Formalin fumigation and steaming of various composts differentially influence the nutrient release, growth and yield of muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.)

Nutrient disorder and presence of disease-causing agents in soilless media negatively influence the growth of muskmelon. To combat these issues, use of environmentally-friendly sanitation techniques is crucial for increased crop productivity. The study was conducted under greenhouse and field conditions to investigate the effect of two different sanitation techniques: steaming and formalin fumigation on various media’s characteristics and their impact on muskmelon yield. Media: jantar, guar, wheat straw and rice hull and peat moss of 10% air-filled porosity and sanitized with formalin and steaming. Steaming of guar, jantar, and wheat straw increased the phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) concentrations by 13.80–14.86% and 6.22–8.45% over formalin fumigation. Likewise, P and K concentrations in muskmelon were higher under steaming. Steaming significantly inhibited the survival of Fusarium wilt sp. melonis, root knot nematode sp. meloidogyne and nitrifying bacteria in media than formalin fumigation. In conclusion, steaming decreased the prevalence of nitrifying bacteria and pathogens which thus improved the NO3−–N:NH4+–N ratios, P and K nutritional balance both in the media and muskmelon transplants. Hence, steaming as an environment-friendly approach is recommended for soilless media. Further, optimization of steaming for various composts with different crops needs to be investigated with steaming teachnique.

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A SMALL SCALE COCOPEAT COMPACTION MACHINE

Coconut is one of the major crops grown by small-scale farmers in Kenya coast. This crop has a great potential to contribute to the economy of the region, owing to the wide applications of its products. Virtually all parts of the crop including its leaves, fruit, stem and roots are useful for many products, such as food, beverages, cosmetics, medicine, furniture, textiles and cocopeat. Cocopeat is a by-product in fibre production from coconut husks. The cocopeat is used as a planting medium in soilless culture in agricultural production and as a soil substitute in containerized crop production. Recently, these soilless media have received much interest especially in commercial applications in Kenya, especially in horticultural farms. Since the cocopeat is a loose material, its transportation poses a challenge due to its bulkiness. Therefore a need for compacting it for ease of transportation. For this purpose, an automated cocopeat block making machine was developed to compact the loose cocopeat into uniform blocks to facilitate stacking and ease of transportation from source to agricultural farms across the country. The machine was automated.

Growth Characteristics, Phytochemical Contents, and Antioxidant Capacity of Trachyandra ciliata (L.f) Kunth Grown in Hydroponics under Varying Degrees of Salinity

This study evaluated the effect of salinity and soilless media on the vegetative growth, phytochemicals, and antioxidant capacity of Trachyandra ciliata (wild cabbage) to develop its growth protocol and explore its potential as a natural source of secondary metabolites. Treatments consisted of different concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl), control- 0 mM, 100 mM, 200 mM, 400 mM, while different in vitro assays were used for phytochemical and antioxidant screenings. Findings from the study showed that low salinity (100 mM) significantly increased chlorophyll content, plant height, leaf number, plant fresh weight, and production of inflorescence, particularly in Peat-Perlite-Vermiculite (PPV) medium. In contrast, the control was the most productive treatment in plant dry weight except for the inflorescence. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in 200 mM of NaCl treatment in combination with PPV medium, which also produced the highest mean values for polyphenols, while 100 mM was the best for flavonols. Therefore, T. ciliata proved to be more productive vegetatively under low salinity in combination with PPV soilless media. A combination of 200 mM + PPV treatment was also recommended for maximum production of antioxidants for T. ciliata.

Interaction Effect of Soilless Media and Organic Amendments for Eco-Friendly Root-Knot Nematode Management in Brinjal and Tomato Nursery

Brinjal and tomato are the most important transplanted vegetable crops of the Solanaceae family. The successful cultivation of these crops is vital for meeting the nutritional dietary requirement of India’s population and earning foreign exchange for the country by exporting vegetables to foreign countries. However, there are several abiotic and biotic impediments in the cultivation of these crops. Among biotic impediments , plant-parasitic nematodes have become one of the critical factor adversely affecting the cultivation of these vegetables. In general, Meloidogyne spp. (root-knot nematode) is the most common, widespread and economically damaging plant parasitic nematode species in tomato and brinjal crop. In addition to the damage caused by root – knot nematode, it stimulates the entry of soil-borne pathogens leading to development of the disease complex. The present study was undertaken to study the interaction effect of soil & soilless growing media viz. cocopeat and vermicompost along with organic amendments i.e., Trichoderma, AM fungus, and Cabbage residue incorporated individually as well as in different combinations for eco-friendly root-knot nematode management in brinjal and tomato nursery. The results indicated that treatment C-8 (Cocopeat + Trichoderma + AM fungus + Cabbage residues) recorded the superior germination count, germination percentage, days to 50% germination, root length, shoot length, fresh weight, root weight, shoot weight and root: shoot ratio. It is pertinent to mention that the soilless media, along with various organic amendments, were found to be superior for all the root and shoot attributes as compared to the conventional soil media for growing healthy nursery of tomato and brinjal in root knot nematode infested geographies. Our findings provide an effective and sustainable method of growing healthy plant nursery in nematode infested regions.

Growth and biomass yield of rubber seedlings grown on soilless and soil-based media

The investigation assessed the performance of rubber seedlings on different soilless media and soilbased medium. The treatments consisted of three soilless media codded M1, M2, M3 and soil-based medium M4 as a control. The highest rates of seedling growth and biomass yield were recorded in the soilless medium with 10% burned rice husk (BRH), 30% peat moss and 15% vermiculite (coded as M1) with noticeable effect in root morphological traits, while the pH and EC were 6.5 and 2.3 μS/m, respectively. Nitrogen was apparent in the M1 2.59, M2 3.03, M3 2.78 while 1.82 in M4 was recorded in the soil-based medium. Similarly, the phosphorus was noticed in M1 0.23, M2 0.26, M3 0.33, and in M4 0.13. Plant roots of rubber seedlings grown in the M1 was significantly different from the seedlings grown in M2 and M3 and M4. The least amount (5%) urea-N used was used in the best medium (M1). This amount of nitrogen could be maintained to reduce fertilizer usage. These results showed that the soilless medium that contains 10% BRH with 5% urea- N could greatly increase the growth of rubber seedlings.