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ThesisItem Open Access SOIL AND RAINFALL BASED CROP PLANNING OF DHANBAD DISTRICT IN JHARKHAND(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2023) Chandan Kumar Mandal; Ramesh Kumarn have adverse effect on agricultural production. Jharkhand is located in the eastern region of India and agriculture is the mainstay for the people. The primary source of irrigation for agricultural production in most parts of Jharkhand is rainfall. Therefore, the temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall plays a vital role in the agriculture activities. keeping these facts in view the present study was undertaken for crop planning based on soil and rainfall characteristics of Dhanbad district in Jharkhand. Soil samples collected from 10 blocks of Dhanbad at a depth 0-30cm were analyzed for various physical properties (viz. soil texture, bulk density, field capacity, permanent wilting point, available water capacity) and chemical properties (pH, organic carbon, available N, P and K). Daily rainfall data for 20 years (2002-2021) collected for all blocks of Dhanbad district were analyzed for weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual distribution and other, viz. meteorological drought, initial and conditional probabilities, agricultural drought, and incomplete gamma probability, were computed using software (Weather Cock v1.0) developed by the coordinating unit of AICRP on Agrometeorology, CRIDA, Hyderabad. The soils were nearly coarse in texture, mostly sandy loam in all of the blocks were observed. Bulk density and other soil moisture retention parameters (FC, PWP and Avl. water) followed the trend of mechanical separates and the textural class. Wide fluctuations in soil reaction were observed among the blocks. It varied from highly acidic (4.6) to neutral (7.7) in the blocks of Dhanbad. Fertility level in terms of organic carbon was in low to medium (1.7- 7.3 g kg-1 ), available N from low to medium (125 - 470 kg ha-1 ), available P from low to high (4.3-27.3 kg ha-1 ), and available K from low to medium (53.7 to 275.3 kg ha-1 ) was observed in all the block. Annual and Monsoonal rainfall showed an increasing trend ranging from 1.7 to 24.9 mm yr-1 and 0.4 to 18.9 mm yr-1 in most of the blocks, respectively. Among the seasons, monsoon received maximum rain 82.7 per cent, and only 17.3 per cent of rain was received in the remaining three seasons (post monsoon, winter & summer). Rainfall variability in (CV%) was noticed maximum in rabi season (172.9-237.9 %) than in Kharif (48.1-73.2 %). Initial and conditional probability in terms of P(W) and P(W/W) above 0.5 level for 20 mm rain has been observed from 25 to 39 SMW in most of the blocks. The 50 mm limit has been observed from 26-34 SMW in Topchachi and Govindpur whereas rest of the blocks have a limit of 27-38 SWM. The meteorological drought severity was analyzed for all 10 blocks indicated that Purvi tundi faced only 2 years of severe drought while other blocks had 1 year of severe drought. Moderate drought was observed maximum of 6 years in Tundi block, while (1-5 years) moderate drought was observed in the rest of the blocks. Between 13 to 18 years, no drought was observed in any of the blocks. Early (22-28 SMW), middle (29-35 SMW) and late (36-42 SMW) season agricultural drought was observed maximum in Baghmara (i.e., 12 years), Tundi and Purvi tundi (11 years) and Egarkund (10 years). The remaining blocks were experienced early, middle, and late agricultural drought (6 to 9 years). Early and late season agricultural drought was seen in all blocks of Dhanbad district. Gamma distribution of rainfall at five levels (90, 75, 50, 20 & 10 %) clearly indicated that annual rain is close to 50 percent probability in all blocks of Dhanbad. Crop growing environments in terms of soil characteristics and weather variables were analyzed separately for all 10 blocks. Planning of crops with suitable varieties was identified for normal, early, mid and late drought conditions based on rainfall characteristics, temperature, humidity, and soil parameters for kharif and early rabi season crops. Crop planning were classified according to early, mid and late drought conditions in each land situations (i e., upland, medium land & lowland). In the upland and medium land crops like Pigeon pea, Maize, Black gram, Green gram, Sesame, Horse gram, Cowpea, Dolichos bean, Brinjal, Chilli, Okra, Radish, have been suggested to grow as a sole or with intercropping. In the lowland situation majorly rice cultivation were suggested.ThesisItem Open Access IMPACT OF WEATHER VARIABLES ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF CHICKPEA UNDER AGROCLIMATIC CONDITION OF RANCHI(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2023) Bipin Sanjay; Pragyan KumaiWeather parameters impact crop growth and productivity, with each phenological stage having its own optimal conditions. Understanding these relationships is crucial for sustainable production and productivity, requiring agro-climatological knowledge of individual crops and locations. Agricultural production and productivity of any region is regulated by the prevailing weather and derived agrometeorologicial indices of that area through temperature, Rainfall, Light intensity, Radiation, Sunshine duration and their derived indices such as GDD, HTU and PTU etc. Sowing dates significantly impact chickpea yield, making optimal timing crucial for optimal environmental conditions. Delays in sowing reduce growth period, maturity, and yield. A field experiment entitled was conducted at experimental field at Birsa agricultural university research field. The treatment consist three growing environment viz. 10 November, 25 November, 10 December and 3 varieties viz. JG-14 GNG-1581 Birsa chana 3 were laid out in factorial randomized block design with 3 replications. During the entire crop growing period (45-18th SMW) weather condition. Tmax ranged between 21-39.2°C and Tmin ranged between 3·6-26.4°C with Relative humidity (RH) value of RH1 between 84-88% and RH2 between 68-70%. While the BSS ranged between 0-9.5 hrs/day. Wind speed was 2.5 km/hr having total rainfall of 130.4 mm. The result revealed that days taken for emergence was 11-12 days for Early and normal data and 15-16 days for late sown condition. The duration for attaining different phenophase curtailed to have shorter duration with delay in sowing. Birsa chana 3 has longest duration in all 3 dates of sowing 133, 125 & 116 days with GNG-1581 second least at 131, 124 & 114 days while shortest in JG 14 128, 120 & 110 days to attain physiological maturity. Accumulated growing degree days (GDD) was highest in early sown crop and decreased with delay in sowing. Similarly, the accumulated Helio Thermal Unit (HTU) and Photo Thermal Unit (PTU) were made in early sown crops and decreased in delayed sowing condition. GDD, HTU and PTU accumulated by GNG-1581 and Birsa chana 3 were at par with each other while JG-14 has significantly less accumulation. Among the different dates of sowing normal date of sowing achieved greater plant height with no. of branches having higher total dry weight in gms and consisting of maximum numbers of pods. Normal sown variety has the highest yield of 22.05 q/ha with harvest index (HI) of 51% and among varieties GNG-1581 has the yield of 21.92 q/ha with harvest index (HI) of 53%. Higher values of Heat use efficiency (HUE) and Radiation use efficiency (RUE) were obtained under normal sown conditions which showed a decline in early and late sown condition among varieties GNG-1581 has highest HUE and RUE (1.6 kg/ha ℃ days & 1.3 kg/ha/MJ) respectively.ThesisItem Open Access Assessment of Weather variables on Growth and Yield of Rice under Ranchi region.(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2023) Shilpi Carol Kujur; Pragyan KumariAgriculture is an integral part of human life. The vulnerability of production and productivity to weather and climatic changes demands usage of improved technologies and crop varieties. Both weather and climate play a lead role in the prevailing environmental conditions, livelihood and socio-economic conditions of a place. Constantly increasing population and shrinking of cultivable land along with increasing weather variability requires the study of various possible methods to obtain maximum yield of crops. The growth and development of crops depend on the combined effect of the genetic composition of crops as well as the prevailing abiotic environmental factors. Crop phenology and its association with weather parameters is a crucial aspect to determine the yield and yield attributes of crop. Phenological development is the most important attribute involved in crop adaptation to varied growing environments. Both, the season length and the relative duration of key phenophases, are critical determinants of grain yield in field crops. The study of agrometeorological indices helps to determine the phenophases of the crop and predict the duration of the same. This in turn establishes a better concept in decision making for selection of appropriate varieties of crops according to the prevailing climatic condition. Field experiments were carried out in kharif season during the year 2022 to study the influence of weather parameters on growth and yield of rice and to determine the suitable variety accordingly. Mean maximum temperature of 32.9°C and mean minimum temperature of 23.2°C was recorded during the entire crop growth period (23rd SMW to 45th SMW). A long dry spell with intermittent rainfall was noticed during the month of June and mid-July. The phenophasic duration was longest in early sown crops and among the three different genotypes, Naveen required the longest duration (125 days) to attain its phenological maturity. Accumulated growing degree days (GDD) during physiological maturity was highest in early sown crop and decreased gradually with delay in sowing. Similarly, the accumulated Heliothermal units (HTU) and Photothermal units (PTU) were maximum in the early sown crops and decreased in delayed sowing condition. Among varieties, Naveen accumulated highest GDD, HTU and PTU followed by MTU 1010 and Sahbhagidhan, respectively. Normal sown crops received the highest amount of rainfall (1770.2 mm. to 1776.2 mm.) during their entire crop growth duration, followed by late sown crops (1693.2 mm. to 1770.2 mm.) and early sown crops (1707.4 mm.), respectively. Previous 5 years’ data (2017 to 2022) was used to analyse the correlation of yield and weather parameters during the different phenophases of rice. In Sahbhagidhan, sunshine hours were significantly and positively correlated (r=0.70) during the sowingvegetative phase and significantly negative correlation (r=-0.55) was observed during the vegetative to flowering stage. In the genotype Naveen, rainfall showed significant negative correlation (r=-0.49) during the vegetative-flowering stage and significant positive correlation (r=0.47) during the grain filling-maturity stage. Sunshine hours showed significant negative correlation (r=-0.55) during vegetative-flowering stage in Naveen. MTU 1010 showed significant positive correlation (r=0.47) during the flowering-milking stage. Date of sowing exerted a significant effect on effective tillers per meter square, fertile grains per ear, test weight, total dry matter, grain yield and harvest index of rice. Highest mean yield (44.59 q/ha) was obtained under normal sown condition whereas among varieties, Naveen produced the highest mean yield (44.65 q/ha). Higher values of heat use efficiency (HUE) and radiation use efficiency (RUE) were obtained under normal sown conditions which showed a decline in early and late sown condition. Among genotypes, Naveen recorded highest HUE in normal (2.3 kg/ha/°C) and late sown condition (2.0kg/ha/°C). Similarly, Naveen recorded higher RUE in normal (2.6 g/MJ) and early sown (2.1 g/MJ) condition.ThesisItem Open Access SOIL AND RAINFALL CHARACTERIZATION FOR SUITABLE CROP PLANNING OF PAKUR DISTRICT(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2022) Ashish Alois Minj; Ramesh KumarRainfall is the most important climatic factor for crop production in rainfed agriculture. The variation of monsoonal and annual rainfall in space and time are well known, and the variability of monsoonal rainfall considerably affects agricultural production. Around 60 percent of Indian agriculture is rain-dependent, distress prone, and vulnerable to climate. Therefore, establishing the start, end and length of the growing season and the patterns of dry and wet spells throughout the season is relevant information for the agricultural crop planning. In Jharkhand, agriculture depends on the onset of monsoon and rainfall distribution during the crop growing season. Therefore, its amount, and spatial variability govern the agricultural practices adopted in the rainfed region. Keeping these facts in view, the present study was undertaken to plan the crop based on soil and rainfall characteristics for Pakur district of Jharkhand. Soil samples collected from upland, medium land, and lowland from all six blocks of Pakur district from 0-30cm depth were analyzed for physical properties (viz. soil texture, bulk density, field capacity, permanent wilting point, available water capacity) and chemical properties (pH, organic carbon, available N, P and K). Daily rainfall data for 22 years (1998-2020) of 6 blocks of district collected from Pakur were analyzed for weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual distribution and other analyses, viz. Meteorological drought, Initial and Conditional probabilities, Agricultural drought, and Incomplete gamma probability, were made using software (Weather Cock v1.0) developed by the coordinating unit of AICRP on Agrometeorology CRIDA, Hyderabad. The soils were majorly loam in texture, Sandy clay loam to sandy loam in upland, Clay loam to loam in midland, and Clay loam to loam on lowlands. Bulk density and other soil moisture retention parameters (FC, PWP and Av. water) followed the trend of mechanical separates and the textural class. Wide fluctuations in soil reaction were observed among the blocks. It varied from highly acidic (5.5) to alkaline (7.3) in the blocks of Pakur. Fertility level in terms of organic matter was in medium to high (5.6 – 9.6 g kg-1), available N was in the medium range (325 – 525 kg ha-1), available P were in medium to high (10.2 – 35.0 kg ha-1) range, and available K was noticed in the range of 95.0 to 278.5 kg ha-1 (i.e., low to medium) in all the block. Annual and Monsoonal rainfall showed a decreasing trend ranging from -32.5 to - 70.2 mm yr-1 and -25.2 to -55.4 mm yr-1 in all the blocks, respectively. Among the seasons, monsoon received maximum rain (79.9%), and only 20.1 % of rain was received in the remaining three seasons (Post monsoon, winter & summer). Rainfall variability in (CV%) was noticed maximum in rabi season (137-185%) than in Kharif (55-85%). Initial and conditional probability in terms of P(W) and P(W/W) above 0.5 level for 20 mm rain has been observed from 22 to 42 SMW in most blocks. The 50 mm limit has been observed from 24-39 SMW in Pakur, Littipara, Pakuria and the rest of the blocks have a limit of 25-40 SWM. The meteorological drought severity analyzed for all six blocks indicated that Hiranpur and Maheshpur faced only one year of severe drought while other blocks did not have severe drought. Moderate drought was observed maximum of (7 years) in Littipara and Amarapara, while (4-5 years) moderate drought was observed in the rest of the blocks. During the period, no drought was observed between 14 to 18 years in the blocks. Early (22-28 SMW), middle (29-35 SMW) and late (36-42 SMW) season agricultural drought was observed maximum in Hiranpur (i.e. 63.6%), Littipara (54.5%) and Maheshpur (50%). The rest of the blocks have (22-40%) early, middle, and late agricultural drought. Mid-season agricultural drought was noticed in Hiranpur, Mahespur and Pakuria. Late season agricultural drought was noticed in all the blocks of the Pakur district. Gamma distribution of rainfall at five levels (90, 75, 50, 20 & 10 %) clearly indicated that annual rain is close to 50 percent probability in all blocks of Pakur. Crop growing environments in terms of soil characteristics and weather variables were analyzed separately for all six blocks. Planning of crops with suitable varieties was identified for normal, early and late drought conditions based on rainfall characteristics, temperature, humidity, and soil parameters for Kharif and early season rabi crops. Under the crop plan, besides the improved and hybrid rice varieties, some local and promising varieties have also been incorporated as the farmers are well satisfied with the varieties. Some crops like fodder crops (Blackgram, Greengram, Cowpea, Rice bean (Moth bean), Lady's Finger) have also been incorporated in some blocks depending upon the farmers' needs. On uplands, Pigeonpea, Blackgram, Sesame, Horsegram, Niger, Finger millet, Little millet (Gundli), Tomato, Chilli, Sweet potato, Dolichos Bean, French Bean, Sorghum, Pearl millet, Chara badam, Tomato, Dolichos Bean, French bean, Cabbage, and Cauliflower have been suggested to grow as a sole crop or in combinations as intercrop.ThesisItem Open Access SOIL AND RAINFALL CHARACTERIZATION FOR SUITABLE CROP PLANNING OF CUTTACK DISTRICT IN ODISHA(2023) Satya Pragyan Kar; Ramesh KumarIndian agriculture is mostly rainfed, which is distress prone and climate- vulnerable to an extent of about 60 percent. Rainfall is the first and foremost climatic parameter which primarily affects crop yield in rainfed agriculture. The unpredictability of monsoonal rainfall significantly influences agricultural productivity. The beginning, end, and duration of the growing season, as well as the patterns of dry and wet periods during the season, are thus important details for agricultural crop planning. Agriculture in Odisha is reliant on the start of the monsoon and the distribution of rainfall during the crop-growing season. The agricultural planning used in the rainfed region are therefore governed by its quantity and spatial variability of rainfall. Taking these facts into consideration, the current study was conducted to plan the crop for the Cuttack district of Odisha based on the characteristics of the soil and rainfall. Three to four Soil samples collected from fourteen blocks of Cuttack district from 0-30 cm depth were analyzed for various physico-chemical properties (viz. soil texture, bulk density, field capacity, permanent wilting point, available water capacity) and chemical properties (pH, organic carbon, available N, P and K). Daily rainfall data for 34 years (1988-2021) of 14 blocks of district collected from Cuttack were analyzed for weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual distribution and other analyses, viz. meteorological drought, initial and conditional probabilities, Agricultural drought, and Incomplete gamma probability, were computed using software (Weathercock v1.0) developed by the coordinating unit of AICRP on Agrometeorology, CRIDA, Hyderabad. The soils were nearly coarse in texture i.e, sandy clay loam to sandy loam in most of the blocks. Bulk density and other soil moisture retention parameters (FC, PWP and Av. water) followed the trend of mechanical separates and the textural class. Almost uniform soil reaction were observed among the blocks. It varied from slightly acidic (6.3) to slightly alkaline (7.9) in the blocks of Cuttack. Fertility level in terms of organic matter was in low to medium (3.1- 6.4 g kg-1), available N from low to medium (209 - 432 kg ha-1), available P from low to high (4.2-147.5 kg ha-1) range, and available K from 140.0 to 431.6 kg ha-1 (i.e. medium to high) was noticed in all the blocks. Annual and Monsoonal rainfall showed a increasing trend ranging from 3.32 to 34.8 mm yr-1 and 1.10 to 26.5 mm yr-1 in 9 out of 14 blocks respectively. Among the seasons, monsoon received maximum rain (76.1 %), and only 23.9 percent of rain was received in the remaining three seasons (post monsoon, winter & summer). Rainfall variability in CV% was noticed maximum in rabi season (126.9-176.4 %) than in Kharif (45.3-60.6 %). Initial and conditional probability in terms of P(W) and P(W/W) above 0.5 level for 20 mm rain has been observed from 24 to 40 SMW in most blocks. The 50 mm limit has been observed from 29-37 SMW in Cuttack Sadar, Salepur, Tangi Choudwar and the rest of the blocks have a limit of 25-38 SWM. The meteorological drought severity was analyzed for all fourteen blocks indicated that Kantapada, Niali and Nischintakoili faced only two year of severe drought while some other blocks had one year of severe drought. Moderate drought was observed maximum of 8 years in Banki and Damapada, while (2-6 years) moderate drought was observed in the rest of the blocks. During the period, no drought was observed between 26 to 31 years in the blocks. Early (22-28 SMW), middle (29-35 SMW) and late (36-42 SMW) season agricultural drought was observed maximum in Narasinghpur (i.e. 50 %), Salepur (47 %) and Kantapada and Banki-Damapada (41 %). The rest of the blocks have (18-38%) early, middle, and late agricultural drought. Mid and late season agricultural drought was noticed in all the blocks of the Cuttack district. Gamma distribution of rainfall at five levels (90, 75, 50, 20 & 10 %) clearly indicated that annual rain is close to 50 percent probability in all blocks of Cuttack. Crop growing environments in terms of soil characteristics and weather variables were analyzed separately for all fourteen blocks. Planning of crops with suitable varieties was identified for normal, early, mid and late drought conditions based on rainfall characteristics, temperature, humidity, and soil parameters for kharif and early season rabi crops. Under the crop plan, besides the improved and hybrid rice varieties, some local and promising varieties have also been incorporated as the farmers are well satisfied with the varieties. Some crops like fodder crops (Mesta, roselle, rice bean and cowpea) have also been incorporated in some blocks depending upon the farmers' choices. Under drought condition short duration varieties like Hira, Jaladidhan, Anjali, Vandana, Sneha of rice, Jute, Pigeonpea, Blackgram, Greengram, Sesame, Horsegram, Niger, Brinjal, Okra, Radish, Cabbage and Cauliflower have been suggested to grow as a sole crop or in combinations as intercrop. As there are 10 to 12 % rainfall found in rabi and summer season, we can go for a crop planning for cuttack district. In rabi season, mostly vegetable crops like onion, tomato, brinjal, cucurbits, cauliflower, potato, chilli etc. can be grown with some major rabi season cereal and oilseeds crops (wheat, maize, mustard). Similarly, watermelon, muskmelon and cucumber can be grown in summer season in all the blocks of cuttack district.ThesisItem Open Access Impact of hydrogel on soil moisture retention and release pattern in acid-alfisoil under okra cultivation(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2022) Kujur, Abha Nutan; Wadood, A.Jharkhand climate, with respect to temperature and humidity, is very congenial for vegetable cultivation. However, water holding capacity of soils is very less (22% FC and 8-10% WP). Various kinds of vegetables are being grown, in small areas, mostly in upland Barilands where limited assured irrigation facility is available from wells and small ponds, etc. both in Kharif as well as rabi seasons and some vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage are grown around the year. The total area under vegetable cultivation (both in Kharif and Rabi) in Jharkhand is about 2.9 L. ha with a total production of 34.6 lakh metric tonnes (agricoop.gov.in). Lack of irrigation facility is the biggest constraint for vegetable cultivation in Jharkhand. In view of this situation pot as well as field experiments were conducted in Ranchi with a broad objective to assess the impact of different levels of Pusa and SPG hydrogels on soil moisture retention and release pattern and on overall performance of Okra crop. Among the different levels of Pusa hydrogel in pot experiment (TI 5 g gel/pot, T2 10 g gel/pot and T3 20 g gel/pot), the average soil moisture retention during the crop period of Okra was recorded highest inT3 (26.5%) followed by T2 (25.5%) and TI (24.4%) with advantages of 72.4, 66.0 and 58.9 percents over control (no gel). respectively. Okra crop under all the levels of Pusa hydrogel were found comfortable with negative values of Stress Degree Days while the crop under control (no gel) remained stressed with positive values of SDD throughout the crop period. The extents of comfort (-ve SDD) were the true reflections of moisture levels maintained. Accordingly, the performances of okra crop under these 3 levels of pusa hydrogel application were also in the same trend and the highest pod yield of 42.2 g per pot was obtained under T3 (20 g Pusa hydrogel/pot). In field experiment also. 13 performed best in terms of soil moisture retention, SDD and okra pod yield but the effects of levels of Pusa hydrogel were much less pronounced in field experiment as compared the corresponding levels in pot experiment In case of SPG hydrogel, different levels of it in pot experiment (T4 5 g gel/pot. T5 15 g gel/pot and T6 20 g gel/pot), the average soil moisture retention during the crop period of Okra was recorded highest inT6 (28.0%) followed by T5 (27.4%) and T4 (26.5%) with advantages of 82.5, 78.3 and 75.4 percents over control (nogel), respectively. The comfort levels (-ve SDD) of crop was even better in case of SPG hydrogel following the same trend as in case of Pusa hydrogel The highest okra pod yield of 65.8 g per pot under T6 (20 g SPG hydrogel per pot). In field experiment also, 16 performed best in terms of soil moisture retention, SDD and okra pod yield but the effects of levels of SPG hydrogel were also found much less pronounced in field experiment as compared the corresponding levels in pot experiment. SPG hydrogel performed better than Pusa hydrogel in terms of soil moisture, SDD and okra pod yield both in Pal and Field experiments. Incorporation of Pusa as well as SPG Hydrogels into the soil increased the ability of soil to hold and retain more moisture with steady and gradual release of soil moisture requiring less and less frequent watering as compared to untreated soils. This advantage increased with higher levels of gel incorporation. The impact of both the hydrogels were found more pronounced in Pot cultivation of Okna than Field caltivation. SPG hydrogel was found more effective than Pusa hydrogel. Inter difference in moisture retention am the levels of both the hydrogels remained within 1-2 percent only. Hence, the lowest level of 5 gel/por or 5 Kg gel ha" too, could be much more advantageous over no gel incorporation.ThesisItem Open Access CROP WEATHER, INSECT-DISEASE RELATIONSHIP IN OKRA(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 2022) Marandi, Atul; Kumai, PragyanThe field experiment was conducted during 2021 at Agrotechnology Park, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi to investigate the “Crop weather, insect-disease relationship in okra” of seven different dates of sowing. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with four replications along with seven treatments. Thermal and radiation indices accumulated (GDD, HTU, PTU, HUE) at different Phenophases were highest in 15th March sown crop (D1) as compared to other sowing date, this is due to more days taken by D1 to attain the different developmental Phenophases and higher temperature. Okra sown on March 15 (D1) had produced significantly higher number of branches per plant, number of fruits /plant and yield of okra (73.8 q ha-1) followed by D3 sown crop (62.4 q ha-1). All the treatments were significantly different among themself. The delay in sowing significantly reduced the green fruit yield of okra upto 23% which could be due to the infestation of pests and diseases of okra. Yield of okra was significantly and positively correlated with Tmax (r=0.695*) and BSS (r=0.882*) and negatively associated with Tmin(r=-0.752**), RHI(r=-0.331*), RHII (r=-0.762**) and Rainfall (r=-0.754*). The significant negative correlation was obtained with Tmax. (r=-0.289**) while rainfall (r=0.587**) was found significantly positively correlated. The multiple regression model developed with weather parameters explained 56% variability in aphid population. The jassid population were significantly negatively correlated with Tmax. (r=-0.441**), RHI (r=-0.279*), RHII (r=-0.271*) and BSS (r=-0.295*) while significantly positive associated with rainfall (r = 0.375**). The multiple regression model developed with weather parameters explained 60% variability in jassid population. The whitefly population was significantly negatively correlated with Tmax (r=-0.377**) and BSS (r=-0.452**). Wind speed (r=0.411**) and rainfall (r=0.385**) which was found significantly positively influences the population of whitefly. The multiple regression model developed with weather parameters had slightly better predictability (R2 = 0.53). The fruit and shoot borer population were found significantly negatively correlated with Tmax. (r=-0.401**), RHI (r=-0.316*) and BSS (r=-0.348**) but significantly positively correlated with rainfall (r=0.606**). The multiple regression equation revealed that the various abiotic factors were found to be most influencing factors which contributed R2= 0.59 (59%) variation in fruit and shoot borer population. The OYVMV disease infestation was significantly negatively correlated with maximum temperature, morning relative humidity, bright sunshine hours and significantly positively correlated with wind speed and rainfall. Multiple regression equation for prediction of OYVMV disease using maximum, minimum temperatures, morning and evening relative humidity and rainfall together explained 43 percent variation in disease attack in okra. Cercospora disease was highly significantly negatively correlated with maximum temperature (r=-0.346**), morning relative humidity (r=-0.293*), bright sunshine hours (r=-0.359**) and highly significantly positively correlated with wind speed (r=0.413**) and rainfall (r=0.645**). The multiple regression equation revealed that the various abiotic factors were found to be most influencing factors which contributed R2= 0.54 (54%) variation in cercospora disease in okra. Weather parameter were found to have significant influence not only on growth and yield of okra but also initiation and development of pests and disease of okra. The agrometeorological indices (GDD, HTU, PTU) required for maturity of crop was highest in okra sown on D1(15th March) and lowest for D7(15th June). First date of sowing (15thMarch) registered significantly highest yield with minimum infestation of diseases and pests. Maximum temperature was significantly and negatively associated with population of all insects and diseases under study where as it was significantly positive corelated with rainfall in okra under Ranchi region. Increase in bright sunshine hours would decrease the infestation of jassid, whitefly, fruit and shoot borer, OYVMV and cercospora disease in okra. Wind speed during crop period would increase the dissemination of OYVMV and cercospora diseases and whitefly population in okra. Morning relative humidity negatively influenced the population of jassid, fruit and shoot borer, OYVMV and cercospora disease in okra while evening humidity was also associated negatively with jassid population. It is recommended that early sowing of okra would be advisable for farmers of Jharkhand to escape from pests and disease infestation. Early forewarning of disease and insect infestation would be possible on the basis of above investigation and risk can be minimized by spraying the pesticides in advance.ThesisItem Open Access AGROCLIMATIC CHARACTERIZATION OF GUMLA DISTRICT FOR CROP PLANNING(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, Jharkhand-6, 2018) Ekka, Abhijeet Pankaj; Kumari, PragyanAgriculture is one of the most climate-sensitive sector among all the economic sectors. Despite ongoing improvements in technology and crop varieties, weather and climate remain uncontrollable factors affecting the quantity and quality of agricultural production. The timely onset of monsoon rain and its distribution during June and July decides the area coverage of rainfed crops. Indian agriculture, with 80% of farmers being smallholders (less than 0.5 ha), is monsoon-dependent, rainfed agriculture (58%) and about 30% of population is undernourished, malnourished, migrates from rural to urban regions. Agriculture has become more vulnerable to changed climate or variability situations, huge population is dependent on agriculture. Reduced food grain productivity, loss to vegetable and fruit crops, fodder scarcity, shortage of drinking water to animals during summer, forced migration, severe loss to poultry and fishery sectors have been registered and are threatening the livelihoods of rural poor. In order to minimize these risks, an attempt to study the agroclimate of Gumla district has been carried out for proper crop planning at block level. Of all the climatic factors, rainfall is of greatest concern to population in rainfed agriculture. The variation of monsoonal and annual rainfall in space and time are well known and this inter-annual variability of monsoonal rainfall has considerable impact on agricultural production, water management, energy generation and economic growth. Analysis of annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall of a region is useful to design water harvesting structure. Similarly weekly rainfall analysis give more useful information in crop planning .The cropping patterns are basically dependent on assured rainfall, length of growing period and Moisture Availability Index (MAI). The mean annual rainfall for Gumla is 1096.5 mm and the annual rainfall showed an increasing trend of 6.35 mm/year whereas the maximum rainfall distribution is observed during July and August. Lowest and highest rainfall receiving blocks are Basia (732.1mm) and Raidih (1502.9mm) with 35% and 37% CV, respectively. An increasing trend of maximum temperatures has been observed with stable sunshine hours whereas minimum temperature and relative humidity showed a decreasing trend. Gumla district is prone to mild drought (40.5%) which is maximum at Ghaghra followed by moderate drought observed maximum at Kamdara. Severe drought is observed in Basia and Raidih once in 17 years. Occurrence of Agricultural drought was mostly during early and late season. Sisai block faced maximum early drought, maximum mid season drought at Bishunpur and Gumla affected by late season drought. Initial probability of getting 10, 20 and 50 mm rainfall, above 50%, varies from 16 weeks, 13 weeks and 6 weeks, respectively for different blocks of the district. Most of the blocks come under dry to slightly moist and moist climatic type depending on the land situation whereas Basia and Kamdara come under semi slightly dry climatic condition. Water surplus in Basia and Kamdara are almost negligible in Upland and Don III and very little water can be harvested from Don II and Done I. Water surplus was observed in Raidih followed by Palkot and can be harvested more from all land situations. Productivity of Rice, Maize, Ragi, Wheat and Potato are increasing in Gumla district and is a potential area for Ragi and Potato. For doubling the farmer’s income under available moisture status of different block of the districts there is need to change the cropping pattern and introduce Maize-Potato in cropping system. Short duration varieties are recommended for major crops in the district such as Sahbhagi, Naveen and Anjali for Rice, Birsa makka-1 and Suwan for Miaze, Birsa marua-2, A- 404 for Ragi, K-9107, HDR-77 for wheat, Kufri lima, Kufri surya for potato and Birsa shivam, Shiwani for oilseeds which are of short duration(60 to 90 days) to avoid moisture stress. Gumla has greater chance for water surplus during rainy season thus offer opportunity for water harvesting and supplemented irrigation to mitigate drought. It can prove beneficial for successive rabi crops also.ThesisItem Open Access SOIL AND RAINFALL CHARACTERIZATION OF SARAIKELAKHARSAWAN DISTRICT FOR CROP PLANNING(Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, Jharkhand-6, 2018) Hansdah, Raj Kiran; Kumar, RameshRainfed agriculture in India is practiced over 58 per cent of cultivated areas and contributes 40 per cent of country’s food production. India as a whole and Jharkhand in particular depends on the onset of monsoon and rainfall distribution during crop growth season. The annual and seasonal rainfall received and its variability directly influences the success or failure of crops. Therefore, its amount, time of occurrence, and spatial variability governs the agricultural practices adopted in the rainfed region. Occurrence of continuous dry spell in monsoon season is a common phenomenon. Detailed knowledge of the rainfall pattern and soil properties helps in crop planning and designing in different soil condition (Upland, Medium land and Low land). Keeping these facts in view the present study was undertaken with a view to plan the crop based on soil and rainfall characteristics for Saraikel-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand. Soil samples collected from upland, medium land and low land from all 9 blocks of Saraikela-Kharsawan district from 0 - 30cm depth were analysed for physical properties (viz. soil texture, bulk density, field capacity, permanent wilting point, available water capacity) and chemical properties (pH, organic carbon, available N, P and K). Daily rainfall data for 17 years (2001- 2017) of 9 blocks collected from the DAO Saraikela-Kharsawan were analysed for weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual distribution and other analysis viz. Meteorological drought, Initial and Conditional probabilities, Agricultural drought and Incomplete gamma probability were made using software (Weather Cock v1.0) developed by coordinating unit of AICRP on Agrometeorology CRIDA, Hyderabad. Soil of the district are majorly in sandy loam to loam in texture on upland and medium lands and Sandy clay loam to clay loam on lowlands. Bulk density and other soil moisture retention parameters (FC, PWP and Av. water) followed the trend of mechanical separates as well as the textural class. Wide fluctuations in soil reaction were observed among the blocks. It varied from highly acidic (4.6) to alkaline (7.5) in the blocks of Saraikela-Kharsawan district. Fertility level in terms of organic matter was in low to high (0.39 - 0.86 %) and available N and P were in low to medium (240 - 475 and 11.6 - 22.5 kg ha-1 respectively) range, while K was noticed in the ranged of 46.9 to 412.3 kg ha-1 in the block. An overall increasing trend in annual and seasonal rainfall was observed in all blocks except in Kharsawan where it was slightly decreasing (i.e. -3.7 mm/yr in annual and -8.1 mm/yr in seasonal). Among the seasons, monsoon received maximum rain (85-89%) and only 11-15 % rain was received in remaining three seasons (Post monsoon, Winter & Summer). Rainfall variability in terms of CV% was notice maximum in rabi season (118-157%) than that of kharif (18-39%). Initial and conditional probability in terms of P(W) and P(W/W) above of 0.5 level for 20 mm rain has been observed from 24 to 38th SMW in most of the blocks. For 50 mm limit it has been observed from 25-35th SMW in Kharsawan and Kuchai and in rest of the blocks it has been noticed in 4-6 weeks during kharif. Water balance study for all three situations indicated dry to moist weather condition prevailed. Severity of meteorological drought analyzed for all 9 blocks indicated that Chandil, Gamhria, Ichanagar, Kurku, Nimdih, Rajnagar and Saraikela faced only one year severe drought while no severe drought was observed in Kharsawan and Kuchai. Moderate drought was observed maximum (6 year) in Gamharia, while mild drought was maximum (7 years) Kharsawan. No drought was observed between 8 to 14 years in the blocks during the period. Early (22-28th SMW), middle (29-35th SMW) and late (36-42th SMW) season agricultural drought was observed maximum in Rajnagar (i.e. 35%), Nimdih (24%) and Gamharia and Rajnagar (29%). No mid season agricultural drought was noticed in Kharsawan. Gamma distribution of rainfall at five levels of probabilities (90, 75, 50, 20 & 10 %) analysed at annual and weekly basis for all blocks of Saraikela-kharsawan. Assured rain on weekly basis at 50% probability was more close to normal rain in all blocks of Saraikela- Kharsawan. Crop growing environment in terms of soil characteristics and weather variables were analyzed separately for all 9 blocks. Planning of crops with suitable varieties were identified for normal, early and late drought conditions based on rainfall characteristics, temperature, humidity and soil parameters for kharif and early season rabi crops. Under crop plan, besides the improved and hybrid varieties of rice, some local and promising varieties have also been incorporated as the farmers are well satisfied with the varieties. Some crops like sugarcane and fodder crops (berseem, fodder maize, cowpea etc.) have also been incorporated in some blocks depending upon the need of the farmers. On uplands, Maize, Pigeon pea, Urd(black gram), Moong(green gram), Ground nut, soybean, seasamum and Lady’s finger have been suggested to grow as sole crop or in combinations as intercrop.
