On Farm Validation of Organic Farming Technology in Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson)

Currently alternative agricultural systems, like organic farming, that are less chemical intensive, less exploitative and that can conserve the environment are gaining popularity. Tuber crops, especially aroids, like elephant foot yam, respond well to organic manures and offer scope for organic production. However, lack of package of practices recommendations hinders the promotion of this viable alternative farming practice. Hence, the organic farming technology for elephant foot yam developed at CTCRI was validated through on farm trials under State Horticulture Mission funded programme. Demonstration trials were conducted during 2008-2009 in 10 farmers’ sites to cover an area of 5 ha in Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala to compare the yield, quality, economics and soil fertility under the organic management practices with the existing farmers’ practice and conventional practice (present package of practices recommendations) in elephant foot yam. Organic farming resulted in higher corm yield (34.60 t ha-1) and additional income (Rs. 43,651 ha-1) over conventional farming. Organically produced corms had significantly higher dry matter and Mg contents and significantly lower oxalate content. The chemical properties of the soil, especially K, were also seen favoured under organic farming. The organic farming technology standardized for elephant foot yam includes the application of farmyard manure (FYM) @ 36 t ha-1, green manuring with cowpea to generate 20-25 t ha-1 of green matter in 45-60 days, neem cake @ 1 t ha-1 and ash @ 3 t ha-1.FYM and neem cake are to be applied in pits at the time of planting. Ash may be applied at the time of incorporation of green manure at 45-60 days after planting

Crop physiology of elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst. Nicolson)

Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst. Nicolson), syn. A. campanulatus (Roxb.) BL. exDence (also elephant foot yam) is largely cultivated in the Philippines, Java, Indonesia, Sumatra, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India and China. In India, it is cultivated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Jarkhand. Sree Padma, Gajendra, Sree Athira (a hybrid), Bidhan Kusum and NDA-9 are some of the high yielding Amorphophallus varieties released for cultivation. The corm production potential of this crop is 50-80 t ha-1 and net economic return is about 2000 – 3000 US$ per ha. Plant growth and corm yield is influenced by the size of planting material (corms/cormels/corm pieces), plant spacing, nutrient management and water availability. Nevertheless, the production aspect of this crop is less understood as scanty research has been conducted in this crop. The available literature on growth and productivity of elephant foot yam is briefly described in this article

Top Background Extrapolation for H -> WW Searches at the LHC

A leading order (LO) analysis is presented that demonstrates that key top backgrounds to H -> W^+W^- -> l^\pm l^\mp \sla{p}_T decays in weak boson fusion (WBF) and gluon fusion (GF) at the CERN Large Hadron Collider can be extrapolated from experimental data with an accuracy of order 5% to 10%. If LO scale variation is accepted as proxy for the theoretical error, parton level results indicate that the tt~j background to the H -> WW search in WBF can be determined with a theoretical error of about 5%, while the tt~ background to the H -> WW search in GF can be determined with a theoretical error of better than 1%. Uncertainties in the parton distribution functions contribute an estimated 3% to 10% to the total error.Comment: 17 pages, 9 tables, 4 figures; LO caveat emphasized, version to be published in Phys. Rev.

The Inclination of Library Professionals to Modern Tools in the Knowledge Era

The edited volume of the book consists of ten articles covering the innovative practices of libraries in the digital environment. It includes the areas such as library network, e-resources, scholarly publishing, digital libraries, knowledge management, Web 2.0, and blockchain technology etc., that can influence the work-life of the library professionals and the academic community

Search for H→γγ produced in association with top quarks and constraints on the Yukawa coupling between the top quark and the Higgs boson using data taken at 7 TeV and 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for Higgs bosons produced in association with top quarks using the diphoton decay mode of the Higgs boson. Selection requirements are optimized separately for leptonic and fully hadronic final states from the top quark decays. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−14.5 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 20.3 fb−1 at 8 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the background prediction is observed and upper limits are set on the tt¯H production cross section. The observed exclusion upper limit at 95% confidence level is 6.7 times the predicted Standard Model cross section value. In addition, limits are set on the strength of the Yukawa coupling between the top quark and the Higgs boson, taking into account the dependence of the tt¯H and tH cross sections as well as the H→γγ branching fraction on the Yukawa coupling. Lower and upper limits at 95% confidence level are set at −1.3 and +8.0 times the Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Fiducial and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production measured in the four-lepton decay channel in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production in the H→ZZ∗ → 4ℓ decay channel are presented. The cross sections are determined within a fiducial phase space and corrected for detection efficiency and resolution effects. They are based on 20.3 fb−¹ of pp collision data, produced at √s = 8 TeV centre-of-mass energy at the LHC and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The differential measurements are performed in bins of transverse momentum and rapidity of the four-lepton system, the invariant mass of the subleading lepton pair and the decay angle of the leading lepton pair with respect to the beam line in the four-lepton rest frame, as well as the number of jets and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The measured cross sections are compared to selected theoretical calculations of the Standard Model expectations. No significant deviation from any of the tested predictions is found

Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson decay to μ+μ− with the ATLAS detector

A search is reported for Higgs boson decay to μ+μ−μ+μ− using data with an integrated luminosity of 24.8 fb−124.8 fb−¹ collected with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The observed dimuon invariant mass distribution is consistent with the Standard Model background-only hypothesis in the 120–150 GeV search range. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.5 GeV, the observed (expected) upper limit at the 95% confidence level is 7.0 (7.2) times the Standard Model expectation. This corresponds to an upper limit on the branching ratio BR(H→μ+μ−)of 1.5×10−31.5×10−3

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Not AvailableThe two phases of LTFE conducted at ICAR-CTCRI from 1977 with different treatments consisting of nutrients, organic manures are described. The first phase from 1977-1990 consisted of major nutrients viz., N,P, K in single, nutrient , two nutrients and three nutrient combination with and without FYM. The tuber yield, tuber quality, nutrient dynamics under these treatments for a period of 14 years were described. The II phase was from 1991-2005. The treatments were different levels of NPK, two sources of P fertilizer, different organic manure sources, secondary nutrient Mg and micrnutrient Zn in single and two nutrient combination, farmers practice. From he two phases we could generate many farmer acceptable technologies tooNot Availabl

Cassava agronomy research and adoption of improved practices in India: Major achievements during the past 30 years

Over the past 25-30 years, cassava agronomy research in India has made tremendous progress. In the recent past there has been a steady increase in the cultivation of cassava in nontraditional areas, despite the fact that cereals form the major crop and staple food of the country. There has been a marked increase in the number of cassava-based industries in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which is responsible for the expansion of the area under cassava in those states. Compared to 1980/81 the cassava area in Andhra Pradesh increased by 40% and in Tamil Nadu by 34%. In the state of Kerala, where cassava is traditionally grown for food, the cassava area decreased considerably (46%) due to farmers’ preference for more remunerative plantation crops like rubber and coconut. A shift in the traditional cropping pattern, however, could also be noted in Kerala where rice in the lowlands is now being replaced by cassava, as the latter produces more income than the former. The yield of cassava has been almost static in the range of 19 to 23 t/ ha in Kerala, about 7 to 10 t/ha in Andhra Pradesh, and 36-37 t/ha in Tamil Nadu, which has the highest yield in the world. Extensive research on cassava’s nutritional requirements, agro-techniques, cropping systems and a long-term fertilizer trial have been conducted during the past three decades. Under rainfed conditions the best time of planting was found to be April-May; however, under irrigated conditions, it can be planted during any part of the year. Pit followed by mound has been identified as the best method for planting cassava stakes, using a spacing of 90x90 cm. Removing all but two healthy shoots on opposite sides of the stem has been found to increase yields. Investigations on the use of cassava plants as an alternate source for rearing eri silk worms revealed that the cassava root yield was adversely affected by this practice. Irrigating the crop at 25 per cent available soil moisture depletion level during the growth period could double the root yield. Supplementary irrigation at IW/CPE ratio=1.0 increased the root yield by 90 per cent over the rainfed crop. Continuous application of NPK fertilizers did not significantly effect soil pH, but the available nutrient status of the soil was considerably enhanced, while the build-up of P was excessively high. An appreciable increase in the soil pH (4.7 to 6.1) was noticed in the treatment that received continuous applications of wood ash. Organic carbon content of the soil was found to increase in the plots that received farm-yard manure (FYM). When chemical fertilizers were applied regularly, the Cu and Zn status of the soil declined, but these deficiencies were not observed in plots that received FYM in addition to NPK. It was further revealed that the N and K requirement of the crop was in the ratio of 1:1. Liming at a rate of 2 t CaO/ha was found to be effective in increasing root yields in very acid soils. Application of sulfur resulted in an increase in starch and a decrease in the HCN content of roots. Significant responses to soil application of the micronutrients Zn, B and Mo were also observed. Cropping systems research has shown that short-duration (seven months) cassava varieties can be grown successfully in a rice-based cropping system. Cowpea and groundnut were found quite remunerative as intercrops in cassava. Incorporation of cowpea as green manure in situ at time of planting cassava was found to be as effective as the application of FYM; in addition, it also reduced the N requirement by 50%. Cassava stems stored vertically gave better sprouting on planting as compared to those stored horizontally. Cassava stems of 7-11 months age and having a diameter of 2-4 cm were ideal as planting material. In non-traditional areas where rainfall is limited to 4-5 months per year, planting of cassava stakes in nursery beds at very close spacing, followed by transplanting at 20 DAP, was found to be quite effective in ensuring uniform establishment of the crop while also enhancing the eradication of cassava mosaic disease. When cassava was grown on slopes, planting on staggered mounds reduced soil loss due to erosion by 40-50%. When cassava was grown in a multitier cropping system, its association with banana or coconut was found to be beneficial; however, when grown with eucalyptus or leucaena, the root yields were reduced by 60-80%. Pruning the crop at eight months and thereafter retaining the crop for another eight months resulted in a two-fold increase in yield over the normal harvest

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Not AvailableThe technical bulletin describes the symptoms manifested in the tropical tuber crops and their management in detail.Not Availabl