Browsing by Author "Minakshi Padhi"

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EFFECT OF PINCHING AND GROWTH PROMOTING CHEMICALS ON GROWTH AND SEED ATTRIBUTES IN VERBENA (Verbena hybrida)
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2023) Usha Bhusal; Anil K. Singh; Anjana Sisodia; Kalyan Barman; Minakshi Padhi; Akash Kushwaha
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of pinching and growth promoting chemicals on the growth and seed attributes in verbena flower crop. Specifically, the study aimed to identify the effect of GA3 and salicylic acid at varying concentrations on plant growth and seed yield as well as determine the impact of pinching on these factors. Hence, an experiment was conducted to find out the effect of pinching and growth promoting chemicals on the growth and seed attributes of verbena. Growth promoting chemicals used in the experiment were GA3 and Salicylic Acid (SA) @ 100, 150 and 200 ppm each. The chemicals were foliar sprayed at 21 days after transplanting followed by pinching at 40 days after transplanting. Healthy seedlings were transplanted in plots of size 6 × 3 m with spacing of 60 × 50 cm. The trial was conducted using Randomized Block Design with three replications. in each treatment. The findings suggest that pinching at 40 days after transplanting can significantly improve the growth and seed attributes, where, pinching resulted in significantly greater plant spread, secondary branches, dry weight of leaves, leaf are index, seed yield/shoots and seed yield/plant. Meanwhile, GA3 at 200 ppm produced the highest test weight. The use of SA at 200 ppm also showed promising results in terms of growth and leaf area index in verbena. Present study highlights the positive impact of pinching and growth promoting chemicals at varying concentrations. It also suggests that incorporating pinching and growth promoting chemicals in cultivation of verbena can significantly improve the crop yield and quality. © 2023, Punjab Agricultural University. All rights reserved.
Flower crop response to biotic and abiotic stresses
(Springer Singapore, 2020) Anjana Sisodia; Anil K. Singh; Minakshi Padhi; Raimani Hembrom
Production of flower crops round the year in India is a nature's blessing, since the country is having varied agro-climatic conditions. Flower cultivation has been practiced in both open and protected conditions. Flowers like rose, gerbera, carnation, tuberose, gladiolus, etc. are important cut flower crops used in flower arrangements, in making bouquets, petunia as hanging baskets, garden display and in beautifying any landscape, whereas marigold is greatly used as loose flower in making garlands, decorating rangoli, temple offering, etc. However, various stress factors are associated with any flower crop that directly and indirectly hampers the growth of plant and results in poor quality flower, deprived yield and low income. Both higher and lower levels of abiotic stresses lead to decrease in flower quality and adversely affect the yield. Whereas, biotic stresses including diseases associated with fungus, bacterial, etc. can cause severe losses from seedling death to drastic decrease in the yield of flower to the growers. Thus, a brief knowledge of these stress conditions, their control measures and response of flower crops towards them is utmost important for successful cultivation of ornamental flower crops. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020. All rights reserved.
Role of microbes in restoration ecology and ecosystem services
(Elsevier, 2019) Anil K. Singh; Anjana Sisodia; Vandana Sisodia; Minakshi Padhi
Restoration ecology is the study of renewing a degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystem through active human intervention. Restoration ecology specifically refers to the scientific study that has evolved as recently. It assumes that environmental degradation and population decline are somewhat reversible processes. Ecological restoration has the potential to improve air quality, reverse forest clearance and desertification, slow biodiversity loss, enhance urban environments, and perhaps improve human livelihoods, and humanity’s relationships within nature. Recent conceptual advances highlight the interactions between flora, fauna, and soil in restoration ecology. The recovery process is relatively longer in comparison to the time taken for degradation. Restoration might take place naturally but that is a very slow process. Restoration ecology initiates and speeds up the recovery process. Bioremediation is the use of organisms (prokaryotes, fungi, plant, etc.) to detoxify polluted ecosystems by accumulating the toxic components in their bodies. Microbes may play a vital role in supplying nutrients in utilizable forms from soil to the plants. The important functions of the microbes are in nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and plant growth hormone synthesis, which are essential for better colonization of mangroves, etc. Recognizing the importance of soil microbes for success of higher plants and overall ecosystem health is the key to success of restoration. Plants with nitrogen-fixing symbioses have been employed throughout the history of restoration. Mycorrhizal associations have also been long explored in restoration settings, where their benefits have been repeatedly demonstrated, although the necessity of active mycorrhizal introduction is still required. Soil microbes help in mineralization of organic substrates form litter and release nutrients as a result of the heterotrophic activity. Hence, the microbial biomass is an important factor for maintaining soil quality, nutrient cycling, and soil reclamation. © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Seed priming on germination, growth and flowering in flowers and ornamental trees
(Springer Singapore, 2018) Anjana Sisodia; Minakshi Padhi; A.K. Pal; Kalyan Barman; Anil K. Singh
Seed dormancy is an emerging problem related to germination which is common in many species of ornamental trees and flowers. Poor seed germination and subsequently poor field establishment are a common phenomenon at adverse conditions of environment. The most important problems faced are the heterogneity and lack of suitable conditions in soil that causes decrease in germination percent. Priming is a water-based technique that consents metabolic processes necessary for enhancing germination rate and seed quality by managing the temperature and seed moisture content in which the seed is taken through the first biochemical processes within the initial stages of germination but preventing the seed transition towards full germination. This is a successful way through which plants would be able to complete their growth on or before the stresses arrive (Subedi KD, Ma BL. Agron J 97(1):211-218, 2005). Seed priming technique has been practised in many countries including India, Pakistan, China and Australia, and more than thousand trials had been conducted to evaluate the performance of priming in a variety of crops. The principle of seed priming is to minimise the period of emergence and to protect seed from environmental stresses during critical phase of seedling establishment to synchronise emergence which lead to uniform establishment and improved yield. It reduces the effect of salinity on the morphological parameter of the plants. Various priming techniques, like osmopriming, biopriming, halopriming, thermopriming, hydropriming, hormonal priming and solid matrix priming, give favourable result in seeds of ornamental flowers as well as trees. This technique has been successfully carried out in flower crops like balsam, coneflower, cosmos, gladiolus, pansy, marigold, periwinkle, rudbeckia, salvia, snapdragon and zinnia and trees like cassia, cypress, Senegal, eucalyptus, fig, teak, pine, almond, tamarind, oak, karanj, khejri, siris, subabul, kapok, gulmohar, kachnar, etc. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018. All rights reserved.