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Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Guntur

The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) was established on 12th June 1964 at Hyderabad. The University was formally inaugurated on 20th March 1965 by Late Shri. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India. Another significant milestone was the inauguration of the building programme of the university by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi,the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India on 23rd June 1966. The University was renamed as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University on 7th November 1996 in honour and memory of an outstanding parliamentarian Acharya Nayukulu Gogineni Ranga, who rendered remarkable selfless service for the cause of farmers and is regarded as an outstanding educationist, kisan leader and freedom fighter. HISTORICAL MILESTONE Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) was established under the name of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) on the 12th of June 1964 through the APAU Act 1963. Later, it was renamed as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University on the 7th of November, 1996 in honour and memory of the noted Parliamentarian and Kisan Leader, Acharya N. G. Ranga. At the verge of completion of Golden Jubilee Year of the ANGRAU, it has given birth to a new State Agricultural University namely Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University with the bifurcation of the state of Andhra Pradesh as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014. The ANGRAU at LAM, Guntur is serving the students and the farmers of 13 districts of new State of Andhra Pradesh with renewed interest and dedication. Genesis of ANGRAU in service of the farmers 1926: The Royal Commission emphasized the need for a strong research base for agricultural development in the country... 1949: The Radhakrishnan Commission (1949) on University Education led to the establishment of Rural Universities for the overall development of agriculture and rural life in the country... 1955: First Joint Indo-American Team studied the status and future needs of agricultural education in the country... 1960: Second Joint Indo-American Team (1960) headed by Dr. M. S. Randhawa, the then Vice-President of Indian Council of Agricultural Research recommended specifically the establishment of Farm Universities and spelt out the basic objectives of these Universities as Institutional Autonomy, inclusion of Agriculture, Veterinary / Animal Husbandry and Home Science, Integration of Teaching, Research and Extension... 1963: The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) Act enacted... June 12th 1964: Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University (APAU) was established at Hyderabad with Shri. O. Pulla Reddi, I.C.S. (Retired) was the first founder Vice-Chancellor of the University... June 1964: Re-affilitation of Colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, Hyderabad (estt. in 1961, affiliated to Osmania University), Agricultural College, Bapatla (estt. in 1945, affiliated to Andhra University), Sri Venkateswara Agricultural College, Tirupati and Andhra Veterinary College, Tirupati (estt. in 1961, affiliated to Sri Venkateswara University)... 20th March 1965: Formal inauguration of APAU by Late Shri. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India... 1964-66: The report of the Second National Education Commission headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, Chairman of the University Grants Commission stressed the need for establishing at least one Agricultural University in each Indian State... 23, June 1966: Inauguration of the Administrative building of the university by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Hon`ble Prime Minister of India... July, 1966: Transfer of 41 Agricultural Research Stations, functioning under the Department of Agriculture... May, 1967: Transfer of Four Research Stations of the Animal Husbandry Department... 7th November 1996: Renaming of University as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University in honour and memory of an outstanding parliamentarian Acharya Nayukulu Gogineni Ranga... 15th July 2005: Establishment of Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University (SVVU) bifurcating ANGRAU by Act 18 of 2005... 26th June 2007: Establishment of Andhra Pradesh Horticultural University (APHU) bifurcating ANGRAU by the Act 30 of 2007... 2nd June 2014 As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014, ANGRAU is now... serving the students and the farmers of 13 districts of new State of Andhra Pradesh with renewed interest and dedication...

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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    MODELLING THE IMPACT OF SALINE AND WATERLOGGED AREAS IN KRISHNA CENTRAL DELTA
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) INDRAJA, P; HEMA KUMAR, H. V.
    Land, a non-renewable resource, is central to all primary production system. It is estimated that some forms of land degradation constituting 75% of the earth's usable landmass affect 4 billion people in the world. About 15% of the world population is effected by land degradation which is likely to worsen unless adequate and immediate measures are taken to arrest the degradation processes. Mostly land is affected by wind and water erosion, which is about 80% of land degradation followed by salinization/alkalization and waterlogging. Krishna delta irrigates an ayacut of 5.14 lakh ha covering West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh. Eastern main canal’s command area is about 2.948 lakh ha in Krishna and West Godavari Districts. Krishna Central Delta is a part of Krishna Eastern Delta that constitutes the command area of Bandar canal. During monsoon, these lands are affected by waterlogging and salinity problems. Hence it is felt appropriate to study Krishna Central Delta with a special focus to identify the waterlogged and saline lands for reclamation by either drainage system or addition of amendments like gypsum etc. Under the aforesaid valid and farmers’ felt research needs, the present post graduate research work entitled “Modelling the impact of saline and waterlogged areas in Krishna Central Delta” is proposed to i) to estimate the extent of land under waterlogging and salinity in Krishna Central Delta. ii) to simulate the effect of waterlogging and salinity on crop yield using a model with various hypothetic scenarios. iii) to design location specific drainage parameters for combating waterlogging and salinity. Krishna Central Delta which is a part of Krishna Eastern Delta constitutes the command area of Bandar canal which has an irrigated ayacut of 274834.09 acres (111223.83 ha) in Krishna district. In this study Landsat 8 images and Sentinel-2A images were used and analyzed using ERDAS IMAGINE 2014 and ArcGIS 10.1 software's. From the literature, different salinity indices were selected to find out the best suited index for the study area. Salinity indices used to find the salt affected soils using GIS. Details of ground water quality parameters which were analyzed from the water samples collected from the observation wells located in the Krishna Central Delta were collected from Ground water Department, Vijayawada. Initially for the identified problematic patches, the input parameters some directly measured, some indirectly were assessed and fed into 'SALTMOD' model. Without the presence of any drainage systems, simulation for first, fourth, sixth and tenth year for depth of ground water table and root zone salinity was carried out and the output parameters were fed into AquaCrop model along with other crop, climate, irrigation requirement and other related parameters to predict the yields. WaSiM, Water balance Simulation Model is a physically based, distributed hydrologic model that runs on a regular grid and uses a modular system of sub-models to offer the possibility of creating a problem and scale adequate setup. Drain space, one of the modules of WaSim was used for sub surface drainage design. Based on the research work carried out, the major conclusions drawn are i) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was found to range from 0.72 to - 0.92 in Krishna Central Delta (KCD) region. In KCD region, Normalized Difference Salinity Index (NDSI) was found the best suitable and it ranged from -0.714 to 0.185 and best correlated with ground truth values. Soil salinity was characterized into five classes and it was found that highest area was under moderately saline with an area of 68754.01 ha followed by strongly saline, slightly saline, non saline and very strongly saline. ii) Spatial analysis of water table data revealed that most critically waterlogged zone was found in post monsoon covering an area of 597.65 km2 which was about 26.27% of the total study area. It was found that critically waterlogged area increased from 620.12 km2 (27.25%) in pre monsoon period to 1074.02 km2 (47.2%) in post monsoon period. The area under less critically waterlogged was found to be decreased from 704.49 km2 (30.95%) in pre monsoon to 163.06 km2 (7.16%) in post monsoon period. iii) Soil salinity was predicted for future ten years using SALTMOD and corresponding yield were predicted using Aquacrop. With increase of soil salinity from 0.5 dS m-1 to 6.5 dS m-1 there was about 42.28% reduction in the crop yield and 36.69% reduction in biomass yield. iv) Using 'Drain Space', a module of WaSim software, by using the Hooghoudts equation under steady state condition, the drain spacing for shallow drain depth placement of 0.6 m, 0.7 m and 0.8 m the spacing was arrived as 9.5, 16.6, 22.36 m. For deeper drain depth placements of 0.95, 1.0 and 1.15 m, the drain spacing was arrived as 30, 32.4 and 38.81 m respectively for a constant desired depth of water table as 0.5 m to make the root zone free from waterlogging.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    MODELING OF SURFACE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS USING ‘SURDEV’ IN COASTAL AREAS OF GUNTUR DISTRICT
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) SUNITHA, D.V.; HEMA KUMAR, H.V.
    Water is the most vital input in agriculture and its availability is necessary in providing stability to food grain production and self-sufficiency. About 80% of total water resources are being utilized for agriculture. Surface irrigation is widely practiced throughout the world i.e., more than 95 % of world’s irrigated area is under surface irrigation (Anonymous, 2003). India has the highest irrigated area with almost one fifth of the irrigated area in the world. According to statistical year book India 2016, irrigated land in India is about 64.7 M ha of which 55 M ha is irrigated by surface methods of irrigation. The irrigated land in Andhra Pradesh is about 4.2 M ha of which 3.68 M ha is under surface methods of irrigation. All along the coast, Guntur district is predominantly with sandy soils, where deep percolation losses are more thereby having lot of scope to improve irrigation efficiency. In the coastal agriculture, small to medium farmers are dominant group cultivating rice, groundnut and vegetables following check basin and furrow irrigation systems. Under the aforesaid valid and farmers’ felt research needs, the present post graduate research work entitled “Modeling of surface irrigation systems using ‘SURDEV’ in coastal areas of Guntur district” is proposed to fulfil the following major objectives. i) To survey different farmers’ fields for the existing field design of surface irrigation systems in coastal areas of Guntur district. ii) To estimate the overall irrigation efficiency of surface irrigation systems using SURDEV model. iii) To model the design parameters for the improvement of overall irrigation efficiency using SURDEV. A total number of 120 coastal farmers’ fields (60 fields under check basin irrigation system and 60 fields under furrow irrigation system) were surveyed. The major crops grown in the study area are rice, groundnut, pulses in basins; maize and vegetables in furrows. The dominant soil type is sandy. In the present study, software model SURDEV developed by M. Jurriens, was used to determine the existing field efficiencies and to improve the efficiencies of the irrigation systems. The required data for inputting into the model was collected from field survey. With this data from existing basin and furrow irrigation systems were used as input for BASDEV and FURDEV modules respectively for obtaining the application, storage, and distribution efficiencies (%), minimum, maximum and average infiltrated depths (mm), advance and recession times (min), and under-irrigation, over-irrigation lengths and depths. The performance of surface irrigation system proved to be unsatisfactory and so suggestions for improvement were evaluated with BASDEV and FURDEV modules in SURDEV. Also for some fields, cutback and tail water reuse options in FURDEV were used by giving suitable values of cutback ratio and tail water reuse ratio to further increase the efficiencies. To know whether the improvement is statistically significant or not, on theoretical basis, simple statistical analyses were performed. i) Student ‘t-test’ amongst existing and improved efficiencies ii) standard error of mean within a particular group of efficiencies and finally iii) correlation matrix with various input parameters which were changed on hit and miss trials basis were chosen. For rice under basin irrigation system, the overall efficiency was increased from 38.14% to 71.55% using BASDEV module in SURDEV. Similarly, for groundnut and pulses the overall efficiency was increased from 32.48% to 65.15% and 38.49% to 69.15% respectively. For maize under furrow irrigation system, the overall efficiency was increased from 40.8% to 58.32% using FURDEV module in SURDEV. Similarly, for cucumber and for watermelon the overall efficiency was increased from 35.63% to 51.84% and 53.68% to 62.83% respectively. With cutback option in FURDEV module further increase in efficiency was obtained as 9.14% for 20 cucumber fields, 11.85% for 3 maize fields and 12% for 2 watermelon fields under furrow irrigation system. Similarly, with tail water reuse further increase in efficiency was found to be 3% for 6 cucumber fields, 4.8% for 6 maize fields and 2.4% for 1 watermelon field. From the t-test, it was observed that the application and overall efficiencies for all the crops of study area for basin irrigation system and furrow irrigation system showed significant variation in the design exercise at 5% level of significance. It was observed from the standard error calculations that storage efficiency for all crops except groundnut and distribution, overall efficiencies for maize and watermelon crop showed less standard error which means that they are more or less following certain governing pattern and the rest showed standard error equal to and greater than 1 indicating that the efficiencies varied tremendously. From the correlation matrix prepared for the various input parameters (independent variables) and various efficiencies tested in study fields separately for different soils and different irrigation systems, the correlation has not given any uniform pattern for any of soils. In some cases, basin width, cut off time and basin length has shown high correlation and for certain soils like clay loam, sandy loam, loam and silty clay, the sample sizes were very meagre and hence the statistical results outcome could not be worked out. If measures are taken to improve at least 10% in the efficiency by recommending flow rate, cut off time, field dimensions, there will be a saving of water in the tune of 6.129 BCM because of the fact that as per AP water vision, the irrigation water consumption is 61.317 BCM at present
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Influence of sowing dates and plant densities on productivity of soybean (Glycine max L.)
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) SIVA KUMAR, B; Dr. M. SRINIVASA REDDY
    A field experiment entitled “Influence of sowing dates and plant densities on productivity of soybean (Glycine max L.) was conducted during kharif, 2014 on sandy loam soils of College farm, Agricultural College, Mahanandi, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Andhra Pradesh. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design and replicated thrice. The treatments consisted of three sowing dates viz., D1 (June 28), D2 (July 14) and D3 (July 29) and three plant densities viz., S1: 30 cm X 10 cm (3.33 lakh plants ha-1), S2: 45 cm X 10 cm (2.22 lakh plants ha-1) and S3: 60 cm X 10 cm (1.66 lakh plants ha- 1). The popular variety JS-335 was used in the experiment. The salient findings of the investigation are summarized below. The soil of the experiment was sandy loam and it was slightly alkaline in reaction with a pH of 7.98, EC of 0.06 dSm-1. The soil was low in organic carbon and available nitrogen, medium in available phosphorous and high in available potassium. The results revealed that sowing dates, spacing and their interaction significantly influenced the growth parameters, yield attributes and yield of soybean. XV Among the three different sowing dates studied, sowing of soybean early on June 28 showed better performance in plant height, leaf area index (LAI), drymatter production and more number of days to maturity than other sowing dates. The yield attributes (number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1 and test weight) and yield (seed yield and haulm yield) were also higher with the June 28 sowing date compared to other sowing dates up to July 29. All these yield attributes of soybean decreased considerably due to delay in the sowing time beyond June 28. Soybean sown at closer spacing of 30 x 10 cm recorded taller plants, more drymatter production and leaf area index (LAI). Wider spacing of 60 cm x 10 cm took more number of days to mature than other spacings (30 cm x 10 cm and 45 cm x 10 cm). Yield components viz., number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1 and test weight were higher with wider row spacing. However higher total number of pods per m-2 were recorded at closer row spacing of 30 cm x 10 cm with June 28 sowing due to more number of plants accommodated in closer spacing. Hence, the highest seed yield and haulm yield were recorded with the June 28 sowing date at 30 cm x 10 cm row spacing. From the present investigation, it can be inferred that soybean can be grown successfully if sown early from June 28 to July 14 with a row spacing of 30 cm x 10 cm during kharif season under Nandyal conditions. However a few more years of field testing is necessary before making it as a recommendation.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A LOW COST GRADER FOR ROUND FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) SAI VINAY, B. J. V.; Dr. L. EDUKONDALU
    Grading of agricultural produce especially the fruits and vegetables has become a perquisite of trading across borders. In India mostly fruit growers grade the fruits manually. Human operations may be inconsistent, less efficient and time consuming and costly during shortage of labour in peak seasons. Hence, a low cost grader suitable for round fruits and vegetables based on the principle of centrifugal force and gravitational force was developed. The grader was evaluated for lemon, sweet orange and onion. The physical dimensions, geometrical mean diameter (GMD) and sphericity for lemon, sweet orange and onion were measured. The average major, intermediate and minor diameters for lemon were 37.02, 35.51 and 34.33 mm respectively. The geometric mean diameter of lemon varied from 24.43 - 46.47 mm with an average value of 35.60 mm. The average major, intermediate and minor diameters for sweet orange were 52.39, 51.24 and 49.16 mm respectively. The geometric mean diameter of sweet orange varied from 39.03 – 65.78 mm with an average value of 50.90 mm. The average major, intermediate and minor diameters for onion were 56.61, 53.75 and 47.79 mm respectively. The geometric mean diameter varied from 34.06 – 72.28 mm with an average value of 52.52 mm. Average sphericity of lemon, sweet orange and onion were 0.99, 0.97 and 0.93 respectively. The developed grader was tested and evaluated at different feed rates. The grader was also evaluated at different speeds of the rotary disc like 10, 30, 50 and 70 rpm. Efficiency and capacity of the grader were optimized with respect to feed rate, disc speed and surface material of disc. Mild steel sheet was proved to be the best surface material for lemon and sweet orange grading. Plastic sheet was proved to be the best surface material for onion grading. Optimum speed of the rotary disc during highest separation efficiencies was 30 rpm for all fruits and vegetables tested. Overall efficiency of grader for lemon, sweet orange and onion were 86%, 75% and 83% respectively. Maximum grading efficiency was obtained for lemon because of its more sphericity. Keywords: Rotary disc, Sphericity, Geometric mean diameter, Surface material, Feed rate, Mild steel, Plastic, Cloth, Separation efficiency and Grading efficiency.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Nutrient management in semi-dry rice for North-Coastal A.P
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) ANUSHA, K; Dr. A.V. RAMANA
    A field experiment entitled “Nutrient management in semi-dry rice for North- Coastal A.P” was conducted on sandy loam soils of Agricultural College Farm, Naira during kharif, 2015. The treatments consisted of four levels of NPK viz., 120-75-60 kg NPK ha-1 (L1), 160-90-75 kg NPK ha-1 (L2), 120-75-60 kg NPK ha-1 with dhaincha as brown manuring (L3) and 160-90-75 kg NPK ha-1 with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4) which were assigned to main plots and four time of application of nitrogen viz., four equal splits at 15, 45, 60 and 75 DAS (S1), 10% of N at 15 DAS, 20% at 45 DAS, 30% at 60 DAS and 40% at 75 DAS (S2), five equal splits at 15, 45, 60, 75 and at 90 DAS (S3) and 10% of N at 15 DAS, 20% at 45 DAS, 25% at 60 DAS, 25% at 75 DAS, 20% at 90 DAS (S4) assigned to sub plots. The design adopted was split-plot with three replications. The tallest plants, maximum number of total tillers m-2 and dry matter accumulation were observed at all intervals of sampling with the application of the highest dose of NPK with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4). While, the lowest values for all these parameters were recorded with L1. Scheduling of N in four equal splits (S1) registered significantly higher values for all the growth parameters, while they were significantly lower with S4, except in case of plant height at 30 and 90 DAS where, S2 registered the shortest plants. The interaction effect was found significant in case of total tillers m-2 only at 90 DAS. Significantly higher values for total tillers m-2 were registered with L4 at S1, which was however, comparable with L3 at S1. While, the total number of tillers m-2 was minimum with L3 at S4, which was however, comparable with L1 and L2 at S4 and L3 at S2. Significantly more number of days to 50% flowering and days to maturity were noticed with the application of the lowest level of NPK (L1), while application of the highest dose of NPK with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4) took significantly lesser number of days. Scheduling of nitrogen in five splits 10% of N dose at 15 DAS, 20% at 45 DAS, 25% at 60 DAS, 25% at 75 DAS, 20% at 90 DAS (S4) took more number of days to 50% flowering and days to maturity, while a declining trend was observed with S1 (Four equal splits at 15, 45, 60 and 75 DAS) and S3 (Five equal splits at 15, 45, 60, 75 and 90 DAS), which were however, found on par with each other. Larger yield structure, comprising of productive tillers m-2, panicle length, number of filled grains panicle-1 and test weight and significantly higher grain (5599 kg ha-1) as well as straw (6788 kg ha-1) yield were associated with the highest level of NPK with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4), while they were the lowest with the lowest level of NPK (L1) tried. Application of nitrogen in four equal splits (S1) produced significantly superior yield parameters, grain and straw yields. While the lowest values were associated with S4 except in case of test weight, which was minimum with S2. The interaction effect was found absent for all the yield parameters, except number of productive tillers m-2. Significantly superior values for number of productive tillers m-2 and grain as well as straw yield were associated with L4 at S1, while they were found to be significantly lower with L3 at S4 except grain yield, which was minimum with L1 at S4. Harvest index was not markedly altered either due to graded levels of NPK or due to different times of application of nitrogen, while the interaction effect was also not statistically measurable. Significantly higher uptake of N, P and K at flowering and maturity (by grain and straw) were associated with application of L4 except in case of N uptake by straw where, L3 resulted the highest uptake, while the uptake of these three major nutrients was minimum with the lowest level of NPK tried (L1). As regards the time of application of N, maximum uptake of N, P and K at flowering and maturity were observed when N was scheduled in four equal splits (S1), while the lowest uptake of N, P and K were found with S4. The N, P and K uptake by grain was found to be significantly higher with L4 when N supplied in four equal splits (S1), while it was minimum with L1 at S4. Significantly higher NHI was associated with L4, which was however, comparable with L3, while the NHI was the lowest with L1. Varied times of application of nitrogen as well as the interaction effect between graded levels of NPK and N scheduling treatments did not alter the NHI significantly. Maximum gross returns, net returns and benefit-cost ratio were obtained with application of the highest dose of NPK with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4), while it was minimum with the lowest level of NPK (L1) tried. As regards the time of N application, significantly higher gross returns, net returns and benefit-cost ratio were noticed with the application of N in four equal splits (S1), while it was minimum with S4. With regard to interaction effect between graded levels of NPK and time of application of N, maximum gross returns, net returns and benefit-cost ratio were observed with the highest dose of NPK with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4) and when N was supplied in four equal splits (S1). While, these parameters (gross returns, net returns and benefit-cost ratio) were significantly lower with L1 at S4. Significantly higher amount of post-harvest soil N status was observed with application of the highest level of NPK with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4) while, it was minimum with L1 (120-75-60 kg NPK ha-1) which was however, found statistical parity with L2 (160-90-75 kg NPK ha-1) and L3 (120-75-60 kg NPK ha-1 with dhaincha as brown manuring). Varied levels of NPK as well as different time of application of N did not alter post harvest soil P and K status to a statistically detectable magnitude From the present investigation, it can be concluded that application of 160-90-75 kg NPK ha-1 with dhaincha as brown manuring (L4) and scheduling nitrogen in four equal splits at 15, 45, 60 and 75 DAS (S1) was the best nutrient management package for semi-dry rice grown in North Coastal A.P as it resulted in significantly higher grain yield as well as economic returns.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    STUDIES ON AVAILABLE POTASSIUM IN SOILS OF DIFFERENT CROPPING SYSTEMS IN KURNOOL DISTRICT
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) RAJEEVANA, I; Dr. P. KAVITHA
    The present investigation entitled “Studies on available potassium in soils of different cropping systems in Kurnool district” was conducted with 30 black and red soils belonging to major cropping systems ( rice-rice, maizemaize, rice-maize/mustard, fallow-bengal gram and groundnut-groundnut) to study the salient characteristics, different forms of K, potassium release parameters by 1N HNO3 and Q/I parameters of K. A pot culture experiment was conducted with above 30 soil samples to know the response of maize crop to different levels of potassium and to evaluate the relative efficiency of extractants with reference to dry matter yield and uptake of potassium. Incubation studies were also carried out to know the potassium release pattern under laboratory conditions. The texture of the soils ranged from sandy loam to clay. The pH of the soils ranged from 6.9 (neutral) to 8.4 (slightly alkaline). The EC ranged from 0.10 to 0.69 dS m-1 indicating that soils were non saline. The organic carbon content was low (0.21 percent) to medium (0.59 percent). The soils were low to xvi medium in available N with the range of 159 to 307 kg ha-1, whereas available P was high in all villages which were in the range of 68 to 169 kg P2O5 ha-1 and medium to high in available K with a range of 154 to 2088 kg K2O ha-1.The Cation Exchange Capacity of the soils varied between 13.03 c mol (p+) kg-1 and 29.91 c mol (p+) kg-1. Base saturation of the soils varied from 62.73 to 88.13 per cent indicating that most of soils were medium fertile in nature. Mean values of all forms of K in investigated soils were highest in maizemaize cropping system and lowest in groundnut-groundnut cropping system. Black soils recorded higher values of all forms of potassium than red soils. The forms of potassium in the investigated soils was in the order of fixed K > nonexchangeable K > available K> exchangeable K > water soluble K. Among the different soil properties pH , organic carbon, CEC , silt and clay percent showed positive correlation with all forms of potassium indicating that these soil properties are more influenced by the existence of different forms of potassium. Extraction of available K by various extractants followed the trend: 1N HNO3> Mehilich-3 > 1 N NH4OAc > 0.01M CaCl2 > Distilled water. 1N HNO3 extracted the exchangeable, non-exchangeable and also the lattice K to some extent. All these potassium extractants were positively correlated with each other, though these extractants removed different quantities of potassium which indicates that these methods can be used for assessment of availability of potassium in present investigated soils and also amount of potassium extracted were comparable. In this study, potassium release parameters such as step-K and cumulative-K were the highest in maize-maize cropping system and lowest in groundnut-groundnut cropping system. However, constant rate K was high in rice-rice cropping system. The black soils recorded higher cumulative, step and constant rate K than red soils. All investigated soils recorded less cumulative-K except two soils under present investigation. Lower cumulative K and continuous cropping would lead to depletion of soil K reserves and result in K deficiency. xvii The K release parameters were positively correlated with the clay fraction of soil indicating that potassium was mainly extracted from the clay fraction in soil. Mean ARe K values were highest in groundnut-groundnut cropping system and lowest in fallow-bengal gram cropping system. Mean labile potassium of the investigated soils was higher in maize-maize cropping system whereas mean value of PBCK was higher in fallow-bengal gram cropping system. Lower mean values of labile potassium and PBCK were recorded in groundnut-groundnut cropping system. Mean ARe K values were higher in red soils than black soils where as labile potassium and PBCK were higher in black soils than red soils. PBCK and constant rate of-K were low in all investigated soils indicating low K power supply hence, judicious and frequent application of potassic fertilizers is required to prevent leaching losses for better crop production. Dry matter, K content and K uptake were significantly increased with increase in each level of potassium from 0 to 90 kg K2O ha-1. There was abundant increase in above parameters from no K fertilizer application to 30 kg K2O ha-1 and the increase was gradual with increase in each level of fertilizer from 30 to 90 kg K2O ha-1. All the above parameters showed significant difference with soil K status, K levels and their interaction. Percent increase in K content at 90 kg K2O ha-1 over control in Srinagaram soils was 21 percent where as in Balapalapalli soils was 59 percent. It indicates that soils having high initial K status show less response than soils having low initial K status. These results clearly indicated that even though, soils are having high initial K status, external application is needed, especially in high K requirement crops. In incubation studies, irrespective of varying initial soil-K status, water soluble, available and fixed potassium consistently increased with increase in level of potassium application over control. Water soluble potassium and available potassium content increased initially with increasing levels of xviii potassium application, later on decreased gradually up to 120 DAI. Unlike water soluble and available form, fixed potassium gradually increased up to 120 DAI in fertilizer treatments whereas mean fixed form of K in control decreased gradually from 0 to 120 DAI, indicating the existence of dynamic equilibrium among themselves so that non exchangeable form decreases and it becomes available for plant. Among the 5 extractants tried, 1N HNO3 showed maximum positive and significant correlation with yield (0.913**) content (0.872**) and uptake (0.957**) of potassium of maize crop followed by N.N. NH4OAc and Mehilich- 3. Maximum and positive correlation of plant parameters was found with fixed K. Minimum correlation coefficient with water soluble K and plant parameters. Thus, it could be concluded that fixed K should be taken into consideration while giving fertilizer recommendation. K availability indices i.e. different forms of K, potassium releasing parameters, step-K, cumulative-K and labile potassium were the highest in maize-maize cropping system than fallow-bengal gram cropping system even though fallow-bengal cropping system was grown in black soils which might be due to lack of K fertilization which results in K depletion over period of time. These K availability indices were the lowest in groundnut-groundnut cropping system. Hence, these soils require judicious and frequent application of potassic fertilizers to prevent leaching losses for better crop production.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    GENETIC VARIABILITY FOR SELECTIVE TOLERANCE TO POST EMERGENCE WEEDICIDE IN CHICKPEA (Cicer arietinum L.)
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) BHANU REKHA, K; Dr. V. JAYALAKSHMI
    The present investigation entitled ‘Genetic variability for selective tolerance to post emergence weedicide in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)’ was carried out during rabi, 2015-16 at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh, India. Thirty chickpea genotypes were evaluated in Randomized Block design with three replications each in ‘spay’ and ‘control’. Post emergence herbicide imazethapyr was sprayed at 30 days after sowing and herbicide tolerance scores (HTS) at 10, 20 and 30 days after spray were recorded using 1-5 scale (1 = highly tolerant and 5 = highly sensitive). The experiment in which herbicide was applied is designated as ‘spray’ and a control block without herbicide spray (designated as ‘control’) was also grown to evaluate the influence of herbicide on yield and yield attributes of chickpea. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among 30 genotypes for days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, specific leaf area, shoot biomass, harvest index, 100 seed weight and seed yield in ‘control’ and days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of pods per plant, shoot biomass, harvest index, 100 seed weight and seed yield in ‘spray ’. The differences among the genotypes for number of branches and specific leaf area in ‘spray’ and SPAD Chlorophyll Meter Reading (SCMR) in both ‘control’ and ‘spray’ were not significant. Assessment of plant appearance and leaf symptoms after herbicide application revealed large genetic variation for tolerance to imazethapyr in 30 chickpea genotypes. Herbicide tolerance scores (HTS) of genotypes ranged from 2.0 (ICCV 10,ICCV 08109,ICCIL 04021, ICCV 08102, ICCIL 04016, ICCV 97105, ICCV 11101, ST-3-D-2, ICCV 95008, ICCV 97007, ICCV 95013, ICCV 93122, ICCV 93054, ICCV 96005, ICC 1205 and N BeG 119) to 3.7 (N BeG 47 ) at 10 days after spray. At 30 days after spray, except JG 11(2.3) all the genotypes recovered fully and recorded HTS of 2.0. The overall decrease in seed yield due to imazethapyr was 18.5 % and it ranged from 1.63% (ICCIL 01031) to 45% (ICCIL 04004). A few promising chickpea lines viz., ICCIL 01034 , ICCV 09106, ICCIL 01026, ICCIL 01031, ST-3-D-2, N BeG 49 , N BeG 3, N BeG 47 and JG 11with tolerant to moderately tolerant reaction to imazethapyr, and with high yield in ‘spray’ as well as ‘control’ were identified in the study and can be utilized further in breeding programmes. Study of genetic variability revealed that in both ‘control’ and ‘spray’, higher PCV and GCV values were recorded for seed yield. High PCV and GCV values were also recorded for specific leaf area in ‘control’ and 100 seed weight in ‘spray’, respectively. Shoot biomass, 100 seed weight, harvest index and seed yield recorded high values of heritability and genetic advance in both ‘control’ and ‘spray’. Days to 50% flowering and SLA in ‘control’ also exhibited higher values of heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean. These characters with high values of heritability and genetic advance under selection can be improved more rapidly with less intensive evaluation than those with low heritability. Genetic divergence studies clearly distinguished thirty genotypes into five clusters. Promising genotypes along with high per se performance were N BeG 49, ICCIL 01031, N BeG 510 and N BeG 119 from cluster I; N BeG 47 from cluster II; ICCV 09106 from cluster III and ICCV 97007 from cluster V , which can be utilized in crossing programme to recover an array of transgressive segregants for various traits. Apart from these, elite genotypes with high yield and herbicide tolerance from clusters I (ICCIL 01034 , ICCIL 01026 and JG 11) and II ( ST-3-D- 2 and N BeG 3) can also be exploited in breeding programmes meant for improving tolerance to post emergence herbicide imazethapyr in chickpea. Correlation and path analysis studies revealed that number of pods per plant, shoot biomass, harvest index and 100 seed weight exhibited positive and highly significant association with seed yield and also among themselves. On the other hand, days to 50% flowering and days to maturity were negatively and highly significantly correlated with seed yield. These traits followed the same trend in both ‘control’ and ‘spray’. Whereas, some deviation was observed in traits viz., plant height and number of branches per plant in ‘control’ and ‘spray’. Thus the correlated traits must be carefully studied while breeding for high yield along with tolerance to post emergence herbicide in chickpea. High seed yield is determined based on shoot biomass and harvest index in chickpea in both ‘control’ and ‘spray’ and these traits emerged as major contributors of seed yield as evidenced from their high direct effects as well as indirect via contributions of other correlated traits (number of pods, number of branches in ‘control’ and number of pods, 100 seed weight and plant height in ‘spray’).
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    IMPACT OF MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS) IN ANANTHAPURAMU DISTRICT OF ANDHRA PRADESH
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) HANUMANTHA, K; Dr. V. SAILAJA
    The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) aims at enhancing the livelihood security of the people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was notified on 7th September, 2005. The Act came into force on February, 2006 and was implemented in a phased manner. In phase-I, it was introduced in 200 most backward districts of the country on 2nd February, 2006 and implemented in additional 130 districts in phase-II on 1st April, 2007. To bring the whole nation under its safety net and keeping in view of the demand the Act was extended to the remaining 285 districts of India on 1st April, 2008 in phase-III. An ex-post facto research design was followed to study the impact of MGNREGS in Ananthapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh. The study was conducted in Andhra Pradesh state during 2015-16. Ananthapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh was purposively selected based on criteria of maximum employment generation in Rayalaseema region. Out of 63 mandals of Ananthapuramu district, three mandals were selected purposively based on the criteria of maximum employment generation. From the list of villages in each mandal, four villages were selected thus making total 12 villages, based on the criteria of maximum employment generation. From each selected village 10 respondents were selected by following the simple random sampling, thus making a total of 120 respondents constituted the sample of the study. Data was collected by pre-testing followed by personal interview method. For the purpose of statistical analysis of the coded data, various tools were used; Frequency (F), Percentage (%), paired‘t’ test, Arithmetic Mean ( ), Standard Deviation (σ), Correlation coefficient (r) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The detailed analysis of profile characteristics indicated that majority of the MGNREGS beneficiaries belonged to the categories of middle aged (65.00%), male (61.70%), illiterate (50.00%), medium size of the family (62.50%), agriculture (68.30%), other backward caste (48.30%), medium annual income category (48.33%), with 7 to 9 years of benefit (53.30%), medium socio-politico participation (94.17%), medium sources of information (65.00%), medium economic motivation (69.00%), medium achievement motivation (68.00%), medium risk orientation (74.14%) and medium level of aspiration (86.67%). The detailed analysis of the dependent variables indicated that the majority (79.16 %) of the respondents had moderate favourable attitude, where in 13.33 per cent had unfavourable attitude and 7.50 per cent highly favourable attitude. Majority (70.00%) of MGNREGS beneficiaries belonged to medium direct changes category followed by more (17.50%) and less (12.50%) direct changes categories. Direct changes occurred due to the implementation of MGNREGS were increase in the total number of man days in an year from 169.41 days/ year to 278.83 days/ year, increase in the mean value of number of employed persons in the family from 1.73 persons to 2.44 persons, reduction in the mean daily working hours from 8.79 hours to 7.24 hours, increase in the mean daily wage rates from Rs.66.53/ day to Rs.144.95/day, increase in the mean income level from Rs.29188.33/year to Rs.45950/year, increase in the overall community assets up to 91.39 percent, increase in the overall development of works on individual land holding up to 75.62 percent and reduction in the mean days of migration from 99.16 days/year to 22.25 days/ year. About 67.50 percent of MGNREGS beneficiaries experienced medium indirect changes followed by more (20.00%) and less (12.50%) indirect changes. Due the implementation of MGNREGS, the beneficiaries experienced medium (73.33%) level of empowerment, medium (75.83%) personal and family security, increase in the food consumption level with a mean difference of 7.75 Kg/ week, increase in the conservation of natural resources and strengthening democracy. Out of the fourteen selected independent variables five of the variables viz., education, size of family, socio-politico participation, sources of information and achievement motivation showed significant relation with the attitude of the MGNREGS beneficiaries. Remaining variables like age, gender, occupation, caste, annual income, number of years benefited economic motivation, risk orientation and level of aspiration did not showed any significant relation with the attitude of the beneficiaries. The Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis indicated that all the fourteen variables put together explained 69.20 per cent of variance in the attitude of MGNREGS beneficiaries, remaining 30.80 per cent due to the extraneous factors. Out of the fourteen selected independent variables seven of the variables namely education, size of the family, occupation, annual income, risk orientation, achievement motivation and level of aspiration showed the significant relation with the direct changes of MGNREGS beneficiaries. Remaining variables like age, gender, caste, number of years benefited, socio-politico participation, sources of information and economic motivation did not show any significant relationship with the direct changes experienced by the MGNREGS beneficiaries. The Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis indicated that all the fourteen variables put together explained 57.80 per cent of variance in the direct changes experienced by the MGNREGS beneficiaries, remaining 42.20 per cent due to the extraneous factors. Out of the fourteen selected independent variables five of the variables namely education, annual income, number of years benefitted, socio-politico participation and achievement motivation showed significant relation with the indirect changes of the MGNREGS beneficiaries. Remaining variables like age, gender, size of the family, occupation, caste, sources of information, risk orientation, economic motivation and level of aspiration did not show any significant relationship with the indirect changes. The Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis indicated that all the fourteen variables put together explained 73.60 per cent of variance in the indirect changes experienced by the MGNREGS beneficiaries, remaining 26.40 per cent due to the extraneous factors. The various constraints faced by the selected MGNREGS beneficiaries were ‘late payment of wages’, ‘no scope to get employment more than 150 days’, ‘nonprovision of 150 days’, ‘non availability of regular work’, ‘poor work site facilities’, ‘distances of work site’, ‘non-payment of wages in the form of grains’, ‘low payment of wages’, ‘no special provision for elderly persons’, ‘delay in disposal of beneficiaries complaints’, ‘migration of laborers due to non-provision of works under MGNREGS’, ‘non- payment of unemployment allowance’, ‘no provision for skilled or semi-skilled works in MGNREGS’ and ‘provision of employment during agricultural seasons’. The suggestions given by the selected MGNREGS beneficiaries for the effective implementation of the scheme were ‘timely payment of wages’, ‘extending the limit of 150 days employment’, ‘fulfillment of 150 days of employment’, ‘payment of wages in the form of grains’, ‘timely allotment of works’, ‘provision of necessary work site facilities’, ‘provision of sufficient employment near by the village’, ‘timely payment of unemployment allowance’, ‘special provisions for elderly persons’, ‘timely solution to the beneficiaries complaints’, ‘provision of employment during off-season’ and ‘provision of employment for skilled and semiskilled workers’. Based on the constraints faced and suggestions given by the beneficiaries a suitable strategy was formulated for the effective functioning of MGNREGS.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    GENETIC DIVERSITY STUDIES ON PEANUT STEM NECROSIS TOLERANT GROUNDNUT GENOTYPES
    (Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 2016) DHARANI NIVEDITHA, P; Dr. M. SUDHARANI
    The present investigation entitled “Genetic diversity studies on Peanut Stem Necrosis tolerant groundnut genotypes” was carried out with fifty genotypes comprising of released, pre-release cultures and germplasm lines at Agricultural Reasearch Station, Kadiri during kharif, 2015 in a randomized block design with two replications. The data were recorded on five randomly selected plants for different yield, yield components and quality traits. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all characters studied indicating the existence of sufficient variation among the genotypes. The characters viz., days to 50 per cent flowering, plant height, number of filled pods per plant, total pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, sound mature kernel per cent, haulm yield per plant, pod yield per plant, kernel yield per plant, shelling per cent, harvest index, 100 kernel weight, SCMR at 60 DAS, oil content and protein content were recorded for fifty genotypes. The study of per se performance indicated that the genotypes viz., 04 x 479-012, K 1501 and K 1643 were found to be superior for most of the yield contributing traits along with yield among the tested entries. These genotypes may be involved in the crossing programme duly estimating the general and specific combining abilities for the future improvement programme. xiii Study of genetic parameters revealed that kernel yield per plant, pod yield per plant, haulm yield per plant, protein content and number of filled pods per plant recorded high PCV, GCV, heritability (broad sense) and genetic advance as per cent of mean indicating ample scope for improvement of these traits through selection. The diversity studies grouped fifty genotypes into eight clusters. Among them, cluster II consisted of maximum number of genotypes (22), followed by cluster I (15) and cluster III (8). The clusters IV, V, VI, VII and VIII were monogenotypic and consisted of single genotype. An analysis of the inter and intracluster distances revealed maximum inter-cluster distance between clusters IV and VIII followed by VI and VIII, III and V and clusters III and VII, indicating that genotypes from these clusters were highly divergent meriting their consideration in selection as parents for hybridization. Among all the characters studied, SCMR at 60 DAS contributed maximum to the diversity followed by protein content and harvest index. A perusal of the results of character association revealed positive and significant association of kernel yield with days to maturity, pods per plant, 100 kernel weight, pod yield per plant, shelling per cent, SCMR at 60 DAS and haulm yield per plant, indicating an increase in kernel yield would realize with an improvement in these characters. Therefore, priority should be given to these traits while making selections for kernel yield improvement. A perusal of the results on path coefficients for yield and yield components revealed high residual effect for both phenotypic and genotypic path coefficients, indicating that other attributes besides the characters studied are contributing for kernel yield and oil content. The results also revealed high positive direct effects of haulm yield per plant, shelling per cent, harvest index and 100 kernel weight on kernel yield per plant and shelling per cent on oil content. Hence, these traits should be considered as important selection criteria in all groundnut improvement programmes and direct selection for these traits is recommended for kernel yield and oil content improvement in groundnut.