BIOFERTILIZERS SUPPLEMENT TO CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS IN PEARLMILLET–A REVIEW

Department of Agronomy
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : rohilaparveen@gmail.com)

SUMMARY

Biofertilizers are microbial preparations, which help in augmenting crop production by enriching the soil fertility, soil enzymes and soil microbial population. The biofertilizers may play important role in minimizing our dependence on inorganic fertilizers. The occurrence of nitrogen fixing and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria such as Azotobacter, Azospirillum and Pseudomonas, etc. within the rhizosphere of plants of economic importance is being recently harnessed in Indian agriculture. Inoculation of these bacteria has synergic and additive effects on plant growth, besides reducing the cost of cultivation. Hence, it is imperative to popularize the use of biofertilizers, which is a low-cost input technology to reduce the dependence on inorganic fertilizers and contribute to pollution-free atmosphere, which is the need of the day.

Key words : Biofertilizers, pearlmillet, Azospirillum, Azotobacter

Forage Res 37(4) March 2012 (205-209)

GENETIC DIVERGENCE STUDIES OF RICE BEAN GENOTYPES RAVISH PANCHTA*, J. S. HOODA AND I. S. YADAV

Departmant of Genetics and Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : r.panchta@gmail.com)

SUMMARY

Genetic divergence of 65 genotypes of rice bean was carried out using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The genotypes were grouped into eight clusters. Cluster I with 14 genotypes was the largest. The intercluster distance was maximum between clusters VIII and V. The intra-cluster distance was maximum for cluster VI. The genotypes LRB-313 and LRB-314 were found to be early maturing. LRB-412 , LRB-453, HRB-12 and RBL-160 showed higher number of branches/plant and clusters/plant. HRB-412, RBL-160 and LRB-453 showed higher number of  pods/plant and seed yield/plant. Thus, the above genotypes from diverse clusters can be used in hybridization programme of crop improvement to obtain heterotic response and transgressive segregants of desirable type for these characters.

Key words : Genetic divergence, rice bean, D2 analysis

Rice bean [Vigna umbellata (Thumb) Ohwi and Ohashi] is such a legume, grown in western, northern and eastern India and Nepal. It is widely grown as an intercrop, particularly with maize. It has rapid establishment, is pest resistant and has the potential to produce large amount of high quality seed, nutritious animal fodder and can be grown as green manure crop. Rice bean has a good amino acid composition and is rich in several compared to other grain pulses. Increase in intake of rice bean was shown to have less severe nutrient deficiencies of calcium, potassium, iron, lysine and some B vitamins (Anderson, 2007; Anderson and Chandyo, 2010). The knowledge of genetic divergence in a crop is very important for initiating a breeding strategy because genetically diverse parents are likely to produce high heterotic effect and more variability in segregating generations, which can be exploited for desired crop improvement programme. Therefore, present study was undertaken to assess genetic divergence among 65 genotypes of rice bean to identify genetically divergent parents to be used in hybridization programme aimed at improvement of rice bean.

MATERIALS AND METHODS 

The experimental material consisted of 65 genotypes of rice bean. These genotypes were collected from CCSHAU, Hisar; PAU, Ludhiana; OUAT, Bhubneshwar; MPKVP, Rahuri and NDUAT, Faizabad. The material was evaluated in randomized block design with three replications at the experimental area of Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCSHAU, Hisar during kharif 2011. Each genotype was grown in single row of 3 m length spaced 40 cm apart. The plant to plant distance was 10 cm. Observations were recorded on five random plants from each plot for 10 characters. The characters were days to 50 per cent flowering, days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of branches/plant, number of clusters/plant, number of pods/plant, pod length (cm), number of seeds/pod, 100- seed weight (g) and seed yield/plant (g). In order to quantify the genetic distance between two genotypes Mahalanobis (1936) D2 statistic as described by Rao (1952) was employed and constellation of genotypes into clusters was done following Tocher’s method (Rao, 1952) and intra- and inter-cluster distances were computed. The cluster-wise means of all the characters were also computed for comparison.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Wide range of variation and significant difference among the genotypes for all the characters under study were observed. Sixty-five genotypes were grouped into eight clusters based on D2 analysis. Grouping of genotypes into eight clusters has been shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1
Distribution pattern of 65 genotypes into eight clusters

Cluster I was the largest comprising 14 genotypes followed by cluster II with 12 genotypes. A close examination of dendrogram (Fig. 1.) revealed that all genotypes were divided into two major groups. One group which includes clusters II, VIII, IV, I and V containing all genotypes from Haryana were further grouped into clusers, indicating that genotypes developed from same geographical location were quite dissimilar in multivariate traits and formed different clusters. There was no parallelism between genetic and geographical diversities in rice bean as revealed in clustering pattern. So, geographical diversity cannot always be used as an index of genetic diversity as also suggested by Singh et al. (1998) in rice bean. The intra-cluster D2 varied from 2.651 to 3.742 (Table 2). Cluster VI showed maximum (3.742) followed by cluster V (3.516), cluster III (3.283), cluster V (3.181), cluster II (3.015), cluster VII (2.866), cluster IV (2.710) and cluster I (2.651). The genotypes of clusters VIII and V (7.622) exhibited maximum intercluster distance followed in

TABLE 2
Inter-and intra-(diagonal) cluster average of D2 and D values among different clusters in rice bean

descending order by the genotypes of VIII and IV (7.446), VIII and I (6.560),  whereas it was minimum between clusters I and II (3.096) followed by clusters I and V (3.516). The higher inter-cluster distance indicated the presence of more genetic diversity among the genotypes included among these clusters. Thus, more heterosis and greater number of useful transgressive segregants can be obtained by hybridization between genotypes from distant clusters. A comparison of average contribution of characters to genetic divergence revealed that seed yield/plant contributed maximum (36.73%) followed by days to 50 per cent flowering (27.64%) and plant height (12.21%), rest of the characters contributed in a range of 0.14 to 7.26 per cent. Cluster mean for different characters was able to bring out differences in characters among the genetic clusters (Table 3). The genotypes in cluster IV took minimum number of days to flowering and genotypes in cluster VIII took minimum number of days to maturity, whereas the genotypes in cluster I took maximum days to flowering and maturity. The mean plant height of genotypes was minimum in cluster I and maximum in cluster II. Number of branches/plant was maximum for genotypes of cluster VI and minimum genotypes of cluster III. The genotypes of cluster VIII showed maximum, while genotypes of cluster V showed minimum number of clusters/plant and pods/plant. The mean pod length and number of seeds/plant were maximum for the genotypes of cluster II and minimum for the genotypes of cluster VII. The cluster VIII genotypes showed maximum, while cluster IV genotypes showed minimum 100-seed weight and mean seed   yield/plant. In the present study, the hybridization between genotypes in clusters VIII, VI, IV, II and III will be effective in combining early flowering and maturity, number of branches/plant, number of clusters/plant, number of pods/plant and seed yield/plant. The genotypes LRB-313 and LRB-314 in clusters IV and III were found to be early maturing type. LRB-412 and LRB-453 of cluster VI, HRB-12 and RBL-160 of cluster VIII showed higher number of branches/plant and clusters/plant. HRB-412, RBL-160 and LRB-453 showed higher number of pods/plant and seed yield/plant. Thus, hybridization between these genotypes could be effective in future breeding programme in developing early maturing and high yielding varieties of rice bean with more number of branches, clusters and pods per plant.

Standardized Euclidean2 Distance
Fig. 1. Ward’s minimum variance dendrogram.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Sincere, thanks are due to Dr. B. P. S. Malik for his valuable guidance.

REFERENCES

Andersen, P. 2007 : In : Nutritional Qualities of Rice Bean. Bergen, Norway,  Department of Geography, Universitet Bergen and Bangor, Wales, UK, CAZS Natural Resources, College of Natural Sciences, Bangor University. Available from http://www.ricebean.org/publication.htm.

Andersen, P., and R. K. Chandyo, 2010 : Report 6. In : Health and Nutrition Impacts of Rice Bean, P. A. Hollington (ed.). Bergen, Norway, Department of Geography, Universitet Bergen and Bangor, Wales, UK, CAZS Natural Resources, College of Natural Sciences, Bangor University. Available from http://www.ricebean.org/publication.htm.

Mahalanobis, P. C. 1936 : Proc. Nat. Inst. Sci., India, 2 : 49-55. Rao, C. R. 1952. Advanced Statistical Methods in Biometrical Research. John Wiley and Sons, New York. pp. 357-369.

Singh, G., S. P. Singh, and B. S. Chaudhry, 1998 : Indian J.Genet., 58 : 101-105.

Forage Res 37(4) March 2012 (210-213)

DISSECTION OF GENETIC VARIABILITY AND HERITABILITY ESTIMATES IN CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) UNDER LATE SOWN CONDITIONS

PRAMILA YADAV, DINESH KUMAR TRIPATHI, KHALID KAFEEL KHAN AND ASHOK KUMAR YADAV

Department of Botany
Shibli National Post Graduate College
Azamgarh (U. P.), India
*(e-mail : yadavpsc@gmail.com)

SUMMARY

Studies on estimation of heritability (h²) and genetic advance (GA) were carried out in 45 genotypes of chickpea. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of ariability were observed for days to 50 per cent flowering, days to maturity, plant height, leaf length, number of leaflets/leaf, leaflet length, width of leaflet, number of primary branches/plant, number of secondary branches/plant, number of pods/plant, pod length, pod width, number of seeds/pod, 100-seed weight, seed yield/plant and biological yield/plant. The differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variability were very small in all the traits indicating negligible role of environment. In the present study, high heritability coupled with high genetic advance for 100-seed weight, width of leaflet, number of pods/plant and biological yield/plant indicated the presence of a considerable proportion of total variability due to genetic causes particularly the additive gene effects to be important for determining these traits. On the other hand, high h² associated with low genetic advance for days to maturity, indicated the influence of dominant and epistemic gene for these traits. Low heritability percentage coupled with low and moderate genetic advancement was observed for days to 50 per cent flowering and indicated that this trait was greatly influenced by environment.

Key words : Genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, GCV, PCV, chickpea, late sown

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important rabi pulse crop of rainfed areas of India. Chickpea is one of the world’s most important but less-studied leguminous food crop with 740-Mb genome size. Chickpea ranks third among pulses, fifth among grain legumes, and 15th among grain crops of the world (Khan et al., 2011). This crop is highly proteinaceous and seeds are used in various ways for human consumption. Chickpea is valued for its nutritive seeds with high protein content (25.3-28.9%), after de-hulling (Hulse, 1991). It  has great importance as food, feed and fodder. Due to the increasing need for legumes, chickpea is no longer considered a subsistence crop. The rising trend in its trade suggests that the crop is grown increasingly for the market (Saxena et al., 1996). Naidu et al. (1991) studied 49 lines of mungbean and observed higher magnitude of PCV than GCV in all the mungbean traits. They also recorded higher estimates of heritability in all the traits. High h² was associated with high genetic advance for number of branches, clusters, pods per plant, shoot dry weight and grain yield. Aslam et al. (1992) reported higher estimates of PCV than GCV in all the characters studied in mungbean. Path analysis indicated that plant height had very high direct effect on yield, followed by 1000-seed weight. The estimates of h² varied from 26.20 per cent for yield to 84.10 per cent for days to pod maturity. The phenotypic coefficient of variability (PCV) was greater in magnitude than genotypic coefficient of ariability in most of the traits in mungbean (Awan and Malik, 1997). They also reported high heritability (h²) associated with high genetic advance for plant height, indicating additive gene effect for determination of this trait. The results revealed that additive components of variance were significant for days to flowering, days to first podding and days to first pod maturity. They also observed high heritability estimates for days to flowering, days to first pod maturity and pod maturity percentage. Ali et al. (2008) found high broad sense heritability coupled with high genetic advance for plant height and grain yield. The average yield of this crop is generally low, because of drought, susceptibility to disease and low yield potential of varieties. For improvement of this crop, knowledge on variability and heritability of various plant-parameters, along with genetic advance, is needed to decide about the breeding strategy for development of appropriate genotypes.

The presence of genetic variability is of utmost importance for any breeding programme and for that reason the plant breeders have emphasized the evaluation of germplasm for the improvement of crop yield (Virmani et al., 1983; Bakhsh et al., 1992) as well as for utilization in further breeding programmes. Chickpea has high variation for various qualitative and quantitative characters that can help breeders to release better and superior lines and varieties (Dasgupta et al., 1987; Singh, 1997). For maintenance and efficient utilization of germplasm, it is important to investigate the extent of genetic variability and its magnitude for the determination of the success of a breeding programme (Smith et al.,1991). The present experiment was planned to estimate the variability, heritability (broad sense) and genetic advance for various qualitative and quantitative characters in chickpea.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present investigation comprised 45 genetically diverse genotypes/varieties of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) obtained from the Genetics Division, I. A. R. I., New Delhi and Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, N. D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad (U. P.). These genotypes/varieties were : Pant G-186, 486-18, GCP-105, Vishal, BG-256, Udai, ICCV-15676, ICC-11535, Anupam, BG-261, J. B. 315, B. G. 209, BG-391, Green-112, BG-1108, BG-376, BG-2019, BG-1101, BG-390, EC-539009, BG-1107, Pusa-1088, BG-1044, ILC-2002, ICCV-88503, BG-1103, Pusa-372, ICRISAT-3070, KLB-97-5, NDL. 2-96-21, KLB-97-8, IPL-110, KLB-97-7, IPC-2002-36, KLB-97-8, Awarodhi, BG-203, Pusa-256, ICRISAT-3074, BG-1105, BG-1053, ICRISAT-3073, BG-1073, K-850 and H. O. O. 108. The experimental trial was laid out in randomized block design in three replications at the Agricultural Research Farm of S. D. J. Post Graduate College Chandeshwar, Azamgarh, U. P. during 2008-09. Each plot comprised three rows of 3 m length, spaced 30 cm apart with plant to plant spacing of 10 cm. All the necessary requirements of the
crop such as irrigation and inter-cultural operations were fulfilled and the crop was maintained properly. Observations were recorded on randomly selected 10 competitive plants in each replication for plant height (cm), leaf length (cm), number of leaflets/leaf, leaflet length (cm), width of leaflet (cm), number of primary branches/plant, number of secondary branches/plant, number of pods/plant, pod length (cm), pod width (cm), number of seeds/pod, 100-seed weight (g), seed yield/plant (g), biological yield/plant (g), while data on days to 50 per cent flowering and days to maturity were recorded on plot basis. Broad sense heritability (h2) was calculated, following Burton (1952). The expected genetic advance (GA), with selection intensity (K), was also calculated using the following formula, proposed by Singh and Chaudhary (1985) :

GA=K . σ p . h²

Where, GA is genetic advance, σ p is phenotypic standard deviation of mean performance of population, K (2.06) is the constant standardized selection-differential at 5 per cent and h2 is broad sense heritability.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Forty-five genotypes of chickpea were studied for 16 quantitative characters to evaluate genetic variability. The genotypes differed significantly for all traits. Mean squares for genotypes as shown in Table 1 were found to be significant for days to 50 per cent flowering, days to maturity, plant height (cm), leaf length (cm), number of leaflets/leaf, leaflet length (cm), width of leaflet (cm), number of primary branches/plant, number of secondary branches/plant, number of pods/plant, pod length (cm), pod width (cm), number of seeds/pod, 100-seed weight (g), seed yield/plant (g) and biological yield/plant (g).

Mean performance of genotypes for different characters are given in Table 2. The general mean of number of days to flowering was 61.52 days, and it ranged from 54.67 days (ICRISAT 3074) to 65 days (Green-112. Whereas mean value of number of days to maturity was 109.00 days and it ranged from 94.33 days (H.O.O-108) to 125 days (ICCV-15676). Plant height mean was 46.47 cm, and it ranged from 32.2 cm (ICC-11535) to 62.67 cm (ICRISAT-3070). Leaf length ranged from 3.50 cm (BG-203) to 5.70 cm (IPL-110). Number of leaflets per leaf ranged from 10.80 (ICRISAT-3074) to 15.27 (IPL-110). The mean of 100-seed weight was 19.51 g and ranged from 9.33 g (BG-203) to 29.30 (BG-390). Seed yield per plant ranged from 5.28 g (KLB-97-7) to 16.68 g (Pusa-372) with mean of 9.95 g. The total biological yield per plant ranged from 16.22 g (BG-1044) to 56.57 g (BG-203) with a mean of 31.11 g.

Days to 50 per cent flowering showed moderate estimate of heritability (58.6%). This indicated that total variability was due to genetic causes as well as due to environment. Days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of leaflets/leaf, leaflet length (cm), width of leaflet (cm), number of primary branches/plant, number of secondary branches/plant, number of pods/plant, pod width (cm), 100-seed weight (g) seed yield/ plant (g) and biological yield/plant (g), seed yield/plant exhibited high estimate of heritability (84.1, 93.5, 92.5, 94.5, 97.6, 94.6, 92.0, 94.9, 94.3, 98.9, 84.8 and 89.0%), which indicated that a proportion of the total variability were due to genetic causes. The differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability was very small (Table 3) indicating negligible role of environment. Heritability estimates for plant height, leaflet length, number of primary branches/plant, number of pods/plant and pod width were high (93.5, 94.5, 94.6, 94.9 and 94.3%), indicating the success of selection for their traits. Leaf length exhibited moderately high estimate of  heritability (78.8%), which indicated that a reasonable proportion of the total variability was due to genetic causes. The differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability showed the environmental influence. The results are in agreement with those of Jahagirdar et al. (1994) who found high estimate of heritability for this character. Heritability estimate for number of leaflets/leaf was high (92.5%), indicating the success of selection for this trait. The differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability were very small indicating negligible role environment. The results are in accordance with the findings of Iqbal et al. (1994).

Number of secondary branches/plant showed high heritability (92.0%) with small differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability and should be selected for constituting desirable genotypes of chickpea. Pod length exhibited moderately high estimate of heritability (77.2%), which indicated that a reasonable proportion of the total variability was due to genetic causes. The differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability showed the environment influence. Number of seeds/pod exhibited moderately high estimate of heritability (71.2%), indicating the success of selection for this trait. The differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability were very small indicating negligible role of environment. A high estimate of broad sense heritability for 100-seed weight and width of leaflet content reflected that selection could be effective for improving the trait. Smaller differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability indicated that major proportion of phenotypic variance was due to genetic differences. From the foregoing results, it may be concluded that the characters with high heritability i. e. 100-seed weight and width of leaflet content with small differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability should be selectedfor constituting desirable genotypes of chickpea. Heritability estimate for yield/plant was high (84.8%), indicating the success of selection for this trait. The differences between genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variability were very small indicating negligible role of environment. The results are in accordance with the findings of Iqbal et al. (1994). Ali et al. (2008) observed high broad-sense heritability for plant height (97.4%) and grain yield (97.3%).

Only heritability itself does not provide the clue for genetic gain resulting from the best selected individuals. Burton (1952) suggested that h2, in combination with genetic advance (GA), was more reliable in predicting the effect of selection. The estimates of genetic advance ranged from 5.31 for days to 50 per cent flowering to 66.87 for biological yield per plant (Table 3). In the present study, high heritability coupled with high genetic advance for 100-seed weight, width of leaflet, number of pods/plant and biological yield per plant indicated additive gene effects to be important for determining these traits. On the other hand, high h² was associated with low genetic advance for days to maturity, indicating the influence of dominant and epistemic gene for these traits. Low heritability percentage coupled with low and moderate genetic advancement was observed for days to 50 per cent flowering and indicated that this trait was greatly influenced by environment as also observed by Noor et al. (2003) and Arshad et al. (2004). These results are supported by the findings of Miah and Bhadra (1989), Aslam et al. (1992) and Yaqoob et al.(2010).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are thankful to Dr. Ganesh Prasad, Ex. Head Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding. Sri Durga Ji Post Graduate College, Chandeshwar, Azamgarh, U. P. and Principal Dr. D. P. Dwivedi for providing the scientific suggestion and experimental field, respectively. We are also thankful to Dr. Sandeep Saxena from Pantnagar University for the data analysis and tabulation of the record.

REFERENCES

Ali, M. A., N. N. Nawab, G. Rasool, and M. Saleem, 2008 : J. Agric. Soc. Sci. 4 : 177-179.

Arshad, M., A. S. Qureshi, A. Shaukat, A. Bakhsh, and A. Ghafoor, 2004 : Pak. J. Bot., 36 : 779-785.

Aslam M., N. A. Khan, M. S. Mirza, and A. R. Khan, 1992 : Pak. J. Agric. Res., 13 : 20-25.

Awan, M. Y., and A. J. Malik, 1997 : Pak. J. Agric. Enggs. Vet. Sci., 11 : 86-91.

Bakhsh, A., A. Ghafoor, and B. A. Malik, 1992 : Pak. J. Agic. Res., 12 : 245-251.

Burton, G. W, 1952 : Proc. 6th Intl. Grassland Cong., 1 : 277-283.

Dasgupta, T., M. O. Islam, P. Gayen, and K. K. Sarkak, 1987 : Exp. Genet., 3 : 15-21.

Hulse, J. H. 1991 : In : Uses of Tropical Legumes. Proc.

Consultants’ Meeting, 27-30 March 1989, ICRISAT Center, India.

Iqbal, J., M. Saleem, A. A. Khan, and M. Anwar, 1994 : J. Anim. Pl. Sci., 4 : 35-36.

Jahagirdar, J. E., R. A. Patia, and P. R. Khere, 1994 : Indian J. Pulses Res., 7 : 179-180

Khan, R., Farhatullah, and H. Khan, 2011 : Sarhad J. Agric., 27 : 67.

Miah, N. N., and S. K Bhadra, 1989 : Bangladesh J. Agric., 19 : 72-75.

Naidu, N. N, A. S. Naryana, and A. Anatsayana, 1991 : Indian J. Pulses Res., 4 : 19-22.

Noor, F., M. Ashaf, and A. Ghafoor, 2003 : Pak. J. Biol. Sci., 6: 551-555.

Saxena, N. P., M. C. Saxena, C. Johansen, S. M. Virmani, and H. Harris, 1996 : In : Adaptation of Chickpea in the West Asia and North Africa Region., Saxena, N. P., M. C. Saxena, C. Johansen, S. M. Virmani, and H. Harris (eds.). ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria. pp. 257-263.

Singh, K. B. 1997 : In : The Chickpea, Saxena, M. C. and K. B. Singh (eds.). CAB Intl., UK.

Singh, R. K., and B. D. Chaudhary, 1985 : Biometrical Methods in Quantitative Genetic Analysis. Kalyani Pub., Ludhiana, New Delhi, India.

Smith, S. E., K. B. Singh, and R. S. Malhotra, 1991 : Crop Sci., 31 : 1150-1163.

Virmani, S. S., K. B. Singh, K. Singh, and R. S. Malhotra, 1983 : Indian J. Genet., 43 : 54-58.

Yaqoob, M., A. B., N. Khan, M. A. Zahid, and L. H. Akhtar, 2010 : Sci. Technol. & Dev. 29 : 10-13.

¹Department of Botany, Sri Durga Ji Post Graduate College, Chandeshwar, Azamgarh (U. P.), India.
²CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur (H. P.), India.

Forage Res 37(4) March 2012 (214-220)

PHYTOAVAILABILITY OF NUTRIENTS IN Ni AND Cd SPIKED SOILS AS AFFECTED BY PHOSPHORUS APPLICATION IN INDIAN MUSTARD

MOHINDER SINGH, RAJESH KUMAR AND B. S. PANWAR

Department of Soil Science
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India

SUMMARY

A screen house experiment in pots was carried out to study the effect of P application on forage yield, elemental composition and to determine the critical limits of available P in Ni and Cd spiked soils. Fifteen levels of P ranging from zero to 300 mg P/kg soil were applied. The application of P significantly increased the dry forage yield up to 80 and 100 mg P/kg soil in Ni and Cd spiked soils, respectively. The concentration of N and uptake of N, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr increased significantly up to 80 mg P/kg soil application. The concentration of P was lowest in control and increased significantly and subsequently with the application of the P at all levels. The concentration of Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr was the highest in control and then significantly decreased with the increasing levels of P. In general, the forage yield, nutrient concentration and their uptakes were lower in Cd spiked soil over Ni spiked soil as there was a significant interaction between soil and P levels. Olsen’s soil test was the best for determining the available P for Indian mustard crop owing to higher correlations with dry forage yield and P uptake in Ni (r=0.92* and 0.91**) and Cd (r=0.93* and 0.92**) spiked soils. The critical limits of available P by Olsen’s soil test methods were 19.5 and 30.5 kg P/ha, for Ni and Cd spiked soil, respectively.

Key words : Ni, Cd, phosphorus, Indian mustard

Some of the non-essential heavy metals such  as Ni, Cd, Cr and Pb, etc. get accumulated into the cultivated soils due to disposal of sewage sludge and factory effluents with rapid advancement of industrialization and urbanization. The phosphorus interacts with heavy metals by forming insoluble or sparingly soluble metal phosphates resulting in reduced availability of phosphorus to plants. Under such situation, it is expected that higher levels of P might be required to ameliorate the adverse effect of heavy metals on plant growth. The information on the effect of P application in heavy metals polluted soils is very scarce. Therefore, the present study was carried out to investigate the effect of P application on forage yield and uptake of nutrients by Indian mustard in Ni and Cd spiked soils.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

To study the effect of phosphorus application on forage yield and nutrients uptake by Indian mustard, a screen house experiment in pots was conducted on Ni and Cd spiked coarse loamy soil (Typic Haplustept). The bulk surface soil sample was processed to pass through 2 mm stainless steel. The physico-chemical properties of the experimental soil were : pH (1 : 2) 8.25, electrical conductivity (1 : 2) 0.25 dS/m, organic carbon 0.31 percent, free calcium carbonate 1.25 per cent, cation exchange capacity 7.2 c mol (p+)/kg, available N 56 mg/kg, Olsen’s P 3.00 mg/kg and DTPA extractable Cd, Ni, Cr, Fe, Cu and Zn were 0.08, 0.07, 0.003, 26.0,  5.84 and 0.20 mg/kg soil, respectively. Fifteen levels of P viz., 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 40, 80, 100, 150, 200 and 300 mg P/kg soil replicated thrice were applied through AR grade ammonium dihydrogen phosphate along with 50 mg Ni/kg soil through NiCl2 solution to the processed soil for preparing Ni spiked soil. Similarly, the Cd spiked soil was prepared by applying 50 mg Cd/kg soil along with above mentioned 15 levels of phosphorus and  incubated at room temperature and at field capacity for three weeks. A 200 g of soil was drawn from each treatment after incubation of Ni and Cd spiked soils and analysed for available P by five soil tests viz., Olsen’s (Olsen et al., 1954), Bray’s P1 and Bray’s P2 (Bray and Kurtz, 1945), ammonium bicarbonate-EDTA (Soltanpour and Schwap, 1977) and ammonium bicarbonate-DTPA (Soltanpour and Schwap, 1977).

Indian mustard (cv. RH-30) plants were raised in each pot with 5 kg soil by following standard screen house technique. The basal doses of N, K, S and Zn were also applied at the rate of 150, 65, 30 and 10 mg/kg soil in each pot through AR grade urea, potassium chloride, potassium sulphate and zinc chloride, respectively. After germination, four plants per pot were raised. The crop was harvested after 11 weeks of germination. The plant samples were dried in oven at 70oC till constant weight and dry forage yield was recorded. The plant samples were digested in 4 : 1 acid mixture (H2SO4 : HClO4) and analyzed for total N (Lindnar, 1944) and P (Koeing and Johnson, 1942). For the determination of Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr (by atomic absorption spectrophotometer), the plant samples were digested in 4 : 1 acid mixture (HNO3 : HClO4). The correlation coefficients were worked out between available P and yield parameters. The critical limit of available P was established by Waugh et al. (1973) linear response plateaus method for both the types of soils.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Effect on Forage Yield

The application of P significantly increased the forage yield of Indian mustard up to 80 and 100 mg P/kg soil in Ni and Cd spiked soil, respectively. The forage yield was 3.94 g/pot in control which increased by about 1.3, 1.4, 1.7, 2.1, 3.3, 4.6, 5.6, 6.7 and 7.1 times with the application of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 40 and 80mg P/kg soil, respectively, in comparison to the control in Ni spiked soil. Thereafter, the forage yield significantly decreased (from 27.80 g/pot with 80 mg P/kg soil  application) with the application of 100, 150, 200 and 300 mg P/kg soil over lower levels. The high magnitude of increase in forage yield with P application might be due to lower available P status of soil, whereas decrease it higher levels of applied P might be due to imbalanced nutrition. Singh and Khin (2009) also reported similar results of increase in dry matter yield of maize with 60mg P/kg soil application with 60 mg Ni/kg soil. The forage yield of Indian mustard was 2.16 g/pot in control which significantly increased with the increasing levels of applied P up to 100 mg P/kg soil. The highest optimum yield (23.56 g/pot) at 100 mg P/kg soil application was about 10.9 times over control. Further increase in P levels to 150, 200 and 300 mg P/kg soil resulted in significant decrease in yield due to adverse effect of higher P levels. Gupta et al. (1994) also reported that the maize dry matter yield was significantly increased with the application of 80 mg P/kg soil in Cd polluted soil. A perusal of data in Table 1 clearly depicts that the dry matter yield of Indian mustard in Cd spiked soil at each respective level of applied P was significantly lower than Ni spiked soil. The results reported earlier by Singh et al. (2009) have shown that the forage yield of Indian mustard with each respective levels of applied P in normal soil was high than the yield obtained in Ni and Cd spiked soil. These results clearly demonstrate that the Ni and Cd both had adverse effect on dry matter yield of the crop which has been ameliorated to some extent with higher levels of applied P. Gupta et al. (1994) and Panwar et al. (1999) also reported that the P application alleviated the toxic effect of Cd on cowpea, moongbean and maize crops.

Effect of P on Concentration of Elements 

The application of P significantly increased the concentration of N up to 80 mg P/kg soil by about 35 and 41 per cent over control in Ni and Cd spiked soils, respectively (Table 1). The concentration of P significantly increased from 0.16 per cent in control to 0.31 per cent (94% over control) at 300 mg P/kg soil application in Ni spiked soil. The concentration of P significantly increased by about 93 per cent over control with the application of highest level of P. The increase in P concentration with its application was due to low available P in the soil. The concentration of Zn was the highest in control which subsequently and significantly decreased with increasing levels of applied P up to 300 mg P/kg soil with mean value of 67.9 and 52.5 mg Zn/kg soil in Ni and Cd spiked soil, respectively. A perusal of the concentration of Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr in the forage of Indian mustard clearly reveals that their concentration was the highest in control pots which significantly decreased with the application of P up to 300 mg P/kg in both the soils. The content of Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr decreased to about 52, 57, 45,41, 55 and 10 per cent of the control, respectively, with 300 mg P/kg soil application in Ni spiked soil.  Similarly, the application of 300 mg P/kg soil significantly depressed the content of Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr by about 51,58, 40, 57, 35 and 48 per cent of control, respectively,

in Cd spiked soil. The decrease in the concentration of these heavy metals in the plants might be due to the formation of insoluble metal phosphates which resulted in their decreased availability to the plants. The decrease in the contents of heavy metals in crops with higher levels of applied P was also reported by Santillan and Jurinak (1975), Street et al. (1978) and Singh and Khin (2009).

Effect of P on Uptake of Elements

The application of P significantly increased the uptake of N, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr by the Indian mustard fodder (Table 2). The uptake of N, P and Ni was the lowest in control which significantly and subsequently increased with the increase in level of P application up to 80 mg P/kg soil by about 9.5, 11.3 and 3.9 times, respectively, in comparison to control, in Ni spiked soil. Similarly, the uptake of Zn, Fe, Cu, Cd and Ni increased significantly with applied P up to 40 mg P/kg soil by about 4.4, 4.9. 4.6, 5.2 and 5.2 times, respectively, than the uptake in control. The increase in the uptake of these elements by crop up to 80 or 40 mg P/kg soil application was due to increase in forage yield. The higher levels of applied P decreased the uptake of different elements mainly because of decrease in their concentration in plants.

The uptake of N, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr was the lowest in control pots which significantly increased with the application of P in Cd spiked soil (Table 2). The uptake of N and P had significantly and enormously increased by about 14.4 and 17.5 times with the application of 80 mg P/kg soil due to tremendous

increase in yield and higher concentration of N and P in plants. The uptake Zn, Fe, Ni, Cd and Cr had significantly increased up to 80 mg P/kg soil application by about 6.8, 7.4, 7.1, 4.8 and 7.5 than control which was mainly due to improvement in the fodder yield of the Indian mustard in Cd spiked level. However, the uptake of Cu had significantly increased up to 100 mg P/kg soil application. The data (Tables 1 and 2) clearly revealed that the concentration and uptakes of different elements was the lowest in Cd spiked soil than Ni spiked soil thereby indicating that Cd had more harmful effect on crop growth and elements removal by the crop. However, the concentration of Ni and its uptake in Ni spiked soil and Cd and its uptake in Cd spiked soils were higher due to higher addition in soils. Dahlon et al. (1998) also reported that the application of P increased the concentration but decreased the concentration of K and other heavy metals like Pb, Zn and Mn in lucean plants.

Evaluation of Soil Tests of Available P and Critical Limits

The available P with its application (0 to 300 mg P/kg soil) was determined by soil tests (Olsen’s, Bray’s P1, Bray’s P2, ammonium bicarbonate, DTPA and ammonium carbonate DTPA methods) and correlated with the forage yield and P uptake by the Indian mustard crop. The correlation coefficient between contents Olsen P and forage yield and P uptake were higher (0.92 and 0.91 in Ni spiked soil; and 0.93 and 0.92 for Cd spiked soil). The other methods were inferior to Olsen’s soil test and thus it was considered to be the best for determining critical limits of available P for Indian mustard crop. The linear response plateau model (Waugh et al., 1973) was employed for establishing the critical limit of available P. The critical limits of available P were found to be 19.5 and 30.5 kg P/ha by Olsen’s soil test for Indian mustard crop for Ni and Cd spiked soils, respectively.

These critical limits of available P were higher than 13.5 kg P/ha earlier reported by Singh et al. (2009) in normal soil for Indian mustard crop. The present study indicated that the application of P resulted in significant increase in forage yield and uptake of elements in Ni and Cd spiked soils to varying magnitude. Higher levels of P application might be required in heavy metals polluted soil than normal soil to get optimum yield. The critical limits by Olsen soil tests were 19.5 and 30.5 kg P/ha for Ni and Cd spiked soil, respectively.

REFERENCES

Bray, R. H., and L.T. Kurtz, 1945 : Soil Sci., 59 : 39-45.

Dahlon, M. S. A., S. E. Demerdashe, M. S. A. Foda, and E. L. Kassas, 1998 : Egyptian J. Soil Sci., 36 : 245-256.

Gupta, V. K., S. P. Gupta, Ram Kala, B. S. Potalia, and R. D. Kaushik, 1994 : Res. Bull., Deptt. of Soil Sci., CCSHAU, Hisar, Hayana.

Koeing, R. A. and C. R. Johnson, 1942 : Engg. Chem. Analyst. Edn., 14 : 155-156.

Lindnar, R. C. 1944 : Plant Physiol., 19 : 76-89.

Olsen, S. R., C.V. Cole, F. S. Watanabe, and L. A. Dean, 1954 : U. S. D. A. Circ. 939.

Panwar, B. S., J. P. Singh, and R. D. Laura, 1999 : Water, Air and Soil Pollution 112 : 163-169.

Santillan, M. J., and J. J. Jurinak, 1975 : Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am., 39 : 851-856.

Soltanpour, P. N., and A. A. Schwab, 1977 : Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal., 8 : 195-207.

Singh, Mohinder, and May May Khin, 2009 : Forage Res., 35 : 96-100.

Singh, Mohinder, Rajesh Kumar, and B. S. Panwar, 2009 : Forage Res., 35 : 23-26.

Street, J. J., B. R. Sabey, and W. L. Lindsay, 1978 : Environ. Qual., 7 : 286-290.

Waugh, D. L., R. B. Jr. Cate, and L. A. Nelson, 1973 : Tech. Bulletin No. 7. ISFEL Soils, North Carolina State Univ., Releigh, W. C.

Forage Res 37(4) March 2012 (221-225)

INFLUENCE OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS LEVELS ONPHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND ECONOMICS OFSORGHUM IN EUCALYPTUS TERETICORNIS BASEDAGRISILVICULTURE SYSTEM

K. S. AHLAWAT, BIMLENDRA KUMARI¹, M. K. SINGH², VIRENDER HOODA³,ASHOK DESHWAL⁴ AND HANS RAJ⁵

Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Kurukshetra-136 118 (Haryana), India

ABSTRACT

A field experiment was conducted on sandy loam soil to study the response of various fertilizer
levels on Sorghum bicolor in 5-6 year old Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. based agrisilviculture system. The crop growth rate increased significantly with increase in fertilizer levels up to 125 per cent of recommended dose of fertilizer at all crop growth stages in both the systems. On the basis of average of two crop seasons 36.8 and 36.7 per cent less photosynthesis, 47.5 and 46.3 per cent less transpiration, and 23.0 and 23.1 per cent less stomatal conductance at 40 days after sowing and at harvest, respectively, were recorded under eucalyptus sown sorghum than sole sorghum. Higher returns and cost/benefit ratio were recorded in agrisilviculture system than sole sorghum.

Key words : Eucalyptus tereticornis, Sorghum bicolor, stomatal conductance, photosynthesis,
transpiration

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STUDY ON FORAGE QUALITY OF VARIOUS MAIZE CULTIVARSPRODUCED UNDER DIFFERENT USE PATTERNS

M. SHANTI, D. NAGALAKSHMI¹, R. BALAJI NAIK, V. CHANDRIKA AND CH. CHIRANJEEVI

AICRP on Forage Crops
Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University,
Hyderabad (A. P.), India

SUMMARY

Three varieties each of baby corn, green corn, forage maize and seed crop along with one forage
national check (African Tall) were grown to study the fodder potential, yields as baby corn, green cob, fodder and grain. The quality of fodder either green or dry was also studied and the fodder of baby corn was found to be superior with respect to crude protein content, while other parameters viz., crude fibre and IVDMD were commendable. Though the fodder yields were lesser in baby corn, the revenue from baby cobs especially in urban and peri-urban areas brought higher returns. The net returns were Rs. 39,750/ha from baby corn. The economics through net returns and B : C ratio indicated baby corn > fodder crop > seed crop > green cob.

Key words : Forage quality, IVDMD, fodder, grain, maize

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EFFECT OF NITROGEN LEVELS ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF
[SORGHUM BICOLOR (L.) MOENCH] SORGHUM GENOTYPES

AMINA KUMARI MEENA, PUSHPENDRA SINGH AND PUSHPA KANWAR

Department of Agronomy
Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology,
Udaipur-313 001 (Rajasthan), India

SUMMARY

A field experiment was conducted at Udaipur during kharif 2011 to assess N doses for sorghum
genotypes. The results revealed that SSV-74 recorded maximum dry matter accumalation at 30 DAS and harvest, green as well as dry fodder yield (55.69 and 16.21 t/ha), respectively. Among nitrogen levels, application of 120 kg N/ha recorded higher dry matter accumalation at 30 DAS and harvest, HCN content at 30 DAS, green as well as dry fodder yield, net returns and B : C ratio over 40 and 80 kg N/ha. Application of 120 kg N/ha recorded 19.70, 7.89 and 20.03, 8.72 (green and dry fodder) 23.57, 9.10 and 13.93, 4.80 (net return and B : C ratio) per cent higher over 40 and 80 kg N/ha, respectively.

Key words : Nitrogen, fodder yield, quality, sorghum

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IMPACT OF RADIATION AND THERMAL INTERCEPTION ON BY-PRODUCT
OF CLUSTERBEAN CROP UNDER DIFFERENT GROWING
ENVIRONMENTS

M. L. KHICHAR*, RAM NIWAS AND B. D. YADAV¹

Department of Agricultural Meteorology
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : mlkhichar@gmail.com)

SUMMARY

A field experiment was carried out on sandy loam soil during two consecutive kharif seasons (July to September) at Dry Land Research Farm, CCS Haryana Agricultural University Hisar, India (29°10′ N latitude, 75°46′ E longitude and 215.2 m altitude), to study light interception and its impact on grain yield and by-product of clusterbean crop. Treatments consisted of two seeding dates, two seeding densities and three seed rates designed in split plot with three replications. The other package of practices for raising the crop was followed as recommended by the university. The photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was measured with quantum sensor during noon hours at bottom and top of the crop canopy at flowering and pod formation stages. The transmission, reflection and absorption coefficients of PAR were calculated in all the treatment combinations. The air temperature data were taken from agrimet observatory situated at research farm and used for computation of thermal units required by the crop. Radiation and thermal use efficiencies were computed for all the treatments. The transmission and reflection coefficients showed a reverse trend that of absorption coefficient in all the treatment combinations. The dry matter production was recorded at flowering, pod formation stages and harvesting of the crop. Grain yield and its quality parameters (gum and crude protein per cent) were recorded at the harvest of the crop. The crop sown in last week of June absorbed higher PAR as compared to mid July sown crop at flowering and pod formation stages. Row spacing also influenced the PAR absorption and it was higher in narrow (30 cm) than wide (45 cm) spaced crop. The higher seed rate also increased the PAR absorption. June sown crop was more efficient in radiation and heat utilization for biomass production over July sown crop. Wider row spacing was more efficient in radiation use over narrow spaced crop. Increase in seed rate also improved the radiation and thermal use efficiency of the crop. Wider row spacing of 45 cm recorded higher grain yield and more gum content as well as crude protein as compared to 30 cm row spacing. Grain yield increased with seed rate, however, 15 and 20 kg/ha seed rates produced statistically similar yields. The crude protein did not differ among the treatments. Thermal Units (TU) and absorbed PAR explained 60-67 per cent variation in grain yield.

Key words : Radiation , thermal interception, clusterban, environment

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STUDY ON THE DAIRY CATTLE, DRY FODDER FEEDING PRACTICES IN MILKSHED AND NON-MILKSHED AREAS OF BIKANER DISTRICT (RAJASTHAN)

RAMAVATAR SHARMA*

Krishi Vigyan Kendra
Dausa (Rajasthan), India
*(e-mail : dr.ram1996@gmail.com)

SUMMARY

Dry fodder was fed to dairy cattle when sufficient quantity of green fodder was not available. Bajra Kadbi, Sewen Kutar, bhurut Kutar, Pala, Moth phalgati and groundnut bhusa were given in winter
season. In summer season, wheat straw and dry grasses of sewen and bhurut were usually provided adlibitum to all the categories of dairy cattle. There was no variation in the type of dry fodder fed to the dairy cattle in milkshed and non-milkshed areas. Majority of the farmers (91.11% in milkshed area and 74.44% in non-milkshed area) reported that they chopped the dry fodder before feeding it to the dairy cattle. No method of enriching the dry fodder by biological treatment has been practised by the dairy cattle owners. However, chopping and soaking practices were prevalent in milkshed area (65.55%) and in non-milkshed area (50%). There was statistically significant (P<0.05) difference between the two areas.

Key words : Dry fodder, dairy cattle, milkshed areas

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STUDIES ON THE POTENTIAL OF INTEGRATED NUTRIENT
MANAGEMENT FOR IMPROVING THE VEGETATIVE AND
REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF BERSEEM CROP

BASANTI CHINTAPALLI*, SUBHASH C. BIYAN, POOJA DHUPPAR AND D. SARVESHWARA RAO

Department of Botany
Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Deemed University),
Agra-282 110 (U. P.), India
*(e-mail : basanthich@gmail.com.)

SUMMARY

The effects of FYM, chemical fertilizers and biofertilizers on the vegetative and reproductive performance of berseem fodder crop were studied by cultivating the crop during rabi season of 2011-12 at experimental plots of the D. E. I., Department of Botany at Agra. Seven treatments and five replications were chosen in the RCBD. The treatment consisting of farm yard manure+Rhizobium+phosphate solubilizing bacteria+Azospirillium resulted in maximum plant height (13.1 cm at 35 DAS), fresh forage yield (16780 kg/ha), maximum length of head (2.7 cm), maximum number of flowers per head (83 flowers/head) and maximum seed yield (387.2 kg/ha). On the contrary, the values for the above traits in the control plots were as follows : 10.6 cm, 15980 kg/ha, 1.8 cm, 60.6 flowers and 260 kg/ha for plant height, fresh forage yield, length of head, number of flowers per head and seed yield, respectively. So, it was concluded that berseem showed better performance when treated with FYM+biofertilizers.

Key words : Berseem, biofertilizers, vegetative and reproductive performance

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RESPONSE OF MULTICUT FORAGE SORGHUM GENOTYPES TO DIFFERENT FERTILITY LEVELS

D. S. RANA, BHAGAT SINGH, K. GUPTA, A. K. DHAKA1 AND SATYAWAN ARYA

Forage Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India

SUMMARY

A field experiment was conducted at main Forage Research Area, CCSHAU, Hisar with three multicut genotypes of sorghum (SPH 1626, SPH 1627 and CSH 20MF) were grown with four fertility levels viz., control, 50 per cent recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), 100 per cent RDF (100 kg N+30 kg P2O5/ha) and 150 per cent RDF. The plant height, green fodder and dry matter yield of
multicut sorghum genotypes were significantly influenced by different fertility levels. The green fodder and dry matter yield of CSH 20 MF were significantly higher over SPH 1626 and SPH 1627 on the basis of total of two cuts. The maximum plant height, number of tillers, green fodder and dry
matter yield were recorded at 150 per cent of recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), which was significantly higher than lower doses of fertilizer during both the cuts. The highest crude protein yield and digestible dry matter (DDM) were also recorded with 150 per cent RDF which were significantly higher than lower fertility levels.

Key words : Sorghum, Genotypes, Fertility levels, Quality

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FORAGE PRODUCTION OF SELECTED PALATABLE GRASSES IN BUNDELKHAND REGION (U. P.)

NEEL RATAN AND U. N. SINGH*

Department of Botany
D. V. Postgraduate College,
Orai-285 001 (U. P.), India
*(e-mail : uma_nath_singh@yahoo.co.in)

SUMMARY

Inspite of as soil binders and aid in soil conservation, the grasses assume prime importance as
livestock feed. In their principal role, the tropical grasses stand as the highest potential yielder of starch and proteins equivalent to any other crop plants and further being the dominant component of tropical pastures, as the cheapest sources of animal feed (Rajora, 2002). The grass and grazing are important constituents of fodder resources in India. Out of the total land area of 3.2 million sq. km of this country, about one-third falls under arid and semi-arid zone (Vora and Bhatnagar, 2003). Perennial grass species like Dichanthium annulatum, Iseilema laxum, Sehima nervosum and Panicum antidotale are grouped as “High Perennial” species as they give high forage yield under natural rainfed conditions.

Key words : Palatable grasses, Dichanthium, Iseilema, Sehima, Panicum

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CHARACTER ASSOCIATION AND PATH COEFFICIENT ANALYSIS IN CHICKPEA (CICER ARIETINUM L.) UNDER LATE SOWN CONDITIONS

PRAMILA YADAV*, DINESH KUMAR TRIPATHI¹, KHALID KAFEEL KHAN AND ASHOK KUMAR YADAV²

Department of Botany
Shibli National Post Graduate College,
Azamgarh (U. P.), India
*(e-mail : yadavpsc@gmail.com)

SUMMARY

A total of 45 genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) were tested for their yield performance. Among the 15 examined characters, positive and statistically highly significant correlations were found between days to maturity and number of seeds/pod; between the plant height and leaf length, leaflet length, width of leaflet, pod width and 100-seed weight; between leaf length and leaflet length, width of leaflet, pod length, pod width and 100- seed weight; between leaflet length and width of leaflet, pod length, pod width and 100-seed weight; between width of leaflet and pod length, pod width and 100-seed weight; between number of primary branches, number of secondary branches/plant and number of pods per plant; between number of secondary branches/plant and number of pods per plant; between pod length and pod width and 100-seed weight; as well as between pod width and 100-seed weight; and biological yield per plant with number of secondary branches/plant and number of primary branches/plant. Negative and highly significant relationships were observed between leaf length and number of primary branches, number of secondary branches and number of pods per plant; between width of leaflet and number of primary branches and number of secondary branches/plant; between number of seeds per pod and 100-seed weight; biological yield per plant with leaf length and leaflet length. 100-seed weight had the maximum direct effect on seed yield (p.c.= 0.398). It was found that the indirect effects on seed yield were more positive through 100-seed weight, number of leaflets/leaf and pod length, but negative and low through leaflet length and number of seeds per pod. The present study thus suggested that selection for high yield should be based on 100-seed weight and number of leaflets/leaf in chickpea.

Key words : Correlation, path coefficient, yield, chickpea, late sown

CHARACTER-ASSOCIATION-IN-CHICKPEA

CORRELATION STUDIES IN MULTICUT FORAGE SORGHUM GROWN UNDER DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

RAMESH CHANDRA, KEWALANAND, Y. P. JOSHI AND SHYAM SINGH

Department of Agronomy
G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology,
Pantnagar-263 145, U. S. Nagar (Uttarakhand), India

SUMMARY

Correlation has been studied in various growth, quality characters and yield of multicut forage sorghum cultivars which were planted at two locations in a split plot design during kharif season of
2007. The linear correlation study revealed positive and highly significat association between yield and growth/quality components at both the loecations. Perfect correlation (r=1) was between crude protein yield and total N-uptake at both the locations. Among quality and growth parameters, significant positive correlation was noticed at both the locations except between crude protein/N-content and plant height, leaf : stem ratio, dry matter accumulation in third cutting at Lakhaoti, dry matter accumulation and disgestibility in first cutting at Pantnagar, where the positive correlation was not significant.

Key words : Correlation, multicut forage sorghum, protein, digestibility, environment

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