Outbreak of cucumber mosaic virus on musa sp. in Tamil Nadu,India

Cucumber Mosaic Virus, or Infectious Chlorosis, was found in alarming proportions in all the districts of Tamil Nadu on the ‘Robusta’ (Dwarf Cavendish) and ‘Poovan’ (Mysore) cultivais. The disease was transmitted only through suckers from the diseased gardens. Among the genotypes screened, the clones with ABB genomes showed complete field resistance.     

Occurrence of a new leaf spot disease ofMusa sp. incited byThanatephorus cucumeris

A new leaf spot disease of banana(Musa sp.) cv. ‘Rasthali’ (syn. Silk) was observed in Tamil Nadu, in 1987. The causal organism was isolated in pure culture and identified asRhizoctonia solarii Kühn. The teleomorphic stage,Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk, has also been induced artificially. This is the first record of this pathogen causing leaf spot disease onMusa sp. The pathogenicity of basidiospores on several other important crops was also tested.     

Increasing Returns to Scale in Affluent Knowledge‐Rich Economies

This paper departs from the existing growth literature in not assuming a priori a specific production technology and offering instead a theory of production technology that captures the effects of changes in the level, composition, and forces of accumulation of capital on the productivity of an economy. The theory of production technology shows that an affluent knowledge‐rich economy violates the Inada second condition because of its high level of knowledge, human, and social capital. Substitution of knowledge capital for physical capital and the self‐reinforcing nature of the process of accumulation of knowledge, human, and social capital are the engines of growth in such economies. Poor economies, on the other hand, may exhibit neoclassical production technology of diminishing returns to capital and get trapped into a low‐level steady state owing to their ever‐growing need for physical capital and also to unfavorable supply conditions for knowledge capital, lower levels of knowledge, human, and social capital in these economies being inadequate to trigger the self‐reinforcing dynamics. The mechanics of endogenous growth are essentially different in rich and poor economies because the production possibility surface is non‐convex in the former, and this difference explains the sustained divergence of their growth rates.     

Uptake of uranium by vegetables and rice

The uptake of U by vegetables from soil and water has been studied in pots by spiking the soil and the irrigation water with U. An increase in the U level in vegetables has been observed with an increase of U content in the irrigation water and not with soil U. However, the concentration factor for the uptake of U by vegetables decreases with increase of U in water. The study of distribution of U in rice (Oryza saliva) indicates the discrimination of U by different parts of the crop. Among root, stem, and grain, the lowest concentration of U has been observed in grain (rice).     

Production of four commercially cultivated Echinacea species by different methods of in vitro regeneration

Summary

Efficient in vitro procedures for mass propagation of four commercially important Echinacea species have been deveoped. Plants of E. angustifolia, E. pallida, E. paradoxa and E. purpurea were regenerated by three methods, namely axillary bud proliferation, adventitious shoot formation and somatic embyrogenesis. Shoot tips obtained from in vitro germinated seedlings, adventitious shoots or somatic embryo-derived plantlets, when cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium enriched with 1 μM 6-benzylaminopurine, 2 μM kinetin, 0.5 μM indole-3-butyric acid and 4 mg^–1 paclobutrazol multiplied three-fold within 3–4 weeks in culture. Incorporation of paclobutrazol in the shoot multiplication medium was necessary to recover healthy and robust shoots suitable for rooting. Direct, high-frequency shoot formation on intact leaves of shoots grown on 6-benzylaminopurine and kinetin-supplemented media, an unusual and novel observation made in this study, occurred in all the species studied. Rooting of in vitro developed shoots was achieved relatively easily with Murashige and Skoog basal medium rather than with auxin-enriched media. Culturing of hypocotyl explants on medium containing 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid (commonly known as dicamba), or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, resulted in direct somatic embryogenesis in all the species examined. The presence of cytokinin was required for somatic embryo germination, but further development of germinated somatic embryos into normal plantlets occurred in Murashige and Skoog medium. We conclude that the procedures described here could be used for rapid propagation as well as genetic transformation of commerically cultivated Echinacea species.     

Effect of Seed Coating on Yield Attributes and Yield of Soybean (Glycine max L.)

Investigations were carried out during March to June 1991 to evaluate the effect of seed coating with organic, inorganic nutrients and biofertilizers on yield attributes and yield of soybean under three environments with different soil types viz., clay loam, sandy clay loam and sandy loam. Seed coating with bio-digested slurry 50 per cent, superphosphate 2 per cent, Bradyrhizobium 2 per cent, and Phosphobacteria 2 per cent (w/w of seed) increased the number of filled pods and grain yield by 29.6 and 37.2 per cent, respectively over the uncoated. There was a significant increase in the test weight of grains due to seed coating with Phosphobacteria. Environment with clay loam soil was found to be highly responsive to seed coatings.     

A boll rot of cotton caused by Corynespora Cassiicola in Tamil Nadu,India

A new boll rot disease of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cv. MCU 9 was observed in Tamil Nadu, India, in 1988. The causal organism was isolated in pure culture and identified asCorynespora cassiicola (Berk. & Curt.) Wei. The isolate, which on cotton is pathogenic only to bolls, is considered to be different from a strain ofC. Cassiicola known elsewhere causing leaf spot of cotton. The pathogenicity of this fungus on several other important crops was also tested. The fungus produced leaf spot and stem rot diseases on, respectively, eight and six host plants. Root rot, after inoculation, was observed only inVigna sinensis, Arachis hypogaea andSesamum indicium.     

Evaluation of genetic resistance fromOryza sativa andOryza officinalis againstCochliobolus lunatus in Tamil Nadu,India

A new sheath rot disease of rice incited byCochliobolus lunatus (anamorph:Curvularia lunata) was first observed on rice cultivars at the end of the dry season (April and May) in 1990. Nearly 7% of rice plants at boot leaf stage showed typical sheath rot symptoms. Panicles emerging from diseased plants were mostly black. Six improved cultivars and five breeding lines derived from the wild riceOryza officinalis were completely free of the disease under both natural and artificial infection conditions. These genetic stocks with resistance to sheath rot can now be utilized in breeding programs.