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ThesisItem Open Access COMPARISON OF PHENOTYPIC AND GENOMIC SELECTION APPROACHES TO IDENTIFY PROMISING HYBRID PARENTAL LINES FOR YIELD AND NUTRITIONAL TRAITS IN PEARL MILLET [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. BR.](PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-01-12) K. VIJAYA KUMAR; Dr. K.B. EswariPearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. syn. Cenchrus americanus (L.) Morrone) is a climate-resilient crop grown in the arid and semi-arid areas of the world. It is the most widely grown millet species, accounting for approximately half of the total worldwide production of millets. It can grow on poor soils with little or no inputs and it has resistance or tolerance to many crop diseases and pests and can survive in adverse climatic conditions. Pearl millet also known for nutritional security as it is the rich source of Fe and Zn content. Pearl millet is most useful crop because of its nutritional potential, multipurpose use as feed and fodder and as climate change ready crop with its ability to sustain in harsh environmental conditions like drought and heat, has enormous potential to give higher returns in marginal environments for poor farmers. Plant breeders are constantly challenged to come up with new breeding techniques to maximise selection gain per year. In large segregating material, it is critical to select the best genotypes which act as parental lines in hybrid development programs. Here breeders apply different selection strategies to screen and select best parental lines. These strategies may be by the conventional approaches based on phenotypic data only or/and by molecular approaches, where exploiting the same phenotypic data by adding information from molecular markers. The present investigation was carried out during summer-2020 to kharif-2021 at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad. The objective of the study was to compare selection methods based on phenotypic and genomic information to derive hybrid parental lines having high productivity and better nutritional traits, to investigate the optimum number of testers required to select superior hybrid parental lines and to identify heterosis and combining ability effects of hybrid parental lines. 21 A study was conducted to compare selection efficiency of four selection methods for selection of superior hybrid parental lines for grain yield and nutritional traits. Among them general combining ability (gca), per se performance and visual selection methods were phenotypic information-based selection methods and genomic selection is genotypic information-based section method. The study was conducted on two sets of hybrid parental lines, which consist of 72 seed parental (B) lines (Set-I) and 73 restorer (R) lines (Set-II). These parental lines were crossed with 2 respective testers, generated hybrids and parental lines were evaluated in multilocation trials. Parental lines were genotyped by t-GBS technique with 1217 mid density SNP markers. The breeding values of parental lines were estimated by genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) model. Prediction accuracy of the model was ranged between 0.21 to 0.87. In both sets, from each selection method, top 10% lines were selected and crossed with 5 testers and generated hybrids were evaluated in diverse agroclimatic zones. The selection efficiency of methods was determined 1) by comparing the mean performance of the top five (5), ten (10), twenty (20), and all hybrids developed by each selection method 2) by comparing line contribution by each selection method in top performing hybrids and 3) by cost-benefit analysis. Comparison of mean performance revealed that in all four comparison groups (top 5, 10, 20, and all hybrids) of set-I and set-II, hybrids developed by general combining ability (GCA) performed better than other selection methods. In set-I, hybrids developed by visual selection method showed superior performance after GCA and in set-II, genomic selection showed superior performance after GCA. A paired t-test was conducted to check the significant difference between selection methods for mean grain yield performance of top 5, 10, 20 and all hybrids advanced by the four selection methods. In Set-I, in all groups (top 5, 10, 20 and all hybrids advanced by methods) no significant difference between selection methods was observed. Whereas as in Set-II, except in all hybrids group, 1) no significant difference between general combining ability and genomic selection, 2) no significant difference between per se performance and agronomic score, 3) significant difference between GCA and GS methods with per se performance and visual selection methods was observed. These results suggest that selection efficiency of all four selection methods is similar, but among the four methods, selection efficiency of genomic selection and GCA may be similar and superior to per se performance and visual selection methods. Rank correlation analysis between selection methods in both Set-I (B-lines) and Set-II (R-lines) revealed 1) significant positive correlation between genomic selection and general combining ability methods 2) significant positive correlation between per se performance and visual selection methods 3) no correlation between GS and GCA methods with per se performance and visual selection methods. This result also supports the similar selection efficiency of GS and GCA selection methods. Cost benefit analysis indicated that initial implementation of genomic selection costs more compared to other selection methods due to requirement of both genotypic and phenotypic data to train the model. Once the model is available then only genotypic data is sufficient to estimate the breeding value of parental lines so cost involved in genomic selection will be reduced drastically. Then genomic selection would be 74% cheaper than GCA method. The visual selection method is the most affordable method among the four selection strategies. Comparison of three selection methods (gca, per se performance and genomic selection) for combination of grain yield and grain Fe content was done in seventy-two (72) seed parental lines (B-lines). Top 10% lines from each method with the combination of grain yield and Fe content was selected and crossed with 5 testers and generated hybrids were evaluated in four locations. It was observed that in all three 22 comparison groups (top 5, 10 and all hybrids) for grain yield, hybrids generated by general combing ability performed best compared to other selection methods, whereas for grain Fe content in each comparison group not much difference was observed between selection methods. This result suggests that for grain yield, selection efficiency of general combining ability is higher followed by per se performance and genomic selection, but for grain Fe content, selection efficiency of all three methods is similar. Cost-benefit analysis for grain yield and Fe content revealed that initially genomic selection costs more compared to other selection methods, because of the requirement of phenotypic and genotypic data, once the model is trained genomic selection would be 89% cheaper than gca. Then GS will be the most cost-effective selection method for selection of parental lines for both grain yield and nutritional traits. Optimum number of testers study was conducted to find out the number of testers required from a set of 5 testers for selection of parental lines. With different possible combinations of 5 testers, 31 testcross combinations were framed. Based on mean grain yield performance of hybrids, top 10 lines from each of 31 combinations were selected. It was observed that 4 B-lines (line 1, 13, 16 and 17) in Set-I and 3 R lines (line 1, 2, 5) in Set-II were commonly selected in across testcross combinations. Based on mean grain yield hybrid performance, top 5 lines from 5 tester combination were selected. Then these lines were compared for their presence in top 5 lines of testcross combinations of each tester group. In Set-I, the average chance of selecting top 5 lines of 5 tester combination by one, two, three and four tester groups are 56%, 66%, 76% and 92% respectively, whereas in Set-II, average chance observed as 52%, 62%, 74% and 84% respectively. Correlation analysis between mean grain yield of testcross combinations in both sets revealed the less correlation of single tester combinations with two or more tester combinations, but two or more tester group combinations showed more significant positive correlation with other testcross combinations. Line x tester biplot analysis was done to estimate the discriminating ability of 5 R-line testers in Set-I and 5 B-line testers in Set-II for grain yield, grain Fe content and Zn content. Based on vector length in biplot graph, in Set I, following testers have higher discriminating ability: ICMR 1203 and ICMR 14888 for grain yield, ICMR 1202 and ICMR 15222 for grain Fe content, and ICMR 1203 and ICMR 15222 for grain Zn content. In case of Set II, following testers have higher discriminating ability: ICMB 04999 and ICMB 1508 for grain yield, ICMB 04999 and ICMB 98222 for grain Fe content, and ICMB 04999 and ICMB 1508 for grain Zn content. Combining ability and standard heterosis study was conducted in two stages of material using line x tester analysis. Stage-I comprised of 84 B-lines and 75 R-lines, which were crossed with 2 testers and stage-II comprised of 22 B-lines and 25 R-lines, which were crossed with 5 testers. Generated hybrids were evaluated in four locations. The analysis of variance for combining ability in both stages revealed the presence of significant difference among the lines, testers and their hybrids for all the traits under the study. In stage-I, out of 84 B-lines, 15 lines for grain yield, 29 for grain Fe content and 20 lines for Zn content, 29 lines for days to 50% flowering, 25 lines for plant height and 14 lines for 1000-seed weight have shown significant GCA effects in desirable direction. Among them, ICMB 101716 and ICMB 18777 were found to be good combiners for grain yield, grain Fe and Zn content. Out of 75 R-lines, 24 lines for days to 50% flowering, 24 lines for plant height, 12 lines for 1000-seed weight, 23 lines for grain yield, 32 lines for Fe content and 19 lines for Zn content showed significant GCA effects in desirable direction. Among them, ICMR 100152 and ICMR 102502 were identified as promising lines with significant GCA effects for all the traits except for days to 50% flowering. Four lines (ICMR 1701, ICMR 1907, ICMR 100152, and ICMR 23 102502) have shown significant GCA effects for grain yield, grain Fe content and Zn content. In stage-II, out of 22 B-lines, 9 lines for days to 50% flowering, 9 lines for plant height, 6 lines for 1000-seed weight, 7 lines for grain yield, 6 lines for Fe content and 5 lines for Zn content were as significant good combiners in desired direction. ICMB 101810 was found to be as promising line with significant GCA effects for all traits except Fe content. ICMB 101793 has shown significant GCA effects for grain yield and grain Fe content along with other agronomic traits. Out of 25 R-lines, 8 lines for days to 50% flowering, 11 lines for plant height, 7 lines for 1000-seed weight, 5 lines for grain yield, 12 lines for Fe content and 7 lines for Zn content showed significant GCA effects in desired direction. Parental lines ICMR 101206 and ICMR 102502 are promising lines with significant GCA effects for grain yield, Fe content and Zn content. Across two stages, 7 parental lines including 3 B-lines (ICMB 101810, ICMB 101793 and ICMB 17333) and 4 R-lines (ICMR 101206, ICMR 102502, ICMR 102506 and ICMR 102149) were significant good combiners for grain yield, nutritional and agronomic traits. An estimation of SCA effects of crosses in pooled analysis revealed that in stage-I, hybrids ICMA 19222 x ICMR 1202 and ICMA 101790 x ICMR 1203 were observed as best hybrid combinations with significant positive SCA effects for grain yield. For grain Fe and Zn content, 27 and 12 hybrid combinations showed significant positive SCA effects respectively. Hybrid, ICMA 04999 x ICMR 100048 has been identified as best combination with significant SCA effects for grain yield, Fe content, days to 50% flowering and 1000-seed weight. Five hybrids, ICMA 04999 x ICMR 100048, ICMA 04999 x ICMR 1804, ICMA 04999 x ICMR 15555, ICMA 04999 x ICMR 100004 and ICMA 04999 x ICMR 102503 have significant SCA effects for both grain yield and Fe content. In stage-II, out of 103 B-line hybrids, 8 hybrids showed significant positive SCA effects for at least 2 traits along with grain yield. Hybrid ICMA 101780 x ICMR 14888 is the best combination with significant positive SCA effects for grain yield, plant height and 1000-seed weight. Out of 115 R-line hybrids, 5 crosses for days to 50% flowering, 18 crosses for plant height, 6 crosses for 1000-seed weight, 18 crosses for grain yield, 11 crosses for grain Fe content and 9 crosses for Zn content showed significant SCA effects in desirable direction. Among them 8 crosses showed significant positive SCA effects for at least two traits along with grain yield. Standard heterosis analysis revealed that in stage-I out of 168 B-line hybrids, for grain yield, 5 hybrids (ICMA 101795 x ICMR 1203, ICMA 101838 x ICMR 1202, ICMA 17333 x ICMR 1203, ICMA 101828 x ICMR 1203 and ICMA 101832 x ICMR 1203) showed positive standard heterosis over 86M84, 10 hybrids showed positive standard heterosis over Kaveri super boss and 31 crosses showed significant positive standard heterosis over ICMH 1202. For grain Fe content, 8 hybrids showed significant positive standard heterosis over ICMH 1202 which is the major check for Fe and Zn content. In stage II, out of 103 B-line hybrids for grain yield, 6 hybrids showed significant positive standard heterosis for grain yield over ICMH 1203. Hybrids ICMA 101794 x ICMR 1202 and ICMA 101780 x ICMR 1203 showed significant positive standard heterosis over ICMH 1203 for Fe content and Zn content respectively. Out of 115 R-line hybrids for grain yield, 7 hybrids over 86M84, one hybrid over Kaveri Super Boss and 8 hybrids over MP7171 showed positive standard heterosis and 5 hybrids showed significant positive standard heterosis over ICMH 1203. For grain Fe content, 24 23 hybrids showed positive standard heterosis and no hybrid showed significant positive standard heterosis over ICMH 1203. For Zn content 3 hybrids (ICMA 1508 x ICMR 102149, ICMB 98222 x ICMR 102149 and ICMA1 98222 x ICMR 102503) showed significant positive standard heterosis for grain Zn content over ICMH 1203. These promising hybrids and parental lines will be further tested for combination of yield and nutritional superiority and used in line breeding and hybrid development in ICRISAT pearl millet breeding program.ThesisItem Open Access A STUDY ON HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES OF ORGANISED AND SEMI ORGANISED PLAYERS IN POULTRY INDUSTRY(PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-02-14) KUMMITHI SARIKA REDDY; Dr. Ch. SRILATHAThe poultry industry is essential to the global agriculture sector and makes a considerable contribution to both food security and economic growth. The contribution of poultry sector to national GDP is one per cent in livestock 14 per cent GDP(FAO,2021). The fastest-growing segment of the world's meat demand is poultry meat. The current study titled “A Study on Human Resource Practices of Organised and Semi organised Players in poultry industry” is carried out in the host organisation. This study attempts to look into how organized and semi-organized players in the poultry sector use human resources. The present study documented the Human resource practices followed by organised and semi organised sectors of poultry industry. Human Resource Practices like selection, training and development, promotion are far better in organised players than in the semi organised players. Various job descriptions which are more common in the marketing and operations divisions of the organised and semi organised players in the poultry industry were studied. A note on the information flow and the co-ordination mechanism in the selected departments of the host organisation was made. The information flows through various levels of the hierarchy. The relation between Human Resource practices and the employee satisfaction levels in both organised and semi organised sectors of the poultry industry were studied. Primary data on employee satisfaction was collected. 60 respondents from the organised players and 20 respondents from the semi organised players were taken for carrying the study. The research aims to offer useful insights into hiring practices, training initiatives, pay scales, measures to decrease the attrition levels. Secondary data on various job descriptions in organized and semi organized sectors of poultry industry in the study area, human resource practices, followed and information flow and co-ordination mechanism was collected from records maintained by the firms and from the Human resource managers. In order to improve operational effectiveness and sustain growth, this study looks for best practices and potential areas for improvement in HR management within the poultry sector. The present study offers a comprehensive understanding of Human Resources practices in poultry sector to the stakeholders of poultry industry, policy makers and academicians. From the study it was concluded that there exists proper Human Resource Practices in organised sectors of the poultry industry. In organised sectors of poultry industry there exists proper job descriptions and co-ordination mechanism was clear, whereas in case of semi organised players of the poultry industry there exists a deviation. Semi organised players are suggested to use online portals like Indeed and Naukri portals to recruit the employees. The outstanding performance of the employees must be recognised and rewarded so that the employees keep motivate and contribute better to the organisation.ThesisItem Open Access GENETIC DIVERSITY STUDIES FOR YIELD AND YIELD COMPONENT TRAITS UNDER HIGH TEMPERATURE STRESS IN CHICKPEA (Cicer arietinum L.)(PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-02-22) MUNAZZA MOIN; Dr. P. JAGAN MOHAN RAOThe present investigation entitled “Genetic diversity studies for yield and yield component traits under high temperature stress in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)” was undertaken to assess the nature and magnitude of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance, genetic diversity for yield attributes and molecular diversity among 50 chickpea genotypes including four checks. The field experiment was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with three replications at Seed Research and Technology Centre, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during Rabi, 2022-2023 and observations were recorded on 13 characters. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the normal and late sown conditions revealed highly significant differences among 50 chickpea genotypes indicating the presence of high variability among the 50 chickpea genotypes. Variability studies revealed that PCV and GCV values were high for number of seeds plant-1, followed by number of filled pods plant-1, seed yield plant-1 and number of pods plant-1 under both normal and late sown conditions indicating higher magnitude of variability among the genotypes studied and provided significant opportunity for the improvement of these features by selection. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean GAM (%) was exhibited by the traits such as number of seeds plant-1, number of filled pods plant-1, seed yield plant-1, number of pods plant-1, number of primary branches plant-1, 100 seed weight, number of secondary branches plant-1 and plant height in both normal and late sown conditions indicating the predominance of additive gene action for these characters. Under both normal and late sown conditions correlation studies revealed that seed yield plant-1 had shown highly significant and strong positive phenotypic correlation with the traits filled pods plant-1, number of pods plant-1, number of seeds plant-1 and harvest index. Therefore, selection for above mentioned yield and yield component traits could directly lead to seed yield improvement and path coefficient analysis revealed that among all the traits number of filled pods plant-1 has shown high value of positive direct effect on seed yield plant-1 followed by number of pods plant-1, 100 seed weight, days to pod initiation, number of primary branches, harvest index and number of seeds pod-1 under normal sown conditions. Under late sown conditions the traits number of filled pods plant-1 has shown high value of positive direct effect followed by harvest index, 100 seed weight, days to pod initiation, number of secondary branches plant-1, number of primary branches plant-1, plant height, number of seeds plant-1, and number of seeds pod-1. Therefore, these characters must be included in the key selection criteria for breeding high-yielding cultivars for normal and late sown conditions respectively. The genotypes were grouped into four clusters based on their D2 values under normal sown conditions. Cluster I comprising the 47 genotypes was the largest and remaining all the three clusters were solitary clusters. The maximum inter-cluster distance (530.57) was observed between the clusters II and IV followed by clusters III and IV (381.03). Under late sown conditions three clusters were formed based on their D2 values, with cluster I having 48 genotypes and intra-cluster distance (114.88) and remaining two clusters were solitary clusters. The maximum inter-cluster distances (650.72) were observed between the clusters I and III and followed by clusters I and II with (228.91). Molecular characterization using 40 SSR markers revealed that 28 markers exhibited polymorphism resulting in the identification of a total of 78 alleles. The number of alleles generated per locus by each marker within the chickpea genotypes ranged from 2 to 6. The PIC values among the SSR loci varied with a range of 0.0384 exhibited by H1B17 to 0.576 exhibited by NCPGR 23 with an average of 0.371. Clustering of genotypes using UPGMA resulted in grouping the genotypes into 19 clusters. The check ICC10685 found in the solitary clusters of both the molecular and morphological (at both normal and late sown conditions) dendrograms representing that some diversity is present in this genotype at both molecular and morphological level. The results of mean performances suggests that the genotypes ICCV 191152, ICCV 191218, ICCV 191232, ICCV 191256 were found superior for seed yield under both normal and late sown conditions and the genotypes ICCV1218, ICCV191232 and ICC10685 were found superior for traits number of pods plant-1, number of filled pods plant-1, number of seeds plant-1 under both conditions. Hence, these genotypes could be used in the breeding programmes for the development of high yielding chickpea cultivars suitable for both timely and late sowings.ThesisItem Open Access SOIL QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND ITS VARIATION IN RELATION TO RICE CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN MAHABUBNAGAR DISTRICT OF TELANGANA STATE(PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-03-11) KONGA BHUVANA; Dr. T. ANJAIAHSoil quality is the integrated effect of management on most soil properties that determine agricultural crop productivity and sustainability. The present investigation was undertaken for assessing the soil quality of high (HPRS), medium (MPRS) and low (LPRS) productive rice soils of Mahabubnagar district to establish the Minimum Data Set (MDS) of soil quality indicators and discriminate the variation in productivity areas. A total of 225 samples, comprising 75 from each category (HPRS, MPRS, LPRS), were meticulously collected before transplanting for rabi season, 2022-2023 using stratified random sampling method. Twenty-four soil parameters encompassing physical [soil texture (sand, silt, clay %), BD, MWHC], chemical [(pH, EC, SOC, TC, available N, P2O5, K2O, S, Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn, exchangeable cations (Caex, Mgex, Naex and Kex)], and biological (DHA, ACP, ALP) parameters were determined. For biological analysis, fresh soil samples were collected. The Karl-Pearson correlation analysis unveiled significant correlations among the soil properties at both the 0.05 and 0.01 significance levels. Further scrutiny through one-way ANOVA highlighted the significance of soil properties (P ≤ 0.05) namely clay content, BD, MWHC, EC, SOC, avail. N, S, Zn, Caex, Mgex, Naex, Kex, DHA, ALP as the distinguishing soil characteristics among the three rice productivity soils. The Tukey’s Honestly Significant Different test indicated that under LPRS; BD, EC and Naex were significantly higher than HPRS; whereas MWHC, SOC, avail. N, Zn, Kex, DHA, ALP were significantly lower than HPRS and clay content, Avail. S, Caex, Mgex were significantly lower than HPRS and MPRS. Remarkably, HPRS showed markedly superior soil characteristics like lower BD, EC, and Naex coupled with higher clay content, MWHC, SOC, available N, S, Zn, exchangeable cations and improved DHA and ALP activity than those of LPRS. The fourteen attributes having significant differences underwent principal component analysis (PCA), revealing that the first five PCs (eigen value ≥1) accounted for 72.40 % of the total variance. The resulting MDS included SOC in PC1, Caex in PC2, EC in PC3, Naex in PC4 and Avail. Zn in PC5. The respective weighing factors for PCs are 0.445, 0.224, 0.124, 0.107 and 0.100 for PC5. The contribution of retained MDS variables followed the order: SOC (44.5 %) > Caex (22.4 %) > EC (12.4 %) > Naex (10.7 %) > Avail. Zn (10.0 %). Discriminant analysis identified clay content, BD, avail. S, avail. Zn, Caex, Mgex, Naex and ALP as the discriminating soil quality indicators between HPRS, MPRS, and LPRS, particularly highlighting distinctive features of LPRS. After scoring and weighting for the retained MDS indicators, soil quality index (SQI) was calculated that showed varying mean ± SD for HPRS (0.61 ± 0.10), MPRS (0.56 ± 0.10), and LPRS (0.48 ± 0.08). A significant correlation was observed between SQI and farmer’s rice yields of the three rice productivity soils. The relation between MDS (independent variable) and rice yields (dependent variable) tested using step-wise regression analysis inferred that all the five MDS significantly correlated the yield (R2 = 0.76) and of them; SOC, Caex, Avail. Zn exhibited positive correlations, while EC and Naex displayed negative correlations with the rice yields and explained 76 % variation. The remaining 24 % variation is explained by the soil properties which were dropped and not considered in the study. The findings underscore the critical role of soil quality assessment in shaping sustainable land use management and enhancing grain yield, particularly addressing the constraints associated with low SOC, Caex, Avail. Zn, and elevated EC and Naex in LPRS.ThesisItem Open Access A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON MAIZE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING IN TELANGANA STATE - AN ECONOMETRIC APPROACH(PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-04-19) MARKA MAHESHNATH; DR. R. VIJAYA KUMARITelangana state ranks third position in Maize cultivation area and it is cultivated across the state in approximately 12.68 lakh hectares. This research aims to comprehensively analyze the production and market dynamics of maize in Telangana State. By understanding historical trends, forecasting future production and market prices, and evaluating the economics of maize production and marketing, this study seeks to provide insights into the state’s maize production. Additionally, it aims to examine price transmission between key markets in Telangana and India, identifying constraints in production and marketing and proposing policy measures to address these challenges, ultimately aiming to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the maize sector in the region. Warangal Rural, Siddipet and Kamareddy districts of Telangana, which ranked top three in area under maize cultivation in the state were purposively selected for the study. Similarly, top two mandals in each district and top two villages in each sample mandal were selected. The required primary data for the study was gathered from 240 randomly chosen sample farmers from the selected villages using pre-tested, well structured schedules through personal interviews for the agricultural year 2019-20. District wise time series data on area, production, productivity and market prices of maize for the period from 1966-67 to 2021-22 were collected from different secondary sources. Trend analysis, cost and return analysis, marketing efficiency and co-integration analysis were employed to achieve the set of objectives and draw meaningful conclusion. The results of the study revealed that maize productivity in Telangana improved significantly, rising from 3204 kg/ha in 2001-02 to 6713 kg/ha in 2020-21. The average market price of maize in Telangana has shown an upward trend, increasing from ₹ 555/qtl in 2001-02 to ₹ 1669/qtl in 2020-21. The study also reveals that maize cultivation in Telangana follows intricate growth patterns, possibly influenced by a combination of factors. The cubic and power models provided better insights into these trends compared to simpler models. Using the ARIMA (2,1,2) model, it was forecasted that maize prices in Telangana would be ₹ 2182.16 in January 2023 and ₹ 2067.90 in December 2023 and also maize production in Telangana was forecasted to be 23.10 LT in 2022-23, 23.46 LT in 2023-24, and 23.82 LT in 2024-25. Price transmission between the markets explained unidirectional causality in Nagarkurnool-Badepally, Siddipet-Badepally, and Nizamabad-Nagarkurnool pairs, where changes in the former market affected price formation in the latter market. The remaining markets did not exhibit causality, indicating that price changes in one market did not feedback to influence the other. The findings also revealed that the average overall cost of cultivating maize per hectare was Rs. 80536.70, Rs. 80875.84, and Rs. 80264.72 in the districts of Warangal Rural, Siddipet, Kamareddy, respectively. The same on pooled farms was found to be Rs. 80775.57. With regard to gross income, Warangal Rural district reported the highest ₹ 144,619.75 per hectare, showcasing strong revenue generation from maize cultivation. Siddipet had the lowest gross income at ₹ 120,119.64 per hectare. Warangal Rural is the most profitable district for maize cultivation, while Siddipet is the least profitable among the studied regions. With respect to the marketing efficiency, price spread was ₹ 470.66 per quintal for Channel I and ₹ 449.30 per quintal for Channel II. The analysis of marketing margin and marketing efficiency in maize marketing revealed variations in prices, margins, and efficiency between the two channels. The Garette ranking analysis depicted uncertain rainfall (83.13) and shortage of labour (79.95) as the major constraints faced by farmers in maize production with maximum scores. In case of marketing, more number of middlemen in the market (82.65) and price fluctuations (79.13) were found as the major marketing constraints. The study presents a comprehensive overview of maize production, market trends, and constraints in Telangana State, highlighting significant improvements in productivity and price escalation over the years. Notably, maize productivity doubled between 2001 02 and 2020-21, while prices experienced a substantial upward trajectory during the same period. Forecasting models revealed anticipated price and production figures for 2023-24 and 2024-25, aiding in future planning. Price transmission analysis identified key market relationships, delineating causality and inter-market influences. Additionally, cost analysis per hectare and gross income across districts unveiled varied profitability, with Warangal Rural emerging as the most lucrative region for maize cultivation. Constraints such as uncertain rainfall and limited access to inputs and credit were highlighted, particularly affecting small and marginal farmers. The study underscores the potential positive economic impacts of maize farming on farmer incomes and the state economy, offering valuable insights for farmers and policymakers to optimize farming practices, investments, and policy interventions. The results of the study suggested that, shifting focus towards cost-effective production technologies and farm machinery will boost productivity and farmers income. Public sector initiatives to produce high-quality maize seeds at affordable rates can compete with the private sector, ensuring seed availability. Encouraging farmer cooperatives for collective production and marketing can elevate income levels. Establishing widespread marketing systems for fair maize procurement can incentivize farmers to continue cultivation. Low-cost storage infrastructure and market tie-ups with industrial units will prevent market gluts and strengthen the maize value chain. Additionally, setting up feed manufacturing units in major growing areas can further expand maize production, while disseminating price forecasts through digital platforms can mitigate price risks and volatility, aiding farmers in decision-making regarding production, storage, and marketing strategies. Implementing these policy implications can significantly enhance maize farming in Telangana StateThesisItem Open Access IDENTIFICATION OF SUITABLE BIOMARKERS AND SEED INVIGORATION TECHNIQUES FOR EARLY SEEDLING VIGOUR IN RICE (Oryza sativa L.)(PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-04-18) SADHU VINOOTHNA; Dr. M. PALLAVIThe investigation entitled “Identification of suitable biomarkers and seed invigoration techniques for early seedling vigour in rice” was carried out to identify the suitable biomarkers associated with early seedling vigour by evaluating twenty rice genotypes and suitable seed invigoration techniques to enhance seedling vigour in rice. The twenty varieties of rice released by PJTSAU were grown during Kharif 2022 at ARI Seed Production Farm, Seed Research and Technology Centre, Department of Seed Science and Technology, Rajendranagar. The experiment was carried out in Dry Direct Seeded Rice (DDSR) system in a plot of size 6.25 m2 using Randomized Block Design for evaluating growth, yield and yield attributes. The seed morphological, physiological and biochemical parameters of these rice genotypes were evaluated with two replications using Completely Randomized Design. The data of field, seed, seedling and biochemical parameters were subjected to cluster analysis and one variety from each cluster was selected and subjected to ten priming treatments and evaluated for physiological and biochemical parameters. All the yield and yield attributing parameters for twenty genotypes were recorded and seed samples were assessed for vigour and biochemical parameters. Analysis of variance for yield, seed and seedling characters stated significant difference among the varieties for all the parameters except for days to 50 % flowering and phosphate content. The genotypes viz., JGL 24423, KNM 118, KNM 733, WGL 915 and WGL 1246 showed superior performance under DDSR system and also reported superior seedling vigour traits. The correlation studies between seed vigour traits and seed, seedling, biochemical and yield attributes reported that speed of germination and SVI II recorded a significant positive association with seed dry weight, hull dry weight, seed length, seed width, seedling vigour index - I, seedling length, seedling dry weight, plant height, panicle length and 1000 seed weight and a negative association with root shoot ratio, while seedling vigour index I had a significant positive correlation with seed dry weight, hull dry weight, seed length, α-amylase activity, seedling length, seedling dry weight, panicle length, 1000 seed weight and seed yield per ha. Seedling vigour index –II also showed association with spikelet fertility and α-amylase activity. The genotypes were grouped into four clusters based on cluster analysis and one popular variety from each cluster viz., JGL 24423, KNM 118, RNR 10754, WGL 915 were selected and subjected to seed priming treatments viz., Hydropriming, Gibberlic acid (GA3) @ 40, 60 and 80 ppm, Salicylic acid (SA) @ 1, 2 and 3 Mm and KNO3 @ 2.5, 5 and 10 % at ambient conditions. Analysis of variance of seed invigoration studies showed a significant difference among the varieties, treatments and interactions for all the parameters under study except for root shoot ratio which showed significant difference among the varieties, seedling length, seedling vigour index I and α-amylase activity showed significant difference among the varieties and treatments only. Among the various seed invigoration treatments seed priming with SA @ 3 mM recorded highest germination, speed of germination, seedling length, seedling vigour index I & II, α-amylase activity and phosphate content, while GA3 @ 80 ppm recorded highest coleoptile and mesocotyl length, hydropriming reported lowest root shoot ratio and KNO3 @ 10% recorded highest seedling dry weight. Based on results it can be concluded that seed dry weight, hull dry weight, seed length, seed width and α-amylase activity have direct positive influence and root shoot ratio has negative influence on seedling vigour characters hence can be utilized as biomarkers for early seedling vigour in rice. Among the various seed invigoration treatments, seed priming with SA @ 3 mM is identified as best seed invigoration treatments for early seed vigour enhancement in rice. High vigour genotype WGL 915 showed better response to invigoration, while genotype RNR 10754 showed low response to invigoration.ThesisItem Open Access SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF RYTHU BIMA SCHEME - A CASE STUDY OF PEDDAPALLI DISTRICT IN TELANGANA STATE(PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-04-03) G.PRATIBHA SULAKSHANA; Dr.K. SUHASINIAgriculture is a predominant sector in Rural areas and plays a key role in strengthening the National economy (TSEO, 2023). In Telangana, Agriculture plays a pivotal role in its economy. But the farming sector in Telangana, is characterized by poor productivity and production owing several factors like Natural disasters, small land holdings, less technology usage, indebtedness, lack of credit in hand, loss of life due to toxins and lack of insurance systems etc., which can lead to many economic crises. Considering all these issues, the Government of Telangana came up with an innovative insurance scheme called Rythu Bima or Farmers Group Life Insurance Scheme in the year 2018, in addition to other several flagship programs that are aimed at not only improving farmers’ income but also the overall well-being of the farming community in the state. “Rythu Bima or Farmers Group Life Insurance Scheme” is first of its kind and a unique scheme in the India, introduced by the Government of Telangana, in the year 2018. The present research study is aimed at analysing the implementation of Rythu Bima in the state with a case study in Peddapalli district, where the progress of the scheme is evaluated, since its inception in 2018, based on the primary data collected from 120 sample farmers, 60 beneficiary and 60 non-beneficiary farmers in different mandals of Peddapalli district. An integrated analytical approach is followed to analyse both the primary and secondary data to arrive at meaningful conclusions and inferences. According to the analysis of the data of number of claims settled since 2018, till 20-01-2023, about 97784 claims were settled and about Rupees 4889.20 crores of amount has been disbursed to the bereaved families of the farmers. In Peddapalli district, around 1831 claims were settled disbursing around Rupees 91.55 crores of Rythu Bima benefit into the accounts of the nominee of the deceased farmer. The analysis further interpreted that, there are more deaths recorded (around 554 death claims settled) in the year 2020, showing the intensity of deaths due to COVID. The analysis clearly shows that, even during the COVID pandemic, the Government of Telangana, the LIC and the Agriculture Department, stood firmly by the side of farming community, duly supporting the farmers to mitigate the risk and stress due to the effects of COVID on the individual lives as well as on agricultural crop production. The Mandal wise analysis shows that, the deaths are recorded more in the headquarter mandal of Peddapalli, in all the financial years, with the Dharmaram mandal standing second in the row of highest deaths. The analysis on implementation fairly shows that, the Rythu Bima Scheme is successfully implemented in the state. There were few challenges during the implementation of the scheme and these challenges or constraints are mostly due to mismatch of data in the Aadhaar, Pattadar passbook and / or the bank account details. Certain policy implications that can be taken up for better service and implementation of this scheme suggested were, any practising farmer up to the age of 65 to 70 years may be considered as eligible to avail the Rythu Bima. An additional support in agricultural department crop subsidies, empowerment etc., will help the retrieval of agricultural activities which becomes passive after losing the main earning member of the family due to any mishap. The cultivating tenant farmers and landless labourers should also be included into the scheme, as they also suffer crop losses and face income stress and their bereaved families also go through the distress situations similar to the eligible pattadar farmers. There can be reduction of financial burden on the government if a “minimal premium amount” be levied for all the eligible farmers to get enrolled into the scheme.ThesisItem Open Access A COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PADDY SEED AND GRAIN PRODUCTION IN KARIMNAGAR DISTRICT OF TELANGANA STATE(PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2024-04-03) YARRAMSETTY JAYAPRADA; Dr. P. A. LAKSHMI PRASANNAThe present study titled “A comparative economic analysis of paddy seed and grain production in Karimnagar district of Telangana state” was conducted in Karimnagar district of Telangana. The Telangana state is one of the leading rice producing states in India endowed with suitable climatic conditions for both Hybrid and OPV paddy seed production. The present study was carried out with the following specific objectives. 1. To analyze the economics of seed production vis-à-vis commercial grain production of paddy in Karimnagar district of Telangana. 2. To identify the factors determining farmers participation in the seed production. 3. To identify constraints in seed and grain production in paddy among sample farmers in Karimnagar district of Telangana. A total of 180 sample paddy growing farmers were selected, 60 each for hybrid seed, OPV seed and grain production by adopting multistage random sampling technique. Primary data was collected during rabi season of the agricultural year 2022-23, using pretested schedule through interview method. Both tabular analysis and functional analysis were employed to analyze the collected data. Tabular analysis was used to analyze the data regarding the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and to work out the costs and returns in paddy seed and grain production. Cobb- Douglas production function was employed to identify the factors influencing paddy yield. Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify the factors determining farmers participation in seed production. Finally Garrett ranking technique was used to analyze the constraints faced by the seed and grain farmers in the study area. Majority of the sample farmers in both seed and grain production of paddy belonged to middle age group of 35-45 years and had education up to school level. All the three types of paddy production sample farmers had more than 20 years of farming experience, but they had only four years of experience in seed production in case of hybrid seed production farmers and eight years for OPV seed producing farmers. Most of the farmers both in seed and grain production belonged to marginal and small size group. Paddy hybrid seed producing farmers were distributed across five companies namely Kaveri, Pioneer, Syngenta, ITC, Yashoda where as OPV seed producers were spread across eleven companies namely Varun, Sonam,Siri, Bhavani,Chatanya,Syngenta,Mahindra,Bioseed,Sriram,Kaveri,Godrej. Comparison of cost of cultivation of paddy seed and grain production farmers revealed that cost of cultivation of paddy hybrid seed production per hectare was high at Rs 115181.38, followed by OPV seed at Rs.93000.10 and Rs. 90581.39 for grain production. The net returns per hectare were estimated at Rs 85097.6 in hybrid paddy seed production and found high compared to OPV seed (Rs. 45613.2) and grain production (Rs. 42918.10). The per hectare net income in hybrid seed production was Rs 85,097.60 and was 86.57 per cent more than net income from OPV paddy seed production (Rs.45,613.2 )and 98.28 per cent more than net income from grain production ( Rs 42,918.1 ) .Net income from OPV paddy seed was 6 per cent more than net income from of grain production. Returns per rupee investment in Hybrid paddy seed production was 1.74 and found high compared to OPV seed (1.49) and grain production (1.47) indicating that Hybrid seed production was most profitable among three types of paddy production. The production function analysis indicated that human labour and machine labour in paddy hybrid seed production, machine labor and pesticide cost, in OPV seed production, paddy area, human labour ,pesticide cost, machine labour ,total N quantity and seed cost in grain production were the major contributing factors to total yield. The multi nomial logistic regression revealed that the probability of the farmers to become participant in seed production was influenced by age, gender, family size, experience in seed production, farming experience, farm size, motivation for seed production by fellow farmers or other agencies, paddy area and education level of the farmer significantly. Failure of crop due to unfavourable weather conditions, high wages of labour were the major constraints identified by all the three different types of paddy production farmers. In case of hybrid seed production dependence of farmers on companies for inputs and technical advices, non procurement of male seed by the company and not getting MSP price as A grade for male seed are the specific constraints identified. High input cost (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides), delayed payment by companies /marketing agencies are the major constraints identified by OPV seed production farmers. Low price of farm produce at the time of harvesting, unofficial cut in MSP due to quality discrepancy are the major constraints ranked by grain production farmers. As hybrid paddy seed production found profitable department of Agriculture has to play major role in planning and forecasting scientifically the demand for seed and make quality foundation seed available in required quantity for multiplication. Adequate extension services and capacity building need to be provided for seed growing farmers to enhance the skills for profitable seed production. There should be concrete policy regarding contractual agreement so that no breach of agreements will take place. And also crop insurance may be reinstituted so that it will help farmers at the time of adverse climatic conditions.ThesisItem Open Access INFLUENCE OF PLANTING METHODS AND NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON SEED YIELD AND STORABILITY OF SOYBEAN [Glycine max (L.) Merrill](PROFFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, 2016-01-18) K. ASHA JYOTHI; Dr. RAZIA SULTANAStudies on “Influence of planting methods and nutrient application on seed yield and storability of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]” was conducted at College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, PJTSAU, Hyderabad during 2014-2015 to explore the seed production potential and soybean seed quality during storage period. Experiment was carried out by taking two planting methods (Ridge- Furrow and Flat bed methods) as main treatments and eight combination of nutrient doses (RDF, RDF+Zn, RDF+Mo, RDF+Zn+Mo, 1.5 RDF, 1.5 RDF+ Zn, 1.5 RDF+Mo and 1.5 RDF+ Zn+Mo) as sub treatments in split plot design replicated thrice. Planting methods and nutrient application exhibited significant influence on the crop growth parameters, seed yield and seed quality parameters. Among the planting methods, ridge and furrow method of planting had significant influence on growth and yield parameters over flat bed method. Among different nutrient levels, 1.5 RDF + Zn +Mo had significantly affected crop growth, seed yield and seed quality parameters. Interaction effects indicated that ridge method of planting with application of molybdenum along with 1.5 RDF has resulted in maximum leaf area index (3.48), dry matter (17.51gm-2), highest number of pods (49.57), 100 seed weight (10.90 g) and seed yield (2100 kg ha-1). Seed quality parameters were not differed significantly with different planting methods. However, nutrient levels has shown significant influence on germination percentage, speed of germination, mean germination time, seedling length, seedling dry weight, seed vigour indices, electrical conductivity, dehydrogenase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzyme activities. Application of 1.5 RDF+ Mo+ Zn has resulted in high germination percentage (98.39 %), seedling length (31.62 cm), seedling dry weight (0.88 g), seedling vigour index- I and II (3224 and 82.63 respectively), less mean germination time (3.29 days), speed of germination (30.14), higher dehydrogenase (0.635) and peroxidase (0.502) activities with higher superoxide dismutase (1.226) activity and lower EC value (0.840 dSm-1). It also resulted in higher nutrient contents in seed N(6.78%), P (0.77%), K(1.94%), S(0.39%), B (24.80 ppm), Zn (21.96 ppm) and Mo (3.48 ppm). Studies on storage potential of soybean seed indicated significant influence of storage period on the seed quality parameters. Planting methods did not show any significant influence on quality parameters studied during storage. However, application of various nutrient levelsexhibited significant differences among the treatments for all the seed quality parameters studied. The interaction effects between planting methods and nutrition doses were also found to be non significant. Decline in germination percentage and corresponding vigour index was noticed over a period of six months of storage in all the treatments. Ridge method of planting with application of zinc and molybdenum together along with 1.5 RDF has recorded higher germination percentage (89.37%), seedling length (24 cm), seedling dry weight (0.50 g), vigour index-I and II (2066 and 43.58 respectively) and high speed of germination (24.53), high dehydrogenase activity (0.162), high peroxidase activity (0.274) and with high superoxide dismutase activity (1.74) with low EC values (1.234 dSm-1) at the end of storage period indicating better storability and protection from lipid peroxidation and seed deterioration. The present results indicated that among the germination, seedling and vigour traits studied seedling vigour index-I, speed of germination, seedling length and germination were more sensitive seed quality parameters affected by ageing during storage under ambient conditions. From the results of the present study, it could be concluded that planting methods and nutrient applicationhas significant influence on field performance of soybean crop. Nutrient application had significant influence on initial seed quality parameters and also during storage period. Ridge and furrow method of planting with 1.5 RDF+ Zn+ Mo helps in good field performance with recovery of higher seed yield and better seed quality.
