From the Director's Desk

(T.G.K. MURTHY)

During the last three monthsperiod, FCV tobacco auctions inKarnataka were completed. Atpresent, about 102 million kg curedleaf has been marketed at anaverage price of Rs.129.24/- perkg. Thus, the KLS farmers receivedRs. 8.72 per kg more over last year.

As on 31.03.2014, in AndhraPradesh, 20.07 million kg of FCVtobacco has been marketed at anaverage price of Rs.121.59/-. Theprice offered for bright grade oftobacco is Rs.122.91/- per kg.

The Indian Council ofAgricultural Research constitutedQuinquennial Review Team (QRT)under the Chairmanship of Dr. R.R.Hanchinal,Chairperson, Protectionof Plant Varieties and FarmersRight Authority, Govt. of India toreview the research work carriedout by CTRI, AINPT and KVKs. Theteam will visit CTRI and itsResearch Stations, AINP Centresand KVKs and review the researchwork carried during the period2009-2013 and give suggestionsfor future improvement of researchprogrammes.

A total of 1200 kg foundationseed of FCV tobacco wasdistributed to registered growers inKLS through CTRI RS, Hunsur andTobacco Board at different auctionfloors.

❑ New fungicides, Fenamidon10%+mancozeb 50% @ 0.3%and pyraclostrobin 5%+metiram 55% @ 0.2% werefound effective against leaf blightcaused by Phytoptheraparasitica var.nicotianae intobacco nurseries.

❑ Hi-tech sprayer at 40 PSI @ 95l/ha gave better coverage ofspray fluid on the plant canopyup to 50 DAT. Thereafter, highpressure knap sack sprayer(HPKS) @ 50 l/ha exhibitedbetter coverage.

❑ Leaf surface wash of N. gosseiwith di-chloromethane provedtoxic to neonate larvae ofSpodoptera litura

❑ Chlorfluzuron 5.4 E.C. @ 3 ml./l was effective against S. liturain tobacco nursery.

❑ Flubendiamide 20 WG @ 6grams/10 l was effective againsttobacco budworm/ capsuleborer H. armigera in tobaccofield crop.

❑ Flonicamid 0.02% andpymetrozine 0.02% were foundto be effective against tobaccoaphid, Myzus nicotianae andalso safe to the aphid predatorsXanthagramma scutellare andCoccinella repanda.

❑ Molecular characterization of 17Pythium isolates with completeITS sequence was carried out.

❑ SSR primers viz., PT53418,PT51706, PT60080, PT52831,PT40035 and TBM-36 werefound polymorphic among 19tobacco lines including 11parents differing in solanesol &nicotine and eight hybrids.

❑ Monitoring team consisting ofDr. T.G.K. Murthy, Dr. U.Sreedhar, Dr. D. DamodarReddy, Dr. C. ChandrasekharaRao, Dr. K. Sarala and Dr. Y.Subbaiah visited on-farmvarietal trial plots of Tobios-2and NLST-4 at NLS along withTrade and Tobacco Boardofficials on 04.01.2014.

❑ Dr. K. Sarala, Dr. Y. Subbaiahand Dr. P. Venkateswarlu,Principal Scientists visited on-farm varietal trial plots of FCVtobacco line, TBST-2 in SLS andSBS areas during 21-22January, 2014.

❑ Dr. M.Kumaresan, PrincipalScientist & Head I/C, Sri.M.Mohan, CTO and Sri R.Rajendran, STO visited thefarmers’ trial plot fields inSatyanathapuram, Kethai-yarabu and Oddanchatiram.

FIELD FRIENDS PROGRAMME

❑ Scientists from CTRI, CTRIResearch Station, Guntur,Kandukur participated in 22Field Friends Programmesconducted by Tobacco Boardat Rajahmundry, Ongole andGuntur regions.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS MONITORING OF TRIAL PLOTS

2 CTRI News

TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

PUBLICATIONS

✤ Damodar Reddy, D. and V.K.Murthy. 2013. Simple andinexpensive water extractionmethod for assaying potassiumconcentration in tobacco planttissue. Commun. Soil Sci. andPlant Analysis 44:962-70.

✤ Damodar Reddy, D., S.Kushwaha, S. Srivastava and R.S.Khamparia. 2014. Long-termwheat residue management andsupplementary nutrient inputeffects on phosphorus fractionsand adsorption behaviour in aVertisol. Commun. Soil Sci. andPlant Aanlysis 45:541-54.

✤ Ghosh, R.K. and D. DamodarReddy. 2013. Tobacco stem ashas an adsorbent for removal ofmethylene blue from aqueoussolution: Equilibrium, kineticsand mechanism of adsorption.Water Air Soil Pollution 224(6).DOI: 10.1007/s11270-013-1582-5.

✤ Ghosh, R.K. and D. DamodarReddy. 2013. Crop residue ashesas adsorbents for basic dye(methylene blue) removal:Adsorption kinetics anddynamics. Clean-Soil Air Water41. DOI:10.1002/clen.201300386.

✤ Ghosh, R.K., Z.S. Khan, C.V.N.Rao, K. Banerjee, D. DamodarReddy, T.G.K. Murthy, N.Johnson and D.P. Ray. 2014.Assessment of organochlorinepesticide residues in Indian flue-cured tobacco with gasc h r o m a t o g r a p h y - s i n g l equadrupole mass spectrometer.Environ. Monitoring &Assessment DOI:10, 1007/

s10661-014-3760-3.

✤ Suman Kalyani, K., T.G.K.Murthy and C. ChandrasekharaRao. 2014. Innovative approachesfor sustainable productivityamong tribal families of EastGodavari District. J. Agrl. Ext.Rural Development 6(1):5-10.

Popular Articles

✤ Suman Kalyani, K., T.G.K.Murthy and V.S.G.R. Naidu.

❑ Dr. U. Sreedhar, Head, CropProtection attended the'Workshop to revise IPMpackages' at NIPHM, Hyderabadon 08.01.2014

❑ Dr. K. Nageswara Rao, Head,CTRI RS, Jeelugumilli, Dr. M.Anuradha, Principal Scientist andMs. J. Poorna Bindu, Scientistattended the ISPP South ZonalSeminar on 'Physiological andMolecular Interventions forImproving Crop Productivity' atAgril. College, Bapatla on23.01.2013

❑ Dr. K. Siva Raju, PrincipalScientist visited Insight TobaccoCraft Institute, Godfrey PhillipsIndia Ltd., Bombay for

reassessment of Testing &Calibration Laboratories,Gurgaon at Bombay during 23-24 January, 2014

❑ Sunil Mandi, Head, CTRI RS,Dinhata attended the 'MidtermReview Meeting of ICAR RegionalCommittee-II ' at CFRI,Barrackpore, Kolkata on24.01.2014.

❑ Dr. P. Venugopala Rao, SeniorScientist attended the 'InteractionMeet on the Presently Used FCVTobacco Seed Varieties' atTobacco Board, Guntur on28.01.2014.

❑ Dr. K.Siva Raju, PrincipalScientist visited ITC Life Sciences& Technology Centre, ITCLimited, Bangalore as TechnicalExpert in the team constitutedby National Accreditation Boardfor Testing & CalibrationLaboratories, Dept. of Scienceand Technology, New Delhiduring 30-31 January,2014.

❑ Dr. K. Siva Raju, Dr. Y. Subbaiah,Principal Scientists and Dr. H.Ravisankar, Senior Scientistattended the '101 Indian ScienceCongress' at Jammu University,Jammu during 3-7 February,2014.

❑ Dr. K. Suman Kalyani, PrincipalScientist attended the Workshopon 'Policies for Infant & YoungChild Feeding' at NIN, Hyderabadon 03.02.2014.

❑ Dr. K.Suman Kalyani, PrincipalScientist attended workshop on'Mapping of Current Policies thatSupport Counseling for Infantand Young Child Feeding (IYCF)in India using the Net-MapMethodology' at National Instituteof Nutrition, Hyderabad on04.02.2014.

❑ Md.Elias, Senior TechnicalAssistant attended the NationalConference on ‘AgriculturalInformation Management inDigital Era” at IGKV, Raipurduring 4-5 February, 2014.

❑ Sunil Mandi, Head, CTRI RS,Dinhata attended the 'KVKAdvisory Committee Meeting' atUBKV, Pundibari, Cooch Beharon 07.02.2014.

CONFERENCES/ TRAININGS/WORKSHOPS ATTENDED

2014. Soya as intercrop inbanana for higher yields.Annadata 46(2):22-3.

✤ Suman Kalyani, K. and T.G.K.Murthy. 2014. Krishi Vasant.Annadata 46(3):31-2.

✤ Suman Kalyani, K. and T.G.K.Murthy. 2014. Uses of neem intobacco. Swarna Sedyam : 20-1.

✤ Satyavani, J.V.R., V.S.G.R.Naidu, U. Sreedhar and T.G.K.Murthy. 2014. Snails damage onhorticultural crops. Annadata46(3): 10-1.

Brochures

✤ 'Cashew – Cultivation Practices'compiled by Dr.V.S.G.R. Naidu,J.V.R. Satyavani and Dr.T.G.K.Murthy.

✤ 'Azolla – Cultivation' compiled byDr.V.S.G.R. Naidu, Dr. B.Johnbabu and Dr.T.G.K. Murthy.

✤ 'Co-4 Fodder – Cultivation'compiled by Dr.V.S.G.R. Naidu,Dr. P.V.V.S. Siva Rao and Dr.T.G.K. Murthy.

✤ 'Self employment opportunitiesthrough KVK Programmes'compiled by Dr.V.S.G.R. Naiduand Dr. T.G.K. Murthy.

✤ ‘Technology Inventory on CashewProduction’ compiled byDr.V.S.G.R. Naidu, J.V.R.Satyavani, E. Vijaya Prasad andDr. T.G.K. Murthy.

Vol. 36, No.1 January - March, 2014 3

❑ Dr.P.V.Venugopala Rao, SeniorScientist attended the 'AnnualBreeder Seed Review Meeting' atNBPGR, New Delhi on12.02.2014.

❑ Dr. V.S.G.R. Naidu, ProgrammeCo-ordinator attended the'Biennial Conference of IndianSociety of Weed Science' atJabalpur during 15-17 February,2014.

❑ Dr. S. Kasturi Krishna, PrincipalScientist attended the Conferenceon 'Emerging Challenges in WeedManagement' at Directorate ofWeed Science Research, Jabalpurduring 15-17 February, 2014.

❑ Sunil Mandi, Head, CTRI RS,Dinhata attended the 'AdvisoryCommittee Meeting' organized byACMART at Cooch Behar on17.02.2014.

❑ Dr. S.K. Dam, Senior TechnicalOfficer attended the InternationalSymposium on 'Role of Fungi andMicrobes in the 21st Century – AGlobal scenario' at Kolkata during20-22 February, 2014.

❑ Dr. T.G.K. Murthy, Director-Actingand Dr. C.C.S. Rao, Head, CropProduction attended the 'EFCMeeting' at ICAR New Delhi on21.02.2014.

❑ Dr. U. Sreedhar, Head, CropProtection attended the'International Conference onEntomology' at Patiala, Punjabduring 21-23 February, 2014.

❑ Sunil Mandi, Head, CTRI RS,Dinhata attended the 'AdvisoryCommittee Meeting' at UBKV,Pundibari on 24.02.2014.

❑ Dr. C.C.S. Rao, Head, CropProduction attended the 'ThirdMeeting of the CommitteeConstituted to Study theEnvironmental Impact of FCVTobacco Curing in India –Alternative Fuels to Substitute theFirewood Usage in Curing of FCVTobacco' at Tobacco Board,Guntur on 24.02.2014.

❑ Dr. H. Ravisankar, SeniorScientist attended theSensitization workshop on'Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6)' at New Delhi on 27.02.2014.

❑ Sunil Mandi, Head, CTRI RS,Dinhata attended the Workshopon 'Jute and Allied Fibers' at

KISAN MELA/EXHIBITION STALLS

❑ CTRI RS, Dinhata participatedin the Kisan Mela and Exhibitionorganized by State AgricultureDepartment, West Bengal atSitai block & Sitalkuchi block,Dinhata from 18.01.14 to21.01.14. Sri S. ChandaTechnical officer gave a talk on'Tobacco Production andProtection Issues' to farmers.

❑ CTRI set up a stall at KrishiVasant, a national levelagriculture fair-cum-exhibitionorganized jointly by the Ministryof Agriculture and MaharashtraGovernment in collaborationwith CII at Nagpur during 7-11February, 2014.

UBKV, Pundibari during28.02.2014 to 01.03.2014.

❑ Dr. M. Mahadeva Swamy,Principal Scientist attended theInternational Symposium on'Potassium Nutrition and CropQuality' at BAU, Ranchi during4-5 March, 2014.

❑ Dr. D.V. Subhashini, PrincipalScientist attended the Nationaltraining on 'MicrobialCharacterisation andNanoformulations : Methods andApplications' at NBAIM,Kushmaur, Mau, Uttar Pradeshduring 4-13 March, 2014.

❑ Dr. U.Sreedhar, Head, CropProtection attended the 'CORESTAInfestation Control Conference' atBangalore during 10-11 March,2014.

❑ Dr. S. Ramakrishnan, PrincipalScientist attended the '137th

Meeting of the Tobacco' at TobaccoBoard, Bangalore on 21.03.2014.

The 4th meeting of the XIIInstitute Joint Staff Council washeld on 26.02.2014 at CTRIResearch Station, Dinhata andwherein various issues related tostaff welfare were discussed.

IJSC MEETING

TRAINING PROGRAMME/WORKSHOP ORGANISED

❑ A 'Training Programme on GoodAgricultural Practices of FCVTobacco Cultivation' wasconducted during 7-9 January,2014 to the newly recruitedField Officers of Tobacco Boardand Alliance One InternationalIndia Pvt. Ltd., Pottur, Guntur.

❑ CTRI organised one dayWorkshop on 'TobaccoProduction Technologies' to thegrowers of Auction Platformsunder Rajahmundry RegionalOffice jurisdiction at CTRI,Rajahmundry on 04.03.2014.

Training programmes for SHGs

❑ Ten training programmes wereconducted for SHGs of tribalvillages in Rampachodavaramand Maredumilli mandals ofEast Godavari district, A.P.during January-February,2014.

AWARDS

❑ Dr.V.S.G.R. Naidu, ProgrammeCoordinator, KVK received ‘‘BestPublication Award’ of DWSR,Jabalpur from the Vice-Chancellor, Krishi Vidyapeeth,Jabalpur for his publication'Weed Identification'.

❑ Third prize was awarded to theposter entitled "Present practicesand future strategies of CTRILibrary in Digital Era" by Md.Elias and M. Anuradha atNational Conference on'Agricultural InformationManagement in Digital Era' heldat IGKV, Raipur during 4-5February, 2014.

4 CTRI News

Edited and Compiled by Dr. K. Sarala and Dr. H. Ravisankar; DTP Type-setting by Md. Elias, Photographs by M.N.P. KumarPublished by the Director, CTRI, Rajahmundry - 533 105, Andhra Pradesh, India

Ph: 0883-2449871-4, FAX: 0091-0883-2448341; 2410555, E-mail: ctri-ap@nic.in, Website: www.ctri.org.inPrinted at M/s New Image Graphics, Vijayawada 520 002, Phone 9347553274

VISITORS

✤ ADG (Commercial Crops), ICAR,New Delhi and Dr. G.N. Mishra,Principal Scientist (CommercialCrops) visited CTRI ResearchStation, Dinhata on 01.03.2014.

✤ Dr. Leonardo Caruso and Dr.Marco Prat, Scientists from JapanTobacco International (JTI) visitedCTRI, Rajahmundry on30.01.2014. An Interactionmeeting was arranged withscientists of CTRI, in connectionwith their visit.

✤ A team of 7 farmers from CeylonTobacco Company, Srilanka alongwith Sri N.P.C. De Silva,Additional Director (AgriculturalExtension) and Sri DhammineGunaratn, Executive of CTC,Srilanka visited CTRI,Rajahmundry on 17.03.2014

Students visits

✤ A total of 12 B.Sc. (Ag.) studentsfrom ANGRAU, Rajendranagar,Hyderabad visited CTRI,Rajahmundry on 27.01.2014.

✤ A total of 60 students fromS.K.B.R. College, Amalapuramvisited CTRI, Rajahmundry on28.01.2014.

✤ A total of 65 B. Sc. (Biotechnology)students from Vishnu College ofEngineering, Bhimavaram visitedCTRI, Rajahmundry on30.01.2014.

✤ A total of 60 Polytechnic studentsfrom Maruteru visited CTRI,Rajahmundry on 21.03.2014.

Sri Garaga S.N. Murthy,STA, was awarded theDegree of Master ofPhilosophy in Botany bythe Periyar University,Tamil Nadu.

KRISHI VIGYAN KENDRADuring the period, KVK

organised the following programmesat KVK, Kalavacharla.

❑ District level Seminar on Cashewon 04.01.2014.

❑ Cocoa Training Programme from05.01.2014 to 07.04.2014.

❑ Internship Programme of U.G(Home Science) students from20.01.14 to 08.03.14.

❑ Interface meeting of Research-Extension-Farmers on 'TrainingNeeds for Village Based DairyDevelopment' on 24.01.2014.

❑ State-level Seminar on Cashewduring 7- 8 March, 2014.

❑ Two months duration on-campustraining programme on ‘Coir andYarn Making’ during 01.02.2014to 31.03.2014.

❑ Two months duration off-campustraining programme on 'GarmentMaking' during 05.02.2014 to04.04.2014.

❑ Two months duration off-campustraining on ‘Skill UpgradationTraining Programme' during10.02.2014 to 09.04.2014.

❑ Thirty FLDs on Pulses wereconducted and critical inputswere distributed to farmers.

Exposure Visit

Dr. P.V.V.S. Siva Raoparticipated in 'Dairy Expo' atChikoda of Gujarat State on18.01.2014.

Supply of Vegetable Seedlings toATMA

40,000 hybrid vegetableseedlings of brinjal, chillies andtomato were supplied for needyfarmers in the district.

Radio TalkDr. B. Johnbabu, CTO gave a

talk on Backyard Poultry (in Telugu)on AIR, Visakhapatnam on06.03.2014.

TV ShowProgrammes on Capsicum

cultivation, Vegetable seedlingsproduction in protrays, Crossandercultivation and value addition toCocoa was telecasted on hmTV fortwo weeks, starting from 15.1.2014.

MEETINGS/ VISITS OF DR. T.G.K. MURTHY,DIRECTOR-ACTING, CTRI

● Monitoring visit to On-Farmtrials with pipeline varietyTobios-2 and NLST-4 inNorthern Light Soil areas viz.,Gopalapuram, Buttaigudem,J a n g a r e d d y g u d e m ,Kotanagavaram & Jeelugumillivillages along with ProjectMonitoring and EvaluationTeam of CTRI on 04.01.2014.

● Attended the AnnualConference of Vice-Chancellors of Agril.Universities and Directors ofICAR at Baramati,Maharashtra during 19-20January, 2014.

● Visited AINP(T) Centre, Anand(Gujarat) and reviewed theexperiments/ projects ofAINP(T) and surveyed farmers’fields along with Dr. U.Sreedhar, Member, ProjectMonitoring and EvaluationTeam during 8-9 February,2014.

● Attended final 'XII Plan EFCMeeting of DARE/ICAR' underthe chairmanship of theSecretary, DARE & DG, ICARat Krishi Bhavan, New Delhiduring 21-22 February, 2014.

PERSONALIA

● Sri D. Narasimha Rao,Technician, CTRI RS,Jeelugumilli retired from theCouncil's service on 31.01.2014.

● Sri Ramachandre Gowda,Technical Officer, CTRI RS,Hunsur retired from the Council'sservice on 28.02.2014.

● Smt. Poluri Rathamma, SSS,CTRI RS, Kandukur retired fromthe Council 's service on01.03.2014.

● Sri Md. Abul Miah, SSS, CTRI RS,Dinhata retired from theCouncil's service on 31.03.2014.

M.Phil Awarded

Dr. U. Sreedhar, PrincipalScientist & Head, Crop Protectionwas elected as Fellow ofEntomological Society of India(FESI).

Fellow of ESI