ISSN 2394-3289

Volume 24 No. 3 ISO 9001:2008 Organization July-September 2018

Promising Technologies
 Technology for processing and waste 1 Technology for processing and waste
utilization of water melon
 Processing of Aloe vera for value-added 2
utilization of water melon
products
Water melon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mastu and Nakai] is an
 Bio-intensive management of mango 4 important vegetable vis-à-vis fruit belonging to Cucurbitaceae
leafhoppers family. Fruits comprise of three main components viz. flesh, rind
and seeds. Water melon constitutes approximately 64% flesh,
New Initiatives
33% rind and 2% seeds of the total weight. The sweet, juicy pulp
 Role of ozone in extending shelf life 5 of ripe fruits is eaten fresh throughout the tropical and subtropical
of strawberry region. The fleshy part of water melon is being used for preparation
 Harvesting table size hilsa 6 of RTS drink or sweetened juice on small scale without any specific
 Molecular characterization of NKEF 6 standard recipes and procedures. During the process of juice
gene in rohu extraction nearly one third of fruit consists of rind which is usually
discarded. The disposal of rind invites various problems for food
Natural Resource Management industrialist due to overcoming pressures of pollution control
 Exploration of maize, chilli, brinjal and 7 agencies. However, the rind of water melon fruit is known to be
wild Solanum sp. germplasm from rich source of carbohydrates (3.80%), proteins (0.98%), minerals
Chhattisgarh (0.20%) and fibers and possesses several health beneficial effects.
 Soil quality management through 8 At present, the left over rind after juice extraction is dumped as
Zero Budget Natural Farming
 Isolating aloin from yellow sap of 10
Aloe vera

Profile
 ICAR-The Central Arid Zone Research 11
Institute (CAZRI)

Spectrum
 Impact of Hydrocolloids on nutrition 17
of blueberry
 Application of Nanotechnology in 18
agriculture
 Isolating aloin from yellow sap of 21
Aloe vera
 Production of desired sex embryos: 21 Water melon rind candy
an innovative approach
 Management of Leaf Curl Disease 22
of Chilli
Way Forward 24
 PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES
solid waste. So, an urgent need is being felt to utilize drained out. TSS and weight of syrup may be recorded.
left over rind for preparation of value added products. Then TSS of drained out syrup should be raised 10°Brix
The water melon rind can be used for preparation of by adding table sugar and cuboids must be again kept
candy and thus can help in reducing waste generation, in syrup overnight. The process should be repeated till
besides providing better remuneration to farmers, food the TSS of syrup reaches to 70° Brix. Then candy cuboids
processors and more importantly will reduce the bad must be rinsed in boiling water for 5 to 10 seconds.
environmental impacts. Candy is produced from fruits Then cuboids must be air dried in cabinet drier at
and vegetables by osmo-dehydration process in which temperature of 60°C for 8 hours. After air dehydration,
sugar is the main preservative. Osmotic dehydration water melon rind candy can be packed in polypropylene
(OD) is a technique applied to fruit and vegetable bags (300 guage), sealed airtight and stored at room
products to reduce their moisture content and increase temperature.
soluble solids content. In osmotic dehydration, the raw
material is immersed in hypertonic solution having a Methodology for preparation of water melon
high osmotic pressure, thus resulting mass transfer from nectar
the region of higher concentration to the lower Mature water melon
concentration. At present there is no standard process of good quality, must
available for the preparation of water melon rind candy be procured and
by osmotic dehydration technique. The maintenance of washed thoroughly in
texture, taste and aroma are major problems in clean water. It should
preparation of candy. be cut into halves and
quarters manually
An urgent need was felt to standardize the process for using stainless steel
preparation of water melon nectar and rind utilize for knife. The seeds and Water melon nectar
preparation of water melon rind candy. Department of white rind along with
Post Harvest Technology, ACHF at Navsari Agricultural the peel can be separated from juicy pulp. The edible
University has developed the appropriate technology pulpy portion is cut into small pieces and passed through
for utilization of water melon juice and rind for the fine screen juice extractor. Sugar syrup can be
preparation of nectar and candy, respectively. prepared by adding cane sugar to hot water. The
strength of sugar syrup (16°Brix) should be measured
Methodology for preparation of water melon rind using hand refractometer. 25% water melon juice should
candy be mixed thoroughly in freshly prepared syrupon weight
The mature water melon of good quality, must be basis and the mixture must be boiled by adding 0.30%
procured, washed thoroughly in clean water and the of citric acid to get consistent product. The prepared
fruits should be cut into halves and quarters manually nectar can be filled into pre-sterilized glass bottles of
using stainless steel knife. The seeds and white rind 200 ml and sealed airtight with crown caps. The product
along with the peel can be separated from juicy pulp. must be processed at 96±1°C in boiling water for 30
The green portion of rind can be peeled using stainless minutes followed by cooling and storage at room
steel knife and white edible portion cut into cuboids temperature.
(1.5 cmx1.5 cm) having thickness of 1.0-1.50 cm. Then
cuboids must be blanched in boiling water for 5 min. Dev Raj, Chethan HP and Vaghashiya JM
After that 100g sugar should bedirectly mixed with 100g Navsari Agricultural University,
blanched rind cuboids along with 0.20% citric acid for Navsari 396 450 (GJ)
osmotic dehydration. After 24 hours, syrup should be email: drdpandir@yahoo.co.in

Processing of Aloe vera for value-added products

Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) belongs to Liliaceae 30-50 cm long and 10 cm broad at the base having an
family, traditionally being utilized as contemporary folk indented margin. The leaves are pea green in colour.
remedy. Aloe vera is a succulent, almost sessile perennial Each leaf is composed of three layers. The inner layer
plant with multiple tuberous roots and many fibrous consists of clear gel that contains around 99% water
supporting roots penetrating into the soil. Each leaf is and rest is made of glucomannans, amino acids, lipids,

ICAR NEWS 2
 PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES
sterols and vitamins. The middle layer is made of latex, University has developed the technologies for
which is the bitter yellow sap and contains processing and value addition of Aloe vera into different
anthraquinones and glycosides. The outer thick layer processed products. These include the methods for
consists of 15-20 cells called as rind has protective extraction of aloin free Aloe vera juice, utilization of
function and synthesizes carbohydrates and proteins. Aloe vera juice for preparation of health drink and
Aloe vera contains 75 potentially active constituents: vermicelli and technology for dehydration of Aloe vera
vitamins, enzymes, minerals, sugars, lignin, saponins, gel which can be utilized for preparation of Aloe vera
salicylic acids and amino acids. The use of gel has based nutraceutical. A brief description of the
increased dramatically in the field of health care and technologies developed at department of PHT for
cosmetics. It is being utilized as a valuable ingredient preparation of different products is detailed as under:-
for food application due to its biological activities and
functional properties. Aloes have long been in use for Methodology for extraction of Aloe vera juice
several diseases, particularly connected with the After sorting and washing, the traditional hand-filleting
digestive system; they have also been used for wounds, method can be used for preparation of Aloe leaves/
burns and skin problems. The term Aloe stand for the slips for juice extraction. In this method, the lower 1
dried juice, which flows from transversely cut base of inch of the leaf base (the white part attached to the
its leaves. It is the best herbal answer to support the large rosette stem of the plant), the tapering point (2-
health and healing mechanisms of the body. 4 inch) of the leaf top and the short sharp spines located
Pharmacologically it is an immunity booster and along the leaf margins must be removed by the sharp
detoxifies the system. It is recommended in adjuvant SS knife. After removal of base, tapering point and sharp
therapy with antibiotics, NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti- spines, the Aloe vera gel can be extracted using sharp
Inflammatory Drugs) and chemotherapy to eliminate SS knife. All the green peel/ skin of Aloe vera leaf should
drug induced gastritis and other adverse effects. It is be removed to avoid presence of bitter compound i.e.
useful in various diseases such as Type II diabetes, aloin content in the gel. The gel must be extensively
arthritis, eye disease, tumor, spleen enlargement, liver washed with drinkable water followed by pre-treatment
complaints, vomiting, bronchitis, asthma, jaundice and with soybean extract (1.5% for 12 h) to remove aloin
ulcers. It relieves constipation, maintains a good gastric content (US Patent, 2007). After pre-treatment, the Aloe
pH, help in inflammatory bowel disease, non-ulcer vera gel should be again washed. The juice can then be
dyspepsia, gastric and duodenal ulcers. It is used as a extracted from gel using crusher type juice extractor.
dietary supplement in pre and post-operative patients,
post-menopausal women and in cases of osteoporosis. Methodology for preparation of Aloe vera based
blended health drink (Nectar)
Aloe juice is utilized as functional foods especially for Health drink in the form of nectar can be prepared from
the preparation of health drinks. Dehydrated Aloe vera the juice/ pulp of Aloe vera, bitter gourd, aonla and
gel can be utilized for preparation of value added guava. Sugar syrup can be prepared by adding cane
products in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sugar to boiling water. The strength of sugar syrup
industries. It can also be used in other food products (15°Brix) should be measured using hand refractometer.
including health foods by blending with cereals viz., 12% Aloe vera juice, 2% Bitter gourd juice, 2% Aonla
bread, extruded products, etc. Department of Post juice and 4% Guava pulp should be mixed thoroughly in
Harvest Technology, ACHF at Navsari Agricultural freshly prepared syrup on weight basis and the mixture

Aloin free Aloe vera juice in wrapping Aloe vera based blended health drink (Nectar)

3 July-September 2018
PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES
must be boiled by adding 0.30% of citric acid to get manual peeling method. All the green peel/ skin of Aloe
consistent product (as per FPO specification). The vera leaf should be removed to avoid presence of bitter
prepared nectar can be filled into pre-sterilized glass compound i.e. aloin content in the gel. The gel must be
bottles of 200 ml and sealed air tight with crown caps. extensively washed with drinkable water followed by pre-
The product must be processed at 96±1°C in boiling treatment with
water for 30 minutes followed by cooling and storage at soybean extract
room temperature. (1.5% for 12 hours)
to remove aloin
Methodology for preparation of Aloe vera based content (US Patent,
vermicelli 2007). After pre-
Aloe vera based vermicelli can be prepared using 24% treatment, the Aloe
Aloe vera juice, 1% isabgol husk and 75% wheat flour. vera gel should be
Vermicelli can be prepared using ‘Dolly extruder’ by washed again.
kneading the entire Dehydration of Aloe
ingredient in feeding vera gel can be
section of extruder carried out in
followed by cold cabinet dryer (8.5 kg Aloe vera gel loaded in 12 trays) at
extrusion. Extruded four stage dehydration temperature (75°C for 2 hours,
vermicelli should be 70°C for 3 hours, 65°C for 4 hours and 60°C till drying) up
dried in dryer at 50°C to final moisture content of about 8 %. The drying of gel
temperature for 10 can be considered complete when there is no variation
minutes to remove in weight of dried gel due to moisture removal during
moisture up to 8% falling period of drying curve. After drying, dried Aloe
followed by cooling at room temperature, packing in 200 vera gel can be packed in 200 gauge PP bags and stored
gauge PP bags and storage at room temperature. at room temperature.

Methodology for dehydration of Aloe vera gel Vaghashiya JM and Dev Raj
Aloe vera gel can be obtained by washing and removal Navsari Agricultural University,
of basal as well as apex part of leaf along with serration Navsari 396 450 (GJ)
followed by separation of gel (without crushing) by the email: jaysukh_v@yahoo.in

Bio-intensive management of fluorescens + Pochonia chlamydosporia) enriched Farm

mango leafhoppers Yard manure/neem
cake had
Leafhoppers (Idioscopus spp., Amritodus atkinsoni) successfully
are the serious pests of controlled
mango and the oil insect pests and
formulation of plant parasitic
Metarhizium anisopliae nematodes,
developed by ICAR-IIHR respectively in
was effective against broccoli under
them @ 0.5 ml/l which polyhouse
gave 85% reduction of conditions. Shri Raju, a progressive farmer from
pest population. Doddaballapur, Karnataka adopted these eco-friendly
technologies and accrued an income of `7.5 lakh per acre
and fetched 30% more yield than chemical methods. It
Managing pests and nematodes
effectively reduced insect pests and root-knot nematode
in broccoli under protected population by 90%.
conditions
Director
Regular use of ICAR-IIHR technologies of Neem soap ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru
and Biopesticides (Trichoderma viride + Pseudomonas email: director@iihr.res.in

ICAR NEWS 4
 NEW INITIATIVES
Role of ozone in extending shelf life
of strawberry
Strawberry is a non-climacteric fruit, famous for its delaying ripening process, sanitizing agent for barrels in
attractive appearance, taste and high nutritional value. wine industry, water sterilization as well as surface
The fragile fruit, susceptible to attack by post harvest sanitizer in fruits. This work was done to study the
pathogens, results in significant losses. Conventionally, effects of ozone in aqueous mode on post harvest
synthetic fungicides are applied to protect this crop disease incidence and maintenance of quality during
from post harvest pathogens as well as to maintain its storage of strawberry cv. Winter Dawn.
quality during storage. Harmful residual effects of these
chemicals lead to health problems. Moreover, in the Results
present era consumers have become health conscious • Lesser decay incidence and microbial growth was
and prefer natural foods with less chemical residues. observed in ozone treated fruits.
• Untreated fruits showed nearly 37% and 50% higher
This perception has stimulated interest in research for
decay incidence in low and ambient storage
natural, eco-friendly, effective alternative measures of
conditions respectively than the ozone treated ones.
food preservation. Ozone is one such compound that
• Treated strawberry fruits showed 50% lesser colour
has the capacity to reduce the microbial as well as
change in 14 days of low temperature storage and
pesticidal load from the fresh produce and prolong their 15% lesser colour change in 2 days of ambient
storage life. With its approval as a GRAS ingredient by temperature storage.
USFDA in 2001, application of ozone (O3) has gained • Exposure of strawberry fruits to aqueous ozone could
recognition as a sanitizing agent. Ozone inactivates cells successfully extend storage life of strawberry fruits
as a result of oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen till 14 days under low temperature and 2 days under
species (ROS) such as OOH., OH. and H2O2 which are ambient storage conditions with minimal decay and
produced by ozone decomposition. Ozone is used for suppressed changes in fruit quality.

5 July-September 2018
NEW INITIATIVES

2 days after storage at ambient temperature; 14 days after storage at low temperature;
control (left ); treated (right) control (left ); treated (right)

• Aqueous ozone is a potential technology for problems associated with shipping and handling.
enhancing storage life and safety of fresh produce. • It is highly reactive, can kill pathogens in seconds.
• It is effective over a much wider spectrum of
Advantages of ozonation technique microorganism.
• It is an eco-friendly technology.
• Ozone has been recognized as GRAS. Swarajya Laxmi Nayak and Shruti Sethi
• It does not leave any toxic residues. ICAR-IARI New Delhi 110 012
• Ozone is generated on site, thus a fewer safety email: docsethi@gmail.com

Harvesting table size hilsa

Freshwater pond cultured production and culture of hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha)”.
table size hilsa Tenualosa
ilisha, was harvested for the This stock of hilsa was raised starting from artificial
first time on 14 June, 2018 fecundation of wild caught hilsa from the Hooghly river
at ICAR-CIFA, Kalyani Field during March, 2016 and subsequent hatching and rearing
Station of RRC, Rahara, West of larvae under controlled condition in FRP tanks followed
Bengal. The techniques of by culture of fry to fingerlings stage in concrete ponds.
artificial fecundation of wild caught hilsa in the river and For further growth, the advanced fingerlings of the size
then incubation of fertilized eggs, larval rearing and 146-196 mm/29.5-68.4 g were stocked in an earthern pond
subsequently raising fry and fingerling at the research of 0.2 ha, where they grew to the size of 230-309 mm/120-
station were developed by a team of scientists (Dr DN 310 g after nine and a half months of culture.
Chattopadhyaya, Dr RN Mandal and Mr A Das) under Director
the recently completed ICAR-NASF funded project ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
entitled, “Stock characterization, captive breeding, seed email: director.cifa@icar.gov.in

Molecular characterization of NKEF gene in rohu

NKEF gene was functionally characterized by using MIC manner at different
assay, insulin assay and analysis of expression pattern in concentration of rNKEF
lecukocyte samples treated with Con A and Aeromonas with DTT (15.62 µg,
hydrophila. Up-regulation of NKEF transcripts expression 31.25 µg, 62.5 µg and
was observed in leukocyte samples isolated from 125 µg). From the above
head-kidney treated with A. hydrophila and Con A. results it was concluded
The recombinant protein of NKEF was able to inhibit the that rNKEF has both
bacteria A. hydrophila, Edwardsiella tarda and anti-microbial and
Staphylococcus aureus at a concentration of 100 µg at anti-oxidant activity. Director
24 h post incubation. In insulin reduction assay, the ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha
turbidity was increased from 20-140 min in dose dependent email: director.cifa@icar.gov.in

ICAR NEWS 6
 NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Exploration of maize, chilli, brinjal and wild Solanum

sp. germplasm from Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh in the South Eastern part
of India, is a mineral and agro-
biodiversity rich state predominated by
tribal population (31.8%) viz. Kol, Gond,
Bhunjia, Korwa, Rajgond, Baiga, Kawar,
Bhaiyana, Binjwar, Dhanwar, Munda,
Oraon etc. Its diverse topography,
forests and climate have evolved and
support the natural growth of many wild
relatives of crops including belonging to
Solanaceae family. Taking into account
the possibility of collecting unique
germplasm and collection gaps, an exploration trip was showed considerable variability among the accessions.
conducted from 21st to 30th September, 2017 in Jaspur, Cob weight, seed weight, number of seeds per row and
Korba and Koriya districts of Chhattisgarh. During the cob length have high variability, while cob girth and rows
exploration, a total of 85 accessions belonging to 10 per cob showed moderate variability. Similarly high
species were collected. The collected species comprised diversity was observed in germplasm of Capsicum
of Zea mays (43), Capsicum frutescens (7), Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens. Accessions of both
annuum (12), Solamum melongena (3) and Oryza sativa these species differ significantly in fruit shape, size and
(2) while crop wild relatives include Solamum in pungency. A few landraces (Dhan mircha, Gach mircha,
xanthocarpum (7), Solamum nigrum (3), Solamum viarum Gol mircha etc.) of highly pungent chilli were also
(6), Solamum torvum (1) and Ocimum basilicum (1). collected, among these “Dhan Mircha” is popular
landrace of Capsicum frutescens. This is a small fruit sized,
Maize germplasm represents considerable diversity in perennial and highly pungent chilli, mostly planted in the
qualitative and quantitative traits of cobs and seeds. The backyards for domestic consumption. Besides these, two
cob color ranged from light yellow, dark yellow, white to early maturing named landraces of rice viz. “Chaina
dark purple. Other traits viz. the cob length (7.33-26.67 dhaan” and “Daani dhaan” were also collected.
cm), cob girth (8.00-16.33 cm), number of rows per cob
(8-18), number of seeds per row (12-45), cob weight The wild species of Solanaceae family were mostly found in
(25.45-204.88 g) and 100 seed weight (9.74-38.66 g), and collected from forests, hills, wastelands, river banks
and dam sites. Solamum xanthocarpum
is called by various names like
bhainskateyiya, ghaskatiya and used in
cough, asthama and toothache by the
locals. It was reported to be very
effective for these ailments. Solanum
viarum was collected from high altitude
(>1000 msl) of Jaspur viz. Rauni, where
it was found sporadically in the forests
and forest peripheries. Its broth is used
in cold and cough by local people.
Solanum nigrum was found in a variety
of habitats i.e. natural wild, farmer’s
fields, village streets and wastelands
areas etc. Its small, black, round, juicy
fruits are edible and relished particularly
by the children. Solanum torvum has a

7 July-September 2018
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
wide distribution among different habitats. However, it was most
common in natural wild hilly terrain. Unripe fruits of S. torvum are oil-
fried into vegetable and liked very much by the locals. Herbarium
specimens of fifteen species of crop wild relatives viz. Solanum viarum,
Solanum torvum, Solanum insanum, Solanum nigrum, Tephrosia
purpurea, Abelmoschus ficulneus, Atylosia scarabaeoides, Crotalaria sp.,
Vigna hainiana, Vigna vexillata, Abelmoschus tetraphyllus, Solanum
surattense, Oryza nivara, Abelmoschus pungens and Costus speciosus
S. viarum S. niigrum
were collected and submitted to National Herbarium of Cultivated Plants
(NHCP). These areas have large diversity in rice, millets, vegetables,
pulses and horticultural species, and need interventions to sustainably
support and conserve on-farm diversity.

SK Bishnoi1, PK Malav2, SP Ahlawat3 and

Kuldeep Singh4
1
ICAR- NBPGR, Regional Station, Ranchi
2
ICAR- NBPGR, New Delhi
email: director.nbpgr@icar.gov.in
S. xanthocarpum

Soil quality management through

Zero Budget Natural Farming
Imbalanced and indiscriminate use of chemical inputs in increase farm carrying capacity to sustain the vital
the present day agriculture has adversely affected the livelihood source of resource-poor farmers. ZBNF
soil quality and crop ecosystem and threatens future food focuses on utilizing cheap and local inputs with
production by reducing biodiversity, declining factor absolutely no place for fertilizers and plant
productivity, and contributing to environmental protection chemicals.
degradation of the existing system. Further, the ever-
increasing crop production costs and farmer distress Soils provide numerous ecosystem services, and
poses a big challenge to the scientists and planners to
enhancing soil quality is important for sustaining crop
achieve the objective of the Union Government to productivity and environmental quality. The agricultural
double the farmers’ income by 2022. practices like cow-urine and cow-dung based ZBNF are
expected to improve the soil quality. Among biological
Mountainous agro-ecosystem of Himachal Pradesh indicators, enzyme activities are important dynamic
is one of the most vulnerable ecosystems, which indicators of soil quality because of their quick response
needs to be supported by sustainable farming to changes in soil environment and management
practices without any adverse effect on soil and practices (pesticides, fertilizers, amendments, land use,
environment. Indigenous a cow based ‘Zero Budget different management and farming systems etc) and
Natural Farming’ (ZBNF) is a holistic farming the metabolic activity of soil microorganisms, which
technique, which will reduce crop production influence soil fertility, nutrient cycles and
costs, market dependency on farm inputs, and will transformations. Dehydrogenases (DHA) are intracellular
enzymes that are involved in microbial
oxido-reductase metabolism and their
activity is considered an indicator of
microbial oxidative activity, which is
closely correlated with respiratory
activity and organic matter
decomposition. It is used to determine
the influence of various chemicals (like
pesticides or excessive fertilization) and
Beejamrit Jeevamrit management practices on the soil.

ICAR NEWS 8
 NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
indicators (DHA and phosphatase
activity) as compared to
conventional (recommended
fertilizers and pesticides) and
organic farming (FYM) under pea
(var. P-89) cultivation were studied
at Dr YSP UHF, Nauni. The initial
soil pH of the experimental field was
6.3 and soil organic carbon was
Effect of farm management practices on dehydrogenase activity (DHA) 7.50 g kg-1. The available nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium were
Strong negative impact of intensive fertilizer and pesticide 329, 13.4 and 154.6 kg ha-1, respectively. The inputs used
use on DHA has been reported in literature. Phosphatase in the ZBNF were beejamrit and jeevamirit. Beejamrit
catalyses the hydrolysis of both organic phosphate esters was used for seed treatment. Jeevamirit was applied
and anhydrides of phosphoric acid into inorganic twice a month in the irrigation water or as a 10% foliar
phosphorus (P) and are crucial in accelerating the cycling spray. Jeevamrit provides nutrients and acts as a catalytic
of P between soil organic matter and plant uptake. agent that promotes the activity of microorganisms in
the soil. The yield obtained under ZBNF (10 t ha-1) was
comparable to that in conventional farming.

The ZBNF increased the enzyme activity, indicator of soil

quality, in comparison to the conventional and organic
farming. DHA increased from 6.9 µg TPF g-1 h-1 under
conventional farming to 7.3 µg TPF g-1 h-1 under organic
farming and was highest under ZBNF (8.4 µg TPF g-1 h-1).
A similar response pattern was observed in the alkaline
and acid phosphatase activity. Under ZBNF the alkaline
phosphatase activity increased to 105 µg PNP g-1 h-1 in
comparison to 65 µg PNP g-1 h-1 and 71 µg PNP g-1 h-1
Effect of management practices on phosphatase activity under conventional and organic farming, respectively. The
acid phosphatase activity was also
highest under ZBNF (112 µg PNP g-
h ) followed by organic farming (99
1 -1

µg PNP g-1 h-1) and conventional

farming (84 µg PNP g-1 h-1). Thus, the
ZBNF practice showed an
improvement in soil quality within
a single cropping season, as
indicated by increase in the activity
Pea crop under Zero Budget Natural Farming of soil enzymes (DHA and
phosphatase).
In 2018, the Himachal Pradesh government launched
ZBNF project to prevent soil degradation, promote The studies need to be continued to assess the long-term
climate resilient agriculture practices, increase farm sustainability of the ZBNF and its impact on soil, crop
income and make the farmers’ self-reliant. Keeping this and environmental quality. This has opened new vistas
in view, the short-term effects of ZBNF on soil quality to scientific community for further validation and
refinement of the low cost and eco-friendly ZBNF system
ERRATUM in present farming scenario.
ICAR NEWS, April-June 2018, Photograph on page 4
pertains to “New Indigenous ornamental fish species Sudhir Verma1, R S Chandel1, Rajesh Kaushal1,
Parasilorhynchus swaini discovered in Odisha” on page 7 Panma Yankit1 and Sandeep Sharma2
of the same issue.
1
Dr YSPUHF, Nauni (HP), 2PAU, Ludhiana (Punjab)
email: drrkaushal@rediffmail.com

9 July-September 2018
 PROFILE
ICAR-The Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI)
Pioneering research on combating desertification

The Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) owes the country. Interestingly approximately 61% of the hot
its origin to the Desert Afforestation Research Station, arid zone of the country is in western Rajasthan which
which was established in 1952 at Jodhpur which was includes the vast Indian Thar desert, the most densely
upgraded to the Desert Afforestation and Soil populated desert of the world.
Conservation Station in 1957. In order to put appropriate
emphasis on arid zone research and development, MANDATE OF INSTITUTE
Government of India in 1958 sought the advice of • Basic and applied research on sustainable farming
UNESCO expert, Mr CS Christian, upon whose systems in the arid ecosystem
recommendation the Institute came into existence on • Repository of information on the state of natural
October 1, 1959. resources and desertification processes
• Livestock-based farming systems and range
The Institute conducts multi- disciplinary research to seek management practices for the chronically drought-
solutions to the problems of arid zones (hot and cold) affected areas
which occupies about 12% geographical area of the • Generating and transferring location-specific
country. About 32 million ha area in the states of technologies.
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and
Telangana comprises the hot arid regions and about 7 Organisational structure
million ha in the states of Jammu & Kashmir and The Institute is located at Jodhpur in Rajasthan state
Himachal Pradesh comes under the cold arid region of and comprises of six research Divisions. It has five

ICAR NEWS 10
 PROFILE
Regional Research Stations across different states: three
of these are situated in Rajasthan at Pali, Bikaner and
Jaisalmer; one in Gujarat at Bhuj; and one in Jammu
and Kashmir at Leh (Ladakh). The Krishi Vigyan Kendras
working at Jodhpur, Pali and Bhuj and the All India
Network Project on Vertebrate Pest Management are
also under the domain of the Institute. Scientists of 32
different subjects work on diverse fields of relevance to Plantation on dunes
agriculture in arid environment. These include crops, undertaking the stabilization of sand dunes covering over
trees, fruit trees, grasses, livestock, solar energy, 4 lakh ha in the state of Rajasthan.
agricultural engineering, natural resources,
geomorphology, soils, and technology transfer. This gives CAZRI’s recommendations for shelterbelt plantations for
the Institute a unique identity of being among a few reducing sand movement is well recognized. Planting of
agricultural Institutes in the world working shelterbelts with neem (Azadirachta indica), Israeli babool
simultaneously on such a wide ranging fields. (Acacia tortilis) and desi babool (A. nilotica) trees have
been found to reduce wind speed by 20-30% and
Achievements consequently wind erosion by about 50%. This also results
CAZRI has strategically addressed various issues in in conservation of soil moisture and nutrients. The
research taking cognizance of challenges and technology has been adopted along 400 km in western
opportunities in arid production environments. The Rajasthan and at many places micro-environment for
approach of the Institute has been dynamic and practicing agriculture has been provided.
currently high priority is being attached to sustainability
and livelihood security of farmers. Some of the salient Integrated farming system (IFS) for sustainability and
achievements of the Institute are given below: livelihood security
The Institute has identified several agroforestry,
Technologies for combating desertification agri-horticulture, horti-pastoral and silvi-pastoral
CAZRI has done pioneering research on combating systems for livelihood security of farmers. Growing trees
desertification through sand dune stabilization and like Prosospis cineraria, Hardwickia binata, Acacia senegal,
shelterbelt plantations. The Institute devised suitable Tecomella undulata, Ailanthus excels and Ziziphus
technology for stabilizing sand dunes which included mauritiana in combination with different crops and
fencing/protecting the dune area; establishing micro- grasses have been shown to give high and assured
wind breaks and planting of adapted bush-wood returns to the farmers under harsh climatic conditions
material. This technology has been helpful in of arid zone.

11 July-September 2018
PROFILE
Integrated Farming System model for 7 ha land
incorporating crop and system diversification and
livestock component has been developed. The model can
generate an employment of more than 845 man days
and give net returns up to `2.5 lakh. The model can
sustain a family of 4 persons and 7 adult cattle units.
The system diversification components included in the
IFS are arable cropping (15%); agri-horticulture (10%);
agroforestry (35%); silvipasture (30%); and boundary Technologies for efficient rainwater management
plantation (10%). Improved designs of traditional rainwater harvesting
structures like tanka (cistern), nadi (pond) and khadin
Crop production technologies (run off cultivation on conserved soil moisture) have been
Various technologies have been developed for sustainable developed to maximize collection of rain water. The
crop production under rainfed conditions. These include improved design of tanka developed by the Institute has

been adopted under the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water

Mission of the government.

CAZRI has also explored several courses of their buried

application of FYM on rows to prevent crust formation, Saraswati and Drishadvati rivers from the Himalayas as
optimum tillage to capture sufficient rainwater, paired- well as other buried streams in the Thar Desert.
row planting for efficient utilization of soil moisture,
intercropping to reduce risk of crop failure during The Institute is well recognized for their work on
aberrant weather, rainwater harvesting, incorporation watershed management and was awarded ‘Saving the
of amendments and composted crop residues to improve Dryland’ appreciation certificate for work on Jhanwar
soil moisture and fertility, application of life-saving watershed by UNEP in the year 1996.
irrigation, use of pressurized irrigation, and adoption of
pearl millet-cluster bean rotation under rainfed and pearl Biosynthesis of nanoparticles
millet-mustard rotation under irrigated arid conditions. The Institute has spearheaded green synthesis and
evaluation programmes related to agriculturally
Varieties developed important nanoparticles. Biosynthetic approach using
The Institute has developed several varieties of crops, specific fungi, bacteria and plant extracts for
grasses and horticulture crops. These include CZP 9802 nanoparticles has been standardized and some of these
and CZ-IC 923 of pearl millet; Maru Guar of cluster bean; technologies are under commercialization. A common
CAZRI Moth 1, 2, 3 of moth bean; Maru Kulthi of horse protocol for synthesis of nanoparticles of many elements
gram; CAZRI 75, CAZRI 358 and CAZRI 2178 of has been standardized.
Cenchrusciliaris; CAZRI 76 ofC. setigerus, and CAZRI
Sewan-1 of Lasiuruss indicus. Similarly, in horticulture, New potassic fertilizer developed
Maru Gaurav in Karunda (Carissa carandas) and Maru A new form of potassic fertilizer has been developed using
Samridhi in Lasora (Cordiamyxa) have been identified as
high yielding varieties suitable for cultivation under arid
zone conditions.

A farmers’ variety of wheat Kharchia Local was

successfully registered under Protection of Plant Varieties
and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA), India for a
period of six years in 2015 by the Institute.

ICAR NEWS 12
 PROFILE
low-grade feldspar and leonardite, an oxidized form of of soil borne pathogens. The Institute has developed a
lignite that is abundantly available in the country. The technique for the management of drying syndrome in
response of pearl millet, wheat and mung bean to this khejri tree.
form of potassic fertilizer has been found superior to
muriate of potash (the conventional potassic fertilizer
available in the country).

Introduction of new arid fruit and fodder crops

A large number of improved fruit crops and varieties of
ber (Ziziphus mauritiana), pomegranate, aonla, date
palm, lasora, karonda, bael
(Aegle marmelos), phalsa
(Grewia subinaequalis),
napier grass, fodder beet
(Beta vulgarissub sp.
meritima) etc. have been
introduced by the Institute It involves the regulated application of phorate,
for cultivation in the arid Trichoderma mixed with Prosopis julijflora compost and
regions. Protocol for rapid Aspergillus terreus with onion residue near the roots of
multiplication of date palm affected tree.
plants through repetitive
somatic embryogenesis has Neem oil emulsion has been found effective against insect
been developed. pests viz. pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera), castor semi-

Identification of forest trees suitable for arid region

A number of tree and shrub species from iso-climatic
regions of the world have been evaluated by the Institute
for fuel, fodder and other economic products. The most
promising ones identified are Acacia tortilis, Prosopis
juliflora, Acacia bivenosa, Simmondsia chinensis, etc. was
given for work. The ICAR Team award on the looper (Achaea janata) and army worm (Spodoptera
improvement and multiplication of khejri (Prosopis exigua). Neem seed pellets developed by the Institute
cineraria) received. Air layering method for vegetative have been recommended for control of termites.
propagation of khejri tree has been developed. Technique
for mass multiplication of rohida (Tecomella undulata) Root-knot nematode is important pest of horticulture
through axillary bud proliferation has been developed. crops, hence a simple and reliable method for aseptic
screening of chilli germplasm against the nematode was
Bio-saline tree species and fodder halophytes developed. Biological
identified control agents, especially
In Bikaner region under saline water logged conditions, Paecilomyces lilacinus,
A. nilotica, A. tortilis and Eucalyptus spp. have been Pasteuria penetrans and
identified best for higher biomass production and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal
improving soil properties in terms of soil organic carbon fungus (Glomus
and reducing ECe and SAR values. Under Bhuj conditions, fasciculatum) have been
based on fodder quality assessment, Sporobolus found effective in the
marginatus, Aleuropus logopoides, Suaeda nudiflora and management of root-
Cressa cretica have been identified best palatable knot nematode in chilli.
halophytes for the livestock of the region. Technique for mass
multiplication of P. lilacius
Management of plant diseases and insect pests on locally available
Soil solarization and incorporation of mustard oil-cake, plant material in
Aspergillus versicolor and Bacillus firmus in the soil polypropylene bags was
have been successfully used to minimize the population developed.

13 July-September 2018
PROFILE
Vertebrate pests identified and their management Animal feed block from locally available materials
Institute has reported 18 rodent species from arid soils. developed
The species causing damage to crops have been Institute has developed economical area-specific
effectively managed through technologies evolved by the Complete and Supplementary Feed Blocks as per the
Institute that include use of Sherman traps and burrow nutritional need of livestock (cattle, sheep and goat). The
baiting with freshly prepared pearl millet-based zinc feed blocks have been prepared by mixing locally available
phosphide rodenticide baits followed by bromoadiolone feed, fodder and concentrates in fixed proportions. This
(0.005%) baiting. includes grasses (C. ciliaris,C. setigerus, Lasiurussindicus),
tree leaves (P. cineraria, Ziziphus spp., Acacia nilotica)
The Institute has also
reported four rodent
species viz., Indian field
mice, Turkish rat,
Blyth’s vole and
Himalayan marmot
from cold arid region of
Leh-Ladakh. The Indian field mice reported for the first and concentrate feeds i.e. cakes/meals (castor,
time has been identified as the major pest of crops in Colocynthis, sesame, mustard) along with unconventional
Leh-Ladakh region. sources i.e. urea, molasses, animal jaggery, vitamins and
minerals. The feed blocks have reduced the cost of
Plant biodiversity and conservation feeding lactating cows and growing goat kids effectively.
The Thar Desert is endowed with number of unique plant The Institute has also developed multi-nutrient feed
species. Their existence is threatened due to over blocks to provide relief to the cattle from mineral
exploitation. These include Commiphora wightii (Guggal), deficiencies.
Acacia jacquemontii (Bawli), Calligonum polygonoides
(Phog), Moringa concanensis (Sarguda), Ephedra ciliata, Solar devices developed
Caralluma edulis (Pimpa) etc. Institute has successfully The Institute has designed and fabricated several solar
made efforts to conserve and multiply these plants in its energy-based devices for use in agriculture. These
Desert Botanical Garden. include the animal feed solar cooker, PV winnower-
cum-dryer, collector-cum-storage type solar water

Enhancing gum exudation from trees: An additional heater, solar water heater-cum-still, solar water
heater-cum-steam cooker, solar cabinet dryer, solar
source of income for farmers
PV duster and solar PV pump-based drip irrigation
Technology to enhance good edible gum exudation from
system. Several of these devices have been adopted
Kumat (Acacia senegal) tree without endangering plant
by farmers of Rajasthan. Commercialization of
survival has been developed. Injecting standardized dose
the devices is underway through transfer of
of gum inducer, 250 g to 500 g good quality gum per
technical know-how to the private firms. A solar dryer
tree per year in the
(400 kg capacity) developed by the Institute for the
month of April-May
drying of horticultural produce has been installed in
can be harvested. The
Pali district.
technology has now
spread to more than Agri-photovoltaic system for farming, electricity
45 villages in Jodhpur, generation and water harvesting
Nagaur, Bikaner and Generating electricity using photo-voltaic panels,
Barmer districts of harvesting water and cultivating crops simultaneously on
Rajasthan. a single unit of land has been conceptualized,

ICAR NEWS 14
 PROFILE

implemented and demonstrated by the Institute. An Agri- pasture-based livestock system has positive net present
voltaic system has been established with 105 KW capacity value and annuity as compared to arable farming.
power generation, 1.2 lakh litre capacity water
harvesting and crop production components comprising Transfer of technologies
of mung bean, clusterbean, isabgol, cumin and senna. Trainings, field days, farmer fairs, scientist-farmer
The system can generate an annual income of ` 7.50 interaction meetings and exhibitions are organized at
lakh per acre. periodic interval, both at the Institute and in adopted
villages to enrich the knowledge of farmers. These
Passive cool chamber for perishable food items events have helped farmers in interacting with the scientists
Low-cost double brick-walled passive cool chamber and in rapid dissemination of improved technologies
suitable for regions with low atmospheric humidity has developed by the Institute. The technological interventions
been designed and developed. This cool chamber reduces are also evaluated and fine-tuned through on-farm
the ambient temperature by 8-10°C and maintains high
relative humidity conditions conducive for longer
preservation of fresh farm produce like vegetables, fruits,
milk etc.

Farm implements for arid soils

A number of farmer-friendly farm implements have been
designed and developed. These include a tractor drawn

research, on-farm trial and verification trials. Field days

three-furrow (six-row) multi-crop seed-cum-fertilizer drill and on-farm and off-farm trainings are also organized to
for sowing on specially created slant surfaces to use increase awareness amongst the technology users.
conserved moisture, and tractor-operated two-row
planter for kharif crops. A single or double-slotted weeder Use of ICT in technology dissemination
has been developed for increasing weeding efficiency and The Institute was among the leaders in setting up an
reducing women drudgery. It has been recommended by ISRO-sponsored satellite-based Village Resource Centre
the Government of Rajasthan under various schemes. for interactive and rapid communication of technological
solutions to the farming community of arid zone. Now
Socio-economic aspects agro-advisories are being issued to the farmers on mobile
The socio-economic aspects of the desert dwellers are through SMS using the m-kisan portal. Farmers from
continually monitored by the Institute. Various Jodhpur, Barmer, Pali, Nagaur, Jaisalmer, Ganganagar,
technologies developed at the Institute are also assessed Chittorgarh, Jhunjhunu, Jalore, Jaipur, Bikaner, Churu,
for their socio-economic viability. The cost-benefit Ajmer and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan are being
analyses of various land use systems have established that benefitted by this mode. The Institute is also connected

15 July-September 2018
PROFILE
with the farmers through CAZRI Mobile App (CAZRI Krishi) Package of practices included in the State
and You-Tube. Based on the weather data, the Institute recommendations
issues bi-weekly agro-advisories for farmers of the region. Many agricultural practices developed at the Institute
have been adopted and recommended to the farmers of
A comprehensive website (www.cazri.res.in) further the arid zone in Rajasthan. These include the model of
boosts the Institutes presence among leading Institutes integrated farming system for 7 ha holding; cultivation
of the country. of varieties developed by Institute, round-the-year
fodder production; organic til and mung bean
Value-added products production; stress management in clusterbean by foliar
For increasing income of the farming community, the application of sulpho-salicylic acid, nitrogen doses and
Institute has developed a number of technologies for irrigation scheduling in groundnut and wheat.
value-addition of farm produce. These include preserves,
juice, candies and pickle from ber, date palm and Consultancies
Colocynthis. Technologies for preparing shampoo, The technologies and expertise developed by the
moisturizing cream, lotions, pickle and candy from Aloe Institute are widely sought after by the government,
vera have been developed. Institute has successfully non-government and private agencies or entities. The
prepared goat milk products like ice-cream, curd, cheese Institute has earned many consultancies from different
organizations. Prominent among them are NTPC, Noida;
Duraline India Pvt. Ltd., Telengana; Suratgarh Thermal
Power Station, Suratgarh, Rajasthan; IFFCO, New Delhi;
Indian Railways; Space Application Center, Ahmedabad;
TCS, Pune; Barmer Lignite Mining Company, Jaipur;
Hyundai Motor India Ltd., Tamil Nadu, etc. The trainings
on rodent control are regularly organized with the Post
and Telegraphs, Railways and the Health departments
being among the important beneficiaries.
and whey after removing characteristic goaty odour from
the milk. The Institute has also demonstrated the value Patents
of grain pearling in increasing the shelf life of pearl millet The Institute has filed 14 applications for patents. Three
flour and prepared nutritionally enriched biscuits of pearl patents have already been granted. These are:
millet. • Jaisalmeri preserve and candy from fruit of Tumba
(Citrullus colocynthis)
Agricultural Technology Information Centre • Preparation and method of processing of Aloe candy
The Institute has in operation a single window system from Aloe species
under the Agricultural Technology Information Centre to • A novel method for isolating aloin by extraction from
meet the diverse needs of farmers, including improved yellow sap of Aloe vera.
seed material and technology information. Since its
inception in 2002, more than 88,000 farmers have been Linkages
benefitted. Since inception, the Institute has undertaken joint
collaborative research and development programmes
Trainings with institutions and organizations across the world.
Apart from trainings to grass-root workers, specialized These include institutions from USA, Australia, Japan,
national and international trainings for scientists on USSR, Europe, South East Asia and several CGIAR
relevant areas of arid zone agriculture are continually Institutes like ICARDA, ICRISAT, ILRI etc. At national
organized by the Institute. A number of training courses level, the Institute has linkages with various State and
for research officers of Afro-Asian countries sponsored central Govt. organizations (SAUs, DBT, DST, Dept. of
by International institutions like UNESCO, UNEP, FAO, Space, MOEF, MoES, IMD, ATMA, State Agricultural Line
DANIDA, etc. were successfully organized. In recent Departments etc.
years, scientists have come to the Institute from several
countries such as Sri Lanka, Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan. ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute
During the last five years the Institute imparted training Jodhpur 342 003
to more than 2500 farmers, farm women and youth on email: director.cazri@icar.gov.in;
various aspects related to arid agriculture. Website: www.cazri.res.in

ICAR NEWS 16
 SPECTRUM
Impact of Hydrocolloids on
nutrition of blueberry
Blueberry is a deciduous or evergreen prostrate shrub have been introduced in hilly states such as HP, J and K,
which bears the fruit from April to June. Fruit ranges and Uttarakhand but its cultivation has not picked up
from pea-to-marble in size. Fruits often have an because of paucity of planting material and non-
epicuticular waxy layer on the peel known as ‘bloom’. availability of suitable land with ph 4.5 or so.
The fruit colour is red at immature stage to purple
colour at ripened stage. There are mainly three types of Like other berries, the shelf life of blueberry is only
cultivars in blueberry namely highbush blueberry 4-5 days at ambient conditions and about 3 weeks in
(Vaccinium corymbosum), lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium cold storage. Hence, there is urgent need to use
angustifolium) and rabbit eye blueberry (Vaccinium postharvest management strategies to extend its shelf
ashei). Fresh blueberries are very rich source of life for increased availability in the season.
antioxidants than other fruits. Its fruits are rich in vitamin For instance, the natural waxy bloom develops in
C, essential dietary fibres and minerals. Fruits are also blueberry fruits during the maturation and ripening
major source of anthocyanins and phenolic compound, processes, which protects the fruits and keep them
resveratrol and have low calorific value. These fresh for longer period. However, during handling of
compounds play major role in combating inflammation, fruits, this is removed and bruising occurs in the fruits.
cancer and improve the gut microbes. Thus, replenishment of this natural layer with
commercially available edible coating especially with
Now-a-days, due to health benefits of blueberry, its hydrocolloids, is required to reduce to increase the
cultivation and demand is increasing day by day in all freshness of such a valuable fruit and to reduce the
parts of the world. In India, some cultivars of blueberry postharvest losses.

17 July-September 2018
SPECTRUM
The Technology Table 1. Quality of blueberry coated with different
hydrocolloids
The fruits of blueberry variety ‘Misty’ were harvested at
full maturity stage. After sorting and grading fruits were Treatment Functional parameters
coated with four different hydrocolloids such as carboxy Total Total Anti- Ascorbic Fruit
methyl cellulose (1%), xanthan gum (0.3%), guar gum soluble phenolic oxidant acid decay
(1.5%), gum Arabic (10%). These coatings were prepared solids content activity content (%)
(OB) (mg GAE/ (µmol (mg/
in luke warm water and the blueberries were dipped into
100g) TE/g) 100g)
each coatings for 5 min. After treatment, the fruits were
dried under fan and after drying, fruits were packed in Carboxy 17.3 139.0 17.2 19.9 2.4
methyl
plastic punnets (250 g). After packaging, fruits were cellulose
stored at 1±1°C and 85-90% relative humidity for 35 days.
Xanthan gum 17.1 130.2 15.7 13.6 7.4
Guar gum 17.2 131.7 15.7 15.1 4.5
We observed that all the coatings were effective in
maintaining quality of blueberry fruits over non-coated Gum Arabic 17.2 133.1 16.9 16.3 4.2
fruits. However, the CMC (1%)-coated fruits was found Control 17.1 119.4 15.3 12.0 8.5
to be the best coating as the fruits maintained
• Improves the freshness of fruits for longer time.
acceptable limits for physiological loss in weight, quality
• Hydrocolloids help to reduce the transpirational loss
attributes and over all acceptability of fruits up to 35
from the fruit surfaces.
days (Table 1) at 1±1°C and 85-90% relative humidity. In
• It helps to control the respiration rate.
contrast, non-coated fruits could remain acceptable only
• It acts as an effective physical barrier against
up to 21 days. mechanical damage.
• Hydrocolloids can be applied with different
Advantages of the technology postharvest fungicides and chemicals.
• It is very easy to apply coatings to fruits.
• It is a cheap and user-friendly technology. Monika G. Totad and R. R. Sharma*
• Coatings improve the cosmetic appeal of fruits ICAR-IARI New Delhi-110 012
• It improves the glossiness of fruits. email: rrs_fht@rediffmail.com

Application of Nanotechnology
in agriculture
The current global population is nearly 6 billion with 50% land owning far less profitable than in previous times. In
living in Asia. A large proportion of those living in agriculture and food systems, the fundamental life
developing countries face daily food shortages as a result processes are explored through research in molecular and
of environmental impact or political instability, while in cellular biology. New tools for molecular and cellular biology
the developed world there is a food surplus. For are needed that are specifically designed for separation,
developing countries the drive is to develop drought identification and quantification of individual molecules. This
and pest resistant crops, which also maximize yield. In is possible with nanotechnology and could permit rapid
developed countries, the food industry is driven by advances in agricultural research, such as reproductive
consumer demand which is currently for fresher and science and technology, conversion of agricultural and food
healthier foodstuff. wastes to energy and other useful by-products through
enzymatic nano bioprocessing, disease prevention and
Agriculture forms the backbone of third world economics. treatment in plants and animals. To excel in these and other
Research in agriculture has always dealt with improving areas of agriculture novel tools are required that allow us
the efficiency or crop production, food processing, food to work and explore living cells and biomolecules at the
safety and environmental consequences of food production, molecule scale. Nanotechnology holds such a promise.
storage and distribution. Nanotechnology provides a new
tool to pursue these historically relevant goals. A reappraisal Nanotechnology is manipulation or self-assembly of
of attitudes towards food security, increasing emphasis on individual atoms, molecules or molecular dusters into
environmental compliance and alternations to the Common structures to create materials and devices with new or
Agricultural Policy, all combine to make farming and rural vastly different properties.

ICAR NEWS 18
 SPECTRUM
Nanotechnology can work from
the top down (which means
reducing the size of the smallest
structures to the nanoscale
smallest e.g. photonics
applications in nanoelectronics
and nanoengineering) or the
bottom up (which involves
manipulating individual atoms and
molecules into nanostructures and
more closely resembles chemistry
or biology).

The word mono meaning dwarf in

Greek language refers to dimensions
on the order of magnitude 10.
Nanotechnology, focuses on special
properties of materials emerging
from nanometer size, for e.g., in
biological systems, the first level of
organization occurs at the
nanoscale structure where all the
fundamental and functions are
defined systematically.
Nanotechnology in Agriculture

The definition of nanotechnology is based on the prefix nanotechnological devices for CEA that provide
“nano” meaning dwarf in Greek. In technical terms, the “scouting” capabilities could tremendously improve the
word “nano” means 10-9, or one billionth of a meter. For grower’s ability to determine the best time of harvest
comparison, a virus is roughly 100 nanometers (nm) in size. for the crop, the vitality of the crop, and food security
The word nanotechnology is generally used when referring issues, such as microbial or chemical contamination.
to materials with the size of 0.1 to 100 nanometres.
Precision farming has been a long-desired goal to
Applications and Benefits maximize output (i.e. crop yields) while minimizing input
Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize the (i.e. fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc.) through
agricultural and food industry with new tools for the monitoring environmental variables and applying
molecular treatment of diseases, rapid disease targeted action. Precision farming makes use of
detection, enhancing the ability of plants to absorb computers, global satellite positioning systems, and
nutrients etc. Smart sensors and smart delivery systems remote sensing devices to measure highly localized
will help the agricultural industry combat viruses and enviromnental conditions thus determining whether
other crop pathogens. crops are growing at maximum efficiency or precisely
identifying the nature and location of problems.
An agricultural methodology widely used in the USA,
Europe and Japan, which efficiently utilises modern By using centralised data to determine soil conditions
technology for crop management, is called Controlled and plant development, seeding, fertilizer, chemical
Environment Agriculture (CEA). CEA is an advanced and and water use can he line-tuned to lower production
intensive form of hydroponically-based agriculture. Plants costs and potentially increase production - all
are grown within a controlled environment so that benefiting the farmer. Precision farming can also
horticultural practices can be optimized. The help to reduce agricultural waste and thus keep
computerized system monitors and regulates localized environmental pollution to a minimum. Although
environments such as fields of crops. CEA technology, as not fully implemented yet, tiny sensors and
it exists today, provides an excellent platform for the monitoring systems enabled by nanotechnology
introduction of nanotechnology to agriculture. With many will have a large impact on future precision farming
of the monitoring and control systems already in place, methodologies.

19 July-September 2018
SPECTRUM
One of the major roles for nanotechnology-enabled remarkable improvement in ensuring the safety and security
devices is the increased use of autonomous nanosensors of packaged food. However, there is concern over the use
linked into the GPS system for real-time monitoring. These of nanoparticles in food and its manipulation using
nano sensors could be distributed throughout the field nanotechnologies, which has the potential to elicit the same
where they can monitor soil conditions and crop growth. issues raised in the GM debate.
Wireless sensors are already being used in certain parts
of the USA and Australia. Challenges
There are new challenges in this sector including a growing
The use of pesticides increased in the second half of the demand for healthy, safe food; an increasing risk of disease:
20th century with DDT becoming one of the most effective and threats to agricultural and fishery production from
and widespread throughout the world. However, many changing weather patterns. However, creating a bio
of these pesticides, including DDT were later found to economy is a challenging and complex process involving the
be highly toxic, affecting human and animal health and convergence of different branches of science.
as a result whole ecosystems. As a consequence, they
were banned. To maintain crop yields, integrated Pest Future prospects
Management systems, which mix traditional methods of In the near future nanostructured catalysts will be
crop rotation with biological pest control methods, are available which will increase the efficiency of pesticides
becoming popular and implemented in many countries, and herbicides, allowing lower doses to be used.
such as India. In the future, nano scale devices with novel Nanotechnology will also protect the environment
properties could be used to make agricultural systems indirectly through the use of alternative (renewable)
“smart”. For example, devices could be used to identify energy supplies and filters or catalysts to reduce
plant health issues before these become visible to the pollution and clean-up existing pollutants.
farmer. Such devices may be capable of responding to
different situations by taking appropriate remedial Agriculture is the backbone of most developing countries,
action. If not, they will alert the farmer to the problem. with more than 60% of the population reliant on it for their
livelihood. As well as developing improved systems for
Scientists are working on various technologies to make fertilizer
monitoring environmental conditions and delivering nutrients
and pesticide delivery systems which can respond to
or pesticides as appropriate, nanotechnology can improve
environmental changes. The ultimate aim is to tailor these
our understanding of the biology of different crops and thus
products in such a way that they will release their cargo in a
potentially enhance yields or nutritional values. In addition,
controlled manner (slowly or quickly) in response to different
it can offer routes to added value crops or environmental
signals e.g. magnetic fields, heat, ultrasound, moisture, etc.
remediation. Particle farming is one such example, which
New research also aims to make plants use water, pesticides
yields nanoparticles for industrial use by growing plants in
and fertilizers more efficiently, to reduce pollution and to
defined soils. For example, research has shown that alfalfa
make agriculture more environmentally friendly.
plants grown in gold rich soil, absorb gold nanoparticles
Status of Nanotechnology in India through their roots and accumulate these in their tissues.
India has allocated 22.6 million USD in its 2006 budget The gold nanoparticles can be mechanically separated from
to the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, in the plant tissue following harvest.
acknowledgement of its pioneering contribution to the
Green Revolution. Its research on high-yielding crop Nanotechnology can also be used to clean ground water.
varieties helped boost food production in the1960s and The US company Argonide is using 2 nm diameter
new projects include the development of new tools aluminium oxide nano-fibres (NanoCeram) as a water
and techniques for the agriculture industry. purifier. Filters made from these fibres can remove
viruses, bacteria and protozoan cysts from water. Similar
Concerns projects are taking place elsewhere, particularly in
Whatever the major impact of nanotechnology on the food
developing countries such as India and South Africa. The
industry and products entering the market, the safety of
future will definitely show new applications of
food will remain the prime concern. This need will
nanotechnology in the field of food and agriculture.
strengthen the adoption of nanotechnology in sensing
applications which will ensure food safety and security, as RS Sengar, Alok Kumar Singh and Ashu Singh
well as technology which alerts customers and shopkeepers Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and
when a food is nearing the end of its shelf-life. New Technology
antimicrobial coatings and dirt repellent plastic bags are a email: sengar065@gmail.com

ICAR NEWS 20
 SPECTRUM
Isolating aloin from yellow sap of Aloe vera
Aloin is a non-edible bio-constituent of Aloe vera having
systemic and therapeutic significance which is isolated
through a novel method developed by ICAR-Central
Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur that has been
granted patent.

Aloe vera a hardy perennial tropical plant that can be

cultivated in drought areas in low rainfall regions with
less input, has active ingredient located in three separate
sections of the aloe leaf - a fillet, rind (or cortex) and the nanoparticles. They are in great demand in national and
vascular bundle (yellow sap). international market.

Aloin, also known as barbaloin, is one of the major The patented method is simple and requires low inputs
constituents of yellow sap that is present in vascular for isolating aloin under ambient temperature (22-35°
bundle of at least 68 Aloe species commonly known as C), directly from naturally occurring yellow sap of Aloe
bitter Aloe. This is a naturally occurring bitter, lemon- sp. as the starting material. The method gives more than
yellow colored substance having medicinal value as 70% yield of about 95% purity.
laxative, antirheumatic, antiarthritic and other Director
pharmaceutical properties besides being used as a ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur
stabilizer in the preparation of gold and silver email: director.cazri@icar.gov.in

Production of desired sex embryos:

an innovative approach
Producing offspring of desired sex is one of the major
challenges of livestock industry in the current days. National
emphasis is on semen sorting, which is necessary to get
desired sexed calf. Though globally many methods have been
reported for sperm sorting, however, most of them need to
be scientifically validated. Further, the sorting procedure
incurs alterations of sperm membrane and other changes
such as pre-capacitation of the sorted sperm leading to
decrease in fertility. Therefore, an alternative method to Sexes of embryos determined from gDNA
sex sorted semen is to produce sexed embryos in vitro.
ROS production (oxidative status) under in vitro and in
Success of in vitro embryo production depends upon vivo conditions might be hindering the developmental
factors such as temperature, gas composition (O2/CO2), potential of particular sex of embryos. Comprehensive
pH, media composition and air quality. Embryos studies were carried out at the ICAR-National Institute
produced in vitro are not at par with that of in vivo of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru to assess
derived embryos. The oxidative status of in vitro whether oxidative stress has any role on sex ratio of the
embryos are always more than that of the in vivo derived embryos. Sex of the in vitro produced embryos was
embryos and the most common difference in both the determined by the PCR based expression of sex specific
conditions are the O2 concentration at which embryos genes present in the genomic DNA of the embryos.
grow. The ambiguity is that whether all the factors
determining embryo survivability affect the survivability It was observed that majority of the embryos produced in
of particular sex of embryo or not. Reports reflect male vitro were biased towards male. The level of oxidative stress
embryos develop faster than female embryos in vitro, under in vitro culture condition was directly related to the
but it is reverse under in vivo condition. Suboptimal proportion of female embryos produced. Reduction of O2
culture conditions result in loss of female embryos in concentration under the in vitro culture environment from
vitro. Therefore, it is hypothesized that differences in 20% (atmospheric concentration) to 5% (uterine

21 July-September 2018
SPECTRUM
concentration) doubled the proportion of female embryos towards producing desired sexed animals either female
produced. Further, it was observed that the addition of free offsprings to increase livestock productivity through milk
radical scavenger into culture medium increased the production or male offsprings for meat production to
proportion of female embryos by 7 folds. The results indicate address national food security.
that by manipulating oxidative status of culture condition,
Ashish Mishra, Arindam Dhali,
desired sexed embryos can be produced followed by desired
Ippala Janardhan Reddy and Raghavendra Bhatta
sexed calves through embryo transfer. The findings are ICAR-NIANP, Bangalore 560 030
expected to have great impact under Indian scenario email: directornianp@gmail.com

Management of Leaf Curl Disease of Chilli

India is the largest producer, incidence and yield loss
consumer and exporter of among other begomoviruses
chillies in the world. India is causing infection in chilli.
shares about 40% of the In severe cases, 100% losses
total world production of of marketable fruit have
chilli and exports 17% of its been reported. The typical
total production. The largest symptoms consists of leaf
importer of Indian chilli is curling, rolling, puckering;
Malaysia (30%), followed by blistering of inter veinal
other traditional importers areas, thickening and
like Bangladesh (20%), Sri swelling of veins, shortening
Lanka (15%), the USA (9%) of internodes and petioles,
and the UAE (8%) (FAO crowding of leaves and
2014). The export is stunting of the whole plant.
composed of chilli powder, Farmers resort to spraying of
dried chillies, pickled chillies pesticides to control
and chilli oleoresin. However, whiteflies as the only option
chilli is susceptible to various to protect as there are not
pathogens including viruses, much resistant varieties or
which cause heavy hybrids released. Due to
production losses. Chilli leaf indiscriminate spraying of
curl disease is a major threat pesticides, chillies sent from
to chilli cultivation in India. India to different countries
The disease is caused by such as Germany, Spain and
begomovirus and spread by Immune response of Capsicum flexuousum (top). Susceptible
Finland have been rejected
whiteflies as vectors. Chilli Capsicum annuum lines (bottom). due to presence of pesticide
leaf curl virus is the most Response of C. flexuousum and C. annuum to leaf curl residues. Moreover, evasive
destructive virus in terms of disease under natural epiphytotic conditions measures have not been
much successful.
Exploitation of host plant
resistance is effective,
economical, ecologically
safe for disease
management, especially
the ones caused by viruses.

Leaf curl disease is also a

major problem in tomato
crop and considerable
Capsicum flexuousum with no leaf curl Susceptible Capsicum annuum genotype level of success has been

ICAR NEWS 22
 SPECTRUM
species is late flowering also. It takes approximately
four months to start flowering. It was observed for its
response to leaf curl disease in field for three
continuous years from 2015-2017. Even after three
years the plants were free of disease. We screened
the species through challenge inoculation under
laboratory condition using viruliferous whiteflies with
Chilli leaf curl virus (ChiLCV) and Tomato leaf curl
New Delhi Virus (ToLCNDV) in 2018, as they have been
identified as pre-dominant viruses causing leaf curl
at New Delhi region in previous studies. However
C. flexuousum was found to be immune to both these
viruses.

Screening of Capsicum flexuousum through Capsicum flexuousum appears to be a potential source

challenge inoculation for leaf curl resistance. We attempted some initial
crosses with C. annuum to get hybrid fruits but the
achieved in resistance breeding programs.
crosses failed. Hence more focused and elaborate
Resistant genes namely Ty1, Ty2, Ty3, Ty4 and Ty5 has
efforts need to be made to recover hybrids from cross
been isolated from wild species like Solanum
of C. annuum and C. flexuousum. Advanced techniques
peruvianum, Solanum chilense and Solanum
like embryo rescue, use of bridging species or hormone
habrochaites, introgressed into cultivated background
application need to be attempted to achieve successful
and many varieties with leaf curl resistance have also
crosses between them.
been released. Intensive genetic studies have been
carried out on these resistance sources, which have
so far led to the mapping of five TYLCV resistance Arpita Srivastava1, Manisha Mangal2,
loci for commercial breeding. The first mapped V K Sharma3 and B S Tomar4
TYLCV resistance locus was the Ty1 locus from S. 1
Division of Vegetable Science, ICAR-Indian Agricultural
chilense LA1969 which has been found to be a Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
DFDGD-class RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and was 2
ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources
later shown to be allelic to the Ty3 locus on
chromosome 6. The source of resistance locus Ty2
was S. habrochaites B6013 and this locus was mapped
to a 300 kb region on chromosome 11. A recessive EDITORIAL BOARD
gene Ty5 for resistance against TYLCV was found to be
Chairman
originated from S. peruvianum. Similar efforts in this Dr T Mohapatra
direction need to be made in chilli crop also. Till date Secretary, DARE and DG, ICAR
the wild species in chilli have not been screened to
identify resistance to leaf curl. Many workers Members
throughout India are working to identify resistant Dr K Alagusundaram, DDG
(Agric. Engg. and Natural Resource Management)
sources to leaf curl disease in chilli but all lines are
from C. annuum background. Resistance to leaf curl Dr JK Jena, DDG
has been reported but immunity to the disease is still (Fisheries Science and Animal Science)
not reported. Dr NS Rathore, DDG
(Agric Edu)
Division of Vegetable Science, ICAR-IARI has screened
different Capsicum species for resistance to leaf curl Dr AK Singh, DDG
(Agric. Ext)
disease. We have identified Capsicum flexuousum as
immune to leaf curl disease (Fig.). This species is Dr AK Singh, DDG
perennial in nature and the crop stays for three years (Horticultural Science and Crop Science)
in the field without reduction in fruiting ability.
Member-Secretary
It has narrow serrated leaves, height of about 1 meter Dr Satendra Kumar Singh, Project Director (DKMA)
and round fruits with cluster erect habit. Further the

Published by Dr Satendra Kumar Singh, Project Director, Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture, Indian Council of Agricultural
Research, New Delhi 110 012. Phone: 011-25842787; Fax: 011-25843285; e-mail: director.dkma@icar.gov.in. 23Lasertypeset
July-September 2018
by M/s Print-O-World,
Shadipur, 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 : Seema Burman Design & Production : Dr VK Bharti and Punit Bhasin
 WAY FORWARD

E FFECTS of climate change is now being felt globally.

As per latest IPCCC (AR-5) report the global average
temperature has risen by 0.85°C (between 1880 to
2012) and several evidences of climate change (glacial
melting, sea level rise, weather aberrations, rise in sea
surface temperature, ocean acidification, increased
intensity of cyclones, frequency of occurrence of heat
waves etc.) were also mentioned in the IPCCC report.
For Indian subcontinent the temperatures are projected
to increase by 1.7 to 2°C by 2030. Apart from ‘climate
change’ which is a long term phenomenon, ‘climatic
variability’ is of immediate concern for Indian agriculture
consisting of variable rainfall, severe weather Dr T Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) and Director General (ICAR)
aberrations and extreme events which are influencing
agriculture production, farmers’ income and livelihoods.
on climatic vulnerability, predominant farming systems
The frequency and intensity of the weather aberrations
in the village and the resource availability. Relevant
are likely to increase in years to come which will
stakeholders such as research institutions, state
significantly impact agriculture production in the
agriculture universities, line departments, NGOs, KVKs
country. In the last 18 years, 13 years received deficient
and the farmers were involved in identification of
rainfall with significant variability in distribution at
resilient technologies to be demonstrated. These
several locations of the country. This resulted in prolonged
demonstrations for the past six years led to minimizing
dry spells and drought like situation impacting crop
the impacts of climatic variability and stabilized
growth and production. Besides this, several parts of the
production leading to their adoption. Resilient practices
country experienced heat wave, cold wave, unseasonal
were made accessible to all farmers in the NICRA
rains and hailstorms.
villages leading to Climate Resi lient Vi llages.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has Convergence with various developmental programmes,
taken up a flagship programme, National Innovations in operational at the village level were established reach
Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) in the year 2011 maximum farmers.
to comprehensively address the impacts of climatic
In order to effectively address the concerns of climate
change and variability on crops, horticulture, livestock,
change there is a need to consolidate these
fisheries and aims at developing adaptation and
programmes at the village level so as to enhance the
mitigation practices to minimize losses and to enhance
adaptive capacity of communities. There is a need to
resilience of Indian agriculture.
take multiple resilient technologies to the farmer. For
The project has two components viz., research, example, water harvesting, improved crop variety,
technology demonstration and capacity building. livestock related interventions so as to minimize the
The research component has been undertaken by 41 adverse effects of climate change and to stabilise
ICAR institutes and several universities across the country productivity and income at the household level. Hence
to assess the impact of climate change and develop convergence of multiple interventions at the household
resilient technologies for various sectors such as crops, level is essential for climate resilience. In order to
livestock, horticulture, fisheries and natural resource effectively bring convergence of the developmental
management. The technology demonstration programmes at the village level and at the household
component aims at demonstrating location specific level there is a need for an integrated scheme which
technologies to minimise impacts of climate change in addresses the climate change issues by merging
farmers’ fields. It is being taken up in 151 climatically ongoing schemes. The suggested title of such scheme
vulnerable districts across the country by taking one could be “Integrated Climate Resilient Agriculture
representative village in each district. Programme” (INCRAP).
The technologies demonstrated can be categorised into
four modules viz., Natural Resource Management, Crop
production and Horticulture, Livestock and Fisheries
and creation of institutions in the village. The (T Mohapatra)
technologies for demonstration were identified based e-mail: dg.icar@nic.in