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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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Subject: Forestry × Author: SARASWATI, BHAWANI × Start date: 2015 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Variation in Carbon Storage, Soil Nutrient Availability and Yield of Turmeric under Different Spacings of Bombax ceiba L. Plantations
    (RPCAU, Pusa, 2023) SARASWATI, BHAWANI; Das, Dipty Kumar
    The present study was conducted at the agroforestry research area of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur). In this investigation, the influence of different densities of 7-year-old Semal (Bombax ceiba L.) plantations on the yield performance of turmeric, tree growth, volume, biomass, biomass carbon stock, long-lived C stock, CO2 equivalent, soil physico-chemical properties, macro and micronutrient was studied during 2022-2023. The experiment was in randomized block design comprising five treatments (5 × 2 m, 5 × 3 m, 5 × 4 m, 5 × 5 m, and treeless control) replicated 4 times. The soil texture of the research area is sandy loam with a pH of 8.5, low level of organic carbon (0.36%), available N (169 kg ha-1), P2O5 (24.2 kg ha-1) and K2O (132.3 kg ha-1) with the higher percentage of free calcium carbonate (36%). In the 1st week of June 2022, turmeric (Curcuma longa Valeton) var. Rajendra Sonia was grown as intercrop in the interspaces of the plantations and in treeless open plots. The crop yield, tree growth, biomass yield, and carbon sequestration potential were assessed by one-way analysis, whereas soil physicochemical properties and soil carbon stock were tested by two-way analysis of variance, considering tree spacings as the first factor and soil depth as the second factor. The soil properties were measured after harvesting turmeric. The yield of intercrops significantly decreased under the agroforestry systems and the decrement varied from 13.9 (5 × 2 m) to 28.2% (5 × 5 m) when compared to the sole cropping. The relative light intensity available to the crop varied from 71.6 (5 × 2 m) to 80.7% (5 × 5 m) under the plantations. There was a noticeable improvement in soil properties (pH, EC, and BD), soil organic carbon (SOC), available macronutrients (N, P2O5, and K2O) and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn, and Mn). Availability of plant nutrients was higher in the upper (0 - 15 cm) soil layer than the lower soil layer (15 - 30 cm). There was a 24.1 (5 × 2 m) to 59.1% (5 × 5 m) increase in SOC stock after the harvest of turmeric crop up to 0-30 cm soil depth. The widest spacings (5 × 4 and 5 × 5 m) had significantly higher height, diameter at breast height and volume of the individual tree. The total tree biomass (49.2 Mg ha-1) was maximum in the higher density (5 × 2 m) plantations followed by 5 × 4 m (38.8 Mg ha-1). Total tree biomass carbon storage varied from 19.3 to 23.4 Mg ha-1 in 5 × 5 and 5 × 2 m spacings, respectively. The maximum carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere by the tree was 80.9 to to 85.8 Mg ha-1 in both 5 × 2 and 5 × 4 m spacing. The study concluded that the 7-year-old B. ceiba plantation with 5 × 4 m (500 trees ha-1) and 5 × 2 m (1000 trees ha-1) spacing accumulated maximum biomass and carbon storage and sequestered more carbon per unit area.