Browsing by Author "Usha, K"
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ThesisItem Open Access Effect of growth regulators on flowering pollination and seed-set in ginger(zingiber officinale, rose)(Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1984) Usha, K; KAU; Balakrishnan, SFlowering behaviour and floral biology of Rio-de-Janeiro and Maran and the effect of growth regulators viz., kinetin (5, 10 and 15 ppm), Ethrel (25, 50 and 100 ppm) and NAA (10, 25 and 50 ppm) in combination with two per cent urea and without urea on flowering, pollination and seed-set in Rio-de-Janeiro were studied at the College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural university, Vellanikkara during 1981-’83. The objective of the investigation was to assess the available varieties of ginger for flowering behaviour and to evaluate the effect of growth regulators with and without urea on the flowering behaviour, floral biology, floral structure, pollination and seed- set in Rio-de-Janeiro. (The possibility of overcoming the problems of shy and irregular flowering, poor pollen germination and the failure to set seeds also was explored during the investigation). (Among the 25 varieties studied, flowering was observed only in two varieties viz., Rio-de-Janeiro and Maran). Considerable variation was noticed between Rio-de-Janeiro and Maran with respect to flowering behaviour, extent of flowering, types of inflorescence, time taken for scape development, anthesis, anther dehiscence, pollen production, pollen fertility, style length and ovary length. Long but thin style was noticed both in Rio-de-Janero and Maran. Irrespective of the variety, flowers were found to rot/ and dry within 16 hours after flower opening. The maximum pollen germination (6.20 per cent) was obtained in the medium containing eight per cent sucrose, three per cent gelatin and 60 ppm boric acid under moist cotton covering in BOD incubator (26.50C). Coiling of the pollen tube during the advanced stages of growth was noticed. Pollination carried out in Rio-de-Janeiro and Maran employing the variables like stage of flower (bud stage, immediately after flower opening and three hours after flower opening), condition of stigma (partial and complete removal of style), density of pollen (smearing once, twice and thrice with standard brush), mixed pollen (ginger pollen with either Alpinia, Hedychium, Kaempheria or Costus pollen) and supplementary pollination (repeated pollination twice at two hours interval) failed to record any positive evidence of seed-set. Effect of growth regulators and urea on flowering behaviour, inflorescence characteristics and floral structures of ginger was evidenced during the study. ( Favourable influence of NAA 50 ppm on inducing early flowering, kinetin 15 ppm on the duration of flowering, NAA and kinetin on inflorescence production, NAA 50 ppm without urea on the number of flowers per inflorescence, NAA 10 ppm and all the three levels of kinetin on pollen production, NAA on pollen diameter, higher levels of Kinetin and Ethrel and lower levels of NAA on exine thinning, Ethrel 25 ppm in combination with urea, Kinetin 15 ppm with urea, NAA 50 ppm and Kinetin 10 ppm on pollen fertility, lower levels of Kinetin and Ethrel on reducing the style length, Kinetin 15 ppm and NAA 10 ppm on ovary length, Ethrel 25 ppm with urea and higher levels of NAA and Kinetin on pollen germination and NAA 50 ppm on pollen tube growth was revealed during the study.) Floral biology of Rio-de-Janeiro was not influenced by growth regulator and urea treatments. Abnormal floral structures occurred as isolated cases and therefore the role of growth regulators and urea in this respect was not clear from the results. (Pollination carried out in ginger (var.Rio-de-Janeiro) plants, subjected to growth regulator treatments with and without urea, employing the variables like stage of flower, condition of stigma, density of pollen, mixed pollen and supplementary pollination failed to result in seed-set.)ThesisItem Open Access Liquid formulations for production of organic oriental pickling melon (Cucumis melo var. conomon L.)(College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2014) Vemaraju, A; KAU; Usha, KThe study on “Liquid formulations for production of organic oriental pickling melon (Cucumis melo var. conomon L.)” was carried out in College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during 2013- 2014. There were two experiments viz. Effect of seed treatment with liquid formulations on germination and seedling vigour in oriental pickling melon and Evaluation of liquid organic manures on growth and yield of oriental pickling melon. The seeds treated with liquid organic manures showed better results in all observations such as germination percentage, length of radicle, length of plumule, dry weight, fresh weight and vigour index. The treatments receiving Panchagavyam+ Pseudomonas, Beejamrutham+ Pseudomonas, Panchagavyam and cow dung slurry were superior in early germination and seedling growth. The second experiment consisted of 11 treatments including different combinations of organic manures and supplements and package of practices recommendation by KAU. Saubhagya variety of oriental pickling melon was used for the study. The organic manures viz. poultry manure, coir pith compost, ground nut cake, neem cake and liquid organic manures viz. Jeevamrutham, Panchagavyam, Fish amino acid, Green leaf extract and Liquid extract of composite organic manures were the sources of nutrients. All the treatments except T were given basal and top dressing applicaton of organic manures as per the Package of practices recommendations (Adhoc) for organic farming : Crops. Seeds except in T 9 were treated with (Panchagavyam+ Pseudomonas) and have shown early germination and seedling vigour. Growth parameters like length of vine, number of leaves, dry matter production were significantly influenced by the treatments. The treatment receiving Fish amino acid recorded the highest length of vine (114.16cm) and number of leaves (37.66). Early flowering and harvesting could be achieved in Fish amino acid (22.66 9 and 50.66 DAS respectively) treated plots. Jeevamrutham treated plants had the highest dry matter production of 96.4g. Yield and yield attributes like number of fruits per plant, mean fruit weight, volume of fruit and yield per ha were also significantly influenced by the application of different liquid organic formulations. Highest number of fruits per plant (3.83) and weight of fruits (2.5 kg/plant), volume of fruit (770 cm 3 ) and yield per ha (30.33 t/ha) were observed in Jeevamrutham and Panchagavyam treated plots. With regard to the soil microbial count at different intervals of crop growth, the treatment receiving liquid extract of composite organic manure resulted in highest fungal population meanwhile Jeevamrutham had the highest bacterial and actinomycetes population . All the micro organisms were minimum in the treatments receiving Package of Practices recommendations of KAU. With regard to microbial count in liquid formulations the highest fungal and bacterial count was recorded in Panchagavyam followed by Jeevamrutham. NPK content was more in liquid extract of composite organic manure followed by fish amino acid. 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, texture, taste and colour was noticed in the treatment receiving Jeevamrutham followed by Panchagavyam and Fish amino acid. The overall acceptability was also more for the fruits from the organically treated plots. The treatment receiving Jeevamrutham was found to be significantly superior to other treatments in getting higher gross income, net return and B: C ratio followed by Green leaf extract and Panchagavyam.