Nutrient requirement, canopy development and fruit yield of high density guava (Psidium guajava L.) production in subtropics of Northern Karnataka

Nutrient requirement for guava under high density planting is much higher than normal planting. Combined application of organic manures and chemical fertilizers will enhance nutrient use efficiency. The field experiment was carried out at Raichur, Karnataka, India during 2017 to standardize rate of fertilizers and organic manures for Guava (Psidium guajava L.)  cv. Allahabad safeda under high density planting. Treatments consists of application of fertilizers for normal planting compared with 100:40:75 g NPK/plant as recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF), 75% and 50% of high density planting (HDP) along with 25 kg farmyard manure, organic manure alone and foliar application of urea @ 1 % at 2,3 and 4 months after pruning. Results indicated that application of NPK@ 235: 118: 120 g per plant as per the RDF for HDP along with 25 kg FYM has resulted in taller plants, plant spread E-W as well as N-S directions, canopy volume and leaf area index. Higher fruits/plant, average fruit weight, fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit yield per plant and fruit yield (48.58 t ha-1) was recorded by application of NPK@ 235: 118: 120 g per plant same as that of HDP along with 25 kg FYM. Application of 50 % of HDP recommendation along with foliar application of urea @ 1% at 2, 3 and 4 months after pruning and 25 kg FYM was also found effective in achieving higher fruit yield of guava

In vitro screening of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) genotypes for drought tolerance

Chilli drought tolerance testing at the germination stage using osmotic polyethylene glycol (PEG) is an alternative method for conducting rapid screening in order to assemble drought tolerant varieties. Under normal and drought conditions, 16 chilli genotypes and 3 levels PEG 6000 @ 5% (-0.3 Mpa), 10% (-0.6 Mpa), 15% (-0.9 Mpa) and control were screened under in vitro for drought tolerance at the seeding stage in completely randomized factorial design with three replications. Among the genotypes tested, UARChH 42, UARChH 43, and Arka Swetha were found as drought-tolerant, indicating their utilization in breeding drought-tolerant genotypes and enhance cultivation in drought-prone regions

Evaluation of Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) Genotypes for Growth, Phenological and Yield under North-Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka, India

Eight grape genotypes were evaluated during 2021-2022 at New orchard, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, Karnataka. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design with three replication. The grape cultivars of five year old vines planted at spacing of 3.0m× 1.5m and trained on Y system of training. The forward pruning was done on 21st October, 2021. There were eight table grape genotypes under the evaluation study, i.e., Thompson Seedless, Manik Chaman, Sharad Seedless, 2A Clone, K.R. White, Manjari Naveen, Fantasy Seedless and Medica. Among genotypes, Medica recorded the maximum pruning weight (1.39 Kg vine-1), number of fruitful canes vine-1(36.00). Thompson Seedless observed maximum shoot length (126.49 cm). Manik Chaman recorded maximum cane diameter (10.31 mm). The genotype Thompson Seedless has recorded earliness in bud sprouting (7.10 days), minimum number of days to anthesis (29.12 days) and fruitset (35.25 days). The early ripening genotypes was Sharad Seedless (98.70 days). The maximum bunch weight was recorded in the genotype 2A Clone (598.87 g). The genotype Medica recorded the maximum number of bunches vine-1(112.00) with highest bunch yield (41.32 kg vine-1