Annual Report 2009-10

Abstract

The Institute has 38 research programmes in its main centre and another 8 in its regional horticultural experimental stations, focusing on ten major thrust areas with a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. The research work aims mainly at germplasm collection, evaluation and characterization, evolving varieties with higher yield, quality, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, development of molecular markers and transgenics. Other important areas of research are, enhancing productivity through canopy management, pest management, cultural practices, efficient use of inputs, farm mechanization, improvement in nutritive value, safety and quality of produce, round the year production, economics of production and identification of gaps in transfer of technology to various stakeholders. As per ICAR guidelines, an Institute Technology Management Unit (ITMU) at IIHR has facilitated commercialization and protection of IIHR technologies. During the year under report four technologies viz. Chilli CMS line, crossandra (Arka Ambara), eco friendly para pheromone trap for effective monitoring of fuit flies belonging to Bactrocera spp. and a process for preparation of foliar micronutrient formulation for banana were commercialized through various licensees. Consistent breeding efforts in the areas of genetic improvement of fruit, vegetable, ornamental and medicinal crops has resulted in release of many varieties and identification and isolation of advanced breeding lines for high yield , quality and for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Varieties identified for release at state level Chilli high yielding F1 hybrid Arka Harita, tolerant to powdery mildew and chilli veinal mottle potyvirus and high yielding carrot variety, Arka Suraj have been recommended for release in Southern Karnataka. Carnation variety Arka Flame was approved by State Level Variety Evaluation Committee and recommended for release in Southern Karnataka under protected cultivation. Varieties identified for release at Institute level A total of 23 improved varieties were identified during the year 2009-10. A semi vigorous papaya variety Arka Prabhat was identified for its bearing at lower height, bigger fruit size and deep pink colour pulp with high TSS. In Guava, hybrid Arka Kiran from the combination Kamsari x Purple Local was identified for high yield, deep pink pulp, high TSS and high lycopene content. In Onion two varieties were identified namely Arka Ujjwal, multiplier onion and Arka Swadista, white onion for fermented preservation. Watermelon variety, Arka Muthu has been identified for high yield and good quality fruits. Two other watermelon hybrids Arka Akash and Arka Aishwarya have also been identified for high yield and high TSS. In French bean, Arka Sharath, has been identified for release for high yield of good quality string less pods. In Ivy gourd , Arka Neelachal Sabuja was identified for high yield with fruits containing high pulp and soft seeds. Another line Arka Neelachal Kunkhi is a selection for salad purpose with sequential fruiting habit. Arka Neelachal Kirti, a high yielding pointed gourd variety with solid core, Arka Neelachal Shree, a spine gourd selection with very high yield and Arka Neelachal Gaurav a soft seeded teasel gourd variety having dark green, oval fruits with small spines were also identified for release. In Gladiolus, hybrid selection Arka Naveen and Arka Gold were identified for release for their attractive flower colour and quality. Another selection Arka Amar was identified for its flower quality and Fusarium wilt resistance. In Dianthus, hybrid Arka Tejas has been identified for its commercial potential as an ornamental pot plant. In Tuberose hybrid selection Arka Nirantara a high yielding, early and prolonged blooming variety has been identified for release. Two crossandra varieties, Arka Kanaka for novel colour and Arka Ambara for bigger size of flowers, a chrysanthemum, Arka Pinkstar as ornamental pot variety have also been identified for release. In Velvet bean two non itchy selections were identiifed, Arka Dhanvantri for high seed yield and L-dopa content and Arka Aswini for earlieness. Management of genetic resources The total mango germplasm collection of IIHR stands at 450 with the addition of 34 indigenous types. One hundred seventy varieties were characterized as per ‘Bioversity International Descriptor’. Twenty three culinary banana germplasms were evaluated for growth, yield and characters at CHES, Bhubaneshwar. Based on overall performance and quality yield, CHB-5 (Batisa Banthal) has shown promise as culinary banana genotype. In guava, The total collection stands at 79 with two additional accessions viz., Ranipasand and SP No.7. Sixty varieties were evaluated for seed hardiness and six varieties were characterized using standard descriptor. Twenty five genotypes of jackfruit (CHJ-1 to CHJ-25) have been collected from Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa and from Kandamal and Koraput districts of Orissa at CHES, Bhubaneshwar. Pummelo cultivar, Devanahalli and rambutan selection CHES 27 showed promise. Mushroom species, Stalked puffball (Lycoperdon sp.) and Calocybe sp. collected from Kutch and Bhuj regions of Gujarat were cultured and purified . The entire germplasm set of 190 accessions of ashwagandha, were morphologically characterized using 48 quantitative and qualitative traits. IIHR Annual Report 2009-10 8 Biotechnology in crop improvement Development of molecular markers and transgenics for important traits in different crops are being carried out. In Papaya studies on molecular markers linked to PRSV showed that among C. papaya var. Surya and V. cauliflora 2 SSR primers, 11 ISSR primers and 16 RAPD primers of O, D, G, R and S series generated highly polymorphic and reproducible bands. In the work on molecular markers linked to bacterial blight in pomegranate 40 RAPD primers and one ISSR primer showed polymorphism for the parents Ganesh and Daru. In 80 F2 (Ganesh X Daru) amplified with 41 markers, 35 were mapped and 6 remained unlinked forming eight linkage groups but none of the primers showed polymorphism in Bulk Segregant Analysis (BSA) for bacterial blight. In guava studies on molecular markers for soft seeds, 25 RAPD primers belonging to OPQ, OPM, OPH, OPA series gave consistent results in bulk of F1s and parents. Further screening of individual F1s with these primers is underway. In the development of molecular markers for flesh color of guava, eight RAPD primers and eight IISR primers showed amplification specific to either red or white type. In betelvine three sex linked ISSR primers, were identified from screening of female and male DNA bulks and validated across 65 germplasm lines. In development of transgenic resistant to PRSV Papaya 24 seedlings from a T1 plant which had yellow flesh showed complete resistance while 40 control plants were all susceptible when they were challenged with viruliferous aphids. The resistant plants showed continued resistance 3 months after transplanting. In the development of pomegranate transgenic cv. Bhagwa for bacterial wilt resistance, transformation of cotyledons and hypocotyls with AMP gene through Agrobacterium mediated transformation was successful and three rooted putative transformants were obtained. In Tomato studies on transgenic resistant to early blight, two homozygous stabilized lines of transgenic tomato cv. Arka Vikas with Trichoderma harzianum chitinase gene in T2 generation identified previously were confirmed once gain through PCR analysis in T3 generation. One transgenic line of Arka Meghali was highly resistant to PBNV upon challenge inoculation and was also field-resistant to Alternaria under heavy rainfall conditions. T3 tomato Arka Saurabh event 130-13, T3 Arka Meghali events 227-14 and 231-12, T3 Arka Vikas event 225-7-5 and T3 Pusa Ruby event 138-4 were found promising for combined resistance to PBNV and TLCV. In studies on development of transgenic tomato for abiotic stress resistance, low moisture stress was imposed on T2- generation tomato plants transformed with a transcription factor dreb1A by withholding watering for seven days. The line D-27 had least drop in RWC during the water stress. A novel gene likely to confer drought tolerance was cloned from a drought tolerant land race of sorghum M-35-1, sequenced and is different from sorghum Dreb2 sequence of the gene bank by four amino acids. The sequence was deposited in the NCBI gene bank. In the development of Bt transgenic brinjal for resistance to brinjal shoot and fruit borer, in Arka Keshav variety, T0 to T2 stages of Cry2A Bt transgenic brinjal lines were generated and analyzed molecularly. Improving productivity Research on increasing production in horticultural crops during the current year encompassed the facets like canopy architecture and management; extending the harvest period, optimizing water productivity and nutrient management, investigations on physiology of fruit disorders, propagation and mass production of genuine and disease free planting material, cropping system studies, protected cultivation, organic farming, pollination studies etc. In a field trial involving different planting densities of ‘Alphonso’ on ‘Vellaikulamban’ and ‘Olour’ rootstocks of mango, with or without the application of paclobutrazol, highest fruit yield of 6.74 t / ha during the tenth orchard year was obtained with 3m X 3m spacing using Olour rootstock and lower rate of paclobutrazol compared to control at 10m X 10m spacing. Flowering percentage was influenced by paclobutrazol application and the most pronounced effect was with 5g a.i applied during last week of October, with 93.3 % flowering where as control recorded only 35% flowering in Totapuri mango. In a study undertaken to understand nutrient dynamics in mango orchard soils, it was found that the nutrient content of leaves and nutrient re-absorption during senescence decides the quantity of nutrients returned to the soil under such perennial crop systems. Spongy tissue, an important physiological disorder in Alphonso mango, has been traced to the shift of seed into germination mode and the consequent drain of moisture and other resources from the adjoining mesocarp based on a number of physiological and biochemical attributes. Strategies to prevent spongy tissue formation have therefore been focused on inducing seed dormancy / reducing seed metabolic activity / death of embryonic axis through eco-friendly formulations and results were very encouraging. Pollinator species diversity was recorded on seven varieties of mango and among different foraging species, Apis florea was found to be the dominant one (3.86/panicle/minute). In grapes, to achieve variable light regimes in the gable area, the growing shoot bearing bunches were halted with varying leaves from 5-13 beyond bunch for better fruit quality. Halting the shoots to 7 leaves proved better with deeper fruit colour than those shoots with more leaves. A cropping system trial established at CHES, Chettalli wherein Coorg mandarin budded plants (seedlings as check) were grown with coffee and black pepper trained on Erythrina showed that the fruit yield of seedling plants were significantly lower than the budded plants. In the present scenario of climate change, studies on improving productivity under adverse conditions have assumed greater significance. Application of glycinebetaine was found to improve the plant growth of chilli under water 9 stress. A study on the effect of elevated CO2 on onion cv. Arka Kalyan showed that elevated CO2 (550 ppm) influenced overall growth, water use efficiency and total biomass. The total biomass was maximum at 90 DAP (18.6 g/plant) compared to control (13.4 g/plant), its per cent increment at elevated CO2 levels varying from 52 to 81 % at different growth stages. Protected cultivation for off season cultivation of vegetables is widely studied at IIHR. Slow crop growth during winter is the major constraint for optimum productivity of okra. Two cultivars of okra viz. Arka Anamika and US 7109 were grown in naturally ventilated polyhouse during winter months to overcome seasonal barrier in productivity. Okra fruit yield was significantly higher in mid-October planted crop (28.1 t/ ha) compared to mid-November planted crop (21.5 t/ha). To promote growth and nutrient uptake for sustainable production in tomato, microbial consortium studies were initiated. Out of one hundred and seventy two plant growth promoting rhizobacterial isolates viz., Azospirillum (40), Azotobacter (36), phosphorous solubilizing bacteria (62) and fluorescent pseudomonas (34) isolated from different agro ecological tomato growing regions in Karnataka, the following isolates viz., Azospirillum (AzosH10), Azotobacter (Azotbel2), Phosphobacteria (Psbel6) and Pseudomonas (Mpf2) were found to be superior in rhizosphere competence, growth promotion and plant nutrient uptake as compared to other isolates. At CHES, Bhubaneswar, no significant difference in the growth pattern of the plants among the organic and nonorganic treatments was noticed in mango cv. Mallika. Similarly in a field trial on organic practices of papaya cv. Surya with 12 nutrient combinations involving FYM , biofertilizers and vermicompost, six months after planting vegetative parameters were found to be non significant among treatments. At 12 months after planting only plant girth was found to be significantly different and maximum girth (51.9 cm) was obtained with 50% RDF FYM +Azo+PSB+vermicompost and least girth (39.9cm) with 100% RDF fertilizer treatment. However, fruit yield and fruit quality parameters remained unaffected. In another study with cabbage cv. Unnathi plant growth parameters were not affected by different organic treatments. Pest management and pesticide residues Azoxystrobin application was most effective in controlling anthracnose stem end rot in mango, followed by thiophanate methyl and carbendazim. Use of turmeric, neem leaf extracts, extract of V. negundo leaves and garlic could also control anthracnose to a lesser extent. Deltamethrin treatment was found to be significantly superior over other treatments viz. dimethoate, Bt, neem soap and pongamia soap even after fourth harvest for control of sapota seed borer, T. margarias. The entomopathogen Metarhzium anisopliae was found to be efficient in controlling Ferrisia virgatta on guava while treatment with lamda – cyhalothrin, acetamiprid and B. bassiana considerably reduced fruit damage by tea mosquito bug from the second week of spraying. In polyhouse, mealybug infestation could be controlled by release of Cryptolaemus grubs. Soil application of neem cake followed by sprays of neem soap and NSP were effective for control of leaf hopper in okra during Kharif, but only moderately effective during summer when the pest incidence was very high. Rynaxpyr (0.3 ml/l) application was consistently found superior over other insecticidal treatments to control brinjal shoot and fruit borer and resulted in average fruit damage of only 8.36 % (weight basis) as against 45.35 % in control. Sprinkler irrigation was found to significantly reduce the number of chilli thrips without insecticide spray while weekly spraying of M. anisoplaie @ 1x109 spores/ml with sunflower oil @ 0.01% followed by weekly release of Blaptostethus pallescens @1/plant recorded significant reduction in thrips population in chilli and capsicum. A 15 day’s spray schedule of mancozeb was effective for the management of foliar disease of onion during Kharif, recording a per cent disease incidence of 35 and yield of 30.0 tons/ha as against a PDI of 45 and yield of 16.67tons/ha in untreated control. IPM treatment consisting of bait spray (Deltamethrin 0.1 % + Jaggery 1 % + setting up of cuelure traps @ 10/acre) significantly decreased the melon fly damage (12.66%) in bittergourd as compared to other chemical/ botanical treatments and control ( 19.15 % to 33.66 %). Management of nematodes in banana was standardized by application of 2 kg of farm yard manure enriched with Pseudomonas fluorescens (109 cfu/g) and Trichoderma harzianum (106 cfu/g) per plant at the time of planting and at an interval of 6 months. Nematode management strategies were also developed in papaya, okra, carrot and gladiolus. Safety of chemical pesticide treatments were evaluated in several crops for recommending pre harvest intervals (PHI) to obtain safe produce. In pomegranate foliar application of chlorpyrifos and thiamethoxam did not result in any harmful residues in aril but based on residue deposit on fruit surface, 35 days PHI was recommended. Washing of fruit was found to dislodge 65 -75 % of residues of chlorpyrifos and 38 - 46% of thiamethoxam from fruit surface. Combined soil drench application of chloropyriphos and carbendazim in pomegranate resulted in slow uptake of carbendazim into plant and its gradual accumulation in the leaves. The residue build up of carbendazim was 0.44 and 0.64 ppm in pomegranate fruit peel at greenish immature stage, 0.08 and 0.07 ppm in aril, but there was no movement of chloropyriphos residues from soil to leaves and fruit although the residues persisted in soil for more than 100 days. Higher intial deposits of iprodione and chlorothalonil were found in polyhouse grown tomato as compared to that in field grown tomato following four applications at fruit formation stage in the same season. The rates of dissipation of iprodione and chlorothalonil residues were slower in polyhouse than in field grown tomato and PHI of 4 days in polyhouse and 1 day in open field for safe harvest of tomato was recommended. Executive summary IIHR Annual Report 2009-10 10 Minimization of post harvest losses and value addition Storage life of Alphonso and Banganapalli cultivars of mangoes (with or without wax coating) could be extended without any chilling injury at 8°C by Modified Atmosphere (MA) packing with semi permeable film (micro perforated D- 955 film). The storage life of sapota (cv. Cricket ball) could be extended to 3 weeks at 10°C without any chilling injury when the fruits were MA packed with micro perforated LD film. The fruits ripened normally within 3 days when they were shifted to ambient conditions for ripening. Similarly, storage life of papaya (cv. Taiwan Red Lady) could be extended up to 1 month when the fungicide treated fruits were MA packed with micro-perforated D-955 film (0.0125 % ventilation) and stored at 18°C (75-80% RH) with less spoilage (5 %). MA packed and stored papaya fruits were ripened to bright yellow surface colour without any shriveling and with high carotene and lycopene contents when compared to non-packed fruits. The storage life of custard apple fruits (cv. Balanagar) could be extended to 2 weeks at 12°C without any chilling injury when the fruits were MA packed with 100 gauge PE or PD- 961 film. The fruits ripened normally within 4 days when they were shifted to ambient conditions for ripening. The storage life of custard apple (Hybrid, Arka Sahan) fruits could be extended to 3 weeks at 15°C by exposing the fruits to 250 ppb 1-MCP for 6 hours with maintenance of higher firmness and quality when compared to 2 weeks in non-treated fruits. At ambient temperature (24-30°C) the shelf life could be extended by 3 to 4 days without affecting the quality. Aonla is susceptible to chilling injury when stored below 15°C. The storage life could be extended to 2 weeks with maintenance of quality at 15°C by using PE lining (100 gauge) around the fruits. PE lining significantly reduced the weight loss (2% when compared to 8 % in control fruits) and maintained the firmness of aonla fruits during 3 weeks of storage at 15°C. It was recommended that final moisture content in osmotically dehydrated aonla should segments be maintained around 12-13% for better quality retention during storage while post harvest exposure of tomato and bitter gourd fruits to 1-MCP (an ethylene action inhibitor) at 250 ppb concentration or formulations containing 1-MCP for 18 hrs delayed the ripening, retained higher firmness and extended the storage life of these fruits. Osmotically dehydrated mango slices of varieties Alphonso, Dushehari, Totapuri and Arka Anmol were prepared using standard process. These slices dried to a moisture level of 12-15% and packed in punnets could be stored upto one year. Process was standardized for the preparation of banana wine from cv. Robusta with golden colour, pleasant banana aroma, 11 per cent alcohol and less than 0.5 per cent residual sugar and sapota wine with 10-11.5 % alcohol, 0.44- 0.57, % acidity, and 0.26-0.28 per cent residual sugar. RTS juice was prepared from pomegranate and the product comprising of 25% juice, 18 oBrix and 0.30% acidity was judged best. Fruit punches were prepared by blending pulp/juice of different fruits such as aonla, mango, passion fruit and custard apple in equal proportions and beverage concentrates were prepared. The TSS of the product varied between 58.5 to 61.0oBrix and acidity between 2.37 to 2.83. In over all acceptability the fruit punch comprising of aonla, mango and passion fruit was judged the best due to better taste and flavour. Studies were also carried out to optimize better techniques to pack and transport horticultural produce. Fully mature sapota (var.Cricket Ball) packed in CFB boxes of size 400x300x150mm, 5-ply rate with paper pieces as cushioning material and fully mature aonla (Var.Krishna) packed in CFB boxes of same with partition in between was superior for road transportation of these produce while quality of 6o C pre cooled jasmine (Jasminum sambac ) flowers were better over 13o C pre cooled ones. Flowers remained white and opening was higher (75%) in bamboo basket while those in thermocol box exhibited discoloration. Work has been initiated on using horticultural waste. The process of extraction of total carotenoids from mango processing waste (peel and stones) was standardized using mixture containing 3 parts petroleum ether and 2 parts acetone. The process to produce ethanol from fruit processing waste was also standardized. This ethanol will be tested for blending with petrol for use in IC engines. Farm mechnization A tractor operated hydraulic harvesting platform for tree fruit crops has been designed and developed. It has an operator’s platform, scissors lift mechanism and a trailer. A long reach chain saw was also tested using the above platform for pruning mango trees at 5th order branch. The observed capacity was one tree per hour upto a height of 8 m. The hand operated pomegranate aril remover developed earlier has been modified as motorised aril remover. There are two hitting hubs fitted on reciprocating arms to hit the two halves of pomegranate fruit. The reciprocating arm is operated by a motor and gear box. The removed arils are collected through a sieve and collecting chute. A Six-row tractor operated onion transplanter for flat bed has also been designed and fabricated. Economics, marketing, trade and Impact Pomegranate in open filed, capsicum under protected cultivation and gerbera under polyhouse in Karnataka were found economically viable with higher IRR of 220, 70 and 31 per cent, respectively. Even the discounted NPV and BCR were higher indicating the high potential in increasing returns of farming community. Nutrition, growth hormones and fungicides emerged as the major factors influencing pomegranate cultivation. In guava, the post harvest loss was 13.29 per cent in Karnataka, consisting of a loss of 9.17 per cent at field immediately after harvest and 4.12 per cent loss at retail level. The major factors of loss were over ripe fruits, blossom end rot and canker, injury caused due to heaping and crushed fruits during transit. In pomegranate, the market integration studies indicated that the price in the Bangalore market was found to have strong relationship with 11 Kanpur market followed by Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur markets. Exports of pomegranate, experienced significant growth of 14.12 % in quantity and 21.63 % in value and the major importers which expressed positive, higher and significant growth were UAE, UK and Oman. Studies on impact of IIHR technologies indicated that in banana, use of foliar nutrition gave 10 per cent higher yield due to increased bunch weight and 24 per cent higher net return. This technology is spread in an area of 400 ha area in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Improved IIHR tuberose variety, Arka Prajwal, was adopted by farmers from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu who realised a higher yield up to 15 t/ha. Nearly 12 per cent area of tuberose in Karnataka and 4 per cent in Tamil Nadu is under this variety. Computer application Through bioinformatics application, a gene AT5G67030 of Arabidopsis thaliana ABA1 responsible for tolerance to osmotic stress was identified and Zeaxanthin epoxidase an enzyme important in ABA biosynthesis was compared using TIGR TC database. The gene encodes for Zeaxanthin epoxidase enzyme, a key molecule that regulates plant responses to abiotic stress have been located. A new website of the Institute was developed using web 2.0 technologies with CMS features. A new database on market information service was integrated that provides online graphical charts of price and arrival trend. Information system for AICRP on Tropical Fruits was also developed with detailed information on the centres working under it, crops grown, varieties released and the technologies developed at a centre. Transfer of Technology Techno-agents developed by the IIHR have shown significantly higher knowledge levels in technology components like INM, IPM and IDM after participatory demonstrations and interaction meetings. Structural defects in the construction of poly/nethouses and its poor maintenance, lack of availability of standard package for pests and diseases, non availability of recommended crop rotation modules, indiscriminate use of pesticides and non-availability of quality bioagents and bio-pesticides, oils, foliar formulations were identified through PRA as the major gaps/ constraints in polyhouse cultivation of vegetables. Farmers’ participatory demonstrations on IIHR technology of IPM in tomato in Karnataka resulted in a 17.6 per cent higher marketable yield and 4.9 per cent less incidence of fruit borer. IIHR demonstrated improved varieties, Arka Anoop and Arka Suvidha in farmer’s fields, which resulted in higher yield of 18.3 t to 20.1 t/ha.