Thesis

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 9 of 40

Open Access
Evaluation of some new chemical and organic amendments in rice-wheat system under sodic water irrigation
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2022) Harjot Kaur; O.P. Choudhary
Persistent and continuous use of sodic water for irrigation in south-western regions of Punjab has led to the development of sodicity in soils which severely impacts the physical, chemical and biological properties. The deteriorated soil health proves futile to plant growth causing yield losses and lower farm income. The problems caused by the irrigation-induced sodicity can be rectified by the amelioration of the soils using amendments. Gypsum has been popular among farmers as a source to ameliorate sodic water irrigated soils but the issue with its availability and quality has propelled the scientific community to explore the potential of some others resources such as yellow gypsum, a by-product of steel industry which can help sustain growth in sodic soil environment. Organic amendments such as farm yard manure (FYM) has been studied extensively while others like rice straw compost, rice straw (RS) and biochar (BC) are presently getting attention in terms of their utility in restoring sodic soils. A pot experiment was conducted to collate the effect of application of inorganic (yellow; YG and grey gypsum; GG) and organic amendments (FYM, rice straw compost, RS and BC) on properties of soils (loamy sand; ls and sandy clay loam; scl) irrigated with sodic water and biomass yield of crops. Soils were irrigated with different levels of RSC of irrigation water i.e. RSC 0, 5, 7.5 and 10 meq L-1 . Organic amendments, FYM @ 15 t ha-1 , Rice straw compost @ 6 t ha-1 , RS 6 t ha-1 and BC @ 4 t ha-1 were applied once before sowing of wheat whereas gypsum (both types) @ 50%GR was applied on soil basis and later with each irrigation to neutralize sodicity of water. Individual effect of these amendments was studied through 56 treatment combinations in completely randomized design replicated three times. Results revealed decrease in biomass yield, photosynthetic activity, stomatal conductance and uptake of Ca, Mg and K on irrigation with sodic water in wheat and rice crop whereas uptake of Na and proline content increased. With regard to soil properties, irrigation with sodic water increased pH, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) (higher in scl), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) (higher in ls), and bulk density (BD) but decreased microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and mean weight diameter (MWD). Upon application of gypsum (both types), decrease in pH, SAR and ESP was observed along with significant improvement in biomass yield and other soil properties such as MBC and MWD. Among the organic amendments, BC reduced uptake of Na whereas rice straw compost and FYM gave promising results in restoration of soil properties and biomass yield in both the crops. Further, field studies need to be conducted to evaluate the restorative effect of yellow gypsum vis-à-vis grey (mined) gypsum and it combined application along with the organic amendments in soils receiving sodic water irrigation.
Embargo
Estimation of irrigation water requirement of wheat in rice-wheat system in Ludhiana district of Punjab using geo-spatial technologies
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2022) Vullaganti, Niharika; Vashisht, B.B.
One of the major global concerns is increasing population. With increase in the population, a proportional increase in food and water requirements is seen. To meet the increasing food requirements, the crop productivity should be increased with the limited resources available. Recent studies stated that there is a notable amount of water being lost in the form of excessive irrigation and ground water depletion. To tackle these problems and conserve water, improving water use efficiency is one of the best ways. Irrigation scheduling can play a crucial role in reducing wastage of water in agriculture. To schedule irrigation, evapotranspiration need to be estimated. This study aims to estimate evapotranspiration of wheat crop in Ludhiana district using geo spatial technologies. Evapotranspiration (ET) of the crop was estimated using satellite and meteorological data. Reference evapotranspiration was estimated with ETo calculator using climatic parameters like mean temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and wind speed as inputs to calculate reference evapotranspiration. Monthly evapotranspiration data obtained from satellite data was represented in ET maps generated using ArcGIS. The monthly ET maps were combined to form a seasonal evapotranspiration map. ET increased with the vegetative growth from November to February and decreased as the crop reached its maturity during March and April. Various factors like climatic parameters, crop and soil characteristics effect the evapotranspiration. Crop coefficient was estimated to represent the crop characteristics at a particular area at a particular period of time. It was calculated as the ratio of crop evapotranspiration and reference evapotranspiration. Crop coefficient were low during initial growth stages, increased during mid season and again decreased during later stages of crop growth. Irrigation water requirement of the crop was estimated by deducting the effective rainfall from evapotranspiration. Mapping of the crop coefficient, evapotranspiration and irrigation water requirement enabled to represent their spatial and temporal variation within the study area. This would help the farmers to easily identify the water requirement of the crop in their localities and irrigate the crop accordingly.
Restricted
Characterization of groundwater quality for irrigation in different blocks of district Bathinda
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2022) Kirandeep Kaur; Sekhon, K. S.
This study was conducted to characterize the groundwater quality of Bathinda district of Punjab, India for irrigation purpose. A total of 367 water samples were collected from the running tubewells from the seven blocks viz. Bhagta Bhai Ka, Phul, Nathana, Rampura, Goniana, Maur and Bathinda out of nine blocks of district Bathinda in June-July 2021. The geo-tagged groundwater samples were analysed for pH, EC, major ions and As. Based on these parameters, various water quality indices like sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), %Na, magnesium adsorption ratio (MAR), Kelly’s ratio (KR), CAI1, CAI2, total hardness (TH), total dissolved solids (TDS), r1, r2, corrosivity ratio (CR) and permeability index (PI) were also calculated. According to PAU classification of EC and RSC, in overall Bathinda district (based on seven blocks) as per EC, 58.3%, 37.1% and 4.6% of groundwater samples belong to fit, marginal and unfit category, respectively and as per RSC, 74.1%, 17.2% and 8.7% of samples belong to fit, marginal and unfit category, respectively. On the basis both EC and RSC together as per PAU classification 42.2%, 45.3% and 12.5% of samples are grouped under fit, marginal and unfit category, respectively for irrigation purpose in Bathinda district. Based on USSL (1954) classification, 4.1%, 60.8% and 34.6% of samples fall under C2, C3 and C4 category of EC; and 55.9%, 15.8%, and 28.3% of samples belong to fit, marginal and unfit category of RSC, respectively. In Wilcox diagram, most of the analysed samples fall under permissible to doubtful category and doubtful to unsuitable category and in USSL diagram, maximum groundwater samples fall under C3S2 and C4S3 category. The analysis's findings revealed that the groundwater samples fall in rock dominance and evaporation zone as indicated by Gibbs diagram, Piper diagram shows that the maximum samples of the area fall in Na-Cl type of groundwater category, whereas, as per scatter diagrams, silicate weathering and direct ion exchange process was dominant in the area. The irrigation water quality maps based on USSL classification of EC, RSC, SAR and both EC and RSC together were prepared for seven blocks of district Bathinda with the help of GIS techniques. This study thus concludes that as the groundwater of studied area was varying in water quality, therefore periodic monitoring is required to assess the water quality for its long-term use in agricultural production.
Embargo
Residue mulch, tillage and irrigation effects on crop and water productivity of pigeonpea-wheat cropping system
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2022) Satinder Singh; K.B. Singh
A two-year field experiment on effect of variable irrigation regimes, crop residue mulch and tillage treatments on pigen pea was conducted in loamy sand and sandy loam soil at research farm of Department of Soil Science. The treatments were combination of three irrigation regimes of 0, 0.2 and 0.4 (based on IW/ Pan-E ratios) in main plots, tillage practises (conventional (CT) and deep tillage (DT)) and two rice straw mulch rates (0 and 6 t ha-1) in sub plots. Irrigation regime I2, Soil temperature recorded under I2 was lower than I1 and I0 irrigation regime. Rice straw mulch and CT reduced soil temperature at 0.5 m depth during both years. Frequent irrigation (I2) with mulching recorded higher periodic soil moisture content and storage than limited irrigation regimes without mulch. Leaf water potential, relative leaf water content, soil plant analysis development (SPAD), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), leaf area index (LAI) , periodic biomass and plant height were significantly higher in I2 compared to I1 and I0, in DT compared to CT and in mulching compared to no mulch. With I2, DT and mulching significantly higher pigeon pea grain and stover yield were recorded as compared to I1 and I0, CT and no mulch. In grain and stover yield significant intercations were observed between irrigation x mulch, tillage x mulch and irrigation x tillage x mulch. The residual effect of different treatments imposed in pigeon pea on yield and yield attributing of wheat were non significant. The simulated seasonal water balance in pigeon pea was in proximate agreement with observed values for irrigation regimes, tillage and mulching treatments. Good coefficient of determination between simulated and predicted values of LAI, biomass and evapotranspiration indicated that the DSSAT (CROPGRO) model simulations were satisfactory.
Embargo
Estimating soil erodibility and soil aggregate stability from basic soil properties using statistical and machine learning techniques for kandi region of Punjab
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2022) Manpreet Singh; Manmohanjit Singh
Accelerated soil erosion in the lower Shiwalik kandi region of Punjab results in deterioration of soil physical quality. Soil aggregation and soil erodibility are important parameters indicating soil physical quality but the quantification of these parameters is complex so efforts have been done to estimate these properties from easily measurable soil characteristics by using pedo-transfer functions (PTFs). Statistical PTFs are available for estimating of these properties but they don't explainthe sufficient variability in data. Machine learning techniques may play an important role in this context. Therefore, the present study was planned to compare PTFs developed using statistical and machine learning techniques for kandi region of Punjab. The basic soil physico-chemical properties were measured across four locations with five land uses at each location at three depths and with three replications. Three data sets were prepared for these soil properties. When dataset 1, having six basic soil properties, was used for estimation of mean weight diameter (MWD), water stable aggregates (wSA) and erodibility (K), the prediction using artificial neural network (ANN) was slightly better than generalized linear model (GLM). When dataset 2, having those six basic soil properties which were having high correlation with soil structural parameters, was used for estimation of MWD, WSA and K, the prediction using GLM was slightly better than ANN. When dataset 3, having all 11l basic soil properties, was used for estimation of MWD, WSA and K, the prediction using ANN was significantly better than GLM. When using data available from literature, ANN performed better for prediction of MWD and WSA whereas GLM performed better for prediction of K. So, it may be concluded that ANN performs better for a large set of data and for a complex system having a greater number of variables whereas for small set of data and for simple system having less variables, the statistical methods perform better.
Open Access
Impact of biochar and inorganic-P fertilizer on soil phosphorus dynamics and crop
(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2022) Jagmandeep Kaur; Mavi, Manpreet Singh
Owing to its fixation in soil, phosphorus is one of the most limiting nutrients for crop productivity. Therefore, continued inputs of P to soil are necessary to sustain crop productivity. However, the non-renewable nature and cost associated with mineral P fertilizers necessitate the need to find alternate sources for sustainable P management. In this context, biochar produced upon thermochemical decomposition of biomass can serve as a viable P source. However, a clear understanding of the mechanisms affecting P availability with different biochar types and rates either applied alone or in combination with inorganic-P fertilizer levels remains elusive. Therefore, a pot and incubation study were conducted to study the impact of different biochar types and rates with or without inorganic-P fertilizer levels on crop biomass and phosphorous availability in soil with varying P status. For the pot study, low and high P status soil was amended with four rates of the maize stover biochar (0, 2, 4, and 8 t ha-1) and three levels of the inorganic-P (KH2PO4) (0, 30, and 60 mg kg-1) with wheat as a test crop. Increasing rates of biochar and inorganic-P led to a significant increase in P availability (Olsen-P, microbial biomass P, and P fractions) and crop biomass. Besides, grain yield achieved with application of 2 t ha-1 biochar alone was comparable to inorganic-P alone both with 30 and 60 mg kg-1 treatment in low and high P status soil. However, the changes in P dynamics with biochar application were more apparent in low P than the high P status soil. Furthermore, biochar (at the rate of 1%) derived from different feedstocks like maize stover (MSB), palm wood (PWB), and poultry manure (PMB) were applied in combination with two rates of inorganic-P (KH2PO4) (0 and 60 mg kg-1) to low and high P status soil for the incubation experiment. In general, a maximum increase in Olsen-P and soil P fractions was observed with PMB followed by MSB > PWB > inorganic-P. Thus, the results of the study indicated that biochar application improved the soil P availability either directly due to the release of P from biochar itself or indirectly through the decrease in P sorption of the amended soil or improved microbial biomass. Besides, an increase in organic-P and lower alkaline phosphomonoesterase activity upon biochar application indicated a slow P turnover rate in the soil. However, the increment observed in grain yield and soil P availability upon biochar application was better when applied alone rather than its co-application with the inorganic-P. Therefore, it may be concluded that biochar can serve as a suitable substitute for mineral P fertilizers for fulfilling crop P demand. However, future studies must carefully validate the potential of biochar derived from different feedstock and rates of application through long-term field trials before recommending its extensive use as a source of P in agriculture.
Restricted
Soil biological activities as influenced by integrated nutrient management in rice-wheat system
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2022) Htwe, Than Nwe; Sharma, Sandeep
The present investigation was carried out in a field experiment conducted during 2020-2021 under a rice-wheat system at a research farm, Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in a split-plot design with three replications. The experiment consisted of the main plots and sub plots. Main plots contained three levels of fertilizer-N application (N0, N75, and N100) and subplots included farmyard manure @ 6 t/ acre, poultry manure @ 2.5 t/ acre, press mud @ 6 t/ acre, rice straw compost @ 2.5 t/ acre, and no manure. The results of our study revealed that grain (49.5 and 46.5 kg ha-1) and straw (106.0 and 97.4 kg ha-1) yields were significantly higher under N100 and farm yard manure. The incorporation of fertilizer-N and organic amendments (N100 and poultry manure) significantly increased soil biological activity, viz., dehydrogenase, fluorescein diacetate, alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase, cellulase, urease, xylanase, bacteria count, fungi count, actinomycetes count, and nitrogen fixer, respectively compared as the other treatment. In contrast, microbial biomass carbon, phenol, and peroxidase activity results were significantly higher in N100 and farm yard manure. However, the highest activity of L-asparaginase was observed in N100 and rice straw compost. Applying fertilizer-N levels and organic amendments only or in combination with inorganic fertilizer improved the physical properties like OC, WSC, available nitrogen and potassium. Furthermore, the maximum increase in available phosphorus was observed with the application of N100 and poultry manure. The studies concluded that conjoining organic manures and chemical fertilizers benefits soil biological properties, enhances soil health, and sustains crop productivity.
Embargo
Distribution of micronutrient cations under different land use systems in Gurdaspur district of Punjab
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2022) Mahajan, Tushar; Verma, Gayatri
The present investigation was carried out to study distribution of micronutrient cations under different land use systems in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. The study comprised of four land use systems agriculture, horticulture, forestry and barren land followed by their sub systems. Ten locations were selected from each sub system under the main land use system. On an average all the land uses were more than 7-8 years old. A total of 400 soil samples were collected using a steel auger at five soil depths (0-15, 15-30, 30-60, 60-90 and 90-120 cm). The coordinates of sampling locations were also taken with the help of Global Positioning System. Samples were sandy loam to loam in texture. The pH of soil was neutral in reaction and EC was normal. Soil pH increased with the increase in soil depth whereas EC decreased with increase in soil depth. Organic carbon was maximum in the forestry land use system and showed a declining trend with soil depth. Available phosphorus and potassium content was high in agriculture land use than other land uses. Among DTPA extractable micronutrients mean values of Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu varied from 0.31 to 2.07, 8.42 to 18.0, 1.90 to 7.66 and 0.66 to 1.27 mg kg-1 respectively under different land use systems. In general, depth-wise a decrease in DTPA extractable micronutrients was there. Maximum values for different micronutrient fractions (Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu) were obtained in forestry land use system. In the study area distribution of micronutrient fractions followed the order RES-Zn > CFeOX-Zn > AFeOX-Zn > OM-Zn > MnOX-Zn > SpAd-Zn > WS+EX-Zn; RES-Fe > CFeOX-Fe > OMFe > AFeOX-Fe > MnOX-Fe > SpAd-Fe > WS+EX-Fe; RES-Mn > MnOX-Mn > AFeOXMn > CFeOX-Mn > OM-Mn > SpAD-Mn > WS+EX-Mn; RES-Cu > CFeOX-Cu > OM-Cu > AFeOX-Cu > SpAd-Cu > MnOX-Cu > WS+EX-Cu. In most of cases in surface layers significant differences under different land uses was more evident than in lower layers. Among different land uses, forestry land use recorded maximum content of micronutrient fractions and followed the order forestry > horticulture > agriculture > barren land.
Restricted
Effect of different cropping systems on physical quality of soil
(Punjab Agricultural University, 2022) Tejinder Kaur; Singh, K.B.
The study entitled, “Effect of different cropping systems on physical quality of soil” was conducted from the long-term experiment of “All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Integrated Farming Systems (ICAR)” continuing since 2017 at research farm of School of Organic Farming, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Ten cropping systems viz. rice-wheat (R-W), maize-wheat (M-W), basmati rice-wheat-cowpea (BR-W-C), maizemustard-cowpea (M-Mtd-C), maize-potato-spring groundnut (M-Po-SG), maize-peas-spring groundnut (M-P-SG), (maize+cowpea)-maize-oats-sathi maize ((M+C)-M-O-SM), sorghum multicut-barseem (Srg-B), maize-potato-onion (M-Po-On), baby corn-potato-okra (BC-PoOk) were selected for present study. (M+C)-M-O-SM resulted significantly highest soil organic carbon, mean weight diameter and water stable aggregates while lowest in R-W. Bulk density was significantly higher in R-W compared to M-W, M-Po-On and M-Mtd-C. Moisture retention, maximum water holding capacity and saturated hydraulic conductivity was higher in M-Mtd-C and lowest in R-W. Srg-B had higher cumulative infiltration and drainage rate while lowest in R-W. Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was more in R-W compared to M-W at same moisture content while at maximum moisture it was highest in MMtd-C and lowest in BC-Po-Ok. After rabi season, soil bulk density was significantly less while aggregate associated carbon and porosity were significantly higher compared to kharif season. Soil quality index for different cropping systems followed the order: (M+C)-M-O-SM =M-P-SG (0.535)> M-Mtd-C (0.525)>M-Po-SG (0.509)> BC-Po-Ok (0.500)> M-W (0.499)>BR-W-C (0.492)> M-Po-On (0.488)> Srg-B (0.486)> R-W (0.483). The four cropping systems found to be best according to soil physical quality index were (maize+cowpea)-maize-oats-spring groundnut, maize-pea-spring groundnut, maizeGM/mustard, due to high SOC, aggregation, WSA, moisture retention and saturated hydraulic conductivity and lower soil bulk density.

Thesis

Browse

Thesis Type

Type

Author

Date

Subject

Search Results