Carnation is a highly sensitive cut flower, needs to be transported without exposure to ethylene and to prevent the build up of ethylene concentration above the threshold level in boxes, ventilation holes are provided in the sides of... more
Carnation is a highly sensitive cut flower, needs to be transported without exposure to ethylene and to prevent the build up of ethylene concentration above the threshold level in boxes, ventilation holes are provided in the sides of boxes which help in free exchange of air. The studies on the wrapping up of the flowers with polyethylene sleeves of 50 gauge thickness, butter paper, newspaper and packed in corrugated fibre board boxes with different percentage of ventilations are important for determining the suitable packaging techniques during transport of flowers to markets. Wrapping in polyethylene sleeves of 50 gauge thicknesses and placing in corrugated fibre board boxes having 4 % ventilation is the best packaging method for transporting carnation flowers to distance market. This packaging would ensure minimum physical damage, physiological loss in weight and membrane integrity and would extend the vase life to 11.67 days when compared with control (newspaper wrapping and CFB boxes with 2 % ventilation) wherein flowers remain fresh for 6.00 days only.
To assess the effect different doses of foliar fertilizers on physic-chemical characteristics and yield of tomato was conducted at Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Tarnab Peshawar KPK, Pakistan during 2013. The experiment was laid... more
To assess the effect different doses of foliar fertilizers on physic-chemical characteristics and yield of tomato was conducted at Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Tarnab Peshawar KPK, Pakistan during 2013. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having three replications. Data on the following parameters were recorded i.e. Plant height (cm), average fruit weight (g), number of fruits plant-1, TSS, Ascorbic Acid and fruits yield (t/ha). Foliar application at the rate 1600ml/100L shows significant effect on plant height (101.60cm), Average fruits weight (88.17g), Ascorbic Acid (16.35mg/100g) TSS (4.73%) and yield (22.10 T.ha-1) when compare to all the other treatments. Cultivars of tomato had also shows significant effect to foliar fertilizers in which maximum Average fruits weight (80.77g), Ascorbic Acid (16.53mg/100g) and yield (23.31 t.ha-1) were recorded in Cv. Roma. Maximum Ascorbic Acid (17.14mg/100g), Average fruits weight (94.35g) and yield (25.14 t.ha-1) were observed in Cv. Roma treated with 1600ml/100L significantly influence on all treatments and cultivars under study as compared to control. Therefore, foliar application is an appropriate way to feed the tomato crop to enhance growth, physiochemical characteristics and yield. It is concluded that Cv. Roma and foliar fertilizer (Foliar Gold) at the rate of (1200 ml/100 L) is most effective for obtaining maximum quality and yield of tomatoes under the agro-climatic conditions of Peshawar.
Horticulture crops (fruit trees) had been grown and cultivated from ancient times in Central Asia. Few researchers have addressed the problem of this profitable sector in the former Great Silk Road, which was at the crossroads of trading... more
Horticulture crops (fruit trees) had been grown and cultivated from ancient times in Central Asia. Few researchers have addressed the problem of this profitable sector in the former Great Silk Road, which was at the crossroads of trading avenues. Horticulture has received much attention in the last twenty years. To investigate the current state of research activity of horticulture in Central Asia, we downloaded 4205 English papers from the Scopus database between 2000-2020. We identified a total of 50 papers, and the last four years have witnessed significant growth in publication number, an average of 5 articles per year. Acta Horticulturea was one of the most productive journals. Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology (Almaty) and the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan have worked productively to study high issues. United States Department of Agriculture and Swiss National Science Foundation with Karl Popper Foundation have supported scientific activity in the region. Top 15 highly cited articles were published within funded projects with international researchers. Researchers of Central Asia focused on walnut, grape, and apple, studied on the molecular level, and cryopreservation of wild relatives for future use. Researchers less studied cherry, apricot, almond, and pomegranate crops.
Specific blue-red spectrum LED light sources have generally been used for horticultural lighting applications within interior environments. However, this small-scale qualitative pilot study comparing two plant-growth profiles reports that... more
Specific blue-red spectrum LED light sources have generally been used for horticultural lighting applications within interior environments. However, this small-scale qualitative pilot study comparing two plant-growth profiles reports that white LED light sources normally used for architectural lighting applications are biologically and visually more effective for horticultural lighting applications within interior environments. First profile involved three vegetable species namely, lettuce, parsley and tomato under three LED light spectrums-specific blue-red spectrum (460+630+660nm), full-range blue-red-white spectrum (380-730nm), and white full-spectrum (400-750nm). Second profile involved a collection of ornamental plant species under two colour temperatures of white LED light-warm-white (3000-kelvin) and neutral-white (4000-kelvin). Overall observations suggest that spectral properties of white LEDs, which mimic certain qualities of natural sunlight, have more advantages over blue-red LEDs such as stimulating plant metabolism for improved growth and better health, while rendering a natural appearance to plants. These observations may encourage the use of white LED light sources for both architectural and horticultural lighting applications within interior environments.
A lab experiment was conducted to extend the vase life of cut chrysanthemum cv. White Gold, by pulsing of chemicals. It consisted of three levels of pulsing chemical combinations and three level of duration of pulsing treatments which... more
A lab experiment was conducted to extend the vase life of cut chrysanthemum cv. White Gold, by pulsing of chemicals. It consisted of three levels of pulsing chemical combinations and three level of duration of pulsing treatments which replicated trice. Among different pulsing treatments, 8-HQS 200 ppm + 20% sucrose recorded maximum water uptake (54.28 g/flower), cumulative water uptake (114.13 g/flower), Cumulative water loss (49.92 g/flower), cumulative water loss (110.23 g/flower), water balance (4.36 g/flower) on first day and fresh weight (116.94%) on 3 rd day with maximum vase life of 4.78 days. Whereas, these post-harvest parameters were minimum in control. Among the durations of pulsing, 6h pulsing recorded maximum post-harvest attributes and minimum was in 2 h pulsing. Among the interactions, P2D3 influenced maximum water uptake (59.35 g/flower), cumulative water uptake (124.23 g/flower), cumulative water loss (54.38 g/flower), cumulative water loss (120.36 g/flower), water balance (4.97 g/flower) on first day, fresh weight (123.86%) on 3 rd day with maximum vase life of 5.33 days.
A rapid and simple method for extracting internal ethylene from excised apple tissue and its quantitative determination are described. The method is suitable for correlating the ethylene concentration with the physiological status of the... more
A rapid and simple method for extracting internal ethylene from excised apple tissue and its quantitative determination are described. The method is suitable for correlating the ethylene concentration with the physiological status of the plant tissues. One advantage was that the time required for the tissue excision, vacuum extraction of ethylene, and injection of a gas sample into a gas chromatograph was about a minute. The method provides accurate and reproducible results, i.e. ca. 80% or more of the internal ethylene in apple tissue can be extracted and determined. Another advantage of this method is that the tissue from which ethylene was extracted is still available for further analyses. The method was applied to the study ethylene regeneration in apple tissue after the removal of the internal ethylene. The formation of ethylene in apple tissue increased after the existing ethylene was removed led us to propose that ethylene synthesis is governed by a feedback inhibition. The inhibition (ca. 20%) of ethylene formation was significantly related to the level of internal ethylene in apple tissue.
A lab experiment was conducted to extend the vase life of cut chrysanthemum cv. White Gold, by pulsing of chemicals. It consisted of three levels of pulsing chemical combinations and three level of duration of pulsing treatments which... more
A lab experiment was conducted to extend the vase life of cut chrysanthemum cv. White Gold, by pulsing of chemicals. It consisted of three levels of pulsing chemical combinations and three level of duration of pulsing treatments which replicated trice. Among different pulsing treatments, 8-HQS 200 ppm + 20% sucrose recorded maximum water uptake (54.28 g/flower), cumulative water uptake (114.13 g/flower), Cumulative water loss (49.92 g/flower), cumulative water loss (110.23 g/flower), water balance (4.36 g/flower) on first day and fresh weight (116.94%) on 3 rd day with maximum vase life of 4.78 days. Whereas, these post-harvest parameters were minimum in control. Among the durations of pulsing, 6h pulsing recorded maximum post-harvest attributes and minimum was in 2 h pulsing. Among the interactions, P2D3 influenced maximum water uptake (59.35 g/flower), cumulative water uptake (124.23 g/flower), cumulative water loss (54.38 g/flower), cumulative water loss (120.36 g/flower), water balance (4.97 g/flower) on first day, fresh weight (123.86%) on 3 rd day with maximum vase life of 5.33 days.
In general, dewatering of plant tissues (such as vegetables) and food materials is achieved by heating. In order to prevent the degradation of biologically active components in plant materials, the dewatering process should be carried out... more
In general, dewatering of plant tissues (such as vegetables) and food materials is achieved by heating. In order to prevent the degradation of biologically active components in plant materials, the dewatering process should be carried out at low temperature. Therefore, in the present study, we attempted to develop a simple protocol for dewatering cryo-preserved plant tissues using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME). Prior to dewatering from frozen plant materials, we have examined the efficiency of liquefied DME for cryogenic removal of water from ice cubes. Here, lemon peel residue (consisting of flavedo and albedo) was chosen as the model plant material for dewatering and concomitant extractions of water-soluble components such as ascorbate and citric acid and hydrophobic components, chiefly, essential oils (EOs). By focusing on the exploitation of unused resources after food processing, the juice extraction residues from lemon fruits (lemon peels) were used as the starting materials. The yield of vitamin C (VC) extracted from the peel tissues derived from a single lemon fruit exceeded the amount of VC found in the manually press-extracted juice from a single lemon fruit. The major components in DME-extracted crude lemon EOs were determined and quantified with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) to be limonene (40.4%, w/w), β-pinene (10.4%, w/w), and γ-terpinene (6.9 %, w/w).
A lab experiment was conducted to extend the vase life of cut chrysanthemum cv. White Gold, by pulsing of chemicals. It consisted of three levels of pulsing chemical combinations and three level of duration of pulsing treatments which... more
A lab experiment was conducted to extend the vase life of cut chrysanthemum cv. White Gold, by pulsing of chemicals. It consisted of three levels of pulsing chemical combinations and three level of duration of pulsing treatments which replicated trice. Among different pulsing treatments, 8-HQS 200 ppm + 20% sucrose recorded maximum water uptake (54.28 g/flower), cumulative water uptake (114.13 g/flower), Cumulative water loss (49.92 g/flower), cumulative water loss (110.23 g/flower), water balance (4.36 g/flower) on first day and fresh weight (116.94%) on 3 rd day with maximum vase life of 4.78 days. Whereas, these post-harvest parameters were minimum in control. Among the durations of pulsing, 6h pulsing recorded maximum post-harvest attributes and minimum was in 2 h pulsing. Among the interactions, P2D3 influenced maximum water uptake (59.35 g/flower), cumulative water uptake (124.23 g/flower), cumulative water loss (54.38 g/flower), cumulative water loss (120.36 g/flower), water balance (4.97 g/flower) on first day, fresh weight (123.86%) on 3 rd day with maximum vase life of 5.33 days.
Horticulture has emerged as one of the potential agricultural enterprises in accelerating the growth of economy in India. It offers not only a wide range of options to the farmers for crop diversification, but also provides ample scope... more
Horticulture has emerged as one of the potential agricultural enterprises in accelerating the growth of economy in India. It offers not only a wide range of options to the farmers for crop diversification, but also provides ample scope for sustaining large number of agro-industries which generate huge employment opportunities. Horticulture has been evolving in form of horticulture industry in our country owing to its significant role in nutritional security, poverty alleviation and employment generation. The production of fruits, vegetables and flowers has acquired much importance in recent times due to their increasing demand. India has a wide variety of climate and soil on which different horticultural crops such as fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, medicinal and aromatic plants, plantation crops and spices are cultivated successfully. Horticultural crops could serve an ideal way of achieving sustainability in small holdings, increasing employment, improving environment, providing an enormous export potential and above all achieving nutritional security. Despite these advantages, India’s share in the global market is insignificant accounting for only 1.7% of the global trade in vegetables and 0.5% in fruits and less than 0.5% in flowers. Hence, continuous efforts are required for strengthening the horticulture sector through novel sustainable updated and applied technologies. The major arenas as new dimensions to augment the horticulture sector are given in this chapter.
To assess the effect different doses of foliar fertilizers on physic-chemical characteristics and yield of tomato was conducted at Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Tarnab Peshawar KPK, Pakistan during 2013. The experiment was laid... more
To assess the effect different doses of foliar fertilizers on physic-chemical characteristics and yield of tomato was conducted at Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) Tarnab Peshawar KPK, Pakistan during 2013. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having three replications. Data on the following parameters were recorded i.e. Plant height (cm), average fruit weight (g), number of fruits plant-1, TSS, Ascorbic Acid and fruits yield (t/ha). Foliar application at the rate 1600ml/100L shows significant effect on plant height (101.60cm), Average fruits weight (88.17g), Ascorbic Acid (16.35mg/100g) TSS (4.73%) and yield (22.10 T.ha-1) when compare to all the other treatments. Cultivars of tomato had also shows significant effect to foliar fertilizers in which maximum Average fruits weight (80.77g), Ascorbic Acid (16.53mg/100g) and yield (23.31 t.ha-1) were recorded in Cv. Roma. Maximum Ascorbic Acid (17.14mg/100g), Average fruits weight (94.35g) and yield...
The world population will exceed 9 billion by 2050; half of the world's population will reside in tropical regions. So, there will be need for more food production. In the SAARC Countries, poor productivity and low income of farmers is a... more
The world population will exceed 9 billion by 2050; half of the world's population will reside in tropical regions. So, there will be need for more food production. In the SAARC Countries, poor productivity and low income of farmers is a serious concern. At this juncture, when these countries are looking towards 'doubling farmers income' major constraints in horticultural production are; absence of high yielding varieties, changing climate, often heavy yield loss due to several diseases and pest attack, poor postharvest management and value addition, inadequate transfer of technology. Keeping these facts in view, the Hi-Tech horticulture is a better option to enhance the production and productivity of horticultural crops and thereby increasing income of farmers have been discussed in this paper.
