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Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar
After independence, development of the rural sector was considered the primary concern of the Government of India. In 1949, with the appointment of the Radhakrishnan University Education Commission, imparting of agricultural education through the setting up of rural universities became the focal point. Later, in 1954 an Indo-American team led by Dr. K.R. Damle, the Vice-President of ICAR, was constituted that arrived at the idea of establishing a Rural University on the land-grant pattern of USA. As a consequence a contract between the Government of India, the Technical Cooperation Mission and some land-grant universities of USA, was signed to promote agricultural education in the country. The US universities included the universities of Tennessee, the Ohio State University, the Kansas State University, The University of Illinois, the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Missouri. The task of assisting Uttar Pradesh in establishing an agricultural university was assigned to the University of Illinois which signed a contract in 1959 to establish an agricultural University in the State. Dean, H.W. Hannah, of the University of Illinois prepared a blueprint for a Rural University to be set up at the Tarai State Farm in the district Nainital, UP. In the initial stage the University of Illinois also offered the services of its scientists and teachers. Thus, in 1960, the first agricultural university of India, UP Agricultural University, came into being by an Act of legislation, UP Act XI-V of 1958. The Act was later amended under UP Universities Re-enactment and Amendment Act 1972 and the University was rechristened as Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology keeping in view the contributions of Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant, the then Chief Minister of UP. The University was dedicated to the Nation by the first Prime Minister of India Pt Jawaharlal Nehru on 17 November 1960.
The G.B. Pant University is a symbol of successful partnership between India and the United States. The establishment of this university brought about a revolution in agricultural education, research and extension. It paved the way for setting up of 31 other agricultural universities in the country.
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ThesisItem Open Access A NOVEL CONTROL STRATEGY FOR PARALLEL CONNECTED INVERTERS IN AUTONOMOUS AC MICROGRID(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar-263145, 2022-09) Bhatt, Neha; Arora, SudhaIn the past few years, a conventional centralized grid structure has been shifting towards a decentralized structure due to the availability of renewable energy-based Distributed Generation (DG) units. But the management of these DG sources in the distribution network is not an easy task due to the problems associated with the operation and control. The control structure should be able to provide coordinated control with all parallel connected DG units and achieve stable operation of the whole network. Especially during autonomous mode, the control structure has to maintain and regulate the voltage and frequency of the whole network and has to decide power sharing between parallel connected DG units. The droop-based control schemes measure locally available parameters and process them to generate control signals. Based on load demand, droops are introduced in operating voltage and frequency and operating set points are decided. Each DG unit regulates its control parameter at local level. The advantage of this control is that by establishing stability of a single unit at local level we can expect stability of the whole system at global level. The concept of droop control for converter-based DG sources was derived from the inherent property of the governor of synchronous generators. These synchronous generators supply power to the load through transmission lines and the whole network is highly inductive in nature. But DG based network is resistive in nature and due to the presence of power electronic interface (e.g. converters etc.), these have low or no inertia. The implementation of conventional droop controller in such a network leads to poor network performance and slow response. High transients may occur in the system during disturbances which might be high enough to damage or may cause mal-operation of equipments and might make whole network unstable. To address drawbacks associated with conventional droop control technique, this thesis presents a modified control scheme. The drawback associated with conventional droop control strategy are identified through intensive analysis in MATLAB/Simulink environment and an improved control strategy is proposed. Performance is analyzed under varying loading conditions and integrating DG sources at different time instants. Simulation results show that proposed control strategy is capable of regulating voltage and frequency of the network according to the load demand. It improves transient response of the system and provides a faster and more damped response to maintain stable operation of the network.ThesisItem Open Access COMPARATIVE STUDY OF APSIM-WHEAT AND CERES-WHEAT MODEL FOR PRECISION MANAGEMENT OF WHEAT CROP AND MITIGATION OF THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE UNDER TARAI REGION OF UTTARAKHAND(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar-263145, 2022-09-01) Pareek, Neha; Nain, A. S.Climate change impacts on wheat production has widespread and national ramifications for food and nutritional security. A field study was conducted during rabi2017-18 and 2018-19 at agricultural farm of G.B. Pant University forcomparative study of APSIM-Wheat and CERES-Wheat model for precision management of wheat crop and mitigation of adverse impact of climate change Tarai region of Uttarakhand. APSIM-Wheat and CERES-Wheat, which simulates yieldhas been calibrated for winter wheat using experimental dataof 2017-18 crop season.The calibration was performed against anthesis (DAS), physiological maturity (DAS), grain and biomass yield for the three treatments of sowing dates (viz.,15th November, 25th November and 05th December) , three levels of irrigation (number of irrigation five, four and three) for two wheat varieties (HD-2967 and PBW-502).The calibrated APSIM-Wheat and CERES-Wheat model were then applied to validate anthesis (DAS), physiological maturity (DAS), yield and biomass for rabi season of 2018-19 for the three treatments of sowing dates (viz., 15th November, 25th November and 05th December) , three levels of irrigation (number of irrigation five, four and three) for two wheat varieties (HD-2967 and PBW-502). The simulated output by the CERES-Wheat model found closer to the experimental field data therefore this model was applied for other two objectives. In this study sowing time and irrigation (number of irrigations) were optimised to get economical yield. A sowing window starting from last week of October (25th October) to the first week of December (06th December) was selected for optimization of sowing date. Crop sown in the first week of November produced highest grain yield followed by sowing in second and third week in the rabi season of 2017-18 and 2018-19.The optimum number of irrigations for wheat was also evaluated by CERES-Wheat model through projected irrigation scenarios. Present study revealed that in this region three irrigations are sufficient for optimum yield. This model also applied to predict the wheat biomass and yield in the year 2030, 2050 and 2080 and found that biomass and yield will be decreased in the future years due to increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall. In-situ moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting and recycling, and efficient irrigation water use are all important adaptation strategies to combat the adverse effect of climate change. Breeders will need to develop some short-duration varieties in the coming years by changing the genetic makeup of existing varieties. Early flowering (photo- and thermo-insensitivity), early maturity, and higher productivity should be characteristics of the new varieties. Identification of crops and varieties/ hybrids with high water use efficiency, adapted to temperature extremes and high concentration of CO2 is needed in this climate change scenario.ThesisItem Open Access Nuclear reactions relevant to fusion reactor candidate materials(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. PIN 263145, 2022-09) Navita; Joshi, G.C.There is a possibility to develop the fusion reactors which may offers the prospect of a long-term energy production. For the development of a fusion reactor the reactor material should have low radioactivity and high capacity to endure neutron flux. To predict material damages by nuclear reactions and model the reactor design, accurate and high-quality cross-section data are required. The present study is motivated to investigate the production cross-section of 53Mn due to neutron induced reactions on stable and unstable target nuclei as well as charge particle induced reactions on stable target nuclei with the help of a nuclear modular code TALYS-1.9. It is observed that neutron as well as charge particle induced reactions play an important role in the production of 53Mn. Moreover, the production cross-sections of 54Mn, 55Fe, 59Ni and 60Co via charged particle induced reactions have been calculated by TALYS-1.9. Default input parameters and all the six ldmodels have been used in the calculation of production cross-sections. The contribution of direct, pre-equilibrium and compound nucleus reaction to the total reaction cross-section are also studied and it is found that the contribution of compound nucleus reaction is high in comparison to direct and pre-equilibrium reaction. Energy differential cross-section (EDX) and double differential cross-section (DDX) of the natural Molybdenum for (n,xp) and (n,xα) reaction at 14.1 MeV neutrons energy has been calculated by optimizing input parameters of TALYS-1.9. From EDXs calculation, it is found that most of the outgoing protons and alpha particles have energy 5 MeV and 13 MeV respectively. DDXs calculated at 10º, 30º,60º, 90º and 120º shows anisotropical distribution of outgoing proton and alpha particles. In addition to the above, recoil spectra, displacement per atom cross-section and gas production (hydrogen and helium) cross-section for 90Zr, 93Nb, 98Mo, 180Hf, 181Ta and 184W have been calculated to estimate the reactor material damage. NRT method has been used to calculate displacement per atom cross-section. Recoil spectra show that (n,n’) and (n,2n) reaction channels are major cause to produce recoil nuclei. Gas production (hydrogen and helium) cross-section infers that production cross-section of hydrogen is higher than the production cross-section of helium. From above, it is concluded that nuclear modular code TALYS-1.9 is a powerful code to predict the cross-sectional data of long-lived radionuclides induce by neutron as well as charged particles and damage produced during reactor operation, which is important to develop fusion reactor design.ThesisItem Open Access Epidemiology and management of downy mildew of vegetable pea incited by Peronospora viciae f. sp. pisi Sydow Boerema & Verhoeven(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. PIN 263145, 2022-09) Bathula, Jagadeesh; Singh, R. P.Downy mildew caused by Peronospora viciae f. sp. pisi (Sydow) Boerema & Verhoeven is a serious foliar disease of vegetable pea. It may cause yield losses up to 55 per cent in susceptible varieties. Seed treatment and foliar fungicides provide an effective means of disease management but when this management strategy combined with sustainable approaches, the disease can be managed successfully. In the present study, efforts were made to investigate the yield loss due to downy mildew, use of chemical and biological seed treatments to reduce seed borne inoculum, cost-effective chemical control through new molecules, effect of sowing, varieties and influence of weather parameters on disease development. Screening of vegetable pea germplasms against downy mildew was also undertaken. Maximum avoidable yield losses due to protection by foliar spray of Cymoxanil 8% + mancozeb 64% were found in Arkel (34.29%), followed by AP-3 (29.44%) on first date of sowing (17th November), while in PSM-3 maximum (23.52%) avoidable yield losses was found at 3rd date of sowing (1st December). Among the fungicides and biological seed treatments under glasshouse conditions, seed treatment with combination of Metalaxyl 35% WS + Bacillus subtilis var. amyloliquefaciens and Metalaxyl 35% WS + Streptomyces lydicus found to be the best with less disease incidence and severity. Seed treatment with Metalaxyl 35% WS and 2 foliar sprays at 15 days interval starting 30 days after sowing by Fluopicolide 4.44% + fosetyl-Al 66.67% WG @ 2000 g ha-1 provided the minimum disease severity (15.78 PDI) and highest yield (52.53 q ha-1) followed by Iprovalicarb 5.5% + propineb 61.25% WP @ 1600 g ha-1 and Famoxadone 16.6% + cymoxanil 22.1% SC @ 500 g ha-1 but, Famoxadone 16.6% + cymoxanil 22.1% SC provided highest net benefit cost ratio (2.22) followed by Cymoxanil 8% + mancozeb 64% WP (2.05). Lesser disease and higher yield were obtained from variety PSM-3 sown on 24th November. The maximum increase in downy mildew was recorded 40 days after sowing, and temperature range of 5.5-22.05°C and 55-96.05% relative humidity along with 7.5 mm rainfall favored the disease development. Disease severity was found to be positively correlated with minimum temperature and rainfall. Out of 89 vegetable pea germplasms screened under natural epiphytotic conditions, PSM-11, PCPGR-6091 and Selection-23 were found to be resistant, while Multi frozen, Pila Lubix, Little Marvel Lincoln, EFL-9, PSM-3, Pant Upahar were found to be moderately resistant to downy mildew.ThesisItem Open Access Assessment and optimization of energy requirement in major crops of Uttarakhand(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, 2022-12) Akanksha; Singh, T. P.The energy use pattern for wheat, sugarcane and major crop cultivation in Tarai region and maize cultivation in hilly region of Uttarakhand have been studied.Survey was carried under AICRP on EAAI utilising the performa designed for the purpose and data were acquired from specific farmers. The selected farmers were divided into different category according to their land holding. All categories of farmer use different energy sources in different unit operations according to their farm power availability. The calculation of used energy in performing all unit operations were done for different categories farmers. A total of 23933.47 MJ/ha of energy was found to be used in the cultivation of wheat crops by all categories of farmers. Fertilizer application accounted for the largest portion of the total input energy used 12149.32 MJ/ha (50.76%). The second highest overall energy contributor was irrigation, which is 4029.77 MJ/ha (16.84%), sowing operation involves 2916.54 MJ/ha (12.19%) of the total input energy used followed by 2100.01 MJ/ha (08.77%) of tillage. Harvesting and threshing operation involves 1847.77 MJ/ha (07.72%) and plant protection share 890.07 MJ/ha (03.72%) in total input energy.Average crop yield obtained by large, medium, semi-medium, small and marginal category farmer was 5494.86, 5350.88, 5126.81, 5126.40 and 4800.69 kg/ha respectively using the input energy of 25248.00, 24600.86, 23858.33, 23832.27 and 23504.98 MJ/ha respectively.The energy ratio for large, medium, semi-medium, small and marginal category was found as 6.68, 6.67, 6.42, 6.48 and 6.64 respectively. In Tarai region of Uttarakhand, for all categories of farmer growing wheat cropthe energy ratio was obtained as 6.55 with energy productivity of 0.21 kg/MJ. The average farm power availability was found 2.68 kW/ha.The total energy used in the production of sugarcane crop including all unit processes was determined to be 169.644 GJ/ha. The sowing operation accounted for the largest portion of the total energy use 142.041 GJ/ha (83.73%) to cultivate sugarcane crop. It was observed that the sugarcane cultivation required highest seed energy because of high seed rate used by farmers in the region. Total input energy for sugarcane accounts fertilizer energy 21721.94 MJ/ha (12.80%), tillage energy 2872.19 MJ/ha (1.69%) followed by irrigation energy 1002.15 MJ/ha (0.59%).Medium category farmer used input energy of 173.683 GJ/ha and obtained output energy of 1127.913 GJ/ha. Similarly, total input energy used by semi-medium, small and marginal category farmers was 171.234, 166.356, 162.407 GJ/ha respectively. The output energy obtained by semi-medium, small and marginal category farmers against the used input energy was 1029.819, 916.994 and 821.913 GJ/ha respectively. The overall energy ratio, of all categories of farmers in Tarai region of Uttarakhand,wasfound as 5.74 with energy productivity was 0.36 kg/MJ.According to the study the average farm power availability for sugarcane crop cultivation in Uttarakhand's Tarai region is 2.48 kW/ha. Total of 2903.97 MJ/ha of input energy was used by the marginal farmers to cultivate maize crops in hilly region of Uttarakhand. Fertiliser contributed the most at 1346.55 MJ/ha (46.37%) and machinery contributed the least 22.26 MJ/ha (0.77%). The second largest energy input contributor for the cultivation of maize was seed, which contributed 844.25 MJ/ha (29.07%) of energy. The output of maize is influenced by animal energy to the tune of 452.68 MJ/ha (15.59%). The amount of energy needed to cultivate maize is 238.23 MJ/ha (8.23%) which comes from human as source of energy.Average maize crop yield obtained by marginal category farmer was 1174.39 kg/ha using input energy of 2903.37 MJ/ha. Output energy obtained by marginal category farmers is 38179.36 MJ/ha against the used input energy in maize crop cultivation. Energy ratio obtained was 13.14 which indicated that with the consumption of lower amount of energy the yield and output energy obtained was high. Farm poweravailability in hilly area was observed as 0.42 kW/ha which is quite low mainly due to use of animal power as source and also due to least or no intervention of improved implement/machinery for performing unit operations.ThesisItem Open Access Response of wheat Triticum aestivum l. to tillage and nutrient management practices under rice-wheat system in Himalayan tarai(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, 2022-09) Yadav, Kamalkant; Yadav, Kamalkant; Singh, RohitashavField experiments entitled “Response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to tillage and nutrient management practices under rice-wheat system in Himalayan tarai” were conducted in the D-2 block of Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) during the rabi season of 2020-21 and 2021-22. The objectives of investigation were to study the effect of tillage and nutrient management practices on the growth and productivity of wheat, nutritional and quality parameters, energy consumption and economics of different treatments. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. Treatments were consisted of three tillage practices viz. zero, reduced and conventional tillage and whereas, in sub-plots, five nutrient management practices viz. RDF (N 120:P2O5 60:K2O 40 kg/ha), RDF + FYM @5 t/ha, RDF + ZnSO4 @25 kg/ha, 75% RDF + FYM @10 t/ha and 75% RDF + FYM @5 t/ha) + ZnSO4 @12.5 kg/ha. The investigation revealed that tillage did not significantly influence growth parameters, yield attributing characters and yield but economics was significantly influenced in both years of study. Zero tillage recorded comparatively higher grain yield over reduced and conventional tillage practices. Zero tillage recorded 10.25 % and 11.52% higher net returns than conventional tillage, in 2020-21 and 2021- 22, respectively. The lowest energy competition was recorded under zero tillage as well as significantly higher net energy and energy efficiency was achieved by zero tillage over reduced and conventional tillage in both years. There was a significant impact of nutrient management practices on various parameters. Among the nutrient management practices, NM5 treatment recorded significant response to all the growth parameters at various growth stages which resulted in higher yield attributes (spike/m2, fertile spikelets/spike and grain weight/spike), N, P, K and Zn, total uptake and net return compared to NM1, NM2 and NM3. Significantly higher grain and biological yield, nutrient uptake in grain, gross monitory return, net energy return and energy efficiency in NM5 (75% RDF + FYM @5 t/ha + ZnSO4 @12.5 kg/ha) treatment compared with NM1 and NM2 but at par with NM4 and NM3 treatments. The increment in grain yield in NM5 i.e. 75% RDF + FYM @5 t/ha + ZnSO4 @12.5 kg/ha were (16.7 & 15.8%), (14.2 & 13.6%), (10.1 & 9.3%) and (6.7 & 6.2%), per cent more over NM1 (RDF 120:60:40), NM2 (RDF + ZnSO4 @25 kg/ha), NM3 (RDF + FYM @5 t/ha) and NM4 (75% RDF + FYM @10 t/ha) in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively. Therefore, in tarai regions, zero tillage plus 75% RDF + FYM + 12.50 kg/ha of ZnSO4 is a better option for achieving a higher wheat yield.ThesisItem Open Access Nutrient status of soils of Almora district Uttarakhand and its correlation with soil properties(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, 2022-10) Nishad, Premsagar; Tandon, ShishirAn experiment was conducted to analyze the general soil properties, status of available macronutrients (N, P K and S) and to study the relationship between soil properties and macronutrients. Soil samples (0-15cm depth) were collected from 80 different location of Almora district of Uttarakhand. Different methods of analysis of soil were employed to know the availability of N, P, K and S. Available Nitrogen was analyzed by alkaline KMnO4 method, available phosphorus by Bray’s method, AB-DTPA method, Mehlich-3 method and Morgan method, available Potassium was analyzed by Ammonium acetate, AB-DTPA, Mehlich-3 and Morgan methods and Available Sulphur was analyzed by CaCl2 method. The color of soil samples of entire study area were, grayish brown, brown, light brown, weak red, dark brown, pale brown, light yellowish brown, light olive brown, olive yellow, olive grey, light yellowish brown, pale olive, olive grey, reddish grey and dark grey brown. The soil texture of entire study area was from coarse texture to medium texture. Soil was found to be acidic with soil pH and EC ranging from 5.15 – 6.97 and 0.012 - 0.952 dSm-1 with overall mean value of 6.26 and 0.186 dSm-1, respectively. The soils were medium to high in organic carbon content and ranged from 0.09- 1.90% with overall mean value of 0.99%. The percent organic matter content in soils ranged from 0.16- 3.27% with overall mean value of 1.71%. The percent calcium carbonate content in soils of entire study area ranged from 1.07 – 2.96% with mean value of 2.03%. The available nitrogen in soils ranged from 99.10 - 244.61 kg ha-1 with overall mean of 148.33 kg ha-1. The available phosphorus content extracted by Bray’s method, AB-DTPA method, Mehlich-3 method and Morgan method ranged from 12.43 – 22.35 kg ha-1, 11.64 - 63.62 kg ha-1, 21.35 – 55.93 and 20.13– 69.16 kg ha-1, respectively. Available potassium content ranged from 78.18 – 317.52 kg ha-1, 114.38-296.60 kg ha-1, 90.64-164.74 kg ha-1 and 97.39 - 197.57 kg ha-1, when extracted by Ammonium acetate, AB-DTPA, Mehlich-3 and Morgan methods respectively. The soil available Sulphur ranged from 10.19 - 90.58 kg ha-1 with mean value of 38.26 kg ha-1. No significant correlation was found between soil properties and macronutrients in 18 location soils. At 62 locations, Organic Carbon had significant and positive correlation with available N. and S. In sixty two location soils also showed positive and significant correlation with available nitrogen and potassium with soil pH and EC. On the basis of calculated nutrient indices, the soils under study were found to be low in extractable nitrogen, low to medium in extractable phosphorus, low to high in extractable potassium, low in calcium carbonate and high in sulfur content.ThesisItem Open Access Development of microbial consortia for f the management of chickpea wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum.sp. ciceris(G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, District Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand. PIN - 263145, 2022-10) Amirtha Lingam. V; Tewari, A.K.Chickpea wilt caused by F. oxysporum f.sp ciceris is one of the most devastating disease of chickpea in India and all over the world, this pathogen can cause yield losses up to 10-94 per cent depending on inoculum and environmental conditions. Use of chemical fungicides could not effectively manage this disease due to its soil borne nature. The pathogen survives in soil up to 6 years in the form of chlamydospores as a source of primary inoculum. Presently, single microbe-based biocontrol strategies are used for plant disease management. Inconsistent performance of single antagonists can be related to limited competition in the soil microbiome. In view of above present study “Development of microbial consortia for the management of chickpea wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris” was undertaken. During the Rabi season (2017-18), chickpea plants showed wilt symptoms were collected, isolated and identified up to molecular level as Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceris. Fungal and bacterial antagonists (T.asperellum strains Th-14, Th-17, Th-19 and TCMS 36 and P. fluorescens strains Psf-2, and Psf-173) recommended for the management of chickpea wilt pathogen were selected for the consortia study. Antagonists were prepared in 14 different combinations and compatibility was checked by three methods and in all the methods it has been observed that all the consortia combinations were found compatible with each other. Antagonism action of consortia against pathogen was also studied using three different methods. In dual culture (mycoparasitism) study Th14+TCMS36 showed 61 per cent mycelial parasitization. In paired plate technique effect of volatile compounds of Th14+Psf173 showed significant maximum mycelial inhibition (66.67%). In cell free culture method the effect of non- volatile compounds of Th14+Psf173 showed maximum mycelial growth inhibition (74.81%). In glasshouse studies Th17+Psf173 and TCMS36+Psf173 were showed maximum per cent seed germination (96.67 % in each) with minimum pre-emergence mortality (3.33% in each) as compared to control (71.67% & 28.33% respectively) at 07 DAS. At 60 DAS, Th14+Psf173 showed minimum wilt incidence (6.84%) as compared to control (58.25%) and maximum wilt reduction (88.25%) over control and was at par with TCMS36+Psf173 (8.60% & 85.39 % respectively). Th14+Psf173 showed maximum vigor index (4783.17) followed by TCMS36+Psf173 (4505.67) as compared to control (2603). In field experiment pooled data revealed that Th14+Psf173 showed maximum per cent seed germination (84.80%) followed by Th17+Psf173 (83.27%) and TCMS36+Psf173 (82.93%) as compared to control (69.13%). At 120 DAS maximum wilt disease reduction was observed in Th14+Psf173 (88.54%) followed by TCMS36+ Psf173 (84.55%). Maximum mean yield was recorded in Th14+Psf174 (17.30 q/ha) followed by TCMS 36+Psf173 (16.47q/ha) and Th17+Psf173 (15.26 q/ha) as compared to control (8.05 q/ha). Consortia Th14+Psf173 and TCMS36+Psf173 were found significantly better in the induction of defence related enzymes/ compounds (Peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, Phenylalanine ammonia lyase, Total Phenolic Content, and Superoxide dismutase) against chickpea wilt disease in glasshouse and in field.Population dynamics of antagonists were increased upto 50 DAS and it was maximum in Th14+Psf173 (22.33 & 12.67 ×104 cfu/g respectively) followed byTCMS36 + Psf173 (19.33 & 11.00 ×104 cfu/g respectively). Thereafter, population were declined till the last date of observation (125 DAS Further best performed treatment were confirmed by re isolation and characterized up to molecular level. Based on cultural, morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics the superior introduced consortia (Th14+Psaf173 and TCMS36+ Psf173) were re-isolated and confirmed that Th14, TCMS36 and Psf173 have similar matching characteristics as of their mother culture. These findings revealed that potential introduced antagonists survived in the rhizosphere of chickpea plant instead of native strains. On the basis of present studies these two consortia could be recommended for the cost effective, ecofriendly management of chickpea wilt disease.ThesisItem Open Access Forecasting and multi-criteria decision making for trading and investment in stock market using soft computing techniques(G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, 2022-07) Bisht, Kiran; Arun KumarDuring the last decades the globalization of economies, intensifying competition among firms, financial institutions and organizations as well as the rapid economic, social and technological changes, have led to an increasing uncertainty and instability in the financial market. Within this context, the importance of making efficient financial decisions while handling complexities has increased. Soft computing covers a wide range of techniques offering tolerance to the presence of uncertainty and imprecision, making them ideal for modeling financial decisions. In light of the foregoing facts, the present research is centered to propose financial decision making models based on soft computing techniques which include fuzzy sets, neural networks, and evolutionary algorithms. In this study, seven models are introduced. Model [1] presents multi-objective financial trading systems based on deep reinforcement learning. The systems have been designed to give signals (buy, hold or sell) in the live market in order to get maximum return with minimum risk. Reward-based deep reinforcement learning architectures have been used to simulate the models for gaining better results. Model [2] proposes a financial time series forecasting method for stock selection. Fuzzy time series forecasting procedure using fuzzy c-means clustering and two deep learning architectures (SVM and MLP) has been developed for forecasting daily stock prices. Portfolio construction based on stock prices and ACO algorithm for portfolio optimization is derived. Model [3] considers the concept of diversification addressed by modern portfolio theory and suggests a hybrid MCDM technique for diverse stock selection. Neutrosophic base-criteria method has been devised for criteria weight assessment. The concept of correlation coefficient between assets with PROMETHEE partial ranking are merged for finding realistic relationship between the stocks to construct a diversified and profitable portfolio. PSO algorithm for optimizing Portfolio’s Sharpe ratio with rank constraint has been derived. Model [4] provides an effective portfolio construction method based on sector analysis. Dempster-Shafer theory and Granger causality test have been employed for indentifying strong and diverse sector of economy. Construction of portfolio by picking leading stocks of strong and diverse sectors and its optimization using deep recurrent neural network is presented. Model [5] offers a stock selection method integrating the concerns of a novice investor and a stock market specialist. An integrated framework unifying fuzzy delphi method, fuzzy base-criterion method and Dempster-Shafer theory has been developed for assessing important criteria, their weights and reliable ranking of stocks. Portfolio optimization is done using LSTM embedded deep recurrent neural network. Model [6] introduces fuzzy TOPSIS and evidence theory based intraday stock selection procedure. To counter the ambiguity and conflict in intraday data belief divergence measure has been employed for credible ranking of intraday stocks one day before trading. Model [7] presents an MCDM method hybridizing MEREC and CoCoSo method through some specific modifications to their main structures in context to its application in ranking stocks. The method has been developed in neutrosophic environment to cope up ambiguity and inference of decision making data. Parabolic measure has been used as performance measure in MEREC method to reduce its complexity. All the present models have been implemented on real data of Indian stock market (NSE and BSE) and detailed analysis have been done to verify their practicality.