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University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru
University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore, a premier institution of agricultural education and research in the country, began as a small agricultural research farm in 1899 on 30 acres of land donated by Her Excellency Maharani Kempa Nanjammanni Vani Vilasa Sannidhiyavaru, the Regent of Mysore and appointed Dr. Lehmann, German Scientist to initiate research on soil crop response with a Laboratory in the Directorate of Agriculture. Later under the initiative of the Dewan of Mysore Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah, the Mysore Agriculture Residential School was established in 1913 at Hebbal which offered Licentiate in Agriculture and later offered a diploma programme in agriculture during 1920. The School was upgraded to Agriculture Collegein 1946 which offered four year degree programs in Agriculture. The Government of Mysore headed by Sri. S. Nijalingappa, the then Chief Minister, established the University of Agricultural Sciences on the pattern of Land Grant College system of USA and the University of Agricultural Sciences Act No. 22 was passed in Legislative Assembly in 1963. Dr. Zakir Hussain, the Vice President of India inaugurated the University on 21st August 1964.
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ThesisItem Open Access STUDIES ON BIOAVAILABILITY OF NUTRIENTS IN DECOMPOSED CRUSHED SEEDS, OIL CAKES AND DEOILED CAKES OF NEEM (Azadirachta indica)(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2017-07-26) KIRAN, S. C.; NAGARAJAIAH, CAn experiment was conducted to study the “Bioavailability of nutrients in decomposed crushed seeds, oil cakes and deoiled cakes of neem (Azadirachta indica)” under the greenhouse condition. The three forms of neem cakes were subjected to decomposition for a period of 30, 60 and 90 days in a plastic containers of capacity five kg. The chemical composition of deoiled cake was 4.51 % N, 0.79 % P, 1.40 % K, 57 ppm Zn, 640 ppm Fe, 1.40 ppm Ca and oil content 1.09 % while in oil cake and crushed seeds 4.21 and 3.99 % N, 0.71 and 0.64 % P, 1.30 and 1.10 % K, 49 and 43 ppm Zn, 630 and 633 ppm Fe, 1.40 and 1.30 ppm Ca and oil content 10.27 and 22.53 % respectively. The nutrient release has increased by increasing number of days of decomposition and the higher nutrient release was observed in deoiled cake at 90 days of decomposition as compare to oil cake and crushed seeds at 30, 60 and 90 days decomposition. The effect of decomposed material thus obtained after 30, 60 and 90 days of decomposition was tested on maize crop. It was found to have enhanced growth parameters in terms of plant height, fresh weight and dry weight, root length, nutrient uptake and SPAD chlorophyll in the treatment deoiled cake.ThesisItem Open Access ASSESSMENT OF DIVERSITY MEASURES OF BIOLOGICAL HETEROGENEITY USING INSECTS ATTRACTED TO LIGHT(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2017-07-24) JOSHUA MATATA, KIMONDIU; GANESHAIAH, K. N.A study was undertaken to assess (a) temporal patterns of insect activity and diversity, (b) evaluate the measures of biological diversity and, (c) identify possible indicator groups of total insect diversity in an agroecosystem at GKVK Campus, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. The study used light traps to collect insects from 8th May, 2015 to 6th December, 2016 at 21 day intervals. A total of 209,098 individuals belonging to 764 morpho-species or Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), representing 101 families from 12 orders were collected. The Simpson’s index of diversity was 0.9732, the Shannon- Wiener index was 4.4443 and Avalanche index was 1.1693. Five orders, viz., Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera dominated the collections. The relative proportions of these five orders at GKVK agroecosystem were different from those of the global and Indian insect communities; Coleoptera was over represented at GKVK while Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera were under represented. Order Coleoptera was found to be a good indicator of the total insect diversity and this perhaps is because it was the most predominant component of the collections. The study recommends that light traps may be used for addressing broad ecological questions and to estimate the total insect diversity. While Simpson and Shannon-Weiner indices were strongly correlated with the species richness, Avalanche Index (AI) was not; probably because the biological heterogeneity that AI captures was not strongly reflected in species richness.Insect diversity and abundance was higher during summer and post monsoon and less during winter and rainy seasons. Rainfall and relative humidity over three days negatively affected the insect diversity and activity. Temperature cumulated over three week period negatively impacted the species richness though the abundance was not affected. Width of body increased with length at higher rate in Coleoptera and Hemiptera than Hymenoptera and Diptera suggesting that the former tend to become broader than the later. Coleoptera also had higher rate of increase in body weight with length probably due to the elytra. We have argued that insects adopt varying degrees of the two competing strategies for their protection: Thickening of forewing and adoption of flight agility. While Coleoptera and Hemiptera adopt the former, the Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera adopt the later strategy.ThesisItem Open Access RECLAMATION OF PROBLEMATIC SOIL THROUGH TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS AND AFFORESTATION WITH SUITABLE TREE SPECIES(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2017-07-14) BHARATH, M. K.; Mahadeva Murthy, M.Land degradation due to sodicity continues to be a serious impediment to the maintenance of sustainable and profitable land use systems in arid and semi-arid regions. With this background, a study was carried out at V. C. Farm, Mandya, Karnataka to reclaim the sodic soil through suitable technological interventions viz., application of gypsum, FYM and cross trenches as well as by identifying suitable tree species, where the soil was sodic with pH 8.69, EC 0.96 (dSm-1), OC 0.27 % and ESP of 25.57 %, respectively. Based on the socio-economic benefits and local utility, one year old healthy seedlings of eight tree species, Viz., Syzygium jambolana, Grevillea robusta, Melia dubia, Simarouba glauca, Pongamia pinnata, Terminalia catappa, Syzygium cumini and Terminalia arjuna were selected. Observations on plant height, collar diameter, root length, number of secondary roots and total dry matter were recorded at periodic intervals till 180 days after planting. Per cent increase in plant height over control was highest in Syzygium jambolana (26.89 %) followed by Terminalia catappa (23.29 %) and collar diameter was highest in Terminalia catappa (17.33 %), Syzygium cumini (12.70 %) further, the total dry matter was highest in Melia dubia (44.73 %) and Syzygium cumini (37.84 %), and Melia dubia showed highest survival rate (23.97 %) over control. Chemical properties of soil was also improved with pH 8.22, EC 0.68 dSm-1, OC 0.50 % and ESP 11.68 % at 180 DAP compare to control. In the present investigation, Syzygium cumini, Pongamia pinnata and Syzygium jambolana performed better.ThesisItem Open Access STUDIES ON EFFECT OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE COMPOST ON THE GROWTH AND PERFORMANCE OF PONGAMIA (Millettia pinnata L.) SEEDLINGS(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2016-12-23) PRAFUL, C.; Nagarajaiah, C.Pot culture experiment, "Studies on effect of municipal solid waste compost on the growth and performance of pongamia (Millettia pinnata L.) seedlings", was conducted in green house at Dept. of Forestry and Environmental Science, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru during 2015 for 90 days. The experiment comprising of thirteen treatments namely T1 - control (5 kg red soil and 2.5 kg sand in 2:1 ratio), T2 - MSWC 25 g , T3 - MSWC 50 g , T4 - MSWC 75 g , T5 - MSWC 100 g, T6 - FYM 25 g , T7 - FYM 50 g , T8 - FYM 75 g , T9 - FYM 100 g , T10 - MSWC 12.5 g : FYM 12.5 g , T11 - MSWC 25 g : FYM 25 g , T12 - MSWC 37.5 g : FYM 37.5 g , and T13- MSWC 50 g : FYM 50 g with fixed quantity of 5 kg red soil and 2.5 kg of sand in all treatments, were laid out in completely randomized design with five replications. The results revealed that application of municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) in combination with farm yard manure (FYM) at 50 g each improved soil physical properties such as bulk density (1.39 g cc-1), water holding capacity (32.10 %), organic carbon (1.30 %), available nitrogen (263 kg ha-1), phosphorus (30.50 kg ha-1) and potassium (78.08 kg ha-1). Further the same treatment improved the plant height (31.64 cm), number of leaves (20), stem collar diameter (5.72 mm) and dry weight (28.10 g) of pongamia seedlings at the end of experiment as compared to MSWC or FYM alone.ThesisItem Open Access RELATION BETWEEN BIOMASS AND DIVERSITY OF INSECTS: A STUDY USING LIGHT TRAPPED INSECTS(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2016-09-01) GYANESHWAR, JHA; GANESHAIAH, K NA study was conducted to explore the seasonal variation in the abundance and diversity of insects attracted to light trap, and the relationship between biomass and diversity of insect. The study was conducted at GKVK campus, Bengaluru for twelve months (May, 2015 to April, 2016) at an interval of 21 days. A total of 16 samples throughout the year yielded 65,469 insects belonging to 639 OTUs. Species richness peaked during early rains (May-June) and during post monsoon (August-September). Abundance as well as total weight of insects sampled were high during May-June corresponding to early rains in Bengaluru. Body size parameters viz., body length, width and size revealed a positively skewed frequency distribution whereas, body dry weight showed a normal distribution. Inter-relationship among these body size parameters were best explained by power functions. Temporal patterns of body size and body dry weight revealed a high abundance of small insects during monsoon and post monsoon and of large insects during winter and summer (November to June). Rainfall received on or before the sampling significantly reduced the insects trapped and their diversity. However, time lag correlation studies revealed that rainfall received in a three day window before 7th and 8th day of sampling had a positive impact on the diversity and abundance of insects. Temporal variation in ecosystem productivity indicated two peaks viz., during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period; diversity and abundance were found to be negatively correlated with ecosystem productivity.ThesisItem Open Access ASSESSMENT OF WOOD GROWTH AND PROPERTIES OF SWAMPY AND NON-SWAMPY MYRISTICACEAE MEMBERS IN RELATION TO MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2016-05-10) VENKATESH, C. S; Mahadeva Murthy, MMyristicaceae is one of the ancient families of flowering plants in tropical forests. India harbours 15 species belonging to four genera that are distributed in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Meghalaya and Western Ghats. The Western Ghats harbours five species. Out of which, two of them are exclusively associated with swampy habitat. Whereas, others occur in and around the swamps in upland conditions in evergreen forests. Most of the species are economically important, endemic and also listed in the RET categories and the wood is soft, used for several purposes. The present study was conducted in Western Ghats to understand the changes in wood growth and properties of obligate swampy (Gymnacranthera canarica) and non-swampy (Myristica malabarica) species with respect to major environmental parameters. Based on preliminary survey, five ideal locations covering the three districts were selected. Following the random sampling quadrat method, demographic profile was enumerated. The wood core samples were obtained from trees using increment borer and three replications were maintained for each species in all the locations. The results indicated that, swampy species possess higher tree densities and show better regeneration compared to non swampy species. With regards to wood growth, significant variation was observed across the locations in both swampy and non-swampy species. The swampy species showed higher wood growth and fibre length while non-swampy species possess higher specific gravity in all the locations. The environmental parameters like mean annual temperature, rainfall and relative humidity showed no relationship with wood properties. In conclusion, the Myristicaceae species with respect to wood growth and properties do not show any kind of relationship with environmental parameters. Therefore, further studies are needed to understand the underlying factors and methods.ThesisItem Open Access BIOGAS PRODUCTION POTENTIAL OF DEOILED CAKES OF NEEM (Azadirachta indica) and PONGAMIA (Pongamia pinnata)(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2015-12-23) PRIYANKA, PRASAD; Balakrishna, GowdaBiogas is generated from the anaerobic digestion of organic wastes and is rapidly emerging means for providing continuous power generation. India produces a host of non-edible oils, which are essentially underutilized and can be used for bio-diesel. The seed cake after oil extraction can serve as a good feedstock for the generation of biogas. This study presents summary of results obtained in the anaerobic digestion of neem and pongamia oil cakes with different proportions of cow dung. The study revealed that pH of cow dung slurry in the beginning was 7.8, neem cake slurry 5.0 and pongamia cake 5.8, suggesting significant differences in pH among the bio-gas substrates used. Two months after anaerobic digestion, there was an increase in pH with increase in proportion of cow dung. However, there were no changes in EC in experiment. There was an increase in total-N and P in biogas spent slurry after anaerobic digestion. There was no definite trend with reference to total-K. There was decrease in organic matter content at the end of experiment in biogas slurry. The volatile solids also decreased in biogas substrates from the start of experiment to the end of anaerobic digestion. There was decrease in C: N at the end of the experiment. Significantly, very low C/N ratio was recorded in treatments 4:1 cowdung: neem cake and 1:1 cowdung: pongamia cake (3.24) at the end of 60 days. There was decrease in COD and volatile fatty acids at the end. The cumulative biogas for nine weeks was significant only cow dung (T1) (15755 cc) followed by 4:1 cow dung: neem cake (T7). This suggests, that oil cakes can serve as good feed stocks for biogas production.ThesisItem Open Access BIODEGRADATION OF Calophyllum inophyllum FRUIT HUSK(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2015-08-18) HEMANTH, N; PRASANNA, K TAn experiment was conducted to study the “Biodegradation of Calophyllum inophullum fruit husk” with de-oiled cake as a source of N and Di-Ammonium Phosphate as a source of P with and without microbial consortium consisting of mixture of Trichoderma viridae, Phanaerochyte crysosporium and Trichurus spiralis under the laboratory conditions. The fruit husk was subjected to decomposition for a period of 90 days in plastic containers of capacity five kgs. The initial CN ratio of fruit husk was 64:1 which has reduced to 16:1 and contained N (2.40%), P (0.84%) and K (1.76%) in the treatment with Calophyllum fruit husk + de-oiled cake + microbial consortium + DAP satisfying the degree of compost maturity, NPK content and C: N ratio. The treatment with Calophyllum fruit husk + de-oiled cake + microbial consortium recorded significantly higher loss in weight of the substrate. The effect of enriched bio-compost thus obtained after 90 days of decomposition was tested on maize crop under green house conditions. It was found to have enhanced growth parameters in terms of total height of the plant, number of leaves and total biomass on maize crop in the treatment Calophyllum fruit husk + de-oiled cake + microbial consortium + DAP and was also on par with the treatment with Calophyllum fruit husk + de-oiled cake + microbial consortium indicating, that in the presence of oil cake as a source of N, microbial consortium can bring about faster decomposition of Calophyllum fruit husk and also can influence the plant growthThesisItem Open Access ASSESSING THE MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERS AND BIOFUEL POTENTIAL OF APHANAMIXIS POLYSTACHYA(UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GKVK, BENGALURU, 2015-07-15) GAYATHRI, THARMAKUNASINGAM; PRASANNA, K.TThe present study focuses on assessment of morphometric characteristics and biofuel potential of Aphanamixis polystachya at 4 to 8 years old age classes. It was observed that the tree height reaches to 8-10 m height but the stem diameter drastically increased with age class (R2= 0.959). The canopy width, above ground biomass and carbon stock increased with age of the tree that were 8.47 m, 0.41 t/tree, 0.19 t/tree respectively in 8th year old tree. The annual carbon increment rate was highest during 7 years of growth (0.08t/tree). The morphometric parameters favored Aphanamixis polystachya as an agroforestry tree. The oil content ranged from Aphanamixis polystachya was 37.46-43.08% from 4 to 8 years of age classes. The quality of the oil was determined by acid value, saponification value, iodine value, viscosity, density and calorific value which were found to be 9.08-8.48 mgKOH/g, 227.46-163.31 mgKOH/g, 95.17-110.41 gI2/100g, 32.65-38.53 mm2/s, 919.20 kg/m3, 35.09-37.84 MJ/kg respectively. The biodiesel was produced through acid esterification and transesterification processes. The biodiesel produced had acid value (0.28-0.31 mgKOH/g), saponification value (246.33-171.99 mgKOH/g), iodine value (85.26-95.20 gI2/100g), viscosity (4.13-4.6 mm2/s), density (876.97-887.29 Kg/m3), calorific value (38.36-39.93MJ/kg), fire (165-168°C), flash (154-156°C) points and cloud(11-12°C), pour (8-9°C) points comparable to standards. The nutritive value of deoiled cake was analyzed. The N P K range were 2.18-3.39%, 0.22-0.29%, 0.58-0.67% respectively and make it as good organic manure for agriculture. The study revealed that Aphanamixis polystachya may be considered as a tree species for agroforestry and best candidate for the biodiesel production.