Plant Physiology Biochemistry and PHT

Plant Physiology Biochemistry and PHT

Physiology & Biochemistry

The physiological and biochemical basis of seedling vigour in coconut and its relationship to productivity was worked out.

Screening techniques for drought tolerance at seedling, adult palm and invitro condition using the osmoticum is perfected.

Based on physiological and biochemical basis of drought tolerance, strategies are devised to manage the drought under field condition.

An infocrop –coconut model is developed to simulate the growth and production of coconut under present and future climates.

Open top chamber (OTC) facility is created to study the growth of coconut, arecanut and cocoa seedlings under elevated CO2 and temperature.

Open top chamber(OTC) facility at CPCRI,Kasargod to study the effect of elivated CO₂ and temperature on plantation crops.

Coconut cultivars/ hybrids were characterized based on fatty acid profiles for edible and industrial purposes.

Shelf life of coconut oil can be enhanced by storing it in brown bottles, plastic cans or clay jars with preservatives.

Coconut hybrids such as Keraganga, Chandralaksha, Kerasankara and talls like Chandrakalpa and West Coast Tall were identified as relatively drought tolerant compared to the other varieties and hybrids.

Chandrasankara is found to be more susceptible to drought under sandy and sandy loam soil than laterite soil under rainfed condition.

Drought management practices such as husk burial and composted coir pith application were found to increase the nut yield under rainfed conditions.

In order to understand the adaptation of coconut to high temperature the quantification of stress responsive proteins and the anti-oxidant enzymes is perfected.

Burial of composted coir pith in palm basins

Burial of coconut husk in palm basins

The saponification value, peroxide value, iodine value, free fatty acid, acid value, quantification is perfected.

Fatty acid profile of coconut oil from different varieties across different agro-climatic zones is being done.

Canopy architect and pruning are important for higher productivity of cocoa.Highest Yields were obtained at cocoa spacing of 2.7x5.4 m and large canopy(20m²) in areca gardens.

Carbon sequestration by terrestrial biomass is one of the mitigation options used for education of GHGs.Areca-cocoa system had a standing biomass of 23.5,54.9 and 87.10 t ha^-1 in 5^th,8^th and 15^th years of growth,respectively.Annual increments in biomass or net primary productivity ranged from 1.38-2.66t ha^-1 in cocoa and 3.34-7.11 t ha^-1 in areca.The biomass and primary productivity is considerable with areca-cocoa mixed crop and comparable to any agroforestry systems involving cocoa.

Five accessions[(NC23(p3xp); NC29(P6xP4); NC 31(P12xP2); NC39(T7/12); NC42(T86/2)] and two hybrids[II-67xNC 42/94,II-67xNC 29/66] have been identified as drought tolerant.

Stomatal resistance was significantly higher in outer and middleleaves of diseased palms while transpiration and Pn were lower.The altered value of chlorophyll flurescence indices in YLD palms reflected abnormal arrangement of antennae pigments of PS II(Fo),inhibition of QA reduction(Fm) and reduction of photosynthetic quantum yield(Fv/Fm).These results indicated that the carboxylation efficiency was affected.Leaf water potential and turgor potential were significantly higher while osmotic potential was lower in diseased leaves showing that disease leads to stomatal closure independent of water deficit.

Pre and Post Harvest Technology

The following pre and post harvest technologies are developed to enhance the coconut value addition, labour saving and drudgery reducing farm machineries.

Coconut chips Application: Coconut chips with different flavour sweet, salted and etc. can be prepared. Unit cost : Rs.1.5 lakh Output capacity: 300 coconuts / day
Coconut Slicing Machine for making chips Capacity:7.5 kg/hour, cost:Rs.50,000/-
Snow Ball Tender Nut Machine Application: To produce snowball tendernut from tender coconut Unit cost : Rs.20,000/- Output capacity: Ten snowball tendernuts per hour
Shell Fired Copra Dryer Application/Use: For drying coconut to make copra for oil extraction Unit cost: Rs.33000/- Output Capacity:1000 nuts per batch
Solar cum Electrical Dryer Capacity 2000nuts/batch Time : 24 hrs Fuel : Solar and electrical energy Cost : Rs.45000/- Cost of drying : Rs.2.75/kg copra Automatic temp. control For medium scale industries
Copra moisture meter Application/Use: To measure moisture content of copra Unit cost:Rs.2000/
Coconut de-shelling machine Application/Use: For separating shell and copra after partial drying Unit cost: Rs.50,000/- Output Capacity: 5000 nuts / hr
Tender nut punch and cutter Application/Use: For drinking tender nut water Unit cost: Rs.3500/- Output Capacity: 150 – 200 nuts/hr
Telescopic sprayer for Palms Application: For spraying palms from the ground up to 40ft height Unit cost: Rs.12500/- Output Capacity: Arecanut-100 palms/hr, Coconut-15-20 palms/hr
Coconut Climbing Device Application: Climbing coconut tree Unit cost: Rs.10,000/- including safety mechanism Output capacity: 25minutes to climb up and down a coconut tree of 30m height
Virgin Coconut Oil by Fermentation and Hot Process Method Application: To produce Virgin Coconut Oil from coconut milk – a value added product from coconut Unit cost : Rs.5,50,000/- Output capacity: 500 nuts/day
Coconut Testa Remover Application: For the removal of coconut testa for production of coconut chips and virgin coconut oil. Unit cost:Rs.60,000/- Output capacity:45nuts/hr
Coconut Milk Extractor Application: To extract milk from coconut for production of VCO by fermentation and hot process Unit Cost: Rs.50,000/- Output capacity: 100 nuts/hr
VCO Cooker Application: For production of virgin coconut oil by hot process Unit cost: Rs.2,00,000/- Output capacity: 125litre/batch/6hrs