Central Tuber Crops Research Institute

About: Central Tuber Crops Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Starch & Fermentation. The organization has 475 authors who have published 587 publications receiving 10285 citations.

Management of mealybug (Rhizoecus amorphophalli) in elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius).

Abstract: Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, popularly known as elephant foot yam, is an important tropical tuber crop in India. Its modified stem (corm) is consumed as a vegetable after boiling, baking or frying. Mealybug (Rhizoecus amorphophalli), a soft-bodied insect, infests the corms both in storage and in the field. Though pesticides are effective in controlling mealybugs, they can be hazardous to human health and the environment. Two experiments, one in storage followed by one in the field, were conducted during 2009 and 2010 at the Regional Centre of Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Dumuduma, Bhubaneswar, India, to determine the effect of six low cost and environmentally safe management practices on mealybug. In the absence of mealybug control measures, mealybug numbers increased by 4–5 times during the storage period. The pest affected the quality of the corms and reduced subsequent field establishment and crop growth. Salt (NaCl) solution (1000 ppm), cow urine, cow dung slurry (2 kg of cow dung in 1 litre of water) and clay slurry (1 kg of clay in 1 litre of water) treatments were effective in reducing mealybug numbers and the associated corm damage. However, availability of cow urine, cow dung and clay slurry limit their usage. Common salt is cheap, widely available and easy to use in treating the corms prior to storage. Relative to untreated corms, those treated with salt solution recorded greater emergence when field planted as well as producing plants with more vigorous growth.

Bemisia tabaci (Genn.): Biotypes and Cassava Mosaic Virus in India

Abstract: Biology of Bemisia tabaci on five different host plants viz., cassava, sweet potato, cotton, egg plant and tobacco showed that developmental duration was maximum on cassava and fecundity was maximum on tobacco. Population of cassava whitefly (CWF) and sweet potato whitefly (SPWF) separately maintained on the respective host plants were used in two sets of experiments viz., choice and no-choice studies on cassava, sweet potato, egg plant, cotton, tobacco and tomato. Oviposition was recorded on all host plants, but no CWF nymphs emerged beyond the first instars on sweet potato, while there was no pupal formation or adult development of SPWF on cassava. In choice tests, CWF reproduced on cassava, egg plant, tomato and tobacco, but not on cotton and sweet potato. Conversely, SPWF reproduced on sweet potato, cotton, egg plant, tomato and tobacco, but not on cassava, indicating two different biotypes. In isozymes studies five non-shared alleles to CWF and six to SPWF were observed, ascertaining the biotypes. The analysis of amplification products obtained using the single primers revealed that the CWF and SPWF do not share any similarity among them, confirming the biotypes. Secondary endosymbionts were not associated with the two biotypes.

Development and validation of LC—ESI—MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of four coumarin derivatives and an alkaloid from root and stem bark of Aegle marmelos Correa

Abstract: Aegle marmelos Correa (Bael tree) is a medicinal fruit tree, widely used for healing purposes in various systems of medicines. Coumarins and alkaloids present in various parts of bael tree including roots and fruit pulp are the primary active constituents implicated for its biological activities. An efficient liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization—tandem mass spectrometry (LC—ESI—MS/MS) method was developed for identification and simultaneous determination of four coumarin derivatives, namely, umbelliferone, psoralene, marmin, and imperatorin, and an alkaloid, skimmianine, in root and stem bark of A. marmelos. The chromatographic separation of analytes was performed on Altima C18 (50 × 4.6 mm, 3 μm) column using methanol and 0.1% acetic acid in water (54:46, v/v) as the mobile phase under isocratic conditions. The LC–MS/MS parameters were optimized in the positive ionization mode using electrospray ionization source. The quantification of the analytes was performed using multiple reaction monitorin...

Water smart technologies for irrigation water management of elephant foot yam in tropical zones of India

Abstract: Water is the most crucial input in agriculture and declared to become the most scarce input in the near future, hence, judicious management of irrigation water is the need of the hour in tropical countries. In this study, a comparison of different water smart technologies, namely, porous ground cover mat, super absorbent polymer, partial root zone drying technique, bio mulching and foliar application of antitranspirant was made for enhancing water productivity in tuber crops using elephant foot yam as the test crop. Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) is an important tropical tuber crop in India, and has attained commercial status in many states under assured irrigation. Mulching with ground cover mat and soil application of cassava starch-based super absorbent polymer recorded higher water productivity, reduced irrigation water requirement to 50% and enhanced the corm yield of elephant foot yam by 8–12% and energy use efficiency by 24–28% as compared to 100% irrigation. In the context of expected climate change and water scarcity, water smart technologies such as ground cover mats and super absorbent polymers would help in the cultivation of the tuber crop elephant foot yam with less irrigation, without adversely affecting the corm yield under humid tropical situations.