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Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar

After independence, development of the rural sector was considered the primary concern of the Government of India. In 1949, with the appointment of the Radhakrishnan University Education Commission, imparting of agricultural education through the setting up of rural universities became the focal point. Later, in 1954 an Indo-American team led by Dr. K.R. Damle, the Vice-President of ICAR, was constituted that arrived at the idea of establishing a Rural University on the land-grant pattern of USA. As a consequence a contract between the Government of India, the Technical Cooperation Mission and some land-grant universities of USA, was signed to promote agricultural education in the country. The US universities included the universities of Tennessee, the Ohio State University, the Kansas State University, The University of Illinois, the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Missouri. The task of assisting Uttar Pradesh in establishing an agricultural university was assigned to the University of Illinois which signed a contract in 1959 to establish an agricultural University in the State. Dean, H.W. Hannah, of the University of Illinois prepared a blueprint for a Rural University to be set up at the Tarai State Farm in the district Nainital, UP. In the initial stage the University of Illinois also offered the services of its scientists and teachers. Thus, in 1960, the first agricultural university of India, UP Agricultural University, came into being by an Act of legislation, UP Act XI-V of 1958. The Act was later amended under UP Universities Re-enactment and Amendment Act 1972 and the University was rechristened as Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology keeping in view the contributions of Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant, the then Chief Minister of UP. The University was dedicated to the Nation by the first Prime Minister of India Pt Jawaharlal Nehru on 17 November 1960. The G.B. Pant University is a symbol of successful partnership between India and the United States. The establishment of this university brought about a revolution in agricultural education, research and extension. It paved the way for setting up of 31 other agricultural universities in the country.

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20211
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Subject: Horticulture × Author: Beelagi, Ranjita × End date: 2022 × Start date: 2020 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effect of mulching and drip irrigation on growth, yield and fruit quality of Pomegranate cv. Bhagwa
    (G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2021-01) Beelagi, Ranjita; Singh, V.P.
    The present study entitled “Effect of mulching and drip irrigation on growth, yield and fruit quality of Pomegranate cv. Bhagwa” was carried out at Horticulture Research Centre, Patharchatta, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) during the year 2019. The experiment was conducted on 4-year plants planted at a spacing of 5m × 3m. The trial was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications and each replication comprised of two plants. The treatments consisted of three irrigation levels i.e., 100% volume of drip irrigation, 80% volume of drip irrigation, 60% volume of drip irrigation either with or without mulch. Surface irrigation 100% of water provided in the basin of the plants was taken as control. During the experimentation, observations with respect to soil pH, soil electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic carbon, available macro nutrients (N, P and K), soil temperature, plant height, plant girth, plant spread, plant canopy volume, number of flowers per plant and flowers per shoot, fruit set per shoot, fruit set and fruit drop percentage, number of fruits per plant, yield, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight and fruit volume, complete aril weight/fruit, 100 aril weight, 100 seed weight, rind thickness, total soluble solids (TSS), juice pH, acidity, TSS: acidity, total sugars, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars, sugar: acid, water use efficiency and water productivity were recorded. The experimental results revealed that the performance of pomegranate was influenced significantly under different mulching and drip irrigation treatments. 100% VDI with plastic mulch was found to be superior with respect to increment in growth parameters viz., plant height (0.65 m), plant girth (1.69 cm), plant spread (0.74 m) and canopy volume (8.60 m3). Yield and fruit quality parameters were also found to have maximum values under 100% VDI with plastic mulch which was closely followed by 100% VDI with organic mulch without having significant differences between these two treatments. In terms of fruit quality, the treatment 80% VDI with plastic mulch recorded maximum TSS, Juice pH, and lowest acidity while treatment 100% VDI with plastic mulch was found to be superior with respect to maximum fruit size, fruit volume, aril weight, seed weight and rind thickness. Similarly the study also showed significant influence of mulching and drip irrigation on percentage of fruit set, fruit drop and number of flowers per plant. Maximum soil temperature was recorded under 60% VDI with plastic mulch. Based on the overall performance of different mulching and drip irrigation treatments, it could be concluded that under tarai region of Uttarakhand, drip irrigation at 100% VDI with bicolour plastic (silver-black) mulch gave better quality fruits and higher yield. Moreover, the environmental concerns would be there with use of plastic mulches. As this was the data of only one crop season, so further experiments are required to strengthen the above findings. But overall it can be conferred that farmers can be advised to use 100% VDI along with mulch for obtaining higher yield and enhancing water use efficiency in pomegranate.