1. KAUTIR (Kerala Agricultural University Theses Information and Retrieval)

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    Influence of post-bunching sprays of cytokinin, potassium and calcium on yield and shelf life of banana (Musa AAB Nendran) fruits
    (Department Of Pomology And Floriculture, College Of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1999) Sindhu, T S; Sajan Kurien
    The experiment entitled " Influence of post - bunching sprays of cytokinin, potassium and calcium on yield and shelf life of banana (Musa AAB Nendran) fruits" were carried out in the Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara. The study was investigated during two seasons from 1997 to 1999 with the objective of increasing the yield and shelf life by bunch management sprays in plants which had been given bunch stalk feeding of urea, primarily by use of a nutrient viz., potassium; secondly by use of a nutrient which acts in preserving the integrity of the cell wall viz., calcium and thirdly, a plant growth regulator with known anti- senescence properties viz., cytokinin. The study emphasized the overall superiority ofMpercent.K2S04 sprays applied at third and fourth week after bunch emergence. Yield and yield components like the finger characters such as length, grade and FCr were improved by the treatments. A delay in maturity and ripening and an extended shelf life were observed. The quality of treated fruits revealed reduced acidity, increased sugar contents, higher urease activity, lower residual urea and lower levels of nitrite nitrogen. Electrolytic leakage was also less in K treated fruits. Among the cytokinin treatments 50 mg l' of kinetin and 75 mg r' of BA applied at third and fourth week after bunch emergence proved better. Yield and yield parameters i.e., bunch weight and finger characters such as length, grade and FCr were significantly improved by the bunch management practises involving post- bunching sprays of cytokinin. The. kinetin sprays delayed maturity and ripening besides, qualitatively improving the shelf life. Calcium infiltration technique could reduce the percentage reduction in finger weight significantly and qualitatively increase shelf life. Also an increase in quality by way of reduction in acidity and increase in total soluble solids, especially in calcium infiltration treatments was observed. The electrolytic leakage of fruits was found to be less in calcium infiltrated fruits and above all, the effective treatments were more acceptable in terms of taste. The calcium content in the pulp and peel were increased due to infiltration. Analysis of the calcium content in calcium treated fruits revealed that calcium content was more in the peel than in the pulp. Sensory evaluation carried out by a taste panel revealed that consumer acceptability of treated fruits was in no way reduced.
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    Suitability of sul-po-mag as a potassium cum magnesium fertilizer for banana in Kerala
    (Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1997) Anila Mathew; Chinnamma, N P
    The present investigation was carried out in the Department of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during the period of September 1994 to August 1995. The study was aimed to bring to light the suitability of Sul-Po-Mag as a potassium cum magnesium fertilizer for banana in Kerala. The treatments included Sul-Po-Mag substitutes of potassium to the extend of -25, 50 and 100 per cent in the normal recommended dose of NPK as urea, diammonium phosphate and muriate of potash at the rate of 190 g N, 115 g P205 and 300 g K20 per plant per year. Treatments of muriate of potash supplemented with magnesium and sulphur separately and with magnesium and sulphur together were also included and they were compared with the recommended practice. The experiment was laid out in randomised block design with three replication. During the early stages of growth, the treatments failed to influence the morphological characters such as height, girth and number of leaves of the plant. But at the later stages, the girth and the number of leaves differed significantly and the application of Sul-Po-Mag showed a favourable influence on these characters. No significant difference was observed in characters like total number of suckers, days to flower, days to mature and total duration of the crop among the treatments. Among the bunch characters, numbers of hands, length and girth of fingers and bunch weight were influenced by the difference in treatments while the number of fingers per bunch and weight of fingers remained unaffected. The maximum yield was given by the treatment where potassium was supplied by Sul-Po-Mag and muriate of potash in half doses. Though the treatments differed significantly in yield from the control, where no fertilizer was applied, the treat- ments of muriate of potash and Sul-Po-Mag are on par indicating that Sul-Po-Mag is as good as MOP for its capacity to meet potassium requirement of the crop. The treatments did not differ significantly in quality parameters such as reducing sugars, total sugars, sugar acid ratio, weight of pulp and peel and pulp peel ratio. But significant difference was observed with total soluble solids, ascorbic acid content, non reducing sugars and acidity. High value of these characters were recorded with Sul-Po-Mag except for the reducing sugars and total sugars. Treat- ments with magnesium and sulphur were found to decrease the sugar content of fruits. High pulp peel ratio of Sul-Po-Mag treatments showed increased storage quality. The nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur contents of leaves remained unaffected both at vegetative and harvest phases, while potassium, calcium and magnesium differed significantly between the treatments. The contents in leaf of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S were decisively influenced by the treatments at the time of shooting. Nutrient contents of leaves were found to increase till shooting and a drastic reduction was observed thereafter. Calcium, magnesium and sulphur contents in the fertilizer increased their availability in soil and the plant content. Treatments with Sul-Po-Mag and magnesium showed high content of potassium in leaves. The contents of potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur were found to be the highest in the pseudostem followed by leaves. Rhizome and fruit also showed appreciable amount of these nutrients. The total uptake of potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur ranged between 365.26-221.06, 73.57-57.97, 4.45-14.5 and 3.71-4.94 g plant-1 respectively. Only the total uptake of magnesium was decisively influenced by the treatments. The maximum values of uptake of magnesium found in treatment which was supplied with Mg equivalent to that present in half dose of Sul-Po-Mag. Available P, available K and available S contents of the soil were found to be nonsignificant both at vegetative and harvest stages. The sulphate containing treatments were found to decrease the pH of the soil. Maximum electrical conductance was found with Mg supplied treatments. Organic carbon content was found to be significant only at harvest stage. Calcium, magnesium and sulphur contents in the fertilizer were found to increase the soil content of these elements.