Gibberellic acid (GA3) can shorten the grafting cycle through enhanced seedling growth and biomass in cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.)

Due to the slow growth of cashew seedlings, nurserymen and growers have to wait for more time for taking up softwood grafting operations to market or planting them. The use of growth regulators has resulted in a shortening of propagation time in many fruit crops. Therefore, the nursery experiment was conducted to study the effect of foliar spray of GA3 and NAA on the growth and biomass of cashew seedlings. Five treatments viz., control and foliar application of GA3 @ 50 ppm, GA3 @ 100 ppm, NAA @ 50 ppm and NAA 100 ppm were replicated four times in completely randomized design. Growth regulators were sprayed on 10 days old seedlings of cashew cultivar Vengurla-4. Cashew seedlings sprayed with GA3 @ 100 ppm recorded highest shoot length, seedling length and girth, leaf numbers, shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight. However, spraying of NAA @ 100 ppm recorded maximum root length and highest root fresh weight and root dry weight. Irrespective of the treatments, most of the seedling growth parameters increased as days progressed. Post germination sprays with GA3 @ 100 ppm can be effectively employed for increasing the seedling growth of cashew which would help in producing healthy seedlings in a short period for advancing the grafting operations and in turn reduce the duration of propagation as well as the cost of seedling production. &nbsp

Effect of plant growth regulators on leaf area, chlorophyll content, carotenoids, stomatal count and yield of cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) var. Bhaskara

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of exogenous application of growth regulators at three important growth stages(flushing, flowering and fruiting) on leaf area, chlorophyll content, carotenoids, stomatal count and yield of cashew var. Bhaskara.Irrespective of growth stages, foliar application of GA3 @ 50 ppm and ethrel @ 50 ppm was found to be superior in all theparameters and on par with each other compared to other growth regulators. Out of nine treatments of different growth regulators;the highest leaf area was recorded in trees sprayed with GA3 @ 50 ppm and ethrel @ 50 ppm. At flushing stage, spraying with GA3@ 50 ppm resulted in highest stomatal number (21.9) and carotenoids (0.41) whereas unsprayed (control) trees recorded leaststomatal number (11.6) and carotenoids (0.19). Thus, leaf area, chlorophyll content, carotenoids and stomatal count increased intrees sprayed with growth regulators than unsprayed trees. Spraying of ethrel @ 50 ppm recorded highest nut yield(14.3 kg tree-1) followed by NAA @ 25 ppm + GA3 50 ppm (12.9 kg tree-1). This study demonstrated the potential of ethrel as wellas GA3 in improving various biochemical parameters viz., chlorophyll ‘a’, chlorophyll ‘b’, carotenoids and leaf area in cashewwhich are important determinants in increasing nut production

Standardization of container type, substrate and nutrition for potted plant production of China aster [Callistephus chinensis (L.) Ness.] var. Arka Archana

A study was conducted at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru for three consecutive seasons during 2019-20, to standardize the container type, substrate combination and nutrition for potted plant production of China aster var. Arka Archana. The treatments comprised of two type of containers (plastic and coir), three substrates {Red soil + FYM + Sand (1:1:1 v/v), Arka Fermented cocopeat (AFC), AFC + Vermicompost (1:1 v/v)} and four nutrition concentration (160:30:180 ppm N:P: K, 128:24:144 ppm N:P: K, 96:18:108 ppm N:P: K and Jeevamrutha @ 3%) laid out in factorial completely randomized design with three replications. Plant height at flowering (33.12 cm), number of primary branches (12.4), plant spread (536.64 cm2), number of flowers/plant (26.47), flower size (5.26 cm) and uptake of major, secondary and minor nutrients were maximum in the plants grown in 6" plastic pots using the substrate combination of soil +sand +FYM (1:1:1 v/v/v) along with the weekly application of nutrient solution of 96:18:108 ppm NPK/plant. This production protocol resulted in a dense canopy and highly floriferous potted plants. The benefit cost ratio of potted China aster production was 1.70. This technology can be adopted by the nurserymen for large-scale commercial potted plant production

Soil fertility status of cashew growing soils of Dakshina Kannada district of coastal Karnataka

Soil fertility status of six pedons of cashew growing regions of coastal Karnataka in Dakshina Kannada district were determined. The soils were acidic in reaction, non-saline in nature (free of soluble salts) and low (subsurface soil) to high (surface soil) in organic carbon status. The clay distribution, cation exchange capacity and base saturation of the soils varied from 24.5 to 66.4 per cent, 7.60 to 19.8 cmol (p+) kg-1 and 4 to 32 per cent, respectively. The macronutrients status of the soil samples indicated that the available nitrogen content varied from low to medium in all the pedons, the soils were low in available phosphorus, low to medium in available potassium and available sulphur. Among the DTPA extractable micronutrients, iron and manganese were in sufficient range in most soils, available copper was sufficient and available zinc was deficient. The available macronutrient and micronutrient content were found to decrease with increasing the depth of the soils. Phosphorus and zinc were highly deficient in all the pedons of the cashew growing areas of Dakshina Kannada

Influence of Organic Manures and Fertilizers on Nutrient Uptake, Yield and Quality in Cabbage-Baby Corn Cropping Sequence

Field experiments were conducted at Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, during rabi and kharif seasons of 2010 and 2011 to study direct, cumulative, or residual effect of organic manures (Farmyard Manure, Vermicompost, Poultry Manure, Neem Cake, and combinations thereof) along with the recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) and absolute Control, on nutrient uptake, yield and quality in cabbage-baby corn cropping sequence system. Results showed that application of recommended dose of fertilizers [N, P and K (100:50:50 kg ha-1)] recorded highest yield in cabbage (38.91t ha-1), which was comparable to combined application (2.89t ha-1) of poultry manure and neem cake (37.9t ha-1). In baby corn, maximum yield (6.12t ha-1) was recorded with recommended dose of fertilizers, followed by the combined use of poultry manure and neem cake (5.80t ha-1). Among various treatments, residual effect and combined application of poultry manure and neem cake to a preceding cabbage crop, recorded maximum yield in baby corn (4.71t ha-1) over other treatments. Similar trend was seen in nutrient uptake by cabbage and baby corn (cumulative and residual). Highest protein and ascorbic acid content in cabbage, residual and cumulative baby corn was recorded with application of poultry manure + neem cake (2.89t ha-1), and poultry manure + FYM (6.11t ha-1) respectively