Research for Tribal and Hill Regions - icar.org.in

1 109 New ReleasesVariety/hybrid/Adaptation region/DurationSalient featurescompositeagro-ecologyVivek QPM 9 Zone I andExtra-early (85-90 days) Yellow, single cross hybrid showed more yield,Zone IVtryptophan, lysine, Fe and Zn than best checkVivek Maize Hybrid 9 Vivek Maize Hybrid 25 Zone IExtra-early (85-90 days) Single cross hybrid yielded more than the bestcheck HIM 129. Also showed a high degree oftolerance to turcicum blight and better responseto low dose of N (40 kg/ha)Vivek Maize Hybrid 27 Zone III andExtra-early (80-85 daysSingle cross hybrid yielded higher than HIMZone IVin Zone III and 85-88129, exhibited moderate tolerance to turcicumdays in Zone IV)and maydis leaf blight and better response tohigher doses of NVivek Sankul Makka 31 Uttarakhand hillsEarly (90-95 days)In spite of being a composite it yielded higherthan popular hybrid HIM 129 and compositeSurya.

2 Also showed high tolerance to turcicumblight and better response to higher N dosesin hillsVL Gehun 892 Late sown,Early (140-150 days)Variety showed yield superiority to checksrestricted irrigationSonalika, HS 420 and HS 295, and resistanceconditions of hillsto brown and yellow rusts. Also possessesUttarakhand andresistance against most virulent yellow rustHimachal Pradeshpathotype 46S119 and 78S84. It is nutritionallyrichVL Matar 45 Rainfed, timely160-165 daysField pea variety possesses resistance to wiltsown onditions ofdisease and yellow round grains with higherUttarakhand hills,100-grain weightJammu and Kashmirand Himachal PradeshVL Rajma 125 Rainfed, timely 75-100 daysIt possesses resistance to bacterial blight andsown conditionsroot rot.

3 Grains are yellow with higher 1,000-of Uttarakhand hillsgrain weight17 Research for Tribal and Hill RegionsThe Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) through its institutes located in North-west Himalayas, North-east Himalayas and Islandsevolved technologies to meet the needs of tribaland hill technologies are intended to improve thesocio-economic status of the target group, andwill help them to acquire special skills throughvocational training in traditional and non-traditionalcrops, agroforestry, apiculture, horticulture, animalhusbandry, poultry and HIMALAYASThe salient achievements of institute locatedRESEARCH FOR Tribal AND HILL REGIONS110 DARE/ICAR ANNUAL REPORT 2008 2009in North-west Himalayas are.

4 Varietal releaseSeven varieties/hybrids/composite of crops werereleased for different agro-climatic Regions productionAround tonnes breeder seed of 47 releasedvarieties/inbred lines was produced. A totalof tonnes breeder seed was suppliedto different seed-producing agencies to takeup further multiplication. Besides, tonnesnucleus seed of 35 released varieties was frequency plant regenerationA robust callus induction and high frequencyplant regeneration system was observed fromthe mature seed-derived nodes in VQL 2,parent of recently developed QPM hybrid, VivekQPM regeneration frequency was more than25%. The healthy plantlets were grown plant growth-promotingbacteriaMore than 1,000 cold-tolerant bacteria wereisolated from the rhizosphere, rhizoplane,endorhizosphere and phylloplane samples collectedfrom high altitude areas (1,800 to 3,800 m amsl)of Uttarakhand, with greater diversity among theisolates from Garhwal region compared to all cold-tolerant isolates possessed morethan two low molecular weight plasmids,Diversity of cold-tolerant bacteria from North-West Himalayaswhile high molecular weight plasmidswere detected in few isolates.

5 The 16S rRNAgene of plant growth-promoting bacterial isolatesfrom high altitudes were sequenced at IMTECH,Chandigarh. The sequences were deposited atGenBank, USA and their accession numbers aerial view of tanks in Darim cluster is partially image was captured from web resources and the water-harvesting tanks were located in the present sceneThe harvested water, when utilized throughmicro-irrigation system for cultivation of vegetablepea and French bean resulted in pod yield of and tonnes/ha, respectively, andprovided annual return of more than Rs lakh/ha, with a benefit:cost ratio of The paybackperiod for water resources development came tobe years, considering the internal rate ofreturn being 27%. Moreover, the use of micro-irrigation saved harvested water up to 40%.

6 SUCCESS STORYC ultivation of off-season cauliflowerA system of off-season cauliflower cultivation inmid-hills, which includes growing of seedlings inpolyhouses during November-December followedby transplanting in open fields in January, wasdeveloped by the Institute. With this culturalmanipulation, the crop is ready to be harvestedby the end of March, when cauliflowers are not atall available in the market. Twenty-five farmfamilies in two clusters of villages of Champawatdistrict followed this practice and got an averageyield of 17 tonnes/ha with a curd size of kg. With such a production, farmers got anearning of about Rs lakh/ha. Thus off-seasoncultivation of late cauliflower has become highlyremunerative for the hill STORYW ater harvesting and surface storage inDarim village, UttarakhandSupplemental irrigation is necessary to maintainthe soil-moisture regime at optimal level forobtaining higher production.

7 The geographicallimitations and terrain conditions indicatepossibilities of small water harvesting tanks, whichcan be well integrated with the hill farming systemand resources of 2,417 m3 were developedat the farmers fields under the outreach activitiesof the institute located at Almora, in two clustersof villages, namely Bhagartola (Almora district)and Darim (Nainital district). In village Darim 52tanks were made. The capacity ranged from 10m3 to m3. Nearly one-third LDPE tanks(17) have capacity of 10 to 15 m3 because of thesmaller size of terraces and land holdings of thefarmers. Twenty-seven poly-tanks are of 15-30m3 size and eight tanks above 30 m3 FOR Tribal AND HILL Regions production under climatic conditions of NE regioncan easily be increased by rearing HF dairy technique for identification of meatspeciesSpecies-specific DNA markers for pig, chicken,duck and pigeons were developed and validatedby cross checking with the other meat speciessuch as cattle, sheep, goat, rabbit, chicken, duck,pigeon and turkeys.

8 The DNA markers developedcan help identify the species of raw as well ascooked meat of the species mentioned. This processof identification is simple, economical and quickas compared to the PCR-RFLP method of Research findings of the institute locatedin Islands are:RiceAt the Bloomslade Research farm, long-durationvarieties (Gayatri, Savitri, Ranjit and Varshadhan)performed better than medium-duration TaichungSen Yu. Among long-duration varieties, Ranjitrecorded highest grain yield followed by Savitri,Varshadhan and Gayatri. In farmers fieldsalso, long-duration varieties gave significantlyhigher grain yield than long-duration C 14-8 inspite of minimal management practices adoptedby the : a feed substitute for poultryAzolla can be supplemented for backyard poultryalong with other foodgrains and kitchen supplementation did not have any adverseeffect on egg production, and showedRare and endemic butterflies ofnorth-east IndiaOut of 125 butterfly species identified for thefirst time from North-Eastern Region of India, thefollowing were found rare and endemic to jungle queen (Sticopthalmacamadeva camadeva).

9 It is a large butterfly, foundin thick forests at an altitude of 800 m in ArunachalPradesh and its larva feeds on duke (Euthalia sahadeva sahadeva):It is found in mid-altitude of about 1,800 m inManipur, and its larva is a pest of Quercus rajah (Charaxes polyxena hierax): Anactive and stout butterfly confined to thick forestareas of Meghalaya. It is a polyphagous larva,feeds on Tamarindus indicus, Aglaia elaeagnoidea,Saccopetalum archduke (Adolias khasiana khasiana):It is a black butterfly found below 1,800 m altitudein HIMALAYASThe Research work carried out at the institutelocated in North-East Himalayas includes:Promosing genotype of Indian beanRCDL 10, A bush type, photo-insensitive, shortduration, high-yielding genotype of Indian bean(Dolichos lablab) tolerant to aphids, leaf spot andpowdery mildew disease was identified for NEHR egion.

10 It has yield potential of 14-15 tonnes/haand can be grown from April to November at aspacing of 80 cm 40 cm. First harvesting canbe done 75 days after sowing. Average pod weightis g and pod yield varies from 95 to 100 yielding crossbred cattleThe productive and reproductive performanceof Holstein-Friesian (HF) crossbred cattle havingaround 75% HF blood was assessed for eight yearsin North-eastern Region of India. The milk yield/lactation (litre), lactation length (days), milk yield/day (litre), milk yield/day in first 300 days (litre),age at first calving (days), calving interval (days),dry period (days), and days open (days) were3,423 134, 390 16, , ,811 , 437 19, and 155 respectively.