CROP IMPROVEMENT

• At present about 8900 accessions representing 89 countries are available in gene bank at NRCG of which 5000 accessions have been characterized for more than 50 traits of agro-morphological importance.

• About 750 promising accessions identified have been used in hybridization at NRCG and in AICRP Groundnut Centres.

• 90 Accessions belonging to 22 wild Arachis species are also being maintained in the field gene bank for characterization and further utilization.

• The segregating materials developed at NRCG were distributed among AICRP Groundnut centres and many high yielding varieties namely: HNG 10, GG 5, GG 7, AK 159 etc.  were released from the basic materials supplied.

• A large number of germplasm collections were screened for the traits like SLA, TE, RWC and HI that are closely linked with high WUE. 

• Inheritance and linkage of 30 qualitative traits in cultivated groundnut have been determined.

• So far more than 600 interspecific derivatives have been produced. Partially fertile interspecific derivatives have been isolated from the cross between cv. Co 1 x A. chacoense. Autotetraploids of A. duranensis, Arachis sp. GK 30008 and A. otavioi have been produced.

• High frequency in vitro regeneration methods for groundnut through induction of multiple shoots and somatic embryogenesis (both primary and secondary) and embryo rescue techniques have been developed to overcome interspecific incompatibilities.

• Most of the cultivars of groundnut have been screened for their DNA polymorphism by AFLP and SSR techniques

• All the wild Arachis germplasm available at the center were screened for their DNA polymorphism using AFLP

• An Agrobacterium based genetic transformation protocol for groundnut was developed and optimized
  

CROP PRODUCTION              

• Introduced paired-row planting technique, in rain-fed production system which resulted in enhanced pod yield and now become popular in Saurashtra. 

• Intercropping groundnut with, sunflower, pigeon pea and bajra has been recommended. Criss-cross planting of groundnut has been found to give 14% higher yield over traditional parallel-rows planting during Rabi/Summer.

• Factors limiting groundnut production identified

• Fertilizer has been identified as single most important factor limiting groundnut productivity during rainy season while variety, plant density, and plant protection also found to play a critical role.                                                           
  
   

BASIC SCIENCES                                                                 

• Ideotypes with desirable morphological, phenological and physiological attributes have been proposed for Spanish and Virginia forms.

• Critical stages at which soil moisture deficit is detrimental to pod yield have been identified. Cultivars GG 2, NCAc 17090, TAG 24, and Girnar 1 have been found to be tolerant of soil moisture deficit stress. Under deficit soil moisture condition, SLA of groundnut genotypes has found to be negatively and significantly related with their carbon isotope discrimination abilities (C13/C12 ratio) vis-a-vis water use efficiency (WUE).

• Suitable seed drying (NRCG method) and storage methods have been developed to prevent rapid loss of seed viability in rabi/summer groundnut. This technology is very useful to the small groundnut farmers in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country.

• Spray of aqueous mixture of 0.5 per cent FeSO4 + 0.02 per cent citric acid @ 500 litres per hectare, at 30, 40, 60 and 75 days after emergence, reduced iron chlorosis considerably. Application of elemental sulfur @ 20 kg/ha in furrow at the time of sowing increased the pod yield by 25 per cent over control.

• Two strains of Bradyrhizobium, IGR 6 and IGR 40, identified at this Centre, increased the pod yield of bunch groundnut by 9-18 per cent and 6-14 per cent, respectively.  More efficient and competitive strains of groundnut rhizobia viz., NRCG4 and NRCG9 have been identified. Three PGPR isolates viz. PGPR 1, PGPR 2, and PGPR 4 (all fluorescent pseudomonads) have been found to increase yield by 7-10% in multi-location testing and have been recommended for rain-fed groundnut cultivation. Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms viz., Bacillus polymyxa and Pseudomonas striata have been recommended for rain-fed groundnut cultivation as seed treatment.

• Economically viable technologies have been developed for production of cellulase enzyme from groundnut shell and amylases from groundnut cake by microbial fermentation.              
  

CROP PROTECTION                                                                

• Early planting, plant spacing of 45cm X 10 cm, intercropping of groundnut with pearl-millet and pigeon pea (1:3), foliar spray of aqueous neem leaf and use of biocontrol agents, Penicillium islandicum, Verticillium lecanii and Trichoderma species have been found useful in managing major foliar fungal diseases.

• An IDM module for major foliar fungal diseases during rainy season with CBR of 1:3.6 has been developed.

• Several genotypes including released varieties, germplasm lines, bold-seeded genotypes, breeding lines and wild Arachis species have been screened for resistance to seed colonization and less aflatoxin production by two virulent isolates (NRPL 3000 and V 3734/10) of Aspergillus flavus under artificially inoculated conditions.

• An effective aflatoxin contamination prevention technology has bee developed

• An efficient pheromone trap for groundnut leaf-miner has been developed for the first time in collaboration with IICT, Hyderabad.

• A holistic integrated pest management (IPM) has been developed to manage insect-pests, disease and weeds effectively. The higher CBR of 1:3.1 has been realized with net return of Rs. 17810/ha in IPM package.                       
  

       EXTENSION AND ECONOMICS                                                  
       Technologies Transfer

• The technologies developed by the centre have been directly transferred to the farmers of several villages of Junagadh under the Technology Assessment and Refinement through Institute Village Linkage Programme (TAR-IVLP) of the ICAR.

         Saleable technology identified