Tuesday 31 July 2012

Potato and more!!!

When you pick up a potato you’re holding an amazingly nutrient dense food! Calories in potatoes are low, they’re naturally fat-free, bursting with vitamins and minerals, contain absolutely no cholesterol and when served with their skins are a great source of fibre.



                                         POTATOES  -  NUTRITION  -   RICE        -     PASTA
                                           116KCAL   -   CALORIES   -  248KCAL -   198KCAL
                                               .5g        -       FAT     -     2.3g     -    1.2g

Did you know all about Potatoes! If not then you must read this. Potato is a tuber grown underground on a specialized plant part (subterranean stem) known as stolon. Therefore, it is a modified stem in a strict botanical sense. A potato tuber is usually oval to round in shape, although intermediate shapes are also frequently encountered. It consists of an inner flesh and an outer protective cover known as a skin. There is a great variation in flesh colour and skin finish. And these two characteristics broadly, if not completely, determine the consumer preference vis-à-vis acceptability. The eye-shaped depressions on a potato tuber is known as its eyes, and actually these are the dormant buds, which give rise to new shoots under suitable conditions. The white to creamy white or pigmented new shoots are known as sprouts. And that is why the process is known as sprouting. This is a very important process in potato, because a sprouted potato is not acceptable for consumption.

Read more about potato and diseases: http://www.seedbuzz.com/knowledge-center/article/potato-and-its-diseases

Monday 30 July 2012

Early Blight

A  disease which can affect the foliage, stems and fruit of tomatoes.
Symptoms: Dark spots with concentric rings develop on older leaves first. The surrounding leaf area may turn yellow. Affected leaves may die prematurely, exposing the fruits to sun scald.

Management: Early Blight fungus overwinters in plant residue and is soil-borne. It can also come in on transplants. Remove affected plants and thoroughly clean fall garden debris. Wet weather and stressed plants increase likelihood of attack. Copper and/or sulphur sprays can prevent further development of the fungus.




To know details: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/718.html

And also visit: http://www.seedbuzz.com for plant disease related articles



 

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Forage Crops

The term forage means the plants used for feeding domestic animals, this includes both fodder plants and pasture plants. Forage crops have served as an important source of feed of domestic animals for a long period, although the history of their use is shorter than that of the use of native forages. Nearly 200 plant species have been known as forage crops. The most commonly used forage plant species are bluegrass, timothy, brome grass, fescues, red clover, white clover and alfalfa. Alfalfa continues to grow in popularity because of its high quality, but its production is limited to only the better soil types. Corn grown for silage is increasing in popularity as forage on many dairy farms.

Agriculture and animal husbandry in India are interwoven with the intricate fabric of the society in cultural, religious and economical ways as mixed farming and livestock rearing forms an integral part of rural living. The benefit of forage crops to humans, however, is not limited only to livestock production. They also contribute to food crop production and many other aspects of human life through the following: (a) soil conservation and amelioration; (b) landscape and wildlife conservation; (c) improvement and protection of the environment from pollution; (d) reclamation, revegetation and ecological repair of degraded land; (e) outdoor recreation and pleasure; (f) potential conversion of biomass to energy; (g) sources of fiber for the manufacture of paper and building materials;  (h) sources of extracts for high-quality proteins and medical and pharmaceutical products.

The history of forage crops can be traced back to about 1300 BC when alfalfa was cultivated in Turkey. Relatively widespread use of forage crops, however, appeared much later, around the beginning of the Christian era, when several species were cultivated in several areas of the world, mainly in the Mediterranean region of Europe. Little happened between the fifth and twelfth centuries, but the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries saw great advances in forage crops. They contributed to the development of mixed farming in the European agricultural revolution, and spread globally with the expansion of Europeans into other continents. The use of forage crops developed also with the rise of industrialized agriculture, which involved the use of new techniques and industrial inputs, the application of science and the rise of a forage seed industry. Since the first domestication of grazing animals in ancient times, forage has been a major concern of humans in the husbandry of animals. The early recognition of the importance of forage is also demonstrated by the early development of forage conservation. Forage is conserved as hay through drying or as silage through fermentation. The main objective of the conservation of forage is to preserve it at the optimum stage of growth for use during those seasons when the forage is unavailable.

Forage needs to be seeded in a fine, firm seedbed often achieved by cultivating the soil. The soil has to be analysed, and the proper amounts of nutrients added for the forage to grow. It can then be grazed by farm animals or it can be harvested and stored for winter feeding. Harvested forage is stored as dry hay, haylage or silage.  In recent years there has been a dramatic shift towards the utilization of silage. Silage is forage with a higher moisture content that is stored in a structure called silo where oxygen is eliminated and the forage ferments.

Lots more on: http://www.seedbuzz.com/knowledge-center/article/forage-crops

Thursday 19 July 2012

Agronomy- An Overview

The science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation is known as Agronomy. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology, chemistry, economics, ecology, earth science, and genetics. Agronomists today are involved with many issues including producing food, creating healthier food, managing environmental impact of agriculture, and creating energy from plants. Agronomists often specialize in areas such as crop rotation, irrigation and drainage, plant breeding, plant physiology, soil classification, soil fertility, weed control, insect and pest control.

Read the complete article on: http://www.seedbuzz.com/knowledge-center/article/agronomy-an-overview
 

Plant Breeding Technology

The ''ability to choose" gave birth to the idea of selection. This is the most primitive and by and large the most successful method of plant breeding. Selection as a part of plant breeding started with the domestication of plants by early man. Domestication refers to the process of bringing wild species under human management. Not all selection over the years have been human influenced—many of the important crop species have resulted from the natural selection process, which is an integral part of evolution. As human knowledge of agriculture grew, man started shuffling crop species from one geographical terrain to another, thus making new introductions. Introduction of plants is the earliest of the methods followed in plant breeding. Established plants of one area are taken to the newer area for the use of mankind. Quarantine has to play important role in introduction to ensure that the material which is to be introduced should not carry diseases or pests with it.

know more on:  http://www.seedbuzz.com/knowledge-center/article/plant-breeding-technology


Monday 16 July 2012

Phomopsis Seed decay




What? - what is it?
Why? - why it happens
How? - how to control it?





Severely infected seeds are shriveled, elongated, and cracked and appear white and chalky. Seeds also may be infected and not show symptoms. Affected seeds usually do not germinate or are slow to germinate. Seed infection may cause pre- and post emergence dampening-off, and under severe conditions, stands can be reduced enough to lower yield.

To know the answers visit: http://www.seedbuzz.com/knowledge-center/articles

The Disease in the Greens!

Downy Mildew

Downy mildew is a widespread, serious disease of beans, crucifers, cucurbits, maize, potato, tomato, rice but most common with grapevines. Previously considered a fungus, the downy mildew pathogen called  Plasmopara viticola, is now classified an algae. Initial leaf symptoms are light green to yellow spots, called “oil spots” because they may appear greasy. Under humid conditions, white, downy spore masses can be seen on the lower leaf surface. These spores are wind dispersed. The lesions eventually turn brown as the infected tissue dies. Severely infected leaves drop prematurely, which can reduce winter hardiness of the vine. Infected flower clusters dry up or become covered with white spores under humid conditions. Infected berries turn a mottled dull-green or reddish purple and readily fall from the cluster. Although berries become resistant to infection within three weeks after bloom, the rachis remains susceptible for several weeks longer.

The two types of downy mildew:

 



 Right: powdery mildew 
 Left: downy mildew










 

 
 Get aware of diseases and their control on: http://www.seedbuzz.com/knowledge-center/articles

Wednesday 11 July 2012

The Role of Women in Agriculture

Gender, plays a determining factor of ongoing agricultural restructuring. Current trends in agricultural are towards market liberalization and in the reorganization of farm work, as well as the rise of environmental and sustainability concerns are redefining the links between gender and development. The proportion of women in agricultural production and post harvest activities ranges from 20 to 70%; their involvement is increasing in many developing countries, particularly with the development of export-oriented irrigated farming, which is associated with a growing demand for female labor, including migrant workers.


Agricultural planning and development are crucial to human survival, but they usually proceed without any consideration of the importance of gender issues at the production level. Agriculture is an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. But the sector is underperforming in many countries in part because women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity. Although women have long been prime movers in agriculture, their contribution to the world's food supply has been largely ignored, and consequently their stake in development has been undermined.

Saturday 7 July 2012

Seedborne Disease and Control


Seedborne disease refers to the particular plant diseases that are transmitted by seed. In some cases the transmission on seed is insignificant compared to the population of disease organisms that exist in soil or on weed species. In other cases, the transmission on seed is the primary means by which a disease spreads. While we are cautious about any type of disease on seed, it is this latter set of diseases that we must be most vigilant in controlling. 

 Planting infected seed may result in a widespread distribution of disease within the crop, and an increased number of initial infection sites from which the disease can spread.  As an example, consider the development of ascochyta blight in a chickpea crop.  Since there is a high rate of seed-to-seedling transmission of this disease, even a small percentage of infected seed can result in significant seedling infection in the field.  For a seed lot with 0.1 per cent ascochyta infection (one infected seed in 1,000 seeds) and a planting density of three to four plants/ft.2, 175 infected seedlings per acre could potentially result. This is a substantial amount of early infection for such an aggressive disease.

The diseases that are caused by fungal pathogens which persist (survive) in the soil matrix and in residues on the soil surface are defined as soil borne diseases. Thus the soil is a reservoir of inoculums of these pathogens, the majority of which are widely distributed in agricultural soils. Diseases of plants are caused primarily by three types of pathogens: bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Despite that fungi comprise the largest group of pathogens, the bulk of seed-specific diseases are caused by bacteria or viruses. This is due to the fact that bacteria and viruses are more adept at entering and then travelling through the veins of the plant, a phenomenon known as ‘systemic infection,’ and from the vascular system may make their way into the developing embryos of seeds.


Friday 6 July 2012

Myth about Genetically Modified Food

It is a solution to famines, and eases the lives of farmers
NO! famine originates from the uneven distribution of world resources, and GM crops will only promote the commercialization of cultivation, leading to a rise in seed prices and farmers' production costs. All the while unable to insure increased output

GM foods are harmless to our health
NO! GM food does not go under any safety assessment before they are introduced to our market, therefore there are concerns that eating GM food over a long period of time may lead to antibiotic resistance

Even if released, I can personally avoid eating it

NO! Greenpeace has time and time again has exposed the illegal cultivation of GM rice in China, this means GM food had been put on the dining tables of consumers without their knowledge.


Genetic Engineering can complement organic farming

NO! GM may accelerate pests & insects ability to resist insecticides, while GM crop may also contaminate the organic farm through the spread of pollen


We can reverse GE if it's found dangerous
NO! Genetic Modified Organisms (GMO) may, through self-reproduction and hybridization with close breeds, lead to the proliferation of alien genes in the wild. which is extremely difficult to recover. 

Reference:

http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia