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Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan
Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, was established on 1st December, 1985 with the objective to promote education, research and extension education in the fields of Horticulture, Forestry and allied disciplines. Late Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, the first Chief Minister and the architect of Himachal Pradesh perceived the importance of Horticulture and Forestry to develop and improve the State economy which led to the establishment of this University. Its history lies in erstwhile Himachal Agricultural College, Solan, established in 1962 and affiliated to the Panjab University. It became one of the campuses of Agriculture Complex of Himachal Pradesh University on its formation in 1970. Consequent upon the establishment of Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya in 1978, this campus became its Horticulture Complex and finally in 1985, assumed the status of a State University, being the only University in the country engaged exclusively in teaching, research and extension in Horticulture and Forestry.
The University is located at Nauni in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh, 13 km from Solan on Solan-Rajgarh Road, at an elevation of 1300 metres above mean sea level. Solan town is situated on national highway (NH-22) and is well connected by train and bus services.
The University has four constituent colleges, out of which, two are located at the main campus Nauni, one for horticulture and the other for forestry, having 9 and 7 departments, respectively. The third College i.e., College of Horticulture & Forestry is located at Neri in Hamirpur District on Nadaun-Hamirpur state highway, about 6 Km from Hamirpur town and is well connected with bus service. The college offers three Undergraduate Degree Programmes i.e. BSc (Hons.) Horticulture, BSc (Hons.) Forestry and B. Tech. Biotechnology and MSc degree programme in a few subjects. The fourth college i.e. College of Horticulture and Forestry, Thunag (Mandi) is located at Thunag District Mandi. This college offer BSc (Hons.) Horticulture and BSc (Hons.) Forestry degree programme. In addition, there are five Regional Research Stations, 12 Satellite Stations and five Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) situated in different zones of the State.
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ThesisItem Open Access PHOSPHATE SOLUBILIZING POTENTIAL OF PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA OF CAULIFLOWER(2013) DIPTA, BHAWNA; KAUSHAL, RAJESHPhosphorus plays an essential role in photosynthesis, respiration, biological N fixation, root development, maturation, flowering, fruiting and seed production. Keeping the importance of P in modern intensive crop production system the present investigations entitled, “Phosphate solubilizing potential of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria of cauliflower” was carried out during 2010- 2012. An attempt was made to characterize and evaluate the phosphate solubilizing potential of selected four indigenous PGPR viz MK5, MK7, MK9 and VG1of cauliflower isolated from different agro-climatic zones of Himachal Pradesh. All the bacterial isolates were able to grow on nutrient agar, Pikovskaya’s medium, nitrogen free media and were screened for various other plant growth promoting traits. All the four isolates were able to solubilize tricalcium phosphate in solid and liquid medium. Out of four isolates, MK5 and VG1 bacterial isolates exhibited maximum concurrent IAA, siderophore, HCN and protease production and antifungal activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Pythium ultimum. MK5 isolate showed maximum TCP-solubilization (538.69 μg/ml), maximum viable count (45.67×106) and a drop of 2.59 in final pH followed by RP after 72 h of incubation at 35ºC. On the basis of 16S rDNA sequencing, MK5 and VG1 were identified as Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus safensis. Seed bacterization with MK5 and VG1 isolate+TCP showed significant increase in plant growth parameters, yield of cauliflower and the conjoint application increased significantly NPK content of soil by 21.9, 55.2 and 26.4% and microbial (endophytic and rhizospheric) population over various uninoculated controls. Hence, the inoculation of cauliflower seeds with efficient isolate of PSM not only increase yield and quantity of cauliflower but also improved the physico-chemical and microbiological properties of soilThesisItem Open Access ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA (PGPR) FROM TURMERIC (Curcuma longa L.)(2013) BALKAR, SINGH; KAUSHAL, RAJESHABSTRACT Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) due to myriad plant growth promoting/stimulating traits have become an emerging area of research and important commercial agro-input in past two decades. They have acquired a strategic place in sustainable agriculture development around the globe. Supplementation of chemical fertilizers by PGPR can reduce chemical input upto 25-30%. Beside this PGPR also provides a low cost eco-friendly way of detoxification and bioremediation of soil. Hence, investigation entitled “Isolation and characterization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) from Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)” was carried out during the years 2010-12 for the development a potential bio-inoculum for turmeric crop growing in low mid hills of Himachal Pradesh. The rhizospheric soil samples, rhizome/root samples of Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) plants were collected from Kangra (31º2 to 32º5 N and 75º to 77º45 E) and Hamirpur (31º25 to 31º52 N and 76º18 to 76º44 E) districts of Himachal Pradesh. Using modified replica plating technique a sum of 27 isolates were selected and purified. Only 7 isolates out of 27 isolates were selected for net house studies, on the basis of various PGPR traits (N-fixation, P-solubilization, sidrophore, HCN and auxin production) and antagonism against Pythium spp. and collectotrichum spp. causing rhizome rot and leaf spot respectively. Bacterial isolate A10 showed maximum P-solubilization qualitative (81.5%) and quantitative (128.8μg/ml) as well, growth on Jensen’s medium, sidrophpre production (103.7%), IAA production (29.4μg/ml), HCN production and antagonism against Pythium spp.(41.4%) and collectotrichum spp.(39.3%). Bacterial isolate A10 tentatively identified as Bacillus spp. on the basis of its morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics. Plants bacterized with isolate A10 showed significantly increase in leaf number (33.1%), shoot length (16.5%), shoot biomass (28.4%), root length (29.2%), root biomass (52.3%), rhizome size (58.8%) and rhizome yield (54.6%) over uninoculated control, along with maximum NPK uptake and availability. Biofertization and bioprotactant characters of selected bacterial isolate A10 (Bacillus spp.) paved the way of its use at commercial level to supplement chemical fertilizers for enhance production after conducting multilocational field trial in different agro-climatic zones of the state.ThesisItem Open Access CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA ISOLATED FROM THE RHIZOSPHERE OF APRICOT (Prunus armeniaca)(2013) SHARMA, KRITIKA; SHIRKOT, C.K.ABSTRACT Phosphorus (P) is considered the second most essential macronutrient following nitrogen. Plants acquire phosphorus from soil solution as phosphate anion. Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria play role in phosphorous nutrition by enhancing its availability to plants through release from inorganic and organic soil P pools by solubilizing and mineralization. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the phosphate solubilizing potential of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolated from apricot trees. One hundered and eighty eight bacterial isolates were selected (by replica plating technique) as the representative of the total plated population from the rhizosphere soil and rhizome/roots of the apricot trees from mid hill and high hills region of Himachal Pradesh. All the bacterial isolates were able to grow simultaneously on nutrient agar, Pikovskaya’s, nitrogen free media and CAS media and selected for further screening for various plant growth promoting activities. Seventy two P-solubilizing bacterial isolates (rhizospheric and endorhizospheric) were further studied for different activities such as IAA production, Siderophore production, HCN production and Antifungal activity. Variation was also observed in type of siderophore (Hydroxymate and carboxylate), IAA, HCN and antifungal. Forty seven isolates exhibited antifungal activity against Dematophora necatrix. Out of seventy two isolates, fourteen were further screened for P-solubilization as well as other multiple PGP traits, further studies were carried out with isolate AG1(3) which produced 130.60 ug/ml of P-solubilization under un-optimized cultural conditions. Optimizing the cultural conditions after 72 h of incubation at 30ºC , at pH 7, 1.00% TCP concentration and 2.00% inoculums size resulted in significance increase in P solubilization by the isolate AG1(3), identified as Bacillus subtilis on 16S rDNA analysis. The present study, therefore suggest that the use of P-solubilizing bacteria as as bio-inoculant that might be beneficial for raising quality apricot plant in long term and to develop cost effective ecofriendly sustainable system for horticultural crops.ThesisItem Open Access rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolated from apricot trees.(2013) SHARMA, KRITIKA; SHIRKOT, C.K.ABSTRACT Phosphorus (P) is considered the second most essential macronutrient following nitrogen. Plants acquire phosphorus from soil solution as phosphate anion. Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria play role in phosphorous nutrition by enhancing its availability to plants through release from inorganic and organic soil P pools by solubilizing and mineralization. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the phosphate solubilizing potential of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolated from apricot trees. One hundered and eighty eight bacterial isolates were selected (by replica plating technique) as the representative of the total plated population from the rhizosphere soil and rhizome/roots of the apricot trees from mid hill and high hills region of Himachal Pradesh. All the bacterial isolates were able to grow simultaneously on nutrient agar, Pikovskaya’s, nitrogen free media and CAS media and selected for further screening for various plant growth promoting activities. Seventy two P-solubilizing bacterial isolates (rhizospheric and endorhizospheric) were further studied for different activities such as IAA production, Siderophore production, HCN production and Antifungal activity. Variation was also observed in type of siderophore (Hydroxymate and carboxylate), IAA, HCN and antifungal. Forty seven isolates exhibited antifungal activity against Dematophora necatrix. Out of seventy two isolates, fourteen were further screened for P-solubilization as well as other multiple PGP traits, further studies were carried out with isolate AG1(3) which produced 130.60 ug/ml of P-solubilization under un-optimized cultural conditions. Optimizing the cultural conditions after 72 h of incubation at 30ºC , at pH 7, 1.00% TCP concentration and 2.00% inoculums size resulted in significance increase in P solubilization by the isolate AG1(3), identified as Bacillus subtilis on 16S rDNA analysis. The present study, therefore suggest that the use of P-solubilizing bacteria as as bio-inoculant that might be beneficial for raising quality apricot plant in long term and to develop cost effective ecofriendly sustainable system for horticultural crops.ThesisItem Open Access STUDIES ON PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA ASSOCIATED WITH STRAWBERRY (Fragaria x ananassa)(2013) BALNATAH, URVASHI; SHIRKOT, C.K.ABSTRACT Plant hormones are chemical messengers that affect a plant's ability to respond to its environment. Hormones are organic compounds that are effective at very low concentration; they are usually synthesized in one part of the plant and are transported to another location. Botanists recognize five major groups of hormones: auxins, gibberellins, ethylene, cytokinins, and abscisic acid. IAA (indole-3-acetic acid) is the member of the group of phytohormones and is generally considered the most important native Auxin . It functions as an important signal molecule in the regulation of plant development including organogenesis, tropic responses, cellular responses such as cell expansion, division, differentiation, and gene regulation. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to isolate and screen the IAA producing rhizobacteria from strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa) and to optimize cultural conditions for maximum production of IAA. Fifty one, IAA producing bacterial isolates (thirty five rhizospheric and sixteen endophytic) were selected (by replica plating technique) from the rhizosphere soil and roots of the four different sites of strawberry. These isolates exhibited variability in growth on nutrient agar, Chromo azurol–S, Pikovskaya’s and Nitrogen free media. Variation was also observed in their plant growth promoting (PGP) activities: IAA production (quantitative), Siderophore (qualitative and quantitative) production varied among isolates. Variation was also observed in type (Hydroxamate, carboxylate, catecholate) of siderophore produced and phosphate solubilization. All the fifty one bacterial isolates exhibited antifungal activity against Phytopathora sp. Out of fifty one isolates, eleven were further screened for IAA production by varying the growth culture conditions, further studies were carried out with isolate Na4(1) which produced 55µg/ml of IAA under un-optimized culture conditions. Optimizing the culture conditions after 72 h of incubation at 35oC, at pH 7 and 0.1% tryptophan concentration resulted in significant increase in IAA production production (65µg/ml) by isolate Na4(1), identified as Bacillus firmus on 16S rDNA analysis. IAA producing bacterial isolates were evaluated for growth promotion of strawberry plants under net house conditions. The present study, therefore, suggests that the use of IAA producing bacteria as bio-inoculants that might be beneficial for raising quality strawberry plants in long term and to develop cost effective ecofriendly sustainable system in the management of horticultural problems.ThesisItem Open Access PRODUCTION AND OPTIMIZATION OF INDUSTRIALLY IMPORTANT PROTEASE ENZYME FROM EXTREMOPHILES(2013) SEN, SAMRITI; SHARMA, NIVEDITAABSTRACT The present study was carried out to isolate proteolytic microorganisms from the mushroom compost of Himachal Pradesh, their screening and optimization of protease production under submerged fermentation. Among all the bacterial isolates, bacterial strain C1 and F1 were selected for enzyme production studies depending upon their higher protease producing capability. The selected bacterial isolates C1 and F1 were identified as Bacillus sp and Bacillus licheniformis respectively by physiological, biological and rrs (16S rRNA) PCR technique. Under the submerged fermentation different parameters (i.e. medium, incubation time, pH, temperature, inoculums size, carbon source, nitrogen, metal ions and surfactant) were optimized for the maximum production of extracellular protease. After optimization of different process parameters for Bacillus sp C1, protease titers were enhanced from 1.08 to 7.16IU/ml and percent increase in the enzyme activity had gone upto 842.2% In case of Bacillus licheniformis F1, maximum alkaline protease titers i.e. 7.44 IU/ml were obtained after optimization with 878.94% increase in its enzyme activity. Response surface methodology (RSM) was conducted for optimizing the interactive behaviour of different parameters along with their significance on enzyme yield using Central Composite Design (CCD). Protease activity of 7.21 and 7.50 IU/ml was obtained in Bacillus sp C1 and Bacillus licheniformis F1 respectively. Alkaline protease of Bacillus sp C1 was purified with 7.35 fold, 22.73% yield and final specific activity of 17.35 while Bacillus licheniformis F1 isolate had 5.67 purification fold, 30.50 % yield and specific activity of 14.12 IU/mg.ThesisItem Open Access INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MODULE FOR ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY OF CAULIFLOWER UNDER LOW AND MID HILLS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH(2013) BHARDWAJ, SONAL; KAUSHAL, RAJESHABSTRACT Our whole system of agriculture depends on microbial activities and there appears to be a tremendous potential for making use of these microorganisms in increasing crop production. The beneficial rhizospheric microorganisms are designated as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, act as biofertilizers, bioprotectants and biostimulants. These PGPR exert their growth promoting effects by a number of direct and indirect mechanisms. Therefore, present studies were undertaken to isolate and screen bacterial isolates from rhizosphere/endorhizosphere of cauliflower from Una district (Lalsingi, Ghaluwal, Bhadsali and Basal locations) of Himachal Pradesh to develop an effective inoculum of PGPR with multifarious plant-growth promoting traits (P-solubilization, N-fixation, IAA, Siderophore, HCN production and antagonism against soil borne pathogens). Out of the selected 25 isolates, only four isolates (SB5, SB8, SB10 and SB11) exhibited maximum plant growth promoting traits. On the basis of morphological (Gram +ve rods), physiological (optimum growth at 35oC and 7 pH) and biochemical characteristics (casein hydrolysis, production of gelatinase and catalase enzymes) these four isolates were tentatively identified as Bacillus sp. A reference isolate MK5 identified as Bacillus pumilus was procured from the Soil Microbiology Laboratory and used along with the selected four isolates for present studies. Out of these five isolates, MK5 and SB11 isolates have maximum plant growth promoting traits and also effective to control stalk rot, root rot and damping off diseases of cauliflower. The application of PGPR isolate (MK5) alongwith 75 per cent NP (N94 and P57 kg/ha) registered a significant increase in curd yield by 34 per cent (average of all the locations), increased available N and P content by an average of 32 and 42 per cent , respectively, however, it was statistically at par with SB11 + 75 per cent levels of NP (N94 and P57 kg/ha).Thus, the conjoint application of PGPR isolates at 75 per cent recommended levels of N & P not only registered an increase in yield but also saved 25 per cent NP (31 kg N/ha and 19 kg P/ha) chemical fertilizers. Hence, the developed technology has good prospects to be used not only for enhanced curd production but also to sustain soil health under low and mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh.ThesisItem Open Access CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA AND ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAE FROM CHERRY (Prunus avium L.)(2013) KIRTI, SHURTI; KAUSHAL, RAJESHABSTRACT The adverse effects of synthetic inputs in modern agriculture have promoted the concept of organic agriculture, which relies on organic inputs and use of beneficial microorganisms. Therefore the present investigation were undertaken to isolate and characterize rhizospheric and endophytic bacteria as well as AM fungi associated with sweet cherry from various locations in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. A total of twenty bacterial isolates were isolated and screened for multifarious PGP traits like Psolubilization, siderophore, IAA, HCN production, nitrogen fixation and antagonistic activity against Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, and Pythium aphanidermatum. On the basis of efficacy towards plant growth promoting traits and antagonism against soil borne pathogens two bacterial isolates RT2 and RK1 selected which solubilizes 160.33 and 112.67 µg/ml of insoluble phosphorous, 69.32 and 50.70 µg/ml of auxin, 175.84 and 138.24% of siderophore, respectively. RT2 isolates exhibits antagonism against Rhizoctonia solani (33.43%) Fusarium oxysporum (38.18%) and Pythium aphanidermatum (41.89%). On the basis of morphology, physiology and biochemical test both the isolates were tentatively identified as Bacillus spp. The AMF spore population varied from 150.00 to 336.67 spores/50 g of soil and the per cent root colonization ranged from 19.22 to 29.33% under natural conditions. Isolated eight species of AM fungi belong to four genera viz., Glomus, Acaulospora, Gigaspora, Scutellospora with maximum frequency of occurrence was for Glomus genus. Multiplication of AM fungal spores were carried out in sterilized Sand: Soil: FYM (1:1:1) mixture with guinea grass. The root colonization of guinea grass was 13.6 per cent with spore count of 383.33 spores/50 g of soil after six months of multiplication