Research Highlights- HRRS, Dhaulakuan 1. Cytoplasmic male sterile lines in bell peper are being developed. The fertile seed of these lines are produced by crossing them with maintainer lines (Nmsms). These lines have been named as No 12, No 28, CWP-2, CWP-3 and HC-201. These lines are stable for heterozygous male sterile trait even under tropical climate of Dhaulakuan. 2. Musk melon as a new crop is being diversified from river bed cultivation to foot hill adaptation. Hara Madhu variety has shown promise in producing quality fruit which is sweeter in taste having a TSS of 14 O B. 3. Wedge grafting a novel technique of rapid multiplication is being devised in mango propagation. It will help in reducing the seedling age of mango from two years and the seedling shall be ready for planting within a year.
Different growth stages of grafts in wedge grafting in mango 4. A trail was conducted to study the effect of different growing media viz; sphagnum moss, soil, sand, vermicompost, FYM, cocopeat, perlite and vermiculite in combination on rooting of litchi layers at HRRS, Dhaulakuan. The layering was done in the mid of August. Initiation of rooting first started after 28days in T9 (sphagnum moss + cocopeat +sand) whereas control (sphagnum moss + soil) took 60 days for root initiation. Maximum rooting was also observed with this treatment which was closely followed by T10 (sphagnum moss + cocopeat +soil +sand) and T8 (sphagnum moss + cocopeat +soil). Drying of layers was observed with vermicompost treatment. 1 2 1. Rooting of litchi layers with Sphagnum moss + cocopeat + sand 2. Robust rooting in layers of litchi with Sphagnum moss + cocopeat + sand
5. The novel episode on Floriculture and Landscaping - the most colourful sector of Horticulture has been started at HRRS, Dhaulakuan with the incumbency of concerned Scientist during February, 2012 onwards. A maiden effort has been done to collect germplasm of various kinds of winter, summer, rainy season annuals, bulbous plants, pot plants, cut flowers, trees, shrubs, climbers, lawn grasses and herbaceous plants etc. for their evaluation. Furthermore, landscape designing of the campus at Dhaulakuan was initiated. Germplasm of ornamental plants Cineraria maritima Petunia hybrida Amaryllis belladona Dahlia hybrida Ornamental Kale 6. Maximum flower size (11.5 and 11 cm), long flower stalk lengths (60.5 and 65.5 cm) and vase life (11 and 10 days) was observed in gerbera cultivars Balance and Dana Allen respectively with the application of NPK (19:19:19) and NPK (13:40:13) at fortnightly intervals. 7. Inca marigold (golden yellow, orange and lemon yellow) having flower diameter (8.0, 9.0 and 8.5 cm) were observed in peak flowering from October end to mid November. French marigold cultivars; Durango Orange, Durango Yellow, Durango Red and Durango Bolero having flower diameter- 5.5,5,5.2,5 cm were found promising and peak flowering was noticed from November first week to mid December and were found suitable for pot culture. French cultivars of marigold i.e; Cupidon Yellow (flower size-4.7 cm) and Cupidon Orange (flower size-5.3 cm) had 141 and 115 flowers/plant, respectively.
8. Sunken nursery bed technique was found suitable for inducing early germination in summer annuals. It was observed that seeds of Balsam balsamina emerged after 6 days in sunken nursery bed made of sand + top soil + FYM as compared to 13 days in case of raised bed in the open. Highest per cent germination was observed in Zinnia elegans (99%) in sunken bed in sand + top soil + FYM as compared to 95% in raised bed. 9. Mass proliferation in ghee-kanwar (Aloe vera) has been enhanced by modifying the growing media with ash, sand, soil and FYM in (1:1:1:1) ratio. The growing media applied on raised bed up to 6 inches height in equal proportion resulted in better growth and higher number of runner per plant. (Work carried under ATMA project). 10. Propagule length of 20-22.5 cm produced vigorous ETP s of poplar irrespective of the clones and the excised part of the mother branch.
11. Dendrocalamus strictus grown at 9 m between rows and 4.5m within rows spacing and the inter space cropped with wheat proved ideal for the management of wasteland for enhancing productivity per unit of land. Wheat grown under Dendrocalamus strictus recorded significantly higher grain yield (22.6q/ha) in comparison to the wheat grown under Bambusa vulgaris (18.4q/ha) and Dendrocalamus hamiltonii (21.2 q/ha). The project work concluded under National Bamboo Mission at this research centre..