Agriculture Letters · 2020. 12. 2. · Agriculture Letters A monthly peer reviewed newsletter for agriculture and allied sciences Chief Editor Dr. Padmaja Pancharatnam Subscribe

Agriculture Letters A monthly peer reviewed newsletter for agriculture and allied sciences

Chief Editor

Dr. Padmaja Pancharatnam

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Volume 01, Issue 02

(June, 2020)

Cover Article

Complex biology and ecology of Karnal

bunt- a quarantined disease of wheat

- By Singh et al.


Editor-in-Chief


International Advisory Prof. Bhadriraju Subramanyam

Associate Editors

Prof. Pratibha Devi Sharma Dr. Surinder Singh Rana

Prof. Pankaj Sood

Executive Editor Mr. Bishvajit Bakshi

Editorial office

74/1 RH No. 2, Jawalgera, RH Colony, Raichur-584143, Karnataka, India

[email protected], [email protected], Phone +91 7760370314

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Disclaimer

The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily represent those of editorial board or publishers. Although every care has been taken to avoid errors or omission, this magazine is being published on the condition and under-taking that all the information given in this magazine is merely for reference and must not be taken as having au-thority of or binding in any way on the authors, editors and publishers who do not owe any responsibility for any damage or loss to any person, for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. The Publishers shall be obliged if mistakes brought to their notice.

Copyright ©All rights reserved with “Agriculture Letters”

Volume 01, Issue 02

Publishing date: June 2020 ISSN: Applied

Editorial Board Members

Dr. Virendra Kumar Dr. Uadal Singh Dr. Udit Kumar

Dr. Vishal Kumar Dr. Adita Sharma

Dr. Soumendra Chakraborty Dr. Ravish Chandra

Dr. Binayak Chakraborty Dr. Vinutha U Muktamath Dr. Hanuman Singh Jatav

Dr. Dinesh Rai Dr. Sangita Sahani Dr. Hemlata Singh

Mr. Rakesh Yonzone Dr. Anil Kumar

Dr. Mankesh Kumar Dr. D. N. Kamat

Dr. Surya Pratap Singh Somvanshi Dr Arindam Nag

Dr. Shweta Shambhavi Dr. Tapan Gorai

Dr. A. K. Choudhary Dr. Suday Prasad

Mr. Tribhuwan Kumar Dr. Ashim Debnath

Dr. Supriya Dr. P. D. Mane

Dr. Deepti Singh Mr. Binod Kumar Bharti

Details of the Editorial Board Members are giv-

en in the website https://agletters.in/editorialboard


Editor-in-Chief


International Advisory Prof. Bhadriraju Subramanyam

Associate Editors

Prof. Pratibha Devi Sharma Dr. Surinder Singh Rana

Prof. Pankaj Sood

Executive Editor Mr. Bishvajit Bakshi

Editorial office

74/1 RH No. 2, Jawalgera, RH Colony, Raichur-584143, Karnataka, India

[email protected], [email protected], Phone +91 7760370314

Log on to https://agletters.in/

Disclaimer

The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily represent those of editorial board or publishers. Although every care has been taken to avoid errors or omission, this magazine is being published on the condition and under-taking that all the information given in this magazine is merely for reference and must not be taken as having au-thority of or binding in any way on the authors, editors and publishers who do not owe any responsibility for any damage or loss to any person, for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. The Publishers shall be obliged if mistakes brought to their notice.

Copyright ©All rights reserved with “Agriculture Letters”

Volume 01, Issue 02

Publishing date: June, 2020 ISSN: Applied

IN THIS ISSUE

1. Antioxidants in Vegetable crops 3

2. Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the treatment of mastitis Animals

5

3. Biotechnological Approaches in Citrus Propagation

7

4. Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture- A key to the Second Green Revolution concept

9

5. Underexploited Cucurbitaceous Vegeta-bles

14

6. An Overview of the Methodology for Herbicide Residue Estimation and Man-agement

18

7. Integration of biotechnological tools for developing plants for phytoremediation

23

8. Amelioration of heat and moisture stress in late sown Lentil crop with foliar spray of micronutrients

26

9. Bacterization: Biological control of plant disease

29

10. A Note about Potato Cyst Nematode 31

11. Fish By-Products and Their Significance

33

12. Plants in the space environment

37

13. Mass multiplication of Phosphate Solubil-izing Bacterial biofertilizers

40

14. Impact of COVID-19 on Indian Agricul-ture

45

15. Ethylene – Master Switch for Submerg-ence

47

16. Impacts of Plastic Pollution and its possi-ble solutions?

49

17. Management of Labour Under High La-bour Cost and Scarcity

51

18.

High Throughput Phenotyping: A Poten-tial Technology to Feeding 10 Billion

53

19. Complex biology and ecology of Karnal bunt- a quarantined disease of wheat

55

June, 2020 Agriculture Letters

https://agletters.in/ Volume 01, Issue 02 (June, 2020) 3

Antioxidants in Vegetable crops

Sourav Roy* Department of Vegetable Science, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, WB

Article ID: 20/06/0102036

Vegetables form an indispensable component of our regular

balanced diet certifying food & nutritional security. They con-

tain monumentus degree of biologically active components

that bestow health benefits besides basic nutrition. Vegeta-

bles are designated as protective foods since their consump-

tion impede the jeopardy of umpteen chronic diseases such

as cardiovascular problems, diabetes and carcinoma (FAO,

2004).

They are superb exogenous sources of antioxidants which are

cardinal for the protection & stability of proteins, lipids and

DNA, thereby securing health and vitality. Antioxidants are

those compounds which have the competence to quench or,

stabilize free radicals and consummately boost our immunity

system.

Oxygen, the fundamental chemical component is indispensa-

ble for conducting the metabolism in all aerobic organisms.

Reactive Oxygen Species are evolved during different bio-

chemical reactions within the cell of a biological system and

cell organs such as mitochondria, peroxisomes, and endo-

plasmic reticulum (ER). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is

made of free radicals such as:

A). the superoxide anion (product of the one-electron reduc-

tion of dioxygen)

B). singlet oxygen (electronically excited state of molecular

oxygen)

C). lipid peroxides (product of oxidative degradation of lipids)

&

D). the hydroxyl radical (a neutral form of the hydroxide ion).

These reactive species are the effect of the typical cellular

energy construction and functional performances, suggesting

influential aspects in cell signalling, apoptosis, gene manifes-

tation and ion conduction. Notwithstanding, if ROS equilibrium

enhances fiercely, it hurts many molecules, including proteins,

lipids, RNA and DNA, since they are enormously reactive.

Moreover, the genesis of free radicals is not only amalgamat-

ed with the regular metabolic schemes in our body

(endogenous or, internal sources), but can also be due to

environmental cause (exogenous or, external sources) such

as stress, ozone radiation, profanation, harmful pesticides and

chemicals released from the industry. When sublime produc-

tion of ROS in connection to their withdrawal by biological

systems (antioxidant defences) happens, it is termed oxida-

tive stress. That has long been linked with aggravated danger

for several diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, atherosclero-

sis, arthritis, neurodegenerative diseases and premature

ageing. Antioxidants may rescue cells by diverse models of

mechanisms, in addition to the alterations of reactive oxygen

species (ROS) to non-radical species, detaching the auto-

oxidative chain reaction inaugurate by ROS and weakening

localized oxygen concentrations. The absorption of extrinsic

antioxidants, for instance, Vitamin C (chemically known as

ascorbic acid), Vitamin E (chemically known as α-tocopherol),

Vitamin A (chemically known as carotenoids in plants) & poly-

phenols, that can be chiefly found in generally utilized vegeta-

bles may assist the antioxidative defence.

Antioxidants are called ëfountains of youthí due to their con-

spicuous anti-ageing effect. Exigent antioxidants in vegeta-

bles include carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme

Q10, flavonoids, glucosinolates and sulphur-containing com-

pounds.

Carotenoids are red, orange or yellow coloured pigments

found lavishly in tomato, carrot, spinach and other green leafy

vegetables. Nishino et al. (2009) said that the utilization of

natural carotenoids keeps down the risk of liver cancer. They

defend the skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiations. Lyco-

pene, the red coloured carotenoid pigment suppresses the

oxidation of LDL cholesterol, lowers coronary risk and pre-

vents prostate and uterine cancers (Rajoria et al., 2010). Xan-

thophylls (lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin) are generally pre-

sent in green leafy vegetables. Antioxidant vitamins have

beneficial effects on cardiovascular and other chronic diseas-

es. Vitamin C prevents the formation of N-nitroso compounds,

which are cancer-causing compounds. Natural vitamin E is a

complex of alpha, beta, gamma and delta tocopherols and

tocotrienols. It protects lipid portions of the cellular mem-

branes and prevents atherosclerosis. Coenzyme Q10 is an

easily oxidizing lipid-soluble molecule which helps to maintain

vitamin E in its active form (Kaur and Kapoor, 2001).



Flavonoids are an enormous band of natural phenolic

compounds carried at huge condensation in vegetables.

Flavonoids like catechin, quercetin, dihydroquercetin and

rutin possess antioxidant properties. Many vegetables

supply different types of flavonoids in varying quantities.

Quercetin, part of a subclass of flavonoids called flavo-

nols, forms the main antioxidant component in vegeta-

bles. Quercetin is supplied by vegetables like broccoli,

onions, parsley and green leafy vegetables.

Phenolic substances are majestic plant secondary me-

tabolites that have salutary out-turn on an individual's

health by shrinking the outbreak of coronary heart mala-

dies and age-associated eye complications. Quercetin, a

mighty flavonoid, is chiefly noticed in onion, kale, tomato

and lettuce (Singh and Kalloo, 2001). Tomato is rich in

melatonin, a hormone with antioxidant attribute (Reiter et

al., 2005). Cruciferous vegetables (cole groups) are rich

in sulphur-containing glucosides termed glucosinolates

which are hydrolyzed in the contiguity of myrosinase

enzyme to generate isothiocyanate, a dynamic antican-

cerous compound. Allicin is an additional sulphur-

containing compound found in garlic. Oxygen Radical

Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is a viable and enduring

technique for estimating antioxidant potencies in biologi-

cal specimens.

The antioxidant features of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)

and African yam bean (Sphenostylis sternocarpa) were

evaluated with consideration to their ascorbic acid con-

tent, total phenol & phytate content, as well as antioxi-

dant function, as symbolized by their diminishing capabil-

ity and free radical scavenging action.

Pointedly, vegetables accommodate a high level of anti-

oxidants to grant mammoth possibility as protective or,

defensive sustenance. They are acquiring influential

appreciation in public nourishment as an anticarcinogen-

ic assistant. Utilization of vegetables and vegetable-

based foodstuffs in the diet should be advanced among

the populace to ennoble alimentation and realize health

revivification.

References

FAO [Food and Agriculture Organisation]. 2004. Fruit

and Vegetables for Health. Report of a joint

FAO/WHO workshop, 1-3 September 2004,

Kobe, Japan, 46p.

Kaur, C. and Kapoor, H. C. 2001. Antioxidants in fruits

and vegetables - the millenniumís health. Int. J.

Fd. Sci. Technol. 36(7):703-725.

Nishino, H., Murakoshi, M., Tokuda, H., and Satomi, Y.

2009. Cancer prevention by carotenoids. Arch.

Biochem. Biophys. 483(2):165-168.

Rajoria, A., Kumar, J., and Chauhan, A.K. 2010. Antioxi-

dative and anticarcinogenic role of lycopene in

human health-A review. J. Dairy. Fd. H. S. 29

(3/4):157-165.

Singh, J. and Kalloo, G. 2001. Free radicals, antioxidants and vegetables. In: Kalloo, G. (ed.), AICRP on Vegetable Crops 19th Group Meeting on Vege-table Research,15-18 January 2001, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, pp.1-4



Abstract

Stem cells are the undifferentiated and uncommitted cells that give rise to deferent cell types or lineage on dividing. These stem cells are used as regenerative medicine for the treat-ment of various diseases in human and animals. In the pre-sent study mesenchymal Stem cells (MSC) used for the treat-ment of mastitis animal and it found that diseased animal treated with MSC has been cured which suggest that stem cell therapy use as regenerative medicine providing a promis-ing area for the treatment of various diseases in animals.

Introduction

A stem cell is a specialized cell which has the unique charac-teristic to develop into specialized cell types in the body and these stem cells may be used to replace cells and tissues that have been damaged due to disease. Due to their ability to repair, regenerate, and develop into specialized cell types, Stem cells hold considerable promise as a source of cells for therapeutic applications in various conditions including meta-bolic, degenerative and inflammatory diseases for the repair and regeneration of damaged or lost tissues.

Stem cells “the hope cells”

Stem cell therapy for animals has seen breakthroughs over the past few years. The past decade has witnessed an expo-nential growth in the treatment of diseases. In a few instanc-es, stem-cell-based therapies produced remarkable clinical results and had a striking impact on incurable diseases. A Subset of adult stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells first described by Freudenstein is multipotent cells that can be differentiated into many lineages. They can exhibit anti-inflammatory antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, anti-apoptotic, low immunogenicity, tissue regeneration capacity which fasci-nates researchers to explore its applications in different fields of biology. In both human and veterinary research stem cells derived from adult tissue promises in the treatment of many chronic diseases.

Application in the livestock industry

Although from past few years stem cells used as a therapeutic tool for treatment in humans but it is still in an infant stage in animal husbandry. Among the entire domesticated species cow play an important role in the economy of the livestock industry with the production of 811 million tons of milk. There are certain conditions like lameness, mastitis, metritis etc

which negatively reflects on the milk production as well as the reproductive efficiency of the cattle. This causes loss of economically and genetically sound animals. Our attempt to explore the use of mesenchymal stem cells (Fig.1) for treating mastitis gives promising results in effectively treating these diseases.

Fig.1 microscopic image of mesenchymal stem cells Cells

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) in bovine Mastitis

Bovine Mastitis is an inflammation of mammary gland causing heavy economic losses worldwide. There is a 200 billion dol-lar loss through mastitis only in the US. Bovine mastitis caus-es physical, chemical, usually bacteriological changes in milk and pathological changes in glandular tissues of the udder which affect the quality and quantity of milk. Many reports suggested that MSCs have antibacterial properties against mastitis-causing pathogen S. aureus. At the infection site, exposure of MSC increases the production of several para-crine factors including VEGF, SDF-1, and IL-6 that are in-volved in the activation of inflammatory cells to the infected area and reduce the bacterial infection on the target site and help in the prevention cure of mastitis.

MSC in wound healing

Normal wound healing is a vigorous and complex process which involves a series of events, including bleeding, coagula-tion, acute inflammation, cell migration, proliferation, differenti-ation etc. however this process required a long time to heal. Apart from this treatment with MSC require comparable less time to other chemical or drug treatments. The reason behind is that after administration of MSCs to wounds area improves wound healing by speed up epithelialization, granulation tis-

Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the treatment of mastitis Animals

Vinay Kumar Mehra1* & Vinay Bhaskar2

1PhD Scholar, Animal Biotechnology centre, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal132001 (Haryana)

2 PG Student, Animal Biotechnology centre, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal132001 (Haryana)

Article ID: 20/06/0102037



sue formation and increasing angiogenesis. Mesenchy-mal Stem Cells therapy is a promising area particularly critical wounds which are difficult to heal.

Conclusion

Using of MSC as regenerative medicine has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of many diseases and injuries. Form the above results it can be safely stated that MSCs can be used as alternative regenerative medi-cine and it shows more healing when applied locally in udder or on wounds.

Reference

Hill, A. B. T., Bressan, F. F., Murphy, B. D., & Garcia, J. M. (2019). Applications of mesenchymal stem cell tech-nology in bovine species. Stem cell research & therapy, 10(1), 44.

Sharma, N., & Jeong, D. K. (2013). Stem cell research: a novel boulevard towards improved bovine mastitis man-agement. International journal of biological sciences, 9(8), 818.

Sampaio, R. V., Chiaratti, M. R., Santos, D. C. N., Bres-san, F. F., Sangalli, J. R., Sá, A. L. A. D., ... & Ambrósio, C. E. (2015). Generation of bovine (Bos indicus) and buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) adipose tissue derived stem cells: isolation, characterization, and multipotentiality. Genet Mol Res, 14(1), 53-62.

Cahuascanco B., Bahamonde J., Huaman O., Jervis M., Cortez J., Palomino J., Peralta O. A. (2019). Bovine fetal mesenchymal stem cells exert antiproliferative effect against mastitis causing pathogen Staphylococcus aure-us. Veterinary research, 50(1), 25.



Introduction

In India, citrus fruits are grown in 597 thousand ha, with a production of 6850 thousand metric tonnes which is 5 per cent of the world's total production. The important citrus fruits grown are mandarins, sweet orange and acid lime sharing 41 per cent, 23 per cent and 23 per cent respectively of total citrus fruits produced in-country. Plant pathogenic viruses and virus-like pathogens cause considerable damage to citrus. Unlike bacterial and fungal diseases where chemotherapy is possible in field conditions, virus elimination from infected field tree is virtually impossible. Hence losses are not only confined to the season in which infection occurs and the plant that is infected but continue as long as the infected line is in culture and thus serves as the source of secondary spread of the disease. Regulation is the most critical and thus serves as a source of defence against the introduction of viral diseases into a region. In the absence of Domestic Quarantine, unregu-lated movement of bud woods is mainly responsible for the spread of viral diseases.

Plant biotechnology is a rapidly growing area in plant biology and is a potential tool towards further increasing horticultural production. Biotechnology will have its main impacts in horti-culture by providing new strains of plants, the supply of plant-ing material, more efficient and selective pesticides and im-proved fertilizers. The genetic manipulation and modification of plant using new genetic engineering principles is a priority area of research. Recent developments in biotechnological methods of genetic manipulation helped in solving some of the limitations of conventional breeding programmes. The various techniques used for the improvement of citrus are as under:

1. Shoot tip grafting in vitro (STG) or Micro grafting

Shoot tip grafting (STG) or micrografting is a microscopic version of normal grafting technique followed in vitro. The technique consists of grafting under aseptic conditions a small shoot tip of 0.1-1.0 mm onto a young seedling rootstock grow-ing in vitro. The technique of micrografting is used for elimina-tion of virus and virus-like diseases as a preliminary step in the establishment of healthy and productive orchards.STG consists in grafting a 0.1-0.2 mm shoot tip, composed of the apical meristem plus two to three-leaf primordial, excised from n infected plant onto a young rootstock seedling growing in vitro.STG is effective for elimination of all citrus pathogens,

including those not eliminated by thermotherapy, and produces true to type plants without juvenile characters.

2. Fusion of Protoplast

Protoplast is a plant cell with a plasma membrane but without the cell wall. Due to the absence of a cell wall, proto-plast of similar or different species can be fused and resulted in the whole plant. It can result in two types of plants viz. so-matic hybrids in which the nuclei, as well as the organelles of the two fusion partners, are contained in the initial fused cell as well as in the regenerated plants (tetraploids) and cybrids, the donor-recipient protoplast fusion method. In citrus for im-proving scion improvement interspecific somatic hybrids that combine complementary parents to develop triploid zygotic progeny. The fusion of lime cultivar with sweet orange cultivar is the example of somatic hybrid in citrus.

3. Anther and pollen culture

The cells of haploid plants contain a single complete set of chromosomes. The phenotypic in haploids is the expression of information which is contained in a single copy of genes either recessive or dominant. It is widely known fact that a large number of haploid plants can be obtained by embryo-genesis or from immature pollen grains which ultimately re-sulted into plantlets (haploid embryos). Such plants will be very useful in species like trifoliate orange that possesses resistance for phytophthora, nematodes, Tristeza. In vitro techniques using colchicines have been developed to facili-tate autotetraploid production in citrus.

4.Genetic transformation

The uptake of foreign DNA or transgenes by plant cells is called transformation. The number of techniques of gene transfer into plant cells is developed and this tech-nique is known as genetic transformation. It is a non-conventional method for genetic manipulation or gene transfer of plants. Moore et al. (1989) have developed an Agrobacte-rium-mediated transformation system for Citrus and Citrus x Poncirus.In hybrids similar to the protocols that have been successful with other plant species. Genetic transformation can be done by direct gene transfer method also,

5. Molecular markers

Biotechnological Approaches in Citrus Propagation Prashant Joshi*, Shyam Munje, Upendra Kulkarni & Parikshit Shingrup Dr.PDKV, Akola-444104 (Maharashtra)

Article ID: 20/06/0102040



Molecular markers consist of some specific mole-cules which identical and showed differences among the different clones, strains of a single plant or species. In citrus, markers are useful and reliable for distinguishing in hybrids from nucellar seedlings. This method is quite accurate for identifying hybrids, including, mostly inter-specific hybrids, but is unable to distinguish between closely related cultivars. RFLP method is used to devel-op maps of the citrus genome that may be useful in lo-cating genes that have a specific function. Marker genes are identified on specific chromosomes, some of which are tightly linked to other genes responsible for desirable traits like, disease resistance.

Conclusions

In India, citrus is the third largest fruit industry after banana and mango in terms of area under cultivation. The conventional breeding programme has its limitation and use of biotechnological tools overcomes these limita-tions. Conventional propagation of citrus for new planting of improved material relies on bud-wood selection and grafting for scion varieties and rooted cuttings or more commonly nucellar seed propagation for rootstocks. The importance of using techniques such as meristem tip culture, nucellar embryogenesis and shoot tip grafting in vitro to provide virus-free mother stock for budding has become more pronounced. Nucellar seedlings possess long juvenility, excessive vigour, thorniness etc. Moreo-ver, they are difficult to identify from zygotic plants mor-phologically at early growth stages. The methods availa-ble for their identification are not sufficiently reliable and are laborious. Thermotherapy technique is ineffective to eliminate heat resistant pathogens and cannot be used with heat susceptible plant species. Shoot tip grafting in vitro is used all over the world for obtaining plants free from citrus pathogens and this micro grafting reported 35% success in the citrus propagation. Thus using above different biotechnological interventions are very useful in citrus production and propagation across the globe.

References

Bhojwani, S.S. and M.K. Razdan (1983): Plant Tissue Culture : Theory and Practice. Elsevier Science pub. Amsterdam, Netherlands. :1-502.

Ghorbel, R.; L. Navarro and N. Duran-Vila (1998): Mor-phogenesis and regeneration of whole plants of grape-fruit (Citrus paradisi), sour orange (C. aurantium) and alemow (C. macrophylla). J. Hort. Sci. Biotech. 73: 323-327.

Ghosh, S.P. (1999): Citrus In: Bose, T.K. and S.M. Mitra (eds.) Fruits : Tropical and Subtropical. Naya Prokash pub., Calcutta. : 63-131.

Gill, M.I.S.; Z. Singh; B.S. Dhillon and S.S. Gosal (1994): Somatic embryogenesis and plantlet regeneration on calluses derived from seedling explants of ‘Kinnow’ man-darin (Citrus nobilis Lour. x Citrus deliciosa Tenora). J. Hort. Sci., 69: 231-236.

Hazarika, B.N.; V. Nagaraju and V.A. Parthasarathy (1999): Acclimatization techniques of citrus plantlets from in vitro. Adv.Plant Sci. 12(1): 97-102.

Navarro, L. (1984): Citrus tissue culture. FAO, Plant Prod. Prot. Paper. 59: 113-154.

Parthasarathy, V.A. (1999): Role of biotechnology in citrus improvement. Proceedings Int. Symposium Citri-culture. NRCC, Nagpur : 168-181.

Singh, S. (2001): Citrus Industry in India. In : Singh, S. and S.A.M.H. Naqui (eds.) Citrus, Int. Book Distr. Co. Lucknow. : 19-20



Introduction

India's agricultural gain has been acceptable to move the country from severe food crises of the 1960s to cumulative food surpluses today. Most of the rise in agricultural output over the years has taken place under irrigated conditions. The opportunities for continued inflation of irrigated area are lim-ited, however, so Indian planners increasingly are looking to rainfed, or unirrigated agriculture to support meet the growing demand for food projected over the next several decades. Rainfed agriculture involves about 51 per cent of the country’s net sown area and accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the total food production. Rainfed agriculture is convoluted, highly diverse and risk decumbent. It is described by low levels of productivity and input usage coupled with vagaries of mon-soon emanating from climate change; resulting in wide varia-tion connect and instability in crop yields. Because of the growing appeal for food grains in the country, there is a need to develop and enhance the productivity of rainfed areas. If educated properly, these areas have tremendous potential to supply a larger share in food production and faster agricultural growth compared to the irrigated areas which have reached a plateau. Price policies, on the other hand, an attempt to target rainfed or irrigated agriculture within a given location by tar-geting crops that may be more likely to be rainfed or irrigated. But few crops are either100% irrigated or 100% dryland, so some spillover will always remain.

Rainfed: Fed by rain. There are involving the following types:

1 ) Dry Farming

The earlier concept for which amount of rainfall (>500 mm annually) remained the deciding factor and prolonged dry spells most common. Crop failure is frequent, equivalent to the arid region, and moisture conservation practices are need-ed.

2) Dryland Agriculture

Balance of moisture is always on deficit side and annual PET > P. Areas with>1100 mm rainfall or more also fall, dry spells occur but crop failures are less frequent, semi-arid regions, soil moisture conservation practices and provision of drainage in some soils (Black).

3) Rainfed Agriculture

Included dry farming and dry-land agriculture, humid regions, crop failure rare, drainage is important.

Water Balance: Thoruthwaite (1948) introduced this concept. The balance between these two water surpluses (S), Water deficit (D). Water balance used to work out – Water availabil-ity period, Length of growing period (LGP), Agricultural drought. Quantum and distribution of rainfall are influencing the choice of crops/cropping system. The basic factor is de-pending upon LGP. The success of crop production is de-pending on the amount and distribution of rainfall as these influence the stored soil moisture (SSM) and moisture used (MU) by crops.

SSM + MU – Governed by water balance equation: ET = P – (R + S)

When the balance of equation shifts towards the right, P >ET hence may be waterlogging but when the balance of equation shifts towards left, ET > P, results in drought, Balance of the equation is controlled: Weather, Season, Crops, Cropping pattern.

Classification of Dryland

1. Growing period concept of FAO;

GP = Number of days during a year when P exceeds half of PET, plus a period to use an assured 100 mm of water stored from excess P.Considered ratio of DP/ PET is MAI.

Hargreaves (1971): GP– The ratio when MAI is more than 0.33.

Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture- A key to the Second Green Revolution concept

Umesh Singh* Taishita Agrotech Private Limited, #453, 2nd floor, Suradhenupura gate, Doddaballapura main road, Aradheshanahalli post, Bengalore north-561 203

Article ID: 20/06/0102039

Region MDI (%)

Extremely arid > 80 %

Arid – 80 to – 66.7 %

Semi-arid – 66.7 to – 33.3 %

Dry sub-humid – 33.3 to 0 %

Moist sub-humid 0 to 20 %

Humid > 20



Out of 142 million ha, the cultivated area in country 48 m ha is irrigated (33.6 %). Even after full exploitation of irrigation potential – 70 m ha (50%) will continue to de-pend on monsoon. Rainfed areas produce 20 – 22 m tonnes Rice, 02 – 03 m tones Wheat, 30 – 35 m tonnes Coarse Cereals, 10 – 12 m tones Pulses. Thus, nearly 65 – 75 m tones food grains and 12 – 14 m tones oilseeds besides a significant amount of cotton, vegeta-bles, and fruits.

Water Resources

Water is the result of important natural resources vital for the economic development of a country. 95 m ha area (67%) is rainfed and per capita water availability – 2001m3 which will decline to 1700 m3 by 2020? The main source of water is precipitation. The average annu-al rainfall over the Indian sub-continent is 1200 mm. Estimated that rainfall + snowfall = 400 million ha metre (4000 km3). Distribution of rainfall across the country varies; < 100 mm - Extremely arid areas of Western Ra-jasthan and > 3600 mm - NE states, 1000 mm - East coast, to 2500 - 3500mm- West C.

Choice of crops/cropping system

Depends on LGP: - In arid regions: < 300mm, LGP=1 – 4 weeks, short-duration drought-resistant pulses such as mungbean, moth bean, cowpea and cereals of 10-12 weeks duration like pearl millet. In semi-arid regions: LGP = 6 weeks –rainy season crops grown. In sub-humid regions: LGP – more than 12 weeks and rainfall are twice the PET – Rice-based system.

With the current food production over 200 m t, India is committed to producing 300 mt by 2020 to feed the grow-ing population. Since there is not much scope to expand the cultivated area (143 m ha), the future requirements are to be met through vertical growth by an intensification of agriculture. Its employee's urgent need for food, fod-der, fiber fruit etc. has to be met by enhancing productivi-ty per unit area of arable and wastelands.

- Our country is now at a critical juncture. During the last few years, there has been an increasing thrust on sus-tainability which is to improve the quality of life besides enhancing for future generations.

- During the last few decade's Indian

agriculture contributed significantly to the national growth in the global economic scenario primarily because of self-sufficiency in the food sector as a result of the first green revolution.

- This progress has come essentially from irrigated are-as. But productivity gains in major crops are slowing down in these areas in the recent past. If all the irrigation potential is utilized 50percent of the area will remain

rainfed. It supports 40 per cent Indian humans and two-third of the livestock population.

Why the Second Green Revolution?

India cannot sustain past glory and achievements in agriculture. The first green revolution has made a dra-matic jump in wheat and rice and farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh today are producing enough to feed the rest of the country. These develop-ments are not without cost. Surface and groundwater pollution, soil salinity, pesticide residues in food, increas-ing etc. are alarming issues. Irrigated crops have reached a plateau in productivity and extra costs in soil reclamation and pollution control. Therefore, productivity raising from rainfed and diversified agriculture is essen-tial to meet future needs. Hence the second green revo-lution now has to come.

How it will come?

By 2020 the average productivity in rainfed areas must reach about 2 t/ha from the current level of 1 t/ ha. Ge-netic improvement, efficient management of natural re-sources, increasing input use efficiency, improving WUE, timeliness of operation, precision agriculture, prevention of post-harvest losses, value addition, market excess, lowering production cost, effective technology transfer, development of industry linkage, promoting custom hiring services etc. are most important factors that all contribute in doubling the crop productivity and increasing profitabil-ity. Planning commission Govt. of India in the 10th five-year plan (2002 - 2007) has identified most of the above areas for which sustainable management of rainfed agri-culture has a major role to play. Some of the major is-sues need to be addressed to reach this goal are below -

1. Resource characterization and documentation

2. Building up soil health and quality

Table: Cultivated Area under different Rainfall range

Rainfall range (mm)

Cultivated area (%)

Situation

0 – 750 30 Dry 750 – 1150 42 Medium (Moderate dry) 1150 - 2000 20 Assured

> 2000 08 Assured



3. Efficient rainwater management (Watershed basis)

4. Increasing water use efficiency through micro irriga-tion& technology transfer

5. Increasing timeliness and precision

6. Crop diversification

7. Selective mechanization to bringing more efficiency

8. Livestock farming in dryland areas

9. Refinement of ITK

10. Policy issues

Because of tremendous diversity and variability that ex-ists in the resource base of rainfed production systems, its scientific characterization is essential for evolving rational land use options. An important reason for the poor adoption of improved dryland technology is the spatial variability within the rainfed production system in terms of climate and land capability. This variability had constrained the scientific ability to extrapolate the results even within a given agro-ecological zone.

Soil health/quality

The ability of soil to function and support plant growth is known as Soil health. For convenience soil quality and soil health are used as synonyms. Successful manage-ment of soil quality is to identify various indicators that influence crop yields. Selected indications should directly monitor the outcomes which are affected by soil, produc-tivity, vegetation, water and air.

Indicators can be grouped into four categories

1) Visual-Obtained from observations or photographic interpretation vulnerability of subsoil, change in soil col-our, ephemeral, gullies, pounding, runoff, plant response, weed species, blowing soil and decomposition are some examples of a locally determined index. It shows that soil is changing.

2)Chemical indicators - pH, EC, OM, Nutrient content, Parent material

3) Physical- Tilth, Infiltration, Porosity, Aggregate stabil-ity, Texture

4)Biological-Microbial Biomass, Bio-diversity, Biological activity, Diseases suppression

After identifying – the next step is to develop suitable management practice.

In the rainfed area managing soil quality mainly involves managing soil organic matter level. Hence efforts are here made to list some important management practices

affecting soil organic matter and in turn help in achieving sustainable production.

Factors that influence soil organic matter level: -Uncontrollable –Climate and Soil texture etc., Controlla-ble – Increasing the addition of organic matter and by reducing the losses. These two objectives achieved through - Appropriate tillage, Manuring, Appropriate crop rotation, Cover crops, Addition or recycling of on-farm and off-farm organic residues and conservation tillage. The addition of compost, municipal waste, food pro-cessing residues etc. will not help in addition to macro & micronutrient but also improve soil tilth and reduce soil erosion. Soil conservation measures eg. Contour plant-ing, strip cropping, terracing, mulching will reduce ero-sion losses and in turn organic matter losses. Integrated nutrient management practices with an emphasis on the in-situ generation of biomass and incorporation into the soil should continue to the important strategies.

Rainwater management

Performance of different soil and moisture conservation structures.

Rooftop collection systems: It is common, taking benefits of gutter and drainage systems. Metal roofs are ideal for rainwater collection. They are easy to keep clean and maintain a high level of rainwater quality. A few roof materials, such as asphalt, may avoid to unlim-ited water uses to non-potable ones.

Conveyance systems via gutters, channels, and pipe systems: There are used to carry collected water to storage and areas of use.

Storage systems: keep collected rainwater for the next use. These are typically tanks, either on the surface or below ground. Open ponds may also be used, espe-cially for a decorative response.

Treatment will be required for most potable uses and possibly for some non-potable uses. Treatment typically includes filtration to remove particulate matter in the collection and conveyance of the rainwater. Elemen-tary disinfection (chlorination, ultraviolet - UV, solar) may be appropriate to restriction microbial growth in various systems, including storage systems (Scholze, 2010).

1. Moisture Conservation – in-situ (Agriiinfo, 2015)

Mulching – Mulch is a layer of organic (or inorgan-ic) material that is placed on the root zone of the plants.

Conservation tillage – Reducing or, in extreme cases, eliminating the tillage to maintain healthy soil organic levels which increases the soils capacity to ab-sorb and retain water.



Crop rotation – A growing contrasting category of crops every season helps boost soil structure and thus water holding capacity example - rotating deep-rooted with shallow-rooted crops, as plants draw water from contrasting depth levels within the soil.

Green manuring – Growing of plant materials with the sole purpose of adding to the soil for upgraded or-ganic matter and nutrients. The upgraded soil condition then also improves water retention capacity.

Mixed cropping and interplanting - Cultivating a consolidation of crops with contrasting planting times and contrasting length of a growth cycle.

Contour ploughing – By ploughing the soil along the contour rather of up- and downward slopes, the ve-locity of runoff is decreased, generate even barriers, and more water is retained in the soils and distributed more equally across the cropland.

Strip cropping - Growing erosion tolerating crops and erosion resisting crops in alternate strips.

Spreading manure or compost over the soil – This minimizes evapotranspiration and also implements valu-able nutrients to the soil through the preparation of de-composition.

2. Water Harvesting – ex-situ (Run-off water) (Oweis et al., 2012)

Contour Bunds: This method involves the construc-tion of bunds on the contour of the catchment area

Semicircular Hoop: This type of structure consists of an earthen impartment constructed in the shape of a semicircle.

Trapezoidal Bunds: Such bunds also consist of an earthen embankment, constructed in the shape of trape-zoids.

Graded Bunds: Graded bunds also referred to as off contour bunds. They consist of earthen or stone em-bankments and are constructed on land with a slope range of 0.5 to 2%.

Rock Catchment: The rock catchments are the exposed rock surfaces, used for collecting the runoff water in a part as a depressed area.

Ground Catchment: In this method, a large area of ground is used as a catchment for runoff yield.

Crop Diversification:

1. Use of crop varieties/cropping system matching with the growing season.

2. Future research needs to address this issue in a sys-tem perspective eg. Emphasis on livestock farming/pasture vs. arable cropping or annual vs. perennial crops based on land capability and rainfall pattern.

3. Alternate land use strategy like Agri – silviculture, silvopasture, and Agri –horticulture involving medicinal, aromatic and dye yielding crops need to be designed in s to available options. Similarly, the other components of the production systems like poultry, fisheries etc. need to be inter practised wherever feasible. Agro- vegetable system in dryland: Ridge – Furrow Planting [Rice – Pi-geon pea], Strip Planting [Rice + Mung bean], Intercrop-ping [Pigeon pea + Okra].

Selective Mechanization

Mechanization Status: Primitive farming practices and low managerial inputs. Traditional tools and implements operated mostly by humans & animal power. Custom hiring of tractor-drawn cultivators is getting popular for land preparation. Mechanization is viewed as a facilitator to: Ensure timeliness & precision of field operations for the desired plant stand, enhanced productivity, improve the quality of agro-produce. Enhance soil-water and other input productivity more effectively, increase labour- productivity, Maximizing energy consumption.

Why Mechanization Needed?

Mechanization needs related to such constraints are identifying critical mechanization needs, identifying tools/ implements to meet such needs advocating the use of improved tools/implements for a specific operation, and promoting tested implements for their adaptability in the region through custom hiring.

As per the mechanization need critical farm opera-tions identified:

1) Seeding – achieving adequate plant stand through timely land preparation and precision drilling for enhanc-ing system productivity.

2) Weeding – timely and effective weed control for opti-mal utilization of moisture and nutrients for desired plant growth.

Harvesting – Minimizing turnaround time between two crops in a sequence for timely sowing of succeeding crops: -Summer Ploughing by M.B. Plough; Sowing of Barley by Strip-till drill, Rota Till Drill; Sowing of Wheat by Raised Bed Planter; Sowing of Chickpea by Inclined Plate Planter.

References

Scholze, R. J. (2010). Rainwater Harvesting for Army Installations. Public Works Technical Bulletin. PWTB 200-1-75. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Washington DC.



Available online at www.wbdg.org/ccb/ARMYCOE/PWTB/pwtb_200_1_75.pdf

Agriinfo. (2015). Soil and Water Conservation Methods – Management Practices, Available on-line at: http://www.agriinfo.in/?page=topic&superid=1&topicid=436

Oweis, T. Y., Prinz, D., & Hachum, A. Y. (2012). Water Harvesting for Agriculture in the Dry Areas. CRC press.



Underutilized cucurbitaceous crops have immense potential in

food production because they are well adapted to existing as

well as adverse environmental conditions and are generally

resistant to insect-pests and diseases. Therefore promotion of

these vegetables is very much necessary for their utilization in

breeding programs to develop biotic and abiotic stress re-

sistant/tolerant varieties. Oriental pickling melon, sweet bitter

gourd and spine gourd are underutilized vegetables of cucurbi-

taceae family with high nutritional value. Sweet bitter gourd has

many medicinal properties. On the other hand oriental pickling

melon also has rich nutritional qualities. Spine gourd has caro-

tene and iron content and a great proportion of edible flesh

than bittergourd. The possible reasons for the low utilisation of

underexploited vegetables inspite of their recognised im-

portance are lack of sufficient amount of seeds, lack of input

requirements and lack of information on how they can fit into

production system. Furthermore, the potential role of underex-

ploited vegetables in sustainable agriculture through diversifi-

cation of agricultural environment has not been fully exploited.

ORIENTAL PICKLING MELON

Botanical Name: Cucumis melo var conomon

Origin: Central Africa

Chromosome Number: 2n=2x=24

Introduction

Oriental pickling melon is an important cucurbit like cucumber,

grown in Kerala. Cucumber is mainly used as a salad crop

whereas oriental pickling melon is largely used after cooking. It

requires warm climate and relatively shorter growing season.

Soil types ranging from clay to sandy loam are suitable for this

crop. It is more sensitive to fluctuations of light and temperature

than other cucurbits. High light and temperature increase the

male flower production.

Botany & Morphology

Fruit 20-30 cm long, cylindrical, diameter 6-9 cm. Flesh medi-

um thick &white. Growth is optimum at 25-300C, greatly limited

below 130C.Cultivation is similar to that of cucumber and mel-

ons. Stem is branched, prostrate and cover large areas. Ten-

drils are simple and born on axils of leaves.

Floral Biology

Flowers are solitary, axillary, unisexual and showy, yellow in

colour. Dehiscence takes place before anthesis. Size of pollen

varies with genotype and pollen fertility decreases as the day

advances.

Nutritive Composition

It contains 49.5 g water, 1.9g carbohydrates, 0.3 g proteins, 0.1

g fats, 0.3 g fibre, 54.6 IU vitamin A, 8.3 mg calcium, 12.5 mg

phosphorus and 0.1 mg iron per 100 g edible portion. Oriental

pickling melon provides 20 Kcal of energy.

Varieties

Mudicode, Arunima and Saubhagya are high yielding varieties

of oriental pickling melon.

Climate & Soil

It is essentially a warm season crop mainly grown in tropical

and subtropical regions. Generally a long period of warm, pref-

erably dry weather with abundant sunshine is required. It is

very susceptible to frost. Require tropical climate with fairly

high temperatures of 35-400C during fruit development.

A well drained sandy loam soil rich in organic matter is suitable

Underexploited Cucurbitaceous Vegetables

Nivedita Gupta1* & Sonia Sood2

1Department of Agriculture, Baba Farid College, Bathinda, 151001 Punjab;

2Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, College of Agriculture, CSK HPKV, Palampur, 176 062, Himachal Pra-

desh, India Article ID: 20/06/0102043



for cultivation. Soil temperature is a detrimental factor for

quick germination, early maturity and production. The

maximum and optimum temperatures are 250C and 18-

200C, respectively. Soil moisture is also important for

rapid growth. It should be 10-15% above permanent wilt-

ing point

CULTIVATION

Preparation of land:

Pits of 60 cm diameter and 30-45 cm depth are required

for seed sowing. Well rotten FYM and fertilizers are mixed

with topsoil in the pit and four or five seeds are sown in a

pit. Remove unhealthy plants after two weeks and retain

three plants per pit. For trailing spread dried twigs on the

ground.

Season:-The ideal seasons are January-March and Sep-

tember-December. November transplanted crop come to

harvest early compared to March sown.

Seed rate: The crop is direct seeded or transplanted. It is

grown in furrows, raised beds or pits/basins. Cowdung

manure or FYM is mixed with the soil at the time of dig-

ging and preparation of pits. Seed rate varies from 0.5-

0.75 kg/ha. Seeds should be sown at a depth of 1-2 cm.

Spacing: Oriental pickling melon is sown at a spacing of

2.0 m x 1.5 m in rows and 45×60 cm between plants.

Water management:

During the initial stages of growth, irrigate the crop at an

interval of 3-4 days. Irrigate in alternate days during flow-

ering and fruiting. Adequate moisture should be main-

tained at the time of emergence. In general irrigation once

in 5-6 days will be necessary depending upon soil, tem-

perature and location.

Nutrient management:

Apply FYM @ 20-25 t/ha as basal dose along with half

dose of N (35 kg) and full dose of P2O5 (25 kg) and K2O

(25 kg/ha). The remaining dose of N (35 kg) can be ap-

plied in two equal split doses at the time of vine develop-

ment and at the time of full blooming. Top dressing with

100 kg ammonium sulphate at the time of flowering found

to give higher yields of fruits.

Weed management:

Conduct weeding and raking of the soil at the time of ferti-

lizer application. Earthing up may be done during rainy

season. When the vines start spreading weeding in be-

tween the rows or ridges becomes unnecessary since vine

growth can smother the weeds. Fluchloralin @1.2 kg and

0.48 kg N is effective for weed control.

Harvesting:

Harvesting can be done from 45 days after sowing. Seeds

are harvested when fruits are fully ripened. Fruits after

picking are placed in piles. They are cut open by hand

with a knife and seeds are placed into a container with

pulp .Seeds are then separated from pulp either by fer-

mentation followed by washing or by washing alone. The

seeds after washing are dried quickly in sun. About 8-10

harvests can be made.

Yield:

Average yield is about 7-8 tonnes of tender fruits per hec-

tare.

SWEET BITTER GOURD

Botanical Name: Cyclanthera pedata (L.) Schrader

Vernacular Names: Korilla, Achoccha

Chromosome Number: 2n=32

Introduction

Young fruits of sweet bitter gourd are cooked as a vegeta-

ble or eaten raw as salad. It tastes like cucumber. Fruits

are often used for stuffing by removing seeds and pulp

and stuffed with ingredients similar to stuffed pepper. It

possesses anti-inflammatory, hypo-cholestrolaemic and

hypoglycaemic properties.

Nutritive Value

It contains 94.1 g water, 4.0 g carbohydrates, 0.6 g pro-

teins, 0.1 g fats, 0.7 g fibre, 0.7 g ash, 14 mg Vit C and

0.04 mg Vit B1 per 100 g edible portion. Sweet bitter



gourd provides17 Kcal of total energy.

Origin & Distribution

The origin of sweet bitter gourd is believed to be in the

Caribbean region. Presently it is cultivated from Mexico to

Peru and Ecuador and also occasionally in the old world

tropics (India, Nepal, Malaysia and Taiwan). Its area is

limited in India and it is grown mostly in the hills of West-

ern Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh and Ut-

taranchal.

Botany

Cylanthera pedata has a closely related species Cyclan-

thera brachystachia (Ser) Cogn. It is also edible and neu-

tralised in the same areas where sweet bitter gourd is

grown. Plant is an annual, vigorous vine up to 4-5 m long,

branching at the lower nodes, leaves 8-18 cm in width,

normally 5 lobed. Vines possess forked tendril for support.

It is monoecious perennial but can be grown as an annual

having climbing habit. Fruit is pepo, tapering flattened,

obliquely ovoid, 10-15 cm long and 5-10 cm in width and 2

-3 cm in thickness. Sometimes fruit skin is having sparse

spines. The cavity of fruit is hollow, fleshy rind is 3-4mm

thick; the inner tissue is a white spongy, pulp containing

black-brown seeds.

Climate & Soil

It requires very warm sunny weather for its growth. Plants

are not very cold hardy and normally grown in greenhouse

in Britain. Plant prefers light sandy or medium loamy soils.

It is sensitive to waterlogged conditions; hence proper

drainage should be kept. It is generally raised by sowing 2

-3 seeds in well prepared basin. A light irrigation is re-

quired for germination.

Cultivation

Spacing

Planting distance may be kept 90cm between the rows

and same distance between plants. Staking the vine pro-

motes growth and also facilitates in harvesting of fruits.

Harvesting

Green immature fruits are harvested for salad and vegeta-

ble purpose. The fruits are harvested after 90 days of

seed sowing. Yield varies between 100-125 q/ha of green

fruits.

SPINE GOURD

Botanical Name: Momordica dioica Roxb. Ex. Wild.

Chromosome Number: 2n=28

Introduction

Spine gourd is dioecious cucurbit found growing wild in

forest areas. It is often cultivated for its fruits which are

used as vegetables. Fruits are available from July to Sep-

Oct, in North India. Fruits are good source of protein and

iron. It is also rich in ascorbic content (275.10 mg/100g),

iron (0.7g/100g). Fruits and other plant parts possess

several medicinal properties. Roots are applied in bleed-

ing piles, bowels and urinary complaints; also applied as

in paste form over the body of a sedative in fevers.

Nutritive Value

It contains 90.1 g water, 4.2 g carbohydrates, 3.1 g pro-

teins, 1.0 g fats, 3.0 g fibre, 1.1 g minerals, 33.0 mg calci-

um, 42.0 mg phosphorus, and 4.6 mg iron per 100 g edi-

ble portion. Spine gourd provides 22 Kcal of total energy.

Origin & Distribution

It is probably native of India. Plants are distributed from

Himalayas to Srilanka; upto an altitude of 1500m. Plants

of spine gourd are found naturally growing in hilly tracts of

Jharkhand and in wet hills of Maharashtra, Assam and

West Bengal.

Botanical Description

It belongs to genus Momordica and species dioica Roxb. It

is dioecious climber, stem glabrous, leaves broadly ovate,

entire deeply 3-5 lobed, flowers solitary, yellow, fruits

ovoid or ellipsoid, 2.5-6.5 cm long, shortly beaked, dense-

ly echinate with short spines, seeds slightly compressed, 6

-7 mm long and irregularly corrugated.

Climate & Soil

It is a plant of warm season. For prolific growth of vine,

high humidity and 25-30⁰C temperature and 150-250 cm



average rainfall is required. Its plants remain dormant

during winter months. Being a hardy crop, it can be grown

in different types of soils, however sandy soil (pH=6-7)

rich in organic matter with provision of good drainage are

considered best. Before sowing, field should be deeply

ploughed 3-4 times and thereafter harrowing is done to

remove the pieces of perennial weeds.

Propagation

There are four methods of planting spine gourd as follows:

Through seeds: Freshly extracted seeds should not be

sown. Dormant seeds for 5-6 months should be used by

dipping in tap water for 24 hours before sowing stimulates

germination process. The main problem in seed propaga-

tion is 1:1 ratio of male and female and delay in fruiting.

Through tuberous roots: Tuberous roots do not have dor-

mancy and plants raised are healthy. Tubers are obtained

from 2-3 years old plant and 80-120 g pieces are made for

planting. Every planting piece of tubers must have at least

two buds for sprouting. Planting may be done early in the

month of Sept-Oct. or Feb-March. Tuberous roots are

planted at a spacing of 3m.

Through stem cuttings: For raising plants through this

method, cuttings are made from terminal portions. Cut-

tings should be dipped in 1500 ppm IBA for higher per-

centage of rooting and then planted in a mixture of soil:

sand: compost (1:2:1).

Through grafting: Spine gourd can be grafted on the root-

stocks of Cucurbita moschata, Cucurbita trifolia or F1

hybrids of C. maxima×C. moschata. Physiological meas-

urements were made for mature leaves between 5th and

9th nodes.

Anthesis

In spine gourd, both staminate and pistillate flowers borne

solitary and have light yellow colour. Pistillate and stami-

nate buds took 9 and 11 days respectively to reach anthe-

sis. Anthesis in both types of flowers commenced at 7am

and completed by 8am. Dehiscence begins at 6am and

continued upto 7am. The pollen grains are round and

yellow with 3 germ spores. Pollen viability was 97.88 %

initially and then decreased with increasing room tempera-

ture and RH. Application of sucrose and glucose media

increased percentage of pollen germination and pollen

tube growth. Stigma was receptive from 12h before and

18h after anthesis with peak at a time of anthesis.

Harvesting & Yield

In spine gourd fruits take 25-27 days to reach maturity.

Marketable fruits are obtained 12 days after fruit set.

Green fruits at proper stage of maturity should be harvest-

ed. Delay in harvesting cause yellowing of fruits. Colour of

pedicel, pericarp and spine remain green until 12-13 days

after flowering and thereafter the colour changes. Har-

vesting should be done at frequent intervals. A good crop

of spine gourd yields 75-100 quintals fruits per hectare.

Pest management for Under-exploited cucurbits

The important pests are Epilachna beetle

(Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata), Red pumpkin beetle

(Aulachophora foveicollis) and Fruit fly (Bactrocera cucur-

bitae). Fruit fly is the most common polyphagous insect

pest attacking the cucurbits. They can be controlled by

spraying chlorpyriphos @ 0.04% and 5% carbaryl. Total

eradication of fruit fly may be impossible. However, a few

chemical insecticides, poison bait containing a sex attract-

ant along with an insecticide and soil application of insecti-

cides are effective. The safe insecticides are Dichlorvos,

Carbaryl, Malathion and Thiometon. Spray of Fenithion/

Lebaycid (0.05%) or fenitrothion (0.1%) at the time of

female flower initiation. Mechanical methods include col-

lection and destruction of all infested fruits and raking of

the soil under the vines. Red pumpkin beetle and epi-

lachna beetles can be managed by early sowing of the

crop and clean cultivation with a few hoeing to kill the

larvae and pupae in the soil. Deep ploughing after the

crop harvest is also effective to kill the grubs in the soil.

Chemical control of the beetles includes spraying with

Fenitrothion @0.1%, Carbaryl @4g and Dichlorvos@

0.1%. The first spray should be given at 10 days after

seed germination followed by one or two sprays at 10-15

days interval.

Disease management for Under-exploited cucurbits

The important diseases are Downy mildew (Sphaerotheca fuligena), Powdery mildew (Pseudoperonospora cu-bensis) and mosaic. Spraying of 0.1% bavistin or kara-thane and 0.3% Dithane-M45 respectively is used for control of both downy as well as powdery mildew. Mosaic is a viral diseases transmitted through mechanical sap inoculation by aphid vector (Aphis gossypii, Brevicoryne brassicae, Myzus persicae etc). It can be controlled by spraying with Nuvacron or Dimecron (0.05%) just after germination at 10 days interval. Spraying with mineral oil (1.5%) or Confidor (0.03%). Harvesting of fruits should be done only after 10 days of insecticide / fungicide applica-tion. The fruits should be washed thoroughly in water be-fore cooking.



Introduction

Herbicides provide selective and economical weed control.

Herbicides are used both directly to the soil and in foliar appli-

cations. Concerning the type and method of application, a

portion (in foliar applications) or the entire amount (in soil-

applied agents) of herbicide reaches the soil (Praczyk and

Skrzypczak 2004; Woznica 2008; Sharma et al. 2018). Each

active ingredient which enters the soil undergoes certain

biophysical and biochemical processes.

As the herbicide active ingredient enters the soil it is separat-

ed between the solid (soil particles) and the aqueous (soil

solution) phase. In the soil medium, only that portion of the

active ingredient which is found in the liquid phase is availa-

ble to plants. However, herbicide molecules adsorbed or

chemically bound with the solid phase are not absorbed by

plants. Under field conditions, this parity is continually upset

because of the activity of the edaphone and through changes

in temperature and moisture content of the soil, which influ-

ences the accessibility of herbicide to weeds and crops

(Sadowski 2001).

The indiscriminate and excessive use of herbicides may re-

sult in residue, phytotoxicity and adverse effect on succeed-

ing crops, non-targets organisms, environment and ultimately

hazardous to humans (Sondhia et al. 2015).

Depending upon tilth, climatic and soil conditions just a part of

the herbicide found in the soil is accessible to plants and

shows phytotoxic activity. Therefore, estimation of residues,

degradation rate and translocation of a persistent herbicide

has noteworthy significance in an agro-ecological condition

(Sadowski et al. 2002; Sadowski and Kucharski 2004).

Accumulation of herbicides that have high persistence in

rotational crops and herbicide drift during the application of

the product on crops or plants adjacent to the treated crop

has a major concern in herbicide usage. Based on these

contemplations, the risk evaluation of the utilization of herbi-

cides on non-target plants should centre considering the ag-

ronomic utilization of the product.

In this context, the bioassay technique is a useful tool that

complements the analytical methods and provides infor-

mation regarding herbicide bioa-

vailability for the plant and its possible phytotoxicity (Stork

and Hannah 1996). The phytotoxic effect of herbicides may

be observed based on the reduction in dry or fresh weight of

roots or aboveground parts of test plants (Günther et al.,

1993; Sarmah et al., 1999; Demczuk et al., 2004; Sekutowski

and Sadowski, 2005; 2006; 2009).

Criteria for selection of detection technique

The most important criterion in the selection of a detection

technique is the concentration, at which a given analyte may

be found in the tested sample. Instrumental methods [gas

chromatography (GC) or liquid high-performance chromatog-

raphy (HPLC)] make it possible to determine the total content

of active ingredients in the soil at the time of the application or

several weeks after the application of herbicides. Several

experiments based on bioassay techniques have been ex-

plored to study the methodology of herbicide residues.

Bioassay

Bioassay or biotest (Greek bios – life + Latin testari - indicate)

may be defined as an experimental biological sample (the

whole organism or its part), which aims to detect a toxic sub-

stance found in the environment or to identify its harmful ac-

tion, by quantitative determination of the effect of the tested

substance concerning the control object (Sekutowski 2011).

In simple terms, bioassays are experiments that use living

things to test the toxicity of chemicals (Rana et. al. 2020) in

the environment.

To detect any effect of herbicides in the plant and to test

herbicides efficacy and response assays, tests must be car-

ried out at various levels in the laboratory, greenhouse and

field. The field examines are the most ideal method of study-

ing herbicide impact however exact and productive green-

house and laboratory tests could be of the highest im-

portance. Since the lab work uses huge number of plant sam-

ples, a simple and rapid technique is required. Bio-tests may

be specifically needed in determining crop selectivity, herbi-

cide resistance in weeds or selecting herbicide resistant crop

plants.

The role and application of bioassay techniques

An Overview of the Methodology for Herbicide Residue Estimation and Management

Shilpa & S.S. Rana* Department of Agronomy, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidayalya, Palampur

Article ID: 20/06/0102047



Bioassays or biological tests or biotest applied to the

investigation of herbicides depend on the reaction of

various species, picked as controls, to the use of the

herbicide under examination. They are the essential

tools that give an overview of soil-plant-herbicide inter-

action. Although there are chemical methods of analysis

accurate and simple to use, bioassays have certain ad-

vantages: -

• Phytotoxicity bioassays detect both the active

substance and the possible degradation products.

• The biological assays provide practical infor-

mation, being based on observation of the response of

the plant to the herbicide.

• The materials and methodology necessary to

carry out bioassays are simple and inexpensive.

Standardization of bioassays to detect residues in

soil using sensitive species

Bioassays are used to measure the biological response

of a plant to a herbicide and to quantify its concentration

in a substrate (soil). Bioassays are conducted with sen-

sitive plant species referred to as indicator/test species.

A major advantage of the bioassay is the assurance that

the phytotoxic activity of the herbicide molecule is being

measured. An auxiliary advantage is that it isn't general-

ly important to extricate the herbicide from the sub-

stance. Bioassay systems are normally progressively

conservative, less hard to perform and don't require as

many costly instruments as chemical and physical ana-

lytical methods.

There are different herbicide bioassays such as sensi-

tive root and shoot bioassay (Sharma et al. 2019), coty-

ledon disc bioassay etc.

Principle

Physical, chemical or biological stimuli is measured by

the response produced on the living matter (root or

shoot dry weight).

Procedure

In the incubation study, pre-germinated seeds for 48 hrs

will be transferred to petri dishes with filter paper having

varying doses of herbicide (5ml of herbicide solution is

added). The doses are fixed depending on the recom-

mendation i.e. if the recommendation is 1.00 kg a.i. per

acre, the highest 1.00 ppm and the lowest limit is 0.001

ppm, with absolute control. Each dose will be repeated

three times. After 48 hrs, root and shoot length of these

sensitive plants will be recorded. The data on shoot and

root length obtained from the above experiment was

subjected to statistical analysis. Based on high R2 and

low ED50 value the most sensitive plant will be selected.

Analysis

Calculate % increase over control = Treatment/control x

100

From the above data calculate logit values

Logit value =

from the above values regress logit y within concentra-

tion & get

y = a + b (logx)

In ED50 = -a/b

ED50= antilog (In ED50)

Based on high R2, low ED50 and low residual sum of

squares select the most sensitive species and conduct

soil bioassay under normal glasshouse conditions.

Soil bio-assay techniques in herbicide residue analysis

Procedure - Take 500/1000 g soil in a plastic container

mix thoroughly the standard amounts of herbicide

(0.0001, 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 ppm).

Five to ten seeds of the sensitive plant are dibbled in

each bowl. Replicate the experiment to suit the standard

statistical analysis. Take the germination count after

seven days and then the plants suitably to avoid the

competition effect. Observe for malformation or epinasty

symptoms in pulled out seedlings. After two weeks cut

the plants close to the soil surface and take the plant

height, fresh weight, dry weight of root and shoot. Draw

the standard dose-response curve (logistic function) for

the above parameters.

Making use of the linearized form of logistic function

regression equations were worked out.

Where in a-slope, b- intercept, x--concentration.

Y = a + b (log x)

where in

Y =

(maximum value = max. percent observed value over

control= 110 to 130, minimum value = 0 (assumed).



Making use of the above techniques, studies were con-

ducted in AICRP on Weed Control Palampur Centre

laboratory to identify the most sensitive species for de-

tecting the residues of the following herbicides.

Herbicide Residues Management Strategies

There are several ways to avoid herbicide persistence

and carryover problems. The thorough overview of herb-

icide residues management strategies in the field can be

have from Rana et al. (2020) and Janaki et al. (2015).

Here the management strategies are briefly outlined:

A. Cultural and Mechanical Management Practices

a. Integrated weed management

b. Ploughing or cultivating the land

c. Incorporation of herbicides

d. Crop rotation

e. Growing herbicide-tolerant crops

f. Light irrigation after application

g. Site-specific application using rate applicator

B. Enhancing the herbicide degradation

a. Nutrient addition

b. Bioaugmentation

C. Deactivation of herbicides

a. Addition of organic matter

b. Use of non-phytotoxic oils, adjuvants and surfactants

c. Use of adsorbents, protectants and antidotes

d. Biochar addition

e. Use of safener

D. Reducing the availability of herbicides in soil

a. Use of optimum and reduced dose of herbicides

b. Use of herbicides in combination and split doses

c. Method and time of application

d. Alternate use of herbicides

e. Match rates to weed infestation levels and using suita-

ble formulations

E. Removal from the site of contamination

For different herbicides, the different sensitive plants are there under the most sensitive parameter and are given below

Herbicides Sensitive plant Sensitive parameter

2,4-D Cucumber,maize Whole plant fresh and dry weight

Pendimethalin Maize, finger millet Germination %,shoot and root length

Butachlor, Atrazine, fluchloralin,

linuron, Oxyflourfen Finger millet

Germination %, fresh and dry weight of the

whole plant

Metribuzin, chlorimuron ethyl,

metolachlor Cucumber Whole plant fresh and dry weight

Pyrazosulfuron t p-butyl, cyhalofop

butyl Setaria

Germination%, shoot and whole plant fresh

ethyl, Fluazifop- and dry weight

Sethoxydim Maize Whole plant dry weight

Metsulfuron methyl, anilophos Green gram Whole plant fresh and dry weight, shoot and

root length



a. Phytoremediation

Future needs

In India, most of the research pertinent to residue man-

agement of herbicides has been focussed on cultural

and mechanical management aspects and to some ex-

tent on the split application or rotational use of herbi-

cides. The research works on the deactivation of herbi-

cides utilizing the various organic sources; enhancing

the degradation by biostimulation and removal of con-

taminants from the site using the phytoremediation tech-

niques are scanty. The effect of crop residues on the

behaviour of herbicide residues in the environment is

also very little. Hence, extensive site-specific field stud-

ies are essential to develop holistic measures for the

management of herbicide residue in the soil environ-

ment.

Conclusion

Bioassays are methods commonly applied in ecotoxicol-

ogy in the determination of the levels of the bioavailable

phytotoxic residue of herbicide active ingredients in soil.

Tests with the use of rapidly germinating seeds have

several important advantages, as they are cheap and

easy to perform, they do not require expensive laborato-

ry equipments and they yield reproducible results. The

phytotoxic effect of herbicide active ingredient may be

stated based on the dynamics of germination, seedling

growth, reduction of dry or fresh weight of roots or

aboveground parts (stems, leaves) of test plants. The

scope of bioassay application within the next few years

will be increasing and thus collected information will

constitute the basis for the initiation of analyses using

classical analytical methods.

While using herbicides, the prevention and management

aspects should be kept in mind for sustained harvest

and quality food production and environment. Combining

mechanical and cultural management practices with

herbicides for managing weeds is a promising alterna-

tive. Integration of bioaugmentation and biostimulation

along with organic matter addition might be a successful

technology to speed up the biodegradation. Biostimula-

tion along with crop rotation and increasing the organic

matter content is a fruitful technique for managing the

herbicide residue in the soil.

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Introduction

Global urbanization, mechanization and numerous natural

processes have enhanced the discharge of hazardous sub-

stances into the environment. These lethal toxic pollutants

include diverse organic and inorganic compounds, which be-

come a serious threat to the ecosystem. Elimination and re-

duction of soil contamination with heavy metals are the major

thoughtful global challenges. Plants possess the necessary

genetic, physiological, and biochemical features to create

themselves as the ultimate preferences for water and soil

pollutant remediation. Phytoremediation is defined as a di-

verse assemblage of plant-focused tools that use either ge-

netically tailored or natural plants to eliminate contaminated

environments. Phytoremediation is a green-clean eco-friendly,

cost-effective and viable approach to eliminate metal toxicity.

Due to this problem,

Documents

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