1. KAUTIR (Kerala Agricultural University Theses Information and Retrieval)
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Item Assessment of greenhouse cultivation problems in Kerala(Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, KCAET, Tavanur, 2021) Deepthi S Nair; Jinu, AGreenhouses are framed or inflated structure covered with transparent or translucent material large enough to grow crops under partial or fully controlled environmental conditions to get optimum growth and productivity. Greenhouse have many advantages and some limitations also. Due to this farmer are abandoning this cultivation method citing crop failures after the initial phase. Thus, a survey was conducted to explore the reasons of failures of greenhouse farmers in Kerala covering all fourteen districts. Major problem faced by farmers was crop failure due to ageing of cladding material. So that fungal growth and dust deposit over the cladding material reduce the light transmission to the greenhouse which affect its microclimate and growth and yield parameters. To prove this, a field experiment was conducted during the period from April to June 2021 in the instructional farm of KCAET, Tavanur, Kerala. CO-1(Amaranthus green variety) was planted inside both cleaned greenhouse and uncleaned greenhouse (greenhouse without cleaned cladding material) and compared the microclimate and performance of Amaranthus in both conditions. Mean monthly values of light intensity and temperature were higher inside the cleaned greenhouse than the uncleaned one while relative humidity was higher inside the old greenhouse. Thus, crop growth parameters like plant height, number of leaves, number of branches and average yield per plant were higher inside the cleaned greenhouse than the old one whereas the inter nodal length of the plant was higher inside the old greenhouse. From this experiment, it was clear that the aging of cladding material has much influence on crop performance under the greenhouse. Other major problems faced by farmers were a decrease in soil fertility, Fungal/Insect attack inside the greenhouse, high maintenance cost 101 and structural problems of greenhouse, no demand and marketing facility of greenhouse products, etc. From the statistical analysis of survey details, it was clear that farmers are not satisfied with the greenhouse.Item Eco friendly weed management practices in transplanted rice(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture,vellayani, 1999) Renjan, B; Sheela, K RMundakan season, Virippu ,Punja Season, Summer Ploghings, Microclimate An investigation was underta:z~i;atthe State Seed Farm, Kottarakkara dur- ing Virippu 1998 to evolve ecofriendly weed management practices in transplanted rice. The experiment was laid out as factorial randornised block design with three replications. The treatments included, two levels each of summer ploughings, stale seed bed technique, and nitrogen application along with four controls (complete weed free, weedy check, hand weeded twice and pre-emergent herbicide followed by hand weeding). Two summer ploughings enhanced the growth characters of rice such as plant height, tiller count and 'lA!. Dry matter production and nutrient uptake of rice were also enhanced by two summer ploughings. Yield attributes and grain yield was significantly improved by two summer ploughings. The count of grasses, sedges and BLW and the total weed population was reduced by this practice. The dry matter production of weeds and NPK uptake by weeds were reduced by two summer ploghings. Weed control efficiency was also increased at all stages. Adoption of stale seed bed technique enhanced the plant height, tiller count, LAI, dry matter production and nutrient uptake of rice. The yield attributes and grain yield were significantly increased by the practice and the weed index was significantly reduced. The total weed population was also reduced at all observa- tions, The count of grasses and BLW reduced up to 40 DAT, while sedge popula- I tion was unaffected by the adoption of stale seed bed practice. Relative density of grasses and sedges were also reduced by this technique. The v, ced dry matter production, and nutrient uptake were reduced and weed control efficiency was increased by the stale seed bed practice. Delaying the basal application of nitrogen up to 10 DAT had no influence on the crop-weed competition and yield. The treatment combinations enhanced the growth and yield. T7 and T" re- corded the higher dry matter production and nutrient uptake of rice. These treat- ments also resulted in higher grain yield and lower weed index than other combi- nations. They also recorded the lowest total weed count, weed frequency and weed density at all stage of observations. Moreover, the combinations of summer ploughing, stale seed bed and nitrogen application helped to reduce the weed dry matter production and nutrient uptake. Compared to existing hand weeding practice all treatments showed their superiority in increasing the net income especially. T7 and Tg. T, registered the highest benefit cost ratio. The benefit cost ratio of treatment combinations was comparable to herbicide applicationItem Sturcture analysis and system dynamics of agroforestry home gardens of southern Kerala(Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1997) Jacob John; Achuthan Nair, MA study entitled "Structure analysis and system dynamics of agroforestry home gardens of southern Kerala" was undertaken during the period from 1994 - 1997 in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala State. The study comprised of a detailed agroforestry systems inventory description survey of the home gardens in the district, investigations on the system dynamics of two home gardens of the district, laboratory experiments to assess the allelopathic tendencies of some commonly grown multipurpose tree species and linear programming to develop integrated homestead models. The results of the survey revealed that the size of an overwhelming number of holdings was small. The species diversity and average number of plants per home garden was considerably high. Tuber crops ranked first among the crops, followed by fruits, oilseeds, rubber, spices, vegetables, timber and fuel trees and fodder crops. The tree intensity was found to increase as the size of the holding decreased. The frequency of occurrence was highest for coconut, followed by jack, mango, moringa, guava, wild jack and tamarind and lowest for the nitrogen fixing trees. Differences between the agroecological zones of the district with respect to the predominance of crop categories and tree species were also observed. The home gardens presented a multi-tier canopy configuration. There was no specific planting pattern or arrangement. The system, as a whole, was found to be profitable. The two year long field investigation on the dynamics of home gardens revealed that the tree components contributed considerable amounts of nutrients by way of litterfall, stemflow and throughfall. Nutrient addition took place mainly through organic manures at both locations. Harvested biomass accounted for removal of large quantities of nutrients from the systems. Coconut accounted for maximum biomass production and nutrient removal at both sites. The physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the homestead soil were better than that of the control. The soil in the homestead had a lower bulk density, high water holding. capacity, porosity and moisture "Content. An enhanced soil organic carbon content, available N, P and K status were also observed in the home garden. The soil microbial population (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria) was comparatively higher in the home garden. Nutrient cycling, recycling of crop residues and addition of organic manures helped in improving and maintaining the soil physico-chemical and biological properties of the system in a sustainable manner. The presence of trees lowered the soil temperature in the homestead, whereas relative humidity was maintained at an optimum level when compared to open condition. The light intensities at the floor of all the trees studied were invariably less than that in the open. Both the home gardens were found to be profitable. The tree-crop-livestock integration was a special feature which increased income considerably. Allelopathic inhibition of germination and growth of rice was caused by leaf extracts of all the tree species. Germination of cowpea was inhibited by the leaf extracts of acacia, eucalyptus, casuarina, ailanthus, tamarind, portia and cashew. Growth of cowpea was suppressed by leaf extracts of all the tree species except jack. The powdered leaf litter of all the trees inhibited rice germination and growth. However, jack did not suppress radicle growth. Cowpea germination was inhibited by the powdered litter of all the trees except jack and mange. Cashew, casuarina and jack did not suppress plumule growth of cowpea. Radicle growth of cowpea was inhibited all tree species. The integrated model for the 0.50 ha home garden with 23 enterprises was found to generate a profit of Rs. 10354.21 with an investment of Rs. 3262.30. The coconut-based mixed fanning model developed for the 0.40 ha home garden with 35 enterprises provided a net profit of Rs. 32464.32 on investing Rs. 45000/-.