Methods Used for Harvesting and Delaying Ripening

Fruit ripening process involve the action of a group of chemical substances produced by plant itself, plant hormone. Chemist have synthesized compounds which function as the natural plant hormones do and have achieved some success in controlling the vital process of ripening of fruits and vegetables.

The chemicals may be broadly classified into those that: i) hasten and those that ii) Delay ripening.

They include all categories of plant hormones, absorbents waxes and other substances.

Except C2H4 action of each is generally indirect.

I) Chemicals that Hasten Ripening (Accelerate Ripening):

1) Ethylene and Ethylene Releasing Compounds:

A more important break through in C2H4 effects and physiology is the chemical synthesis of Ethephon because C2H4 is released from this compound. Thus all biological effects attribute to C2H4 gas are duplicated by aqueous solution of ethephon.

2,4 – Chlorophenythio triethyl amine hydrochloride (CEPTA) are also a ethylene releasing early in the season to obtain marketable fruit with premium price. In mangoes where in Anthracnose is a problem; ethephon treatment shortened the ripening period, giving no time for the development of Anthracnose in some citrus hastening chlorophyll degradation.

2) Abscisin:

Application of Abscisin accelerates senescence in detached fruits and leaves. ABA treatment of oranges resulted in accelerated breakdown of chlorophyll and increased synthesis of cartoenoids. Ripening of banana slice was also accelerated by ABA ( Vendrell 1970).

3) Ascorbic Acid and Hydroxyethyl Hydrozine (BOH):       

Ascorbic acid, Cu-EDTA ( Cupric ethylene diamine tetracetate) and BOH were found to include C2H4 formation , when sprayed before harvest.

4) Acetylene and Calcium Carbide:

Calcium carbide ( CaC2) treatment to enerate aletylene is also used to, hasten fruit ripening in banana and citrus.

Gas chromatographic analysis of the smoke from any burning material such as leaves, twigh or straw , showed that the active ingredients were C2H4 and acetylene is needed to obtain the same rate of Degreening by C2H4.

5) Alcohol:

It is reported that among the several alcohols, such as Ethanol, Hexanol, Octanol, Heptanol etc, used in dip treatment of green tomatoes prior to ripening. Hexanol immersion seemed to accelerate the ripening of the tomato fruit.

6) Fatty Acids:

Olerification has been known as a practise to hasten fig fruit maturation. Since the 3 rd century BC studies were conducted to elucidate the physiological mechanism of Olerification and applied various kinds of oils and related chemicals to the eye of fig fruit in a day or two, fruits treated with several vegetable oil began to increase in size reaching full colour and maturity within few days. By fatty acid oxidation in the cells of fruits acetaldehyde or C2H4 are derived which are volatile substance and hence induces enzymatic activities for early ripening.

II) Chemicals that Delay in Ripening:

1. Kinins and Kinetins:

 These chemicals were shown to delay chlorophyll degradation of leafy vegetables, spinach peppers, beans, cucumber and others. The growth effect is a retardation of yellowing by maintaining high protein level on the applied tissue.

2. Gibberellins:

Post harvest treatment of GA markedly retards ripening of tomatoes, guava and banana then effect on ripening was indicated by lowered respiratory rate retarded climacteric and delayed colour change.

Pre-harvest sprays of GA were shown by Kitagawa to have a striking effect in decreasing the rate of development, maturation ripening of Kaki fruits and lemons and navel organs because fruit will remain on the tree beyond normal maturity. Some of the effects feel firmness delayed accumulation of cartoenoids on ‘Navala orange’ higher TSS and Ascorbic acid in lemons. GA probably increase peroxidise and catalase activities.

3. Some Auxins (CIPA and NOA) :

Pre-harvest foliar application of CIPA at 25 ppm and NOA at 25 ppm delayed the physio-chemical deterioration of ‘Coorg’ mandarins in storage.

The improved marketable condition of treated fruits after storage was due to reduced weights loss and retention of Vitamin-C.

4. Growth Retardants ( MH and CCC):

MH: The effect of MH on the ripening process varies with different type of fruit and may depend on the application time and amount of chemical absorbed. Harvested mangoes dipped in 1000 and 2000 ppm, MH showed delayed ripening. Many studies have been reported on the inhibitory action of MH in storage sprouting of onions, radish, sugar beet, turnips, carrot and potatoes.

CCC: Shelf life lettuce was duffled and deterioration in quality of broccoli heads and Aspragous spare was retarded by immersion of the cut stem bases of dipping the vegetables in solution of CCC.

5. Metabolic Inhibitors:

Cycloheximide and Actimomycin –D:

Flesh softening, chlorophyll degradation and C2H4 synthesis were severely inhibited by cylocheximids treatment. When Cycloheximide was applied to fruits that had begun to ripen, ripening proceeded at a reduced rate, similar effects on ripening were also observed on pre-climacteric fruit treated with Actinomycin-D, C2H4, did not reverse the complete inhibition of ripening imposed by Actinomycin-D.     

 6. Vitamin-K:

Vitamin K and Vitamin K3 has fun demonstration to inhibit ripening in banana at temperature as high as 140F.

7. Maleic Acid:

Maleic Acid in any acetate retarded to the ripening of Jarnaica, Banana, Pineapples, Citrus, and others but it is of transient effect.

8. Ethylene Oxide:

Mangoes treated with ethylene oxide also show a definite delay in ripening. Ethylene oxide may be an endogenous metabolic antagonist of C2H4.

9. Na-DHA (Sodium Dehydro Acetic Acid) :

In strawberry, it is found to delay the ripening and reduced rate of respiration.

10: Carbon Monoxide:

In mushroom used to extend storage life four fold.

11. Ethylene Absorbents:

Waxing, low O2, High CO2, and ripening inhibitors are sometimes combined to prolong storage life. Though endogenous C2H4 is always a problem. Banana is packed in film bag containing KmnO4 ( to absorb C2H4). A commercial preparation of this absorbent called “Purafil”. Alkaline KMnO4 on a silicate barrier proved effective in the complete absorption of C2H4 from Bananas held in sealed Polythene bags.

Respiration and Transpiration in Relation to Harvesting, Packing, Transportation and Storage

Most of the physio-chemical changes occurring in harvested fruits are related to oxidative metabolism including respiration. Bio- physiological disorders storage life, maturity commodity handling and many post harvest treatment, because of the vast scope of respiration, the rate of respiration is good index. Respiration is usually associated with a short storage life deteriorating in quality and in good value.
 
Naturally, as the fruit increase in size the total amounts of CO2 emitted by the fruit increase also, but as the fruit becomes bulky the respiration rate decreases continuously for climacteric fruits, the rate is minimum at maturity and remains rather constant, even other harvest non-climacteric fruits ripen on the tree. If they are removed sooner the rate of respiration slowly, dwindles. Small potatoes will have a higher respiration rate then larger one. As in transpiration surface phenomenon may be invoked. Small sized tissues have a larger surface area exposed to the atmosphere hence more oxygene can diffuse in.

Between 32 and 95 0F the respiration rate of 2 to 2.5 for every 18 0F in temperature, suggesting that both biological and chemical process are effected, Application of C2 H4 significantly affects the time scale required to reach the climacteric peace and immediate rise in respiration occurs after C2H4 application. Rate of respiration of carrots and antichoke, increases with an increasing supply of oxygene

Proper Carbon dioxide concentration prolongs the storage life of fruit and vegetable due to respiratory inhibitors. The effect o G.R vary with different tissue and depend on the time of application and the absorbed by the plant Sapota fruits have a higher respiration rate with a pre-harvest spray of 1000ppm MH.

Respiration Drift:

Many tropical fruits and vegetables exhibit a rapid increase in respiration during ripening. These are conventionally called climacteric fruits and vegetables. A rapid increase in respiration during ripening fruits showing no such respiratory pattern is non climacteric. The world “Climacteric” was coined by kind and West (1925). However, many of the so called non climacteric fruits show a rise in respiration rate with a con-comitontrise in C2 H4 Production.  

Rhodes (1970) postulated that the respiratory drift typical of non climacteric fruits might be displayed at a more appropriate physiological age of under more appropriate storage condition.

Another important criterion for distinguishing a climacteric fruit from a non-climacteric fruit on is the response to C2H4 application. A non climacteric fruit will react to C2H4 treatment at any stage of its pre-harvest of post harvest life. Whereas, a climacteric fruit will exhibit a respiratory response only if the C2H4 is applied during pre-climacteric stage and becomes insensitive to C2H4 treatment after the onset of the climacteric rise.

Iwata et al. (1969) proposed three types of respiratory pattern of harvested fruits. These are:

a. The Gradual Decrease Type:

In this type the respiratory rate gradually decrease through ripening process. E.g. Citrus fruit.

b. The Temporary Rise Type:

In this type the respiratory rate increase temporarily and full ripeness occurs after peak respiration of tomato, banana, mango, avocado, etc.

c. The Late Peak Type:

In this type the maximum rate of respiration is shown from full ripe to over ripe stage of Japanese persimmon, Strawberry, Peach, etc.

Respiration:

Respiration is a process wherein, stored food material is broken down by oxidation releasing CO2, H2O and energy in from of heat.

Fruits can be climacteric or non-climacteric depending upon the presence or absence of occurrence of peak in CO2 production during ripening. The rate of respiration and intensity of respiration are important factors for storage. By decreasing this two storage life can be enhanced.

Transpiration:

Transpiration is the loss of moisture from the fruit surface resulting in shriveling of the produce.

Factors Affecting Respiration and Transpiration:

Various factors affect these two process i.e Respiration and Transpiration
i) Temperature
ii) Humidity
iii) Nature of skin
iv) Maturity
v) Surface area of fruits/ vegetables
vi) Nature of surface coating
vii) Mechanical damage.

In respiratory metabolic pathway three phases occurs:

Breakdown of polysaccharides into simple sugars. Oxidation to surpass to pyruvic acid. Aerobic transformation of pyruvates and other organic acids into CO2 H2O and energy. Proteins and fats also serve as substrates in this breakdown process. During this process different kinds of products are formed.

R.Q: It is the ratio of CO2 released and O2 intake. It is useful to determine the nature of the substance used in respiration completing the respiratory reactions indicates degree of aerobic acid and anaerobic process.

R.Q: It is an average value of substrate respiratory contribution. It is relative contents of C2H and O2. Generally, if RQ is 1 surpars are metabolized.

Silviculture

Silviculture is an important subject of forestry. It is tie forestry as Agronomy in to agriculture, in that it is concerned with the technology of crop production. It has been defined in a number of ways. Following are the accepted definitions of silviculture.

1. Silviculture is that branch of forestry which deals with the establishment, development, care and reproduction of stands of timber. By Tourney and Karstien

2. Silviculture is the art and science of cultivating forest crops. By Indian Forest and forest products Teminology (1957)

3. Generally, The science and art of cultivating (e.g. growing and tending) of forest crops, based on a knowledge of silvios. More particularly, the theory and practice of establishment, composition, constitution and growth of forests. By Society of American Foresters (1983)

4. Silviculture refers to certain aspects of theory and practice of raising forest crops, methods of raising tree crops, their growth and after care up to the time of final harvesting. By Rao (1987)

In simple words, Silviculture is the growing and tending stands of trees. Silva is the Latin word for forest and culture for cultivation. Therefore, without exaggeration, Silviculture is the Real art of forest.

Silviculture is very important and essential when human beings wish to manage the forests.

a. To accelerate the wildlife, timber and forage production.

b. To increase the Recreation values and Watershed values.

Original Article Here

Wheat sowing in sugarcane field after onion harvest(triple cropping)

Agriculture and algorithms

IN INDIA, when monsoons are delayed and crops fail as a result, farmers often don’t know how to pay back the debts they have taken on to purchase seeds. More than 15,000 commit suicide every year. These fates are a shocking reminder of a global problem caused by global warming. Farming has always been a gamble, but the growing number of “unusual weather events”, as experts call them, make seeding and harvesting an even riskier business.

The Climate Corporation, a start-up based in Silicon Valley, wants to reverse the trend and reduce farmers’ financial risks—by crossing agriculture with the IT industry’s latest trend: big data. The firm is collecting all kinds of information—including on weather patterns, climate trends and soil characteristics—and analyses the data down to an individual field. These insights are then used to offer farmers tailored insurance policies against the damage from extreme weather events.

Premiums for the company’s “Total Weather Insurance” (TWI) plans depend on crop and location. On average, they cost arabout $30 an acre annually, some 3% of the land’s revenue. In case of extreme weather at the wrong time of the season, The Climate Corporation pays out up to $300 per acre (the TWI is designed to complement federal crop insurance programmes in America, which provide only limited cover). In contrast to existing government schemes, farmers don’t have to prove actual losses. Payouts are triggered automatically without paperwork when the firm’s data show that writing a check is justified.

“We are not predicting the weather. We estimate the likelihood of unusual weather events and their potential impact on every single field in the US within the next two years”, explains David Friedberg, the firm’s founder and chief executive. To do this, it has to be good at both analysing huge amounts of data and calculating risk. To help with the number crunching, Mr Friedberg, an astrophysicist who once worked for Google, has hired a team of “quants”, or “quantitative analysts”, from the financial industry.

Yet marketing is an equally big challenge for the six-year-old company. Farmers are least likely to be early adopters, especially when it comes to a new product that lives in a computing cloud, admits Mr Friedberg. The Climate Corporation has a website where customers can buy policies online. But it had to learn that selling its insurance to farmers in remote areas is best done through a network of agents.

As most other start-up bosses, Mr Friedberg does not reveal sales figures, saying only that “many thousands of customers have bought the product”. But venture capitalists seem to like the numbers they have seen—which makes The Climate Corporation yet another example of VCs moving away from social media start-ups and warming up to more sustainable business-to-business ventures, says Niko Waesche, the author of a book on data-driven business models. Since the company was founded in 2006 (then named “Weather Bill”), Mr Friedberg and his partner Siraj Khaliq managed to collect a total of $110m from such noted VC firms as the Google Ventures, Atomico, Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures.

So far, The Climate Corporation offers its policies only in America. But if its combination of agriculture and algorithms succeeds there, it may go global. Australia, Canada and Brazil are next on the list. Here’s hoping that insurance policies based on clever analytics will one day also protect Indian farmers against the vagaries of the weather.

Original Article Here

Farmers to harvest tech benefits under NABARD-IMD project

PUNE: About 50,000 farmers in ten districts of Maharashtra are expected to benefit from a pilot project which will disseminate weather-related inputs using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve land productivity and boost crop output. 

It is being launched jointly by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) and India Meteorological Department (IMD), and is to be financed under the Farmers' Technology Transfer Fund (FTTF). 

The project aims at creating awareness, increasing farmers' knowhow and capacity building for enhanced income through adoption of new technologies, reduction of costs, getting better price for produce and securing technical inputs for crop management, NABARD spokesman Subodh Abhyankar said. 

In addition to Pune, the other districts to be covered under the scheme, to be launched on September 3, include Ahmednagar, Washim, Bhandara, Amravati, Jalna, Gadchiroli, Sindhudurg and Hingoli. 

"Nearly 50,000 farmers from 500 farmers' clubs promoted by NABARD will be provided weather-related information and crop advisories by way of free SMSes in the pilot initiative," he said. 

The three-year plan envisages using ICT tools for providing need-based agro-meteorological advisory services to ryots in the context of local farming and culture, and ensure a two-way communication between agriculture experts and grassroots level communities, Abhyankar maintained. 

Under the project, which will mainly focus on ICT initiative for improving productivity of land and production of crop to augment income of farmers, the IMD's Agri-Met field units will provide weather and crop-related advisories right from sowing to harvesting operations with technical expertise. 

"Weather and climate are some of the biggest risk factors impacting farm performance and management. Extreme weather and climate events such as severe droughts, floods or temperatures often lead to decline in agricultural production, particularly in arid and semi-arid zones," Abhyankar said. 

These factors contribute to the vulnerability of individual farmers and rural communities and demand development and implementation of appropriate methods that will help farmers to enhance their adaptive capacity with improved planning and better management decisions, he said. 

In this backdrop, the NABARD-IMD joint venture acquires much significance, Abhyankar noted. 

original article here

Agriculture Ministry proposes Rs 170/qtl hike in paddy MSP

NEW DELHI: In view of rising farm input costs, the Agriculture Ministry has proposed a Rs 170 per quintal increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy at Rs 1,250 per quintal for the 2012-13 crop year (July-June).

According to sources, the ministry has circulated a Cabinet note among various ministries recommending MSP of Rs 1,250 per quintal for common variety paddy and Rs 1,280 per quintal for 'A' grade variety of paddy for 2012-13 crop year.

For the 2011-12 crop year, paddy MSP of common and 'A' grade varieties were fixed at Rs 1080 per quintal and Rs 1110 per quintal, respectively.

Paddy is grown in both Kharif and Rabi season. The Kharif sowing begins with the start of the south west monsoon in June and harvest starts from October.

Sources said the Agriculture Ministry's proposal on support price of Kharif crops for 2012-13 crop year are in line with recommendations made by the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices ( CACP).

Besides paddy, the ministry has recommended Rs 800-1,000 per quintal increase in support price of pulses for 2012-13. It has suggested Rs 4,500 per quintal for moong, Rs 4,300 per quintal for urad and Rs 4,000 per quintal for tur this year.

Last year, support price of moong, urad and tur stood at Rs 3,500 a quintal, Rs 3,300 a quintal and Rs 3,200 a quintal, respectively.

"Pulses require special attention as they are in short supply. The substantial increase in MSP has been suggested to raise domestic production and reduce imports," sources said.

To boost oilseeds production, the ministry has proposed up to 37 per cent hike in MSP. It has suggested support price of Rs 3,700 per quintal each for groundnut and sunflower seed and Rs 2,200 per quintal for soyabean for 2012-13.

In 2011-12, MSP of groundnut and sunflower seed was fixed at Rs 2,700-2,800 per quintal. Whereas soyabean MSP was Rs 1,650 per quintal.

With regard to cotton, the ministry has recommended Rs 3,600-3,900 per quintal for 2012-13, as against Rs 2,800-3,300 per quintal last year.

With substantial increase in support price, the Agriculture Ministry aims to achieve a new record in foodgrains production. In 2011-12 crop year, the country is estimated to have harvested bumper 252.56 million tonnes of foodgrains.

Original Article Here

Crops unsafe after 2011 disaster

AP Photo

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Last year’s crop sits in storage, deemed unsafe to eat, but Toraaki Ogata is back at his rice paddies, driving his tractor trailing neat rows of seedlings. He’s living up to his family’s proud, six-generation history of rice farming, and praying that this time his harvest will not have too much radiation to sell.

That conflict is shared by several thousand farmers in more than 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of Fukushima, where some of last year’s harvest exceeded government safety standards because of radiation released when the March 2011 tsunami set off the world’s second-worst nuclear accident.

For their rice to be sold, it will have to be tested — every grain of it.

“All I can do is pray there will be no radiation,” Ogata, 58, said last week, wiping his sweat during a break in his 1.5-hectare paddy 60 kilometers (35 miles) from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. “It’s not our fault at all, but the land of our ancestors has been defiled.”

Rice farming is almost sacred in rural Japan, and the government protects farmers with tight restrictions on imports. Many farmers are too close to the nuclear disaster to return to the fields, but others have gotten the go-ahead, even with the risk their harvests may end up being too radiated to ship.

Hopes are high in this major agricultural northeastern prefecture (state) that farmers will meet the unprecedented challenge of producing safe-to-eat rice in contaminated soil.

Following orders from the government, they have sprinkled zeolite, a pebble-like material that traps radioactive cesium, and added fertilizer with potassium to help block radiation absorption. That work is part of the 100 billion yen ($1.3 billion) Tokyo has allocated for decontamination efforts this year.

There had been no time for that last year. Tens of thousands of bags of rice from that harvest were too radiated to be sold. The government bought those crops, which sit in giant mounds in storage.

Rice planting has been banned in the most contaminated areas, but the government allowed it at some farms in areas that produced contaminated rice last year, including Ogata’s. After the October harvest, their rice will be run through special machines that can detect the tiniest speck of radiation.

Ogata is filled with uncertainty. Though the government recently set up a system to buy and destroy his crop from last year, he has no assurances that it will do so again if this year’s rice can’t be eaten.

He also doesn’t know which experts to believe. Scientists often come to Fukushima to discuss radiation at neighborhood meetings, but some say there will be no health effects at all, while others say tens of thousands may get sick.

Radiation is expected to decline year by year. But Ogata and other farmers acknowledge they are in for a long haul.

Japan has a safety limit of radiation exposure at 1 millisievert per year, although some areas in Fukushima measure higher at about 20 millisieverts. A 20-kilometer (12-mile) no-go zone was set around the nuclear plant, displacing some 100,000 people.

Right next to the no-go zone, in Minami Soma, 135 farms have been granted special permission to plant rice as an experiment but on the condition that all rice, regardless of radiation levels, will be destroyed.

“We couldn’t even plant last year. We are doing everything we can as a whole town so we will be growing rice next year,” said Yukio Nishi, a Minami Soma agricultural cooperative official.

The government toughened its restrictions on radiation in rice and other food from April to 100 becquerels a kilogram (2 pounds) from the emergency 500 becquerels set in March last year. The limits are lower for milk, baby food and drinking water.

Medical experts say risks from low-dose radiation can’t be ruled out, but it may be impossible to prove whether a person got cancer from radiation or something else.

Exposure is cumulative and differs among individuals, depending on size and age, diet and habits. Certain foods, such as mushrooms and bamboo shoots, tend to be high in radiation. And children are more susceptible to radiation-related sicknesses.

“The balance that the government is now trying to strike is between allowing people to stay in the Fukushima area and recover their lives, and keeping the rest of Japan happy about buying food,” said Edward Lazo, who advises Fukushima as a radiation expert at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency. “And that’s a really difficult job.”

Christopher Clement, an expert at the International Commission on Radiological Protection, a global nonprofit authority on radiation health, says the food standards in Fukushima are safe. They are lower than the maximums set in Europe after Chernobyl.

Still, people across Japan — and even in Fukushima — are shunning food grown here, though Takeshi Takagi, a manager at the York Benimaru supermarket chain, said customers are gradually returning to locally grown produce.

York Benimaru has clearly labeled shelves for Fukushima-grown food, and bright banners encouraging shoppers to support local farmers. But some pass right by.

“We have our rice shipped from outside Fukushima,” said Tomohiko Hashimoto, a 30-year-old house-husband, strolling his infant son through the aisles. “We’re careful about what the mother eats, too. She is breastfeeding.”

Last year’s sales of Fukushima vegetables and fruit on the Tokyo wholesale market were 20 percent lower than the 2010 total, according to Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market data. Masataka Kase, spokesman for Tokyo Seika Co., a major wholesaler, said the drop came from crop damage from the disaster, shipment bans for radiation and consumer fears about Fukushima.

Ogata won’t need to sell his rice to skeptics. He plans to sell some of his 10,000 kilograms (22,000 pounds) of rice direct to customers he has cultivated for years, families who live in the area. The rest he will sell to a local farming cooperative that distributes to corporate buyers, such as restaurants, that are more willing to buy Fukushima rice.

A handful of farmers are giving up on growing rice. Some are switching to flowers, which don’t require radiation checks. Others are suing Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates Fukushima Dai-ichi, for damages.

Fukushima farmer Shoichi Watanabe is angry he even has to worry about radiation.

“See how peaceful this place is,” he said, pointing to paddies filled with gently croaking frogs. “I want to say at the top of my lungs that we would not be going through all this suffering — if only Tokyo Electric had done its job right.”

Original Article Here