Shobha Ananda Reddy

Over the last few decades, the use of chemical fertilizers for crop production and use of agrochemicals for the management of soil-borne pathogens has resulted in development of resistance in the pathogens and increased susceptibility of plants to diseases. Indiscriminate use of the chemicals and monocropping system have resulted in loss of productivity. The chemicals that are used have deleterious effects on no target organisms. From the point of environmental safety and to maintain the necessary ecological balance of the soil community, it is essential to identify alternate remedies for the management of pathogens. This book, therefore,provides an insight to eco-friendly strategies which can be adopted in farming practices to manage the soil-borne plant pathogens. The highlights of the results of the application of these strategies at the field level on solanaceous crops are presented to help researchers,environmentalists, horticulturists and farmers or anyone else who ever is interested in organic farming.

Two serious soil-borne plant pathogens Fusarium oxysporum and Ralstonia solanacearum are causing considerable damage to vegetable crops in India. Th ese pathogens are difficult to manage by chemical methods. Current interest is to promote their biolo gical management. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of seed treatment with 10% aque ous extracts of vermicompost prepared from differen t organic substrates (agricultural waste, leaves of Azadiracta indica (neem), Parthenium hysterophorous (Parthenium), Lantana camara (Lantana) and application of vermicompost neem to soil. The test crop was tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum ) for F. oxysporum and eggplant (Solanum melongena ) for R. solanacearum . The results showed that the best treatment for supp ression of fusarial wilt in tomato and bacterial wi lt in eggplant was seed treatment (1 hour) with 10% aqueous extract of vermicompost neem coupled with the application of vermicompost neem to the soil both d uring sowi...

The objective of this study commissioned by the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA), Karnataka in conjunction with City Managers Association, Karnataka (CMAK) is to recommend the best possible measures to be taken to improve the revenue and financial status of Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) in Karnataka in a sustainable manner. The ULBs studied are Bangarpet, Bidar, Chamrajnagar, Davanagere, Haliyal, Hubli-Dharwad, K R Nagar, Lingasugur, Sakleshpur, Sira, Ullal and Yadgir. IIHS has approached this study with the view that cities that reflect adequate local economic development and that are able to contain their local environmental risks, will be better positioned to be financially sustainable in planning, implementing and maintaining their developmental activities. This in turn will enhance the financial buoyancy of these ULBs. Based on this approach, a holistic profile for each city was prepared from a detailed analysis of primary and secondary data. The parameters looked at included a) Economic and Social – Regional connectivity, demographic trends, employment and livelihood and human development. b) Environmental – Natural and man-made risk and resilience. Diverse inputs from this analysis have further been coalesced into typologies that have helped categorise these cities and towns over their size or administrative class, regional or spatial (territorial), socio-economic, environmental and financial profiles. The typologies included: Need immediate attention: High vulnerable population, low Human Development Index(HDI), those that are mono-economic, water stressed, disaster prone Need offsetting of negative impact: Satellite towns, those seeing urban sprawl, those having large informal labour Need leveraging of advantage: Those having potential for tourism, trading towns, manufacturing towns, education hubs Need attention to negative impact if any: Those seeing transportation based development, high population growth, agriculture economy linkage Using these typologies, the following recommendations have been provided: Urban Governance: Bridging workshops for development of a ‘Municipal Plan’: Curate and conduct workshops regularly between the ULB and the line agencies. The workshops could be conducted at least every three years structured by the CMAK or other identified institutions with expertise in the field of urbanisation. This could be aligned with the district level visioning process and/or the District Planning Committee’s (DPC) plans. Land Leverage: Inner city redevelopment: Rejuvenate, re-densify and redevelop vacant lands by leveraging their land value and unused or under-utilised infrastructure. This can make better use of already commercially viable areas by increasing density and bringing in mixed land use. Converting slums on ULB Land to rental housing: ULBs give security of tenure to households by signing a ‘land rent’ agreement with the occupying household, in return for rent on the land occupied. Households remain ‘owners’ of the housing unit and become ‘renters’ of the land. Premium on third party transactions on municipal properties: Collect premium, transfer fees and a share of profits over a change of assignment of plots taken on lease from the ULB. This may be extended to cover ULB buildings currently on lease or rent Green Jobs: These jobs within various sectors are not only aimed at boosting local economic development but also enhancing service delivery of the ULBs. Green mobility in urban areas: Development of green mobility systems supported by para-transit systems and non-motorised transport (NMT) infrastructure. The potential areas for job creation in green mobility include manufacture of green mobility solutions, servicing, maintenance and management, information systems and banking support Sustainable solid waste and waste water management: Generation of employment in sustainable practices such as Rainwater Harvesting (RWH), shallow well digging, and planning, implementation and management of sewage treatment plants (including decentralised waste water treatment systems). Urban farming: Generation of employment in the following sectors – Permaculture, gardening and nursery management (on ULB lands), soil and nutrient supply and household level service providers (installation and maintenance of roof top gardens, permaculture units etc.) These recommendations have been prioritised for the 12 ULBs based on the typologies they fit into. They also have the potential to be extrapolated to all the ULBs in Karnataka keeping in mind their specific characteristics

Personal computers (PC's), cell phones, fax machines and related electronic equipment, have become a part of modern life in developed and many developing countries. While theses devices have improved our productivity, they also have created a unique problem of disposal of the discarded electronic or e-waste. In the United States, PCs become outdates within an average period of 3-4 years. Continued technological innovations, aided by lower price of the new models, further reduce the useful life of PCs to an even shorter period. It is estimated that in the US alone, during the 10 year period. 1997-2007, an estimated 500 million PCs will become obsolete, awaiting disposal. Owing to the toxic nature of many heavy metals, organic, and inorganic compounds that go into manufacturing the computer and the monitor, their disposal in a landfill or by incineration is not a preferred option. Recyclers attempt to salvage as many of the re-usable materials as possible. However, the labor-inten...

Laboratory study was carried out for efficient management of sewage sludge generated by municipal wastewater treatment plant. The experiment dealt with the stabilization, through the action of epigeic earthworm, Eudrilus eugeniae, of mixtures containing sewage sludge, Eichhornia crassipies and Parthenium hysterophorus. Chemical analyses of secondary sewage sludge (collected from Hebbal treatment plant, Bangalore) were carried out to estimate the change in composition of various chemicals in sludge before and after vermicomposting. Combined effect of vermicomposting and addition of P. hysterophorus and E. crassipes resulted in conversion of sludge into a useful soil amendment in place of fertilizers to enhance the soil quality and increase the plant growth. A reduction in pH value is achieved after vermicomposting in all the three substrates used in the study. The study shows a significant increase in levels of Phosphorus in all the vermicomposted samples with highest of 0.34% by wei...

The in vitro efficacy of different aqueous extracts of vermicompost prepared from leaves of Azardirachta indica, Lantana camera, Parthenium hysterophorous were tested for the management of the pathogen. Vermicompost was prepared by mixing the respective substrates with cow dung slurry (9:1 ratio w/w) independently. Among the three aqueous extracts, vermicomposted neem was found to be superior to that of vermicomposted Lantana and Parthenium in suppression of growth of X.campestris. Based on the results of the in vitro studies field studies were taken up as a combination of seed treatment with vermicompost extract and soil application of vermicompost. The seeds of tomato were soaked for one hrs in different aqueous extracts of vermicomposts before sowing. The seedlings were raised in separate nursery beds of size 1m x 1m to which vermicompost was applied at the rate of 5 tons ha -1 . From the nursery beds seedlings were transplanted to plots and each plant received 250g of vermicompo...

The current study was aimed at utilizing fruit wastes generated after pectin extraction for assessing their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Total soluble proteins (TSP) and heat-stable proteins (HSP) were extracted from wastes of Musa sp., Citrus limetta, Citrullus lanatus, Solanum lycopersicum and Psidium sp. The HSP from S. lycopersicum waste could suppress the growth of Escherichia coli whereas Musa sp. and C. limetta HSP could inhibit the growth of Pseudomonas sp. C. limetta HSP was most effective in suppressing the growth of Fusarium oxysporum relative to the other test samples. No pathogens responded towards the HSP of C. lanatus. High antioxidant activity [Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP)] along with high phenolic levels were observed in Psidium sp. and Musa sp. fruit residues. Adopting appropriate extraction methods for active biomolecules from biodegradable wastes may pave the way for neutriceutical and pharmaceutical applications. ________________________...

The objective of this study commissioned by the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA), Karnataka in conjunction with City Managers Association, Karnataka (CMAK) is to recommend the best possible measures to be taken to improve the revenue and financial status of Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) in Karnataka in a sustainable manner. The ULBs studied are Bangarpet, Bidar, Chamrajnagar, Davanagere, Haliyal, Hubli-Dharwad, K R Nagar, Lingasugur, Sakleshpur, Sira, Ullal and Yadgir. IIHS has approached this study with the view that cities that reflect adequate local economic development and that are able to contain their local environmental risks, will be better positioned to be financially sustainable in planning, implementing and maintaining their developmental activities. This in turn will enhance the financial buoyancy of these ULBs. Based on this approach, a holistic profile for each city was prepared from a detailed analysis of primary and secondary data. The parameters looked at in...

The rapid urbanization demands better infrastructure facilities but the cities are witnessing poor services provided by local authorities. The sewage flowing through drains joins lakes and rivers in untreated condition leading to both surface and ground water pollution. The municipal sewage treatment plants are not redesigned to receive the heavy load of incoming waste water and fail to treat the sewage to expected standards for discharge into inland waters. This study investigated the effectiveness for RZTS (Root zone treatment system) developed using certain aquatic and ornamental plants for treatment of kitchen waste water. The results have indicated high efficiency on usage of aquatic plants. It can be concluded that passing the waste water through the filter beds of P.australis and T.latifolia from any source of organic origin before discharge helps in clearing the organic wastes and thus the burden of organic pollution on the common municipal waste water treatment plants and lakes can be avoided.

The excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides causes environmental hazards which greatly affect the human health and surroundings. The amounts of animal, agro and kitchen wastes that are generated have increased annually and have disposal problems 1-3 .On the other side chemicals that are used are persisting in the environment. All these have led to the need for alternative substances which are not hazardous to environment. It is well established that earthworms have beneficial effects on soil and soil fertility 4. These effects include biological and chemical effects on soil organic matter degradation 5,6. This activity contributes to the soil fertility and increases plant growth and crop yield. It has been shown that earthworms utilize microorganisms as their main source of nutrition and manipulate their selective growth and establishment, which is the cause for an increase in the number of bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi in their casts than in the surrounding soil 5. Vermicompost was seen to be an alternative substance that was found to be environmentally friendly soil amendment. Decomposition and humifaction of biodegradable organic waste material is predominantly carried out by microorganisms in the soil but some recent studies have shown that earthworms too have roles in humifaction 7. Plant diseases especially soil-borne and seed infecting pathogens are serious issue for many green house and field production of many horticultural crops. Organic farmers and agricultural scientists having concern for environment safety have long recognized the importance of using vermicompost to increase soil fertility and many growers today use vermicompost to increase the levels of available nutrients, soil physical characters Carmelight, 9(1):107-112, 2012

The in vitro efficacy of different aqueous extracts of vermicompost prepared from leaves of Azardirachta indica, Lantana camera, Parthenium hysterophorous were tested for the management of the pathogen. Vermicompost was prepared by mixing the respective substrates with cow dung slurry (9:1 ratio w/w) independently. Among the three aqueous extracts, vermicomposted neem was found to be superior to that of vermicomposted Lantana and Parthenium in suppression of growth of X.campestris. Based on the results of the in vitro studies field studies were taken up as a combination of seed treatment with vermicompost extract and soil application of vermicompost. The seeds of tomato were soaked for one hrs in different aqueous extracts of vermicomposts before sowing. The seedlings were raised in separate nursery beds of size 1m x 1m to which vermicompost was applied at the rate of 5 tons ha-1. From the nursery beds seedlings were transplanted to plots and each plant received 250g of vermicompost (spot application) in two split doses. Since the aqueous extract of vermicomposted neem showed better suppression of the pathogen in in vitro studies, the same vermicompost was used for soil application. The results showed that the best treatment for suppression of bacterial spot in tomato was seed treatment (1 h) with 10% aqueous extract of vermicomposted neem coupled with application of vermicomposted neem to the soil both during sowing as well as on transplantation. This treatment reduced the incidence of bacterial spot by 98% and resulted in maximum yield of 15.4 t ha-1. Bioagent like aqueous extract of vermicomposted neem along with the soil amendment with the same vermicompost is essential for the management of the pathogen in affected soils. Use of such alternate materials which are non-polluting, cost effective, non hazardous and do not disturb ecological balance can reduce the use of copper based bactericides, leading to elimination of copper entry into the soil system.

Laboratory study was carried out for efficient management of sewage sludge generated by municipal wastewater treatment plant. The experiment dealt with the stabilization, through the action of epigeic earthworm, Eudrilus eugeniae, of mixtures containing sewage sludge, Eichhornia crassipies and Parthenium hysterophorus. Chemical analyses of secondary sewage sludge (collected from Hebbal treatment plant, Bangalore) were carried out to estimate the change in composition of various chemicals in sludge before and after vermicomposting. Combined effect of vermicomposting and addition of P. hysterophorus and E. crassipes resulted in conversion of sludge into a useful soil amendment in place of fertilizers to enhance the soil quality and increase the plant growth. A reduction in pH value is achieved after vermicomposting in all the three substrates used in the study. The study shows a significant increase in levels of Phosphorus in all the vermicomposted samples with highest of 0.34% by weight in the sample Sludge + P. hysterophorus while the value in plain sludge is only 0.17% by weight. This increased value promoted rapid and better germination in the germination studies carried out using Lycopersicon esculentum seeds.Effectiveness of vermicomposted samples as effective soil amendments was assessed through studies using tomato seeds. Aqueous vermicompost extracts of above material were used for this assessment. The results clearly indicated a maximum rate of 80% germination in case of sludge + P. hysterophorus and water samples while the least germination rate was observed in plain sludge sample. Subsequently the biomass value was maximum of 1.00g in case of the substrate sludge + P. hysterophorus.Serial dilution was carried out for the total microbial count, which was found to be nearly twofold higher in vermicomposted sludge with E. crassipes and P.hysterophorus samples than in plain sludge, E.coli was absent in all the vermicomposted substrates.

The effectiveness of agricultural residue derived vermicompost in providing protection against various plant diseases, especially against soil-borne plant pathogens has been studied extensively. In the previous studies effective control of soil-borne plant pathogen infections was observed on application of vermicompost. Most of the research is focused on elucidating the mechanism of soil – borne pathogen suppression and the potential types of interactions between micro-flora of vermicompost and the pathogens. The current study was aimed at assessing the potential for suppression of Fusariumoxysporum (causative agent of Fusarial wilt of common vegetable crops) by Trichoderma and Aspergillussp. isolated from Vermicompost. Mycelial disc (5 mm diameter) of F.oxysporum was placed at one edge of Petri plate containing PDA and incubated at 270C for four days. Forty eight hours later, mycelial discs (5 mm in diameter) of Trichoderma isolate was placed on the opposite side facing F.oxysporumin the same Petri plate and incubated. The results showed that Aspergillus sp. and Trichoderma sp. effectively suppressed F.oxysporum. This indicates that the fungal isolates from vermicompost have antagonistic effect against the plant pathogen. This study gives substantial evidence for the suppressive nature of vermicompost, which has the potential to replace the currently used fungicides in agriculture.

Two serious soil-borne plant pathogens Fusarium oxysporum and Ralstonia solanacearum are causing considerable damage to vegetable crops in India. These pathogens are difficult to manage by chemical methods. Current interest is to promote their biological management. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of seed treatment with 10% aqueous extracts of vermicompost prepared from different organic substrates (agricultural waste, leaves of Azadiracta indica (neem), Parthenium hysterophorous (Parthenium), Lantana camara (Lantana) and application of vermicompost neem to soil. The test crop was tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) for F. oxysporum and eggplant (Solanum melongena) for R. solanacearum. The results showed that the best treatment for suppression of fusarial wilt in tomato and bacterial wilt in eggplant was seed treatment (1 hour) with 10% aqueous extract of vermicompost neem coupled with the application of vermicompost neem to the soil both during sowing as well as on transplantation. This treatment reduced the incidence of both fusarial and bacterial wilt by 100%. The application of vermicompost alone was not enough to protect the plants against the disease but coupling it with aqueous seed treatment is important to achieve complete disease suppression and increase the yields.