Genetic diversity among some productive genotypes of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

This research was done at Vegetable Experimental Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu during spring and summer seasons, 2007- 2009. D2-statistics revealed that β-carotene contributed maximally towards the genetic divergence followed by ascorbic acid, total soluble solids, alcohol insoluble solids, pericarp thickness, lycopene content and polygalacturonase activity. The 60 genotypes were grouped into 20 clusters. Fourteen (14) clusters were monogenotypic and cluster I possessed highest number of genotypes numbering 25. Out of 20 clusters, cluster VII is promising for minimum polygalacturonase activity and high average fruit weight, cluster VIII had highest number of locules per fruit, fruit yield per plant and yield per hectare and cluster XVII was superior for ascorbic acid. However, cluster XX was found promising for lycopene content, β-carotene and number of fruits per plants. The highest inter cluster D2 values were estimated between clusters XII and XX, followed by clusters XI and XX, clusters VII and XX, and clusters XV and XX, indicating that there is enough scope for the improvement of tomato crop by hybridization and selection.Key words: Genetic variability, genetic gain, heritability, tomato

Changing histological spectrum of adult nephrotic syndrome in comparison to previous study: single centre analysis

Background: Glomerular diseases are an important cause of chronic renal failure in developing countries. The spectrum of diseases causing nephrotic syndrome is changing globally in the last few decades. Methods: Patients in the age group 18-60 years with nephrotic syndrome were consecutively included in the study. Renal biopsies were performed in all patients and were subjected to light microscopy, immunofluorescence (IF) and electron microscopy (EM). Results: 189 patients (67% males) were included in the study. The mean age was 43 years. Primary glomerular diseases accounted for 92.5% of cases while lupus nephritis was the most common secondary glomerular disease. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) accounted for 28.6% of primary glomerular diseases making it the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome. It was followed by membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) in 13.2%, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis in 11.2%, diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis in 10.6% and minimal change disease in 9.5%. Conclusions: The biopsy diagnosis of FSGS has increased considerably in last few decades and it is now the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults in North India. MGN is the most common lesion in patients over 40 years of age

Helminth infection in coldwater fishes of Suru river Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India

A helminthological survey of coldwater fishes of Ladakh was carried out from November 2007 to April 2009 (18 months). A total of 93 fishes belonging to two species viz., Schizothorax plagiostomus and Diptychus maculatus were collected and examined from different collection sites of Suru river, Kargil. A total of 2 helminth species viz., Neoechinorhynchus yalei Datta, 1936 and Rhabdochona himalayai Fotedar & Dhar, 1977 belonging to two helminth groups, i-e. Acanthocephala and Nematode were reported. It was found that out of 93 hosts examined, 31 were found infected with 43 parasites recovered in total, with an overall prevalence, mean intensity and abundance of 33.33%, 1.38 and 0.46 respectively. Distribution of helminth infection and its relation with sex and size of host was analysed. The helminth infection showed no significant relationship with sex of hosts however it showed mostly significant relation to size of host

Multiple regression analysis for adoption studies of potato growers in Jammu division

The research identified the significant and negative relationship between socio-economic parameters with the level of adoption of recommended crop production technologies reveals that such information could be useful to Department of agriculture, and concerned SAU who strive to maximize production and productivity levels of potato crop. They have to gear-up there extension wings for imparting correct and scientific knowledge of crop production. It also suggested to State Govt. officials to ensure adequate facilities for fertilizers to reap full benefits of this cash crop. The study on determining the correlation between socio-economic standards of potato growers with the level of adoption of the recommended crop production technologies was conducted in sub-tropical zone of Jammu division. Three districts namely Jammu, Kathua and Samba were selected purposively on the basis of maximum area under potato crop. Sample size of 225 potato growers was selected randomly from 15 villages from selected districts and their socio-economic standards were correlated with the level of adoption of crop production technologies as recommended by SKUAST-JAMMU, the concerned SAU. The study revealed that age, education, operational land holding, net income, mass media exposure and extension contact had significant correlation at p? 0.05 level of probability with the level of adoption. Studies revealed that 45.78% of respondents adopted recommended seed rate per hectare, whereas 57.33%, 40.89% and 8.89% respondents adopted recommended application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the crop. The study further highlighted highest adoption level for insecticide like dimethoate 30 EC (52.05%) and fungicide like metalxyl +mancozeb (57.38%) respectively

Antagonistic Potentiality of Trichoderma harzianum Against Cladosporium spherospermum, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum

Many species of genus Trichoderma are used as an important source of biological agents. The potential efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum against the pathogenic fungi like Cladosporium spherospermum, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum was evaluated on the fungal growth by culture pattern in which radial growth extension rates of two categories of fungal colonies were analyzed. All the fungal species were isolated from the rhizosphere of Juglans regia L. and cultured on the separate sterilized potato dextrose agar (Hi Media). Antagonism of T. harzianum was observed when all the fungal isolates were grown on the same PDA petri-plate in vitro by using the dual culture techniques. Trichoderma harzianum had a discernible inhibitory effect on the growth of pathogens in dual culture. The mycelial growth of pathogenic isolates was noticeably constrained after a period of 10 days at the temperature of 250C and pH of 5.6. T. harzianum caused the maximum growth inhibition in A. niger (75%) followed by C. spherospermum (72.2%) and F. oxysporum (25%) at the specific temperature and pH, which justifies that T. harzianum is a promising biological agent for restricting the wilt and other fungal diseases. Keywords; Trichoderma harzianum, pathogenic fungi, antagonism, radial growt

Determinants of Food Security in Turkmenistan

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