Loading...
Theses
Browse
4 results
Search Results
ThesisItem Open Access Development of F1 hybrids of indeterminate tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) for protected cultivation(Department of Olericulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2015) Lekshmi, S L; KAU; Celine, V AThe present investigation entitled “Development of F1 hybrids of indeterminate tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) for protected cultivation” was conducted at the Department of Olericulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, from 2013 to 2015 with the objectives of identifying superior varieties and developing F1 hybrids of indeterminate tomato suited for protected cultivation. The study consisted of two experiments conducted in the naturally ventilated polyhouse of size 50 m x 20 m located at the Instructional Farm, Vellayani. In the first part of the first experiment, 40 tomato genotypes were evaluated for two consecutive years in an RBD with three replications. As the second part, 12 commercial hybrids were evaluated. The second experiment consisted of a 9 x 9 half diallel analysis laid out in an RBD with three replications. Analysis of variance showed significant differences between the genotypes for all the characters for two crops. Pooled analysis revealed that, LE 1 recorded the highest yield (2443.43 g) and fruit weight (108.13 g) followed by LE 7. LE 53 had maximum number of fruits per plant (65.00). In the present study, genotypes had wide variation for quality parameters. Fruits of LE 14 recorded highest TSS with a mean of 5.74 ºBrix. LE 7 had maximum ascorbic acid (30.13 mg/100g) and lycopene content (13.09 mg/100g). Beta carotene value was maximum in LE 16 (184.15 mg/100g). There was minimum incidence of pests, diseases and physiological disorders under protected conditions. Among the 12 hybrids evaluated, INDAM 9802 was the highest yielder (1444.40 g) followed by F1 T 30 (1412.22 g). F1 T 30 recorded maximum fruits per plant (35.66) which was on par with F1 Queen (35.55). Genetic parameters like phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation, heritability and genetic advance were studied to assess the genetic variability among the genotypes. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance were observed for characters like truss per plant, fruits per truss, fruit weight, fruits per plant, yield per plant and yield per plot. Path analysis revealed highest positive direct effect for fruit weight (0.3956), truss per plant (0.3558) and fruits per plant (0.3381). Based on D2 analysis the 40 genotypes were grouped into eight clusters. Cluster I was the largest with twenty four genotypes followed by cluster II with ten genotypes. Diallel analysis was carried out using nine parents selected based on genetic divergence and per se performance. The parents were crossed in a diallel fashion excluding reciprocals to obtain 36 F1 hybrids. The study revealed that P5 x P9 had the highest yield (3114.03 g) which was on par with P6 x P8 (3074.37 g) and P1 x P5 (3077.58 g). P1 x P5 had the maximum fruits per plant (103.93). The magnitude of relative heterosis, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis varied considerably. For yield, relative heterosis ranged from -32.40 to 92.72, heterobeltiosis from -47.14 to 89.54 and standard heterosis from 2.91 to 160.95. The σ2gca and σ2sca ratio indicated that non-additive gene action was predominant for all traits. Among the nine parents, P9 (LE 1), P5 (LE 20) P1 (LE 2), and P2 (LE 7) were superior for yield and yield attributes. The estimates of sca effects indicated that P5 x P9 (LE 20 x LE 1), P6 x P8 (LE 39 x LE 38) and P1 x P5 (LE 2 x LE 20) were the most promising hybrids for protected cultivation. The present study revealed that the genotypes LE 1 and LE 7 and the hybrids INDAM 9802 and F1 T 30 were superior for yield and yield attributes under protection. Based on the mean performance, standard heterosis and sca effects the three potential crosses viz., P5 x P9, P6 x P8 and P1 x P5 could be adjudged as suitable indeterminate tomato hybrids for protected cultivation.ThesisItem Open Access Farmer and consumer behaviour towards organic vegetables(Department of rural marketing management, College of cooperation, banking and management, Vellanikkara, 2015) Divya Vijayan; KAU; Ushadevi, K NOrganic farming is one of the several approaches found to meet the objectives of sustainable agriculture. The need for organic farming in India arises from non sustainability of agricultural production and the damage caused to ecology through the conventional farming practices. Organic farming practices are based on a maintaining harmonious relationship with nature aiming at the protection of the environment. India being an agriculture based on country has vast opportunities to go ahead in the field of organic farming. However, Currently, India ranks 10th among the top ten countries in terms of cultivable land under organic certification. The total area under organic certification is 4.72 million ha (APEDA 2013-14). This signals that potentials are huge and still it has to move forward. The study entitled “Farmer and Consumer Behaviour towards Organic Vegetables” was conducted with the main objectives to study the behaviour of farmers towards organic vegetable farming, to identify the barriers in the adoption process of organic vegetable cultivation and the constraints in marketing of organic vegetables; to examine the consumers behaviour towards organic vegetables and to identify the determinants of consumer behaviour towards organic vegetables. The study covered three districts representing central Kerala. The districts selected were Thrissur, Palakkad and Ernakulum based on the prominence of vegetable cultivation. Three blocks were selected from each district namely Pazhayannur block of Thrissur district, Elevanchery block of Palakkad district and Moovattupuzha block of Ernakulum district based on purposive sampling and expert opinion of field scientist. Thirty conventional farmers (10 each) from the three selected blocks were selected based on purposive sampling. Six organic farmers certified by INDOCERT were also selected for the study. Twenty consumers from each block were selected as sample respondents through snow ball sampling. Thus the total sample respondents consists of 30 conventional vegetable farmers, 6 certified organic vegetable farmers and sixty vegetable consumers. The objectives of the study were analysed with the help of statistical tools like Percentage analysis, Indices, Rank order scale, Likert scale of summated rating, One way ANOVA, Chi-square, Kendall’s coefficient, Kruskal Wallis test and probit model. Farmer behaviour towards organic vegetable farming is analyzed based on the variables like area under vegetable cultivation, major crop cultivated, mode of sale by farmers, interest in organic farming, and attitude and satisfaction level of farmers. The major crops cultivated by selected farmers include cowpea, snake gourd and bitter gourd .The study revealed that average area and productivity of crops from conventional farming is more. But the net income of organic farmers is more than the conventional farmers. All the selected conventional farmers prefer to sell their vegetables through VFPCK whereas organic farmers prefer direct sale. Majority of the farmers expressed their interest in organic farming but they are willing for only partial conversion by gradually reducing chemical application. The analysis of the attitude of the farmer respondents shows that both conventional farmers and organic farmers have highly favorable attitude towards to the statements related to fertility of soil, environmental friendly, health protecting and the quality of vegetables. Organic farmers have highly favorable attitude towards market demand, practical feasibility and low financial risk and premium price. . But the conventional farmer’s attitude is moderately unfavorable to market demand, practical feasibility and low financial risk. The result of ANOVA shows that there is no difference in the attitude of farmers in three districts. Based on the satisfaction index, study found that certified organic farmers are highly satisfied towards market demand, cultivation practices, availability of inputs, availability of labour and price of organic vegetables whereas, they are highly dissatisfied towards technical assistance provided and institutional support system for organic vegetable cultivation. The major barriers identified by the conventional farmers include disease, pest and weather related losses, high cost of production, huge capital investment, high labour cost, lack of knowledge of organic farming practices and organic certification procedures. On the other hand organic farmers identified pest related production loss, difficulties in getting organic certification, huge investment and lack of institutional support as the major barriers in adoption of organic vegetable cultivation. Major environmental barriers identified by all the selected farmers are the cultivation practices of neighbour farms and non suitability of land. Lack of organic marketing networks and competition with non-organic vegetables are perceived as marketing barriers by conventional farmers. Consumer behaviour towards organic vegetables is analyzed mainly based on their preference, awareness, attitude and satisfaction towards organic vegetables. Consumers have partial awareness towards various features of the organic vegetables. Majority of the consumers have complete awareness regarding availability, quality, nutrient value, health aspects, environment friendliness and price of the organic vegetables. However, they are not at all aware about standards fixed for organic vegetables and its labeling. There is no significant difference in the awareness level among district as per the result of ANOVA. Majority of the respondents (61.67 percent) preferred organic vegetables. Reasons for preference to organic vegetables are lower residues, better value for money followed by hygiene and eco friendly attitude of consumers. Kendall’s W shows perfect agreement among the consumers in the ranking of the variables. The study found that all the selected consumers have highly favorable attitude towards the quality of organic vegetables. They have moderately favorable attitude towards shelf life, nutritional value, environmental friendliness and chemical free features of organic vegetables whereas they have highly unfavourable attitude towards price of the organic vegetables. ANOVA shows difference in the attitude among the consumers of three districts. Based on the Kruskkal Wallis test the differences are mainly on perishability nutritious value conservation of environment and pest free nature of organic vegetables. The level of consumer satisfaction towards organic vegetables revealed that they are moderately satisfied with taste, nutrient value, freshness, eco friendliness, shelf life, value for money and source of information. However they are moderately dissatisfied with price, availability and marketing channels. ANOVA shows significant difference in the level of satisfaction in three districts. Based on Kruskal wallis, the differences are mainly on price, quality, availability, marketing channels, source of information and authenticity of organic nature. The important factors which influence the consumer behaviour towards organic vegetables are price, chemical and pesticide free, eco friendly vegetables, health aspect, availability of vegetables and distance to the market. Value for money and quality factors like nutrient value, more calories, hygiene, taste and freshness are also influencing them to certain extent. Study also revealed that consumer attitude towards organic vegetables is not determined by demographic nature of consumers whereas age is a determinant of the consumer satisfaction towards organic vegetables. Further, study points out that age and education are the determinants of consumer preference towards organic vegetables. As a whole, we could able to conclude that a complete change from conventional farming to organic farming practices is not practically feasible in the present agricultural scenario. The study found that the farmer’s attitude towards organic vegetable cultivation is indifferent. The farmers are not ready for complete change of their farming practice to organic farming especially due to their perception regarding huge investment, low yield and uncertainty in market demand. Moreover, consumers have also expressed their concern about high price of the organic vegetables. The limited in number of certified organic vegetable farmers also shows the reluctance of conventional farmers to enter into organic vegetable farming. Therefore it may be suggested that policy makers may encourage good agricultural practices among farmers by following judicious chemical application rather than focusing on purely organic farming practices. Government may also take measures to provide institutional support by conducting training programme awareness campaign and also by extending financial support. Moreover, the NGO’s, consumer organizations, farmer groups and Kudumbasree units can also come forward to encourage organic vegetable cultivation. It may be suggested that certification of organic products should not be entrusted with private agencies as it practiced now. Government or agencies in the public domain like Kerala Agricultural University can be competent authority for organic certification which will make organic certification accessible for small and marginal farmers.ThesisItem Open Access Impact of convection over the equatorial through on indian summer monsoon activity(Academy of climate Change Education and research, Vellanikkara, 2015) Gopika, S; KAU; Kurien, E KThe existence or nonexistence of break and active cycle of rainfall over the Indian subcontinent during the mid-monsoon months of July and August decides the success and failure of Indian monsoon rainfall. Effect of active or break cycle, convective systems and convection over the equatorial trough (ET) on Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) were studied. An increased number of convective systems in the west Pacific showed high negative correlation with rainfall over equatorial trough regions. During active monsoon years, cyclones are focused between 10° - 25° N and 110° - 140° E whereas the cyclones were widely distributed during the break monsoon years. The co-occurrence of active or break spells and convective activity have considerable influence on ISMR. During an active spell, enhanced convection was observed over North Indian Ocean (NIO) while during break spell it was over ET regions. Strong, widespread and short duration cyclonic activity over North West Pacific (NWP) resulted in a break spell in ISMR. The relative influence of El-Niño Southern oscillation and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events on ISMR have been further studied for the period 1950-2010. In order to look into the role of El-Niño on the monsoon, the SST data over five regions (REG-I to REG-IV) were studied. SSTs in the central Pacific (Niño 3.4; REG- II) and eastern Pacific (Niño 3; REG- III) regions were more correlated with ISMR during the observation period. Decadal analysis showed that the temperature of central Pacific region indicated rapid cooling in the recent decades and increased the temperature gradient between western and eastern Pacific Ocean. This cooling in the central Pacific could create La-Niña type conditions. During El-Niño (La-Niña) years, the weakened (strengthened) Walker circulation influence the summer monsoon rainfall over the Indian subcontinent. The newly created Walker circulation index is a promising tool to examine the strengthening (weakening) of the Walker circulation to predict the Indian summer monsoon in future research.ThesisItem Open Access Impact of heat and nutritional stress on the growth and reproductive performance of bucks(Academy of climate Change Education and research, Vellanikkara, 2015) Abdul Niyas, P A; KAU; Girish Varma, GA study was conducted to assess the combined effect of heat stress and nutritional restriction on growth and reproductive performances in Osmanabadi Bucks. Twenty four adult Osmanabadi bucks (average body weight (BW) 16.0 kg) were used in the present study. The bucks were divided into four groups viz., C (n=6; control), HS (n=6; heat stress), NS (n=6; nutritional stress) and CS (n=6; combined stress). The study was conducted for a period of 45 days. C and HS bucks had ad libitum access to their feed while NS and CS bucks were under restricted feed (30% intake of C bucks) to induce nutritional stress. The HS and CS bucks were exposed to solar radiation for six hours a day between 10:00 h to 16:00 h to induce heat stress. The data was analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. Both C and HS groups showed significantly higher (P<0.01) body weight and body condition scoring (BCS) as compared to restricted feeding groups (NS and CS). The allometric measurements also were significantly (P < 0.01) lower in restricted fed groups (NS and CS) as compared to ad libitum fed groups in CS bucks as compared to other groups (C and HS). Among the scrotal measurements, Scrotal circumference afternoon (SCA) and scrotal length afternoon (SLA) differed significantly (P<0.05) between the groups. The highest semen volume (P<0.01) was recorded in C group bucks as compared to other groups. The significantly (P<0.05) higher mass motility and progressive motility was recorded in C group bucks. However, both mass motility and progressive motility did not differ between the stress groups (HS, NS and CS). The highest plasma GH (P<0.01) was recorded in CS group and the lowest in rest all the groups (C, HS and NS). The highest plasma testosterone level was recorded in C group and the lowest in rest all groups (HS, NS and CS). The interaction between treatment and experimental days significantly (P<0.01) influenced body weight, BCS, allometric measurements, scrotal circumference, left testicular length and width, right testicular width, semen volume and growth hormone concentration. The higher expression of testicular Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) Messenger Ribonucleic Acid(mRNA) was reported in HS goats. Testicular section showed significant changes for different stresses. The highest loss of spermatid density indicating decreased spermatogenesis was recorded in CS followed by HS and NS 109groups compared to C group. It can be concluded from this study that when nutrition is not compromised Osmanabadi bucks were able to withstand heat stress. This is evident from the non-significant difference on various growth and reproductive parameters studied between C and HS groups. Further, the study also revealed that Osmanabadi bucks possessed superior adaptive capability to combined stresses simultaneously. This is evident from the significant interaction of treatment and experimental days on majority of the parameters studied.
