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RPF-I

PROFORMA FOR SUBMISSION OF REASERCH PROJECTS

Part -1: General Information

Project codeInstitute code no.ICAR code no.Name of the Institute andDivisionName and address of theinstitute:Name of division an/sectionLocation of the projectProject Title

Priority areasResearch approach

Specific areaPrevious project/projects inthis specific areas:Year, type offunding, costetc.)Duration

Date of startLikely date of completion

Total cost of the project

Foreign exchange component(if any)Project profile summary

CP 2.3.11

Indian Grassland and Fodder ResearchInstitute, Jhansi -284003Crop Production DivisionCrop Production DivisionForewarning models for major pests ofcowpea and berseemAgricultural MeteorologyApplied Res. "Basic Res. "

Weather based pest & disease modelingNA

Four Years

July2010June 2014

Rs.1330000

N.A.

Weather has a highly domineering impact onincidence of disease or insect on all crops.Recently, the Integrated pest management(IPM) strategies have acquired importanceunder the plant protection umbrella, but theyare found wanting in terms of utilization ofweather information, which can improve theirefficacy by many folds. Weather based forecastmodels can be effectively used for efficientlyplanning control measures well in time. Such

models can reduce the pest control costcompared to prophylactic approach.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp.) is awarm season annual leguminous fodder crop. Itis rich in protein and forms an excellentmixture with maize, sorghum, pearlmillet andteosinte for increasing the flow of milk. Theproductivity of green fodder cowpea isapproximately 25-45 t1ha in India. Pests anddiseases hamper crop establishment, impairforage quality and reduces green fodder andseed yield. The losses in green fodder yieldwere estimated' to be about 30% (Ram andGupta 1989). Important pests in cowpea Rootrot (R. Solani), Stem rot(M phaseolina). Thepathogens are capable of living saprophyticallyon dead organic matters in soils. Disease isfavoured by high RH and warmtemperature(20-35°C). Semilooper( Plusianigrisigna) is identified as important pestattacking the crop during seedling to maturitystage and losses are upto 25% in fodder yield.

The berseem(Trifolium alexandrinum) isimportant fodder crop and the major disease isthe Root rot complex(Rhizoctonia solani,Fusarium semitactum and Tyenchorhynchusvulgaris). The fungus R. solani, the primarycausal agent produces water soaked lesions onrootlets, and rotting may advance into primaryroots which later turns dark brown with ageand forms numerous sclerotia. F. semitactum,common soil saprophytes, enter the hostthrough degenerated roots and moves upthrough Xylem vessels and restricts the solutemovement. The association of nemetode(Tvulguris) - fungus interaction will aggravate.High humidity and dense crop canopy favoursthe disease spreadTherefore, modeling the climate assumes greatsignificance in pest management. The presentproject addresses the understanding theweather-pest interaction by developing aweather based prediction model for cowpeaand berseem crop.

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Key words Prediction model, weather variables, Cowpea,Root rot, stem rot

Part II: Investigator profile

Principal investigatorNameDesignationDivision/sectionLocationInstitute address

Dr. J. B. SinghSenior ScientistCP DivisionCPDivisionIGFRI, Jhansi

Co-investigatorNameDesignationDivision/sectionLocationInstitute address

Mr. K.C.PandeyPrincipal ScientistCI DivisionCI DivisionIGFRI, Jhansi

Co-investigatorNameDesignationDivision/sectionLocationInstitute address

Dr. Pradeep SaxenaPrincipal ScientistCI DivisionCI DivisionIGFRI, Jhansi

Co-investigatorNameDesignationDivision/sectionLocationInstitute address

Mr. Pradeep BehariScientistCP DivisionCP DivisionIGFRI, Jhansi

Part III Technical Details

220 Introduction and objectives:2201 Origin of the project (Problem identification)

Insect pests and pathogens are the principal factors limiting productivity ofcowpea throughout India. Diseases caused by fungi and bacteria are classifiedaccording to plant parts or growth stages most adversely affected. Root rot causedby Rhizoctonia solani and R. Bataticola is a most serious disease of cowpea.

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Under favorable environmental conditions the disease causes total failure of crop.Though the incidence of disease is common all over India but is a severe problemin North, North West and Central India regions. The pests include aphids (Aphiscraccivora), and Semi looper (Plusia nigrisigna Wlk.). The berseem(Trifoliumalexandrinum) is important fodder crop and the major disease is the Root rotcomplex(Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium semitactum and Tyenchorhynchusvulgaris). The association of nemetode(T. vulguris) - fungus interaction willaggravate. High humidity and dense crop canopy favours the disease spread.Pests and diseases hamper crop establishment, impair forage quality and reducesgreen fodder and seed yield. The losses in green fodder yield were estimated to beabout 30% (Ram and Gupta 1989).

In the above context, the importance of weather based forewarning modelof insect pests and diseases can be emphasized by its ability to forecast theirattack well in advance to plan for implementation' of management schedules. Suchmodels can reduce the pest control costs compared to prophylactic approach.Further, they would have greater impact of control measures, as a result ofadvance preparation and better timing of control measures. The developed modelwill find their applicability in operationalization through AgrometeorologolicalAdvosory Services.

2202 Definition of the problem:Pest and disease management under given crop environment is both weathersensitive and weather information sensitive. The present problem refers tounderstanding of disease and weather interaction in context of pest's key period ofactivity which can finally be translated into a forewarning model for a good pestmanagement programme. Any tactic of integrated pest management requiresprediction of pest population change over time and space. For Integrated pestmanagement programme, the pest managers requires mathematical model thatdescribes the relationship between weather and pests development. The presentproblem is focused on the quantification of weather disease interaction andforewarning of pest and disease in cowpea and berseem crop.

2203 Immediate objectives:• To quantify weather-pest & disease interaction• To study disease epidemics• To work out pests forewarning models

2204 Long term objectives:

• To evolve prediction models of pest & diseases for Agro-advisory services(AAS) and need based IPM

2205 Review of status of research in the subject:a. International status:b. National status:

Considerable research has been done on weather-pest relations ineconomically important crop. Most of them correspond only to correlations

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between prevailing meteorological conditions and incidence of pests, ratherthan possessing forecast capabilities. Only few have attained this status. Atnational level, several workers e.g. Chaudhari(l999), Prasad(2002), Murali etal.(2002), Pandey et al.(2003)and Anand kumar(2003) investigated weather &pests interaction in Rice and Coconut crop. Gandhi and Rathi (2003) &Chaudhari(1999) worked for cottonbollworms. In other study Mukherjee andBhowmik(2009) studied incidence of cotton bollworm in relation tometeorological parameters for west Bengal. Venkatesh(2003) established theinfluence of weather variables on shoot fly incidence for rabi sorghum.Padmaja et al.(200S) developed models for forewarning shoot fly eggs anddeadhearts for sorghum. Recently Chakravarty and Gautam(2004) developeda degree day based forewarning system for mustard aphid. Patel et al. (2009)studied the population dynamics of the thripes and showed that GODaccumulations could be used to monitor and predict the thripes population aweek advance. However, pest and disease forewarning models in forage cropshave received little or no attention in India.

Project technical profile:

2211 Organization of work elements (for each objectives and participatinginvestigator giving man-months involved)

Dr. J.B. Singh (12 man months) Conducting field experiment, weather obs.Data analysis, model development, reportwritingInsects observations

Disease observations in cowpea and berseemField management & weather observations

Mr. K.C. Pandey (2 man months)Dr. P. saxena (4 man months)Mr. P. Behari (2 man months)

2212 Methodology

Technical Programme

• Crop: Cowpea (var. BL-2 & UPC-607)

• Disease: Stem & root rot ; Pest: Semi looper

• Crop: Berseem (var. Wardan & Bundel berseem-3)

• Disease: Root rot complex

• Sowing dates: three

• Replications: four

• Design: RBD

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Observations~ Pest parameters

Weekly observation on

(a) Disease• Disease severity (%)• No. of plant affected/mortality (%)

(b) pest

• No. of plants affected (% )

~ Weather parameters

• Rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed,evaporation and bright sunshine

~ Soil

• Soil moisture(0-15, 15-30 ern)

• Soil temperature

2213 Plan of action:

A field experiment will be conducted as per technical programme duringkharifCcowpea) and rabi(berseem) for incidence of major pest and diseases.Observations on disease severity/level will be recorded as envisaged. Quantificationof weather-disease will be worked out and prediction model will be developed usinganalytical tools.

2214 Time schedule of activities (Milestones):

Activities Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Field experiment in kharii & rabi .J .J .J .JObservations on weather elements .J .J .J .JRecording of disease/pest incidence and level .J .J .J .JInteraction between weather variables and .J .J .JpestsDevelopment of pest/disease prediction model .JInterpretation and documentation .J

2215 Annual target for each activity:I year- Activity 1 to 3II year- Activity I to 4III year- Activity I to 4IV year- Activity 1 to 6

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2216 Estimated man months

a. Scientific - 20 monthsb. Technical - 4c. Supporting - nil

221 Proposed research details

2221 Importance of the proposed project (gaps in knowledge/ products/processtechnology) to the institute mandate

Pests and disease prediction model assumes great significance because ofits ability to forecast their attack well in advance to plan for implementation ofmanagement schedules. Such models can reduce the pest control costs comparedto prophylactic approach. Further, they would have greater impact of controlmeasures, as a result of advance preparation and better timing of controlmeasures. The developed model will find their applicability in Integrated Pestmanagement programme(JPM) by operationalizing through AgrometeorologicalAdvisory Services for fodder growing farmers.

2222 Questions attempted to be answered:• Effect of weather variables in pest & disease occurrence• Interaction level between pests and weather• Advance warning of pest and disease incidence on cowpea and berseem

2223 Anticipated process/products/technology/knowledge expected to be evolved bypursuing the project:• Quantification of weather effect on pest & disease occurrence in cowpea and

berseem• Forewarning model for pest & disease for IPM

2224 Practical uti Iity of anticipated results of the project:

• Role of weather in disease development will be established• The advance prediction of pest & disease occurrence will help pest managers

to apply need based IPM strategy• The developed model will be useful to Agro-advisory services (AAS) for pest

management of cowpea and berseem

2225 Expertise available with investigatory group/ institute: Yes

2226 Expertise (if any) to be obtained by investigatory group from out side theinstitute. NO

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Part V: Declaration

This is to certify that

The research work proposed in the scheme/project does not in any way duplicate thework already done or being carried out in the Institute on the subject.

The same project has been/has not been submitted to any other agency for financialsupport (if already submitted identify projects and agency).

The investigator/co investigator has been fully consulted in the developments of theproject and has fully undertaken the responsibility to carry out the program as per thetechnical program.

(J.~')Signature of the Project Investigator

C4~(Pradeep Saxena)Co Investigators

U)~(K.C.Pandey)Co Investigators

~(Preadeep Behari)Co Investigators

Signature and comments of the Director Q" ~\f.-?6 .

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