Study on the vegetative propagation of guava (Psidium guajava L.) Through air and stool layering” Mr

ABSTRACT
The present investigation entitled “Studies on fruit growth and development and standardization of maturity indices in different sapota (Manilkara achras (Mill.) Fosberg) cultivars” was carried out during 2012-2013 at Horticultural Research Station, Venkataramannagudem, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, with the objective of understanding the pattern of growth and development, physical and biochemical changes that occur during growth and development of fruit and to standardize the maturity indices for best time of harvest for different cultivars of sapota.The present experiment was undertaken with different cultivars of sapota viz., PKM-1, PKM-3, DHS-1, DHS-2, Pala, Kalipatti, Cricket Ball, Singapore, Kirthibarthi and Virudhnagar in a Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications.

The study revealed significant differences among the varieties for different fruit characters studied. Fruit length, width, weight, pulp weight, volume and seed weight increased in all sapota cultivars from fruit set till maturity at all stages of growth and development. Maximum fruit size, weight, pulp weight, volume, number of seeds and seed weight was recorded in the variety Cricket Ball followed by PKM-3.

Firmness of fruit was out of fruit pressure tester up to 120^th day in all the varieties. The value of fruit firmness was high during initial stages of fruit growth and decreased gradually with increase of fruit maturity. At maturity the fruit texture was smooth and flesh colour beneath the skin was yellow in all the varieties. The flesh colour of fruit was reddish brown in case of PKM-3 and Cricket Ball, while it was yellowish brown in the remaining varieties. Latex flow and spined stigma were absent at maturity in all the varieties. The variety DHS-2 recorded the maximum number of days to attain harvestable maturity followed by cv. Cricket Ball.

The biochemical changes in fruit viz., TSS, TSS: acid ratio, total sugars, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars increased continuously in all sapota cultivars from fruit set till maturity and titrable acidity exhibited decreasing trend throughout the development but ascorbic acid content had an initial increase up to 180 days and thereafter decreased continuously during development and declined on maturity. Among the different varieties, TSS, reducing sugars and total sugars were high in the cultivar Kalipatti followed by Pala, PKM-3 and Virudhnagar over the other varieties during growth and ripening stages .

The results suggest that in sapota fruits, it is not possible to decide the optimum stage of harvesting based on a single physical character. The stage of harvest could be recognized by considering both the physical and biochemical characters. The number of days taken for optimum maturity in PKM-1, Pala, Singapore and Virudhnagar was 225 days. Kalipatti required 240 days, DHS-1and Kirthibarti took 240- 255 days, while PKM-3, DHS-2 and Cricket Ball took 255 – 270 days. The fruits harvested at optimum stage of maturity ripened properly and they possessed maximum TSS, reducing sugars, low acidity, good texture, fruit and flesh colour and organoleptic score was high.

A combination of different methods of assessing maturity is therefore recommended to establish appropriate stage of harvest for different sapota varieties. From the present investigation, it is clear that the optimum stage of harvest could be recognized by considering the physical characters (size, weight, skin colour, latex flow, spine stigma, texture and days to harvest), biochemical characters (TSS, total sugars, reducing sugars and organoleptic scoring) and days taken from fruit set can be employed as criteria for assessing the harvest stage in different varieties of sapota studied.

178) “Effect of N, P & K on growth, yield and quality of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars under meadow system of planting” – N.Thirupathi.

ABSTRACT

Studies on “Effect of N, P & K on growth, yield and quality of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars under meadow system of planting” were carried out during the period from July, 2013 to January, 2014 at Fruit Research Station (FRS), Sangareddy, Medak district, Dr.YSRHU, A.P. with an objective of studying the effect of varieties and fertilizer levels on growth, yield and fruit quality of guava cultivars under meadow system planting.

Studies were conducted on the effect of two varieties i.e. Allahabad Safeda and Lalit and also effect of different fertilizer levels i.e. 65:30:30 g, 100:45:45 g, 135:60:60 g, 170:75:75 g and 205:90:90 g per plant on growth, yield and fruit quality of guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars with 10 treatments replicated four times in RBD with factorial concept.

Among the two varieties studied, Lalit responded well to different fertilizer doses when compared to Allahabad Safeda. Lalit recorded maximum plant height, stem girth, plant spread at east-west and north-south direction, total number of flowers per shoot, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, fruit volume, total soluble solids and ascorbic acid. Allahabad Safeda recorded maximum fruit set and minimum number of days taken for harvesting from flowering in meadow system of planting.

Among the different fertilizer levels (65:30:30, 100:45:45, 135:60:60, 170:70:70 and 205:90:90 g per plant ) studied, increasing the fertilizer level from 65:30:30 to135:60:60 resulted in increase of the number of fruits per plant, maximum average fruit weight, fruit girth, fruit volume, fruit yield and maximum storage life. But, further increase in fertilizer doses decreased the above characters in meadow system of planting of guava.

Among the interactions, Lalit with 135:60:60 g NPK per plant recorded maximum stem girth at 90 days and at harvest. Allahabad Safeda with 135:60:60 g of fertilizer level showed minimum number of days taken for flowering from first split of fertilizer application and minimum number of days taken for harvesting from flowering.

205:90:90 g NPK per plant recorded maximum total soluble solids, ascorbic acid content and total sugars but was at par with 170:70:70 g and 135:60:60 g NPK per plant.

Application of 135:60:60 g NPK per plant for two years old guava plant in two split doses were found to be optimum in increasing growth, fruit yield and quality of guava cultivars under meadow system of planting in Telangana conditions of Andhra Pradesh.

179) “Heterosis and combining ability studies in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in Line x Tester analysis” – K.Vinaya Raju.

ABSTRACT

The present investigation on “Heterosis and combining ability studies in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) in Line x Tester analysis” was undertaken with eight lines (EC 145057, EC 163663, EC 238308, EC 257489, EC 320574-1, EC 338714, EC 338717 and EC 338735) and four testers (Arka Saurabh, Pusa Ruby, PED and Marutham). The parents and 32 F₁ hybrids along with one standard check (Arka Vikas) were evaluated for heterosis and combining ability at N.B.P.G.R Regional station Rajendra nagar, Hyderabad during rabi and summer 2008-09 in a randomized block design with three replications. Genetic parameters like GCV, PCV, Heritability, Genetic advance and Character association were also studied for yield and yield contributing characters.

The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the traits studied. Further the line x tester was found significant for all the characters under study except for ascorbic acid content. The heritability was considerably high for ascorbic acid, seed content, plant height, rind thickness, fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit weight, fruit volume, days to 50% flowering and yield per plant. The levels of heterosis were high in several crosses for fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit volume, rind thickness, TSS, ascorbic acid and fruit juice content.

The mean performance of the crosses (EC 163663 x Pusa Ruby, EC 257489 x Pusa Ruby and EC 257489 x Arka Saurabh) for fruit yield per plant was superior but none of the hybrids exhibited better yield over the standard check (Arka Vikas). The crosses EC 145057 x Pusa Ruby, EC 338717 x PED and EC 338717 x Marutham exhibited high rind thickness over standard check. The ascorbic acid content recorded high over standard check in crosses EC 257489 X Arka Saurabh, EC 238308 x Marutham, EC145057 x Marutham and EC145057 x PED respectively. TSS was high in crosses EC145057 x Arka Saurabh, EC145057 x Pusa Ruby and EC 163663 x Pusa Ruby over the standard check. The inbreds EC 338735 and EC 257489 resulted in the production of better single crosess EC 338735 x Marutham and EC 257489 x Arka Saurabh for fruit yield per plant.

The study of correlations revealed that fruit yield per plant was positive and significantly correlated with fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit volume, rind thickness, TSS and fruit juice content.
180) “Evaluation of cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme) for yield and quality under shade net” – J.Om Prasad.

ABSTRACT

A field investigation entitled “Evaluation of cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme) for yield and quality under shade net” was carried out at experimental farm, Horticultural College and Research Institute,Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University, Anantharajupet, Y.S.R. (Dist.), Andhra Pradesh during the early kharif-2013. The experiment consists of eleven cherry tomato genotypes viz., IIHR-2871(T1), IIHR-2872(T2), IIHR-2873(T3), IIHR-2751(T4), IIHR-2753(T5), IIHR-2876(T6), Laila(T7), Roja(T8), Ruhi(T9), Sheeja(T10) and AFA 602(T11) replicated thrice in a Randomized Block Design under 50 per cent shade net.

The results on growth parameters revealed that maximum plant height at 90 days after transplanting in Roja (313.26 cm) followed by Laila (312.20 cm). Sheeja (3.20) followed by IIHR-2876 (3.00) produced significantly highest number of primary branches plant-1. The genotype AFA 602 (28.40) took significantly minimum number of days for first flower initiation followed by Ruhi and Roja, which took 29.88 and 30.40 days respectively. Similarly the genotype, AFA 602 (70 days) took the shortest period from transplanting to first fruit harvest followed by Roja (71days). IIHR-2872 took least number of days (39.66) to 50 per cent plants to flowering and said to be an early genotype followed by Roja (41.33).

Highest number of flowers cluste-1 and number of fruits cluster-1 was noticed in the genotype Sheeja (10.70 and 9.46) followed by Ruhi and Laila (9.80, 7.80 and 9.60, 7.20 respectively). Maximum number of fruiting clusters plant-1 at harvest was recorded by Sheeja (31.46) followed by IIHR-2872 (29.80), while the genotype IIHR-2751 (14.60) recorded the minimum. Fruit set percentage was maximum in Sheeja (88.8) which is at par with Roja, Laila, AFA 602 and Ruhi with a fruit set values of 88.8, 86.53, 82.80 and 81.10 per cent respectively.

The longest fruit was recorded in genotype IIHR-2872 (4.12 cm) followed by Sheeja (4.06 cm) and Laila (4.05 cm). The genotype IIHR-2873 (4.17cm) followed by IIHR-2873 (3.67cm) produced significantly highest fruit width. Fruit shape index was found maximum in Sheeja (2.00) followed by Laila (1.91) and Roja (1.58). Significantly highest fruit volume was recorded in IIHR- 2872 (20.33 cc) followed by IIHR-2751 (18.26 cc). The highest mean fruit yield plant-1, fruit yield plot-1 and fruit yield hectare-1 was recorded in AFA 602 followed by Sheeja (3.70 kg, 40.68 kg, 53.70 tonnes and 3.64 kg, 38.68 kg, 50.96 tonnes respectively).

With respect to quality parameters TSS was maximum in Roja (8.46 0 B) followed by Laila (8.10 0B), titrable acidity was highest in IIHR-2873 (0.48 %) followed by Roja (0.45 %), highest ascorbic acid content was recorded in IIHR- 2753 (27.55 mg 100g-1) followed by Ruhi (27.38 mg 100g-1), lycopene content was maximum in genotype Roja (8.570 mg 100g-1) followed by Laila (6.85 mg 100g-1). The genotype Roja (4.81%) followed by IIHR-2871 (3.42%) recorded significantly maximum reducing sugars content. IIHR-2753 (1.68 %) followed by Sheeja (1.54) showed maximum values for non-reducing sugars. The cherry tomato genotypes AFA 602 and Sheeja outperformed other genotypes in terms of yield when grown during early kharif under 50 per cent green shade net. The reason might be the genetic potentiality of these genotypes to perform well under favourable micro climate. The genotypes AFA 602, Sheeja and Roja were found to be early maturing. With respect to quality parameters, the genotype Roja and Laila were found promising as they recorded higher values of total soluble solids, lycopene content and reducing sugars which can be better exploited in the processing industry.

181) “Studies on standardization of dye concentration, stage of harvest for tinting and post harvest keeping quality of Tuberose (cv.Suvasini) and Gladiolus (cv.White Prosperity) ” – B.Sravan Kumar.
ABSTRACT
The present investigation entitled “Studies on standardization of dye concentration, stage of harvest for tinting and post harvest keeping quality of Tuberose (cv.Suvasini) and Gladiolus (cv.White Prosperity) ” was carried out in the laboratory of Floricultural Research Station, A.R.I, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during year 2013-14.
A total set of four experiments were carried out, two in each crop in order to standardize the dye concentration, time of immersion for tinting and to optimize the stage of harvest for tinting in Tuberose cv. Suvasini and Gladiolus cv.White Prosperity. To standardise the dye concentration and time of immersion the parameters considered were colour obtained at 30 minutes interval after placing the spike in dye solution (by RHS colour chart), dye uptake at 30 minutes interval, percentage bud opening at the end of vase life, percentage increase in fresh weight (at the end of immersion) and floret size (cm). To optimize the stage of harvest for tinting, the parameters like days for opening of florets (25%,50% and 75%), floret size(cm), vase life(days), percentage of wilting of flowers on the day of tinting, percentage of wilting of flowers after first day of tinting and percentage of wilting of flowers at the end of vase life were taken into account. For vase life studies, colour of the spike after placing in the vase solution (with RHS colour chart), colour retained after one day, time taken for the flowers to fully loose the colour, water uptake, loss of water, ratio of water loss to water uptake,diameter of florets(cm), lipid peroxidase activity in tinted flowers and protein content in tinted flowers were

taken in to consideration.

The experiment on standardization of dye concentration and time of immersion were carried out in a Factorial completely randomised block design with two factors as food dyes and hours of immersion. In both the crops of Tuberose (cv. Suvasini) and Gladiolus (cv.White Prosperity), 5% concentration of food dye with two hours of immersion showed a best colour shades with out edging at petals, with

maximum bud opening percentage and the highest mean floret size. The experiment on optimization of stage of harvest was also carried out in a factorial completely randomised block design with food dyes and stages of harvest as two factors. In Tuberose cv.Suvasini, flower spikes harvested at stage 2(1-2 basal florets open) had a higher vase life of 8.01 days, least wilting percentage of 24.08, 34.55, and 43.24 on fifth, sixth and seventh day respectively, highest mean water uptake of 59.42 g.spike-1, lowest mean transpirational loss of 48.55 g.spike-1, lowest mean ratio of water loss to water uptake of 0.89, highest mean diameter of florets of 3.65 cm, least decrease of 14.97g/100g mean percentage of lipids and least decrease of 15.18 g/100g mean percentage of proteins. More benefit cost ratio of 1.83 was observed in the spikes tinted with Lemon yellow, Violet and Orange red followed by Kesar yellow, Kalakatta, Blue and Apple green (1.74). In Gladiolus cv.White Prosperity, the spikes harvested at stage 1(1-2 basal florets show colour) had a higher vase life of 8.16 days, least wilting percentage of 0, 5.46, and 30.01% on fourth fifth and sixth day respectively, maximum time of 8.56 days to fully loose colour, lowest mean transpirational loss of 29.17 g. spike-1, highest mean diameter of florets of 9.21 cm, least decrease of 4.52 g/100g mean percentage of lipids and least decrease of 12.59 g/100g mean percentage of proteins. Benefit cost ratio of tinting the spikes with Lemon yellow, Violet and Orange red was 1.34 while with Kesar yellow, Kalakatta, Blue and Apple green it was 1.29.

Thus it can be concluded that for tinting the spikes of tuberose cv.Suvasini, the optimum stage of harvest is stage 2(1-2 basal florets open) where as in gladiolus cv.White Prosperity, stage 1(1-2 basal florets show colour) was found to be optimum.

182) “Genetic divergence studies in gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.)” – Aido Taloh.

ABSTRACT
The present investigation entitled “Genetic divergence studies in gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.)” was carried out during rabi 2013-14 at Floricultural Research Station, Agriculture Research Institute, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The experiment was carried out to study the genetic diversity in 50 gladiolus genotypes with 5 check varieties namely American Beauty, Arka Amar, Bindiya, Swarnima and White Prosperity using Augmented Block Design (Federer, 1956). Each genotype was grown in a plot of 3 x 3 m² area consisting of 150 plants spaced at 30 cm x 20 cm. The morphological characterization of gladiolus genotypes with respect to plant, leaf, flower and corm characters was done in each genotype following UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) guidelines. Observations were recorded on 33 quantitative and 10 qualitative characters.

Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among 55 genotypes of gladiolus for all the thirty- three quantitative traits thus indicating wide variation among the genotypes.The gladiolus genotypes viz., Punjab Morning, Sagar, Mohini and IIHR-G-12 were found to be early flowering types. The genotypes namely Sagar, Hybrid 94-101, Pink Double, Advance, Shagun, Swarnima and Shubangini exhibited maximum flower size. The genotypes Arun, Golden Goddess, Hybrid 94-101 and Aldrion were adjudged as superior over other genotypes in terms spike length. The high multiplication rate was observed in the genotypes Apple Blossom, Darshan, Deeraj and Gold Beauty by producing more number of corms per plant.

High PCV and GCV were recorded in plant height, leaf area, spike weight, rachis length, number of florets per spike, number of spikes per hectare, number of corms per plant and corm weight indicating the existence of wider genetic variability for these traits in the genotypes under study and showing ample scope for selection of these characters.

High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was observed in almost all the characters except number of leaves per plant, vase life and number of spikes per plant which indicated contribution of additive gene effects in the expression of these traits. Therefore improvement in these characters can be done through direct selection to select better genotypes for gladiolus.A significant positive correlation both at genotypic and phenotypic level was recorded between flower yield and plant attributes viz., plant height, leaf number of leaves at spike initiation, and days to spike initiation.Path coefficient analysis revealed that days to spike initiation recorded the highest direct effect on flower yield per heactare followed by spike length, number of florets per spike, plant height and flower diameter. Hence it would be rewarding to lay stress on these characters in selection programme for increasing yield.

Based on Mahalanobis D² analysis, gladiolus genotypes were grouped into eight clusters with maximum of 16 genotypes in Cluster VIII and minimum in Cluster II and VI each with 3 genotypes each. It is desirable to select genotypes from clusters having high inter cluster distance. In the present study, the highest inter cluster D² value was recorded between clusters V and VIII indicating that crosses may be attempted between the genotypes of cluster V (Aarthi, Pink Double, and Arka Amar) and cluster VIII (Advance, Candyman, Golden Goddess, Hybrid 94-101, and White Prosperity) to obtain new desirable recombinants in gladiolus. Among all the characters, the most important character contributing to divergence was days to flowering.

Based on multivariate analysis, the cluster VII had scored high mean values for important economic attributes. As the magnitude of heterosis depends largely on the degree of genetic diversity of parental lines, the genotypes AC No.7, Aldrion, Swarnima can be used to derive a broad spectrum of genetic variability in the segregating generations for spike yield per hectare.

The mode of distribution of genotypes from different eco- geographical regions into various clusters was at random indicating that geographical distribution and genetic diversity were not related. Therefore, the selection of genotypes to widen the diversity or to generate new gene combinations should be based on genetic diversity rather than ecological geographic diversity.

183) “studies on osmotic dehydration of karonda (Carissa carandas L.)”- L.Suhasini.

ABSTRACT
The present investigation entitled “studies on osmotic dehydration of karonda (Carissa carandas L.)” was carried out during 2013 – 2014 at college of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. A set of two experiments were carried out to study the effect of sugar and salt as osmotic agents on osmotic dehydration of karonda in Completely Randomized Block Design with factorial concept and the treatments were replicated thrice. Osmotic dehydration process involves subjecting fruit pieces to aqueous solution of sugar with high osmotic pressure which removes 30-50% of the water prior to drying. These studies were aimed to know the effect of syrup concentrations (60⁰ and 70⁰Brix) with duration (6,18 and 24 hours) of osmosis as a first experiment and salt concentrations (2% and 5%) with duration (1,2 and 3 hours) of osmosis as a second experiment.
After osmosis of the karonda slices in the sugar solutions these were laid on the hot oven drier for drying. After osmotic dehydration, the products were packed in high density polythene covers and stored in ambient temperature for a period of 4 months.
In the first experiment the physico-chemical properties, microbial count and organoleptic quality of the products were evaluated during the storage period. The range of moisture loss (32.24-45.70%), weight loss (28.78-39.22%), solid gain (5.24-13.56%), yield (20.38-26.64%), dehydration ratio (6.03:1- 5.59:1), rehydration ratio (1:2.88-1:3.46), acidity (4.18-2%), total sugars (30.22- 51.91%), ascorbic acid (4.78-3.53mg100g¯¹), iron content (11.01-4.20mg 100g¯¹), moisture content (13.38-12.39%) and lowest microbial count were observed in 70⁰Brix sugar syrup for 24 hours. An increase in syrup concentration from 60 to 70⁰Brix and duration of osmosis from 6 to 24 hours increased weight loss, solid gain and yield in the karonda slices. However osmotic pretreatment with 70⁰Brix sugar syrup for 18 hours resulted in highest sensory score (81.97) while it was lowest in control (49.90).
In the second experiment, the effect of salt as an osmotic agent on osmotic dehydration of karonda was studied.The physico-chemical properties, microbial count and organoleptic quality were evaluated during the storage of the products.The range of moisture loss (9.54-25.43%), weight loss (8.25-13.96%), solid gain (2.05-11.36%), yield (12.19-10.58%), dehydration ratio (5.63:1- 7.33:1), rehydration ratio (1:2.34-1:1.73 ), acidity (4.87-4.91%), ascorbic acid (5.52-5.91mg 100 g¯¹), iron content (14.30-5.79 mg 100g¯¹) and lowest microbial count were observed in 5%NaCl for 3 hours. An increase in NaCl concentration from 2% to 5% and duration of osmosis from 1 to 3 hours increased weight loss, solid gain and yield in the karonda slices. However osmotic pretreatment with 5% NaCl for 3 hours resulted in highest sensory score (82.05), while it was lowest in control (44.80).

184) “Genetic divergence for quality, yield and yield components in yardlong bean (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. ssp. sesquipedalis Verdc.)” – E.Rambabu.