HortFlora Research Spectrum

1-6

Authors: Rouzbeh Rahmanian

: This research examines the financial performance of greenhouses in Guilan province in Iran. In order to do the research, questionnaires from 60 greenhouses were collected and features such as the general specifications of greenhouses, type of greenhouse covers, surface areas, infrastructure facilities, input raw material, energy and fuel costs, personal cost, production rate, sales prices of the produced products were considered. A financial performance measure developed from data envelopment analysis (DEA). According to the results, 7% of the greenhouses had an efficiency of 20%-40%, 22% between 40%-60%, 33% between 60%-80%, and 38% had more than 80%.

17-21

Authors: H. Tarula, J.M.S. Rawat, Krishan Kumar Singh , Vidyawati Rawat and Bhupendra Singh

Freshly harvested mature fruits of aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) cultivars namely NA-7, NA-10, Chakaiya and a wild aonla were dipped in GA3 100 mg L1, 200 mg L1, 300 mg L1, MH 100 mg L1, 200 mg L1, 300 mg L1 and CaCl2 10 g L1 20 g L1, 30 g L1 solutions. Fruits were surface dried, packed in nylon net bags and kept in room temperature (15.5±4C) and RH 62.7%. Among the different post harvest treatments, it was found that GA3 200 mg L1 was best in reducing the physiological loss. No pathological loss was observed in all the treatments upto 14 days of storage. The maximum TSS content was recorded with GA3 treatment. GA3 300 mg L1 treatment gave better retention of ascorbic acid and malic acid during the storage of aonla.

28-33

Authors: Ravi Pujari, A. A. Arif and Shivanand Rayar

Curcuma longa L is an important sacred and spice crop of Asia, used in several culinary purposes and also for treatment of several diseases. It is cultivated for its rhizomes for extraction of curcumin forming the principal source of drugs and colouring principle. In India, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu are the major state producing turmeric. There is a need to standardize the production technology which may help to improve the yield, quality so as to extend the farmers’ hand of reliability so that they can get high net returns per unit area. The present review is focusing on production practices of Curcuma longa L.

39-43

Authors: K. K. Singh and Y. K. Tomar

The study on effect of planting time and IBA levels on rooting of phalsa (Grewia asiatica L.) woody cuttings under mist house condition was undertaken in Horticulture Research Centre, Chauras Campus. HNBGU, Srinagar, Garhwal during 2013. The experiment was laid out in Factorial RBD with three replications. Cuttings were collected during winter season (mid January, February, March) and rainy season (mid June, July and August). The 20 cm long cuttings were prepared from 4 to 5 year old plants and treated with 1000, 1500, 2000 ppm IBA solutions by quick dip method. The cuttings treated with IBA 2000 ppm performed best in all aspects, as rooting percentage, length of shoot, length of root, thickening of root and leaf sprouting in shoot. Overall, M4C3 (mid June planting with 2000 ppm IBA) treatment combination was found best for all parameters studied.

48-51

Authors: Nilima Bhosale and A.V. Barad

The experiment to find out residual effect of pre-harvest spray of MH and storage conditions of bulbs for succeeding crop of spider lily (Hymenocallis littoralis L.) cv. Local was carried out at Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh during 2012-2013. The experiment consisted of six levels of pre-harvest MH spray with four levels of storage conditions and it was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FCRD) with three replications. Minimum days taken to sprouting, maximum number of leaves at 1st flowering stage and leaf area were found in control (no maleic hydrazide spray, and bulbs stored in plastic carets at an ambient temperature). But, minimum days to first flower emergence were found in control (no maleic hydrazide spray) and net bags at an ambient temperature. Maximum plant height at 1st flowering stage was found in the MH 500 ppm with net bags at an ambient temperature. Maximum length of flower stalk was found in the MH 500 ppm with plastic carets at an ambient temperature. Maximum chlorophyll content in leaves, number of flower stalks/plant, number of flowers harvested per net plot and yield of flowers were found in MH 3000 ppm with plastic carets at an ambient temperature.

60-63

Authors: Ahmadullah Haider, Neelam Khare and Ateeq Khan

The study was conducted on performance of poplar cuttings with different growth regulators and potting media in the Forest Nursery and Research Centre of SHIATS, Allahabad. The experiment was laid out in RBD with four replications. There were six treatments of growth regulators, viz. T1-Control (distilled water), T2 - IBA(100 ppm),T3- IAA (100 ppm),T4- NAA (100 ppm), T5 -GA3 (100 ppm), T6-2,4-D (100 ppm), and seven treatments of potting media, viz. M1-Soil only, M2-Soil + Sand + FYM (1:1:1), M3- Soil + FYM + Neem cake (1:1:1), M4 - Soil + FYM + VC (1:1:1), M5- Neem cake + sand + VC (1:1:1), M6- Neem Cake + Soil + VC (1:1:1) and M7- Neem cake + FYM + VC (1:1:1).Ten cuttings per replication were used for each treatment. Among different growth regulators used, IAA @100 ppm showed maximum survival percentage (80.00%), shoot and root length ((35.30cm and 32.55cm, respectively), fresh shoot weight (20.00g),and fresh and dry weight of roots (13.00g and 6.47g, respectively), as well as total biomass (12.82g) compared to control and other treatments. Number of sprouts and no. of roots/cutting (2.25 and 27.00, respectively) and dry weight of shoot (6.70g) were found maximum with 100ppm IBA, while maximum root: shoot ratio of 1.15 was produced by 100 G 3 A . Among potting media combinations, most effective treatment was M2 (Soil + Sand+ FYM, 1:1:1) which resulted in maximum number of sprouts/cutting (2.55), survival percentage (63.33%), shoot length (24.45 cm), dry weight of shoot (5.17g) and fresh weight of root (10.17g ) over other treatments. Length of root (22.0cm), dry weight of roots (6.22g), root: shoot ratio (1.71) and total biomass (11.02g) were maximum in M7 (Neem cake + FYM + VC, 1:1:1).

67-69

Authors: Deepa H. Dwivedi, Sanjeev Rao, Shreesh Kumar Gautam and Pawan Kumar

Study on the effect of sowing time and spacing on the performance of Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) in central Uttar Pradesh was conducted at Horticulture Research Farm, BBA University, Lucknow, India during 2011-12. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three dates of sowing [D1 (3 Nov., 2011), D2 (8 Nov., 2011) and D2 (13 Nov., 2011)] and four spacing [S1 (35x90cm), S2 (40 x 90cm), S3 (45x90 cm) and S4 (50x90 cm)] and was replicated thrice. Results revealed that maximum plant height (54.25 cm.), number of leaves/plant (60.50), number of internodes (11.50), diameter of stem (5.65 cm), number of branches/plant (7.88), number of flowers/plant (4.66) and number of fruits (5.55) were obtained at first date of sowing i.e., D1 (3 Nov., 2011). The spacing of 40 90 gave significantly maximum plant height, number of internodes, diameter of stem, number of branches, number of flowers and number of fruits. The treatment D1 S2 (3 Nov. sowing with 45 x 90 cm spacing) was found to be the best for proper growth and development of the plant and fruiting performance of cape gooseberry.

73-75

Authors: R. Amith, Ravishankar M. Patil , T. Chetan, Abhishek Katagi and V. Chikkasubbanna

Gerbera cv. President was subjected to twelve different treatment combinations against control to study the vase life.Treatment with 100ppm silver nitrate + 6% sucrose + 400 ppm 8-HQS + 100ppm silver thiosulphate showed significant beneficial effect in extending the vase life of the cultivar to 9.63 days, as against 7.57 days of vase life in control. The findings provide an alternative for extending the vase life of cut gerbera flowers. Treated flower stems also showed minimum contamination of micro organisms.

79-81

Authors: R. Amith, Ravishankar M. Patil and V. Chikkasubbanna

Gerbera cv. Suncity was subjected to twelve different treatment combinations against control to evaluate vase life and quality. Treatment with 200ppm Aluminum sulphate + 4% sucrose + 200 ppm 8-HQS + 100ppm Silver thiosulphate showed significant beneficial effect in extending the vase life of the cut flower to 10 (9.5) days, as against 7 (7.47) days of vase life in control. Presence of microbes (Bacillus spp. and Pseudomonos spp.) was also recorded less on treated cut flower stems over control.

86-88

Authors: Seema Sonkar, Preeti Tiwari and Nand Kumar

The study was carried out by recipe standardization and assessment of their physico –chemical properties. The sensory quality analysis of Biscuit was 7.28 than other developed products which were reported by panel members. It was found that percentage of moisture, fat, protein, carbohydrate and fibre were increased but the quantity of ash decreased (but increase as quality wise). The other developed products acceptability on basis of organolaptically and nutritional were decreased as well as in quantity and quality wise. This type research is remarkable step in the context of development of products for health benefits of people in one and other hand.

301-309

Authors: P. R. Kumar, S. K. Lal, Shiv K. Yadav, P. L. Saran and I. S. Solanki

Male-sterility in chilli was documented for the first time in the 1950’s. Since then, considerable knowledge has been accumulated on the nature of the trait, the means of its identification, induction, inhritance of both genetic and cytoplasmic genetic male-sterility, maintenance of inbreds, and their potential for breeding hybrid cultivars. Heterosis for various economic traits like; maturity, fruit weight, size, number and total yield have been utilized. Today, several internationally known seed companies and research institute use the genetic mechanism [msms] on a large scale for producing hybrids of sweet pepper, whereas the cytoplasmic genetic sterility [(S) Rf rf] is used mainly for breeding pungent hybrids. The possibilities of exploitation of male sterility for crop improvement as well as production of F1 hybrids have been reviewed and discussed in the present paper. Biochemical as well as biotechnological aspects of this phenomenon has also been vividly reviewed.

315-322

Authors: Sukhpreet Kaur and Poonam Aggarwal

A simple technique for the preparation of ready-to-eat frozen potato snack was developed which do not require any costly machinery. Snacks were prepared using standardized formulation with 100 g mashed potato and 30g boiled mashed peas. The prepared snacks were par-fried, packed in LDPE and stored under frozen (-202oC) storage for three months to study the shelf life and quality attributes of the product. All the nutritional parameters remained unaffected during storage up to three months within the cultivars studied. Snacks pre pared from ‘K. Pukhraj’ showed the highest total antioxidant activity. Snacks pre pared from ‘K.Chipsona-1’ had lower oil up take than from ‘K.Pukhraj’. Rancidity parameters in terms of free fatty acids and peroxide value remained unaffected during the entire frozen storage period. The developed product from all the three cultivars was found to be highly acceptable for up to 3 months of storage without any change in sensory quality.

329-333

Authors: Prerak Bhatnagar, Jitendra Singh and C.B.Meena

It may be inferred that during early bearing phase of Nagpur mandarin, the major contribution of vegetative growth was from spring and rainy season flushes. In the early bearing phase of Nagpur mandarin, the extent of seasonal vegetative growth was maximum in spring flush (45.03%) followed by rainy season flush (42.02%), however, the winter fall flush comprised only scanty flush of the annual vegetative growth to the tune of 10.75% only. Likewise, spring flush leaves exhibited the minimal values of leaf sclerophylly i.e. leaf fresh weight and dry weight, density of foliar tissue and leaf succulence with respect to rainy and winter season flushes inferring that growth during spring season is utilized as a sink for developing fruits. About 72 per cent of the fruit radius was found contributed by peel thickness in I phase of fruit growth. During phase II, fruit growth was found dependent upon increase in pulp tissue thickness contributing about 81 per cent of the total fruit weight. Finally, during III phase of maturity and ripening there was comparatively decreased rate of increase in fruit weight and size and little bit increased rate of dry weight, rind thickness and reduction in moisture percentage.

339-343

Authors: R. S. Vedavathi, B. Manjunatha, M.G. Basavanagowda, K.S. Thippanna and Ravishankar M. Patil

A field experiment was carried out as a Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications at UHSB, COH, Mudigere. Different plant spacing (30x15 cm, 30x30 cm, 40x15 cm) was the first factor and the second factor was the different levels of nitrogen (0, 100, 150 and 200 Kg/ha). The spacing between plants of 30x15 cm and 200 kg per ha of N had a significant effect on quantity and quality characteristics of Asiatic lily. Data showed that the plant spacing of 30x15 cm with nitrogen application of 200 Kg per ha obtained the maximum qualitative and quantitative characteristics of flowers

349-352

Authors: Sumanjit Kaur and W. S. Dhillon

The study was conducted to assess the effect of antioxidant on post-harvest quality of pear fruits cv. Punjab Beauty with treatments of DPA (500, 1000 and 1500 ppm) during storage. After treatment the fruits were packed in corrugated fibre board (CFB) cartons and then stored in cold storage at 1-3oC temperature with 90-95% RH for 45, 60 and 75 days. The observations revealed that pear fruits treated with higher concentration of DPA i.e. 1500 ppm recorded lowest physiological loss in weight, spoilage losses, core browning and fruit colour degradation. Same concentration of diphenylamine (DPA) maintained higher fruit firmness, TSS, reducing sugars and acidity throughout storage period. With the prolongation of storage period physiological loss in weight (PLW%), spoilage percentage, core browning, fruit colour degradation, total soluble solids and reducing sugars followed an upward and acidity showed downward trend. Diphenylamine treated fruits could be cold stored for 75 days in CFB cartons with lowest weight loss, spoilage and better fruit quality. Fruits under control showed higher spoilage and shriveling due to loss of weight and firmness.

357-360

Authors: Savreet Khehra

The peel is a natural package that protects the flesh from insect and microbial invasion and limits water loss and gas exchange. Marketing of lemon depends on the peel quality, thus, for the peel to become marketable, it must form and develop with few defects and be resilient enough to maintain its integrity on the tree and during postharvest storage. Moisture regulation is of utmost importance to get aimed fruit quality in lemon. As lemon is challenged with serious problem of fruit cracking which is directly related with peel parameters so timely scheduling of irrigation and moisture conservation needs to be emphasized on priority. To study the impact of moisture regulation, an experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design comprising of six irrigation treatments with and without mulching at “Punjab Government Progeny Orchard & Nursery, Attari, Amritsar” during the fruiting years 2005 and 2006. Use of black polythene as mulch in combination with frequent irrigation after 3 days influenced the peel parameters the most.

365-368

Authors: A.P.S. Gangwar, J.P. Singh and I.P. Yadav

An experiment was laid during two consecutive years in Horticulture garden of CSAUA&T, Kanpur. There were three nitrogenous sources viz. urea ammonium sulphate and calcium ammonium nitrate, four levels of nitrogen viz 0,50,100 and 150 kg/ha, and four levels of phosphorus viz . 0,100,200 and 300 kg/ha thus consisting total number of forty treatments replicated thrice in Factorial Randomized Block Design. Calcium ammonium nitrate treatments revealed greater harvest of bulbs/clump both by number (9.43, 8.97) and weight (229.90, 235.0g) and bulblets/clump (10.56,10.80 and 115.78,123.14g) in first and second year, respectively. Nitrogen @100kg/ha produced highest bulblets per clump (10.50 and 11.09) during both the years of investigation. This trend was same regarding the weight which revealed 106.60 and 115.91 g respectively. The weight of bulbs and bulblets greatly influenced by application of phosphorus at the rate of 200kg/hectare It also induced maximum number and weight of bulblets (10.44,10.81 and 104.74,113.47 g) during both the years The highest dose of phosphorus 300 kg/ha reduced the number and weight of bulblets (10.19,10.29 and 93.75,105.60 g) during both the years of investigation.

373-376

Authors: Chandra Mohan Singh and V. M. Prasad

The present investigation on effect of micro nutrients spray on plant growth, spike yield and flower quality of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus L.) cv. White Prosperity was under taken in the Department of Horticulture, SHIATS, Allahabad. The experiment was laid out in RBD (5 x 5 Factorial), having five levels each of zinc (0.0%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5%) and boron (0.0%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5%), consisting a total of 25 treatment combinations. Results showed that the foliar application of boron and zinc alone at all rates and as combination significantly influenced plant growth, spike yield and flower quality with maximum value at 0.4% boron and 0.4% zinc levels. As a result of interaction between boron and zinc, the best results regarding plant growth, spike yield and flower quality were obtained with treatment combination B3 Z3 (B 0.4% + Zn 0.4%).

380-382

Authors: R. C. Chaturvedi

Rhizome rot of ginger, caused by Pythium aphanidermatum (Edson) Fitz, is a major constraint for the production of healthy rhizome, sometimes causing total failure of crop. Chemical control of this pathogen is not economical and non-ecofriendly. Thus, the treatment with bio-control agent (Trichoderma viride) may offer practical and economical alternative for eco-friendly management of this disease. The lowest disease incidence (18.00 %) was recorded in T5 - Rhizome treated with Trichoderma viride @ 10g/l of water + Three foliar sprays of Trichoderma viride @ 4 kg/ha followed by T4-Rhizome treated with Trichoderma viride @ 10g/l of water + Two foliar sprays of Trichoderma viride @ 4 kg/ha with disease incidence of 24.33 %. The highest disease incidence (86.33%) was recorded in T6 (control) which was raised without any rhizome treatment and foliar sprays.

386-387

Authors: G. S. Sidhu and H.S. Rattanpal

At present, about 61 per cent area of fruit crops in the Punjab state is occupied by Kinnow mandarin which is mainly propagated on rough lemon rootstock. Polyembryony, sterility, poor viability of hybrid seeds, unknown mode of inheritance and long juvenality present major problems in citrus improvement through conventional breeding programme. Tissue culture and biotechnological methods provide fast improvement to a particular crop and their success rests upon the reproducible and efficient regeneration protocols. The experiment carried out on effect of proline on tissue culture aspects of rough lemon (Citrus jambhiri) revealed that proline might have reduced the effect of NAA and can replace ABA in direct regeneration of citrus rootstock rough lemon.

390-391

Authors: F. K. Ackah, G.C. van der Puije and E. Moses

Taro genotypes were collected and evaluated to determine their resistance in the Aowin Suaman district of Ghana. Twenty five (25) genotypes of taro from both the Ashanti and Western Region were evaluated for six months in a location for resistance to the leaf blight disease in the study area. The Randomized Complete Block Design was used with each accession replicated three times. The results revealed that of the 25 accessions evaluated, no accession was completely resistant to the disease in the study area, though some were moderately resistant, and that the only solution to the disease is to breed for resistance.

201-210

Authors: Rostam Mousavi and Ramin Naghdi

This paper presents research results of the comparing ti ber extraction using a farm tractor at two different methods including forwarding and skidding. Time studies were conducted to qualify the productivity and the operational cost of logs forwarding and skidding by farm tractor in cut-to-length and tree length method in a plantation in even terrain conditions in Shafaroud, Northern Iran. Farm tractor is commonly machines which are used in many part of Iran as Northern part. The models for effective time consumption, total productivity and work phase models are calculated. The time consumption and productivity of log extraction with a farm tractor depends on several variables such as distances and slope, number of logs per cycle and volume. The average load per cycle was 3.84 m3 and 0.5 m3; the average one-way skidding distance was 167 and 233 m, in the forwarding and skidding, respectively. The average travel speeds of un loaded tractor were 4.54 km/h and the average speeds of loaded tractor were 0.39 and 0.82 km/h in forwarding and skidding, respectively. The average output was 3.44 and 1.07 m3 /effective hour; the average cost was 5.86 and 19.7 US$/m3 for forwarding and skidding, respectively.

218-224

Authors: Sukhpreet Kaur and Poonam Aggarwal

Ten potato cultivars, commonly grown in North Indian plains were evaluated for processing and nutritional quality. Within the cultivars studied, Kufri Chipsona-1, Atlantic and Lady Rosetta were rated as the best varieties for processing into potato chips, since these contained the highest amount of dry matter content, lowest amount of reducing and total sugars and produced chips of desirable colour, texture and flavour. While Kufri Pukhraj, a table variety, which was found unfit for processing was considered highly suitable for direct consumption since it contained the highest amount of bioactive compounds including ascorbic acid, total phenolics and total antioxidant activity.

232-238

Authors: Abhishek Katagi, Shantappa Tirakannanavar and R. C. Jagadeesha

Two populations of the okra viz., single cross F2, and double cross F2 were developed using BH-1, BH-2, BH-3, BH-4, BH-5 and BH-6 lines. The objective was to determine the genetic variability, nature of association among different yield attributes and their direct and indirect contribution towards yield. It was observed that mean squares due to genotypes were significant for all the traits, indicating the presence of genetic variability in the experimental material. The values of PCV were higher than that of GCV values for all the twelve characters indicating influence of environmental effects in the expression of these characters and it was found more in DC F2 as compared to SC F2 population. The GCV, heritability and genetic advance were higher for plant height, fruit yield per plant, fruit weight and days to 50 per cent flowering which might be attributed to additive gene action of inheritance in DC F2 population. From the correlation and path coefficient analyses, it revealed that the top priority should be given to selection based on numbers of fruit per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight for yield improvement and could be considered while formulating selection indices in the improvement of okra. Path coefficient analysis revealed that fruit weight had maximum direct contribution (0.869) towards fruit yield followed by number of fruits per plant (0.323) and fruit length (0.079). This revealed that DC F2 population showed more variability compare to SC F2 because it involves diverse parents in its development com pare to SC F2 population.

244-248

Authors: F. A. Sheikh, M. I. Makhdoomi, F. A. Nehvi, Ajaz A. Lone, Gowhar Ali and M.A.Bhat

The present investigation was carried out at Saffron Research Station Pampore, SKUAST-Kashmir during 2010. Fifty clones were planted in a randomized bock design with three replications. Observations were recorded on 10 randomly selected and tagged competitive plants for 11 morphological, physiological, floral and corm attributes.viz, plant height (cm), number of radical leaves per plant, stomatal frequency, stomatal size (microns), chlorophyll content (%), number of flowers per corm, fresh pistil weight per corm (mg), pistil length (cm), stigma length (cm), number of daughter corms/ mother corm, and average weight of daughter corms per mother corm (g). The path analysis revealed that pistil length recorded highest direct effect towards fresh pistil weight followed by plant height and stigma length. Rest of the traits as number of flowers recorded weak positive direct effects and the negative direct effect of number of radical leaves plant1 on the dependant variable. However in case of corm attributes in saffron (Crocus sativus L.), average weight of daughter corms/mother corm exerted negative direct effect on number of daughter corms/mother corm, while as size of stomata showed strong positive direct effect on number of daughter corms/mother corm.

254-258

Authors: Chandra Pandey and R.L.Lal

The present study was conducted with a view to evaluate the rooting capacity of simultaneously grafted ‘Flordaguard’ rootstock with the aid of IBA treatments and to find out optimum time and concentration of IBA. Highest sprouting success in both Shan-e-Punjab and Earli Grande peach cultivars were recorded in 2000 ppm IBA treatment. Vegetative growth in terms of plant height & stem thickness and root growth was also found to be maximum in this treatment. Thus, it is concluded that peach plants can be propagated through simultaneous grafting and rooting on Flordaguard cuttings in 2nd week of January by dipping the basal portion of cuttings in 2000 ppm IBA for 2 minutes. This practice cut short the period of propagation by one year.

263-266

Authors: D.S. Mishra and Rajesh Kumar

Techniques were standardized for minimizing microbial contamination and leaching of phenols in the media for quick establishment of cultures in guava. The maximum number of aseptic explants with higher survival was obtained by sequential application of ethanol (70%) for 30 second, HgCl2 (0.1%) for 5 minutes, KCl (1%) for one minute and NaOCl (1%) for 8 minutes. The problem of phenolic browning was successfully minimized to a great extent by supplementing MS media with various concentrations of antioxidant and phenol-binding agents. Citric acid at 500 mg/l in the culture medium reduced phenolic exudation the most and promoted the best survival of explants. Initial incubation of cultures under varying levels of light intensity showed escapement up to certain limit from phenolic browning of the media. The lowest frequency of browning of media was observed with cultures which were incubated in complete dark for 72 hours; however maximum survival was recorded with 24 hours of dark period.

274-277

Authors: A. Abdul Haris, Sunil Kumar , A. K. Singh and K. Rajan

A field experiment on drip irrigation scheduling in okra was undertaken for two consecutive years (2002-04) at ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna. The experiment was conducted in split-split plot design with irrigation water equivalent to 100, 80 and 60% ET (Evapo transpiration) in main plots and water as per daily, alternate days and once in three days schedule in sub-plots, two varieties Arka Abhay and Arka Anamika in sub-sub plots. Observations regarding plant height (cm), inter nodal length (cm), average fruit weight, yield (q/ha) and water use efficiency (q/hacm) was undertaken. Irrigation at 80% ET gave significantly higher yield during both the years. The first year schedules were not significantly different though daily application recorded higher yield, but significant difference among the schedules were observed during second year and daily irrigation gave significantly higher yield than once in two days and three days schedules. Maximum water use efficiency was recorded at 60% ET treatment during both the years. Maximum plant height and average fruit weight was associated with cultivar Arka Abhay, while Arka Anamika registered minimum inter nodal length. Between two varieties tested Arka Abhay proved best in terms of yield than Arka Anamika during two consecutive year of experimentation.

282-287

Authors: Rahul S. Phatak and Laxmi Narayan Hegde

Gloriosa superba L. is an important medicinal plant of Asia and Africa, used in treatment of several diseases. It is cultivated for its seeds for extraction of colchicine and colchicoside forming the principal source of drugs. In India, Tamil Nadu holds monopoly in production of glory lily. There is a need to standardize the production technology which may help to improve the yield, quality and net returns per unit area. The present review is focused on production practices of Gloriosa superba L.

292-294

Authors: H. L. Kacha, Giriraj Jat and S. K. Patel

The present investigation on “performance of various growth regulators on yield and quality of phalsa (Grewia asiatica L.)” was carried out at the Fruit Research Station, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. There were ten treatments comprised of NAA (100, 150 and 200 ppm), GA3 (50, 100 and 150 ppm), Ethrel (500, 750 and 1000 ppm) and control (water spray).The results of experiment revealed that an application of NAA 150 ppm significantly increased number of flowers per shoot (151.21), number of fruits per shoot (60.74), 100 fruits weight (49.80 g), juice percentage (57.78 per cent) and the maximum yield of fruits (1.71kg/plant and 5800 kg/ha) followed by NAA 200 ppm. The quality of fruits in terms of TSS (25.23 per cent), reducing sugar (2.01 per cent) and total sugar (5.74 per cent) were significantly higher in treatment with Ethrel 1000 ppm followed by Ethrel 750 ppm. Further, Ethrel 1000 ppm also significantly reduced the span of harvesting (9.76 days) and number of pickings (3.57) followed by Ethrel 750 ppm. An application of GA3 150 ppm significantly reduced acidity (2.55 per cent) and increased ascorbic acid content (39.50 per cent).

298-300

Authors: A. K. Goswami, Jai Prakash and A. K. Singh

HDP is one of the novel methods to achieve high productivity per unit area both in short duration and perennial horticultural crops. High yield and high fruit quality can be achieved with a high-density orchard when the orchard has good light distribution throughout the tree canopy and there is a balance between vegetative growth and cropping. Planting density is one of the most important factors which determine the yield of an orchard. After the first few years, fertilization regime should be maintained with a balance between fruiting and cropping. Excess fertility often results in excessive vegetative growth, delayed cropping and soft and poorly coloured unmarketable fruit. The goal of HDP is to get the trees into cropping as soon as possible from a limited space. This is best accomplished by following proper pruning and training regime combined with a precocious rootstock to obtained significant production.

108-113

Authors: Abhishek Katagi, Ravishankar M. Patil and Prashant Paramagoudar

The primary objective of plant breeding is to develop superior varieties. Varietal purity is one of the main quality requirements of the seed offered for sale as well as for commercial multiplication. Hence seed identity and varietal genetic purity testing is essential component of modern and effective agricultural production system. Several laboratory and field methods are used to determine the cultivar trueness and genetic purity of the seed offering genuine quality seed to the farmers for commercial cultivation. Farmers cannot distinguish the real hybrid seeds from false ones neither the poor quality ones. Hence judicious, sensible application of chemical and molecular tools for rapid genetic purity testing is of much concern for quality seeds to meet our country’s food security.

122-126

Authors: R.S. Verma 1 and M. K. Singh2

The investigation was carried out to get information regarding magnitude of combining ability and nature of gene action for fruit yield and several other yield attributing traits. The trial was designed by following line × tester mating design involving 12 lines and 3 testers and their 36 hybrids tested in two environments viz., summer and rainy season 2010 at Research Farm of Department of Vegetable Science, N.D. University of Agriculture & Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad, UP. Estimate of gca effects among the lines NDBT-13, NDBT-15 and NDBT-19 during both seasons and NDBT-10 during summer season and among the testers Kalyanpur Sona during summer season and Pusa Do Mausami during rainy season were identified as superior donor for fruit yield per plant and its yield contributing traits like number of fruits per plant and average fruit weight. Eight crosses in the both seasons for fruit yield per plant displayed desirable significant sca effects. Among these eight crosses the best cross combinations based on desirable sca effects for fruit yield per plant were NDBT-19 × Pusa Do Mousami in summer season while NDBT-8 × Pusa Do Mousami, NDBT-15 × NDBT-12 and NDBT-10 × Pusa Do Mousami in rainy season. These crosses are associated with number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, fruit diameter and other component traits in both seasons

133-137

Authors: Savreet Khehra

With a view to harvest superior quality lemon fruits, the experiment was carried out to study the impact of integrated use of inorganic fertilizer (N), organic manure (FYM) and biofertilizer (Azotobacter) on lemon cv. ‘Baramasi’ during 2009. The plant material was selected from Punjab Government Progeny Orchard & Nursery, Attari, Amritsar. There were nine nutrient management practices set in a Randomized Block Design replicated thrice. The present experiment showed that the substantial improvement in fruit quality could be achieved with the consortium of three classes of nutrient sources. FYM (75 Kg/tree), inorganic nitrogen (350g/tree) along with biofertilization (Azotobacter 18g/tree) proved to be the most judicious treatment in minimizing fruit cracking and maximizing fruit quality.

142-145

Authors: Monika Gupta

The present investigation on “Effect of black polythene mulch along with irrigation on pre-harvest fruit drop in plum (Prunus salicina L.) cv. Satluj Purple” was carried out during 2004 and 2005 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The trees were irrigated at an interval of 3, 5 and 7 days starting from first week of April to the first week of May. Mulching with black polythene and transparent polythene was also done along with irrigation. Black polythene along with irrigation at 5 days interval was the most effective treatment to reduce the pre-harvest fruit drop. The fruit retention (20.74 and 19.84%), yield (14.33 and 13.55 kg/tree), fruit weight (38.52 and 39.15g), TSS (13.55 and 13.67%), TSS/acid ratio (13.29 and 13.27), nitrogen content (2.37 and 2.40%) and carbohydrate content in leaves (9.62 and 10.38%) were also the highest in this treatment. The next best treatment was black polythene mulching and irrigation at 3 days interval. Black polythene delayed fruit maturity by 1-2 days whereas transparent polythene advanced it.

150-153

Authors: B.V.G. Prasad, S. Chakravorty and P. Deb

The present investigation was under taken to study the effect of different post harvest treatments, packaging and storage condition on French bean. The experiment was conducted under the laboratory of Horticulture Department, Institute of Agriculture, Visva-Bharati University, Sriniketan, West Bengal (India) during the period of January to March 2013. The results from the investigation revealed minimum physiological loss in weight at 14th day (17.41 g/100g), the highest dry matter content (7.68%), total sugar content (3.53 g/100g) and crude protein content (1.33 g/100g) in S3 P2 T1 (i.e., Refrigerated storage, perforated polythene packing and CaCl2 treatment) at the final stage of consumption.

158-161

Authors: Shamsher Singh and M.K.Singh

One of the major constraints of traditional cabbage cultivation is low productivity due to non-adoption of recommended package of practices and improved varieties by the Tripura cabbage growers. To replace this anomaly, KVK South Tripura under ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region was conducted 15 frontline demonstrations (FLDs) on recommended production technology of cabbage var. BC-76 in five different villages of the district during Rabi season for two years (2007-08 and 2008-09). Cultivation practices comprised under FLD viz., use of improved variety, recommended planting spacing, balanced fertilizers application and control of pest and diseases. The present study was carried out to know that the yield gaps between improved package of practices and existing farmers practice of cabbage. An average yield of cabbage in FLD ranged from 323.75-338.50 q/ha whereas in existing practice 250.00 q/ha in 2007-08 and 2008-09. Per cent increase yield with improved technology over existing practice was recorded in range of 29.50 to 35.40. The extension gap ranging between 73.75-88.50 q/ha during the study period. The trend of technology gap reflected the farmer’s cooperation, in carrying out such demonstrations with encouraging results in subsequent years. Average per hectare net profit was found Rs. 72,000.00 under demonstration while Rs. 42,600.00 under control. The benefit cost ratio was noticed 2.79 and 3.02 with demonstrations whereas 2.37 and 2.48 with farmers practices during 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively. By conducting frontline demonstration of proven technologies, yield potential from cabbage cultivation can be enhanced to a great extent with increase in the income of the farmers.

166-168

Authors: A. Abdul Haris, Sunil Kumar , and A.K. Singh

An experiment was conducted to study the water requirement and irrigation scheduling in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata). The treatment consisted of three irrigation levels viz. 100%, 80% and 60% on ET (Evapo-Transpiration) basis and three irrigation scheduling viz. daily, once in two days and once in three days in split plot design. It is revealed that significantly higher yield was noticed at 60% ET treatment (569.80q/ha during first year of trial) whereas, 80% ET treatment (703.82 and 488.40q/ha) during second and third year of trial as compared to 100% ET. At 60% ET, irrigation scheduling at once in two days was found significantly superior in the first year while 80% ET with irrigation scheduling once in two days during second and third year of trials with respect to daily and once in three days. Maximum water use efficiency was obtained under irrigation at 60% ET with once in two days (115.81q/hacm) irrigation treatment in the three consecutive years of experimentation. Irrigation at 80% ET with once in two days interval may be recommended for better yield and marketability in cabbage.

172-174

Authors: Ramesh Singh, Dileep Kumar Singh and Gaurav Singh

Stem rot caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is an important disease of Rajmash (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Eastern U.P. The efficacy of seven fungicides and two bio-pesticides were tested in-vitro and in vivo. Vitavax (0.10 %), Bavistin (0.10%) and Blitox-50 (0.20%) proved to be most effective in inhibiting the growth of the pathogen and controlling the disease in the field and increasing the yield also. Bio-pesticides, Neemark and Funginil are also proved effective, but slightly less effective than systemic fungicides. Neemark and Funginil being a safe eco-friendly and economical bioproduct, can be used in the control of the diseases.

178-180

Authors: Manoj Kumar Singh

The results reveal that the higher magnitude of coefficient of variation at genotypic level was observed for number of pods per plant, number of branches per plant, number of seeds per pod, plant height, seed yield per plant, and length of pod, whereas, at phenotypic level, number of pods/plant, number of branches per plant, number of seeds per pod, plant height, seed yield per plant, and length of pod revealed high magnitude of coefficient of variation. In this way, high values of genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was also observed in fenugreek for plant height, days to flowering, branches per plant and test weight and low for pod length, when studied with 22 genotypes in field condition and high genotypic coefficient of variation for number of secondary branches, number of pods per plant and seed yield was observed in fenugreek High heritability coupled with high genetic advance in per cent of mean were observed for number of pods per plant, number of branches per plant, number of seeds per pod and plant height. It is also reported that high heritability for pods per plant, pod length and seed yield, while low heritability was observed for seeds per pod and test weight.

184-186

Authors: A. Abdul Haris and Sunil Kumar

A field experiment was conducted during the year 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 at Sabajpura farm, LWEERP, Patna on drip irrigation scheduling in tomato. The experiment was conducted in split plot design with irrigation water equivalent to 100, 80 and 60% ET (Evapo Transpiration) in main plots and water as per daily, alternate days and once in three days schedule in sub-plots. Observations regarding yield (q/ha) and water use efficiency (q/hacm) was undertaken. This parameter showed better response at 80%ET when plant received irrigation once in three days except for water use efficiency. Yield of tomato per hectare was maximum at irrigation 80% ET (838.5, 967.72, 895.52q/ha, respectively in three consecutive years) and was significantly higher than 100 % Evapo-Transpiration treatment except second year of observations. Irrigation once in three days gave maximum yield (824.10, 940.23 and 904.76q/ha respectively in three consecutive years). Water use efficiency was significantly higher under 80 % ET (96.71q/hacm) during the first year. In the 60% ET treatment irrigation once in three days gave maximum water use efficiency (73.07 and 74.18q/hacm during first and third year) except second year where maximum water use efficiency (99.23q/hacm) under daily irrigation schedule was observed.

190-192

Authors: Ravishankar M. Patil., Prashant Paramagoudar, Abhishek Katagi and K.S. Thippanna

Since post harvest loss of fruits is one of the major problems in less availability of fruits, hence several methods are adopted to avoid that, from among them post harvest application of calcium compounds and ethylene absorbents are found to be the most effective, cheaply available and easily applicable methods for delaying fruit ripening & senescence and are also found to be effective in control of decay loss.

195-196

Authors: Vijeeth C. Hegade, Ravishankar M. Patil and Abhishek Katagi

French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops which is grown for its tender green pods. The experiment was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm of K.R.C.C.H. Arabhavi. French bean cultivar Arka Suvidha was taken for study. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with two replications and eight treatments. Observations were taken for five different parameters. Results varied significantly to all the traits. T4 (40:60:50 kg/ha NPK + 25 t/ha FYM + 2 kg/ha B) was found superior among all the treatments for all the traits. The results of this experiment depict that application of NPK at 40:60:50 kg/ha + 25 t/ha FYM + Boron @ 2 kg/ha was beneficial for French bean cultivation in Arabhavi.

199

Authors: Sarbjeet Kaur and Anita Arora

Field identification of greening disease is often difficult because the symptoms on affected trees are sometimes confused with that of zinc and other nutritional deficiencies. The citrus greening disease was detected from source Kinnow plants collected from citrus growing area of the state showing yellowing with green veins or green islands and yellow mottling by biological indexing.

1-6

Authors: Pravesh Kumar, R.P. Singh, Anil Kumar Singh and Vijai Kumar

Globally studied remote sensing and geographical information systems data indicated that over 1 billion hectares of agricultural land have more than 10% tree cover, and these areas are home to almost a third of the 1.8 billion people who live on agricultural land. Agroforestry systems and practices vary across the globe such as simple subsistence livestock and pastoral systems to shifting cultivation, home gardens, alley cropping etc. It is estimated that the area currently under agroforestry worldwide is 1,023 m ha. Additionally, substantial extent of areas of unproductive crop, grass, and forest lands as well as degraded lands could be brought under agroforestry. This paper is an attempt to quantification of various agroforestry systems and practices at the global level.

14-20

Authors: P. Sujathamma, G. Savithri, N. Vijaya Kumari1, V. Asha Krishna1, T.Vijaya, K.V. S. S. Sairam and N. Sreerama Reddy

Mulberry is the sole food source of silkworm Bombyx mori L. In sericulture the quality of mulberry leaf plays a major role as it influences the quality of silk cocoons. In mulberry, organic carbon and soil moisture have a tremendous influence on leaf yield and quality. In light of the above as well as growing need for maintaining soil fertility and health for sustainable sericulture, the present study was undertaken. In this study six treatments comprising of organic nitrogen, organic phosphorus and organic potassium were applied and the effect of all these inputs on the yield and quality parameters of mulberry were studied in comparison with chemical fertilizers. Studies revealed that T6 and T4 have shown positive results compared to control. Application of Aishwarya as basal dose followed by the foliar application of the organic nutrients resulted in positive increase in the yield and quality parameters. Significant increase in average length of shoot, weight of 100 fresh leaves and leaf yield were noticed in all the treatments with organic manures over control involving only chemical fertilizers. In respect of the biochemical composition of mulberry leaf, organic manure treatments showed significantly higher values in respect of moisture content, moisture retaining capacity after 12 hours, total chlorophyll content, protein percentage and carbohydrate percentage over the application of chemical fertilizer.

29-34

Authors: Anil Kumar Sachan, Arun Kumar, M.M. Rajput and Arti Katiyar

The study was conducted in rose growing pockets of Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh with an objective of estimating the cost of production and marketing and margins in the trade of loose rose flowers by the farmers. The study indicated that cost of production is the highest in the first year as expenses on field preparation. Gross production cost per hectare is estimated to be Rs. 89550 in first year. The total cost of marketing of rose flowers is estimated to be Rs. 9.60 per kilogram. Labour charges, quantity loss, transportation, commission and packing are important constituents of marketing costs. Total cost including production and marketing was calculated to be Rs. 89550/ha. Producer got only Rs. 12.68/kg at the profit margin i.e. merely 26.66 per cent of the “consumer rupee”, whole saler and retailers saved a large part of the price paid by the consumer. Profit year for farmers was also calculated and it was found that farmers start earning profit from the fourth year.

40-44

Authors: Ashish Kumar Gupta, Deepak Singh and Anil Kumar Singh

The incidence of leaf spots of Drechslera specifera and Curvularia lunata during April-June was observed to the extent of 72.68 to 88.55 and 11.45 to 27.32 per cent, respectively, whereas, Alternaria and Cercospora leaf spots were absent. The disease incidence of Alternaria alternata was maximum in the month of July-September ranging 19.11 to 29.23 per cent and that of Cercospora populina was higher in October-November than July-September being 18.60 to 28.70 per cent. In vitro testing of five fungicides namely Dithane M-45, Kavach, Blitox-50, Bayleton and Bavistin against D. specifera, C. lunata and A. alternata revealed Dithane M-45 to be most effective, whereas, Bayleton and Bavistin were least effective against all these fungi. The in vivo testing of fungicides in nursery proved Dithane M-45 at 0.20 per cent concentration best against D. specifera, C. lunata, A. alternata and C. populina as it totally inhibited the disease under field condition. Next effective fungicides were Kavach and Blitox-50, however, Bayleton and Bavistin were least effective.

51-55

Authors: Manoj Kumar Singh, Vivek Pandey and Shamsher Singh

The experiment was conducted with parent, 45 F1s and 45 F2s population developed through diallel excluding reciprocals along with 10 parents viz., Azad B-1, Type-3, KS-224, KS-235, DVR-8, Azad Kranti, KS-331, PPL, KS-503 and KS-504 in Randomized Block Design with three replications at the Research Farm of the Department of Vegetable Science, C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kalyanpur, Kanpur during kharif 2010. The observations were recorded on 5 randomly selected plants from each row for ten quantitative traits namely, days to flowering, height of plant, number of branches per plant, length of leaf, width of leaf, length of fruit, width of fruit and number of fruits per plant. Genetic component of variance showed significant value for additive component (D) which was significant for width of leaf, length of fruit, width of fruit, number of fruits per plant and weight per fruit on both the generation except days to flowering and plant height based on F1 and number of branches per plant based on F2 only.The dominance components (H) were also highly significant for all the characters under study in both the generations. The degree of dominance (H1/D)0.5 showed over dominance for all the characters in both the generations. The ratio of KD/KR showed presence of more dominant alleles for all the characters based on F1 and F2 generation, while less than unity in F2 generation only for days to flowering and length of fruit. Other characters showed more amount of successive alleles. The ratio of (h2/H2) showed more than two gene group for length of leaf and width of fruit in F1 and F2 generation, respectively. More than three gene groups for length of leaf and weight of brinjal fruit in F2 & F1 & F2 generation, respectively. More than five gene groups for width of leaf in F1, more than six gene groups for width of leaf in F2 generation and other characters showed at least one gene group with some modification for controlling the traits

61-64

Authors: T.N. Goswami and A.K. Mukhopadhyay

Study was undertaken in quest of impact of agro-climatic condition on the morphometric and biological variations of diamondback moth populations in six distinct agro-climatic regions, viz., Hilly Region, Tarai Region, Bindhya Alluvial Region, Gangetic Alluvial Region and Coastal Region of West Bengal, India. Morphometry of DBM populations from the different agro-climatic regions of West Bengal explicitly unveiled existence of heterogeneity in the insect populations which was maintained through the successive developmental stages of the same generation as well as through the successive generations. Study on various biological parameters of the DBM populations from the above mentioned regions was also undertaken for successive four generations under constant temperature and humidity regime and same food materials. It was recorded that with regard to fecundity and mating duration in all the four generations, populations of Tarai Region, Gangetic Alluvial Region, Bindhya Alluvial Region and Coastal Region were quite congruent to each other whereas populations of the Hilly Region and Lateritic Region were heterogeneous to the formers but close to each other.

69-72

Authors: Hariom Katiyar,Vijai Kumar, Vandana Umrao, Naveen Chandra and S.K.Verma

The maximum genetic divergence for quality characters (3145.78) was observed between cluster-I and III. The highest cluster mean values for growth characters viz. shoot girth, plant height and yield (q/ha) were observed in cluster-II. While for quality characters cluster-I showed maximum cluster mean for protein content, nitrogen content, phosphorus content and specific gravity. Cluster VII showed maximum cluster mean value for specific gravity. The characters viz. plant height, leaf area, tuber weight, number of stolen per hill and number of tuber per hill contributed maximum towards diversity in descending order. There is no parallelism between geographical and genetic divergence. Thus, based on the findings of present investigation it can be concluded that good diversity and variability was present in the genotypes tested.

77-80

Authors: K. K. Singh, T. Choudhary, Prabhat Kumar and J.M.S. Rawat

The present investigation was conducted in the mist house located at the HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. Softwood cuttings of Duranta erecta ver. golden were collected from 2 to 4 year old plants and 15 cm long cuttings with apical portion. The cuttings were treated with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5g.L1 IBA solutions by quick dip method. Among all the treatments, highest number of roots per cutting (43.00), length of roots per cutting (9.28 cm), diameter of root per cutting (1.67 mm), percentage of rooted cutting (88.00 %), number of sprouts per cuttings (4.34) and the minimum (20.66) days taken to callus formation was noticed in 4g L1IBA concentration.

85-87

Authors: J.P. Kirthisinghe and H.W.J.P. Amarasekara

Pleurotus ostreatus is an edible mushroom, commercially important, predominantly grown variety and widely cultivated in small scale for self-employment in Sri Lanka. Successful mushroom cultivation depends on reliable spawn and good substrate. Most of the growers in mid country buy the reliable spawn from Department of Agriculture (DOA), Peradeniya. Therefore, this experiment was carried out to find out the possibility of using the grower produce spawn run as the initial planting material and to identify the suitable substrate for production of oyster mushroom for the new method. The experiment was conducted for two seasons in the mushroom unit, University Experimental Station, Dodangolla. 5 g of spawn of oyster mushroom for treatments 1 and 3, and 10 g of spawn run for treatments 2 and 4 were used as the planting material. The saw dust substrate for treatments 1 and 2 and the paddy substrate for treatments 3 and 4 were used in polypropylene bags. No significant difference was observed among treatments on spawn runing and pin head formation. A significant difference was observed between the two substrates used in this experiment for the time taken for the first harvest and the total harvest. This study revealed that spawn and spawn run can be use as a planting material and they have no significant impact on duration of spawn runing and pin head formation. In contrast the paddy straw was a better substrate compared to saw dust, which had a great impact on growth and gave the first harvest within 29-30 days. The total harvest was also significantly higher in paddy straw substrate compared to saw dust. Since there was no significant yield difference between the spawn and spawn run treatments the growers will be able to save a rupee from each bag.

91-93

Authors: Manoj Kumar Singh

Peroxidase isozyme analysis was carried out for identification of ten prominent poplar clones namely G48, S7C4,G3, S7C1, S7C8, S7C20, L34, PP5, Fierelo and D121. Leaf extract used for polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. On the basis of banding pattern all the genotype were grouped into four groups. All the genotypes are distinct in banding pattern and their relative mobility except G3 and L34.

97-99

Authors: A. Kumar, R. B. Ram, M.L. Meena, U. Raj and A. K. Anand

The current experiment on effect of biofertilizers on morphological characters of grafted aonla plants revealed that treatment of biofertilizers with different combinations showed their significant effects. The combination of AMF + Azospirillum enhanced higher morphological growth performance than other combinations. The AMF + Azospirillum applicated grafted plants produced more leaves and shoot length which could have increase the rate of photosynthesis. This combination also have more roots per plant than other combinations.

103-105

Authors: Manoj Kumar Singh, J.R. Yadav and B. M. Singh

High heritability estimates in narrow sense were observed for length of fruit, width of fruit and weight per fruit in F1 generation. Other characters showed moderate heritability in both the generation. High genetic advance in weight per fruit and plant height was observed for single cycle of selection in F1 generation. The probable genetic gain was high for weight per fruit, length of fruit and width of leaf. For fruit yield per plant it was more than 4.5% per cycle of selection. Th e highest coefficient variability was found for number of branches per plant followed by number of fruits per plant, width of leaf, length of fruit in parents, F1s populations at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. Biparental matting as well as matting among selected plants in early segregating generation would also help in developing population having optimum homozygous and heterozygous balance