EFFECT OF WATER DEFICITS AND INTENSIVE CUTTINGS ON FORAGE PRODUCTIVITY OF ATRIPLEX NUMMULARIA LINDL AND ITS QUALITY
A. A. KANDIL AND A. E. SHARIEF
Department of Agronomy
Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Egypt
*(e-mail : shariefali42@gmail.com)
(Received : 24 March 2017; Accepted : 26 May 2017)

SUMMARY

Atriplex shrubs are essential sources of animal feed, predominantly to dry and semi-dry areas. To overawed feeding shortages, particularly in the summer seasons when Savannah growth is imperfect or dormant. In order to study the effect of water defects, treatments i. e. 1.00, 0.50 and 0.25 ET at four levels of grazing i. e. intensities cutting in winter (CW 1) at the November, non-intensities cutting in winter (CW 2) at the November, intensities cutting in summer (CS 1) at the May and non-intensities cutting in summer (CS 2) at the May and their interaction on forage Atriplex productivity. Irrigation at 1.00 ET significantly shaped the highest plants, the highest fresh and dry forage yield/plant, fresh and dry forage yield/ha, percentages of protein, ether extract, crude protein and fiber yield (kg/ha), ether extract, ash, nitrogen free extract yield (kg/ha) as combined analysis. Irrigation at 0.50 ET significantly recorded the highest percentages of crude fiber. Whilst, irrigation at 0.50 ET created the lowest values of the deliberate restrictions. The highest plants were obtained from non-intensities cutting in summer (CS 2) at May and recorded the highest fresh and dry forage yield/plant, fresh and dry forage yield/ha, the highest values of water use efficiency, ether extract percentage, crude protein and fiber, ether extract, ash and free nitrogen extract yield/ha. Intensities cutting in winter (CW 1) at November formed the lowest standards of the studied parameters. It could be suggested that irrigation at 1.00 ET and cutting in summer (CS 2) at May significantly maximized Atriplex forages yield and its quality.

Key words: Intensities cuttings, irrigation at evaporation rates, dry matter forage yield and its quality, water use efficiency

1-8

INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING ANNUAL FORAGE CROPS PRODUCTIVITY– A REVIEW
MUKESH KUMAR*, BHAGAT SINGH AND A. K. DHAKA
Department of Agronomy
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : mukeshkumarkainwal@gmail.com)
(Received : 4 February 2017; Accepted : 7 March 2017)

SUMMARY

The scope of increasing the area cultivated for forages is rather limited, because of mounting pressure and preferential need for food and commercial crops. Hence, fodder production has to be increased per unit area per unit time. In recent years, there has been adverse effect of continuous and indiscriminate use of inorganic fertilizers on deterioration of soil structure, soil organic matter, increase in salinity, sodicity, increased soil pollutants, reduced soil health, hazards of pests and diseases and environmental pollution. Judicious use of manures and fertilisers in integrated manner is best alternative for maintaining crop productivity, while maintaining soil fertility status in forage crops. Integrated nutrient management (INM) improves crop productivity and soil fertility status rather than mineral fertilizers alone. Most of the research findings reviewed in this review indicated that among the integrated nutrient management combinations, application of chemical fertilizers integrated with organic manures in equal proportion improved sustainable forage productivity, nutrient uptake and soil nutrient status. Use of organic manures has been found to be promising in arresting the decline in productivity through correction of deficiency of secondary and micronutrients and influencing the physical and biological properties of soil. Combined application of inorganic fertilizers with different sources of organic manures in different proportions has significant role to boost forage productivity, improve nutrient uptake by plants and maintain soil nutrient status in foragebased cropping systems. Keeping these points in view, the literature pertaining to the nutrient management in different forage crops to obtain higher biomass production and good quality fodder has been reviewed.

Key words: Forage crops, INM, fodder yield, quality

9-16

PRINCIPAL COMPONENT, CLUSTERING PATTERN AND ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS OF SWEET CORN (ZEA SACCHARATA L.) INBRED LINES
A. YUVARAJA*, K. RAJARAJAN, K. N. GANESAN, R. RAVIKESAVAN AND A. THANGAHEMAVATHY
Centre for Plant Breeding & Genetics
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
Coimbatore-641 003 (Tamil Nadu), India
(e-mail : yugenetics@yahoo.com)
(Received : 29 March 2017; Accepted : 20 May 2017)

SUMMARY

In sweet corn, the assessment of morphological and quantitative traits variation contributing towards genetic diversity is of vital importance. This study was conducted using randomized block design with two replications to evaluate 50 sweet corn inbred lines at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The data of nine different morphological and quantitative traits were subjected to simple association between traits, principal component analysis and clustering pattern. The genetic diversity assessed based on plant height, cob placement height, tassel length, number of tassel branches, seed number/row, number of rows/ear, cob length, cob girth and green cob yield. The association analysis showed positive and highly significant correlation of green cob yield with seed number/row (0.82), cob length (0.76), number of rows (0.70), cob girth (0.58), plant height (0.37) and tassel length (0.36). Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the first 3 PCs had Eigen value >1 explaining 73.80 per cent of total variability among the sweet corn inbred lines for nine quantitative traits. This experiment demonstrated high diversity for the characters studied. The resulting phenotypic dendrogram revealed three main clusters (I, II and III) at 0.93 similarity coefficients. The sweet corn inbred lines in the cluster III were identified as superior for cob yield and its components thereby; it can be used in crop improvement programmes.

Key words: Sweet corn, genetic diversity, association analysis, principal component analysis

17-21

GENOTYPIC VARIANCES AND INTERACTIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTS IN BARLEY GENOTYPES USING HALF DIALLELE ANALYSIS FOR GRAIN YIELD AND ITS ASSOCIATE CHARACTERS
MOTI RAM* AND A. S. SHEKHAWAT
Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute,
(SKNAU, Jobner) Durgapura (Rajasthan), India
*(e-mail : motiram758@gmail.com)
(Received : 15 April 2017; Accepted : 27 May 2017)

SUMMARY

The present investigation was carried out to study components of genetic variance, for yield and yield contributing traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) using half diallele analysis. Ten genotypes along with their 45 F1’s and 45 F2’s were evaluated in three environments created by three different dates of sowing i. e. timely sown, late sown and very late sown, with three replications in a randomized block design during rabi 2015-16 at Agricultural Research Farm of RARI, Durgapura, Jaipur. Each replication contained two parts. First part consisted 10 parents and 45 F1’s sown in two rows plot, while the plots of second part consisted six rows of 45 F2’s. The pooled analysis of variance depicted significant differences for all the studied traits and indicated the influence of environment on the expression of these characters. Further, the mean sum of squares due to parents’ vs F1 and F2 displayed significant difference for all the characters studied except plant height and tillers per plant. .The G × E interaction was also found significant for most of the characters except tillers per plant, flag leaf area, spike length, taking into consideration, significant G × E interaction for most of the characters, the analysis of variance was done for the individual environment separately.

Key words: Genotypic variance, half diallele anaalysis, barley

22-25

THE PERFORMANCE OF NEW PEARL MILLET HYBRIDS WITH GREENGRAM UNDER SOLE CROPPING AND INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS IN SEMI-ARID ENVIRONMENT
RENU*, ANIL KUMAR AND PARVEEN KUMAR
Bajra Section, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : renugoyat2010@gmail.com)
(Received : 20 February 2017; Accepted : 25 May 2017)

SUMMARY

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season 2015 at Research Farm of the Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar consisting of nine treatments viz., four sole pearl millet hybrids [T1 : HHB 67 Improved, T2 : HHB 197, T3 : HHB 226 and T4 : HHB 234) and four intercropping combinations of these pearl millet hybrids with greengram variety MH 421 in paired rows (30 : 60 cm) in 2 : 1 row ratio (T5 : HHB 67 Improved+MH 421, T6 : HHB 197+MH 421, T7 : HHB 226+MH 421 and T8 : HHB 234+MH 421] along with one sole crop of greengram variety MH 421 and was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The intercropping with greengram brought out earliness by 1.0, 1.4, 0.7 and 0.4 days for 50 per cent flowering in HHB 67 Improved, HHB 197, HHB 226 and HHB 234 hybrids, respectively, as compared to their sole stand. The LAI attained its peak values at 40 days after sowing (DAS), whereas LAD was maximum during 40-60 DAS crop growth period among all the treatments and HHB 197 based treatments (T2 and T6) showed their comparative superiority over other treatments. The crop growth rate (CGR) and relative growth rate (RGR) attained their peak values during 21-40 DAS. During this period, the CGR and RGR values were recorded in the range of 48.7 to 56.9 g/m2/day and 148.6 to 156.7 mg/g/day, respectively, in sole treatments (T1 to T4), whereas in intercropping systems (T5 to T8), the values were 44.6 to 52.8 g/m2/day and 145.6 to 158.7 mg/ g/day, respectively. Intercropping of greengram with pearl millet hybrids in 2 : 1 row ratio produced statistically at par pearl millet grain yield as compared to their sole stands, however, the per cent decrease was 8.5, 3.4, 5.6 and 9.6 in the intercropping treatments of pearl millet hybrids HHB 67 Improved, HHB 197, HHB 226 and HHB 234, respectively. The decrease in grain yield was comparatively more in the hybrid HHB 234 based intercropping system and least in the HHB 197 based cropping system.

Key words: Pearl millet hybrids, intercropping, greengram, phenology, growth indices and productivity

26-30

EFFECT OF PHOSPHORUS AND SULPHUR ON DRY MATTER ACCUMULATION AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE IN CHICKPEA
VIKRAM SINGH* AND J. N. NARIYA
Department of Agricultural Chemistry & Soil Science
Junagadh Agricultural University,
Junagadh (Gujarat), India
*(e-mail : vikramshahpuria@gmail.com)
(Received : 29 April 2017; Accepted : 26 May 2017)

SUMMARY

The field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different levels of phosphorus and sulphur on growth, dry matter accumulation and nutrient uptake by chickpea at the Instructional Farm, Department of, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh during rabi season of 2015-16. The results revealed that the dry matter accumulation increased significantly with the progressive increase in phosphorus levels up to 60 kg/ha at 45, 60, 75, 90 DAS and at harvest. Maximum dry matter accumulation per plant at 45 DAS (2.13 g/plant), 60 DAS (17.10 g/plant), 75 DAS (23.93 g/plant), 90 DAS (32.90 g/plant) and at harvest (34.05 g/plant) was recorded with the application of 60 kg P2O5/ha, which was significantly higher over control, 20 kg P2O5 /ha. Dry matter accumulation increased significantly with the progressive increase in sulphur levels up to 40 kg/ha at 45, 60, 75, 90 DAS and at harvest. Maximum dry matter accumulation per plant at 45 DAS (1.94 g/plant) , 60 DAS (15.59 g/plant), 75 DAS (20.92 g/plant) , 90 DAS (29.33 g/ plant) and at harvest (30.41 g/plant) was recorded with the application of 40 kg S/ha, which was significantly higher over control, 20 kg S/ha.. An increasing level of phosphorus up to 60 kg P2O5 /ha significantly resulted on phosphorus and sulphur content and uptake by stover. Further total uptake of nitrogen, potassium and sulphur by chickpea crop was significantly influenced by increasing levels of phosphorus up to 60 kg P2O5/ha and total phosphorus uptake by crop was significantly higher with application of 40 kg P2O5 /ha.

Key words: Dry matter accumulation, growth, nutrient uptake, chickpea

31-34

AGRONOMIC EVALUATION OF OAT (AVENA SATIVA L.) GENOTYPES FOR FORAGE YIELD, QUALITY AND ECONOMICS UNDER VARYING LEVELS OF NITROGEN
R. S. SHEORAN, SATPAL*, U. N. JOSHI, B. S. DUHAN1, P. KUMARI, S. ARYA AND D. S. PHOGAT
Forage Section, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : satpal.fpj@gmail.com)
(Received : 23 February 2017; Accepted : 11 May 2017)

SUMMARY

A field experiment was conducted at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana) during winter season (rabi) of 2015-16 to study the response of different nitrogen levels on the yield and quality of oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes. Eleven oat genotypes viz., RO-11-1, JO-04-18, OL-1689, SKO-198, SKO-199, RSO-8, OL-1804, OS-406, Kent, OS-6 and OL-125 were tested at three nitrogen levels i. e. 40, 80 and 120 kg nitrogen per hectare. Among the various genotypes, OL-1689 proved to be significantly superior for green fodder (369.3 q/ha) and dry matter yield (71.6 q/ha) to rest of the entries except OS-406 (336.0 q/ha GFY and 67.1 q/ha DMY) which remained statistically at par. Growth parameters, green fodder and dry matter were influenced significantly with increasing levels of nitrogen from 40 to 120 kg/ha, whereas plant height and tillers per metre row length were increased up to 80 kg N/ha only. Crude protein content and its yield increased significantly with increasing levels of nitrogen, maximum with 120 kg N/ha. Among genotypes, the maximum gross returns (Rs. 46162.5/ha), net returns (Rs. 18264.3/ha) and B : C ratio (1.65) were recorded with OL-1689, whereas the application of 120 kg nitrogen/ha recorded the maximum gross returns (Rs. 38625.0/ha), net returns (Rs. 10245.5/ha) and B : C ratio (1.36).

Key words: Oat, forage yield, dry matter, nitrogen, crude protein, net returns

35-38

POTENTIAL PRODUCTIVITY, FORAGE QUALITY AND RELATIVE ECONOMICS OF MULTI-CUT SORGHUM GENOTYPES UNDER DIFFERENT FERTILIZER RATES
SATPAL*, J. TOKAS, B. S. DUHAN, S. K. PAHUJA AND S. RAVI KUMAR
Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail: satpal.fpj@gmail.com)
(Received : 10 March 2017; Accepted : 18 April 2017)

SUMMARY

A two-factor field experiment consisting of five multi-cut forage cultivars and three fertilizer levels was conducted at Forage Section Research Farm, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana), India during kharif 2015. Sorghum cultivars were test hybrid SPH 1700 and variety SPV 2242, which were compared with check hybrids CSH 20MF, CSH 24MF and check variety SSG 59-3. The fertilizer levels were 50, 75 and 100 per cent recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), which had a combination of nitrogen (80 kg)+phosphorus (40 kg)+potassium (40 kg) per hectare. The forage hybrid SPH 1700 recorded maximum total green fodder (690.2 q/ha) which was at par with SPV 2242 (669.9 q/ ha) but significantly superior over the checks CSH 20MF, CSH 24MF and SSG 59-3. Forage variety SPV 2242 recorded maximum total dry matter (119.1 q/ha), which was at par with rest of the genotypes except CSH 24MF.The maximum B : C ratio (2.11) was derived with hybrid SPH 1700. The crop fertilized with 100 RDF recorded significantly higher total green and dry fodder yield over the application of 50 and 75 per cent RDF. The magnitude of the increase with RDF was 33.95 and 12.84 per cent in total green fodder; and 55.31 and 21.14 per cent in total dry fodder yield over 50 and 75 per cent RDF, respectively. The maximum B : C ratio was derived with the application of 100 per cent RDF (2.16). Conclusively, among genotypes SPH 1700 and SPV 2242 performed better and among fertilizer levels, application of 100 per cent RDF was the most beneficial practice.

Key words: Multi-cut forage sorghum, fodder yield, fertilizer levels, hydro cyanic acid (HCN), crude protein content and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD)

39-45

VARIATION IN ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT AND CARBON NITROGEN RATIO IN VERMICOMPOST AS AFFECTED BY SUBSTRATE STRAW
ANAND KUMAR*, R. K. GUPTA AND SURESH KUMAR
Department of Zoology and Aquaculture
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : anand_rozha@yahoo.co.in)
(Received : 5 January 2017; Accepted : 25 April 2017)

SUMMARY

The field experiment was carried out to study the variation in organic carbon content and carbon nitrogen (C/N) ratio in different crop straws used as substrate during the process of vermicomposting during 2011-12 in CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. In the present experiment, the agricultural wastes like wheat straw, millet straw, pulse brawn, mustard straw and cow dung were used as substrates for vermicomposting and the decrease in organic carbon (%) was observed for 90 days. Maximum reduction in organic carbon was found to be 25.6 to 5.7 per cent after 90 days in cow dung substrate during the composting process and maximum reduction in C/N ratio was found to be 40.12 to 6.55 after 90 days in mustard straw + cow dung. Thus, over the course of the composting and vermicomposting the concentration of organic carbon declined up to 90 days (after the release of earthworms).

Key words: Crop straw, organic carban, C/N ratio, vermicompost, earthworms

46-49

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BROCCOLI CROP RESIDUE IN GOATS
V. S. PANWAR*, N. SHEORAN, VINUS AND B. S. TEWATIA
Department of Animal Nutrition
LUVAS, Hisar (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : virenderpanwar66@gmail.com)
(Received : 15 April 2017; Accepted : 27 May 2017)

SUMMARY

The broccoli crop residue was analzsed for proximate nutrients, cell wall constituents and mineral and its feeding value was asseseed in goats in the Dept. of Animal Nutrition.The crop residue on DM basis contained 94.22 per cent organic matter, 27.20 per cent crude protein, 5.12 per cent crude fat, 7.99 per cent crude fibre and 53.91 per cent nitrogen free extracts. The crop residue contained 4.47 per cent calcium and 0.45 per cent phosphorus. A feeding trial of 15 days was conducted on five nonlactating Beetal goats (average body weight 24 kg) after which a metabolism trial of seven days duration was also conducted to assess the nutrients digestibility and balance of nutrients. Animals were maintained on fresh chaffed broccoli plant residue as a sole feed. The total dry matter intake of experimental goats was 624.4 ± 39.9 g/day which was worked out to be 2.67 per cent of body weight. Thus, broccoli was highly palatable to the goats but its consumption was limited due to high moisture content. The digestibility coefficients (%) of different proximate nutrients i. e. DM, OM, CP, EE, CF and NFE were 83.7±0.65, 84.04± 0.62, 87.84± 0.53, 87.08± 0.31, 69.64± 0.99 and 83.84± 0.78, respectively. It was found to contain 23.96 per cent DCP and 87.20 per cent TDN. All the animals maintained their body weight and were in positive nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus balance. The results of the study showed that broccoli crop residue was a very nutritious fodder and it could be utilized as a sole feed for small ruminants.

Key words: Broccoli crop residue, Beetal goats, nutrient composition, nutrient balance

50-53

NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF LEAVES OF CHICKPEA VARIETIES AT DIFFERENT GROWTH STAGES
SEEMA*, NEELAM KHETARPAUL, RAJESH KATHWAL AND KRISHAN KUMAR
Department of Foods and Nutrition
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : siwachseema9@gmail.com)
(Received : 23 January 2017; Accepted : 11 April 2017)

SUMMARY

The present study was carried out with the objective to determine the nutrient composition and antioxidant properties of chickpea leaves of desi and kabuli varieties (HC-1, C-235, HK-1 and HK-2) at different stages of maturity (30, 45 and 60 DAS). Moisture, crude fat and carbohydrate were found maximum in the chickpea leaves at 30 DAS, while crude protein, crude fibre and ash content were found to be maximum in the leaves taken at 60 DAS. Dietary fibres (total insoluble and soluble) were found to be the highest in the leaves taken at 45 and 60 DAS. β-carotene in fresh leaves and dry leaves was highest (30 DAS) and vitamin C in fresh leaves (60 DAS). Both the anti-nutrients were lowest in chickpea leaves (30 DAS).

Key words: Chickpea, β-carotene content, vitamin C content, phytic acid content, oxalic acid content

54-59

BARLEY HORDEUM VULGARE (L) AS A DUAL PURPOSE CROP HAVING GOOD FODDER QUALITY

R. S. SOHU*, RUCHIKA BHARDWAJ AND MEENAKSHI GOYAL
Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana-141 004 (Punjab), India
*(e-mail : rssohu@rediffmail.com)
(Received 02 Jaunary 2017; Accepted 16 June 2017)

SUMMARY

New barley varieties were evaluated for their suitability as a fodder as well as grain crop during rabi 2015. Different varieties behave differently for fodder and grain yield and fodder quality. Some varieties are good fodder and grain yielder but have low crude protein (CP) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), while others have good fodder quality traits but less yielder. The present data showed that good dual purpose varieties of barley could give 166-185 q/ha green fodder with 61-67 q/ha grain yield. Among the barley varieties evaluated, it was found that two varieties viz., RD 2035 and RD 2552 were very good dual purpose varieties with good fodder quality. Among these two, RD 2035 gave 185.6 q/ha green fodder yield with 21.12 q/ha dry matter yield and 67.18 q/ha grain yield. The fodder of this variety had 12.0 per cent crude protein with 62.4 per cent in vitro dry matter digestibility and also had low acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) values. Significant and positive correlation of green fodder yield was observed with dry matter yield and plant height. Similarly, significant correlation was observed between crude protein and in vitro dry matter digestibility, and ADF and NDF. The grain yield was seemed to be positively correlated with 1000- grain weight but negatively associated with green fodder yield (GFY) and dry matter yield (DMY).

Key words: Dual purpose barley, fodder yield and quality, grain yield, correlation studies

60-63

EFFECT OF VARYING LEVELS OF SALINITY ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF FORAGE SORGHUM GENOTYPES
PUMMY KUMARI,*, S. K. PAHUJA, R. S. SHEORAN, SATYAWAN ARYA AND U. N. JOSHI
Forage Section, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : pummy.choudhary84@gmail.com)
(Received : 3 January 2017; Accepted : 26 April 2017)

SUMMARY

Exploiting genetic variability to identify salt tolerant genotype is one of the strategies used to overcome salinity. The experimental treatments included four NaCl salinity levels (0, 4, 8 and 12 dS/m) and 11 sorghum genotypes. The experimental design was completely randomized design with three replicates. The data were recorded on various morphological and quality traits. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for treatments, genotypes and their interaction was found to be highly significant (P<0.001) with regard to all parameters. All parameters measured showed to have an inverse relationship with increase in NaCl salinity levels. Significant decrease in the fodder yield and its components was observed with the increased level of salinity. The per cent loss of green fodder yield (GFY) and dry fodder yield (DFY) was maximum in terms of percentage in EC 3 (12.0 dS/m) followed by EC 2 (8.0 dS/m) and EC 1 (4.0 dS/m). The sorghum genotypes were SSG 9, IS 3237 and HJ 541 for Cl- dominating salinity. So, these genotypes can be useful as genetic resources for crossing programme for the development of sorghum cultivars with improved agronomic and quality traits under salt stress.

Key words: NaCl, salinity tolerance, sorghum genotypes, fodder, quality

64-66

VARIABILITY AND CHARACTER ASSOCIATION STUDIES IN FODDER MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) HYBRIDS
RAHUL KAPOOR*
Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics
Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana-141 004 (Punjab), India
*(e-mail : rahulkapoor@pau.edu)
(Received : 31 March 2017; Accepted : 3 May 2017)

SUMMARY

Twenty maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids were evaluated for character association study during kharif 2012 at Forage Research Farm, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The genotypes were significantly different for all the characters, which indicated scope for further genetic studies. High heritability along with high genetic advance was recorded for all the traits except number of leaves per plant indicating the predominance of additive effects in the inheritance of these characters. The phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) estimates were invariably higher than their corresponding genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values thereby suggesting the environmental influence. High estimates of GCV and PCV were observed for plant height, leaf stem ratio, dry matter yield and green fodder yield, suggesting that selection based on these characters would facilitate successful isolation of desirable types. Traits like plant height, leaf length and dry matter yield had positive and significant correlation at genotypic as well as phenotypic level with green fodder yield and the selection based on these traits will result in improving the green fodder yield in maize. Most of the yield contributing traits like plant height, leaf length, stems girth, leaf : stem ratio and dry matter yield exhibited positive direct effect on green fodder yield.

Key words: Green fodder yield, fodder maize hybrids, heritability, correlation and path coefficient

67-69

EFFECT OF DISCOLOURATION ON SEED QUALITY IN CLUSTERBEAN (CYAMOPSIS TETRAGONOLOBA (L.) TAUB.)
S. S. JAKHAR AND AXAY BHUKER
Department of Seed Science & Technology
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : bhuker.axay@gmail.com)
(Received 28 February 2017; Accepted 26 March 2017)

SUMMARY

The experiment was conducted on clusterbean variety HG 2-20 during kharif 2016 to know the effect of discolouration on seed quality parameters. On the basis of visual discolouration, the collected seed was divided into five different categories viz., no discolouration, 0-15 per cent, 16-50 per cent, 51100 per cent discolouration and shrivelled seeds. The results revealed that significant variation was observed among all the seed lots in all the seed quality parameters. Maximum germination (59.67%) was observed in the seed lot without discolouration but it was also below the Indian minimum seed certification standards (75%), while it was observed minimum in the shrivelled seed (8.33%). Maximum seedling length (28.10 cm), seedling dry weight (0.145 mg), vigour index-I (1676.73) and vigour index-II (8.63) were also recorded in the healthy seeds (No discolouration). In shrivelled seeds, minimum seedling length (12.60 cm), seedling dry weight (0.058 mg), vigour index-I (104.23) and vigour index-II (0.45) were recorded. Six funginamely Alternaria cyamopsidis, Aspergillus spp.,Curvularia lunat, Fusarium spp., Helminthosporium spp. Cercospora spp. were detected but no bacterial infection was observed in the discoloured seeds.

Key words: Seed quality, discolouration, clusterbean, fungi

70-72