PG Thesis

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Effect of secondary nutrients on yield and quality of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)
(Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2014) Sanghamithre, V K; Meera V Menon
Primary nutrients viz. nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are generally regarded to be instrumental in maintaining growth, yield and quality of crops. The secondary nutrients, sulphur, calcium and magnesium, though reported to play key roles in the growth and development of crops, seldom get the recognition they deserve. There are no recommendations for these nutrients for most crops. At the same time, there are reports of increasing deficiency of sulphur, calcium and magnesium in the laterite soils of Kerala. Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a vital spice crop of the Zingiberaceae family. The rhizome, which is the economic produce, contains an essential oil, curcumin and related compounds as major constituents. There is immense scope for cultivation of turmeric in Kerala due to favourable climatic and soil condition. Turmeric is a crop requiring heavy fertilization for increasing yield and quality. This research programme was taken up to study the effect of secondary nutrients on the yield and quality of turmeric. The field experiment was conducted during 2013-2014 in the farm of the Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara. There were 10 treatments with 3 replications each. Treatments consisted of package of practices recommendations (POPR) of 40 tonnes farmyard manure along with 30:30:60 kg N, P and K/ha and its combinations with S, Ca and Mg applied one and two months after planting. Rhizomes were planted at a spacing of 25 × 25 cm and planting was done on 05 June 2013. Harvesting was done after seven months. Biometric observations were taken at monthly intervals and nutrient contents were analyzed at three and six months after planting and at harvest. Nutrient uptake was also worked out. Curcumin and oleoresin content in rhizomes were also analyzed. The soil pH and chemical parameters were determined before and after the experiment. There were significant differences among the treatments with respect to leaf area index, yield, nutrient content and nutrient uptake. In the case of leaf area index, the treatment receiving Ca as second top dressing (viz. two months after planting) recorded the highest LAI compared to other treatments. Fresh and dry yields of turmeric and benefit: cost ratio was also high in the same treatment. This treatment resulted in the highest uptake of all nutrients except S at harvest. Earlier application of sulphur, calcium and magnesium (viz. one month after planting) also led to higher yield and benefit: cost ratio, confirming the direct positive effect on yield. Absolute control recorded the lowest values for all parameters including yield and quality components. Future research should be focused on altering and testing the dose and schedule of application of S, Ca and Mg, and analysis of their interaction effect to maximize productivity, Application of micronutrients and optimizing their dose and schedule for higher yield and quality should also be attempted.
Nutrient management in organic farming of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)
(Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2014) Rasmi Krishnan, V; Usha, K E
A study on “ Nutrient management in organic farming of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) was carried out in the Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 2012-2013. The experiment consisted of 13 treatments including different combinations of organic manures and supplements, package of practices recommendation by KAU, inorganics alone and control to develop a nutrient management strategy in organic farming of cucumber. The variety AAUC-2 was used for the study. The organic manures viz., FYM, poultry manure, vermi compost, neem cake and liquid organic manures viz., Beejamrutham, Jeevamrutham, Panchagavyam and fish amino acid were the sources of nutrients. All the treatments receiving FYM as basal dose along with seed treatment with azospirillum, phosphate solubilizing bacteria and Pseudomonas have shown early germination and seedling vigour. Growth parameters like length of vine, number of leaves, number of branches were significantly influenced by the treatments. The treatment receiving poultry manure + N P K recorded the maximum vine length on 45 DAS followed by poultry manure + Beejamrutham + Jeevamrutham + mulching. Highest number of leaves was produced by poultry manure +fish amino acid treated plants followed by poultry manure + panchagavyam treated ones. The number of branches was also significantly higher in poultry manure + fish amino acid treated plots. The LAI was significantly higher in poultry manure + panchagavyam treated plants. The flowering was early as 27 DAS in the treatment receiving poultry manure + fish amino acid against 38 days in N P K alone treatment and 47 days in the absolute control. The fruits could be harvested from the treatment receiving poultry manure + fish amino acid on 35 DAS followed by that receiving poultry manure + beejamrutham + jeevamrutham + mulching. Yield and yield attributes like number of fruits per plant, mean fruit weight were also significantly influenced by the application of different organic manures. Highest number of fruits/plant and weight of fruits were observed in Adhoc Package of practices. Highest yield of 53.94 t ha-1 was recorded in plots receiving Adhoc package of practices recommendations by KAU (Organic farming) which was 5.5 t more than the present package of practices recommendations by KAU. The total productive period of the crop was higher in organically treated plots. The period extended up to 98 days in the treatment receiving poultry manure + fish amino acid as against 77 days in N P K applied plots. The highest shelf life of 8.5 days was also recorded for the same treatment. With regard to the soil microbial count at different intervals of crop growth, the treatment receiving jeevamrutham and mulching resulted in the highest bacterial and fungal count where as the neem cake application resulted in the highest count of actinomycetes. All the micro organisms were minimum in the treatments receiving chemical fertilizers. Statistical analysis by Kendall’s test by ranks of the acceptability score revealed that there was significant variation among the treatments in the quality attributes of fruits. The highest score for appearance and colour was also recorded in the treatment receiving panchagavyam followed by the one receiving fish amino acid. The overall acceptability was also more for the fruits from the organically treated plots. The treatment receiving Adhoc POP was found to be significantly superior to other treatments in getting higher gross income, net return and B:C ratio followed by the present POP
Production technology for organic sweet potato
(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2011) Dhanya, T; Pushpakumari, R

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