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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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20191
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Subject: Agronomy × Author: M, Karthika × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effect of integrated nutrient management and micronutrients on growth, yield and quality of aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.) in calcareous soils
    (DRPCAU, Pusa, Samastipur, 2019) M, Karthika; Chaudhary, S.K.
    A field experiment entitled “Effect of integrated nutrient management and micronutrients on growth, yield and quality of aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.) in calcareous soils” was conducted on sandy loam soil at experimental farm of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), Bihar during kharif season, 2018. The soil of the experimental field was calcareous sandy loam and alkaline in reaction with pH 8.4. It is moderately fertile with low organic carbon (0.48%), medium in available N, P, K, Fe status and deficient in available Zn. The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with factorial concept having six INM treatments as factor A (N1- 75% of RDN through chemical fertilizers + 25% of RDN through vermicompost, N2- 75% of RDN through chemical fertilizers + 25% of RDN through poultry manure, N3- 75% of RDN through chemical fertilizers + 25% of RDN through FYM, N4- 100% of RDN through chemical fertilizers + 25% of RDN through vermicompost, N5- 100% of RDN through chemical fertilizers, N6- 125% of RDN through chemical fertilizers) and three treatments of micronutrients as factor B (F1- Foliar spray of FeSO4@ 1% at tillering and panicle emergence, F2- Foliar spray of ZnSO4@ 0.5% at tillering and panicle emergence, F3- Foliar spray of FeSO4@ 1% and ZnSO4@ 0.5 % at tillering and panicle emergence). The variety tested was Abhishek. The findings of the experiment revealed that INM treatments had profound influence on growth parameters, yield attributes, yield and nutrient uptake of aerobic rice. However micronutrient treatments could not reach to the level of significance. Though, improvement in yield was visible. Significantly higher growth stature (plant height, tillers m-2, dry matter production and crop growth rate), yield attributes (number of panicles m-2, number of filled grains per panicle, panicle length and panicle weight) and yield (grain and straw yields) was observed with the application of 100% RDN through chemical fertilizers and 25% RDN through vermicompost and the lowest was registered with application of 100% RDN through chemical fertilizer. Even though micronutrient treatments did not show significant influence, treatment F3 (Foliar spray of FeSO4@ 1% and ZnSO4@ 0.5 % at tillering and panicle emergence) recorded maximum growth parameters, yield attributes and yield. However, test weight and harvest index was not significantly influenced by any of the treatments. Combined application of 100% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through vermicompost resulted in significantly higher uptake of N, P, K, Fe and Zn. Though the uptake of N, P, K and Fe were not significantly increased by micronutrient treatments, Zn content and uptake of zinc was significantly affected by foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 1% and ZnSO4 @ 0.5 % at tillering and panicle emergence. Foliar spray of micronutrients and INM treatments did not have marked influence on post harvest soil fertility status. However, higher nutrient availability was observed with combined application of 100% RDN through chemical fertilizer and 25% RDN through vermicompost. Economic findings revealed that highest gross returns were recorded with application of 100% RDN through chemical fertilizer + 25% RDN through vermicompost among the INM treatments. However, higher net returns and B:C ratio were obtained with application of 75% RDN through chemical fertilizers + 25% of RDN through poultry manure. Although, micronutrient treatments did not significantly influence economics, foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 1% and ZnSO4 @ 0.5 % at tillering and panicle emergence was found profitable among all. From the study it may be concluded that combined application of 75% RDN through chemical fertilizers + 25% of RDN through poultry manure along with foliar spray of FeSO4 @ 1% and ZnSO4 @ 0.5 % at tillering and panicle emergence is more beneficial for realizing higher productivity and enhancing grain quality with improvement in soil fertility.