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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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20201
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Subject: Plant Pathology × Author: Mahto, Kumari Sushma × End date: 2020 × Start date: 2020 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Studies on soil fungal diversity in relation to soil health and its implication in plant disease management
    (DRPCAU, Pusa, 2020) Mahto, Kumari Sushma; Rai, Dinesh
    Soil is an oligotrophic medium for the fungal growth. Fungi are an important component of soil microbiota. Soil fungal diversity plays an important role in maintenance of soil conditions and soil health. In Bihar, especially in Samastipur district, very less information is available regarding soil inhabiting fungi of cultivated and uncultivated fields. Hence, the investigation on “Studies on Soil fungal diversity in relation to soil health and its implication in plant disease management” was undertaken during the course of study to explore the mycoflora diversity and different plant and soil factors affecting them. Ten soil samples were collected from different villages of Samastipur district namely Deopar (Block- Pusa), Motipur (Block- Tajpur), Aadharpur (Block- Tajpur), Dudhpura (Block- Samastipur) and Dadpur (Block- Samastipur). Five samples each were collected from both cultivated fields and uncultivated fields. Overall, on average 397 colonies from cultivated and 204 colonies from uncultivated fields in both dilution factors 10-4 and 10-5 were isolated and identified. Altogether, the highest percentage contribution was of Trichoderma sp. (28.5 %) in cultivated samples and Penicillium sp. (36 %) in uncultivated samples. All the isolates, Trichoderma sp., Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Rhizpous sp. and Mucor sp. were authentically characterized and their percentile contribution statistically analysed. The isolation frequency of species was obtained highest for Penicillium chrysogenum (90 %) and most of the fungal species were designated as moderate and rare in occurrence. In root health bio-assay test conducted in greenhouse, the beans grown in the soil of Deopar and Dadpur in both cultivated and uncultivated soil samples showed best ratings and performance among all the soil samples. In growth promotion study results revealed that overall plant growth promotion was better in cultivated fields. Significant maximum root length (13.0 cm) was observed in cultivated fields of Motipur while in uncultivated fields of Deopar (10.3 cm) and Dadpur (10.3 cm). Maximum shoot length was observed in cultivated fields (62.6 cm) and uncultivated fields in Deopar (55.3 cm). Significant maximum root weight (18.3 g) and (15.6 g) recorded in cultivated and uncultivated fields of Dadpur respectively. However, maximum shoot weight (44.0 g) in cultivated and (42.3 g) in uncultivated fields observed in Aadharpur. In the test for soil physico-chemical properties, Deopar cultivated soil sample showed highest pH (8.2), organic carbon (0.69 %) and organic matter (1.18 %). In population dynamics study, the population of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici was significantly reduced after application of organic amendments. After 60 days, significant highest maximum reduction of Fusarium population was observed in the T-3 (Soil Drenching with Trichoderma asperellum @10 g/l + Chitosan @ 0.1%) and population recorded only (11x105). The lowest PDI (34.40 %) was observed in T-3 (Soil Drenching with Trichoderma asperellum @10 g/l + Chitosan @ 0.1 %) followed by T-2 (Soil Application of FYM + Trichoderma asperellum @ 2% w/w) with PDI (43.30 %). T-3 (Soil Application of Vermicompost @ 2 % w/w) and T-6 (Soil Drenching with Panchgavya @ 30 %) were at par with recorded PDI (46.63 %) and (49.96 %) respectively.