Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a major staple food in the developing world. The manual planting of cassava demands a large quantity of human labour. It is a time-consuming, unpleasant, and arduous job. The labor shortage is one of the major constraints in manual cassava planting. In order to design and develop the cassava planter, the selection of material is important. The study is important for the selection of hopper material for the planter. This is found out by using the friction apparatus designed based on the physical properties (moisture content) of the cassava setts. By considering the physical properties, a test rig was fabricated. The test rig consists of feed trough, angle indicator and screw shaft. The angle of feed trough can be adjusted manually by screw conveyor shaft. Cassava setts were placed on a feed trough. In order to evaluate the co-efficient friction with different moisture contents, two different cassava sett lengths of 65mm and 100mm were selected based on the number of nodes. The samples were placed against the different material surface like mild steel, galvanised steel sheet, aluminium, acrylic sheet. Observation was taken for consecutive four days. It was observed that the co-efficient of

With increasing demand and decreasing supplies of good quality water there is an increasing tendency among the farmers to use saline water for irrigation. Salinity range of ground water used for irrigation in most of the districts of Tamil Nadu is 1 to 8 dS m–1. In this context, the proper use of saline irrigation water, without development of salinity is the most important challenging task and herein lies the value of scientific knowledge on the use of saline water in agriculture. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) or lady’s finger, commonly known as ‘Bhendi’ in India is one of the most important vegetables grown throughout the tropics and warmer parts of the temperate zone. Average productivity for okra is 9.5 t ha-1. Okra is sensitive to salinity; it was selected and used as a test crop to assess the effect of saline water through drip irrigation on Plant growth parameters. Hence a study was formulated to find the effect of irrigation frequency and quantity on growth parameter and yield of okra under drip irrigation with moderate saline ground water. The plant growth components like plant height, inter nodal length, fruit length, total number of fruits, and yield particulars were collected under different treatment combinations of irrigation frequency and irrigation quantity of saline water applied were collected and analyzed. Maximum plant height of 168.7 cm, Internodal length of 15.6 cm, fruit length of 15.7 cm, number of fruits 12.3, and hight yields of 12.07 t/ha was observed under twice a day irrigation with 140 per cent CWN treatment (F4Q3). The lower salt accumulation in the root zone of F4Q3 treatment resulted in higher plant height internodal length, fruit length, number of fruits and highest yield. Drip irrigation twice a day with 140 per cent CWN was found to be the best combination of frequency and quantity of irrigation by maintaining less salt accumulation in the root zone.

In Tamil Nadu, the present day rice production faces serious problems, including depleted or depleting water resources, short supply of labour and unawareness of farm implement usage. The economic magnetism of SRI cultivation is very high, giving farmers a strong motivation to accept water-saving techniques and effective use farm implements as a new norm for paddy production. In this connection, the present problem has considered conduct field survey in Anaivaraisub basin -Ariyalur District, Tamil Nadu, to evaluate the impact of IAMWARM (Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Water Bodies Restoration and Management) Project’s adoption of SRI on agronomic productivity and Farm equipment use efficiency. The adoption of SRI method in paddy cultivation has resulted in increased by 7 to 40 per cent in paddy yield.

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season 2016-17 at Research Farm of Centre of Excellence on Protected cultivation and Precision Farming, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.) to study the effect of phyto-regulator (CPPU) on fruit setting, yield and quality of muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) hybrid- Trisha under poly house condition. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications having eight different treatment combinations, T2: Pollination+ 10 ppm CPPU, T3: Pollination+ 20 ppm CPPU, T4: Pollination+ 30 ppm CPPU, T5: Pollination+ 40 ppm CPPU, T6: Unpollinated+ 10 ppm CPPU, T7: Unpollinated+ 20 ppm CPPU, T8: Unpollinated+ 30 ppm CPPU and T9: Unpollinated+ 40 ppm CPPU with one control, T1 (hand pollination with water spray) along with B.A. (Benzyl adenine) @ 100 ppm in all the treatments except control. Under treatment combinations T5 (pollination + 40 ppm CPPU), recorded maximum fruit set (97.95%). Results showed that the production and number of fruits obtained with CPPU treatments were similar to what is obtained by using hand pollination. A positive relation was also observed between production and CPPU concentration. Significant differences were also observed among the treatment with respect to quality of the fruit.

The experiment was conducted to find out the influence of Integrated Nutrient Management on growth, yield and quality of Gladiolus cv. Novalux during October 2011 to April 2012 at Horticultural Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Yercaud. The experiment consists of 16 treatments with replicated twice and it includes application of organic, inorganic and biofertilisers. The results of the experiment revealed that the number of days taken for spike emergence was earliest in the treatment T12 [75% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] - 92.10 days than the control. The number of days taken for first floret opening (104.20) was earliest in the treatment T12 [75% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant) ] than the control T17 (125.47 d).Significant effect on spike length was noticed by the application of T16 [50% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant)+ PSB (2 g/plant)] - 83.43 cm than the control (71.10 cm).Rachis length (53.60 cm) observed was higher in the application T16 [50% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] than the control (40.63 cm).The highest diameter of the floret (10.3 cm) was noticed with the application of T12 [75% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] than the control (7.18 cm).Lengthier floret (8.56 cm) was also noticed with the application of T12 [75% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)].Spike weight (61.27 g) observed was higher in the application T16 [50% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] than the control (38.13 g).The application of T16 [50% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] produced more number of florets per spike (18.13).Marketable spikes per plant (1.79 No.) and flower yield per meter square (19.50 No.) was noticed higher in T16 [50% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] than the control. The application of T16 [50% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] had significantly influenced on number of florets remain open at a time (4.67) and also on vase life (6.40 d) of flower. From the results obtained in this experiment, it could be concluded that application of T16 [50% RDF + FYM (2 kg/m2) + Vermicompost (300 g/m2) + Azospirillum (2 g/plant) + PSB (2 g/plant)] will significantly improve the growth, yield and quality parameters which ultimately result in increased return in Gladiolus cv. Novalux under Shervaroy condition.