VASAT::Blog

Today we have conducted video conference session with Adarsha Mahila Samaikhya(AMS)  members from Adakkal. After 3 months of long gap again  we started conducting regular sessions as farmers are busily engaged in their farm activities. In the summer season the farmers were engaged with non agricultural works to meet their requirements. It was quite interesting that now a days they are willing to grow drought tolerant crops such as Sorghum, finger millet and others. By keeping this in mind I took the opportunity to give orientation on production practices of Sorghum crop. They reported that most of the sorghum fields are infected with ‘grain mold’ due to recent rains. I suggested them to spray Carbendazim (1gm/lt) and also advised them to harvest the crop in right time with out delay. Interestingly they are following intercropping in sorghum with pigeonpea. They are really looking different ways and means to improve their farm income. Rameswaramma VNA from Nijalapur village told that many of the rice fields are attacked by ‘horned caterpillars’ in her village. I suggested them to take proper control measures even though it’s a minor pest in rice. Overall the session went on well with more interactions covering different aspects.

Now wine can be made from mango fruits apart from traditional sources like grapes and apples. Scientists (Research team led by Dr. Neelima Garg) from Central Institute of Subtropical Horticultural Research (CISHR), Lucknow produced wine from mango varieties viz. Dussehri, Langra, and Chausa native to Uttar Pradesh. Alcohol content in this slightly yellow, sweet drink is 8 to 9 percent, lower than a typical wines made from grapes which generally range from 10-15 percent. The team said that the process of fermentation is not very tough as mango contains huge quantities of sugar, which is the basic source of alcohol, but balancing the viscosity is what needs to be done very carefully. Scientists are hoping that these wines one day compete with the traditional grape-based variety.

Vegetation around the world is on the move, and climate change is the culprit. Over the past century, vegetation has been gradually moving toward the poles and up mountain slopes, where temperatures are cooler, as well as toward the equator, where rainfall is greater. Moreover, an estimated one-tenth to one-half of the land mass on Earth will be highly vulnerable to climate-related vegetation shifts by the end of this century, depending upon how effectively humans are able to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Long-term vegetation shifts in which climate, rather than impacts from local human activity such as deforestation, was the dominant influence. The most substantial biome shifts occurred where temperature or precipitation changed by one-half to two standard deviations from 20th century mean values. Globally, vegetation shifts are disrupting ecosystems, reducing habitat for endangered species, and altering the forests that supply water and other services to many people. Some shifts in vegetation could increase fuel for wildfires, for example, so prescribed burning may be necessary to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires. Ecosystems provide important services to people, so we must reduce the emissions that cause climate change, then adapt to major changes that might occur.

Farmers feed nitrogen in the form of crude protein to their cows, and apply manure and nitrogen fertilizer to grow crops and pasture for cows to eat and convert to milk. The scientists of Agriculture Research Service of USA and cooperators found that only about 20 to 35 percent of the nitrogen fed to dairy cows is converted into milk. They also discovered that 16 to 77 percent of the nitrogen in manure or fertilizer is necessary for grass and other pasture plants. And their study showed that between 8 and 64 percent of all the nitrogen applied to typical commercial dairy farms is converted into farm products. Whole farm nitrogen use efficiency was determined the by applying the ARS-developed Integrated Farming System Model on two typical dairy farm types in Wisconsin. They used the model to quantify the effects of numbers of cows per acre and manure nitrogen credits (reducing fertilizer nitrogen applications when manure is applied) on nitrogen use, farm profitability, and pathways of nitrogen loss.The wide ranges in nitrogen use efficiency point to the fact that there is significant room for improvement by using various practices that improve nitrogen use, profits, and the environment. Nitrogen use efficiency formulas can be used as tools to promote practices that maximize nitrogen use so that nitrogen does not leave farms to pollute waterways and ground water and negatively impact air quality.

Grazing lands represent one of the largest land resources in the world, yet their role as net sinks or sources of greenhouse gases is essentially unknown. Previous research has emphasized the role of grazing management on the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide as soil organic carbon. However, there is a lack of information regarding how grazing management impacts the flux of two potent green house gases, nitrous oxide and methane. The grazing management systems represented by two native vegetation pastures under medium and high grazing pasture management, and a heavily grazed seeded crested wheatgrass pasture receiving supplemental nitrogen indicated that grazing lands are strong sinks of soil organic carbon and minor sinks of methane, but small to moderate sources of nitrous oxide. Net global warming potential for the native grasslands was negative, implying an overall removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This finding underscores the value of grazed, mixed-grass prairie as a viable agro ecosystem to serve as a net greenhouse gas sink in the Plains. Conversely, the seeded forage nitrous oxide emissions were nearly three times that of the native grasses, which contributed a net positive net global warming potential, implying net greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere.

To fuel and feed the planet for the future, we need new approaches. Biofuels derived from plants are an attractive alternative energy source, but many biofuel feedstock crops are in direct competition with food crops for agricultural resources such as land, water, and fertilizers. Present research is looking for ways to improve the growth of biofuel feedstock plants on land that cannot be economically used for food production. Poplar is a model species for biofuel production, in part because of its ability to grow on marginal soils unsuitable for food crops. Previous studies have shown that the bacterium Enterobacter increases poplar growth by as much as 40 percent. The scientists identified an extended set of genes that help Enterobacter establish itself in this niche. The studies also revealed remarkable interactions between the microbe and its host that help the plant survive and thrive. One of the most remarkable things about this association is that the production of these plant-growth-promoting phytohormones is directly dependent on the presence of plant-synthesized sugars, such as sucrose, in the growth medium. So the plant makes sugar that helps the bacteria grow and make phytohormones and other compounds that help the plants grow better and healthier. This approach can be applied to improve plant productivity for sustainable agriculture, bioenergy feedstock production on marginal lands, or to fight desertification of arid areas.

The quality of tomatoes depends primarily on their exposure to natural light and states that the most determining factor is temperature. The study evaluated the different indicators for organoleptic (taste and texture) quality and nutritional quality, such as acidity, soluble solids, phenolic compounds, pH and vitamin C content. The tomato plants were exposed to photosynthetic radiation between 30 and 50% less than the usual for the sunny zones, at the same time as studying other tomato plants undergoing 100% exposure. Cultivation was carried out on soil, in a greenhouse without artificial heating and shaded in a small area so that air currents were able to homogenise the temperature within the plantation.
The results showed that the organoleptic and nutritional quality was very similar between the plants exposed to greater solar radiation and those with less. Researchers are now focusing on analysing how much the temperature can be reduced in order to cut down on energy consumption without affecting quality parameters. These findings can also be applied to other kinds of fruit with high nutritional value, such as strawberries, cucumbers, melons and watermelons.

The behavior of the herbicide atrazine was compared in conventionally tilled corn grown continuously year after year versus corn grown in three different crop rotations. The various levels of tillage and irrigation, including no irrigation were tested.

The amount of irrigation used including a total absence of irrigation had no impact on the rate of degradation of atrazine by soil microbes in the top foot of soil. The factors that made a difference were prior herbicide use and the choice of crop sequences, with prior herbicide use the most important factor by far. The previous applications of atrazine can predispose soil to more quickly degrade later applications of the herbicide. There are two consequences of the more rapid dissipation of atrazine in the plots with a history of use. The first consequence is a loss in weed control. In the plots with the most rapid dissipation, weeds began to re-infest the plots within four weeks after treatment, while the plots with the slowest rate of dissipation remained weed-free throughout the growing season. The second consequence is that atrazine leached more deeply in the soil in the plots where it did not dissipate rapidly, but the herbicide did not move below the top three inches of the soil in the plots where it was degraded rapidly. Thus, crop and herbicide use history are more critical to herbicide efficacy and environmental safety than the timing and amount of irrigation water used.

Rice stem borer causes damage by reducing the number of tillers and yield. Approximately six major species of stem borer causes significant damage to rice cultivation. Different types of stem borer causes damage at varying growth stages at varying proportions in a crop  year.

Damage resulting from larvae feeding within the stem, severing the vascular system and results in dead hearts before flowering and white head or white ear after flowering.

Conducive factors for pest survival at varied environmental conditions were high nitrogen, soil deficit in silica, cold dry weather with high humidity and low temperature and presence of stubble of previous crop. Integrated pest suppression include cultural, biological and behavioural approaches as -

- Selecting early maturity high tillering varieties in respective seasons

- Application of 2.5 Kg of Pseudomonas flourescens/ PGPR consortia along with 25Kg of neem cake and 250Kg of well decomposed farmyard manure per hectare when the soil PH is more than seven and similarly with Trichoderma viridie if the PH of the soil is less than seven after last ploughing.

Seed treatment also plays a major role.

The blogger has no formal education in Agriculture; this is rewritten from the Farmer’s Notebook column of the Hindu dt: April 29, 2010.

A naturally occurring class of plant hormones called cytokinins has been found to help increase cotton yields during drought conditions. Cytokinins promote cell division and growth in plants. In cotton, cytokinins stimulate the growth of the main plant stem and branches. Application of cytokinins to cotton crops can increase yields in water-limited environments with reduced irrigation or no irrigation. Young cotton seedlings have small root systems, making it difficult for them to reach available soil water. Cytokinins trick the young plant’s water stress defenses, prompting the plant to quickly build a bigger root system to access deep soil moisture. They also stimulate the growth of a protective wax on the surface of the plant that helps reduce water loss. Thus, application of cytokinins produced a 5 to 10 percent increase in yields under water-reduced conditions. Additionally, cytokinins didn’t help or hinder yields under fully irrigated or rainy conditions, making it safe for use in all weather environments. There is also no extra work involved for the grower because cytokinins can be applied when conducting normal weed-management practices early in the season. To be effective, the cytokinins should be applied at a relatively low concentration to cotton seeds or to cotton plants at an early stage of development.