19842015
  • Authors:
    • Hossain, S.
    • Miah, M. A. M.
    • Haque, M. A.
    • Rahman, M. M.
  • Source: Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Research
  • Volume: 37
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Potato is one of the important food crops in Bangladesh. Its demand is increasing day by day. The Tuber Crop Research Centre (TCRC) of BARI released 40 HYV potato varieties and disseminated them in the farmer's fields through different agencies. But most varieties were not adopted well by the farmers due to unknown reasons. Therefore, an attempt was made to assess the level of adoption and profitability of BARI released potato variety at farm level. Data were collected from 150 randomly selected potato farmers from Munshigonj, Bogra and Comilla districts during January-February 2010. The results indicated that 48% potato areas were covered by Diamant variety, 16% by Cardinal, 22% by Granola, and the rest 14% areas were covered by Binella, Asterix, Provento, Felsina, Multa and Hira. The cost of BARI released potato cultivation was Tk 2, 10,629 and Tk 1, 84,135 per hectare on full cost and variable cost basis. The major share of total cost was for seed (42%) followed by fertilizer (21%) and human labour (14%). The average yield of potato was 26 t/ha with gross margin of Tk 1, 51,003 per hectare. The net return of potato cultivation was Tk 1, 24,509 per hectare. The benefit cost ratios were 1.59 and 1.82 on full cost and variable cost basis. Human labour, land preparation, seed, and irrigation had positive and significant effect on potato production. Nonavailability of HYV seed at proper time, lack of technical knowledge, high price of seed and fertilizer, infestation of insect and diseases, and lack of storage facilities were the major problems of potato production.
  • Authors:
    • Abraham, S.
    • Babar, S.
    • Singh, J.
    • Majumdar, G.
    • Venugopalan, M. V.
  • Source: Better Crops with Plant Food
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Despite large tracts of irrigated cotton, rainfed systems remain the most important option for improving cotton production in India. Within rainfed fields, the potential effects of adopting high plant population with adequate NPK fertilizer management offer a good opportunity to increase crop productivity.
  • Authors:
    • Naidu, M. V. S.
    • Kailaimannan, R.
    • Venkaiah, K.
  • Source: Madras Agricultural Journal
  • Volume: 99
  • Issue: 4/6
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Some important physico-chemical parameters of irrigation water of guava orchards in Prakasam district were evaluated for the criteria of the irrigation water quality. Thirty water samples were collected from three different mandals of the Prakasam district. The present study revealed that pH was neutral to moderately alkaline, Electrical Conductivity (EC) was high, Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) was low to medium and Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC) was good to marginal. So, initiative must be taken to reduce salt accumulation in the soil through drainage and adopting the highly salt tolerant crops like cotton, mustard and tamarind for the better utilization of the land.
  • Authors:
    • Huchche, A. D.
    • Srivastava, A. K.
    • Panigrahi, P.
  • Source: Agricultural Water Management
  • Volume: 104
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: The scarcity of irrigation water is one of the major causes of low productivity and decline of citrus orchards. The present study was planned with a hypothesis that the drip irrigation (DI) could save a substantial amount of water over surface irrigation, besides improving the yield of citrus plants. The experiment was conducted for 3 seasons during 2006-2009, with 'Nagpur' mandarin ( Citrus reticulata Blanco) plants budded on rough lemon ( Citrus Jambhiri Lush) rootstock in central India. The effects of DI and basin irrigation (BI) on soil chemical properties and crop responses were studied. DI was scheduled every-other-day at 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of the alternate day cumulative evaporation ( Ecp) measured in Class-A evaporation pan. DI except irrigation at 40% Ecp proved superior to BI, producing more growth and fruit yield of plants. The higher plant growth was recorded with higher regime of DI. The maximum fruit yield in DI at 80% Ecp, using 29% less irrigation water resulted in 111% improvement in irrigation water productivity under this treatment over BI. The heavier fruits, with lower acidity and higher total soluble solids, were harvested in DI at 80% Ecp compared with BI. The significant variation of soil water content at 0-0.2 m depth under DI indicated the confinement of effective root zone of the plants in top 0.2 m soil. The maximum rate of net-photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration in leafs was recorded in DI at 100% Ecp. However, the plants under DI at 80% Ecp exhibited the highest leaf water use efficiency. The maximum salinity build-up with highest decrease in pH was observed in 0-0.2 m soil under DI, whereas the salinity development was prominent in 0.4-0.6 m soil with an increase in pH under BI. The gain in available macronutrients (N, P and K) and loss of micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) in soil followed the similar trend of EC. The leaf nutrient (N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn) analysis revealed that DI produced significantly ( P
  • Authors:
    • Huchche, A. D.
    • Srivastava, A. K.
    • Panigrahi, P.
    • Singh, S.
  • Source: Journal of Plant Nutrition
  • Volume: 35
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Evaluation of drip irrigation treatments scheduled at 40, 60, 80, and 100% of alternate day cumulative pan evaporation (Ecp) against basin irrigation method was undertaken in 1-year-old 'Nagpur' mandarin ( Citrus reticulata Blanco) trees budded on rough lemon [ Citrus jambhiri (L)] rootstock on an alkaline Inceptisol soil type for three seasons during 2003-2005. Growth responses showed significantly ( P≤0.05) higher annual increase in tree height (0.44-0.50 m), scion girth (37-45 mm), and canopy volume (0.508-0.986 m 3) under drip-irrigation except irrigation at 40% Ecp, compared to tree height (0.40 m), scion girth (36 mm), and canopy volume (0.463 m 3) under basin irrigation. The highest magnitude of increase in different growth parameters was observed with drip irrigation at 80% Ecp, which produced the net water saving of 32% over basin irrigation method. Response on leaf nutrient composition under drip irrigation at 80% Ecp likewise produced the similar response, [2.27% nitrogen (N), 1.98% potassium (K), and 121.8 ppm iron (Fe)], significantly ( P≤0.05) higher than under basin irrigation (1.12% N, 1.04% K, and 98.3 ppm Fe), with other nutrients, e.g., phosphorus (P), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) remained unaffected.
  • Authors:
    • Parhad, V. N.
    • Ramamurthy, V.
    • Patil, N. G.
  • Source: Journal of Cotton Research and Development
  • Volume: 26
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: An experiment was conducted on farmer's field to observe the effects of different drip irrigation regimes on water use efficiencies (WUE) and soil moisture status for cotton variety NHH44 in Vidarbha region during 2001 and 2002. Treatments were based on open pan evaporation approach. The highest cotton yield was obtained from the least irrigation treatment (T 1). WUE ranged from 0.02 kg/ha/mm in the treatment T 5 to 0.34 kg/ha/mm in T 1. The greatest irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) was observed in treatment T 1 (2.26 kg/ha/mm), and the smallest IWUE was in treatment T 5 (0.18 kg/ha/mm) in the experimental years, indicating saving of more than 58 per cent irrigation water. Soil moisture status was below 50 per cent of available water capacity (AWC) for 105 days in 2001 as compared to 135 days in 2002 in T 1 implying that light irrigations in place of 6 cm for the clay soils in this part would be preferable and drainage of excess rainwater could be critical to improve yields.
  • Authors:
    • Sukanta, P.
    • Aparajita, M.
    • Rajib, K.
  • Source: Potato Journal
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: A field experiment was undertaken to evaluate the varietal tolerance and accumulation of arsenic by different potato cultivars at village Nonaghata in Nadia district of West Bengal during winter season of 2008-09 and 2009-10. Arsenic content in the irrigation water was 0.094 to 0.108 mg/l. Arsenic accumulation of different plant parts was in the following sequence: root > stem > leaf > tuber, irrespective of all cultivars. After harvesting, the least arsenic loading was observed in cultivar Kufri Jyoti (0.05 mg/kg) which also showed the highest productivity (32.32 t/ha). Cultivar Kufri Chandramukhi and locally grown variety Lal alu accumulated a lesser amount of arsenic and had also a higher yield compared with the other entries.
  • Authors:
    • Santana, J. A. D. V.
    • Carvalho, G. C.
    • Machado, V. V.
    • Daniel, R.
    • Coelho, E. F.
    • Coelho Filho, M. A.
    • Sampaio, A. H. R.
    • Santana Junior, E. B.
  • Source: Acta Horticulturae
  • Issue: 928
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: The management of irrigation using partial root drying (PRD) was tested in an orchard of 'Tahiti' lime in the semi-arid conditions of Iacu, BA. Six treatments were evaluated: T1, T2, T3 (50% ETc PRD) with plants irrigated by a microsprinklers with its position alternating every 7, 14 or 21 days, respectively, and wetting on opposite sides of the root system; T4 (DI 50% ETc) irrigation was fixed on one side using one emitter per plant, T5 (100% ETc) was the control treatment using two microsprinklers per plant in a fixed position. In T6, at each interval of 21 days, one and two micro-sprinklers were alternatively used per plant. Results demonstrated significant differences in fruit production by the Scott Knott test (p
  • Authors:
    • Neumann, M.
    • Lacerda, M.
    • Lago, W.
  • Source: REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE ENGENHARIA AGRICOLA E AMBIENTAL
  • Volume: 16
  • Issue: 7
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: The intensively increasing agricultural use of Distrito Federal soils may compromise their quality and trigger environmental problems in the region. Given this fact, the objective of this work was to study the soil quality (SQ) indicators, in areas under no tillage (PD), with diversified managements (corn-soybean rotation and bean-sorghum succession), at the Riberao Extrema watershed, Distrito Federal. Soil bulk density (Ds), flocculation index (GF), organic matter (MO), cation exchange capacity (CTC), microbial respiration (Rmic) and microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) were the attributes of SQ evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using the statistical software Statistics Analysis System (SAS) and consisted of analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey test for comparison of means. Results show that some of the evaluated SQ indicators were affected by different types of soil management under evaluation (Ds, Cmic and MO), while others were not sensitive to them (GF, CTC and Rmic). Positive correlation was found between MO and CTC of the soils in both investigated treatments, highlighting the importance of no tillage system on the chemical properties of soil.
  • Authors:
    • Hassanali, A.
    • Bruce, T.
    • Kruger, K.
    • Khan, Z.
    • Lebesa, L.
    • Pickett, J.
  • Source: International Journal of Pest Management
  • Volume: 58
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: A survey was undertaken to determine the pest status of herbivorous blister beetles, Hycleus spp., in western Kenya where they attack crops such as Desmodium spp., other leguminous plants and sweetpotato. Desmodium spp. are important intercrops in the 'push-pull' strategy adopted for Striga and stemborer control in maize and sorghum. Production of desmodium seed is adversely affected by blister beetles, which feed on the flowers and negatively affect seed setting. To assess farmers' knowledge and perceptions of Hycleus spp. as pests, a questionnaire survey was conducted in three sites in Bungoma district, western Kenya, in 2007. The survey was followed by field sampling of Desmodium spp. and sweetpotato to compare the results with the responses received from farmers. Hycleus spp. were mentioned by 75% of the respondents as major pests of Desmodium spp. During field sampling Hycleus spp. comprised 70% of the insect pests collected. According to farmers, blister beetles were more abundant on desmodium than on sweetpotato. However, field sampling revealed that differences in beetle abundance on the two crops were not consistent across different sites, suggesting that these crops may function as alternative hosts. The study provides baseline information for the development of a management strategy for blister beetles.