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ThesisItem Open Access Effect of inorganic fertilizers and bioinoculants on biochemical components, growth, yield of garlic (Allium Sativum L.) and nutrient status of soil(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Mamta; Sharma, RajniGarlic (Allium sativum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop which is used worldwide for culinary and medicinal purposes. The present study was conducted on garlic variety “PG-18” in a randomized block design during 2019- 2020. There were nine treatments which included various percentages of inorganic fertilizers (100% NPK, 75% NPK and 50% NPK) in combination with bioinoculants (consortium I and consortium II). Results reveals that supplementation of 75% NPK along with bioinoculants (consortium I or consortium II) gave the superior results than control (100% NPK) for most of traits such as plant growth parameters (plant height, leaf length, leaf width, pseudostem length and bulb diameter), yield attributes (total yield, marketable yield, 50 cloves weight and number of cloves) and biochemical parameters (total soluble sugars, reducing sugars, total phenols and total soluble solids). Moreover, nutrient content (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) of leaves and bulbs of garlic increased by combined inoculation of different combinations of NPK along with bioinoculants. Integrated application of inorganic fertilizers along with bioinoculants improved soil’s physico-chemical (pH and organic carbon) and biological (dehydrogenase activity) properties. Most of the parameters i.e. plant growth, total yield, nutrient, biochemical and soil properties decreased when the dose of 50% NPK supplemented with bioinoculants. Therefore, it can be concluded that integrated utilization of these bioinoculants along with 75% NPK improves soil health and it also offers scope of reducing the application of inorganic fertilizers to garlic crop by 25% without any loss in bulb yield.ThesisItem Open Access Improving seed longevity of maize (Zea mays L.) through desiccation and packaging materials(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Sukhpreet Kaur; Navjyot KaurThe present study entitled “Improving seed longevity of maize (Zea mays L.) through desiccation and packaging materials” was conducted during 2020-21. The seeds collected four months after harvest were desiccated to different moisture levels i.e., 12, 10 and 8% followed by storage in different packaging bags viz., laminated polypropylene bags, non- aminated polypropylene bags and polyethylene bags. Seeds with 12% moisture content stored in cloth bags served as control. Seeds of different treatments were stored under ambient conditions for 12 months. Physiological parameters were observed at monthly intervals and biochemical parameters were observed at three months interval during storage period. Germination percentage, seedling dry weight, seedling vigour index I and II and speed of germination decreased with increase in storage period; whereas electrical conductivity and mean germination time recorded a gradual increase with increased storage duration irrespective of different seed storage treatments. It was observed that seeds stored in laminated polypropylene bags and non-laminated polypropylene bags, polyethylene bags as well as cloth bags maintained the germination above 90% up to 13 months and thus complied IMSCS. Gradual decrease in germination was recorded with increase in seed storage duration and no seed storage treatment could maintain germination above IMSCS after 13 months of seed storage. The seed moisture content recorded fluctuations in accordance with relative humidity present in environment in all the packaging materials but greater fluctuation was observed in seeds stored in cloth bags and polypropylene bags as compared to seeds stored in polyethylene bags. Various food reserves viz., sucrose, starch content, oil and total soluble proteins decreased with increase in storage period; while total free amino acids increased with increase in seed storage duration. There was gradual decrease in α-amylase activity with increase in seed storage duration irrespective of the seed storage treatments. Antioxidant enzymes viz., superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase also recorded gradual decrease in their activities in all the packaging materials with increased seed storage duration. Protein profiling indicated that the intensity of electrophoretic bands corresponding to polypeptides of molecular weight 44 and 52 kDa was higher in fresh seeds as compared to 15 months old seeds stored in various packaging treatments. The present study suggests that polypropylene bags either laminated or non-laminated can be used as cost effective and durable packaging materials instead of cloth bags and polyethylene bags owing to their lesser cost and higher flexural strength.ThesisItem Open Access Physiological studies in pomegranate varieties differing in fruit crack incidence(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Gurleen Kaur; Nirmaljit KaurFruit cracking is a major physiological malady of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) that limits its productivity. The initiation of fruit cracking was observed initially in July and it continued till September. Among varieties, maximum cracking was observed in variety Jodhpur which was significantly higher than the other varieties, whereas it was minimum (Zero) in Kandhari at the three stages of study. It was observed that the fruits cracked in two patterns, viz diagonal and longitudinal. Cracking that starts from stylar end of fruit and with time extends to equatorial zone was regarded as longitudinal type, whereas the cracking that initiates between the two ends of fruit was diagonal type. Maximum diagonal cracking and longitudinal cracking was observed in variety Ganesh and Jodhpur, respectively. Again no diagonal as well as longitudinal cracking was recorded in Kandhari variety of pomegranate. During fruit growth, fruit weight, size increased significantly at each stage in all the varieties. The fruit juice quality parameters, viz., the juice content, TSS and juice anthocyanin increased significantly at each stage, whereas titratable acidity, juice antioxidants decreased significantly from July to September. The peel characteristics viz., the peel thickness, anthocyanins, cellulase and polygalactouranse activity increased significantly however antioxidants, phenols, peel moisture content continued declining till fruit maturity. Peel moisture percent and peel percent were high in Jodhpur and significantly low in Kandhari. Antioxidant activity in leaf and juice and phenols and peel thickness were higher in Kandhari, whereas activity of polygalactouranase and cellulase were higher in the peel of Jodhpur. The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were analyzed in leaf, peel and aril and low level of potassium was observed in Jodhpur in all the tissues, however nitrogen and phosphorus were higher in Jodhpur. There was a significant positive correlation of fruit cracking with physical parameters of the fruits viz., fruit length, breadth, size, weight, aril percent, peel percent, aril/peel ratio; leaf parameters, viz., phosphorus; fruit juice quality parameters, viz., total soluble solids, juice per cent, phosphorus; and peel characteristics viz., peel moisture percent, phosphorus, cellulase and polygalacturonase activity. A negative significant correlation was established between fruit cracking and leaf parameters, viz., antioxidants, proline content, nitrogen and potassium; fruit juice quality parameters, viz., acidity, anthocyanin, potassium and nitrogen; and peel characteristics viz., anthocyanin, peel thickness, total phenols, potassium and nitrogen. SEM examined the peel of Jodhpur and kandhari variety that reveals, the uniform cellular arrangement with no intercellular spaces and rounded cells in peel surface of Kandhari variety make it resistant to cracking while irregular cell arrangement with intercellular spaces and transversely longitudinal cells leads to high cracking in Jodhpur.ThesisItem Restricted Germination efficiency and plant stand in early sown synthetic wheat derived population(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Navdeep Kaur; Bedi, SeemaWheat crop has specific temperature requirements. In Punjab, wheat is generally sown from last week of October till last week of November and harvested after mid-April. The early sown crop has more time to attain maturity and produces higher yield than the late sown crop. However, a shift in sowing dates imposes temperature stress at different crop growth stages. The present study was conducted on synthetic wheat lines derived from Aegilops tauschii × Triticum durum with an aim to identify heat tolerant lines. These lines were evaluated at normal (25°C and 30°C) and high temperatures (35°C) under laboratory conditions and thereafter in field exposed to heat stress by shifting normal sowing date to early and late sowing. The activity of α-amylase was one of the criteria to determine heat stress tolerance at seedling stage. The lines HT8, HT12, HT13 performed well under high temperature stress in both laboratory conditions and in the field. Under laboratory conditions, these lines had maximum α-amylase activity and coleoptile length. In field conditions, these lines had high early growth vigor, yield and thousand grain weight. So, these can be identified as heat stress tolerant lines while HT140 and HT157 neither germinate at high temperature in laboratory nor gave much yield under temperature stress in field and also α-amylase activity was lowest. These lines were regarded as heat susceptible lines. The results of this study may prove useful in the selection of potential donors for heat stress tolerance.ThesisItem Restricted Mitigating heat stress through plant growth regulators in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Bhatia, Jaya; Ghai, NavitaThe present investigation was carried out to study the effect of GA3 and 4-CPA in mitigating heat stress in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Three cultivars of tomato viz. Punjab Ratta, Punjab Varkha Bahar-4 and LST-6 were selected for the study. Plant growth regulators are known to ameliorate the effects of elevated temperature through improving fruit set% and pollen viability thereby enhancing yield. Foliar application of GA3 (10, 20 and 30µg/ml) was done after three weeks of transplanting and application of 4-CPA (15, 45 and 75 µg/ml) was done at anthesis stage. Observations on morphy-physiological parameters, biochemical parameters and yield attributes were recorded at the interval of 10 days after treatment i.e between 30 to 70 days after transplanting (DAT). Application of GA3 and 4-CPA helped the plant to survive in heat stress by imparting thermo tolerance. Improvement in plant height, leaf area, chlorophyll content, carotenoid content, Hill reaction activity in leaf chloroplasts, total soluble proteins, total phenols, total soluble sugars and starch content was observed in treated plants as compared to controls. GA3 and 4-CPA also increased the cell membrane stability, proline content and lowered the lipid peroxidation in leaves. Along with this enhanced amount of lycopene content, titratable acidity% and total soluble solids were also recorded in tomato fruits. The increase in fruit set% and pollen viability was observed with the application of GA3 and 4-CPA which gradually resulted in increased number of fruits per plant and yield. The application of 75 µg/ml 4-CPA was most effective.ThesisItem Open Access Hybrid purity testing using morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular markers in maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Damanpreet Kaur; Navjyot KaurThe present investigation entitled „Hybrid purity testing using morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular markers in maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids‟ was conducted at Seed Physiology Laboratory, Office of Director (Seeds), during 2019-2021. The seeds of maize hybrid PMH1, its female parent (LM13), male parent (LM14); and hybrid PMH 10, its female parent (LM23), male parent (LM24) were procured from Maize Section, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PAU, Ludhiana. DUS (distinctness, uniformity and stability) were recorded by sowing the hybrids PMH 1, PMH 10 and their parents under field conditions and characters were recorded. Eight and seven DUS characters were found to be polymorphic which could distinguish hybrid PMH 1 and PMH 10, respectively, from their parental lines. SVI II of LM 14 was significantly higher than LM 13 and PMH 1. SVI I and SVI II of hybrid PMH 10 and male parent were significantly higher than female parent. SDS-PAGE analysis of hybrid PMH 1 revealed one polymorphic polypeptide band corresponding to polypeptide of 45 kDa in female and 50 kDa in male which can be used for confirming the hybridity of maize hybrid PMH 1; while hybrid PMH 10 did not reveal any polymorphism. Superoxide dismutase and esterase zymography of hybrid PMH 1 revealed polymorphism which can be employed to test PMH 1 hybrid purity; while these two isozymes did not recorded any polymorphic isozymic bands in hybrid PMH 10. Peroxidase zymography of both hybrids PMH 1 and PMH 10 revealed polymorphism which can be employed for testing hybrid purity of both the hybrids. In molecular analysis, out of 200 primers screened, six SSR markers viz., bnlg1036, umc2170, umc2069, bnlg1297, umc1227 and bnlg1754 were found to be polymorphic which had potential to identify hybrid purity of PMH 1. Seven primers viz., umc1627, umc1786, umc1366, phi080, bnlg1297, bnlg1203 and bnlg1036 were polymorphic and capable of identifying PMH 10 hybrid purityThesisItem Open Access Efficacy of Plant Growth Regulators on Fruit Developmental Disorder of Ber cv. Thai Apple(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Yadav, Himal; Nirmaljit KaurStudies were carried out to evaluate the “Efficacy of Plant Growth Regulators on Fruit Developmental Disorder of Ber cv. Thai Apple” at the Fruit Research Farm of Department of Fruit Science and laboratories of Department of Botany, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during the years 2019-20. Two foliar applications of NAA (10ppm and 20ppm), GA3 (10ppm and 20ppm) and CPPU (5 ppm and 10 ppm), first during 3rd week of October and second one month after the first application were given to the ber cultivars Thai apple and Umran, keeping unsprayed trees as control. The developmental studies were made at periodic interval, i.e. 15 DAFS till 180 DAFS stage for Umran and 30 DAFS till 105 DAFS for Thai Apple. At all the stages of development, the fruit weight, length, breadth and pulp weight was maximum with the application of 20 ppm NAA which was statistically higher than the control fruits in ber cv. Thai Apple. While in Umran, maximum fruit weight, length, breadth and pulp weight was attained with 20 ppm GA3. The stone weight and size increased from the initial stage till 70 DAFS and then decreased till maturity due to the developmental disorder in untreated trees of Thai Apple. The maximum stone weight, stone length and breadth was recorded with NAA (20 ppm) which was statistically higher than the control in ber cv. Thai Apple. While in Umran, maximum stone length, breadth and weight was observed with 20 ppm GA3. The ber cv. Umran fruit does not have the development disorder in the form of pit splitting, hence it was used as a check variety to compare the differences with ber cv Thai Apple which has pit split disorder. There was 96.66% pit splitting in fruits of untreated trees of Thai Apple, with maximum reduction in splitting with NAA (20 ppm) followed by GA3 (20 ppm). There were large irregular shaped hollow cavities in the mesocarp of fruits of untreated trees of Thai Apple, while no such hollow cavities were seen in the foliar treated fruits of Thai Apple. Therefore two foliar applications of 20 ppm NAA, first during the 3rd week of October i.e., at peak flowering stage followed by second spray after one month resulted in reduction of pit splitting to 30 per cent against untreated control in ber cv. Thai Apple which is attributed to the cell enlargement caused by the synthetic auxin NAAThesisItem Open Access Phenological development of gladiolus based on heat unit requirement(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Ravijot Kaur; Jhanji, ShaliniThe present investigation entitled “Phenological development of gladiolus based on heat unit requirement” was undertaken in the field area of the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, during 2020-2021. Corms of five gladiolus varieties namely Punjab Glad 3, Punjab Lemon Delight, CPG, Punjab Glance and White Prosperity were planted at 30 days interval from 28th September to 28th December and agrometeorological indices viz. Growing Degree Days (GDD), Heat Thermal Units (HTU), Photothermal Units (PTU) and Effective Night Temperature (ENT) were calculated. Punjab Glance took least number of days to blooming and plant senescence and accumulated minimum agrometeorological indices whereas, CPG recorded maximum number of days to blooming and plant senescence and accumulated maximum agrometeorological indices under all planting dates. Phenological model describing the detailed developmental stages and requirement of agrometeorological indices for each stage for gladiolus varieties was prepared by using Schwab’s developmental staging system. Minimum (98.57) days to blooming were recorded under September planting followed by October (104.75), November (111.93) and December (117.05). Punjab Glance recorded maximum sprouting of corms (100%) whereas minimum was recorded in CPG (81.66%). Morpho-physiological characters like maximum plant height (106.07 cm), number of leaves/plant (8.02), spike length (95.41 cm), number of florets/spike (14.21), floret size (8.78 cm), leaf area (446.74 cm2), dry matter accumulation at full spike senescence (28.14 g), corm diameter (5.16 cm) and weight of spike (48.16 g) were recorded in Punjab Glad 3 and maximum number of corms/plant (2.33), number of cormels/plant (47.17) and corm weight (35.99 g) were recorded in Punjab Glance under September planting. Postharvest quality parameters viz. minimum number of days for basal floret to open (1.30 days) in White Prosperity, maximum size of fully expanded floret (8.50 cm), number of florets opened at one time (6.33), water absorbed/spike (79.50 ml), vase life (9.06 days), percent opening of florets (79.5%), minimum loss in physiological weight (26.73%) and change in pH (0.1) in Punjab Glad 3 were observed under September planting. Regression analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between days to blooming, days to harvest corms and number of days to phenostage. Maximum correlation coefficient for days to blooming was observed with vegetative and spike emergence stages. Whereas, maximum correlation coefficient for days to corm harvest was observed with reproductive stages. Schwab’s staging system along with regression equations could be used to predict days to blooming so that planting could be done accordingly to get spikes near the desired date.ThesisItem Open Access Mitigation of salt stress in maize (Zea mays L.) by glycine betaine and glutathione(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2021) Chhatwal, Himani; Gupta, NamartaIn the present investigation, the effect of glycine betaine and glutathione on physiological and biochemical parameters was studied at different salt stress levels in maize (Zea mays L.) in two cvs. J 1006 and J 1007. The salt stress had adverse effects on seed germination and seed vigour parameters. Seeds of maize were subjected to different treatments viz. hydration, glycine betaine (10 mM, 20 mM) and glutathione (100 ppm, 500 ppm) at salt stress of 50 mM, 75 mM and 100 mM NaCl. Different parameters were recorded from seedlings after 10 days of germination. The seed treatments increased the physiological (percent germination, seedling length, seedling biomass, speed of germination, vigour index I and II) and biochemical parameters (total soluble sugars, total soluble proteins, proline content and activities of antioxidant enzymes viz. catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) of seedlings as compared to control. However, malondialdehyde content decreased with seed treatments at all salinity levels in both the cultivars. The results showed that glycine betaine 20 mM and glutathione 500 ppm were more effective than glycine betaine 10 mM and glutathione 100 ppm, respectively. Thus, the application of glycine betaine and glutathione could play an important role in improving the salt stress tolerance by osmoprotection and scavenging the free radicals.
