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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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20231
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Subject: Fruit Science × Author: Nagar, Sonu × Start date: 2023 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Pre-breeding studies on reproductive parameters of papaya
    (2023) Nagar, Sonu; PANDA, ASISH KUMAR
    The research study titled on “Pre-breeding studies on reproductive parameters of papaya” was carried out during 2022-23 at ICAR-AICRP on Fruits Farm, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar. The study involved four specific papaya cultivars viz., cv. ‘F1 Red Lady’, cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’, cv. ‘Ranchi Local’ and cv. ‘TNAU Papaya CO-8’, each two as the gynodioecious and dioecious representative, respectively. The experiment was structured in a randomized block design with five replications and the plants were spaced at 2m × 2m. The observations such as, Plant height (cm), Plant girth (cm), Collar diameter (cm), Petiole length (cm), First flowering height (cm) were recorded as pre reproductive parameters and parameters such as, Days taken for bud emergence, Interval between bud emergence to flower bud opening, Sex form, Inflorescence type (single or cluster), Number of anthers per floret, Number of stigmatic lobes, Pollen output per anther, Pollen output per flower, Pollen viability (%), Pollen germination (%), Pollen size (µm), Anthesis (Time), Anther dehiscence (Time), Time span of stigmatic receptivity (hr.), and post fertilization entities were includes, Days taken from bud emergence to ovule maturation, post- fertilization ovule degeneration (%), Days taken for fruit set, Days taken for viable seed set, Percent viable seed set in both the gynodioecious and dioecious cultivars were recorded in the reproductive phase. The present study investigated the sexual diversity and reproductive characteristics of dioecious and gynodioecious papaya cultivars. At 120 days, no significant distinctions were observed in plant height, plant girth, collar diameter, and petiole length between dioecious and gynodioecious cultivars. However, at 160 days, distinct differences emerged, with the dioecious cv. ‘Ranchi Local’ reaching a height of 76.40 cm compared to the gynodioecious cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’ at 65.00 cm. Similarly, plant girth at 160 days ranged from 12.18 cm (cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’) to 15.16 cm (cv. ‘Ranchi Local’), collar diameter spanned from 2.86 cm (cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’) to 4.28 cm (cv. ‘Ranchi Local’), and petiole length varied between 23.40 cm (cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’) and 28.60 cm (cv. ‘Ranchi Local’). First flowering height displayed no significant differences. Notably, bud emergence and flower bud opening time revealed distinctive patterns among cultivars, with dioecious cv. ‘Ranchi Local’ taking 175.20 days for bud emergence and 29.45 days for flower bud opening, gynodioecious cv. ‘F1 Red Lady’ emerging at 160.33 days and flowering at 24.58 days, and gynodioecious cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’ with bud emergence at 166.67 days and flower bud opening at 26.19 days. Anthesis timing demonstrated considerable variability, with the earliest occurrence observed in cv. ‘TNAU Papaya CO-8’ at 17.54, while the latest was recorded in cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’ Carpelloid Pentandria at 21.43. Similarly, anther dehiscence, a crucial stage in pollen release, showcased the earliest timing in cv. ‘TNAU Papaya CO-8’ at 6.34, whereas the Carpelloid Pentandria of cv. ‘Arka Prabhat’ exhibited the latest dehiscence at 9.23. Additionally, the study unveiled the nuanced stages of stigma receptivity, progressing through four distinct phases: absence during bud closure, weakly positive pre-anthesis, strong positivity during anthesis, and very strong positivity post-anthesis. Furthermore, the study delved into pollen characteristics, revealing that dioecious varieties produced pollen within the range of 11,395.60 to 11,801.60 per anther (mean 11,598.60), while gynodioecious varieties ranged from 7,157 to 10,955.80 per anther (mean 9,988.95). Dioecious pollen viability percentages spanned from 71.44% to 75.44%, while gynodioecious pollen viability percentages ranged from 24.17% to 46.80%. Similarly, dioecious pollen germination rates ranged from 62.846% to 67.635%, and gynodioecious pollen germination rates spanned from 22.310% to 40.406%. Additionally, dioecious pollen exhibited sizes ranging from 25.792 to 26.386 µm, whereas gynodioecious pollen sizes fell within the range of 23.802 to 25.842 µm. Similarly, the period from bud emergence to ovule maturation showed slight variations, ranging from 28.57 to 29.13 days for dioecious and 28.32 to 32.09 days for gynodioecious plants. Post-fertilization ovary degeneration rates were observed within the range of 17.94% to 18.11% for dioecious and 16.38% to 26.04% for gynodioecious varieties. The duration for fruit set demonstrated a span of 14.40 to 15.80 days for dioecious and 12.20 to 17.80 days for gynodioecious types. Viable seed set times differed, ranging from 77.80 to 80.60 days for dioecious and 75.60 to 87.40 days for gynodioecious cultivars. Percentages of viable seed set showcased ranges of 58.35% to 61.54% for dioecious and 46.48% to 68.89% for gynodioecious variants. These findings offer comprehensive insights into the temporal dynamics and reproductive patterns of papaya's distinct sex forms