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ThesisItem Open Access Diallel analysis in rice bean(Vigna umbellata( Thunb.) ohwi & ohashi)(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1999) Preeti, S V; KAU; Radha Devi, D SA diallel analysis in ricebean (Vigna umbellata (Thunb.) Ohwi and Ohashi) was carried out in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, during 1997 - '98. The experimental material consisted of six parental lines and 30 F I hybrids, laid out in Randomised Block Design with three replications. The six parents were 3 LG, 5 LG, 6 LG, 8 LG, 9 LG, and 100 LG obtained from the germ plasm collection maintained at NBPGR, Thrissur. The observations were recorded on yield and yield attributing characters. Significant differences were detected among the mean performance of the genotypes, for all the characters studied. The combining ability analysis carried out by Method I, Model I of Griffing's approach (1956), revealed that the parent, 8LG was the best general combiner for most of the yield attributing traits. Among the crosses, 8LG x 3 LG exhibited outstanding sea for seed yield per plant. The crosses involving 8 LG were found to be good specific combiners. The combinations involving 3 LG and 6 LG also gave good specific combining ability effects. The numerical analysis by Hayman's approach indicated overdominance for almost all characters, which was confirmed by graphical analysis. The dominance of decreasing alleles in the parents was indicated by the negative value of F for all characters except, plant height, length of pods and number of seeds per pod. An almost equal distribution of genes with positive and negative effects was indicated by the ratio of H2 to 4H} for all the characters. The regression coefficient of covarince between parents and their offsprings in each array (Wr) on variance of all progenies in each parental array (Vr) did not- differ from unity, for plant height, length of pods, seed yield, 100 seed weight, days to maturity and protein content, indicating that assumption of non-allelic interaction was satisfactory for these characters. The Vr - Wr graph indicated that the parents were genetically divergent for days to first flowering, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, days to maturity, root weight and nodule weight. Manifestation of heterosis was seen for all the characters studied. Among the hybrids, 8 LG x 3 LG was the most outstanding for yield and yield related characters. The crosses, 8 LG x 9 LG, 8 LG x 100 LG, 6 LG x 9 LG, 100 LG x 8 LG and 6 LG x 3 LG also performed better in yield and yield attributing characters. In general, hybrids involving 8 LG and 6 LG were found to be heterotic.ThesisItem Open Access Anthracnose disease of vegetable cowpea [Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) verdcourt](Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1999) Praveen Kumar, M; KAU; Sally Mathew, KA study on vanous aspects of anthracnose disease of cowpea was conducted at College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 1997-98. Etiological studies revealed Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Sacc. and Magn.) Br. and Cav. as the main pathogen causing anthracnose disease in Kerala and the pathogen was found to be seed borne. Among the 50 genotypes tested, Kanakamony was found immune to the disease and seven genotypes were highly resistant to the disease. In ( disease management studies, all fungicides, botanicals and antagonist Trichoderma viride were equally effective under in vitro and field conditions. As far as disease control, yield and C:B ratio were concerned, mancozeb was found to be the best treatment. Summer season was found to be the best season for cowpea cultivation in areas where anthracnose is a problem. In crop loss assessment, significant difference was noticed between carbendazim treated and untreated plots in case of disease infection and yield, and yield loss of 53.85 per cent was recorded under natural condition due to this-disease.ThesisItem Open Access Biocontrol of rhizome rot of ginger using selected antagonists(Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1999) Julie George, K; KAU; Sukumaravarma, MRhizome rot of ginger cas used by Pythium aphantdermatum (Edson) Fitzpatrick is one of the most destructive diseases of ginger in Kerala. The pathogen was isolated and its pathogenecity was established by Koch's postulates in ginger variety Rio-de-Jenerio. Among the various food bases evaluated, for the mass multiplication of selected antagonists, rice hull was found to be significantly superior to all others to obtain maximum growth for Trichoderma viride and Aspergillus flavus. For Aspergillus niger, rice bran was found to be significantly superior. The results on the effect of various treatments on germination showed that there was no significant difference among the treatments. The effect of antagonists on the pre- emergence rotting and post-emergence rotting (rhizome rot) were studied. In plots where antagonists (T viride, Aflavus or A. niger) or fungicides (mancozeb or copper oxychloride) were applied either as seed treatment or as soil incorporation at the time of planting, the pre-emergence rotting was not observed. The plot in which the antagonists T. vtride, A. mger and At flavus were applied in combination at 60 and 120 OAP, recorded the minimum rhizome rot incidence compared to other treatments. The plots in which the antagonists were applied twice, i.e., 60 and 120 OAP, the rhizome rot incidence was minimum compared to the plots with only one time application of antagonists. The maximum population of the pathogen P. aphanidermatum. was observed in plot where A. flavus was applied in combination with mancozeb. The multiplication of selected antagonists, 7: viride, A. flavus and A. niger in soil was found out by estimating their population at different stages. The population of T. virtde was maximum in plots where it was applied in combination with mancozeb in most of the period. The soil application of the combination of antagonists T. viride, A. flavus and A. niger did not affect the multiplication of anyone of them in soil. In general, soil incorporation of antagonists was found to helping in their mulitplication profusely compared to the seed treatment. The incorporation of the antagonists A. flavus and A. niger to the plots, twice was found to be superior than applying them only once, for getting maximum multiplication of propagules in soil. The result on the compatibility of antagonist with fungicide in field condition revealed that the antagonist T viride was quite compatible with mancozeb whereas A. flavus and A. niger were compatible with both fungicides tested (mancozeb and copper oxychloride). The treatments which was found to be superior in minimising the incidence of rhizome rot of ginger viz., T 16 (soil incorporation of T vir/de, A. niger at 60 and 120 DAP) and TI9 (soil incorporation of I: viride, A. niger and A. flavus) also recorded the maximum yield of ginger.ThesisItem Open Access Economics of production and marketing of tuber crops in Palakkad district(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1997) Sheena, P A; KAU; Thomas, E KThe present investigation on the economics of production and marketing of tuber crops viz. coleus, sweet potato and tapioca in Palakkad district was undertaken during the year 1994-95. The study focussed on estimation of cost and returns and marketing system. Data for the study was generated through a sample survey of farmers, village traders, wholesalers and retailers. Two stage sampling technique was adopted for the study, with panchayats selected purposively and sample farmers by random sampling method. The sample size for each crop was 50 making a total of 150 sample respondents. The results of the cost structure analysis revealed that the largest single item of expense was rental value of own land for coleus and tapioca and for sweet potato chemical fertilizer had the highest expense. Among the explicit cost items male labour accounted the highest share in coleus while rental value of own land and farmyard manure were the most important item in sweet potato and tapioca respectively. Cost A1, Cost A2, Cost B1, Cost B2, Cost C1 and Cost C2 per hectare was Rs.10101.74, Rs.13016.86, Rs.10101.74, Rs.17593.80, Rs.10743.99 and Rs.18236.05 respectively for coleus and Rs.8124.94, Rs.8124.94, Rs.13304.05, Rs.8852.50 and Rs.14031.61 respectively for tapioca and Rs.6733.13, Rs.6733.13, Rs.6733.13 and Rs.9079.94, Rs.7311.04 and Rs.9654.84 respectively for sweet potato. The average per hectare yield of coleus, sweet potato and tapioca were 9154 kg, 8801 kilogram and 7398.73 kilogram respectively. Benefit-cost ratio for coleus was Rs.2.27, Rs.1.76, Rs.2.27, Rs.1.30, Rs.2.13 and Rs.1.25 based on costs A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 where as the corresponding figures for sweet potato were Rs.1.74, Rs.1.74, Rs.1.74, Rs.1.29, Rs.1.60 and Rs.1.21 respectively. In the case of tapioca Benefit cost ratio was Rs.3.19, Rs.3.19, Rs.3.19, Rs.1.95, Rs.2.93 and Rs.1.85. The income measures in relation to different cost concepts, in coleus cultivation such as gross income, farm business income, family labour income, net income and farm investment income were Rs.22884.72, Rs.12782.98, Rs.5290.92, Rs.4648.67 and Rs.12140.73 respectively and Rs.11734.04, Rs.5000.91, Rs.2654.10, Rs.2076.20 and Rs.4423.00 respectively for sweet potato and Rs.25895.56, Rs.17770.62, Rs.12591.51, Rs.11863.95 and Rs.17043.06 respectively for coleus. Functional analysis was carried out using Cobb-douglas production function and the results revealed that for coleus fertilizer was found to be negative and significant. The production elasticity of labour was negative and insignificant. Farmyard manure and planting material were found to be insignificant. With regard to sweet potato labour was found to be negative and significant and the production elasticity of fertilizer was found to be negative though insignificant. Farmyard manure and planting material was found to be significantly influencing production. Regarding tapioca the production elasticity of labour and farmyard manure was found to be negative though insignificant. The high value of production elasticity of area indicated the dominance of this particular factor. Marginal value product of farmyard manure and planting material for coleus and sweet potato were greater than their factor cost ratio and was negative for labour and fertilizer. In the case of marketing of coleus and sweet potato more than 95 per cent of the produce was sold to wholesalers through commission agents. The producer’s share was only 34.53 per cent and 31.76 per cent of the consumers’ rupee for coleus and sweet potato respectively. The index of marketing efficiency was 0.53 for coleus and 0.47 for sweet potato. Regarding tapioca the tubers who performed the role of commission agent and from them produce is taken by mill owners of Salem and Dindigul. Since there is a product diversification the marketing of tapioca tubers was studied only upto the intermediary level.ThesisItem Open Access Nutritional status of women engaged in the coir industry(Department of Home Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1996) Lovely, Ranganath; KAU; Vimalakumari, N KThe study entitled Nutritional status of women engaged in the coir industry was carried out of assess the nutritional status of women engaged in the spinning of coir yarn and to find out its influence on the work output, which in turn could affect their socio economic status. For the evaluation of nutritional status, the study was conducted in two levels – on a macro sample of 200 coir workers and on a microsample of 40 women coir workers. Details of the socio economic survey showed that the majority of families were small nuclear type, headed by male members following Hinduism. The main occupation of the community was coir work and in all the families at least one woman was employed in a coir cooperative society in the vicinity. Many of the families had a monthly income that ranged between Rs.1000 to 2000. Lack of permanent and full time employment, high cost of living , inability to educate their children, problems related to economic burdens imposed by repayment of loans and medical expenses, lack of housing facilities and absence of male earning members in the family were the important economic problems, in the order of priority, as felt by the families, which have led them to a life of miserable existence. Their poor socio-economic background is reflected the fact that the physical amentities available to the coir worker’s household left much to be desired. All the families were found to be poverty stricken when the Rural Quality of life Index (RQLI) was calculated. The families suffered from household food insecurity that their diets were ill balanced and were deficient with respect to pulses, egg, meat, green leafy vegetables and fruits. The poverty and poor food intake by the families were reflected in the socio economic characteristics and low nutritional status of the women coir workers though they were wage earners. The poor nutritional status is reflected in their poor stature which was suggestive of low food intake and dual responsibilities of the household as well as of the work site. Apart from this the dietary inadequacy was reflected in wide prevalence of anaemia among 85.00 per cent of the respondents, from the microsample, which was found to influence their work output. The work output and nutritional status which are interrelated seemed to be further influenced by the poor working conditions, absence of physical amenities, poor food intake insanitary conditions and consequent parasitic infections and infestations. However, it is gratifying to note that occupational disorders were not prevalent to an extent that merits mention. The coir workers when spin the golden yarns of the economic and social fabric of the state of Kerala, the land of palms, re found to be tredding through a path of poverty and food insecurity leading them to poor nutritional and health status. This makes them a vulnerable lot needing economical social support from the rest of the population and from the Government, through a multidimensional approach, so that they may have better health and nutritional status so as to become the torch bearers of our heritage, who may boost our economy paving way to healthy descendants.ThesisItem Open Access Economic impact of minor irrigation in Palakkad district(Department of Agricultural Economics College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1996) Aji, George C.; Thomas, E KThesisItem Open Access Entrepreneurial behaviour of rural women in Thiruvananthapuram district(Department Of Agricultural Extension, College Of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1996) Jayalekshmi, G; KAU; Shilaja, SThe present study under the title ''Entrepreneurial behaviour of rural women in Thiruvananthapuram district was undertaken to assess the entrepreneurial behaviour of rural women to study the personal and sociopsychological factors influencing entrepreneurial behaviour and the constraints experienced by the rural women in starting an enterprise. Rural women trained in mushroom cultivation and fruit and vegetable preservation were selected from College of Agriculture, Vellayani and Mitraniketan Vellanad. Thirty rural women each were selected from each centre for each enterprise. Thus 120 trained rural women were selected. Another 60 untrained rural women were also selected as control. Thus the total sample comprised of 180 with five groups of respondents. Data was collected using interview schedule and suitable statistical techniques were employed in the analysis of data. An entrepreneurial development index was developed and found that the factors such as economic motivation, risktaking ability, decision making ability, achievement motivation, management orientation, competition orientation and self confidence were the major dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour. With regard to the profile of rural women, the rural women selected, both trained and untrained belonged to young age group and majority of them belonged to backward caste. Educational status and family educational status of the selected respondents were high school and above. More than 50 per cent of them have land holding ranging from 15-20 cents and annual income between Rs.15000-20000. More than 55 per cent of the rural women have taken up self employment. Above 50 per cent of the rural women have high information seeking behaviour, mass media contact, social participation, level of aspiration and attitude towards self employment. Majority of the rural women have low cosmopoliteness. Cent per cent of the trained rural women have high knowledge of the technology. Except rural women in group II & V all others have high entrepreneurial behaviour. Comparison of the five groups revealed that they were on par with respect to age, landholding, annual income and social participation. Majority of the trained rural women belonged to backward caste and untrained belonged to scheduled caste. The trained rural women differed significantly with the untrained in their educational status, family educational status, occupation, information seeking behavior and perceived knowledge of the technology. There was significant difference among the groups with respect to mass media contact, level of aspiration, cosmopoliteness and entrepreneurial behavior. Relationship of the personal and socio-psychological factors with the entrepreneurial behavior showed that in the case of group I, variables namely educational status of the family, information seeking behavior, mass media contact, level of aspiration, attitude towards self employment and perceived knowledge of the technology were positively and significantly correlated. In the case of group II, caste educational status of the respondents and family, information seeking behavior, mass media contact, social participation, level of aspiration, cosmopoliteness, attitude towards self employment and perceived knowledge of the technology were positively and significantly correlated with the entrepreneurial behavior. Only educational status of the family was found to have a positive and significant relationship with the entrepreneurial behavior of group III. In the case of group IV, caste, educational status of the respondent and family, annual income, information seeking behavior, mass media contact, cosmopoliteness, level of aspiration, attitude towards self employment and perceived knowledge of the technology were positively and significantly correlated with the entrepreneurial behaviour. In the case of group V a positive and significant relationship exists between entrepreneurial behavior and educational status of the respondent and family, annual income, information seeking behavior, mass media contact, social participation, cosmopoliteness, attitude towards self employment and perceived knowledge of the technology. With regard to the constraints experienced by the rural women, ‘Marketing problem and lack of financial assistance were the constraints in both the enterprises followed by non-availability of spawn in mushroom cultivation and high cost of fruits in fruit and vegetable preservation.ThesisItem Open Access Induction of polyploidy in kacholam(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1996) Ajithmohan, N K; KAU; Pushkaran, KA trial on induction of polyploidy in Kaempferia galanga L. was undertaken at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, during the period 1994-'95. A local selection Vellanikkara collected from the genetic stock maintained at AICRP on M & AP was used for the study. The objective was to create variability in kacholam by developing polyploids. The rhizomes of the crop were treated with colchicine for inducing polyploidy. Five concentration of colchicine viz., 0.05, 0.15, 0.25, 0.35 and 0.45 per cent (C2 to C6, C1 being control i.e., 0%) was tried for two time durations viz., four hours and six hours (T1 and T2), the same treatment being repeated on two consecutive days. Two methods of treatment were tried the first (M1) being chemical application in a hole drilled close to the sprouting bud and the second (M2) being the ordinary cotton swab method. Rhizomes with two different stages of bud sprouting were used: (1) with just emerging buds (S1) and (2) buds at an advanced stage of sprouting (S2). The treated rhizomes were planted in the field and their growth was examined. In the end of the crop season, 18 variant plants were identified and they were put to detailed morphological and cytological study in the next growing season. Mitotic study of the parent material confirmed that the chromosome number of kacholam is 55. Of the 18 variants identified one was found to contain 110 chromosomes in the somatic cells. As kacholam is proposed to be a pentaploid the induced polyploid must be a decaploid. The polyploid was obtained from the treatment combination S1M1T1C6. It was characterised by small plant size and reduced vigour. The leaves were thick with reduced size. Stomatal size increased conspicuously with their numbers reduced. The rhizome development was found retarded and the per plant yield was also less. The rhizome morphology was on par with the normal plants. The plant flowered neither in the first season nor in the second. In addition to the polyploid, there other stable variants were obtained from the experiment. They were also characterised by reduced vigour and yield.ThesisItem Open Access Induction of autotetraploid in ginger(Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1996) Sheeba, P T; KAU; Alice, KurianA study was conducted at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during the year 1994-95 with a view to induce autotetraploids and to create variability in ginger. Induction of autotetraploidy was tried in four commercial varieties of ginger namely Himachal Pradesh, Maran, Nadia and Rio-de-Janeiro using three concentrations of colchicines (0.10, 0.25 and 0.40%) and two methods of application (injection and hole). The effect of colchicines on survival of plants and cytomorphological characters were recorded. Colchicine treatment by the hole method reduced the survival of plants which decreased with increase in concentration. The colchicines treated plants showed slower initial growth which exceeded the control during later stage of growth. Number of tillers, number of leaves and leaf area were not significantly influenced by colchicines treatment. Application of colchicines at low concentration is advocated in ginger to have a stimulatory effect on biometric characters. Hole method of treatment was preferential to injection in having a positive influence on biometric characters. With respect to yield, colchicines at the lowest concentration of 0.10 per cent applied by hole method recorded the highest yield. Stomatal size and frequency were not significantly influenced by varieties, concentrations and methods of application. Individual plants with fewer stomata and larger size were isolated as suspected autotetraploids. Out of the thirteen plants, plants with 2n = 44 against 2n = 22 in control were confirmed as autotetraploids. Two autotetraploids were derived from the variety Himachal Pradesh treated with 0.25 per cent colchicine by injection method and Rio-de-Janeiro treated with 0.10 per cent colchicines by hole method. The autotetraploids were characterized by slower initial growth which surpassed the diploid control during later stages, reduced number of tillers and leaves with increased leaf area and larger epidermal cells and stomata with reduced number/mm2 of leaf. The autotetraploid derived from Rio-de-Janeiro showed increased pollen fertility than the diploid. The autotetraploids recorded higher rhizome yield than the corresponding diploids consistently during the second year also. Morphological variants with higher yield potential than the autotetraploids were also screened out for further evaluation.
