54 research outputs found
Not Available
No full textConsidering the aesthetic value of Gerbera(Gerbera
jamesonii), it is a beautiful dwarf perennial plant used as a
cut flower (ranks 4th among cut flowers demands
according to Sujatha, et al., 2002), garden flower and it
makes a good showing in exhibitions and floral
arrangements because of its numerous colours and
interesting shapes. At present, this group comprises 45
species, native to tropical Asia and Africa. Maharashtra is
one of the pioneer states for protected flower cultivation,
under which 600 ha of land is cultivated for different flower
crops under polyhouse condition, out of which more than
100 hectares area is under gerbera cultivation with 1476
lakh flowers per year with productivity of 250 flowers m-2
(Anonymous 2010). Considering the “law of minimum” of
Baron Justus Von Liebig, which states that “plants will use
essential elements only in proportion to each other, and
the element that is in shortest supply in proportion to the
rest will determine how well the plant uses the other
nutrient elements”, the effect of specific nutrients must be
tested for their importance in completing their life
cycles..Calcium concentration in plants ranges from 0.2 to
1 %. Calcium is important in maintaining the structure and
permeability of cell membranes, essential for cell
elongation and cell division and helps in uptake of N, Fe,
B, Zn, Cu and Mn. Manganese concentration in plants
typically ranges from 20 to 50 ppm. The involvement of Mn
in photosynthesis, oxidation reduction processes and in
decarboxylation and hydrolysis reactions calls the need of
Mn in plants. Therefore, the investigation was carried out
to study the effect of Ca and Mn in some physiological
properties of Gerbera.A pot culture experiment was conducted on gerbera (cv. Goliath) at Hi-Tech Floriculture and Vegetable Project, College
of Agriculture, Pune- 5. The experiment was conducted during August, 2013 to February, 2014 to study diagnosis of
calcium and manganese deficiency on gerbera grown on cocopeat under polyhouse conditions. The experiment was
conducted lying on the basic treatment of excluding the nutrients of interest (calcium and manganese) and the
comparison with the complete nutrition in respect of growth and development of gerbera. It revealed that the deficiency
of Ca and Mn certainly cause a setback in chlorophyll content, periodical dry matter and vase life of gerbera.Not Availabl
Not Available
No full textIn the food production sector, soil degradation due
to soil salinization and sodification has become one of
the universal concerns agriculture is facing. According
to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations, around the world nearly one billion
hectares of soil were facing severe levels of salinization
and sodification problem that need immediate attention
(FAO, 1994). The problem of soil salinity and sodicity
also leads to desertification (Tóth et al., 2008). In
addition to chemical inorganic amendments like
gypsum, organic amendments are studied for their
efficiency in reclaiming soil sodicity as addition of
organic matter to soil improves soil health through
various beneficial functions, thus helping in effective
reclamation (Roy et al., 2006). Therefore, this study
was conducted in order to investigate the utilisation of
economical organic amendments as sources of soil
sodicity reclamation in comparison with gypsum.An incubation study was conducted at AICRP laboratory, ADAC&RI, Trichy to assess the efficiency of different amendments in reclaiming soil sodicity. Sodic soil samples were treated with different amendments such as inorganic source (gypsum) and organic amendments (vermicompost, green manure, goat manure, poultry manure, coir pith compost and FYM) and at weekly intervals, the physico-chemical properties related with sodicity of the treated soils were analysed. It was found that gypsum was effective in reducing soil sodicity. However, organic amendment such as vermicompost was at par with gypsum in reclamation of soil sodicity.Not Availabl
Not Available
No full textNot AvailableTo feed around 9.8 billion people by 2050, it is equally important to increase food production while maintaining the sustainability of the environment. Conservation agriculture (CA) is one of the approaches to manage agro-ecosystems in order to improve productivity, increase the profitability and food security and enhance the resource base and environment. Although many researchers have pointed out the prospects and concerns of adopting CA in different climatic conditions, CA in arid regions raises uncertainties due to its extreme climates, most of the soils with low water holding capacity, high potential evapotranspiration, low and non-uniform distribution of rainfall and greater wind erosion. However, CA practices could benefit the arid agriculture through moderation/reducing of evaporation, regulating water and nutrient in soil and reducing wind erosion. Arid soils, largely characterised by low soil organic carbon (SOC), have the greater potential for higher C sequestration with the use of CA practices. Among the key components of CA, no-tillage (NT) coupled with mulching might be effective in distribution of the soil moisture at proper stage of the crop growth. The emission of CO2 flux from soil and soil salinity are reduced with the adoption of CA in arid soils with the use of cover crops. Due to better aeration and nutrient movement in CA land, beneficial bacterial community and diversity are promoted. However, for CA to work effectively in arid regions, the three components of CA such as minimum disturbances of soil through no- and reduced-tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotation must be critically followed together or simultaneously for improving soil health, crop productivity through high nutrient and water efficiency, carbon sequestration, mitigation of climate change and sustainability.Not Availabl
- …
