Browsing by Author "Shiba Zahoor"
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ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of Apple based Agroforestry System in Benhama,Ganderbal(SKUAST-K, 2017) Shiba Zahoor; Dutt, VaishnuThe present investigation entitled “Evaluation of Apple based Agroforestry System in Benhama,Ganderbal” was carried out at farmer’s orchard near Faculty of Forestry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Kashmir, Benhama, Ganderbal during the year 2016 and 2017. The study was undertaken with the tripartite objectives (a) to study the growth and yield of different components in apple based agroforestry system (b) to study the carbon stock of agroforestry system and (c) to study the relative economics of the system. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with five replications comprising seven treatments. Four intercrops namely, rajmash, french bean, green gram and oats were intercropped with 11 year old orchard of apple planted at spacing of 4 x 4 m. The influence of different distances from tree base on growth and yield parameters of pulses and oats was studied. The seeds of pulses (rajmash, french bean and green gram) and oats were sown in the month of May and November respectively. The various agroforestry treatments were found to have a significant effect on the growth and yield parameters of pulses and oats. Growth and yield parameters like number of primary branches, number of pods per plant, pod length, number of seeds per pod, height of tillers, average number of tillers/m2, grain yield and total biomass in pulses and oats were less when these crops were grown in combination with apple trees in comparison to sole cropping. Results revealed that maximum values for number of primary branches (5.63), number of pods per plant (17.32), pod length (13.92 cm), number of seeds per pod (8.06), height of tillers (113.08 cm), average number of tillers/m2 (218.13) were recorded under sole cropping while as lowest values for aforementioned parameters were observed under agroforestry system. Out of the four intercrops tried french bean and oats performed better. In the present study, the maximum values for yield in pulses was registered under control french bean & oats (1.53 t ha-1) and minimum under apple + green gram & oats (0.65 t ha-1). In case of oats, maximum yield was recorded under control rajmash & oats (1.75 t ha-1) and minimum under apple + french bean & oats (1.56 t ha-1).The distance from the tree base had a significant impact on the growth and yield of intercrops; the reduction in growth and yield parameters was more up to 1 m than 1-2 m away from trees. The better growth and yield parameters of apple were observed in agroforestry system than in control (only apple). Results revealed that the highest fruit yield (15.38 t ha-1) was recorded under apple + rajmash & oats whereas minimum (12.97 t ha-1) was observed under control (only apple). Most of the physico- chemical characteristics of soil (organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and soil moisture) were improved when the crops were grown under agroforestry system as compared to open area. The presence of trees resulted in reduced light transmission to the plants nearer to tree rows. In the present study, maximum ecosystem carbon was stored in the treatment involving the tree crop combination of apple + rajmash & oats (64.18 t ha-1) and apple + green gram & oats (64.02 t ha-1). The findings suggest that combination of pulses and oats with fruit tree species ensures higher profit to the farme₹ The total income from diversified system (pulses & oats + apple) was substantially higher than mono cropping of pulses and oats. In the present study, the total returns was found to be highest (₹ 4,83,052 ha-1) under apple + rajmash & oats) and the lowest (₹78,243 ha-1) under control (green gram & oats). On the basis of economic returns, the different pulses and oats sequences can be categorized as Apple + rajmash & oats ˃ Apple + green gram & oats ˃ Apple + french bean & oats. It is suggested that the cultivation of pulses & oats in apple based agroforestry system may be recommended for better economic returns.ThesisItem Open Access Soil erosion vulnerability assessment in district Ganderbal using GIS modeling approach(SKUAST Kashmir, 2021) Shiba Zahoor; Wani, Dr. Akhlaq AminSoil erosion has become a worldwide concern for sustainable livelihood and is being perceived as a significant issue throughout the world. In order, to keep up the current degree of soil productivity and to fulfill the needs of the future, expanding accentuation is being laid on the characterization of the soils, accurate mapping and interpretation of soil for multifarious land use.The development of remote sensing and GIS techniques has become significant tools particularly while surveying erosion at larger scales. The assessment of soil erosion being a difficult assignment has been embraced through the development of various models dependent on a comprehension of the landscape processes and physical laws like runoff and soil formation happening in the natural environment. An enormous number of soil erosion models that have been developed over time, among which RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) model is most widely accepted empirical model that can be effortlessly integrated with GIS. The present investigation entitled, “Soil erosion vulnerability assessment in district Ganderbal using GIS modeling approach” was carried out during the year 2018-2020. The study was undertaken with tripartite objectives a) to generate land use/land cover map (LULC) of district Ganderbal b) to assess different factors influencing soil erosion c) to generate soil erodibility map using erodibility modeling approach. The study area was delineated via visual image interpretation technique into 10 Landuse/Landcover classes viz. forest, forest scrub, grassland, snow, wasteland, agriculture, TOF, built-up, water body and wetland. LULC map (2018) revealed that among all the LULC classes, forest occupied maximum area of the map i.e. 33.96% while as wetland with an area of 1.35% occupied minimum portion of the map. The LULC map was also validated using ground truth points. The overall classification accuracy of LULC map came out to be 90.14% with overall kappa coefficient of 0.8897. The entire Himalayan locale is afflicted with a serious issue of soil erosion. In this region, accelerated erosion has happened as aftereffect of escalated deforestation, large scale road construction, mining and cultivation on steep slants. Since intricate and comprehensive estimate of soil erosion is not available in Kashmir Himalayan region, the current study was an attempt to assess various soil erosive factors (R,K, LS, C and P) and generate soil loss map and soil erosion vulnerability map of district Ganderbal using GIS based soil erosion model (RUSLE model). The R factor for the study area varied around 361.75 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 yr-1whereas K factor ranged between 0.024 t ha h ha-1 MJ-1 mm-1to 0.051 t ha h ha-1 MJ-1 mm-1. Three major soil groups were observed in the study area i.e. Be79-2a (Eutric Cambisol, medium textured, level to gentle undulating), GL(Glacier) and I-B-U (Lithosols, Cambisol and Rankers) with I-B-U soil group as dominant soil type. The spatial distribution of LS factor map showed that LS valueswent from 0 to 585.372 whereas C and P factor values for different LULC classes ranged from 0 to 1. The annual soil loss rate in the present study was found to differ somewhere in the range of (0 to 6098.44) t ha-1 yr-1. According to generated soil erodibility map five soil vulnerability classes viz.less vulnerable, moderately vulnerable, highly vulnerable, extremely vulnerable and severely vulnerable with annual soil loss of (0-30) t ha-1 yr-1, (30-60) t ha-1 yr-1, (60-90) t ha-1 yr-1, (90-120) t ha-1 yr-1and (120-6100) t ha-1 yr-1respectively were present in the area.The maximum area (137165.30 ha) of districts total area (146295.142 ha) was under less vulnerable class and minimum area (259.92 ha) under severely vulnerable category with 3054.11 ha, 2891.66 ha, 2924.15 ha under moderately vulnerable, highly vulnerable and extremely vulnerable class respectively. The mean soil loss under less vulnerable, moderately vulnerable, highly vulnerable, extremely vulnerable and severely vulnerable categories was found to be 15 t ha-1, 45 t ha-1, 75 t ha-1, 105 t ha-1 and 810 t ha-1 whereas total soil loss under the aforementioned categories was found to be around 2057479.50 t, 137434.98 t, 216874.35 t, 307035.60 t and 210538.70 t respectively. According to soil erosion vulnerability classes, it was observed that around 70.24% area was under less vulnerable class followed by extremely vulnerable class (10.48%) >highly vulnerable (7.40%)> severely vulnerable (7.19%)> moderately vulnerable (4.69%). The generated soil erosion vulnerability map of the present study areas revealed that the maximum portion of area was under less vulnerability class (0-30) t ha-1 yr-1 and some areas under severely vulnerable class which require special attention to prevent further degradation of this valuable asset. The delineated LULC practices were assessed further for soil physico-chemical analysis. Stratified random sampling was adopted within the mapped LULC areas for sample collection. Four samples were taken from each TOF practice in the replicates of three. In general, the studied soils of project area were found to be loam to sandy clay loam in texture with slightly acidic to alkaline pH with lowest mean value of pH under forestry (6.27) and highest under wastelands (8.38). The electrical conductively was found within the normal range under all land uses with highest value under wasteland (0.36) and lowest under forest (0.10). The bulk density and particle density varied from 1.06 g cm-3 to 1.47 g cm-3 and 2.25 g cm-3 and 2.45 g cm-3 in forest and wasteland LULC class respectively. Carbon proved to be a critical element which influenced other properties like pH, bulk density, nitrogen and phosphorus and hence assumes an important role in soil amelioration. The soil organic carbon (%) and soil organic carbon stock show wide variation under different LUSs with highest value under forests (2.80%; 89.74 t ha-1) fallowed by TOF (mixed) (1.69%; 57.32 t ha-1) and lowest value under wastelands (0.48%; 13.90 t ha-1). The available nitrogen ranged from medium to high with highest nitrogen content under forest (597.35 kg ha-1) and lowest under wasteland (248.47 kg ha-1). The available phosphorous and available potassium showed highest mean value under forest (47.01 kg ha-1, 239.63 kg ha-1) and lowest under wasteland (14.58 kg ha-1, 187.60 kg ha-1) respectively. Thesoils of the district in general were high in organic carbon, medium to high in available N and P and medium in available K status. Based on the afore mentioned soil parameters, forest land use system showed the highest values of soil organic carbon and available nutrients and hence is the best LULC practice in terms of soil function. The outcomes of present study will assist in studying the effect of land use on soil quality and will pave a way for efficient and effective management of particular LULC practice which will thrust in transfer of agro-technology suitability of soil for particular land use.