Not Available

Not AvailableAn experiment was conducted on the "study of system productivity through intercrop diversification in agri-horti system in arid ecosystem of western Rajasthan" at research farm of CAZRI, Regional Research Station" Bikaner on the existing plantation of 10 years old plantations of Citrus aurontifolia,bael (Aegle marmelos) and gonda (Cordia myxa) planted with drip irrigation system under agri-horti system. The experiment was conducted under factorial Randomized Block design with three replications. The experimental results revealed that inter-cropping of legumes (rainfed) has no competition in agri-horti system, showing positive effect on growth and yield of fruit trees. Growth parameters of all the trees were found to be non significant in intercropping of Lasiurus sindicus and Aloe vera over no inter cropping. Inter cropping of mothbean with bael gave highest plant height of bael which was 15.9,13.05,4.90 and 10.70 per cent higher over inter cropping of cluster bean, aloe vera, L. sindicus and sole, respectively. Yield of intercrops were highest with citrus and lowest with bael during both the years. Highest water use efficiency (0.98 kg/mm) was in inter cropping of mothbean with citrus whereas in perennial crops, L. sindicus showed highest WUE of 19.4 kg/mm in intercropping with citrus. The CEY was highest in all the crops in inter cropping with citrus over rest of the trees under agri-horti system.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableNot AvailableNot Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableNot AvailableNot Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableA four-year field experiment was conducted in order to assess the productivity and economic potential of five cropping systems, with two tillage (conventional and deep) and four nutrient management [no application, farm yard manure (FYM) at 5 t ha 1, chemical fertilizer (CF), FYM at 5 t ha 1 þ CF] treatments in a hot, arid environment at Bikaner, India. Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br], cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] and moth bean [Vigna aconitifolia (Jacq.) Marechal] were grown in five rotations. The five rotations were: moth beanepearl millet, cluster beanepearl millet, moth beanecluster bean, pearl milletepearl millet and pearl millet þ cluster beanepearl millet þ cluster bean. The moth beanecluster bean cropping system recorded 21e148%, 36e246% and 33e178% higher equivalent yields, return and water use efficiency, respectively than other cropping systems. Deep tillage increased equivalent yields by 20% higher than conventional tillage. The combined application of CF and FYM recorded 15 and 32% higher equivalent yields than their respective sole application. In this hot, arid ecosystem, a legumeelegume system was more productive and profitable than other systems, and higher crop yields could be achieved by combining deep tillage with the integrated use of CF and FYM.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableSquash melon (Citrullus vulgaris var. fistulosus Steward) is a rainfed crop in arid region but in these areas, the rainy days are very less. Due to this reason, the farmers could not get desired yield. Hence supplemental irrigation with water conservation practices is required for getting the economic return from this crop. Hence an experiment was conducted at ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Regional Research Station, Bikaner, Rajasthan to study the effect of three mulching treatments (No mulching, straw mulching (2.5 tonnes/ha) using local shrub Leptadenia pyrotechnica and black polyethylene plastic mulching of 25 micron thickness) and four FYM doses (0, 20, 30 and 40 tonnes/ha) on growth, yield, WUE and economics of Squash melon grown with supplemental irrigation during kharif seasons of 2012 and 2013. Vine length, numbers of fruits per plant and yield of squash melon were significantly influenced by FYM, mulching and their interaction during both the years of experiment. Application of FYM caused significant improvement in squash melon yield up to 30 tonnes/ha. Averaged across mulching treatments, application of FYM @ 20, 30 and 40 tonnes/ha resulted 47.8, 79.5 and 88.4% higher yields compared to control. Application of mulch brought significant improvement in yield and yield components and the response of mulch varied with the level of FYM application. Plastic and straw mulching resulted 26.6 and 48.6% higher yield over no-mulch treatment. Straw mulch recorded the longest vine length, the highest numbers of fruits per plant and yield. The highest yield was recorded with application of 30 tonnes FYM /ha combined with straw mulch.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableNot AvailableNot Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableA field experiment was conducted during the rabi season of 2009-10 and 2010-11. The experiment consisted of two methods of irrigation viz. drip and furrow methods and four type of mulching material treatments viz. plastic mulch (black polyethylene-25micron), hessian cloth mulch (50% shade jute cloth), indigenous plant material (laptodoniaspps.@ 10t/ha) mulch and no mulch (control). Method of irrigation, mulching and their interaction had significant effects on growth, yield attributes and yield. Mean yield averaged across the mulching treatments was 18.3 % higher under drip irrigation than furrow method. Mulching improved the yield from 40 to 71.8 % over no mulch treatment. Among the tested mulching materials, the plastic mulch had the highest improvement in yield (71.8 %) followed by hessian cloth (54.1 %) and indigenous plant material mulch (40 %) over no mulch. Interaction effect between drip irrigation with plastic mulch resulted in significant response in growth, yield attributes and yield of pea as compared to all other treatment combinations. Number of branches per plant, canopy cover and survival percentage of ber was higher in ber + pea cropping system than sole ber.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableMung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek) and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.) were grown as inter crops under agri-horti-silvi system with 9-year-old plantations of citrus (Citrus aurontifolia), mopane (Colophospermum mopane) and shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) at Research Farm of Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Regional Research Station, Bikaner, during kharif 2011. Highest total biological yield and seed yield of mung bean (1412.5 and 471.3 kg ha-1, respectively) and clusterbean (1352 and 419.8 kg ha-1, respectively) was recorded in intercropping with citrus. Highest leaf area plant-1 and chlorophyll content in clusterbean (2.44 mg g-1 FW) and mung bean (2.62 mg g-1 FW) intercropped with citrus were responsible for more seed yield due to accumulation of more photosynthates in plants. Higher leaf water potential of clusterbean (-3.18 MPa) and mung bean (-3.28 MPa) was recorded in intercropping with mopane. Among different tree leaves, leaf water potential was highest in mopane (-6.99 MPa) followed by citrus (-5.51 MPa) and shisham (-3.58 MPa).Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableWater stress is one of the main environmental stress conditions that adversely affect growth and yield of crops. Sulphydryl (-SH) compounds have been reported to induce tolerance to abiotic stress conditions. A two-year (2010 and 2011) experiment was conducted at Bikaner, Rajasthan, India to test whether the exogenous applications of thiourea (500, 750 and 1000 mg L−1) and thioglycolic acid (200, 300 and 400 mg L−1) as a foliar spray would alleviate deleterious effects of water stress on clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.). The -SH-treated plants showed higher membrane stability index, photosynthetic pigment content, photosynthetic capacity and antioxidant enzyme activities and lower lipid peroxidation compared with untreated plants. Compared with untreated plants, the -SH-treated plants had 11–18, 18–30, 17– 57, 25–47, 14–22% higher membrane stability index, total chlorophyll content, antioxidant enzyme activities, net photosynthetic rate and seed yield, respectively; whereas the malondialdehyde content was 10–19% lower. These data suggest that under water deficit stress, exogenous -SH compound application improves photosynthesis by increasing photosynthetic pigment, protects plants against oxidative damage by scavenging reactive oxygen species and minimizing lipid peroxidation by elevated antioxidant enzyme activities. These results indicated the role of -SH compounds in diminishing the negative effects of water deficit on clusterbean and suggest that -SH compounds could be used as a potential bioregulator to improve plant growth and yield under water deficit conditions.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableA field experiment was conducted at Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Regional Research Station , Bikaner during Kharif seasons of 2012 and 2013 on Squash Melon (Tinda) crop under rainfed conditions to evaluate four treatments of Farm Yard Manure viz.,0,20,30 and 40 t ha-1 and three treatment of mulching viz., no mulch ,straw mulch and plastic mulch. Experiment was conducted in split – plot design with three replications using the Tinda cv. Selection 1. Vine length, numbers of fruits per plant and yield of squash melon (Tinda) crop were significantly influenced by FYM, mulching and their interaction during both the years of experiment. Application of FYM recorded significant improvement in yield up to 30 t ha-1. Averaged across mulching, the yield with application of FYM @ 20, 30 and 40 t ha-1 had 43.3, 83.9 and 87.4 % higher yield compared to control. Application of mulch brought significant improvement in yield and its component. The straw mulch recorded highest vine length, numbers of fruits per plant and yield. Plastic and straw mulch had 24.80 and 42.25 % higher yield than no-mulch. The response of mulch varied with level of FYM application. The highest yield was recorded with application of 40 FYM t ha-1 combined with straw mulch, however the difference between FYM 30 t ha-1 and 40 t ha-1 was non-significant under both straw and plastic mulching.Not Availabl