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ThesisItem Open Access Effect of planting date, weight of rhizome and spacing on the growth, yield and quality constituents on turmeric (Curcuma longa L)(Department of Horticulture (Plantation Crops & Spices), College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1983) Chatterjee, R K; KAU; Mohanakumaran, NThesisItem Open Access Divergence studies in pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Pair)(Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1989) Suresh Babu, V; KAU; Gopalakrishnan, T RThe present investigation on "Divergence studies in pumpkin (Cucurbita moschat a Poir ) was conducted at the College of Horticulture , Vellanikkara, Trissur during June 1988 - Marc h 1989. Seventy one pumpkin genotypes collected from different part of India and abroad were utilized for the study. The extent of variability and divergence among 50 selected genotypes were assessed and grouped into 5 clusters based on Mahalanobis D2 statistic . Cluster I, II, III, I V and V contained 2, 7, 9, 12 and 20 genotypes respectively y . Intercluster distance was maximum between clusters I and II and was minimum between clusters III and V . Cluster I showed maximum average intercluster distance with any other cluster. Screening 71 genotypes for resistance/ tolerance to pumpkin mosaic and yellow vein mosaic diseases revealed that all genotypes except C M 214 were susceptible. Artificial inoculation studies confirmed immunity of C M 214 (Nigerian Iocal ) to pumpkin mosaic virus and yellow vein mosaic virus .ThesisItem Open Access Homeostatic analysis of components of genetic variance and inheritance of fruit colour, fruit shape and bitterness in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)(Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1989) Abdul Vahab, M; KAU; Gopalakrishnan, P KThesisItem Open Access In vitro studies on the propagation of cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum maton)(Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1989) Reghunath, B R; KAU; Gopalakrishnan, P KThesisItem Open Access Standardization of growing media for dendrobiums (Qendkobium dpp.)(Department of Horticulture, Pomology & Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1989) Anitha, Paul C; Rajeevan, P KThesisItem 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 Effect of growth regulators and certain formulations on bunch development in banana var. palayankodan(Department of Pomology & Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1983) Rajendran, P; KAU; Aravindakshan, MThe yield of banana in Kerala remains very low inspite of the adoption of proper manuring and other management practices. Investigations have indicated that the main barrier to the increased production in banana is the lack of sufficient leaf area at the active phase of growth of the plants. The present experiment was conducted with the banana cultivar ‘Palayankodan’ under sparsely irrigated conditions with a view to increase the plant growth and ultimate yield by the use of growth regulators and commercially available formulations. The growth regulators viz., 2-4-D and NAA and the commercially available formulation namely ‘Navras Banana Special’ were tried at four different concentrations as given below:- 2,4-D - 5,10,15 and 20 ppm NAA - 20, 30,40 and 50 ppm ‘Navras’ - 0.25, 0.50,0.75 and 1.00 per cent The various chemicals at different concentrations were applied as two foliar sprays at three and four months after planting. A third spray was also given on the bunches immediately after the female phase of flower opening. On an overall analysis, 2,4-D at 20 ppm and ‘Navras’ at 0.50 per cent were found to be more effective in promoting the vegetative growth of plants. With respect to flowering and duration of the crop, the growth regulators alone had significant effects when compared to the commercial preparation ‘Navras’. The effectiveness also depended on the concentrations of the growth regulators. Thus 2,4-D at 20 ppm induced early shooting of plants by about 12 days whereas NAA at 50 ppm caused substantial delay in shooting. The chemicals at their various concentrations were not effective in influencing the bunch maturity, thus indicating that the applied chemicals caused the earliness or delay observed, through their influencedon the vegetative growth only. Consequent to the application of 2,4-D at 20 ppm the crop duration was advanced by 22 days. Contrary to this, NAA at 50 ppm delayed the duration of the crop. The treatments with 2,4-D at 5 to 20 ppm, NAA at 40 and 50 ppm and ‘Navras’ at 1.00 per cent were found to advance the ripening of fruits. The best quality fruits in terms of TSS and total sugars were obtained by the application of 2,4-D at 20 ppm. Among the concentrations of ‘Navras Banana Special’, o.5 per cent gave the best results with respect to the growth and yield of plants. When the concentration was increased further, there was a decrease in the performance of the plants. The optimum doze of ‘Narvas Banana Special’ was worked out to 0.534 per cent. The correlations worked out from the data collected revealed that the vegetative and bunch characters such as girth of psuedostem, number of functional leaves, total leaf area, length of bunch, number of hands and fingers per bunch, number of fingers per hand and weight of hand, length, girth and weight of fingers amply contributed to the overall yield in the form of bunch weight. The yield increase observed in the present study due to the application of 2,4-D at 20 ppm was by 88 per cent and that for ‘Navras’ at 0.5 per cent was by 96 per cent. The benefit/cost ratio worked out for these treatments did not differ and hence application of 2,4-D (20 ppm) and ‘Navras Banana Special’ (0.5 per cent) were equally good for increasing the yield. The present investigations were conducted under sparsely irrigated conditions where, irrigation was given just for the maintence of the crop. Further investigations with rainfed and irrigated ‘Palayankodan’ bananas may be of particular interest.ThesisItem Open Access Physiological investigations in relation to flowering, fruit set and capsule developmentj of cardamom (elettaria cardamomum maton)(Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1986) Vasantha Kumar, K; KAU; Mohanakumaran, NInvestigations were carried out at the Cardamom Research Station, Pampadumpara and at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 1982 – ’84 to gather information on the physiological factors governing flowering, fruit set and capsule development of the three popular cardamom cultivars, Malabar, Mysore and Vazhukka. Emphasis had been given to unravel the causes of fruit (Capsule) shedding so as to evolve methods of control. Studies on growth and development in a broad sense depicted that an individual tiller of cardamom had a biennial growth habit. The different aspects of flowering and fruit set studied. Indicated that the variability was high in the Vazhukka cultivar and low in the Mysore cultivar. An early crop bearing habit was exhibited by Malabar, whereas Mysore possessed a late bearing habit and Vazhukka exhibited varying trends. The percentage of fruit set was high in Vazhukka, followed by Malabar and Mysore. Influence of climatic components on the physiology of flowering showed that a distinct dry spell triggered the panicle initiation process. The onset of rain coupled with high temperature was congenial for flower opening. A high soil moisture status combined with a high status of relative humidity (which resulted from a well distributed rainfall) enhanced the setting of capsules. Histological studies conducted in the genotype PV-1 (Malabar) showed that differentiation of panicle primordial was more during November to March. A prominent vascular zonation was observed in the rhizome nodes prior to the initiation of panicle promordia. Histology of the seeds revealed the development of starch grains at the greenish- yellow seed stage. Biological assays for endogenous auxins, inhibitors and cytokinins in the developing capsules indicated a spurt in auxin and cytokinin activity preparatory to fruit set. The level of inhibitory substances rose after the fruit set stage, while that of auxins fell which favoured the formation of an abscission zone causing shedding of immature capsules. Exogenous application of NAA (40 ppm) and 2, 4-D (4 ppm) increased the plant height, enhanced the production of panicles and flowers, reduced dropping of immature capsules and increased the yield. The uptake of nutrients revealed that cardamom is a heavy feeder of potash. The Vazhukka and Malabar cultivars developed less nutrients than the Mysore cultivar for producing unit yield of capsules. Radiotracer studies showed that the photosynthetic efficiency of cardamom was more under low light intensities. The rhizome was found to be the main sink in a cardamom tiller. Gas chromatographic estimation of cardamom oils indicated that the Mysore genotype (PR-107) was superior in quality aspects (because of high content of the esters, alpha terpenyl acetate, geranyl acetate and linalyl acetate) when compared with the Vazhukka genotype (PV-5) and Malabar genotype (PV-1). For consumption as a spice as well as for distillation of the essential oils, the black seed stages (‘karimkai’) was the most idel stage in cardamom.ThesisItem Open Access Biochemical characterisation of coconut palms in relation to yield(Department of Horticulture (Plantation Crops and Spices), College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1983) Narayanan Kutty, M C; KAU; Gopalakrishnan, P KAn investigation on the morphological and chemical components of yield in coconut palms was conducted at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 1981-83, in order to characterise the yield of palms based on these characters. Sixty palms of the cultivar West Cost Tall (W.C.T.) were selected from the existing Plantation at Agricultural Research Station, Mannuthy comprising twenty palms each under low, medium and high yield groups (< 40, 40-80 and 80 nuts/palm/year respectively). Observations on morphological characters such as number of leaves, length of leaf, length of petiole, number of leaflets, length of leaflets, periodicity of leaf emergence and girth at collar were recorded at bimonthly intervals. Analysis of leaf samples from the leaf position 14 were taken up to estimate the contents of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, soluble sugars, starch, total phenols, free amino acids, total chlorophyll, catalase activity and peroxidase activity during March-April and September-October seasons. There was a significant positive correlation for number of leaves, length of leaves, number of leaflets, length of leaflets and girth at collar with the mean annual yield. The periodicity of leaf emergence had a negative correlation with yield. Among the mineral nutrients, nitrogen and potassium had significant positive correlation with yield. Phosphorus, Calcium and magnesium failed to show any linear relationship. The nutrient ratios viz., N/Ca, K/P, K/Ca, K/Mg and K/Ca + Mg also exhibited significant positive correlation with yield. The biochemical components such as soluble sugars and total chlorophyll content in the leaf lamina had significant positive correlation with yield. Total phenolic compounds present in the leaf lamina had a significant negative correlation with yield. Starch content in the leaf did not show such relations. The free amino acids present in traces in the leaf were identified. Leaf catalase and peroxidase activity exhibited no definite pattern of variation in relation to yield
