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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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20211
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Subject: Vegetable Science × Author: YADAV, KAMLESH KUMAR × End date: 2021 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    STUDY OF CHARACTER ASSOCIATION AND GENETIC VARIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.)
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2021) YADAV, KAMLESH KUMAR; Singh, S.P.
    The present investigation entitled “Study of character Association and Genetic Variability Assessment of Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata L. Walp.)” was conducted at “Vegetable Research Farm, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar”. The experimental material consists of twenty-five genotypes of cowpea including Kashi Kanchan as check and studied for fourteen quantitative traits in randomized block design (RBD) consist of three replications during the Zaid season of 2021. The observations were recorded for eighteen quantitative traits viz. “germination (%), plant height (cm), number of branches per plant, days to first flower initiation, number of nodes on main stem, number of pods per cluster, days to first picking, pod length (m), pod diameter (cm), pod weight (g), number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight (g) and pod yield per plant (g)”. All the fourteen quantitative traits were analyzed for “analysis of variance, genotypic and phenotypic variance, genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation, heritability, genetic advance, genetic advance as percent of mean, correlation analysis, path analysis and genetic divergence” to study the nature and the magnitude of variability and diversity present among these genotypes. The analysis of variance had significant variation among all the fourteen characters studied. In common, the values recorded for phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the values observed for the genotypic coefficient of variation with very narrow gap between these two parameters. The high genetic heritability coupled with high genetic advance was recorded for maximum number of traits namely “plant height, number of branches per plant, number of nodes on main stem, number of pods per cluster, pod length, pod diameter, pod weight, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, pod yield per plant.” which implies that selection for these traits is favorable. The GCV was greater than the PCV. The pod yield per plant was positively and significantly associated with “plant height, number of branches per plant, number of nodes on main stem, number of pods per cluster, pod length, pod diameter, pod weight, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod”. Highest intra-cluster distance observed in Cluster I and Cluster II. Maximum inter-cluster distance was exhibited between Cluster number IV & V, Cluster III & V, Cluster I & V, Cluster II & IV, Cluster I & Cluster II, Cluster II & V indicating the chances of getting high yielding recombinants would be better if the crosses are made among the genotypes of these groups. The highest contribution towards genetic divergence was recorded by “number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, pod yield per plant and pod length”, Hence, improvement of these traits can be possible.