Promising Technologies

Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhavan,

New Delhi 110 001, India
Dr Mangala Rai, Secretary (DARE) and Director-General, ICAR
Tel.: 91-011-2338 2629; Fax: 91-011-2338 4773; e-mail: mrai@icar.delhi.nic.in
Shri Kuldeep Sharma, Incharge (DIPA), ICAR
Tel.: 91-011-2584 2649; e-mail: kuldeep@icar.org.in
High density strawberry cultivation
with plasticulture is profitable
in semi-arid regions
CONTENTS
Promising Technologies
High density strawberry 1
cultivation with
plasticulture . . .
Inter simple sequence 4
repeat markers for genetic
analysis in coconut
New Initiatives
A PCRRFLP tool for 5
differentiating two species
of Helicoverpa
Management of Natural
Resources
Ber with Indian Aloe: 6
An economically viable
combination for arid region
Green grafting on rootstock 7
in grapes is beneficial
under adverse environment
Profile
Central Plantation Crops 8
Research Institute, Kerala
Spectrum 12
Last page 20
Volume 11 No. 4 OctoberDecember 2005
Strawberry is a major fruit of
temperate region, but with the advent
of day-neutral cultivars, it grows
profitably well in the sub-tropical
regi ons al so. Its commerci al
cultivation could not become popular
in semi-arid regions of northern India
due to vagries of climatic conditions
and lack of adequate knowledge on
its cultivation. Plasticulture techniques
can play very important role in the
manipulation of microclimate
favourable for its cultivation. Scientific
findings have revealed that use of
plasticulture techniques in strawberry
cultivation could revolutionize its
commercial cultivation for higher
profitability in semi-arid regions of
North India.
Planting techniques
For commerci al cul ti vati on of
strawberry, raised bed cultivation is
found quite feasible which ensures
proper drainage, easy intercultural
operations and facilitates installation
of micro irrigation system. After land
preparation, beds of 25 cm height and
105 cm width of convenient length
should be made at a distance of 50
A view of strawberry crop in field
2 ICAR NEWS
cm. Planting of runners should be
done at 25 cm x 25 cm spacing with
four rows of plants per bed. About one
lakh fresh and healthy runners are
required for planting in an area of one
hectare.
Planting time is considered as one
of the most i mportant factors for
profitable cultivation of strawberry. In
north-India it is usually planted after
second fortni ght of October wi th
tradi ti onal methods. As a resul t,
availability of fruit is restricted to one-
and-half-month only (MarchApril),
which reduces the profit of farmers
considerably. With the use of micro
irrigation system, its planting can be
enhanced up to mid-September for
early establishment of runners and
consequently early and higher yield of
quality fruits. However, staggered
planting from mid-September to mid
October at weekly/bi-weekly interval is
quite remunerative for longer period of
availability of fruits (January to April).
Micro-irrigation
Strawberry being a low surface
creeping herb having shallow root
precise water to the crop according to
the stage of growth of the crop. After
bed preparation, micro-irrigation
system (MIS) should be installed in the
fi el d. Duri ng pl anti ng and earl y
vegetative growth, irrigation is given
through micro sprinkler system. Micro-
sprinklers (69 lph) should be installed
at a spacing of 3 meter for uniform
application of water by running 23
hours daily. During reproductive phase
(flowering and fruiting), micro sprinkler
system is replaced by drip system,
which provides uniform and timely
irrigation and facilitates fertigation.
Two lines of laterals (16 mm) should be
placed on each bed with drippers (4 1
ph) at a spaci ng of 50 cm. For
fertigation, water soluble fertilizers like
polyfeed (19-19-19), multi-K (16-0-48)
etc are desirable for better fertilizers
use efficiency. Drip system should be
run twice or thrice a week as per the
need of plants and fertigation should
be given fortnightly for proper growth
and development of the crop.
Time and stages of micro-irrigation system for strawberry cultivation
System Phase of growth Irrigation duration Benefits
Micro-sprinkler Vegetative phase Daily 23 hrs during Early and easy plant establish-
system (Early growth) noon at interval of ment
12 hr Vigorous growth of plant
Creation of better micro climate
Drip system Reproductive phase Twice or thrice a week Easy and timely irrigation
(flowering and fruiting) for 12 hr depending Facilitates fertigation
on weather conditions Uniform application of water and
fertilizers
Micro sprinkler Runner development Daily for 23 hr Creation of better microclimate
system Healthy runner development
Vigorous runners
Drip system installed on beds Mulching with black film
A view of unmulched strawberry
Promising Technologies
Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.)
is one of the most fascinating fruits of
the world, which is a rich source of
vitamins and minerals and has fabulous
flavour and tantalizing aroma. It
contains numerous important dietary
components and is a rich source of
vitamin C. It also contains significant
levels of ellagic acid, which is thought
to be an anticarcinogenic.
system, hence, water management is
one of the most crucial factors for its
cultivation in semi-arid regions. Micro-
irrigation system (drip system + micro
sprinkler system), helps in supplying
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 3
Plastic mulching
Mulching is an essential cultural
practice for strawberry cultivation.
Black polyethylene file (50 micron) has
been found to be very effective for
strawberry for higher yield as it helps
in soil moisture conservation, weed
control and keeps the fruits clean and
avoids fruit rotting due to soil contami-
nation. Mulching should be done after
proper establishment of runners and
before flowering (3045 days after
planting). Before mulching, micro-
sprinkler should be replaced by drip
system. Mulching should be done by
making holes in such a way that plants
come above the film and drip system
remain below the plastic mulch.
Use of plastic tunnels
During winter (December
February) prevailing low temperature
hinder proper growth and
development of strawberry, hence, low
tunnels (50- cm height) for transparent
polyethylene film (50 micron) should
be installed with the help of GI wire
over the raised beds to protect the
strawberry plants from frost and chilly
winds. These tunnels should be
opened during daytime and closed
during the night, which, facilitate
higher soil temperature consequently
leading to early flowering, and higher
fruit yield. These tunnels should be
removed when the temperature starts
rising (end of February).
Fruit harvesting
The plants start fruiting after 34
months of planting. The fruits should
be picked when half to three-fourth of
fruit portion attains the natural crimson
colour. The fruits should be harvested
in shallow plastic trays as they are
highly perishable and get damaged, if
bulky containers are used. After
harvesting, fruits should be packed in
small plastic punnets and piled in CFB
boxes for marketi ng. For
transportation, refrigerated vans
should be preferred. By following
above mentioned cultural practices,
1520 tonnes of strawberry fruits can
be harvested from one hectare.
Runner production
Strawberry is usually propagated
by runners produced by established
plants. Generally, runner production
is very difficult under prevailing
cl i mati c condi ti ons i n semi -ari d
regions. With certain modifications,
runner can be produced for next
season. After fruiting is over, mulching
is removed and plants are allowed to
produce runners on the beds. During
runner production, fast growing plants
like Sesbania cannabina; syn S.
Time and stages of plastic mulching and low tunnel
Cultural practices Phase of growth Uses/remarks
Mulching Reproductive phase Check weed growth
(black polyethylene) (flowering and fruiting) Better hydro-thermal regimes in soil
Plastic tunnel Reproductive phase Check frost damage
(transparent polyethylene) (flowering and fruiting) Protection from chilled winds
Better micro climate
Enhances earliness in fruiting
Higher and early fruit yield
Economics* of strawberry cultivation on
per hectare basis per year
Description of materials Approximate cost
(Lakh/ha)
Planting material 1.00
(1,00,000 plants/ha)
@ Rs 1/plant
Micro-irrigation system (MIS) 1.50
Land preparation, planting 0.20
and intercultural operation
Plastic film for mulching 0.30
and low tunnel
Manure, fertilizers and 0.25
pesticides
Labour charge 0.50
Packaging materials and 0.50
transportation
Miscellaneous charges 0.25
Total cost 4.50
Income
Sales of fruits 7.50
(15 tonnes/ha@ Rs 50/kg)
Sales of runners 1.00
(1 lakh @ Rs 1/plant)
Total income 8.50
Net profit 4.00
*Si mpl e cal cul ati ons wi thout use of
discounting procedures
View of straw mulch Low plastic tunnel on strawberry beds
during winter
Runner productions of strawberry
Promising Technologies
4 ICAR NEWS
aculeata should be raised in space
between the alternate beds and
around the field, which can save the
crop from direct heating. Irrigation
should be applied through micro
sprinkler system.
By using plasticulture techniques
like micro irrigation, plastic mulching
and tunnel , pl asti c punnets as
packagi ng materi al for proper
marketing, can revolutionize high
density strawberry cultivation and its
name should be rechristened from
strawberry as plastic berry.
Rajbir Singh and Ram Asrey*
AICRP on Application of Plastics in
Agriculture, Central Institute for Post-harvest
Engineering and Technology,
Abohar 152 116
*Division of post harvest technology,
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
New Delhi 110 012
Inter Simple Sequence Repeat markers for genetic analysis in coconut
DNA of 33 coconut germplasm
accessions were amplified with
primers targeting to microsatellite
regions. A total of 19 primers were
used to amplify the DNA. The ISSR
primers exhibited high level of
polymorphism (86%) reflecting its
high informativeness. The number of
markers per primer ranged from 5 to
17 with a mean of 10.50. Polymorphism
Information Content (PIC) values for
primers ranged from 0.2 to 0.386. A set
of informative primers were identified
based on high marker index. High
correlation between the similarity
matrices of informative primers and
total has been observed. The minimal
number of primers will be helpful in
future for rapid screening of large
germplasm accessions and to
establish core collection.
R. Manimekalai
Scientist (Biotechnology)
Central Plantation Crops Research Institute
Kasaragod, Kerala 671 124
Fruits of strawberry Strawberry fruits packed in plastic punnets Plastic punnets packed in CFB boxes for
transportations
ISSR marker profile of coconut germplasm accessions produced by UBC 808
Promising Technologies
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 5
Family Noctuidae includes some
of the most damaging agricultural
pests worldwide. In India two species
of Helicoverpa and one of Heliothis
have been recorded, viz. Helicoverpa
armigera, Helicoverpa assulta and
Heliothis peltigera. H. armigera and
H. assulta are found throughout
Africa, Asia, parts of Australasia and
the South Pacific. H. armigera is
polyphagous and insecticide resistant.
H. assulta is an oligophagous pest. Its
principal hosts are tobacco, chillies,
bell pepper and wild hosts in the
genus Datura. There are no reports of
control failures or insecticide
resistance in this species in the Indian
subcontinent. However, control
failures of H. assulta on capsicum
have been attributed to insecticide
resistance in South Korea.
During field collections of H.
armigera eggs and larvae in India it
was common to come across mixed
populations of H. armigera and H.
assulta on tobacco and on wild hosts
in the family Solanaceae. In view of
this overlapping host range a
possibility exists in confusing H.
armigera, a polyphagous, migratory
and insecticide resistant pest with H.
assulta, an oligophagous, insecticide
susceptible species. H. assulta is
considered to be a minor pest but its
importance may be undermined
because of the similarity of both larvae
and moths to those of H. armigera. It
requires the services of a trained
entomologist to differentiate the two
species in the adult stage applying
taxonomic keys as described by
Hardwick and Mathews. Eggs and
neonates are virtually
indistinguishable in mixed
populations. A molecular, stage
A PCR-RFLP tool
for differentiating two species of Helicoverpa
independent tool based on the
mitochondrial genome is being
proposed for distinguishing the two
species of Helicoverpa.
The mid CO-1 (Cytochrome
Oxidase) region has a high functional
significance and was therefore chosen
for the study. Primers were designed to
amplify the specific CO1 region -Cl-J-
2090 and C1-N-2659 whose sequences
are 5-AGT TTT AGC AGG AGC AAT
TAC TAT-3 and 5 -GCT AAT CCA GTA
AAT AAA GG-3, respectively. A PCR
reaction in a volume of 25 l was
programmed as follows: 94C for 2
min, 94C for 45 sec, an annealing
temperature of 50C for 45 sec, 72C
for 1.3 sec, in 38 cycles, 72C for 10
min and 4C to end the reaction. The
amplified fragment was sequenced
(Accession numbers AY 264944, AY
264943). The sequence was subjected
to a search (Premier Primer 5.0, premier
Biosoft International, CA, USA) for the
identification of unique restriction sites
specific to one species in the sequenced
region with respect to the other. One of
the unique restriction enzymes (RE)
Rsa I, which cuts at 5 -GT AC-3, was
obtained from Q Biogene, India. The
PCR product was directly digested at
37C for 6 hr with Rsa I in a 20 l
reaction containing 2 U restriction
enzyme, 2 l 10X x RE buffer and
distilled water. Digested DNA bands
were separated on 2% agarose and
were visualized on Kodak EDAS 230
gel documentation system.
The primers used in the study were
designed to amplify a 598 bp fragment
corresponding to mid to near terminal
region of CO I. Sequence of the
amplified fragment was subjected to
multiple sequence alignment using
Clustal X. Nucleotide sequence and
translated amino acid sequences, with
the invertebrate mitochondrial
genetic code in each of the strains
resulting in high level of consensus
between the two Helicoverpa species.
Rsa I was chosen for the study as
it demonstrated the ability of cutting
the sequenced region approximately
in the centre resulting in two fragments
of approximately 333 bp and 265 bp
each. Its recognition site is masked
by a mutation- GT AC in H. armigera
that is replaced with GT TC in H.
assulta, which is responsible for the
absence of restriction digestion.
PCR-RFLP as a tool demonstrates
reliable differentiation of the two
species. It offers support to the
conventional taxonomic
differentiation based on
morphological features. Both
techniques however require skill and
expertise. Mutilated museum
specimens that are difficult to study
using the taxonomic key can be
readily identified with this tool. This
method can be used as a molecular
tool for the identification of H.
armigera from H. assulta especially
in ecosystems that harbour a mixture
of both species. Species identification
in Helicoverpa would significantly
influence the adoption of pest
management strategies especially
with H. armigera being insecticide
resistant and H. assulta being
insecticide susceptible.
S. Kranthi, K.R. Kranthi, A.A. Bharose,
S.N. Syed and Sheoraj
Crop Protection Division
The Central Institute for Cotton Research
Post Bag No. 2 Shankar Nagar P.O.
Nagpur 440 010
New Initiatives
6 ICAR NEWS
Monocropping of annual crops
under complex, diverse and risk prone
situations of hot arid region of north-
western Rajasthan is often
uneconomical. Under such
circumstances, crop diversification by
integrating various components on
the same land management unit seems
to be a better alternative. In fact,
under irrigated resource situation of
hot arid region, groundnut-wheat is
the main crop rotation adopted by
the farming community; which
Ber with Indian Aloe: An economically viable
combination for arid region
require not only high amount of
irrigation water but is also less
remunerative. Therefore, an
experiment was initiated under hot
arid ecosystem after leveling the sand
dunes to reduce the amount of
irrigation water by selecting
appropriate crop combination
without any loss to the economic
returns. The fertility status of
experimental site was very poor with
high infiltration rate. The ber (Ziziphus
mauritiana) cultivar Gola was planted
in-situ as overstorey component at 16
x 4 m spacing in hedge row system and
suckers of Indian Aloe (Aloe
barbadensis)- a succulent medicinal
plant were planted at 75 x 75 cm
spacing as ground storey component
in the interspaces of ber hedge rows.
Besides medicinal and cosmetic uses,
this species of Indian Aloe is also used
for delicious culinary preparations like
vegetable, pickle and laddu. The
ground storey crop, i.e. Indian Aloe
was only irrigated by using sprinkler
system of irrigation, whereas manures
and fertilizers were applied separately
to both overstorey and ground storey
components as per need. The ground
storey crop should not be irrigated
during fruit ripping period of ber, i.e.
mid of January to mid of February. The
plants of ber should also be trained
properly and no branches should be
allowed below one meter from the
ground level. The drooping branches
must be removed besides regular and
timely pruning of ber plants (middle
of April), which will be additional
source of fuel and fodder.
After five years of experimentation
it was found that the survival and
vegetative vigour of ber plants were
better with Indian Aloe as compared
to sole plantation of ber. Under proper
management, Aloe starts yielding just
after 68 months of transplanting.
From the second harvest, more than
20 q/ha/cut leaf pad yield was
obtained without any adverse effect
on the overstorey component. In a
year, 34 cuts of Indian Aloe can be
taken. The ber plant starts yielding
from second year onward by giving
fruit yield of 41.18 q/ha, fuel wood
8.79 q/ha and green fodder 12.50 ha.
The system had given net return of
about Rs 35,000/ha as compared to
only Rs 1,203/ha by groundnutwheat
and Rs 3,040/ha by sole plantation of
ber. The income obtained with Indian
Aloe can be doubled by selling the
Aloe suckers. The water applied to
the system was about 3 times less
than groundnut- wheat rotation.
Therefore, by using just one third
amount of irrigation water than
existing farmers practice, which is a
precious commodity in the hot arid
ecosystem it is suggested that Ber +
Indian Aloe is an economically viable
combination with diversified outputs
in arid regions.
P.L. Saroj
Principal Investigator (NAIP)
Cooperating Centre, CIAH
Bikaner 334 006, Rajasthan
Ber cultivar Gola planted in situ as overstorey component with suckers of Indian Aloe
as groundstorey component
Management of Natural Resources
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 7
Due to continuous drought in the
country particularly in Maharashtra,
the grape growers have realized the
importance of use of rootstock in
grape cultivation. The rootstock
plants are now used in establishment
of new grape vineyard in the entire
grape growing regions of the country.
Rootstock offers an opportunity for
grapevine to adopt to the varied
adverse environmental factors as
well in many cases, the grapes can
be grown in the places where it
would be otherwise non-productive
or impossible. To propagate grapes,
several propagation techniques are
employed by the growers but the
major techniques are budding and
grafting. As budding is tedious and
less successful, grafting is preferred
over budding by the grape growers
to establish their vineyard on
rootstock. Grafting in grape is
followed for following reasons:
Use of rootstock is becoming
mandatory in grape cultivation
due to the adverse situation of soil
and water in the grape growing
areas.
Grafting allows the grapevine to
grow under adverse condition
with its desirable characters as it
has the capacity to sustain these
conditions.
Some of the rootstocks are tolerant
to the drought situation, the
conditions prevailing in grape
growing areas.
The rootstock improves the grape
quality by increasing berry
diameter.
Grafting involves the joining of
two different species/varieties of a
crop to continue the growth as a
Green grafting on rootstock in grapes is beneficial
under adverse environment
single plant. The lower portion of the
graft joint is referred as rootstock
whereas the upper portion of the joint
is called as scion. The scion used for
grafting is the choice variety used as
per the consumers preference but the
rootstock used is as per the soil and
water condition of the field where
grape is to be grown. The grafting
success depends on the following
major factors.
Planting material used for grafting,
i.e. thickness of scion and the food
material available in it.
Sap flow condition in rootstock
plants (physiological status of
rootstock)
The weather condition prevailing
during the period of grafting (high
temperature of 32 to 35C high
relative humidity above 80%) and
The skill of the person involved in
grafting.
If any of these factors are
unfavorable, there will be failure of
graft and the grower has to wait till
the next season which may lead to
non-uniformity of vines in a vineyard.
To avoid such circumstances, green
grafting can be followed.
Green grafting is nothing but
performing grafting on young or
green shoots of rootstock with well
matured scion shoots. Green grafting
helps in quick filling of gaps of the
last grafting season in the main field.
Green grafting can be performed
once the minimum temperature starts
rising above 15C, which usually
occurs during the month of February.
The scion selected should be true to
type from high yielding, disease free
and healthy vines. The research
recently has indicated that it is
maturity status of scion with active
buds, which determines the success
percent rather than maturity of
rootstock shoots. Only pre requisite
is rootstock should be in active sap
flow condition. For maintaining
active sap flow in rootstock, they
should be irrigated 23 days before
grafting. The operation of green
grafting is similar to regular grafting
done on matured rootstock shoots.
This technique is generally followed
for screening virus resistance.
However, in India, this technique
can also be promoted for rapid
production of grafted plants.
R.G. Somkuwar and J. Satisha
National Research Centre for Grapes,
Manjri Farm
Pune (Maharashtra)
Management of Natural Resources
8 ICAR NEWS
The Central Plantation Crops
Research Institute was established in
1970 as one of the agricultural
research institutes in the National
Agricultural Research System under
the Indian Council of Agricultural
Research. The Insti tute was
established by merging the erstwhile
Central Coconut Research Station,
Kasaragod, Central Coconut
Research Station, Kayangulam as
well as Central Arecanut Research
Station, Vittal and its five substations
at Palode and Kannara (Kerala),
Hirehalli (Karnataka), Mohitnagar
(West Bengal) and Kahikuchi
(Assam). The present mandate of the
i nsti tute was to i mprove the
productivity of coconut, arecanut,
and cocoa. All India Coordinated
Research Project on Palms (AICRP
Palms) is functioning at CPCRI since
1972.
Central Plantation Crops Research Institute Kasaragod, Kerala
Location and organisational
structure
The headquarters is located at
Kasaragod in North Kerala region.
The campus area extends to 78 ha
above 10.7 m above MSL.
Director, Heads of Divisions, Senior
Administrative Officer and Senior
Finance and Accounts Officer are
located at the Headquarters. In
addition to these officers, Scientists
i n Geneti cs and Breedi ng,
Bi otechnol ogy, Horti cul ture,
Agronomy, Soil science, Microbiology,
Pl ant Pathol ogy, Entomol ogy,
Nematology, Physiology, Bio-
chemi stry and Post-harvest
Technology, Agricultural Extension,
Agricultural Statistics, Agricultural
Economics, Computer Applications in
Agri cul ture and maj ori ty of
administrative activities are performed
from the headquarters.
The institute has three regional
stations and four regional centers
located at various parts of the country.
CPCRI (Regional Station)
Kayangulam
This is one of the regional stations
of CPCRI, located in Alappuzha district
of Kerala state. The campus extends
in an area of 27 ha above 3 m above
MSL.
Here the priority is given to inves-
tigations on etiology of root (wilt) dis-
ease, breeding for resistance to root
(wilt), and studies on other diseases
and pest management in coconut.
CPCRI (Regional Station) Vittal
This is a regional station located in
the inland region of Dakshina
Kannada district of Karnataka. The
campus extends to an area of 69 ha at
58 m above MSL.
Profile
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 9
The station is devoted for research
on arecanut and cocoa breeding,
production, protection and drought
tolerance studies.
CPCRI (Regional Station) Minicoy
This regional station serves as
ICAR research complex for
Lakshadweep region. The station
undertakes various aspects of applied
agricultural research without affecting
the fragile agro-ecosystem for the
benefit of these groups of coral
islands.
CPCRI (Regional Station) Kidu
This centre is located in the Kidu
Reserve Forest, Puttur Taluk,
Dakshina Kannada District of
Karnataka State. This centre was
established with an aim to produce
genetically superior planting materials
of coconut, arecanut, cocoa and
cashew. The campus is to the extent
of 120 ha above 281 m above MSL.
Coconut i s cul ti vated i n 80 ha,
Arecanut in 7.5 ha, Cocoa in 2.5 and
Cashew in 12.5 ha. International
Coconut Gene Bank for South Asia
under Coconut Genetic Resources
Network (COGENT) was established
at CPCRI, RC, Kidu during 1996.
CPCRI (Regional Centre)
Mohitnagar
CPCRI, Mohitnagar, Jalpaiguri,
West Bengal was established in the
year 1958 with a view to solve the
problems of arecanut cultivation in
West Bengal. The total area under
the Centre is 50 ha and the soil is
alluvial with pH 4.56.0. The centre is
located at 5 m above MSL.
CPCRI (Regional Centre) Kahikuchi
Kahikuchi is situated 22 km away
from Guwahati, Assam. Total area
under the centre is about 15 hectares.
and it is located about 48 m above
MSL The soil is mainly alluvial with
lower lateritic strata with pH 4.44.8.
The center was established with a
view to solve the problems of arecanut
cultivation in Assam and other North-
eastern states. Presently, research
on arecanut cropping system, crop
protection and seedling production
aspects are under progress.
CPCRI (Regional Centre) Kannara
The Centre at Kannara was
established in the year 1958 with a
view to solve the problems of areca
cultivation in the northern parts of
Kerala. The total farm area is 14 ha
and the soil in the upper layer is alluvial
type and the lower strata is lateritic
with pH 5.66.8. The center is located
at 50 m above MSL.
Library and information centre
The research activities of the
Insti tute are abl y supported by
adequate library facilities at the
headquarters and regional stations.
The Main Campus Library with the
worlds largest collection of references
pertaining to coconut caters to the
needs of research and development
personnel as well as farmers and
students. The library is computerized
with CD SERVER facilities and
cataloguing is done with the latest
software.
Bioinformatics centre
The bioinformatics centre of the
i nsti tute provi des databases on
coconut cultivar identification, coconut
biotechnology literature, coconut
germplasm management system. The
centre also provides services like
molecular biology and tissue culture
protocols on the websites and training
on topics related to bioinformatics.
Facilities available
Modern facilities, state-of-the art
Organizational structure of CPCRI
Crop
Improvement
Head of
Division
Project
Co-ordinator
RAC IMC
Crop
Production
Crop
Protection
Phy, Biochem
and
Technology
Social
Sciences
Kayangulam
Vittal
Lakshadweep
Heads of
Station
Kannara
Mohitnagar
Kahikuchi
Kidu
Sci.
Incharge
Farm
PMT
ARIS
KVK
Library
ATIC
Art &
Photo
Oilpalm 4
Palmyrah 2
Coconut 10
Finance and
Accounts
SFAO
Administration
SAO
Head
Quarter
Regional
Stations
Research
Centres
Service
Units
PC Unit
Administration
Research
Director
Profile
10 ICAR NEWS
equipments, instruments required for
high quality research on plantation
crops such as Electron microscope,
AAS, Fermenter, TE, Spectrophoto-
meter, Centrifuges, HPLC, GC, Deep
freezers, GPS, Kjeltec, PCR, Growth
chambers, Gel documentation
system, etc., are available at the
Institute. A pesticide residue analysis
and quality control laboratory was also
established during the year 2004.
Significant Achievements
CPCRI has the largest assemblage
of coconut germplasm, consisting
of 210 indigenous and 132 exotic
genotypes from 28 countries.
Three high yielding varieties of
coconut produced by crossing the
tall varieties with dwarfs and vice
versa (Chandrasankara - COD x
WCT; Kera Sankara - WCT x COD
and Chandra Laksha - LO x COD)
have been released. Three
varieties of high yielding coconut
Laccadive Ordinary, Phillipines
Ordinary and Chowghat Orange
Dwarf have also been released for
large scale cultivation.
High yielding varieties of arecanut,
Mangala, Sumangala,
Sreemangala, Mohitnagar and
Calicut-17 which can yield 8.8 to
15 kg ripe nuts/palm/year, have
been released.
Protocols for safe exchange of
embryos and successful
development of somatic
embryogenesis in coconut and
areca were developed.
Super pal ms that have fi el d
tolerance to root (wilt) to be used
as source palms for breeding
resistance were identified.
Molecular markers linked with
tolerance / resistance against root
(wilt) disease have been identified.
Developed several models of
coconut and arecanut based high
densi ty mul ti speci es croppi ng
systems, that provides higher net
returns per unit area.
Developed automatic irrigation
system and standardized
fertigation for palms.
Worked out the integrated nutrient
management schedule for palms.
Recycl i ng organi c wastes for
production of vermicompost has
been achieved through an
indigenous, highly efficient Eudrilus
sp.
Standardised and popularised
management practices for leaf rot
disease; the main cause for loss of
productivity and palm health in root
(wilt) affected palms.
Proper Integrated Disease
Management and Integrated
Nutrient Management practices
standardi zed to achi eve
sustainable yields from yellow leaf
disease affected arecanut and root
(wilt) affected coconut palms.
Developed highly effective IDM
measures to manage stem bleeding
disease with special emphasis on
biocontrol.
Formulated Integrated Disease
Management for the management
of bud rot disease of coconut.
Formulated effective Integrated
Pest Management packages for
Coconut based high density multispecies
cropping system
COD WCT coconut hybrid
Embryo cultured plantlet of coconut
Vermicompost production from coconut
leaves
Profile
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 11
rhinoceros beetle, red palm weevil
and black-headed caterpillar
through biocontrol measures.
Worked out the mechanism of
drought and detection of characters
associated with drought tolerance
in coconut and cocoa.
Designed dryers which use solar /
waster / electricity as energy
source.
Fabricated electronic moisture
metre to evaluate the quality of
copra.
Developed value added products
like snow ball tender nut and
coconut chips.
Worked out the economics and
market dynamics of plantation
crops.
Developed highly effective and
single window extension service
through ATIC and KVK.
Released interactive CDs on
cul ti vati on, di sease and pest
management of mandate crops.
Use of IT tools for information,
communication and cyber
extension activities.
Services offered to the farmers/
clients
The Agricultural Technology
Information Centre is functioning at
the institute to cater to the various
needs of the farmers. Other facilities
available are Farmers help line
services through telephone, agro-
clinic services and touch screen
monitor. In order to know the farmers
interest and need, the institute is
organizing face-to face programme
between farmers and scientists by
way of interactive field visits to the
successful farmers who have adopted
technologies either developed or
disseminated by CPCRI/KVK by a
team of scientists. Two Krishi Vigyan
Kendras, one each at Kasaragod and
Kayangulam are being operated from
CPCRI.
Dr V. Rajagopal
Central Plantation Crops Research Institute
Kasaragod 671 124
Sanskrit-palasha; Hindi- palas, dhak is
commonly found throughout India, except
in very arid parts. Its bright red/reddish
yellow flowers bloom in great profusion
at the beginning of the summer, before
the appearance of new leaves. Flowers
are terminal, appearing before the leaves
on naked branches, giving the appearance
of a fire flame from distance, hence the
name, flame of the forest. Flowers in
dried state are known as tesu or palas.
These flowers start appearing in March
and stay on nearly up to the end of April.
The size is nearly 2 to 4 cm in diameter.
The flowers are densely crowded on
leafless branches. These give the plant a
handsome look despite being leaf less
during spring season. The entire terrain
having palas/dhak trees wears a kind of
exquisite orange and red hue. Petals of
these flowers are a good source of dye/
bio-colours.
Flowers of Butea monosperma, a potential source of food grade bio-colours
The dye was extracted from fresh, shade
dried and field dropped and dried flowers.
A good quantity of crude dye was
recovered to the extent of 3, 15 and 12%
respectively on weight basis at Indian
Lac Research Institute Ranchi.
There are an estimated 200 million
palas trees in India. If 100 million trees
flowers (with an average yield of 1.0 kg
dried flowers/tree) are collected the
estimated quantity would be 0.1 million
tonnes of dry flowers yielding 0.01 to
0.015 million tonnes of crude dye. This
dye after further purification and refining
has tremendous potential as a colouring
material in soft drinks and other food
products like ham/sausages, jam,
chowmin noodle etc. Efforts to improve
purity and recovery are in progress.
S. Srivastava and B. Baloo
Indian Lac Research Institute Namkum,
Ranchi Jharkhand 834 010
Snow ball tendernut
Farmerscientist interaction
Orange dye extracted from flowers of Butea
monosperma
Profile
12 ICAR NEWS
Remote Sensing for
finding actual crop area
Under the project Developing
Remote Sensing based Methodology
for Collection of Agricultural Statistics
in Meghalaya a pilot study has been
conducted to develop a suitable
survey methodology for estimation of
area under paddy crop in Rhi-boi
district of Meghalaya. In this study,
LISS III images of IRS 1D and IRS P6
satellites have been used. The area
under paddy has been obtained by
maximum likelihood classification
method. But due to undulating
topography of the regi on,
misclassification errors, topographic
geometry, sun-synchronous sensors,
there is significant difference of area
under crop in the image and actual
area under crop on the ground. In
order to rectify the area under paddy
crop due to undulating topography
and mi scl assi fi cati on errors,
relationship between area under
paddy in the classified image and
actual area under paddy crop on the
ground has been established.
The roads are conceptually divided
into grids of 500 x 500 m
2
, which act
as the sampling units. Two estimators
have been developed to estimate the
area under paddy in this buffer zone.
One based on all surveyed grids
(Method I) and another based on only
those grids, which contain the area
under paddy crop (Method II). Further,
the vector layer of this buffer was
overlaid on the satellite classified
image and the corresponding area
from the image was extracted. Using
these estimates, the area under paddy
i n the enti re di stri ct has been
estimated as 7204 ha (Method I) and
7215 ha (Method II) with standard
error of 5.88 and 9.24, respectively.
S.D. Sharma
Director, Indian Agricultural Statistics
Research Institute, Pusa
New Delhi 110 012
Sword beanA
potential genotype for
crop diversification in
hot arid regions
Sword bean (Canavalia gladiata)
is an under exploited drought hardy
perennial leguminous vegetable for
nutritive tender pods. During the
course of vari ous expl orati ons
undertaken for surveys and collections
of arid horticultural crops variability
under NATP on sustainable
management of plant bio-diversity
from 2000 to 2002, it was observed
that in tribal dominating areas of
Southern Rajasthan and Northern
Gujarat, very few tribal families are
cultivating sword bean for domestic
uses and also to earn some family
contingencies by selling tender pods
in near by hatts (weekly markets).
This facilitated its collection with the
aim to evaluate the sword bean
germplasm under hot and arid
agroclimatic conditions. At last, all
the collected seeds were sown as five
source population samples in relation
to the five district boundaries of the
two states. Individual plants were
observed for recording characters on
growth, flowering and fruiting
behaviour and pod yield and quality
components at CIAH, Bikaner as a
rainy-winter season crop. Among the
white flowered population, few plants
were early to harvest with high quality
pods for vegetable at tender stages
and therefore, selfed seeds were
collected from the marked plants for
further purification. The uniform and
early harvesting line sword bean
AHSB 1 is high yielding and could be
potential for crop diversification in the
arid region. The plant germplasm
registration committee of NBPGR,
New Delhi, has now registered this
line as a potential genotype INGGR
04056.
Developed by recurrent selection
from the local germplasm grown in
tribal areas of south Rajasthan and
northern Guj arat, thi s drought
tolerating genotype is very early for
harvesting under extremes of arid
conditions of north-western India and
produces uniform pods for vegetable
use at tender stages. Light green
coloured immature pods of about 20
25 cm length, 3.03.5 cm width and
5060 g weight are excellent for
organoleptic quality of vegetable
curries. Climbing plants are medium
in growth habit with dark green leaves
and white colour flowers. Flowering
starts in 6872 days, where first
picking is from 9095 days of sowing
as a rainy season crop. The final pod
retention is varied from 2 to 5 per
spike (raceme) there by yield of
marketable tender pods per plant
ranged between 1.2 to 1.5 kg/season.
On an average, there are 4 seeds in a
pod. The creamy white colour seeds
are large and kidney shaped. The
seeds are about 2.52 cm in length,
Buffer zone of 500 500 m
2
created along
the road overlaid on satellite image
Pod development stages in swordbean
Spectrum
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 13
and 1.61 cm in width. The weight of
1000 seeds is 2.152 kg.
D.K. Samadia and D. G. Dhandar
Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Bikaner
Rajasthan 334 006
Alcohol resistant
bacteria
The significance of this finding is
that whi l e ethanol i s normal l y
considered as a universal disinfectant,
which readily kills vegetative bacterial
cel l s, thi s parti cul ar bacteri um
(identified as Bacillus pumilus based
on partial 16S rDNA sequence data)
was found to be highly tolerant to
alcohol. Bacterial spores are known
to be tolerant to extreme conditions
but there are no clear documented
reports on how long they can withstand
alcohol. This spore-forming gram
positive bacterium showed high
tolerance to alcohol and survive in it
from weeks to over four months
depending on the concentration of
ethanol.
cultures from contaminating bacteria.
The bacterium was a hazard to in vitro
cultures in general because of the
potential threat of transmitting across
to other cultures through alcohol
flamed tools. While remaining in latent
form in grape cultures, it showed
hazardous effects on the cultures of
other crops l i ke papaya and
watermelon. Grape micro cuttings
inoculated with this bacterium showed
both epi phyti c and endophyti c
colonization of the shoot and root in
vitro. The resultant plantlets showed
more rooting compared with un-
inoculated control cultures.
Director
Indian Institute of Horticultural Research
Hessaraghatta, Lake Post, Bangalore
Karnataka 560 089
Twenty four transferable
embryos recovered in a
single flush from a
microsheep
The Garole is a rare and less known
microsheep breed found in the low
lying, hot and humid, Sunderban
region in West Bengal. This sheep
generally produces multiple births with
an average litter size of 2.27 lambs.
Historical evidence has revealed that
the import of Garole germplasm from
India in the late 18th century led to the
development of a prolific Australian
Booroola merino sheep having a
fecundity gene (FecB), which has
been recently confirmed by DNA
analysis.
Extensive utilization of Garole
sheep in the form of spermatozoa,
ova and embryos assume significance
because of the presence of FecB gene
in this valuable genetic resource.
Artificial insemination of non-prolific
ewes using fresh diluted garole semen
has successfully resulted in the birth
of highly fertile crossbred lambs.
However, there is a need to conserve
this prolific breed of sheep and multiply
its number through use of embryo
biotechnology.
The present study is a first case
report of a superovulated Garole ewe
in which 24 transferable embryos were
collected in a single flush for transfer
in non-prolific native recipient sheep.
An adult parous Garole ewe belonged
to a flock that was procured from the
Sunderban area in October 2000 and
rai sed under the semi -i ntensi ve
management system at the institute
farm. It weighed 12.5 kg and was
induced for superovulation in late
Spot testing of B. pumulus samples (1 l)
dispersed in nutrient both (row 1), distilled
water (row 2), ethanol 25% (row 3), 50%
(row 4), 70% (row 5), 80% (row 6) 90%
(row 7) or rectified spirit 90% (row 8) after
1 hr (A), d1 (B), d2 (C), d7 (D), d14 (E), 1
month (F) 2 months (G) or 4 months (H)
Ethanol concentration of 90% was
more effective in eliminating its spores
than the universally recommended
bactericidal levels of 7080%. This
alcohol-defying organism was isolated
from in vitro culture of grape as a
covert contaminant during the efforts
to sanitize the micro propagated
A donor sheep of Garole breed
View of ovaries with multiple ovulations
Spectrum
Embryos recovered from a Garole sheep in
a single flush
14 ICAR NEWS
autumn of the year 2004 under the
multiple ovulation embryo transfer
programme being conducted at the
institute farm.
The ewe was subjected to mating
twice a day (morning and evening)
with Garole ram of proven fertility.
The ovarian response in terms of
number of ovulation was determined
by Iaparoscopy on day 3 to 4 after
mating followed by surgical embryo
collection.
The total number of corpus leuteum
observed in the left and right ovaries
were 24. There was no leutinizing
follicle in either of the two ovaries.
The recovery after flushing was 100
per cent and all the 24 embryos were
of morula stage and their quality was
good. The embryos were transferred
in 7 recipient ewes of Awassi x
Malpura cross (3 embryos per ewe)
aged 2.55.0 years and 34 times
that of donors weight ranging between
35 to 46 kg (38.8 3.42 kg). The
remaining embryos were frozen and
stored in liquid nitrogen for long-term
storage.
S.M.K. Naqvi, R. Gulyani, A. Joshi,
V.P. Maurya, D. Kumar, J.P. Mittal and
V.K. Singh
Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute,
Avikanagar, via Jaipur, Rajasthan 304 501
Nicorock a dual
purpose chicken for
backyard
Backyard farming improves the
economic status of the majority of
tribal and rural families from lower
socio-economic strata in the rural /
tribal areas. It is a well known fact that
eggs and birds reared in backyard
farming are in considerable demand
and sold at a premium price.
Systematic research efforts at the
Central Agricultural Research
Insti tute, Port Bl ai r, l ed to the
development of a dual purpose bird
named as Nicorock suitable for rural
poultry production, which has found
wide acceptability in Andaman. During
the process of development, traits
which are important from rural poultry
production view point like coloured
pl umage, better resi stance to
diseases, moderate body weight,
better egg production and adaptability
for backyard farming etc. have been
taken into consideration.
Nicobari fowls are reared under
backyard farmi ng system wi th
minimum feed and health cover. There
are three strains of Nicobari fowl,
namely brown, black and white
Nicobari. Black Nicobari can produce
about 130 eggs under backyard but
have lower growth rate and smaller
egg size. Pure black rock, RIR,
Giriraja, the progeny of the crosses of
Black Rock with Black Nicobari and
RIR with Brown Nicobari were
eval uated under i ntensi ve and
backyard conditions in these Islands.
It was observed that survivability of
the progeny of Black Rock males with
Black Nicobari females was better
under backyard system with better
growth and production performance.
These progeny are at present supplied
to the farmers through IVLP and KVK,
CARI, Port Blair. These birds are
named as Nicorock. Black rock and
black Nicobari fowls are selected for
better growth and production
performance and are being used as
parent lines of Nicorock.
The pooled (male and female) body
weights of the birds at 10, 12 and 14
weeks of age were 885.71, 1146.96
and 1472.86 g, respectively under
deep litter system of management.
The body weights of the males were
still higher. The birds were shifted to
cages at 16 weeks of ages to observe
thei r i ndi vi dual producti on
performance. The average age and
weight at sexual maturity were 161.25
days and 1741.36 g, respectively. The
Performance of Nicorock under
intensive and backyard management
Trait Intensive Backyard
10 week body 885.71
a
687.06
b
weight (g) 45.13 54.27
12 week body 1146.96
a
910.15
b
weight (g) 45.28 64.04
14 week body 1472.86
a
1080.87
b
weight (g) 153.74 191.82
Age at sexual 161.25
b
193.12
a
maturity (days) 2.66 5.92
Weight at 1741.36
a
1487.46
b
maturity (g) 40.17 58.34
Annual egg 171.88
a
142.66
b
production (in no.) 6.69 9.57
Egg weight (g) 52.50 50.85
0.52 0.68
Laying period 7.89 9.12
mortality (%)
Net profit/100 birds/ 1200
month (Rs)
Carcass quality traits of Nicorock
Particulars Meaan SE
Percentage of Live weight (g)
Live weight (g) 2132.50139.76
Eviscerated carcass (%) 73.673.28
Neck 4.800.31
Back 15.170.94
Wings 8.080.27
Breast 17.740.77
Shank 3.980.22
Thigh 23.901.33
Percentage of Eviscerated weight
wings 11.010.36
Back 20.530.44
Neck 6.500.23
Legs 37.830.56
Breast 23.630.90
Nicorock under cage management system
Spectrum
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 15
average annual egg production and
egg weight were 171.88 in number
per year and 52.5 g, respectively. The
laying period mortality was 7.89%.
The pooled (male and female) body
weights of the birds at 10, 12, and
14th weeks of age under backyard
system were 687.06, 910.15 and
1,080.87 g, respectively. The average
age and weight at sexual maturity
were 193.12 days and 1,487.46 g,
respectively. The average annual egg
production and egg weight were
142.66 in number and 50.85 g,
respectively under backyard. Laying
period mortality was 9.12%.
The birds are provided with some
amount of supplementary feed in the
form of kitchen waste, rice or wheat
and allowed to go to the nearby field
or forest in search of feed. They come
back at dusk and take shelter. The
amount of supplementary feed
provided by the farmers varied from
3545 g/ bird/ day during later part of
growing and in laying period. Small
l ow cost houses made of l ocal
materials are used as shelter during
night. In corner of the house bamboo
baskets are provided for laying. It was
observed that if a farmer rears 100
Nicorock birds (50 males and 50
females) under backyard can earn up
to Rs 1,200 per month.
Six males were selected at random
from the birds kept under intensive
management to study the carcass
qual i ty trai ts. The bi rds were
slaughtered at 24 weeks of age after
taking the live weight as per the
standard procedure. Birds were bled,
plucked and weighed. The weight of
the eviscerated carcass, neck, wings,
breast, shank and thigh were recorded
and expressed as percentage of live
weight. Eviscerated carcass were cut
into five parts, namely, wings, back,
neck, legs and breast. The weight of
the cut-up parts were recorded and
expressed as percentage of
evisceration weight. The average live
weight of males (n=6) at 24 weeks of
age was 2,132.50 g with 73.67%
evisceration percentage. The average
weights of neck, back, wings, breast,
shank and thigh were 4.80, 15.17,
8.08, 17.74, 3.98 and 23.90% of live
weight, respectively. The average
weights of cut-up parts like wings,
back, neck, legs and breast were
11.01, 20.53, 6.50, 37.83 and 23.63%,
respectively.
A total of 20 eggs were selected at
random from the birds reared in cages.
Eggs were collected on the day of lay
at 45 weeks of age. Eggs were
weighed individually (on electronic
balance) to the accuracy of 0.01 g.
Egg quality traits were determined
following standard procedure. The
weights of albumen, yolk and shell
were recorded and expressed as
percentage of egg weight. The
average egg weight was 53.25 g. The
shel l wei ght and thi ckness,
albumen%, yolk% and shell% were
6.71 g, 0.50 mm, 54.23%, 32.08%
and 12.60%, respectively.
The backyard farming improves the
economic status of majority of tribal
and rural people and requires less in-
vestment with good economic return.
R.N. Chatterjee, R.B. Rai, A.Kundu,
S. Senani, Jai Sunder and S.C. Pramanik
Central Agricultural Research Institute
Post Box 181, Port Blair
Andamans 744 101
Egg quality traits of Nicorock
Traits MeanSE
Egg weight (g) 53.251.40
Shape index 73.251.39
Albumen height (mm) 3.540.21
Albumen weight (g) 28.880.76
Yolk weight (g) 17.080.82
Yolk height (mm) 3.040.16
Albumen: yolk weight 1.690.65
Shell weight (g) 6.710.14
Albumen (%) 54.230.72
Yolk (%) 32.080.79
Shell (%) 12.600.16
Shell thickness (mm) 0.500.03
Export of cured product
from jelly-fish
Appropriate technology was
developed, standardised and
transferred to the industry for utilizing
jelly-fish by treating with varying
concentrations of salt and alum for
export market. A team comprising
Drs R. Badonia, L.N. Murthy, S.K.
Panda and K. Devdasan worked on
utilization of jelly fish resource in
Gujarat. Till now jelly-fish was
considered as a menace, waste and
nuisance to the fishermen rather than
a fishery resource. During jelly-fish
abundance other fish catch is reduced
considerably. Many times the
presence of large number of jelly-fish
creates problem in fishing operations.
Many varieties of jelly-fish cause
itching to human skin on contact. In
Gujarat the jelly-fish is available in
abundance in costal waters. However
there is no information available on
the quantity presently landed. Locally
it is called as Jharko, Tarbala and
Topala. Jelly fish caught on the CIFT
Landing of jelly fish on the vessel Sagar
Kripa
Spectrum
16 ICAR NEWS
research vessel Sagar Kripa were
found with weight range of 5-15 kg
each and diameter of the umbrella up
to 60 cm. In Gujarat 4-5 species of
jelly-fish are commonly found. The
most commonly available species is
the common jelly-fish-Aurilia spp. The
availability of jelly-fish is highly
seasonal. At times the coastal waters
can be full of jelly-fish while during
other season not a single jelly-fish is
found. They are found drifting along
with water current. In Gujarat the main
fishing season is during November
March. Fishing is carried out at 1520
meter depth. The main fishing gears
used include seine nets, drift nets,
and scoop-nets. In Gujarat, fishing is
carried out during night to minimize
spoilage, as temperature is lower
during the night. Water content of
whole jelly-fish is more than 96%,
minerals 2.3% and 1% protein.
Umbrella and tentacles (arms)
constitute 60% and 30% of total fish
weight respectively. Remaining 10%
is the waste comprising of intestine
and gonads. The entire process
requires 10 to 15 days to produce a
salted product with 6070% moisture
and 1625% salt. Fresh jelly-fish are
washed properly in seawater and two
halves are separated. Upper halves
comprise of Umbrella and lower half
arms and stomach cavity. The
stomach cavity is separated and
discarded, while arms are used for
processing. In first stage umbrellas
and arms are kept in seawater tanks
made of wood or cement and lined
with polyethylene. After 45 hours
the umbrellas are taken out and white
scum like substance, thin membranes
and spine are removed using steel or
bamboo knives. Care is taken not to
cut or scar the umbrella. In the second
phase the material is immersed in
seawater containing 10% salt and 4%
alum and 1% bleaching powder for 1
2 days. The pH is to be maintained at
4 by adding lime in the solution. Salt
removes moisture and alum helps to
coagulate proteins and reduces the
solubility and acts as a disinfectant.
Sodium and potassium alum is used
and aluminum and iron alum is
avoided. At pH 4 the dissolution of
solid particles is minimum. During this
stage 35% weight loss takes place.
After the process solution gets diluted
and contaminated and is discarded.
In the next stage the material is
immersed in solution containing 15%
salt and 2% alum for 2 days. By this
time the weight loss is about 50%. For
the next four days the umbrella and
tentacles are treated with 20% salt
solution and 12% alum. The
thickness of umbrella is reduced to 2
mm and weight loss of 90% takes
place. After the process is over the
umbrellas are stacked over sloping
board for draining, preferably under
chilled temperature for 24 days. The
finished product has moisture content
of 60%. The umbrellas are graded
size wise depending on the diameter.
The finished product is flat, round and
spongy with diameter of 1520 cm
weighing 70160 g each The yield of
the final product is 67%. The demand
is more for jelly-fish of more than 25
30 cm in diameter. For retail market
the dried jelly-fish is packed in thick
polyethylene with holes in one kg pack.
Bulk pack is packed in 20 kg pack in
polyethylene lined woven poly bag.
The storage temperature is 0C. The
salted product has a shelf-life of one
year at room temperature and 2 years
under chilled condition and is not
refrigerated. Cured jelly-fish in semi-
dried form is having export demand in
south-east Asian countries, viz. Japan,
Indonesia, Hong Kong, Korea and
Malaysia etc. Now, three processors
in Veraval and in Okha are processing
jelly-fish for export. Jelly fish which
was discarded as waste in the sea is
now fetching a price of Rs 23 per kg.
R. Badonia, Scientist
Central Institute of Fisheries Technology
Veraval Research Centre, Gujarat 362 269
Efficacy of chlorine on
elimination of Vibrio
cholerae in seafood
In the seafood industry Vibrio
cholerae is a zero tolerant organism,
and hence should be absent in the
processed seafood. Washing the raw
material with potable water containing
chlorine is a critical step in the
Water content of whole jelly fish is more
than 96%, minerals 2.30% and 1% protein
Jelly fish is kept in seawater containing
10% salt and 4% alum and 1% bleaching
powder for 12 days
Spectrum
ICAR News
from the Year 2000 onwards
is available on the Internet
at DIPA Website.
Log on to:
www.icar.org.in/dipa/icarnews.htm
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 17
elimination of Vibrio cholerae. In spite
of the drastic measures taken to clean
the raw material with process water
having appropriate chlorine levels,
there are cases of detection of V
cholerae in processed shrimp.
The level of residual chlorine
stipulated by EU for process water for
washing raw shrimp is only 2 ppm. On
the other hand, USFDA approves 5
ppm of residual chlorine in process
water. Under these circumstances, a
study became inevitable to arrive at
the right level of residual chlorine in
process water that will completely
destroy any V. cholerae cells present
in the raw material.
A systematic study was carried out
in the Microbiology Fermentation and
Biotechnology Division of CIFT
Cochin, on elimination of Vibrio
cholerae present on whole shrimp and
peeled meat by washing with potable
water carrying various levels of
residual chlorine.
It is very evident from the data that
there is close relationship among initial
cell number of V. cholerae, chlorine
level and exposure time. Vibrio
cholerae cells having a cell density of
10
3
cells/ml, when suspended in sterile
water containing 2 ppm of residual
chlorine was completely eliminated in
20 minutes. However at higher cell
densi ty of 10
5
cel l s/ml , l onger
exposure time was necessary to
achieve complete death. V. cholerae
at 10
3
cells/g, artificially contaminated
Inactivation of V cholerae present on seafood by different residual chlorine
levels and exposure time
Particulars of trial No. of Initial cell Residual level % Time for complete
trials No. Cfu/g# chlorine ppm death of inactivation of
V. cholerae min
Vibrio cholerae cells 3 10
5
* 2 100 30
suspended in sterile water 10
3
* 2 100 20
Vibrio cholerae cell in 3 10
6
4 99.81 10
cooked peeled shrimp meat 10
5
4 100 10
10
3
4 100 5
Vibrio cholerae cells in 3 10
5
7 96 10
headless raw shrimp shell-on 10
3
7 100 10
* cfu/ml; # Inoculated
in cooked peeled shrimp meat, when
exposed to 4 ppm residual chlorine,
was compl etel y el i mi nated i n 5
minutes. At higher cell number of 10
5
cells/g it took 10 minutes for complete
destruction. V. cholerae having cell
density of 10
3
cells/g when present in
headless (HL) raw shrimp with shell,
were completely inactivated by 7 ppm
residual chlorine in 10 minutes. The
findings indicate that presence of shell
and organic matter of the shrimp
sample affects the efficacy of chlorine
as a disinfectant on V. cholerae cells.
It also reveals that effective residual
chl ori ne l evel depends on the
contamination level and exposure
time.
In actual practice, presence of V.
cholerae is not expected in raw shrimp.
However, aquacultured shrimp could
be an exception. But even in extreme
cases, the V. cholerae contamination
never exceeds 10 to 1,000 cells/g, so
that a lower level of residual chlorine
can eliminate the pathogen. The study
indicates that the safe level of residual
chlorine in process water has to be at
least 7 ppm and an exposure time of
10 min need to be emphasized for
complete destruction of V. cholerae if
present in the raw seafood, particularly
if shellon shrimp is being processed.
Nirmala Thampuran, K. Sree Ganga and
P.K. Surendran
Central Institute of Fisheries Technology
Matsyapuri P.O. Cochin 682 029
Captive breeding,
rearing and sea
ranching of seahorse
successful
Seahorses are listed as vulnerable
in the IUCN-list and therefore they
need urgent conservational
measures, Seahorses are being
collected in large quantities, shade
dried and traded outside the country
at a cost of Rs 5,000 and above per kg
for use as an ingredient in the
traditional Chinese medicine.
Indiscriminate exploitation of these
organisms has led to an alarming
decrease in their population leading
to a ban on their exports by the
Female (left) and male (right) seahorse
Diagram illustrating conical FRP rearing
tank for rearing seahorse babies
32
Spectrum
18 ICAR NEWS
government of India.
Work on breeding of seahorses has
been undertaken at the Tuticorin and
Vizhinjam Research Centres of
CMFRI. Seahorses (Hippocampus
kuda) collected from the southern
coast of India were reared under
captive condition for more than two
years as brood stocks at the Vizhinjam
centre. Fifty spawning trials and
rearing of babies were carried out.
About 65% survival of seahorse
babies after one month of rearing was
achieved in a rearing system provided
with a conical bottom fibre-reinforced
plastic tanks with mild aeration. Full
embryonic development takes place
in 2124 days. Baby seahorse
expelled from the males brood pouch
in the early morning hours start feeding
live feed such as nauplii of Artemia,
rotifer and nauplii of Mysids and reach
maturity after 110 days of birth.
To study the natural growth,
migration and recruitment pattern of
seahorses, a total of 366 laboratory-
reared baby seahorses Hippocampus
kuda were floy-tagged (tied in the
neck region) using thin plastic sheets
of 7 x 5 mm, engraved with respective
serial number. The average length
and weight of seahorse was 106
14.08 mm and 2.57 1.22 g
respectively. They were released at
depths ranging from 5 to 6 m,
comprising sea grass and soft coral
beds off Puthupattinam and
Mullimunai, along the Palk Bay (near
Rameswaram) of Tamil Nadu in the
month of June 2004. About 10,000
fishers residing in adjoining coastal
villages were appraised about the
release of tagged seahorses and
distributed with pamphlets explaining
the importance of tagged seahorses.
Data from recaptured seahorses
indicated that they grow to about 4.15
mm in length per month in the natural
habitat. This technique of captive
breeding, rearing and sea ranching of
young ones of seahorses will be of
use to sustain their population in the
natural habitats.
A.P. Lipton and M. Thangaraj
Vizhinjam Research Centre of CMFRI
Vizhinjam
Collar-tagged seahorse
A new aluminium craft
for traditional fisheries
sector
The Central Institute of Fisheries
Technology, Cochin has been
evaluating different materials suitable
for construction of fishing vessels for
the artisanal as well as mechanized
sectors. Di fferent types of
conventional woods were tried and
wood like Venteak was found to be
good for boat construction, so that
costly teak could be spared. In later
years, materials like ferrocement and
fibreglass were also tried. Availability
of underutilized rubberwood prompted
the institute to treat it chemically and
then use it for boat construction. This
technology succeeded and extensive
field trials were done using canoes
made of treated rubberwood. Other
Aluminium craft under operation
underutilized wood like coconut wood
is also being tried as alternate and
cost effective. Steel has always been
the most successful and popular
material for fishing boat construction.
Fuel efficient steel fishing vessel
designs have been developed and
popularized by the institute. Now for
the first time it has come out with a
fishing craft made of aluminium alloy
to study its properties and behaviour
in inland and marine conditions.
The properties such as light weight,
dent resi stance, hi gh corrosi on
resistance, high ratio of strength to
wei ght, toughness, resi l i ence,
elasticity and resistance to electrolytic
action makes it a very good material
for the construction of marine crafts.
Considering the above advantages
aluminium alloy sheets were used for
the construction of an inland fishing
boat. The dimension of the prototype
aluminium craft christened as Kayal
is 5.20 m LoA, 1.10 m breadth and
0.55 m depth. The hull shape is that of
a catamaran. The hull is welded using
TIG method. Dye penetration test was
carried out to check the welding and
quality was found good. Two seats
are provided in the craft. An awning is
made for the open deck area using
aluminium pipes. A buoyancy chamber
is made in the forward end of the craft
for safety. The craft is strengthened
for fitting an OBM. Rings are fitted for
pulling the boat. The construction was
carri ed out by M/s Parur Metal
Industries, Parur. The trials were
conducted with OBM in the
backwaters and found to give good
performance. The cost of the boat is
Rs 1,20,000 without engine.
The boat can be worked with
inboard as well as outboard engines.
For inland and coastal waters, OBM
is ideal. After successful trials, the
aluminium can be popularized as a
material for construction of fishing
boats in view of the advantages
mentioned earlier. As aluminium is
available in large quantities in India
Spectrum
OCTOBERDECEMBER 2005 19
Spectrum
Published by Shri Kuldeep Sharma, Incharge (DIPA), Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture, Indian Council of Agricultural
Research, New Delhi 110 012. Lasertypeset by M/s Xpedite Computer Systems, B-587, IInd Floor, Pandav Nagar, New Delhi 110 008, and printed
in India at M/s Royal Offset Printers, A-89/1, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi 110 028.
Editing : Reena Kandwal; Production : Punit Bhasin; Art : Suresh Dhawale
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chairman
Dr P. Das
DDG (Agricultural Extension)
Members
Dr G. Kalloo
DDG (Horticulture & Crop Sciences)
Dr J.S. Samra
DDG (Natural Resource Management)
Dr V.K. Taneja
DDG (Animal Sciences)
Dr R.C. Maheshwari, ADG (TC)
Dr Mruthyunjaya, National Director (NAIP)
Member-Secretary
Shri Kuldeep Sharma, Incharge (DIPA)
Software packages
developed by IASRI
Statistical Package for Augmented
Designs (SPAD) is useful for designing
agricultural experiments conducted for
comparing existing practices/check
varieties, called controls, with new
pr act i ces/ var i et i es/ ger mpl asm
collections, called tests, where the
experimental material for the tests is
limited and it is not possible to replicate
them in the design. The package
generates a randomized layout of an
augmented randomized complete
block (RCB) design and augmented
complete block design with equal or
unequal block sizes. The optimal
replication number of the control
treatments in every block is obtained
by maximizing the efficiency per
observation for making tests vs
controls comparisons. The package
generates randomized layout of the
design as per the procedure of Federer
(1956), which is generally overlooked
while conducting such experiments.
The package also performs the
analysis of data generated from
augmented block designs (complete
or incomplete). The treatment sum of
squares is partitioned into different
components of interest viz. (i) among
test treatments, (ii) among control
treatments and (i i i ) among test
treatments and control treatments.
Multiple comparison procedures for
making all possible pair-wise
treatment comparisons can also be
employed through this package.
A null hypothesis on any other contrast
of interest can also be tested.
Statistical Package for Agricultural
Research data analysis (SPAR 2.0) is
useful for the analysis of experimental
research data in Plant Breeding and
Genetics. The package consists of
eight modules (i) Data Management
Module (ii) Descriptive Statistics
Module (ii) Estimation of Breeding
values Modules (iii) Correlation and
Regression Analysis Module (iv)
Variance and Covariance
Components Estimation Module (v)
Stabi l i ty Anal ysi s Modul e (vi )
Multivariate Analysis Module (vii)
Matting Design Analysis Module.
The cost of each of these packages
is Rs 1,000 + Rs 50 for postage for
National Agricultural Research
System (NARS) and Rs 2,500 + Rs 50
for postage for the organizations
outside NARS. For each additional
license, the organization from NARS
has to pay Rs 500 and the organization
from outside the NARS has to pay
Rs 1,000.
S.D. Sharma
Director
Indian Agricultural Statistics Research
Institute, New Delhi 110 012
this can be a viable alternative to
wood, and can in due course save our
already depleting forests.
K. Devadasan
Director
Central Institute of Fisheries Technology
Willingdon Island, Matsyapuri
Kochi 682 029
Electromechanical
tracker developed at
CAZRI
An experimental light sensitive
solar tracker has been developed that
helps the solar device to turn itself
towards the sun with the first beam of
sunlight in the morning. The tracker
comprises simple electronic circuit
and a mechanical unit. The electronic
circuit senses light through LDR and
small PV cell and trigger circuit, which
mobilizes tracking platform toward the
maximum light with the help of a 12V
DC motor and battery. The mechanical
unit consists of a worm gear assembly,
which rotates the platform of tracker
as well as holds (self-lock) it to
overcome wind load. The
experimental tracker was evaluated
along with non-tracked solar cooker.
On an average 25% higher output is
obtained from the tracked cooker.
Drs H.L. Kushwaha, Harpal Singh and
N.M. Nahar
Central Arid Zone Research Institute
Jodhpur 342 003
20 ICAR NEWS
Dr Mangala Rai, Secretary (DARE) and Director-General, ICAR
ATER is a precious and finite
resource that is essential for the very
survival of life on earth and most critical
input of food production. Presently
about 20% of the globally cultivated
area is irrigated, utilizing an estimated
70% of the global water use and
accounts for nearly 40% of the total
food production. Only 10% of the
water is used in homes and 20% by the
industry.
The total water received annually
in India is about 4,400 km
3
, from
precipitation and inflowing rivers
The Last Page
which originate
outside the country.
Indias share of water
at gl obal l evel i s
about 4.2%.
Currently only 29% of
the total
preci pi tati on i s
conserved and water
use efficiency seldom
exceeds 40%.
India has 162
Mha of arable area of
which 55 Mha is
irrigated. About half
of the irrigated area
in our country
receives water
through exploitation
of ground water.
Even if the entire
could be adopted for conservation and
integrated use of water are, System
approach on multiple water uses in
crop, livestock, fish and horticulture
production; Simultaneous and multiple
use of water for integrated farming and
wet land systems; Conservation of
rainwater; Recycling of waste water;
Efficiency improvement of modern
methods of irrigation (drips, sprinklers,
etc.); Evolving innovative methods and
efficient crops/varieties; Water use
efficiency in conjunction with other
inputs (energy, nutrients, etc.); and
status of the soil, and plant response
to fertilizer.
There are several technologies to
develop and exploit water resources
for agri cul ture. Exampl es are
groundwater extraction, pressurized
irrigation system, construction of farm
ponds for rai nwater harvesti ng,
techniques of in situ water and soil
conservation and the like but when
thei r i nterrel ati on wi th the
environment is overlooked, an overall
decline and deterioration in the
utilizable resources takes place. The
key to successful
agri cul ture i s
therefore, fi ndi ng
ways to stretch the
avai l abi l i ty of
rai nwater beyond
the peri od of i ts
occurrence.
The quanti ty
and qual i ty of
groundwater govern
the producti on
potential of the land.
The poor qual i ty
water consti tutes
3284% of the total
g r o u n d w a t e r
devel opment and
poses severe
constraints in terms
of salinity, alkalinity
W
irrigation potential of the country is
used still about half of the cultivated
land will remain rainfed. Farming in
rainfed areas can be made productive
and profitable by rainwater harvesting
and using it for supplementary/life
saving irrigation in times of short-term
droughts to save the crop that could
eventually make a significant impact
on agricultural production. This is
equally applicable in case of the
livestock to supplement their drinking
water requirement.
Indian farming is characterized by
inequitable distribution of irrigation
water; over and under exploitation of
groundwater in different regions;
recurrence of frequent floods and
droughts, often co-occuring. Under
this condition, some approaches that
Reviving degraded lands and polluted
environment.
Intensive methods of agriculture
including its diversification are now felt
extremely important despite the fear of
their being associated with gradual
envi ronmental degradati on. The
challenge of the day is, therefore, to
find ways to make them sustainable.
The introduction of precision irrigation
methods (dri p, spri nkl er, mi cro-
sprinkler) and controlled environment
cultivation is relatively new. A number
of factors such as the inputs, operations
and resources comprise precision
farming. An accurate knowledge of
physiology of the crop being grown
helps to ensure uniform distribution of
irrigation water and fertilizer vis--vis
the kind of fertilizer, current nutrient
and toxicity hazards.
Urban waste water (sewage
water) and/or industrial effluents can
be gainfully used since these waters
have high organic load and contain
beneficial plant nutrients.
Therefore, adoption of precision
in all the activities pertaining to
agriculture is the key for attaining
enhanced production, sustainability
of the land and the water resources,
and optimization of the input use in
agriculture. An integrated use of water
resources for enhancing productivity,
livelihood, income, employment,
environmental services and equity is
called upon.
(Mangala Rai)