Evaluation of agroforestry systems in the mid hills of Meghalaya
Six fruit trees peach (Prunus persica), guava (Psidium guajava), Assam lemon (Citrus limon), pear (Pyrus communis), plum (Prunus domestica), sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) were evaluated in the horti- agri system for their productivity in the slopy terrain.
Maize (var. RCM 1-1) was cultivated in the inter row and inter terrace spaces of the tree species. Out of these six species, three were bearing fruits and other three i.e. pear, plum and sweet orange have not yet started bearing fruits. Therefore, performance of the three systems that produced fruits is summarized (Table1).
Table 1 Economic productivity of the different horti-agri systems
Landuse Fruit Maize Total Economic
yield yield yield return (t/ha) (t/ha) (MEY)* (Rs/ha)
(t/ha)
Assam lemon + 2.1 0.67 4.87 48,700 Maize
Peach + Maize 5.2 0.53 5.73 57,300 Guava + Maize 3.3 0.58 5.43 54,300
*MEY=Maize equivalent yield
It was observed that peach + maize was the most remunerative followed by guava + maize and Assam lemon + maize in the mid hills of Meghalaya.
Reduction in yield of maize was maximum under peach as compared to the other tree crops. Among the three fruit trees, peach performed best producing highest fruit yield (Fig 1).
Evaluation of Parkia roxburghii collections from the north eastern hill region
Seeds were collected from seven different places covering the states of Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya. After six years of transplantation, the collection Kezanglwa recorded highest plant height (4.37 m) followed by Kanpui (4.0 m) and Kanpokpi (3.6 m). However, the maximum diameter was recorded by Kezanglwa (7.57 cm) followed by Bilkhawthlir (7.31 cm) and Kanpui (7.18 cm).
Fig 7 Effect of amendments and fertilizer on ginger productivity
Fig 1 Fruiting of peach in the agroforestry systems
Collection and evaluation of Mucuna pruriens germplasm
Seeds were collected from individual plants of Mucuna pruriens from the north eastern hill region and few other states of the country such as Assam, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Seventy nine representative collections were evaluated for different growth and yield traits against five checks. These five checks include three (IC 385298, IC 83195, IC 385925) from National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, one (IIHR MP- 5) from Indian Institute of Horticulture, Bengaluru and one local collection (MGH-11) from Meghalaya. Wide range of variability was observed in all the traits evaluated. The most promising collections along with their phenotypic character for some of the most important traits such as early flowering (less than 55 days), inflorescence length (more than 50 cm), 100 seed weight (more than 90 g), number of clusters per plant (more than 90 clusters per plant) and seed yield per plant (more than 500 g per plant) are presented in Table 2. The coefficient of variability for these traits varied from 27 % (days to flower initiation) to 75 % (seed yield per plant). Highest seed yield per plant was recorded in the collection UPMP-11 (792 g) followed by WBNMP-3 (667 g), UPMP-2 (604 g), NGLMP-25
(572 g), WBNMP-6 (532 g) and WBNMP-7 (512 g).
Seed yield from all these collections were higher than that of the best check, IC 385298 (503 g). All the collections were evaluated for resistance against rust disease. Nine collections such as ASMMP-30, NGLMP-25, NGLMP-28, UPMP-2, UPMP-11, WBNMP-1, WBNMP-3, WBNMP-6 and WBNMP-7 were resistant against rust. Out of the 79 collections evaluated, 32 promising ones were submitted to National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi to get accession number.
Table 2 Range, mean and CV of important agro-morphological traits of promising genotypes of Mucuna pruriens and their characterization
Fig 2 Variability in the seed morphology of Mucuna pruriens collections
Cluster analysis was also carried out based on the quantitative traits which revealed some patterning and minor grouping of collections from geographically contiguous locations. However, molecular analysis would reveal more clear picture on the clustering pattern.
Tree borne oil seeds: Evaluation of performance of Jatropha curcas provenances
Plantation was raised from the seeds collected from six provenances of the north eastern states and seeds received from different participating centers in the project on tree borne oil seeds. Highest seed yield was obtained from the PJS-2 (495 kg/ha) followed by Mawhati (485 kg/ha) and PJS-1 (475 kg/ha). Oil content (Table 3) was maximum for Mawhati
(40.67 %) followed by Tura (39.67 %) and TFRI-2 (39.46 %).
Screening of Jatropha collections against powdery mildew
Thirteen provenances viz. TFRI 1, 2, Mawlasnai, Brynihat, PJS 1-2, Nagpur, Mendipatthar, Rahuri, PDKV Akola 2, Mawhati, Dimapar and Tura were screened against powdery mildew. Provenances from Mawlasnai and Brynihat were susceptible to powdery mildew based on single year observation. Berries and petioles were also found to be heavily infected.
Development of self sustainable integrated farming system through crop livestock integration.
Composite fish culture was practiced and fish farming was integrated with different animal components. Productivity of five different agroforestry models was estimated. Among these models, fish productivity was recorded highest in crop-fish-dairy- vermicompost-horticulture-hedgerow system (1.62 t/
ha). Among the livestock, daily weight gain was recorded highest in pig (0.28 kg/day). Highest meat production was from crop-fish-poultry-multipurpose trees (0.64 t/ha). Among these five models, crop-fish- poultry-multipurpose trees model was the most profitable.
Crop production
Ginger and turmeric were grown with multipurpose trees Alnus nepalensis and Gmelina arborea, respectively. Yield of ginger was 11.82 t/ha and turmeric was 14.01 t/ha. In the kharif season, maize,
Table 3 Growth and development traits of different provenances of Jatropha curcas
Name of Plant No. of No. of Canopy Collar Seed yield Oil content
provenance height Primary secondary (cm) diameter (kg/ha) (%)
(cm) branches branches (cm)
Rahuri 260 6 7 157 6.64 142.5 38.78
TFRI 2 373 6.2 4 115 8.52 100 39.46
TFRI 1 314 6.4 11.2 181 7.36 145 35.32
PDKV 185 4.4 3.8 105 3.16
Akola 2 37.5 34.45
PJS 2 367 7 15.2 230 8.48 495 34.64
PJS 1 301 5 14 261 7.20 475 37.46
Nagpur 248 6.6 10.8 172 6.36 180 31.94
Byrnihat 268 7.2 15 196 6.20 365.5 37.12
Mawhati 259 7 11.6 166 6.46 485 40.67
Mawlasnai 228 6 5.4 146 5.92 60 35.33
Tura 249 5 9.6 162 6.62 47.5 39.67
Mendipathar 250 6.8 8.8 141 6.70 107.5 36.00
Dimapara 264 6.8 9.8 186 7.64 77.5 37.00
Fig 3 Jatropha curcas provenances evaluated at the institute farm
upland paddy and lowland paddy were grown. The productivity of maize, upland paddy and lowland paddy was 3.21 t/ha, 1.95 t/ha and 2.83 t/ha, respetively.
In rabi season toria, cabbage, cauliflower, knoll-khol and carrot ware grown and productivity of these crops were recorded to be 0.49 t/ha, 10.71 t/ha, 10.40 t/ha, 2.46 t/ha and 2.34 t/ha, respectively.
Rate of decay of leaf biomass of different hedge row species
Experiment was conducted to evaluate the rate of decay of five different hedge row species viz., Flemingia macrophylla, Crotolaria tetragona, Indigofera tinctoria, Tephrosia candida and Canjanus cajan. To estimate decay rate, nylon mesh bag technique was used. Seven samples of each species were taken out after 15 days, 30 days, 75 days, 135 days and 195 days. Decay rate was maximum in C.tetragona (15.5 per cent left after 15 days of incorporation) and I.tinctoria (17.95 per cent left after 15 days of incorporation). Decay rate was slowest in F.macrophylla (61.65 per cent remained after 30 days of incorporation) and in all other species more than 60 percent biomass decayed after 30 days of incorporation. The ‘t’-half (on average year basis) varied from 0.0363 in C.tetragona to 0.1338 in F.macrophylla. Based on the decay constant, it appeared that C.tetragona is a better hedge row species followed by I.tinctoria, T.candida, C.cajan, and F.macrophylla.
Production of maize and toria under hedge row intercropping
Leaf biomass of two hedge row species was pruned and incorporated in the soil twice a year to supplement nutrients. First pruning was done in the month of February and second pruning was done in the month of September. Total leaf biomass production was estimated for Flemingia macrophylla and Indigofera tinctoria and it was recorded to be 2.6 t/ha and 1.3 t/
ha, respectively. Pruning was done twice a year and pruned biomass was incorporated in the soil to supplement nutrients. First pruning was done during Feb-March, 2010. Maize was grown as Pre-kharif crop.
Fertilizers were applied @ 75:60:40 NPK along with poultry manure @ 3.3 t/ha. Total yield of maize was recorded to be 3.21 t/ha. Leaf biomass was pruned again in the month of September and incorporated in the soil. Toria was sown in the last week of October.
Fertilizers were applied @ 60:80:40 NPK. Total yield of mustard was recorded to be 0.79 t/ha.