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V. S. Suganthy ¹, G. Mariappan ²

Affiliations
1 Indian Space Research Organisation, Climate Change Observatory, HRS, Ooty, NILGIRI (T.N.), IN
2 Department of Agriculture, Soil Survey and Land Use Organization, VELLORE (T.N.), IN

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the efficiency of coated DAP in sugarcane crop at M/s Sakthi Sugars Ltd., experimental farm, Appakudal, Erode district with 12 treatments comprising coated and uncoated DAP applications at three levels of P (100, 80 and 60% of recommended P for sugarcane) with three replications. The design adopted was Randomized Block Design The results indicated that the treatment receiving coated DAP at 80 percent of recommended P registered higher cane yield when compared with treatment receiving uncoated DAP at 100 percent of recommended P. Among the sources of P, the treatments receiving coated DAP with nimin coated urea maintained their superiority in recording higher available N, P and K at post harvest stage followed by the treatments receiving coated DAP and uncoated DAP. However, with respect to available phosphorus at post-harvest stage, a marked increase in the available P status of the soil with the increasing levels of P as coated DAP was noticed.

Keywords

Coated DAP, P Availability, Sugarcane Yield.

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R. Loganathan ¹, K. Mani ², G. Mariappan ³, K. Indrakumar ⁴

Affiliations
1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN
2 Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN
3 Department of Agriculture, Vellore (T.N.), IN
4 Department of Agricultural Entomology, Adhiparasakthi Agricultural College, Kalavai (T.N.), IN

Abstract

Cashew cultivation in India dates back to over 400 years, when the Portuguese who arrived in Kerala in the 16^th century introduced it. Initially it was cultivated to arrest soil erosion, afforestation and wasteland development programmes, but later it becomes an important cash crop. The total area under cashew in the world was 35.12 lakh hectares during 2009. In terms of area under cultivation, India ranked first with 8.93 lakh hectares constituting about one - fourth of the area under cashew in the world. To find out the costs and returns of the cashew cultivation among dry cashew cultivated farmers and irrigated cashew cultivated farmers. To estimate the economic viability of dry cashew/irrigated cashew plantations. Cashew was being cultivated as a dry crop in Cuddalore and Ariyalur districts to a larger extent. In Pudukkottai district, cashew was cultivated as both irrigated and dry crop and obviously the yield under dry condition was lesser than that of cashew grown under irrigated conditions. In the next stage, top six villages were purposively selected for the study. In each of the selected villages, 10 cashew growers were randomly selected. However, in Gandharvakkottai block of Pudukkottai district, cashew was cultivated as dry crop, while it was raised as an irrigated crop in Alangudy block of Pudukkottai district. Therefore, 30 dry cashew farms in Gandharvakkottai block and 30 irrigated cashew farms in Alangudy block were selected for the study. Thus, totally 150 dry cashew farms and 30 irrigated cashew farms were selected. Cost and returns like (i) Establishment costs and (ii) Maintenance costs were worked out. Yield and returns like, the yield and prices realized by the growers for the nuts were used to calculate the gross returns, net returns and the returns per hectare of cashew plantation. Economic viability of dry cashew varieties/irrigated cashew varieties the capital budgeting techniques like Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) were employed to assess the economic viability of cashew farms and also for cashew processing units. The gross returns were also more in irrigated farms (Rs. 43650) than that of the dry farms (Rs. 33288). The output-input ratio was 1.85, 2.03 for dry cashew farms, irrigated cashew farms, respectively. These would indicate the high profitability of cashew production was found only in irrigated farms and this was achieved by gap filling and following modern farming techniques. The Net Present Value was higher for irrigated farms (Rs. 80,027) than that of the dry farms (Rs. 57,911). In case of Benefit Cost Ratio, irrigated farms had higher ratio of 2.28 than that of the dry farms 2.03. Similarly, the Internal Rate of Return was also more for irrigated farms (42 %) when compared to that of the dry farms (37 %). This would highlight that the cashew plantation would be a financially worthwhile venture in the study area and there is a vast potential for taking up the cultivation of high yielding varieties of cashew plantation, especially in the irrigated conditions of Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu.

Keywords

Cashew Nut, Cost and Returns, Establishment Costs, Maintenance Costs, Economic Viability, Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), Internal Rate of Return (IRR).

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T. Ananthi ¹, M. Mohamed Amanullah ², G. Mariappan ³

Affiliations
1 Department of e-Extension Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN
2 Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN
3 Department of Agriculture (SSLUO), Vellore (T.N.), IN

Abstract

Field experiment was conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the effect of hybrid maize (Zea mays) under different intercropping systems, mycorrhizal inoculation and fertilizer levels on the yield component and yield of maize. The experiment was laid out in split - split plot design during winter 2011-12. The results indicated that among the cropping systems, sole maize recorded significantly better yield attributes and higher yield that was comparable with maize + cowpea intercropping system. With respect to mycorrhiza, mycorrhizal inoculated treatments recorded higher grain and stover yield. Among the fertilizer levels, 125 per cent RDF recorded higher grain yield. Regarding the treatment combinations, sole maize along with mycorrhizal inoculation and 125 per cent RDF recorded significantly higher yield parameters and yield. However, the yield was comparable with maize intercropped with cowpea along with mycorrhizal inoculation and application of 100 per cent RDF.

Keywords

Hybrid Maize, Intercropping Systems, Mycorrhiza, Fertilizer Levels, Yield Attributes, Yield.

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S. Praveena Katharine ¹, G. Mariappan ¹, K. Radhikaand ¹, S. Hemalatha ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN

Abstract

Amino acids form the building blocks of protein, the basic component of every living cell and are well known to increase the yield and overall quality of crops. In this context, the product amino acid formulation with 10 per cent free amino acids manufactured by Trade Corporation International, Spain and supplied by M/s. Mahamaya Life Sciences Ltd., New Delhi was evaluated to study its influence on growth, yield, quality parameters and uptake of nutrients by the crops, okra and brinjal. The field experiment on okra was conducted at farmer's field at Poosaripalayam, Coimbatore and that with brinjal was conducted in farmer's field at Urmandampalayam, Coimbatore. Amino acid formulation with 10 per cent free amino acid was tried at two doses, @ 2.0 l ha^-1 x 4 sprays at flowering and @ 4.0 l ha^-1 x 2 sprays at flowering. In okra, the treatment T₁, amino acid formulation at 2.0 l ha^-1 (4 times spray) recorded the maximum pod yield of 12.9 t ha^-1 and registered an increase of 24.8 per cent over control. In brinjal, the treatment T₂, amino acid formulation at 4.0 l ha^-1 (2 times spray) recorded the maximum fruit yield of 47.4 t ha^-1 and registered an increase of 19.7 per cent over control. The available NPK status of post harvest soil was lower in the treatments with amino acid formulation due to enhanced crop removal.

Keywords

Amino Acids, Okra, Brinjal, Yield, Quality Parameters.

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B. Kalaiselvi ¹, S. Mani ², G. Mariappan ³

Affiliations
1 National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre, Hebbal, Bengaluru (Karnataka), IN
2 Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN
3 Department of Agriculture, Soil Survey and Land Use Organization, Vellore (T.N.), IN

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of fertilizer mixture on soil available nutrient content. The experiment was conducted at Maize Research Station, Vagarai, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu in Randomized BlockDesign with seven treatments replicated thrice. The treatments included the application of 120 kg urea+ 50 kg DAP -Farmers' practice (T₁), Farmers' practice with Tamil Nadu state Dept. of Agriculture micronutrient mixture @ 25 kg ha^-1 as straight chemical fertilizers (T₂) as well as EFYM (T₃), recommended dose of fertilizer (T₄), RDF with TNAU -micronutrient mixture @ 12.5 kg ha^-1 as straight chemical fertilizers (T₅), RDF with TNAU - micronutrient mixture @25 kg ha^-1 as straight chemical fertilizers (T₆) as well as EFYM (T₇). The availability of macro and micronutrients were recorded at different stages of maize crop growth like knee high stage, tasseling and at harvest stage. The experimental result has revealed that though the availability of nutrients decreased with the advancement of crop growth, application of recommended dose of fertilizer with 25 kg ha^-1 of TNAU micronutrient mixture as enriched FYM has registered the increased availability of macro and micro nutrients even in post harvest soil.

Keywords

Micronutrient Mixture, Recommended Dose of Fertilizer, Enriched Farm Yard Manure.

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G. Mariappan ¹, M. Mohamed Amanullah ², T. Ananthi ³, M. Dhananivetha ⁴

Affiliations
1 Department of Agriculture (S.S. & L.U.O.), Vellore (T.N.), IN
2 Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN
3 Department of e-Extension Center, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (T.N.), IN
4 Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai (T.N.), IN

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted to study the influence of organic manures, micronutrients and arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) on the productivity of maize-sunflower cropping system at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 2011-12 and 2012-13. The experiment was laid out in Split Plot Design and replicated thrice for maize during winter 2011-12 and 2012-13 and the same experiment after dividing each plot into two was laid out in Split-split Plot Design with three replications for sunflower during summer 2012 and 2013 to estimate the residual effects of organic manures in maize, the results revealed that among the organic manures, poultry manure @ 5 t ha^-1 with RDF recorded significantly enhanced quality parameter like crude protein and starch content in maize followed by application of sericulture waste @ 5 t ha^-1 with RDF. Among the micronutrients and AM, ZnSO₄ @ 37.5 kg ha^-1 recorded significantly crude protein and starch content followed by application of followed by TNAU MN mixture. In sunflower, better oil yield and oil quality were recorded with application poultry manure @ 5 t ha^-1 with RDF to preceding maize followed by sericulture waste @ 5 t ha^-1 with RDF to preceding maize. The same trend was also noticed in the second year crop.

Keywords

Organic Manures, Micronutrients, AM, Maize, Sunflower, Crude Protein, Starch, Oil Quality.

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