insemination of pigs with 3cryopreserved semen for breedimprovement

� Tissue-cultured datepalm plants 3

Natural Resources Management

� IC 571819 – A unique bottlegourd 4with spindle-shaped fruits

� Conservation bench terracing for 4south-eastern Rajasthan

� Threat to hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) 5in Hooghly estuary

Spectru m

� Varietal releases 6

� Sorghum – a potential high yielder inrice-fallows of Andhra Pradesh 8

� Year-round fodder for north- 8western hills

� Controlling charcoal rot in soybean 9by Bacillus strain

� Phytoplasma associated with 9coconut root (wilt) diseasemolecularly detected

� Catla suffers from hypoxia 10

The Last 2

PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES

Papaya fruits 3 day after storage atroom temperature

Uniform bulk ripening of mango,banana and papaya

Mango, banana and papaya are often harvested in a mature butunripe condition, and are subsequently allowed to ripen further.In natural conditions, they ripen slowly, leading to high weightloss, desiccation, and ripening is also uneven. In some commercialvarieties of papaya such as Taiwan Red Lady, there is unevenripening within the fruit; stalk and blossom ends remain hard intexture compared to the middle portion.

Usually ethrel spraying or dipping of fruits in ethrel wasrecommended for enhancing ripening, but it is a cumbersomeprocess, and may cause some problems if commerciallyavailable ethrel is with chemical impurities. To overcome this,ethylene gas has been commercially used in modern ripening

IIIIIndian Cndian Cndian Cndian Cndian Council of Aouncil of Aouncil of Aouncil of Aouncil of Agggggriculturriculturriculturriculturricultural Ral Ral Ral Ral ResearesearesearesearesearchchchchchKrishi Bhawan, New Delhi 110 001, India

www.icar.org.in

Papaya fruits exposed to ethylenegas (100 ppm) and 3 days afterstorage at room temperature

PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES

chambers, which require huge investements and arenot economically viable option for farmers and smalltraders. An alternative, simple economical methodhas been standaradized for enhancing ripening offruits by exposing fruits to ethylene gas in the plastictents.

In this, small quantitiy of alkali ia added to ethrel torelease ethylene gas, and fruits are exposed toliberated gas in an air-tight portable plastic tent.Fruits are placed in the ventilated plastic cratesinside the air-tight tents of known volume. Required/calculated quantity of ethrel in a container is placedinside the tent to which measured quantity of alkali(sodium hydroxide) is added for releasing ethylenegas; and the tents are sealed air-tight immediately.A small battery operated fan can be placed insidethe tent for uniform circulation of released ethylenegas. After 18-24 hours of exposure, fruits are takenout for completion of ripening process at the roomtemperature.

Mango fruits exposed to 100 ppm ethylene gas for24 hours could ripen in 5 days as compared to theripening in 10 days of the non-treated control fruits;without adversely affecting quality. Simiarly bananabunches/hands exposed to 100 ppm ethlyene gasfor 18 hours could ripen in 4 days at roomtemperature and in 6 days at 20°C. Papaya fruitsexposed to ethylene gas ripened with uniformsurface colour and firmness in 4 days at the ambienttemperature.

Indian Institute of Horticultural ResearchHessaraghatta, Bengaluru (Karnataka) 560 089

e-mail: [email protected]

Plastic tent

NRCDR 601, a new variety of Indian mustard

for Haryana, parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi andJammu and Kashmir. The variety showed superiorityfor seed yield by 22 and 13.5 per cent over the existingpopular varieties, Varuna and RL 1359, respectively, indifferent trials. The medium tall (180 cm) variety ofmedium maturity (140 days) has 40 per cent oil content,and has been found with wide-adaptability.

Arvind KumarDirectorate of Rapeseed-Mustard Research,

Sewan, Bharatpur(Rajasthan) 321 303

e-mail: [email protected] variety has been developed through pure-lineselection, and has primarily been identified for release

2ICAR NEWS

Tissue-cultured

datepalm plants

Thousands of best varieties trees of datepalm inKachchh were uprooted and destroyed in 1998cyclone. A tissue-culture laboratory of the RuralAgro-Research and Development Society – A hostinstitution of the KVK, Mundra, was established in1999 to propagate elite datepalms. And for the firsttime tissue culture work on the local elite datepalmswas started at the labaratory in 2000. Total 22offshoots of the best local varieties were collectedfor inoculation, and large-scale plants of 6 varietiescould be propagated.

U.N. TankKrishi Vigyan Kendra

Gundala Road (Gujarat) 370 421e-mail: [email protected]

Artificial insemination of pigs with cryopreservedsemen for breed improvement

NEW INITIATIVES

Artificial insemination in pigs had been in the nascentstage in India for want of successfully freezing boar semen.

Semen collected from Hampshire boar by gloved/bare-hand method was frozen using traditional freezingmethod; not involving costly equipment likeProgrammable cell freezer. And also the freezingprotocol did not use any commercial paste that isroutinely used for freezing boar semen.

Motility of this frozen-thawed semen ranged from 30to 40%. Sow (50% Hampshire inheritance) inseminatedwith the semen farrowed on 5 September 2009 for thefirst time, giving birth to 10 piglets including onemummified foetus; all the live-born piglets are doingwell. The average birth weight of the piglet was 1,050g;ranging from 850 to 1,250g.

This standardized technology will have immenseapplication in the breed improvement programme, andmay help produce superior germplasm pigs at thefarmer’s field, even at the remotest area, which maymake a shift from pig-keeping to pig-production.

A. Kumaresan, K. M. Bujarbaruah, M.H. Khan,G. Kadirvel, R.K. Bardoloi, Anubrata Das,

Rumi G. Sarmah, G. Khargharia and S.V. NgachanICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam

(Meghalaya) 793 103e-mail: [email protected]

Yellow sarson PitambriYellow sarson lines collected (Pitambri) from Varanasiwere evaluated, and strain RYSK 05-2 was selected. Itwas tested in station trials and state varietal trials atdifferent Regional Research and DemonstrationCentres for three years, and finally tested in the initialvarietal trials and advanced varietal trials 1 and 2.

Sow with litter born out of AI with frozen semen

It occupied first place, giving 28.2% higher yield thanthe best national check YST 151. This selection hasbeen identified for the entire country by the VarietyIdentification Committee at XVI and annual group meetof rapeseed-mustard scientists’ at Nagpur.

Ranjeet, Mahak Singh, R.K, Dixit,Lata Prasad and S.B.L. Srivastava

Oilseeds Section, Chandra Shekar Azad University ofAgriculture and Technology, Kanpur

(Uttar Pradesh) 208 002

Pitambri matures in 110-115 days, gives yield of1.8.2.0 tonnes/ha with 42.8% oil content (600 kg ofoil/ha), is medium tall (135-140 cm), and is tolerantto lodging and shattering.

3 OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2009

IC 571819 – A unique bottlegourd with spindle-shaped fruits

NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Bottlegourd (Lagenaria siceraria L.), grows best in a warmhumid climate. And Andhra Pradesh is endowed withrich biodiversity of many shapes and sizes of this crop. InFebruary 2009, in germplasm exploration conducted inTelangana region of Andhra Pradesh, a unique spindle-shaped bottlegourd from Nagaram village, Parkalamandal of Warangal district, was collected.

This landrace has been identified as Anapakaya/Sorakaya. It was assigned collector number NS/2009/042 at the collection site, and was subsequentlyassigned indigenous collector number IC 571819. It isan annual, monoecious climber with robust stem,which is longitudinally furrowed. Its stem is hairy withdotted glands; tendrils are bifid; leaves are with 20-25cm long petiole with two glands at the joints. Leaflamina is ovate with cordate base, is dentate, lobed.Flowers are solitary in axils; calyx tube is companulate,petals are white, 5, free, woolly, 3-5 cm x 2.5-4.0 cm;male flowers are on long peduncles, filaments arefree, 3, anthers are white; female flowers are on short

robust peduncles, stigma isbifid, 3. Fruits exhibit aunique spindle shape withhard durable rind of 5.2-mmthickness. Fruit length is 33cm, circumference is 51cm,and width is 25 cm, and seedlength is 17 mm and width is6mm, and 100-seed massweighs 13.5 g. Seeds arecompressed, many and arewhitish-grey. Young fruits are green in colour turningto yellow and then to grey on maturity. Fruit and seedtraits are comparable with other globular, pyriformand elongate-shaped fruits.

N. Sivaraj, S.R. Pandravada, V. Kamala, N. Sunil,K.S. Varaprasad

National Bureau of Plant Genetic ResourcesRegional Station, Rajendranagar

Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) 500 030

Conservation bench terracing for south-eastern RajasthanLow and highly unstable crop production and rapidlyfalling groundwater levels are the major challenges tobe tackled in semi-arid rainfed areas. In south-easternRajasthan, high intensity and erratic rains associatedwith poor soil permeability creates excessive runoff andsevere erosion hazards on the long slopping arablevertisols. In this region, through Conservation BenchTerrace (CBT), farm-rainwater harvesting can be done. Inthe CBT system, land is divided along the slope into 2:1ratio. The lower 1/3rd area is levelled for collecting

runoff from the upstream 2/3rd area, which is left in itsnatural slope. Upper 2/3rd area is cultivated duringkharif either with sorghum+pigeonpea intercropping orsoybean. The lower 1/3rd levelled terraces are left fallowduring monsoon and cultivated with mustard or gramduring rabi. And sorghum + pigeonpea intercroppingwas in the control plots and sorghum + pigeonpea orsoybean were grown on the slopes of the CBT plots.

It was observed that through CBT, 21-29% of cropping-season lost rainfall through surface runoff could bereduced to 13.4-15.8%. Similarly, the system reducedwater erosion from 3.8-11 tonnes/ha/yr to the about2.2-3.2 tonnes/ha/yr. It showed about 78.1% increasein grain and straw yields in terms of sorghum grainequivalent (SGE). The cost of construction of CBT on2% slope was about Rs 3,022/ha. Average yield ofsorghum + pigeonpea and gram was about 2,715 kg/ha of SGE. Benefit: cost ratio of the system at 8%discount rate was 1.4:1. There were additionalintangible benefits of soil and nutrients conservationConservation Bench Terrace (2:1) system

4ICAR NEWS

Threat to hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) in Hooghly estuary

NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

and land protection. The CBT system can besuccessfully used in the semi-arid climate with mildslopes (2-5%) with sufficient soil depth for erorsioncontrol, moisture conservation and improvement of

soil and crop productivity.

Central Soil and Water Conservation Research andTraining Institute, 218, Kaulagarh Road, Dehra Dun

(Uttarakhand) 248 195e-mail: [email protected]

The highly valued Indian shad, Tenualosa ilisha, locallycalled ‘Ilish’ in West Bengal, forms a major fishery inHooghly estuary in Bay of Bengal. The data generatedindicate destruction of hilsa population in the estuary;with the capturing of brooders at the mouth of theestuary and of juveniles at the up-stream along theHooghly river, below Farakka barrage. The commercialtrawlers, operating near the estuarine mouth, on anaverage, catch 1.1 tonnes of fish/day/trawler, in whichhilsa share is >0.6 tonne. Hilsa in the commercialtrawler catches in the estuary comprised maturing andmature specimens in 3rd to 5th stages of gonadalmaturity; indicating that bulk of the spawning stock iscaught before the commencement of their breedingmigration into the estuary.

At present, the State Department of Fisheries, WestBengal, has enforced closed season from 15 April to 30June, but the bulk of the hilsa migrates into the estuary

Mature hilsa female with eggs oozing

Percentage of hilsa in commercial trawler catch

Population escaping capture at the sea-mouthmigrates into estuary and breeds between Diamond-Harbour and Nabadwip stretch of the Hooghly River,which has turned into a freshwater stretch since thecommissioning of the Farakka barrage. Besides, hilsajuveniles (8-12 cm length) are sold in the open marketas Gudusia chapra, to fetch higher price, as hilsa of thatsize fetches much lower price (consumers cannotdifferentiate between Gudusia chapra and hilsa at thesize group). Hence, both spawning and recruitmentstocks of the fish are caught indiscriminately, posingserious concerns on the sustainability of the fisheryboth in the estuary and at the sea.

during July to September. Therefore, it is advisable toextend closing date till 15 August on the inshore areas,especially near to the estuarine mouth, and be declaredprotected during this period to prevent indiscriminatefishing.Awareness also needs to be created among fishers touse gill-nets of larger mesh-size (>90mm) and amongconsumers to differentiate hilsa juveniles from Gudusiachapra to discourage illegal sale and wanton killing inthe up-stream stretches of the estuary.

K.K. VassCentral Inland Fisheries Research Institute

Barrackpore (Kolkata) 700 120e-mail: [email protected]

Hilsa juveniles


Varietal Releases

Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi AnusandhanSansthan, Almora

VL Gahat 15This high-yielding horsegram variety has been releasedand notified for cultivation in the rainfed, timely sownareas of the Northern and Central India. It showedyield superiority of 30.3 and 143.3 per cent over the

VL Masoor 129It is a lentil variety, developed from VL 101 x VL 1, andhas been released for the timely sown rainfed areas ofUttarakhand hills. It showed yield superiority of 17.7,21.1, and 27 per cent over the best checks VL Masoor125, L 4076 and Pant L 05 under organic conditions.

SPECTRUM

best checks AK 21 and PHG 9, and exhibited resistanceto anthracnose and leaf spot diseases (< 10%). It hasbeen found with better digestibility (86.2%) overchecks AK 21, AK 42 and PHG 9.

VL Moongphali 1It is a high-yielding groundnut variety released forrainfed, timely sown conditions of the Uttarakhand

This has 24.6% protein content, and was foundmoderately resistant to root rot and wilt diseases.

VL Bhat 65This black soybean variety developed from the localcollection has been released for the organic conditions.It is the first bhat variety developed from the local

Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri It showed resistance to leaf blight and higher starchcontent (72 %), and was found suitable for assuredrainfall and irrigated areas. It is recommended for kharifand rabi in western MaharashtraGroundnut: JL 501. It gave 45 and 19 % higher seedyield in summer over checks SB XI and TAG 24, and hasbeen recommended for cultivation during summer inwestern Maharashtra

germplasm of Uttarakhand hills. This showed moderateresistance against frog-eye leaf spot, pod blight andleaf blight.

Gyanendra Singh, V. Mahajan, H.S. Gupta,K.S. Hooda, Narendra Kumar and Supradip Saha

VPKAS, Almora (Uttarakhand) 263 601

hills. It showed 55 per cent yield superiority over thebest check Sulamit, and its oil and protein contentswere 42.2 and 29.5%. And the variety was foundmoderately resistant to tikka disease.

Six new varieties were released during the JointAgricultural Research and Development CommitteeMeeting 2009 of the SAUs of Maharashtra at MAU,Parbhani.Maize: Rajarshi (KMH 22168). This hybrid gave 24and 12 % higher yield than national check Bio 9681 inkharif and rabi.

6ICAR NEWS

SPECTRUM

Safflower: SSF 658. This non-spiny varietyrecommended for cultivation in rabi in Maharashtragave 28.9 % higher yield than check NARI 6. Its seed oilcontent was 27%, it matured within 128 days, and wasfound resistant to Fusarium wiltSugarcane : Co 92005. It recorded 10.6% higher caneyield, 7.5% higher sugar yield, 12% higher jaggery yield,and 6% higher jaggery recovery than check varietyCoC 671. This is recommended for jaggery productionpurpose in sub-montane zone of Maharashtra. Itsquality of jaggery is superior to COC 671, and hencefetches higher market price from Rs 200 to 500/tonne.Sugarcane: Co VSI 9805. It is a midlate maturingsugarcane variety, gave 21.82 % higher cane yield and25.18% higher sugar yield than the standard sugarcane

Co 86032. It showed good ratooning ability with erecthabit, and has been recommended for commercialplanting during Adsali and Pre-seasonal seasons inMaharashtra (except high rainfall zone)It was found less susceptible to internode borer andshowed resistance to smut diseaseDolichus bean: Phule Suruchi (GK 1-3). It is a bush-type variety recommended for kharif and summer inwestern Maharashtra. It recorded higher yield of greenpods in kharif and summer than checks Arka Jay, ArkaVijay and Konkan Bhushan. Its pods are attractive, veryfleshy, shinning, slender and tender with purple tingeat both the edges.

MPKV, Rahuri, Ahmedabad (Maharashtra) 413 722e-mail: [email protected]

Indian Institute of Horticultural Research,Bengaluru

Arka SharathEmphasis in Frenchbean breeding recently has beenshifted for quality pods—pencil-poded, stringless,round, smooth, green type. These are suitable traits forsteamed beans.

Ornamental Varieties – IIHR 1 and IIHR 2Both chrysanthemums are early flowering; and theiroff-season flowering is during July. Hence nurserymencan grow them as potted chrysanthemums in openwithout polyhouse and artificial lighting. Both theselctions are suitable for potting and garden purposeand can be exploited for breeding for earliness.

A new Frenchbean selection, Arka Sharath, with highyield and good quality pods has been identified. Itspods are crisp, fleshy with no parchment, and they areperfectly round in cross section. Its plants are bushyand photo-insensitive, and it can be cultivated in kharifand rabi.

IIHR, Bengaluru (Karnataka) 560 089e-mail: [email protected]

IIHR 1 IIHR 2

IIHR 1 (Pink seedling). This is an early-floweringseedling selection. It produces flowers in about 63 daysin July-September. Plants are dwarf, about 24 cm highwith yellow green and medium leaves. Flowers aresemi-double type with attractive pink colour, and aresmall-sized (about 3 cm in diameter). Average flowersper plant are 318.

IIHR 2 (Brown seedling). This is also an early-floweringseedling selection. It bears grayed-orange semi-doubleflowers of 4.8 cm. It produces flowers in about 68 daysand produces 135 flowers per plant.

Indian Institute of Horticultural ResearchHessaraghatta, Bengaluru (Karnataka) 560 080



by making a hole with wooden sticks, and putting 2-3seeds in each hole. For effective weed control, tank-mixed application of Paraquat +Atrazine (1.0+0.50 kg/ha) was done one day after sowing. No fertilizer wasapplied at sowing. At 30 days after sowing (after firstirrigation), 75 kg N and 60 kg P2O5/ha was top-dressedin rows. At 60 DAS (after second irrigation), 75 kgN and75 kg K2O/ha were applied. Endosulfan 35 EC at 2 ml/litre of water was sprayed 1 week after germination toreduce shootfly incidence. Crop was harvested atphysiological maturity (110 days after sowing). Usingimproved sorghum hybrids CSH 16 sorghum yields inrice-fallows increased to as high as 8.4 tonnes/ha;indicating a huge potential of sorghum in the fallowareas.

J.S. Mishra, B.S. Rayudu, R.R. Chapke andN. Seetharama

Directorate of Sorghum ResearchRajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030 (Andhra Pradesh)


Year-round fodder for

north-western hillsHill regions generally have two lean periods, first startsfrom December last to mid-March and second fromApril last to early June, when fodder availability is low.In winter (rabi), dual-purpose varieties of wheat VLGehun 829 and VL Gehun 616, and barley (VLB 1) gave5-7 tonnes of green forage/ha with one cut at 75-90days after sowing.Intercropping maize and cowpea (2:1) under line-sowinggave highest green fodder yield (30-45 tonnes/ha) duringsummer. Cowpea was found most promising and yielded30 tonnes of green forage/ha. Hybrid Napier producedhighest fodder yield (30-80 tonnes/ha) in slopingwastelands and under pine trees. In the growing season(May to mid November), 5-8 cuts can be taken. On thefield terrace risers during rains, grasses like Hybrid Napierproduced highest green forage yield (3-4 kg /m2), followedby Setaria kazungula (1.7 kg / m2). On sloping sites of fieldterrace risers, Pangola grass produced highest greenforage yield (0.5 - 1.0 kg/m2), followed by Kikuyii (0.3 - 0.6kg /m2) and Star grass.Several trees, Alnus nepalensis, Ailanthus excelsa,Bauhinia purpurea, B. retusa, B. variegata, Grewia optiva,Melia azedarach, Leucaena leucocephala, Morus alba,

Sorghum – a potential highyielder in rice-fallows of

Andhra PradeshUsually farmers were growing pulses (greengram andblackgram) in rice-fallows in the Krishna-Godavari zone ofAndhra Pradesh as relay or utera cropping (broadcasting ofseeds in standing crop of rice). Lately area under pulses hasdeclined due to late planting of rice and severe attack tothem by viral diseases and parasitic weed Cuscuta. Farmershave started growing maize (in assured irrigated areas) andsorghum (in less irrigated areas) in rice-fallows as alternativecrops to pulses.

SPECTRUM

Sorghum is grown in more than 1,000 hectares in rice-fallows under zero tillage with an average productivityof 5.7 tonnes/ha, which is the highest in the country(average yield is < 1.0 tonnes/ha).

A field experiment was conducted during 2008-09 atthe farmer’s field in Ananthavaram village of Gunturfor evaluating relative performance of 13 sorghumcultivars (CSH 16, MJ 4334, MRS 4094, Sudama 333,CSH 15R, C 43, Laxmi, CSV 216 R, SPH 1148, SPH 1149,CSV 22 R, M 35-1 and MGSH 55) in rice-fallows. Afterthe harvest of kharif transplanted rice, sorghumcultivars were sown in December 2008 under zerotillage to utilize residual soil moisture. Sowing wasdone manually in rows (40cm x 20cm) at 4-6 cm depth

Sowing sorghum in rice fallows (inset – holes created by sticks)

ICAR NEWS

Wishes all its readers

A Happy New Year 2010

8ICAR NEWS

agar medium plates containing 0.5% colloidal chitin;this indicates that this bacterial strain produceschitinase. Thus Bacillus strain HKA-121 can be apotential biological control agent against R.bataticola.

K. Annapurna, Kumari Anjali and M. Senthil KumarDivision of Microbiology

Indian Agricultural Research InstituteNew Delhi 110 012

Phytoplasma associated withcoconut root (wilt) disease

molecularly detectedRoot (wilt) disease is a major production constraint incoconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.), causing heavy lossesof nuts. Electron microscopic and transmission studiesrevealed association of phytoplasma with this disease.However, attempts made to detect phytoplasmaassociation through PCR, using universal primers, wereunsuccessful. Presently, molecular detection has beendone with modification of DNA extraction protocol,with designing of efficient primers for coconut root-wilt phytoplasma.

Robinia pseudoacacia, Prunus padam, Toona ciliata,Quercus leucotrichophora, Q. glauca, Quercus serrata,Albizia spp. and Diploknema butyracea have been foundsuitable for fodder production. A. napalensis hadhighest growth, followed by Quercus serrata. Q.leucotrichophora and Q. glauca exhibited frost tolerancealso.

J.K. Bisht, A.K. Srivastva and Pankaj MishraVPKAS, Almora (Uttarakhand) 263 601

Controlling charcoal rot insoybean by Bacillus strain

Plant-growth promoting potential of endophyticbacteria is higher compared to rhizobacteria, becausethey are sheltered from environmental stresses andmicrobial competition by the host-plant. And theycolonize the same niche as pathogens, and may,therefore, be better suited by either out-competing ordirectly antagonizing pathogens.

SPECTRUM

Many bacterial isolates from soybean-plant tissueswere isolated and characterized for their growth-promoting activities. Out of these, an endophyticbacterial isolate showed high antagonistic activityagainst the fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia bataticola,responsible for charcoal-rot disease in soybean. Thisisolate has been identified based on 16S rDNA partialsequence as Bacillus sp. strain HKA-121. In dual cultures,Bacillus strain HKA-121 inhibited pathogen R. bataticolaefficiently in the PDA medium. Mutants of HKA-121developed by EMS showed loss of anti- fungal activity.HKA-121 produced a clear halo region on the chitin-

DNA was isolated from symptomatic and healthycoconut palms, and was amplified with PCR withphytoplasma specific primers (efficient primersdesigned from coconut root (wilt) phytoplasma).Homology search with BLAST has revealed thatcoconut root (wilt) phytoplasma is related to sugarcanewhite leaf phytoplasma, Bermuda grass white leafphytoplasma and coconut Welligama wilt of Srilanka;

Bacterial cultures in which onlyBacillus strain HKA-121 showschitinase production by havinghalo region in chitin NA plate

Antagonistic effects of Bacilluswild strain HKA-121 and itsmutant showing loss of anti-fungal activity

Root (wilt) disease affected coconut palm


sequences has indicated phytoplasma associated withcoconut root (wilt) disease belonging to 16Sr XIVgroups.

R. Manimekalai and George V. ThomasCentral Plantation Crops Research Institute

Kasaragod (Kerala) 671 124e-mail: [email protected]

Catla suffers from hypoxiaDissolved oxygen level in the water is a criticaldetermining factor for aquaculture production infreshwater ponds. Catla (Catla catla) is reported to bemore sensitive to lower dissolved oxygen level ascompared to rohu and mrigal. Catla, being in the upperstratum of the water column, is expected to receivemaximum oxygen available in the water, but it hasbeen noticed that it comes up to surface for gulpingO2 very often during early morning in the pond.Besides, its wider mouth and big head with larger gillarea is also a matter of interesting study, which may bedue to long-time adaptation attempt made by thisspecies to overcome hypoxic stress.All the Indian major carps (IMC) showed aerial surfacerespiration at ~1.8 mg O2/litre in the lab condition,and it was almost similar as found in ponds. Increase inRBC count was recorded in all and Hb% increased inrohu and catla, but not in mrigal. Hypoxia induciblefactor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) is regarded as the master switchto responses to lower O2 tension, and was cloned andsequenced in catla. Alignment of amino acid sequencesrevealed that there are certain changes in conservedamino acids positions in the functional domains incatla HIF-1α. The RT-PCR results revealed that HIF-1αwas constitutively expressed in all IMCs in differenttissues even in normoxic condition (~6 mg O2/litre)but at a very low level. The level of expressionsignificantly increased in all following 48 hr underhypoxic exposure (< 2 mg/litre of O2). Thus it isconfirmed that catla is also able to increase HIF-1αexpression during hypoxia, like other tolerant species,and the problem may exist in downstream eventsfollowing HIF-1α expression.

Central Institute of Freshwater AquacultureKausalyaganga, Bhubaneshwar (Orissa) 751 002


SPECTRUM

Molecular detection of phytoplasma from coconut root (wilt)samples using phytoplasma specific primers

Dendogram showing phylogenetic relationship betweencoconut root (wilt) phytoplasma with 15 related groups of

phytoplasma and A. laidlawii as out-group

similarity was >95%. To study seasonal variations inthe phytoplasma, and variations in the presence ofphytoplasma in different tissues, regular sampling atmonthly intervals was done from the same palms fromvarious tissues (inflorescence, spear leaf, mature leafand root) at Kayamkulam. And PCR was done withphytoplasma specific primers. Amplification wasobtained in inflorescence, spear leaf, mature leaf and afew of the root tissues. Amplified products were clonedand sequenced.

Sequence homology search showed similarity at >97%with sugarcane white leaf phytoplasma. Cloning,sequencing and analysis of DNA fragment (GenbankAccession No. GQ850122) indicated 97.2 % identitywith Bermuda grass white leaf phytoplasma 16Sribosomal RNA gene (Genbank Accession No.AF248961), 97.9 % identity with sorghum grassy shootphytoplasma variant I 16S ribosomal RNA gene(AF509324). Further phylogenetic analysis of 16Sr DNA

10ICAR NEWS

SPECTRUM

Published by Dr T.P. Trivedi, Project Director, Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture, Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch, New Delhi 110 012. Lasertypeset by M/s Print-O-World, Shadipur, New Delhi 110 008, and printed in India at M/s Royal OffsetPrinters, A-89/1, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi 110 028.

EEEEEditing : diting : diting : diting : diting : DDDDDr R.Pr R.Pr R.Pr R.Pr R.P. S. S. S. S. Sharma and Sharma and Sharma and Sharma and Sharma and Shashi A. hashi A. hashi A. hashi A. hashi A. VVVVVermaermaermaermaerma DDDDDesign & Pesign & Pesign & Pesign & Pesign & Prrrrroooooducducducducduction : tion : tion : tion : tion : VVVVV.K.K.K.K.K. Bhar. Bhar. Bhar. Bhar. Bharti and Pti and Pti and Pti and Pti and Punit Bhasinunit Bhasinunit Bhasinunit Bhasinunit Bhasin

Glimpse of ICAR Achievements 2009

� To contain crop loss due to droughts and floods,developed new varieties of rice capable ofwithstanding drought (Sahbhagi Dhan) and watersubmergence (Swarna-Sub 1). The latter can survivefor 14 days under water.

� To ward off threat to wheat production from theglobally spreading menace of wheat stem rust,Ug99, resistant varieties (DBW 17, PBW 550, Lok 1and Turja) identified.

� Overall, 147 new and better varieties of major cropsdeveloped for cultivation under differentagroclimatic conditions.

� In potato, dry matter-rich variety Kufri Frysonadeveloped for making French Fries.

� To promote use of better seeds, produced anddistributed 10,140 tonnes of breeder seeds and over25 lakh planting materials.

� Zinc solubilizing bacterial bio-fertilizer developed toalleviate zinc deficiency in soils.

� Cloned and surviving buffalo calf, GARIMA,produced for faster multiplication of selected highlyproductive animals.

� For Bird Flu diagnosis, High Security Animal DiseaseLaboratory, Bhopal, conferred OIE-internationalrecognition.

� For year-round rearing of Indian carp (fish),technique developed for off-season spawning.

� For culturing seabass, open-sea cage farmingtechnology developed.

� International Award-winning device designed toreduce by-catch and juvenile fish trapping in trawl-nets.

� International fellowship scheme initiated forDoctoral programme in India and abroad.

� Introduced revised curricula and syllabi for 95disciplines in Master’s and 80 disciplines in Doctoralprogrammes.

� Introduced 368 e-courses for degree programmes;created repository of 3,852 e-theses; and providedonline access to 1,088 research journals in 126libraries.

� To strengthen scientific human resource, 764 vacantscientific positions filled by completingappointment process.

� Tractor-mounted cumin planter developed to save30% seed.

� For pomegranate, motorized aril extractor

developed with 94% separation efficiency and 500kg/hour capacity.

� For commercial-scale groundnut milk production,processing technology and equipment developedhaving 250 litres per day capacity.

� Assessed and refined 2,337 improved farmtechnologies through 26,028 on-farm trials toascertain their suitability to specific locations, forenhancing productivity and profitability.

� 15 lakh farmers, rural-youth and extension workerstrained for skill development through 56,000training programmes.

� Greater awareness about protection of intellectualproperty resulted in filing of 93 IPR applications.

� To promote production-to-consumption chains formaximizing farmers’ profits, 51 models developedfor different agricultural commodities.

� Introduced 36 models of technological innovation-based sustainable rural livelihood initiatives in 102of 150 most disadvantaged districts, benefitting50,000 farm families.

� For wider dissemination of agricultural information,The Handbook of Agriculture updated, andpartnership built with national knowledge networkfor high-speed internet connectivity.

EDITORIAL BOARD

ChairmanDr Mangala Rai

Secretary, DARE and DG, ICAR

MembersDr S Ayyappan, DDG (Fisheries & Animal Sci.)

Dr A K Singh, DDG (NRM)

Dr H P Singh, DDG (Horticulture)

Dr M M Pandey, DDG (Agric. Engg.) & ND, (NAIP)

Dr K D Kokate, DDG (Agric. Ext.)

Dr S Datta, DDG (Crop Sciences)

Dr Arvind Kumar, DDG (Education)

Dr N B Singh, ADG (Co-ordination)

Dr T P Trivedi, Project Director (DIPA)

12ICAR NEWS

THE LAST PAGE

openhagen Climate Summit, which just concluded,saw an unprecedented involvement of a large number

of global leaders, Government negotiators, scientists andcivil society. A non-binding accord was agreed by severalkey countries that envisages long-term co-operation toreduce CO2 emissions, and for establishment of a fund forsupporting mitigation and adaptation actions by thedeveloping countries. Indian Prime Minister called on forcontinuation of negotiations on the basis of the KyotoProtocol and the Bali Action Plan. He indicated that Indiawould cut emissions regardless of the Summit’s outcomeby honouring voluntary commitment of 20% emissionintensity cuts by 2020.

The Indian Government is committed to develop andimplement strategies to increase mitigation andadaptation capacity, as outlined in the National ActionPlan on Climate Change. Frequent climatic extremes inthe region have been historically responsible forwidespread droughts, floods, migration, famines andpoverty, which may accentuate with climate change.Change in climate is projected to affect considerably foodsupply and access through direct and indirect effects oncrops, soils, livestock, fisheries and pests. Recent studiesindicate a probability of 10-40% losses in crop productionby 2080-2100 in India and other countries of South Asia.

Producing enough food for meeting demands againstthe background of reducing land, water and capitalresources for agriculture in a changing climate scenario,while also minimizing further environmental degradation,is a challenging task. Simple adaptations such as changein planting dates, in crops and crop varieties may help inreducing impacts of climate change to some extent. Thesemay, however, be not always easy to implement owing toconstraints associated with unpredictable nature ofclimatic extremes and availability of seeds of adaptedvarieties and other inputs in times of stress. In severaldeveloping countries of the world where climaticextremes are common, farmers have shown capacity toadapt and survive; this can provide lessons for the future.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research in 2004launched a nation-wide Network on Climate Change thatis continuing in the XIth plan with 25 institutions. TheCouncil also organized a National Conference on ClimateChange and Indian Agriculture in October 2007. ThisConference highlighted additional strategies forincreasing adaptive capacity including bridging yieldgaps to augment production; development of adverseclimate-tolerant genotypes and land-use systems;assisting farmers with climatic risks through weatherlinked value-added advisory services and crop/weatherinsurance; and improved land, fertilizer and water-usemanagement and policies.

Dr Mangala Rai, Secretary (DARE) and Director-General (ICAR)

Irrespective of the outcomes of the internationalnegotiations on climatic change, agriculture has tobecome more competitive, efficient, profitable, and needto develop mechanisms to reduce its vulnerability. Thereis an urgent need to strengthen locally relevant researchefforts in vulnerable regions to understand probablebiophysical and economic impacts of, and adaptationsto, increasing climatic risks, especially in relation tosubsistence agriculture and native foods such as millets,legumes, oilseeds, plantations, and local species of fishand livestock. We may need to evolve innovative modelsof co-operation and partnerships for adaptation researchand development for agricultural sustainability, and tosecure global adaptation funds for reducing climatic riskexposure of millions of vulnerable poor farmers, whosecontribution to global warming is negligible.

Intensified efforts on genome-wide genome analysis,effective use of transgenes in appropriate agronomicbackgrounds, development of cultural practicescommensurate with the potential and dimensions of theproblem and linking innovative technological developmentsand their translation into actual production systems, areconsidered vital for meeting existing and emergingchallenges. Researches contemplated for adaptations wouldbe input-intensive; many with long gestation period,requiring highly specialized human resource with innovativeinstitutional set-up and partnership mechanisms. Thesewould call for action and added investments in agriculture,human resource development and extension, as India’sexternal security is vitally linked with its food security. In itswider perspective it is believed that investments and addedefforts are required to be augmented with each passingday, as producing more and more, particularly underuncertain climate and fragile ecosystems, would demandhigher level of technology to offset adverse impacts.

(M(M(M(M(Mangala Rangala Rangala Rangala Rangala Rai)ai)ai)ai)ai)e-mail: [email protected]

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volume 15 no. 4 october-december 2009

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