The study was conducted at the Division of BSH, FoH, SKUAST-K, Srinagar, to ascertain the role of seed priming in mitigating the adverse effects of suboptimal low temperature on seed germination potential of chilli. Seeds of chilli cv. Kashmir Long-1 were primed in water for 30 hours (P2), -0.5 MPa PEG-6000 for 18 hours (P3), 8x diluted vermiwash for 30 hours (P4) and 5.0 mg L' melatonin for 30 hours (P5) at a temperature of 25±2 °C. Unprimed seeds were taken as control (P1) and tested for their germination potential at optimal (25±2°C) and suboptimal (17±2°C) temperatures. Five hundred seeds from each treatment, including the control, were cultured in Petri dishes lined with five layers of blotting paper. Seeds were also sown in nursery trays filled with soil and kept for germination at optimal (25±2°C) (C1) as well as suboptimal (17±2°C) (C2) temperatures. All the treatments were replicated thrice and arranged under CRD. The data indicate that the germination potential of chilli seeds significantly declined under suboptimal low temperature whereas different priming treatments tend to improve the germinability of seeds both under optimal and suboptimal temperatures but the positive effects of seed priming were more pronounced under suboptimal temperature condition. Moreover, under suboptimal temperature condition, osmopriming resulted in the highest values for FGP (96.00%), SEP (84.66%), RDW (0.17 g), SDW (0.04 g), TI (32.28), Leaf Chl (0.73 mg/g), CSI (94.80), TAA (46.71), and MSI (76.33), followed by melatonin priming, whereas the lowest values for these parameters were observed in the control. The highest values of these attributes were coupled with the lowest T50G and T50E. Osmopriming with -0.5 MPa PEG-6000 for 18 hours proved most effective in enhancing germination, seedling emergence, seedling vigour and physiological resilience of chilli cv. Kashmir Long-1 under suboptimal low-temperature stress.
A study was conducted to assess the variability in floral morphology, flowering behaviour, fruit set and retention among five guava (Psidium guajava L.) genotypes: Jarvi Red, Exotica, Sanjari, Yogi and VNR Bihi. Significant genotypic differences were recorded for floral traits. Yogi produced larger-sized flowers (2.29 cm in length; 4.23 cm in width), whereas Sanjari exhibited the maximum petal number (9) and VNR Bihi recorded the maximum stamens (576). Flower buds took between 29 and 45 days to develop in Exotica and VNR Bihi, respectively. Flowering duration extended from 37 days in Exotica to 51 days in VNR Bihi. The duration from anthesis to petal drop was similar across genotypes, while the flowering-to-fruiting period varied from 122 days (Yogi) to 138 days (VNR Bihi). Fruit set was maximum in Yogi (73.87%) and VNR Bihi (73.07%), accompanied by higher fruit retention and lower fruit drop, whereas Exotica showed the lowest values. There were also differences in the time of anthesis and anther dehiscence between the genotypes. VNR Bihi had a longer period of anthesis and dehiscence, which meant that pollen was available for a longer time. On the other hand, Sanjari and Yogi had early anthesis. VNR Bihi produced the fruits in both the terminal and the lateral flowers. Comparing all the studied genotypes, Yogi showed larger flowers, early maturity and superior fruit set and retention. VNR Bihi displayed prolonged flowering and late maturity. These results offer important information for breeding programs, crop management and varietal selection that aim to increase guava productivity.
Betel vine (Piper betle) is an economically and medicinally important cash crop widely cultivated across coastal regions of Odisha, India. However, its productivity is often constrained by leaf spot disease, which causes massive losses in betel vine production. This study aims to identify the pathogen causing the disease in betel vine leaves collected from the Balasore district of Odisha, India. The pathogen was isolated and characterized based on its morphological and molecular traits. Molecular identification using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and RNA polymerase II beta subunit (RPB2) gene sequences revealed that the isolate shared high sequence similarity with Aspergillus ochraceopetaliformis through BLASTn (GenBank accession numbers: ITS-PQ238875; RPB2-PQ415739). To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. Ochraceopetaliformis associated with leaf spot disease in betel vine.
The genus Capsicum, which is a member of the Solanaceae family, is a commercially significant group of crops that are grown and show an impressive genetic and morphological diversity in fruit size, shape, color, and texture. The current study, conducted in 2022-23, aimed to describe 65 chilli accessions using 28 fruit-related characteristics to assess uniqueness, consistency, and stability. There was significant divergence between accessions in such traits as fruit curvature, texture, calyx cover, pericarp thickness, intensity of fruit color during ripening, cross-section corrugation, pericarp sinuation, days to 50 percent ripening, calyx constriction, pedicel attachment, color transition, fruit length, and diameter as measured by Shannon-Weaver diversity indices. Ward's hierarchical clustering divided the accessions into two major lineages, which further split into four subgroups of 8, 10, 8 and 39 accessions each. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the total phenotypic variation was accounted for by the first eight principal components, which accounted for 74.22%. Some of the accessions such as IHR4668, IHR4689, IHR4679, IHR4677, IHR4565, IHR4603, IHR4650, IHR4667, IHR3455, IHR4658, IHR3024, IHR4672, IHR4447, IHR3315, and IHR4674 were found to be highly diverse and could be useful in hybridization programs as parents. Combining Shannon-Weaver indices, clustering and PCA gave a detailed evaluation of the fruit trait diversity in chilli germplasm thus supporting its useful application in breeding in the future.
Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) is a primary growth regulator that promotes rooting. Quercetin (QC) is a flavonoid antioxidant that has recently been recognized as a co-factor in the rooting of Kalamata olive cuttings. Also, ascorbic acid (ASC) successfully stimulates rooting in some olive cuttings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of foliar application of IBA (0, 1000 ppm) after cuttings planting, combined with either ASC (50, 100 ppm) or QC (50, 100 ppm), on rooting of Kalamata and Wardan olive cuttings. The results showed that the effect of individual IBA on promoting rooting in Kalamata cuttings was minimal, whereas the combined application of IBA+ASC was more effective than IBA+QC. In Wardan cuttings, individual IBA had a negative effect on rooting, while the combined application of IBA+ASC significantly improved rooting %, followed by IBA+QC. In both cultivars, promoting rooting was associated with increased activity of peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), while activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and indole-3-acetic acid oxidase (IAAox) decreased. ASC alone recorded the highest rooting percentage at 12.1% in Kalamata cuttings compared to the control (0%), and 54.4% in Wardan cuttings compared to the control (14.9%). The highest rooting % was accompanied by decreases in IAAox and PPO of 13.33% and 30.16% for Kalamata cuttings and 17.27% and 27.21% for Wardan cuttings. In comparison, it coincided with increases of 28.74% and 497.4% in CAT and POD in Kalamata, and 31.21% and 641% in the Wardan cultivar.
