Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2017 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
Sunburn in fruit is caused by excess heat and radiation and has a major economic impact on apple production. Evaporative cooling can be used to keep the apple temperatures below a critical value, but the process needs to be optimised for maximum cooling effect and to avoid excessive use of water. A numerical model was developed to predict the skin and core temperatures of an apple subjected to evaporative cooling. The method makes use of climatic data recorded by a weather station. The model predicted apple skin and core temperatures accurately with a maximum error of 6.4%. The drop in skin temperature when evaporative cooling was applied could be accurately predicted with an error of 5.3%. The results indicate that the model can be used, in combination with a control system and input from a weather station, to control and manage an evaporative cooling system....
Castor is one of the important non edible oilseed crop in India. The present investigation was undertaken with the main objective to determine detection on seed-borne Cladosporium oxysporum and its pathogenicity were conducted at Department of Applied Botany, Plant Pathology laboratory, Kuvempu University, Jnanasahyadri, Shankaraghatta, Shivamogga, Karnataka. The objective of this work was to estimate the incidence of C. oxysporum on castor beans using different seed health test methods. Total one thirty samples were collected from retail shops, APMC markets, fields and farmers of different agro-climatic regions of Karnataka kharif season during- 2011. The among the collected samples, five samples show a higher incidence of C. oxysporum and other fungi, were selected for PDA, Water agar and 2,4-D methods. The incidence of seed infection was 14.0 percent on a selective medium for standard blotter method (SBM), Potato dextrose agar medium 9.0 percent (PDA), Water agar medium 9.1 percent and 2,4-D 12.2 percent (2, Dichloro phenoxy acetic acid) methods respectively. Determine the rate of pathogenicity under green house conditions. C. oxysporum showed the symptoms of capsule-rot were observed in 0-0 percent capsule-rot in one month seedlings, 0-10 percent in two month seedlings and 10-50 percent capsule-rot in three month old plants, no capsule-rot observed in water treatment plants. Among the sample collected field and farmers samples show a higher incidence of C. oxysporum. The seed health test methods, SBM is most superior for isolating the C. oxysporum, pathogenic and saprophytic fungi. The importance of infected seed and its pathogenicity were discussed. C....
A wicking bed (WB) is a plant driven system where plants receive water through capillary rise from a self-contained coarse material-filled subsoil reservoir. WBs have been widely promoted as a water-efficient irrigation solution for small-scale and urban food gardens. However, little published research exists to support popular claims about their effectiveness. In this study, the performance of WBs was compared with best-practice, precision surface irrigation in terms of water use efficiency (WUE), fruit yield, fruit quality and labour input, using tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) as the experimental crop. The influence of WB design variables (reservoir depths and soil bed depths) was tested. Results showed that WBs performed as well or better than precision surface irrigated pots, showing statistically significant improvement in WUE, yield and fruit quality. The results also suggest an optimum design exists for soil depth (where 300 mm outperformed 600 mm) but not reservoir depth (no difference between 150 and 300 mm). The WBs were more labour efficient, requiring significantly less frequent watering to achieve the same or better WUE. WBs are inherently low-tech and scalable and appear well-suited to a variety of urban agriculture settings...
The use of agricultural mechanization technologies is equally important in boosting agricultural outputs as that of other biological technologies. To realize this number of stakeholders was involved in doing research, multiplication, importing, disseminating technologies and other activities of extension service for farmers whether it is in organized manner or not. Considerable numbers of agricultural mechanization technology types were also introduced from research centers, importers (dealers), NGOs, and government bodies. However, adoption status and associated factors were not studied so far. Therefore, this research was initiated to assess adoption status of technologies and factors that affect the use and to draw some implications for policy, research, and development practitioners for further interventions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize qualitative data and the socio-demographic data of the households and logistic regression model was employed to assess factors that determine adoption. Generally, technology utilization status was found to be very poor and different factors like age, education of households, landholding, family size and technology access were the main contributors for the low utilization. Furthermore, low attention given by government bodies was the most critical factor for mal functionality of different actors/ stakeholders in the area....
In this study, the effects of three different main preparatory tillage operations: ploughing at 0.4 m (P40) and 0.20 m (P20) depth and harrowing at 0.20 m depth (MT) were investigated. The tillage operations were carried out at two different times, as the soil water content increased over time from rainfall: (low, 58% (LH) and high, 80% (HH) of field capacity). Results obtained from the soil monitoring carried out before and after tillage showed high values of soil strength in terms of Penetration resistance and shear strength particularly in deeper soil layers at lower water content. During tillage, fossil-fuel energy requirements for P40 LH and P20 LH were 25% and 35% higher, respectively, with respect to the HH treatments and tractor slip was very high (P40 LH = 32.4%) with respect to the P40 HH treatment (16%). Soil water content significantly influenced tractor performance during soil ploughing at 0.40 m depth but no effect was observed for the MT treatment. The highly significant linear relations between grain yield and soil penetration resistance highlight how soil strength may be good indicator of soil productivity. We conclude that ploughing soil to a 0.20 m depth or harrowing soil to a 0.20 m depth is suitable for this type of soil under climate change scenarios...
Loading....